---INITIATING BOOT-UP SEQUENCE FR CODE CC19
---BOOT-UP SEQUENCE COMPLETE---
---CODENAME: SHADOWPRICE---
---DESIGNATION: ALEXANDER CALLAHAN---
---FR CODE CC19---
---WARNING: ENVIRONMENT UNDER HIGH ALERT. PROCEED WITH CAUTION, SHADOWPRICE---
Waking from a dead sleep, the black military uniformed exo dropped out of a cryogenics pod, landing on his hands and feet as he shook off the frost. Standing quickly, he quickly assessed the metal insides of the UNN Thunder-born. Bright red lights cycled as alarms blared, voices of screaming and guns firing echoed through the halls, and in front of him, a black-manned parapalegic woman lay before him, barely hanging onto a console that was connected to his cryopod, her wheelchair nowhere to be found. He recognized her and leaped to her aid.
"Katherine!" Alex yelled and helped her up. "Alex...test subject seven...escaped...started to infect the ship...caused a catastrophic failure in the..." She coughed up blood onto Alex's uniform and leaned against him, winded. Alex looked around, trying to find an exit. "Don't worry, Katherine. We'll get out of here." He hefted her into his arms and ran down the hall, getting against the wall and sliding as he came up to a corner. He peered around to find bodies and blood everywhere. Even though blood coated it, he saw directions on the wall pointing to the escape pods. He rounded the corner and sprinted down the halls a way before a lurch in the ship caused him to stop cold and activate his mag boots to keep from falling over with Katherine in his arms. His heads up eye display activated.
---WARNING: UNN THUNDER-BORN ENGINES MALFUNCTION---
---WARNING: CRASH COURSE WITH ACHERON SET---
---TIME UNTIL IMPACT: SEVEN MINUTES---
He disabled the mag boots and started to run again, but several explosions rocked the ship and the wall he was next to exploded into shrapnel and gore as he and Katherine were flung into a nearby wall. He lost grip of her as the gravity started to fail and another explosion slammed him into a second wall. "ALEEEX!" She yelled as she disappeared into the fire. He screamed as he flung in the opposite direction. "KATHERINE!" As he flew down the hall at an extreme speed, his caught a girder that had fallen through the ceiling and he was out cold.
...
...
---INITIATING REBOOT SEQUENCE---
---PLEASE STAND BY...---
---PLEASE STAND BY...---
He came to staring into the bulk of the ship on top of him. He shook his head and pushed against the metal as hard as he could but it would not budge. He felt around for an edge to grab and found one, yanking on it and pulling himself through the debris and pushing on various bits of the ship before finding a loose point and pushing his way out of the wreckage. His clothing was in tatters, barely a shred of clothing on him. He had awoken just after the UNN Thunder-born had crashed, fire and melting hull scattered everywhere in the crater. He yelled at the top of his mettalic lungs "KATHERIIIIIIINE!" he started to rip through the wreckage, trying to find something, some faint hope that she yet lived. He searched for what seemed like forever before finding a charred skeleton gripping something, a medallion, protected in a small energy field. Silver in material with a wolf's head on it. He knelt down to the skeleton and gripped the hand. It was hers.
---WARNING: REACTOR CORE OF UNN THUNDER-BORN MELTDOWN IMMINENT---
---WARNING: ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE WILL BE RELEASED---
---PROJECTED TERAVOLTAGE: 2.9 MILLION---
---MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE: 2 KILOMETERS---
---CORE MELT DOWN IN 20...19...18...---
Alex took the medallion and started to sprint through the wreckage, bounding over all sorts of metal and debris, but there was no chance of him being anywhere near fast enough. He fell forward and smashed into the ground, creating a skid in the dirt and metal as he slid to a stop, a blue field erupted from the center of the wreckage, reaching out from the crater and into the wastes around. Alex couldn't move.
---WA..ING: PRI.ARY POWER DEP.....---
---BAC.UP POWER DEPLET..---
---FOR.. HIBERNATION INITIATED---
---CONDU..ING MEMORY WIPE .O PRES.RVE THUN..R-BORN ASSETS---
---MEM... WIPE COM....E---
---ENT..... HIBERNATION...PROJ..TED TIME U..IL COMP..TION: UNKNOWN---
---Goodnight, Alex.---
...............................................................................
"A dreamless sleep...darkness. shadow. There was nothing in the hibernation for the exo. Even for you, Alex..." Katherine looked down to him on the bed that was struggling to support his weight. She sat in a wheelchair before him, a white labcoat covering all but her pale hands. Black slacks and black loafers with a black sweater. She had steel gray eyes and black hair that reached down to her back. She smiled. "We have state of the art technology, cloaking technology that outmatches anything in the universe, darkmatter engines, and a reactor who's only equal is that of a seven thousand megaton electronically enhanced nuclear warhead, yet we can't give the Exo dreams." Alex chuckled. "And can't give you legs, apparently." "I KNOW RIGHT?!" She huffed then sighed. "Hibernation is your body's last resort. If you're hit by something that would drain you entirely, you'll be able to recharge using the darkmatter in your heart...but I don't know when you'll get up. It's unpredictable..." "Then I'll have to make sure to karate chop anybody that could make something so powerful, right, Katherine?" She chuckled and smiled. "You're a good man, Alex."
__________
...
...
...
---INITIATING BOOTUP SEQUENCE---
---ERRRRRORERRRRROR---
---...Initiating Katherine.EXE---
---reviving memories...scanning...ERROR: LARGE CORRUPTION---
---TIME ELAPSED: UNKNOWN VARIABLE
---Your code name is: Shadowprice. No matter how the shadow cloaks your steps and silences your enemies, there is a price we must all pay.---
---Your designated name at birth is: Alexander Callahan. Alex for short. Try not to forget, dummy.---
---I planted this in you just in case the Hibernation kicked in. The world around you will be completely different. The dust that my bones will become will have long since faded from history by the time you awake. Chances are that the disease would have wiped out the humans on Acheron, or has been wiped out by the humans. Either way, survive, Alex. That's all you can do. Survive. I love you. Love: Ka-----CORRUPTED---
Snapping awake in what seemed to be a metal chamber, Alex looked around. "Where am I...?" He wondered aloud. "Why...why can't I remember anything? Damn..." He placed a hand on his forehead and ran it over his metal scalp and to the back of his head. He heard noises from outside the room and instinct kicked in as he dashed to a wall. Sliding along it, he found a door handle and jiggled it. Voices outside commented on the door. "Da fuck was that? That room is sealed from within, Sam..." "Fuck yeah it is...uh...should we tell the boss?" Their question would not be answered as Alex opened the door to see two men in relatively nice winter clothing. "Give me your clothing." He said to them. "Oh Fuck! A metal man! Shoot it!" They both held up rifles and started to shoot Alex, but the projectiles just bounced off. "Not a smart move...."
Stepping out of the bandit base, wearing only the nicest clothing he could find, a nice high collared coat, Alex walked into the snow, intending to explore this world and do as the mysterious message in his head commanded.
Survive.
____________
Several decades later....
"HANDS IN THE AIR, ON YOUR KNEES, NOW! DROP THE SACK!"
"Relax, relax gentlemen..." Alex stood at the gate of the ranger compound, a bloody sack on the ground next to him. Rifle lasers from all directions painted him a bright red. "I simply have a friend I wish to properly introduce to your boss...."
---BOOT-UP SEQUENCE COMPLETE---
---CODENAME: SHADOWPRICE---
---DESIGNATION: ALEXANDER CALLAHAN---
---FR CODE CC19---
---WARNING: ENVIRONMENT UNDER HIGH ALERT. PROCEED WITH CAUTION, SHADOWPRICE---
Waking from a dead sleep, the black military uniformed exo dropped out of a cryogenics pod, landing on his hands and feet as he shook off the frost. Standing quickly, he quickly assessed the metal insides of the UNN Thunder-born. Bright red lights cycled as alarms blared, voices of screaming and guns firing echoed through the halls, and in front of him, a black-manned parapalegic woman lay before him, barely hanging onto a console that was connected to his cryopod, her wheelchair nowhere to be found. He recognized her and leaped to her aid.
"Katherine!" Alex yelled and helped her up. "Alex...test subject seven...escaped...started to infect the ship...caused a catastrophic failure in the..." She coughed up blood onto Alex's uniform and leaned against him, winded. Alex looked around, trying to find an exit. "Don't worry, Katherine. We'll get out of here." He hefted her into his arms and ran down the hall, getting against the wall and sliding as he came up to a corner. He peered around to find bodies and blood everywhere. Even though blood coated it, he saw directions on the wall pointing to the escape pods. He rounded the corner and sprinted down the halls a way before a lurch in the ship caused him to stop cold and activate his mag boots to keep from falling over with Katherine in his arms. His heads up eye display activated.
---WARNING: UNN THUNDER-BORN ENGINES MALFUNCTION---
---WARNING: CRASH COURSE WITH ACHERON SET---
---TIME UNTIL IMPACT: SEVEN MINUTES---
He disabled the mag boots and started to run again, but several explosions rocked the ship and the wall he was next to exploded into shrapnel and gore as he and Katherine were flung into a nearby wall. He lost grip of her as the gravity started to fail and another explosion slammed him into a second wall. "ALEEEX!" She yelled as she disappeared into the fire. He screamed as he flung in the opposite direction. "KATHERINE!" As he flew down the hall at an extreme speed, his caught a girder that had fallen through the ceiling and he was out cold.
...
...
---INITIATING REBOOT SEQUENCE---
---PLEASE STAND BY...---
---PLEASE STAND BY...---
He came to staring into the bulk of the ship on top of him. He shook his head and pushed against the metal as hard as he could but it would not budge. He felt around for an edge to grab and found one, yanking on it and pulling himself through the debris and pushing on various bits of the ship before finding a loose point and pushing his way out of the wreckage. His clothing was in tatters, barely a shred of clothing on him. He had awoken just after the UNN Thunder-born had crashed, fire and melting hull scattered everywhere in the crater. He yelled at the top of his mettalic lungs "KATHERIIIIIIINE!" he started to rip through the wreckage, trying to find something, some faint hope that she yet lived. He searched for what seemed like forever before finding a charred skeleton gripping something, a medallion, protected in a small energy field. Silver in material with a wolf's head on it. He knelt down to the skeleton and gripped the hand. It was hers.
---WARNING: REACTOR CORE OF UNN THUNDER-BORN MELTDOWN IMMINENT---
---WARNING: ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE WILL BE RELEASED---
---PROJECTED TERAVOLTAGE: 2.9 MILLION---
---MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE: 2 KILOMETERS---
---CORE MELT DOWN IN 20...19...18...---
Alex took the medallion and started to sprint through the wreckage, bounding over all sorts of metal and debris, but there was no chance of him being anywhere near fast enough. He fell forward and smashed into the ground, creating a skid in the dirt and metal as he slid to a stop, a blue field erupted from the center of the wreckage, reaching out from the crater and into the wastes around. Alex couldn't move.
---WA..ING: PRI.ARY POWER DEP.....---
---BAC.UP POWER DEPLET..---
---FOR.. HIBERNATION INITIATED---
---CONDU..ING MEMORY WIPE .O PRES.RVE THUN..R-BORN ASSETS---
---MEM... WIPE COM....E---
---ENT..... HIBERNATION...PROJ..TED TIME U..IL COMP..TION: UNKNOWN---
---Goodnight, Alex.---
...............................................................................
"A dreamless sleep...darkness. shadow. There was nothing in the hibernation for the exo. Even for you, Alex..." Katherine looked down to him on the bed that was struggling to support his weight. She sat in a wheelchair before him, a white labcoat covering all but her pale hands. Black slacks and black loafers with a black sweater. She had steel gray eyes and black hair that reached down to her back. She smiled. "We have state of the art technology, cloaking technology that outmatches anything in the universe, darkmatter engines, and a reactor who's only equal is that of a seven thousand megaton electronically enhanced nuclear warhead, yet we can't give the Exo dreams." Alex chuckled. "And can't give you legs, apparently." "I KNOW RIGHT?!" She huffed then sighed. "Hibernation is your body's last resort. If you're hit by something that would drain you entirely, you'll be able to recharge using the darkmatter in your heart...but I don't know when you'll get up. It's unpredictable..." "Then I'll have to make sure to karate chop anybody that could make something so powerful, right, Katherine?" She chuckled and smiled. "You're a good man, Alex."
__________
...
...
...
---INITIATING BOOTUP SEQUENCE---
---ERRRRRORERRRRROR---
---...Initiating Katherine.EXE---
---reviving memories...scanning...ERROR: LARGE CORRUPTION---
---TIME ELAPSED: UNKNOWN VARIABLE
---Your code name is: Shadowprice. No matter how the shadow cloaks your steps and silences your enemies, there is a price we must all pay.---
---Your designated name at birth is: Alexander Callahan. Alex for short. Try not to forget, dummy.---
---I planted this in you just in case the Hibernation kicked in. The world around you will be completely different. The dust that my bones will become will have long since faded from history by the time you awake. Chances are that the disease would have wiped out the humans on Acheron, or has been wiped out by the humans. Either way, survive, Alex. That's all you can do. Survive. I love you. Love: Ka-----CORRUPTED---
Snapping awake in what seemed to be a metal chamber, Alex looked around. "Where am I...?" He wondered aloud. "Why...why can't I remember anything? Damn..." He placed a hand on his forehead and ran it over his metal scalp and to the back of his head. He heard noises from outside the room and instinct kicked in as he dashed to a wall. Sliding along it, he found a door handle and jiggled it. Voices outside commented on the door. "Da fuck was that? That room is sealed from within, Sam..." "Fuck yeah it is...uh...should we tell the boss?" Their question would not be answered as Alex opened the door to see two men in relatively nice winter clothing. "Give me your clothing." He said to them. "Oh Fuck! A metal man! Shoot it!" They both held up rifles and started to shoot Alex, but the projectiles just bounced off. "Not a smart move...."
Stepping out of the bandit base, wearing only the nicest clothing he could find, a nice high collared coat, Alex walked into the snow, intending to explore this world and do as the mysterious message in his head commanded.
Survive.
____________
Several decades later....
"HANDS IN THE AIR, ON YOUR KNEES, NOW! DROP THE SACK!"
"Relax, relax gentlemen..." Alex stood at the gate of the ranger compound, a bloody sack on the ground next to him. Rifle lasers from all directions painted him a bright red. "I simply have a friend I wish to properly introduce to your boss...."