@Dynamo Frokane Cool beans, looking forward to it.
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@Dynamo Frokane When can we expect another post?
"Not me, no," answered a stone-faced Travis, still focused on the spell at work, "though I suppose its a bit of both realms. The Causality Scryer, in this configuration at least, goes through a thorough survey and evaluation of what ever it has trapped. That piece of our 'curse', for example. During the dissection process it-
Travis's words fell short as another code came up, prompting him to search the booklet for the definition before adding its entry to the whiteboard, "where was I? Oh. As it anatomizes its subject, it produces these code as you can see here. Each code represents a different element or component, or even aspect or make if ascertainable."
After writing down yet another code, he continued, "Think of it like a computer operating system's self-diagnostic troubleshooter, if you will. Some of these codes that have so far came up refer to certain functionality aspects such as mana flow rates and behavioral patterns. However I think I did spot one referring to culture origin."
Travis's words fell short as another code came up, prompting him to search the booklet for the definition before adding its entry to the whiteboard, "where was I? Oh. As it anatomizes its subject, it produces these code as you can see here. Each code represents a different element or component, or even aspect or make if ascertainable."
After writing down yet another code, he continued, "Think of it like a computer operating system's self-diagnostic troubleshooter, if you will. Some of these codes that have so far came up refer to certain functionality aspects such as mana flow rates and behavioral patterns. However I think I did spot one referring to culture origin."
Once he was lined up without friendlies in his path, he squeezed the trigger, letting loose with Pandora's 20mm cannons. Rodriguez could feel each thump of the two cannons vibrating throughout the craft as is screamed though the convoy. Zigging tracers zipped through the air and arched into the scorched earth and artificial metal alike, sending exploding plumes of dirt and spectacles of flaming sparks skyward. While his own attack only lasted mere seconds, Rodriguez caught a glimpse of one of the vehicles within his cone of fire erupting into an inferno just as he quickly pulled up and peeled away.
Rodriguez kept the plane in a stable climb while making the proper adjustments in his flight path, noting the firing vectors from the artillery below still illuminating in his HUD. By now however, the black splotches exploding in the sky became less concentrated, likely due to the gunners' aim being directed to the other craft completing their own attack runs and pulling away from the pummeled convoy. After achieving a safer altitude, Pandora came to a neutral path while Rodriguez peered through the aircraft's canopy and gazed at the smoking mess they had created. At least six of the vehicle they had successfully strafed now stood as burning wrecks, victims of their swift assault.
Just has he steadily angled his craft into another dive, Pandora's long-range radar started going off with new contacts emerging into the screen. Rodriguez aborted and quickly turned to the monitor noting the four blips quickly advancing onto their earlier attack vector. Heading right toward the convoy. In the course of a few seconds, another vehicle exploded due to a rocket that had not come from his craft and neither from any of this other planes his squadron. Instead, it originating from the interloping biplanes.
It didn't take long until the intruder's radioed and demanded the reasoning for their presence here. Rodriguez patiently listened as Roland explained himself and behalf of the planes under his command before ending with an offer to vacate the local airspace. Given the rowdiness of the new group, Rodriguez was in agreement with the notion to avoid getting into further trouble than they were already. All seemed fine until it became apparent that trouble already had Roland's number. Some scanner with the group had ID'd Roland and the surprising bounty on their leader's head. Five million credits, huh? Rodriguez's adoptive mercenary line of thinking piqued with premature interest. With that kind of money, he could be living it big with the most souped up and untouchable aircraft to ever fly over the States. And all he had to do was dive into a pursuit right on top of Roland and...
No, his consciousness quickly stamped out the opportunistic thought for greedy fame. He mentally reiterated the job he had agreed to and he was intent of seeing it through. Phasing out of the millisecond of plotting, Rodriguez refocused his attention to the biplane now shifting their attention to his group. Per Roland's new orders to engage, he maneuvered his craft into a wide observing turn around the attackers, ensuring that he held less than a kilometer distance from the attackers. Having seen the maneuverability of the enemy planes, he knew that he could not compete in a honest dogfight with the more nimbler planes climbing to meet them. Pandora was simply not as agile and his only method of attacking and killing a wily opponent was with an unsuspecting strike above them. Before he could pull that off, he needed to know how the aggressing craft flew. Like before with Ryan's earlier approach, Rodriguez once more fired up his scanning equipment and angled the array to toward the craft.
"Pandora acknowledging," he radioed through the channel, "beginning scan of engaging bandits."
Rodriguez kept the plane in a stable climb while making the proper adjustments in his flight path, noting the firing vectors from the artillery below still illuminating in his HUD. By now however, the black splotches exploding in the sky became less concentrated, likely due to the gunners' aim being directed to the other craft completing their own attack runs and pulling away from the pummeled convoy. After achieving a safer altitude, Pandora came to a neutral path while Rodriguez peered through the aircraft's canopy and gazed at the smoking mess they had created. At least six of the vehicle they had successfully strafed now stood as burning wrecks, victims of their swift assault.
Just has he steadily angled his craft into another dive, Pandora's long-range radar started going off with new contacts emerging into the screen. Rodriguez aborted and quickly turned to the monitor noting the four blips quickly advancing onto their earlier attack vector. Heading right toward the convoy. In the course of a few seconds, another vehicle exploded due to a rocket that had not come from his craft and neither from any of this other planes his squadron. Instead, it originating from the interloping biplanes.
It didn't take long until the intruder's radioed and demanded the reasoning for their presence here. Rodriguez patiently listened as Roland explained himself and behalf of the planes under his command before ending with an offer to vacate the local airspace. Given the rowdiness of the new group, Rodriguez was in agreement with the notion to avoid getting into further trouble than they were already. All seemed fine until it became apparent that trouble already had Roland's number. Some scanner with the group had ID'd Roland and the surprising bounty on their leader's head. Five million credits, huh? Rodriguez's adoptive mercenary line of thinking piqued with premature interest. With that kind of money, he could be living it big with the most souped up and untouchable aircraft to ever fly over the States. And all he had to do was dive into a pursuit right on top of Roland and...
No, his consciousness quickly stamped out the opportunistic thought for greedy fame. He mentally reiterated the job he had agreed to and he was intent of seeing it through. Phasing out of the millisecond of plotting, Rodriguez refocused his attention to the biplane now shifting their attention to his group. Per Roland's new orders to engage, he maneuvered his craft into a wide observing turn around the attackers, ensuring that he held less than a kilometer distance from the attackers. Having seen the maneuverability of the enemy planes, he knew that he could not compete in a honest dogfight with the more nimbler planes climbing to meet them. Pandora was simply not as agile and his only method of attacking and killing a wily opponent was with an unsuspecting strike above them. Before he could pull that off, he needed to know how the aggressing craft flew. Like before with Ryan's earlier approach, Rodriguez once more fired up his scanning equipment and angled the array to toward the craft.
"Pandora acknowledging," he radioed through the channel, "beginning scan of engaging bandits."
@Dynamo Frokane Busy, boss?
For a few minutes, Travis peered forward at projection while spell within the crystalline cube did its work, sharply gazing upon it as if expecting some incredible discovery to emerge. A few minutes later, he frowned and eased back into his seat upon coming to the realization that the process was going to take much more time that he was anticipating. Perhaps more specifically, longer that he was really hopping for. The projection emulating the captured dark mass showcased a number of rings, similar in design with the Causality Scryer's manifested architecture, spinning around the supposed subjects at different intervals. For awhile, Travis would have begun to wonder if the display was really doing anything. Quickly, he shunned the thought and maintained his observation.
A blink later and what appeared to be some numerical code faded into far left side of the holographic image. Travis narrowed his attention to the code and instinctively retrieved a small notebook of many other similar codes with his left hand. The Causality Scryer's creators apparently had programed the advanced self-solving spell with an large aggregate of analyzing and qualifying checkers, each meant to identify certain elements of the entity it was picking apart. Travis begrudgingly remembered having to delve in the tedious task that was entering each of the codes and their meanings into the darn booklet. Another code then appeared and he took note of it as well, writing them down in marker on to a portable white board. The Untalent only spared a few seconds looking at each note and contemplating their meaning but ensure the rest of his attention to the dissecting process.
A few codes later, he heard the lab door open and then shut. Considering that Raiya and Nemo were out doing, whatever they were doing, and Zuri clearly exhausted and not in much mood nor energy to move about, he concluded it was Felix returning. He jotted down another line item and phrase and turned slightly to Felix, "What do you make of it so far?" he asked, referring to the writing on the whiteboard.
A blink later and what appeared to be some numerical code faded into far left side of the holographic image. Travis narrowed his attention to the code and instinctively retrieved a small notebook of many other similar codes with his left hand. The Causality Scryer's creators apparently had programed the advanced self-solving spell with an large aggregate of analyzing and qualifying checkers, each meant to identify certain elements of the entity it was picking apart. Travis begrudgingly remembered having to delve in the tedious task that was entering each of the codes and their meanings into the darn booklet. Another code then appeared and he took note of it as well, writing them down in marker on to a portable white board. The Untalent only spared a few seconds looking at each note and contemplating their meaning but ensure the rest of his attention to the dissecting process.
A few codes later, he heard the lab door open and then shut. Considering that Raiya and Nemo were out doing, whatever they were doing, and Zuri clearly exhausted and not in much mood nor energy to move about, he concluded it was Felix returning. He jotted down another line item and phrase and turned slightly to Felix, "What do you make of it so far?" he asked, referring to the writing on the whiteboard.
To the point then, Rodriguez thought, noting the pilot's straightforward dialogue while he stared at the monitor displaying the flying wing that was Lungfirst's aircraft being integrated with the rest of the formation. The process of including the Long-Dive into his private data communications network was going off without a hitch. Same as the two other craft around him. The miniature scans updated and applied an IFF to the Long-Dive, allowing Pandora's ECM to recognize friend from foe and differentiate their assets. Typically useful if a hostile missile were to enter get near either of their aircraft while in the large sphere of influence emitted by Rodriguez's plane. With a small ping, he got his confirmation that Long-Dive was now fully integrated.
Rodriguez nearly believed that the formation flight would remain unopposed for at least for a few hours. Turns out he was wrong. Roland apparently was the first to take notice of the activity crawling beneath them. However, his report came almost abruptly and nearly caught Rodriguez off-guard, challenging him to achieve a visual on the vehicles being referred to. Seconds later, he found them as well; an armored convoy. Sensing imminent combat approaching and with the current order to maintain his position, he awakened the ground sensors and cameras at the nose and belly of his aircraft. Soon, visual images poured into one of the other monitors. The convoy belonged to the Lone Star State, as announced by the flags and insignias worn by the vehicles.
"Pandora acknowledges. Maneuvering to attack run; after you, lead," he radioed.
With the attack order given, Rodriguez hit the throttle of his plane, prompting Pandora's airframe to increase in speed before he peeled into dive. Despite its original purpose being overwritten to include a larger number of responsibilities, the plane was still capable of performing its original duty as an attack aircraft. Through his descent, he ensured his kept the Pandora's nose aimed at the grouped vehicles, still performing the necessary scans of his targets until the sensors achieved the lock he was looking for. The HUD integrated into his windshield lit up, revealing a number of vectors originating from the ground beginning to rotate within the center of this obvious circles. The highlighted lines, upon further inspection, represented the calculated traveling paths of the artillery cannons scrambling to take aim at them. As per his efforts earlier, he ensured this information was shared with his squadron mates.
Falling in roughly five-hundred feet behind the Iron Jackson, Pandora prepared to line up its own strafing run, coordinating with the lead aircraft and prepared to engage once Roland peeled away from his completed attack.
Rodriguez nearly believed that the formation flight would remain unopposed for at least for a few hours. Turns out he was wrong. Roland apparently was the first to take notice of the activity crawling beneath them. However, his report came almost abruptly and nearly caught Rodriguez off-guard, challenging him to achieve a visual on the vehicles being referred to. Seconds later, he found them as well; an armored convoy. Sensing imminent combat approaching and with the current order to maintain his position, he awakened the ground sensors and cameras at the nose and belly of his aircraft. Soon, visual images poured into one of the other monitors. The convoy belonged to the Lone Star State, as announced by the flags and insignias worn by the vehicles.
"Pandora acknowledges. Maneuvering to attack run; after you, lead," he radioed.
With the attack order given, Rodriguez hit the throttle of his plane, prompting Pandora's airframe to increase in speed before he peeled into dive. Despite its original purpose being overwritten to include a larger number of responsibilities, the plane was still capable of performing its original duty as an attack aircraft. Through his descent, he ensured his kept the Pandora's nose aimed at the grouped vehicles, still performing the necessary scans of his targets until the sensors achieved the lock he was looking for. The HUD integrated into his windshield lit up, revealing a number of vectors originating from the ground beginning to rotate within the center of this obvious circles. The highlighted lines, upon further inspection, represented the calculated traveling paths of the artillery cannons scrambling to take aim at them. As per his efforts earlier, he ensured this information was shared with his squadron mates.
Falling in roughly five-hundred feet behind the Iron Jackson, Pandora prepared to line up its own strafing run, coordinating with the lead aircraft and prepared to engage once Roland peeled away from his completed attack.
Rodriguez maintained his position with Roland's left flank through the current duration of the trip. There wasn't much as far as conversations go since everyone appeared to be busy keeping their own birds in the air. He himself however kept the plane in auto-pilot, having synchronized the control patterns with Roland's aircraft, The Iron Jackson, while he slaved over the scanning equipment directly to his right shoulder. Much of the electronics and gadgets hadn't seen almost any use within the past couple of weeks due to limitation of contracts within his previous area of operation, resulting in suite being deactivate for the most part. Now that he was on a new job and even a new squadron, he figured it was as good as time as any to re-activate the sleeping hardware.
And not a moment too soon.
Upon stirring Pandora's long-range radar, a blip immediately sounded off. The small ping pulled Rodriguez's gaze over too one of the monitors showcasing a large map of the region and the general location of unidentified craft. He glanced forward, noting his formation position and back to the monitor, having just updated the blip's new position. Rodriguez wasn't urgently concerned yet with the approaching newcomer since the radar would have responded to any craft in the same fashion that was not carrying a transponder. He however did keep his eyes glued to the screen and observed the changing flight path of the plane coming up from their rear.
A few minutes later and Rodriguez then confirmed that the craft was in fact on intercept course. His heart rate began to climb with the lingering thought of an any bandit preparing to attack their formation settling in but he insisted on keeping his position regardless. He couldn't think of anyone trying to take on three aircraft by themselves nor could he think of any valid reason of doing so. Eventually, the blip came up on his short-range radar and from there, he could then properly track the unknown aircraft approaching them. By now, Rodriguez was already running a scan though he immediately noted that airspeed of the craft was more casual with no hint of hostile intent. Then again, the approaching airplane was flying at a much higher elevation; almost perfect for an aggressive dive for a strafing run.
Finally, the unspoken radio silence had been broken with the newcomer identifying themselves, or their aircraft, as Long Dive. While his powerful radio could intercept the transmission, it was clear they were addressing Roland. Roland, of course, replied and welcomed them into to formation. Rodriguez finally steadied himself and eased back, now certain that there was no longer any danger. Eventually, the scan had completed and notified him of the results, prompting Rodriguez to raise an eyebrow. The Long Dive was apparently that of an XB-35-M4, essentially a flying wing and one whose wingspan was far greater than any of the aircraft in formation. Having already networked the other two planes in formation, Pandora's computer would have been sending the data to the Iron Jackson and the Roger Dodger.
Seeing as though that Lungfirst was about to bring their aircraft from the rear and after Jimmy broadcasted their formation suggestion, Rodriguez positioned the rudder of Pandora just slightly to the left, prompting his airframe to move over, increasing the distance between him and the Iron Jackson by several meters. It was then his turn to delve in greetings, "Standby, Long Dive. I'll have your plane networked shortly."
And not a moment too soon.
Upon stirring Pandora's long-range radar, a blip immediately sounded off. The small ping pulled Rodriguez's gaze over too one of the monitors showcasing a large map of the region and the general location of unidentified craft. He glanced forward, noting his formation position and back to the monitor, having just updated the blip's new position. Rodriguez wasn't urgently concerned yet with the approaching newcomer since the radar would have responded to any craft in the same fashion that was not carrying a transponder. He however did keep his eyes glued to the screen and observed the changing flight path of the plane coming up from their rear.
A few minutes later and Rodriguez then confirmed that the craft was in fact on intercept course. His heart rate began to climb with the lingering thought of an any bandit preparing to attack their formation settling in but he insisted on keeping his position regardless. He couldn't think of anyone trying to take on three aircraft by themselves nor could he think of any valid reason of doing so. Eventually, the blip came up on his short-range radar and from there, he could then properly track the unknown aircraft approaching them. By now, Rodriguez was already running a scan though he immediately noted that airspeed of the craft was more casual with no hint of hostile intent. Then again, the approaching airplane was flying at a much higher elevation; almost perfect for an aggressive dive for a strafing run.
Finally, the unspoken radio silence had been broken with the newcomer identifying themselves, or their aircraft, as Long Dive. While his powerful radio could intercept the transmission, it was clear they were addressing Roland. Roland, of course, replied and welcomed them into to formation. Rodriguez finally steadied himself and eased back, now certain that there was no longer any danger. Eventually, the scan had completed and notified him of the results, prompting Rodriguez to raise an eyebrow. The Long Dive was apparently that of an XB-35-M4, essentially a flying wing and one whose wingspan was far greater than any of the aircraft in formation. Having already networked the other two planes in formation, Pandora's computer would have been sending the data to the Iron Jackson and the Roger Dodger.
Seeing as though that Lungfirst was about to bring their aircraft from the rear and after Jimmy broadcasted their formation suggestion, Rodriguez positioned the rudder of Pandora just slightly to the left, prompting his airframe to move over, increasing the distance between him and the Iron Jackson by several meters. It was then his turn to delve in greetings, "Standby, Long Dive. I'll have your plane networked shortly."
Despite Travis' mere protest, Felix still advised upon him to do what he could before they would eventually partake on their mission. After that, Felix left the hallway and presumably back where Zuri was resting. Travis took the moment to stare back at the memory case, eyeing the ebony mass coursing within it, contemplating what he was going to do.
Eventually reaching the lab again, Travis set the small crystalline cube table and lazily eased back into his chair and beamed at the ceiling. Emotions still churned within him. Guilt. Anger. Confusion. He was so sure and confident that the spell would have worked, perhaps more specifically and bluntly, what he was expecting to work. The reality of the matter was that the spell did its job correctly and was destroying the mysterious curse; the difference however was that the curse apparently served a different purpose and objective. It was the unknown element he had feared of running up against.
Travis clutched his face with his right hand and groaned. At the end of the day, despite the horrible outcome that could have manifested, this event was just another circumstance of trial and error. Now he had solve the new problem that stood before him.
"Fine then," Travis said has he quickly re-oriented himself and took hold of the memory case with both hands. Casting his light projection spell into the small box, a holographic image imitating that dark mass hovered above it. Lastly, he activated the Causality Scryer and adjusted the scheme to dissect the sample in its confines, "lets see what you're really made of."
Eventually reaching the lab again, Travis set the small crystalline cube table and lazily eased back into his chair and beamed at the ceiling. Emotions still churned within him. Guilt. Anger. Confusion. He was so sure and confident that the spell would have worked, perhaps more specifically and bluntly, what he was expecting to work. The reality of the matter was that the spell did its job correctly and was destroying the mysterious curse; the difference however was that the curse apparently served a different purpose and objective. It was the unknown element he had feared of running up against.
Travis clutched his face with his right hand and groaned. At the end of the day, despite the horrible outcome that could have manifested, this event was just another circumstance of trial and error. Now he had solve the new problem that stood before him.
"Fine then," Travis said has he quickly re-oriented himself and took hold of the memory case with both hands. Casting his light projection spell into the small box, a holographic image imitating that dark mass hovered above it. Lastly, he activated the Causality Scryer and adjusted the scheme to dissect the sample in its confines, "lets see what you're really made of."
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