FalloutJack

✧ Adventure Must Continue ✧

Having been asked to work her magic, Tatter soon healed Lucius to a reasonable amount, a proper fortitude in which he could function well enough, or at least be expected not to die at the hands of the next stiff breeze that played through the Cathedral...which could get awfully drafty, let's be honest. Daryl's tower had heating, thanks to the efforts of the Homunculi, but they might all be busy right now with their patrols. Now, Lucius had been kind of re-introducing himself in the state of a dead man before, but as he addressed Tatter afterwards, he had far more vigor. Star gave him a smile and clapped him on the back.

"That's the spirit! Never say die!"

THUMP! Lucius hit the floor. It was no more harmful than being shoved to a floor by a normal person, but he basically fell forwars there due to a more playful action. The gargoyle looked down sheepishly with an "Umm...oops.", realizing that she really should be more careful there, and not let her enthusiasm get the best of her. So, all in all, things were going well right now for Star, at least until two other Guardians showed up. Sagi and Xirphi. What a pair... This was like keeping her and Garlock together. Better that we don't, right? Well, maybe, maybe not. Because while the tall monstrosity wanted to immediately bring that huge and impressive axe down on Lucius right off - Star moving to block that by hand with Stone Skin activating - Xirphi was holding him back. Tatter got up in Sagi's face to argue him down, which was probably going to work well enough because she was following orders too. Still, it looked to be necessary to explain that here to Xirphi, and if Star got Xirphi to listen, Xirphi would get Sagi to listen...in case he didn't now.

"I brought him back because that's part of my orders. Lord Volaris said that anyone who compromises us who isn't eliminated has to be taken here to the Cathedral. Well, I might've let 'em go if they weren't so close, if Garlock hadn't been standing right there, and if they hadn't all been taking off to the sky at once. There's an entire people here who could fly over at any time. With that stuff going on, I had to prevent anyone leaving. Garlock helped after, but he was clearly playing around, as usual. And now, he's decided to go be king, because this guy is the king of Dremoria. I suppose that's a useful thing to do, since we can interrogate this one while Gar goes off to rule, but I don't like that cat. I don't like what he does."

Sorry, she sort of went off-topic there, but it boils down to her orders being to capture anyone she doesn't kill for information, and this man survived. So, with that having been done, we now return to that matter, as Tatter addressed her about contacting Volaris. She got as far as "Sure, I'd like th-" before Tatter froze, having received a message from Helena, who was calling for reinforcements. This was surprising. Given the relative ease in which the men of Dremoria had folded, you'd think that might be the standard, but guess again.

"North or East? Ah, I don't remember who's up there. Garlock headed the other way, so he's no help. I can fly there pretty fast. Don't tell her I'm coming, though! Mind-Reader!"

She said this last part as she took a run to leap off into the sky again at high speed...utterly forgetting about Lucius and leaving him to the mercy of whatever creature decided to claim him. All in all, not a great day for King Lucius.

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King Garlock, however, was feeling fine. He noted that whatever presence was around him had sent off something to somewhere, potentially for the express purpose of sending information back to base. If this was what he suspected it was, then there was no real harm in such occurring. Really, he needed a moment alone with whoever it was in order to properly determine that. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be anytime soon that he could expect so, at least not without a kingly demand for everyone to bugger off. Perhaps that was in order... He managed to keep those observing him from noticing anything out of the ordinary. Good. Garlock behaved as though his strength had returned. Not perfectly, but reasonably. He sat up, clenched his fist as though to test its strength, appeared moderately satisfied, and said...

"It serves, for now. I will find another if my strength does not persevere alone."

But it probably would, FYI. Bwa ha ha ha haaa... Now, he saw that there was but the slave healer and the captain from before, who informed him that word had been sent to a pair of princes, Desmond and Dante, presumably about developments in the area. He nodded at this.

"Good. Now then, I have orders. The soldiers in this area will be placed on alert, but hold to the wall, keeping watch for more possible shadow demons. No one is to be left wandering to be caught unawares. If there are any others, I want to know it, and I want any that there are to break their teeth on our fortifications and feel the crushing blow of Dremoria."

He then gestured to Alskyra.

"Take him away to be put to use elsewhere. I wish a moment to myself to contemplate the meaning of the demon's presence in the first place, whether it belonged to anyone or if it was pure happenstance. When I emerge, I want a fresh sword at my side and a map of the area to determine the point of origin."

And only AFTER he was to be found alone in the tent, where no one could be heard to be nearby with his cat senses, would Garlock then say...

"Now that that is out of the way, would you mind coming out? I wish to confirm who it is that followed me in. I think you'll find this very interesting."

Even if he didn't know precisely whom it was he was dealing with, he had a fairly good idea. The nose had been close enough to where the interloper was once he lay down for his heals. It DID smell familiar to him. It smelled of one of the Guardians, and of the Cathedral. Things could get very fun around here...

Metroid: Final Protocol

@SimpleWriter It's a small group and the only post order rule in reality is that everyone should post at least once before I do 'next round', and that you can do multiple posts if it doesn't seem like too much action at once. Not much reason to delay, really.

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

You may be wondering why he was being quiet now. The answer was simple, really. When Isaac ran out of words to say, he just stopped talking. Conversation is a funny thing. Many will just keep going and going on about stuff, even when they're not actually saying much of anything. That was one thing Isaac preferred: To be meaningful in word and deed. Don't boast and bluster, alright? If you oversell yourself, you'll soon find yourself in a position you're unable to pay for. This whole time, those damn recruitment people and trainers were trying to push him into things. He didn't need this. He wasn't suppose to be a part of this war. Isaac was fighting for the freedom of his own person from the orders that put him here. For that act, the Imperials were going to pay for this. The only ray of sunshine here was that he had managed to have an effect on the people around him when he spoke. Paloma was one person who didn't need his help, and he even said to her, "Yeah, never lose that disposition, alright?" while agreeing with Jean. They needed her to keep people feeling fine. Maybe even he would lighten up. No, we don't mean Middleton. That guy is incurable. We mean Isaac himself. So far, he wasn't in the best of moods, and he was just putting on a good face. Hopefully overtime...that would change for the better. Because right now, he had good reason to feel out of it - and a little angry - especially now that he was a bit quiet.

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They threw him in the cell because they didn't want even the slightest chance of him running off, not when they believed they had a gold mine of a man to send to war. He wasn't even allowed to go home to get annything because the recruiter thought he might run off or that his family would shield him. Well, truth be told, he might've been right, but that didn't mean they had to do it like this. He was bbehind the bars as his older brother argued the very same reasons that he had, and that it was inhuman to keep a man from his home and his family, even if he HAD been drafted, right up until his departure for training. In the end, they were allowed to ask him what he wanted from home and they'd deliver it to him. He was to be transferred to the camp tomorrow morning, when a car could come get him. That night, Isaac felt really low, and angry, and probably a bunch of other bits and pieces of emotion that he couldn't resolve. Even fear, just a little bit of fear. He went to the barred window and he actually howled. It was an impulsive and stupid thing, and the anyone in earshot inside the building immediately got pissed off, but then after that...

He received a reply.

"Oh my god... Rikes..."

If you have to ask how he knows, you haven't been paying attention. Isaac was stunned. It was something he had been trying to do for years, but they never did until now. His wolves, the ones he'd been raising to pass on to other owners, the ones led by Rikes, the alpha. He'd gotten them domestic and useable for people, but he in turn also felt connected to them. He wanted their acknowledgement, as strange as it sounded. He admired their solidarity as a pack. And after the sad farewell to his family that he'd gotten through cell bars, this was something he needed badly. It made him think that they'd really remember him, and that actually made him tear up.

Isaac really hoped that this would be the only sadness he'd feel in this war, because he knew times were gonna be tough on him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to reality, Isaac noticed that there was an irritable Sergeant pulling and shoving people in their cramped trench now. He first noticed when he shoved Britta, and let out sort of a low growl when he did that. This wasn't necessary. These people knew what they were suppose to do, and they knew that the next few minutes or hours were going to be hell. Being in perfect formation wasn't going to help that. He moved his attention back to the front once he was gone, and in time to hear Jean talking to a Private who was feeling the fear and loathing in Las Vegas of the war. The soldier was practically pleading with his fellow Lance to somehow get him away from having to go over the top. Damn... This was what they might end up as in a few missions, themselves. Isaac had to speak now. Jean had run out of words, so it was his turn.

"I know you don't wanna go, but they're going to make us all do it, anyway. Think of it this way: Us greenhorns need you because of your experience to show us the way. I know you don't want us to die anymore than you do yourself, so help us look after each other."

It was at that point that he heard someone say to can the chatter. Isaac looked over his shoulder and said "Just doing my job, Sarge.", followed by a low mutter of "You ass.". It was the best he could do. Fear was in them all, and while the rest of them had the fear of not knowing just how bad this could be, this guy had the burden OF knowledge, so he was in a different kind of hell.

So now, Lieutenant Middleton was explaining how Hill 58 was an all-important strategic point to capture annd that they needed to combat the Imperials with everything they've got for their freedom and whatnow. Really, it was a nice speech there, but Isaac pulled out the little flaw in the whole thing, and it was this: Hill 58 implied that there were ALOT of hills to climb, and that told him that this speech - or others like it - was gonna be used for all of them. Somehow, it's what he felt was going on. What happened next, though... That required no subtext. The Lieutenant now made a public display of...let's call it his official policy. He was one of those 'Victory or death' types. He'd heard of these. You hear about people who refuse to retreat, regroup, and reconsider their options for battle. They end up either slaughtered to a man or nearly slaughtered and victorious, but either way the body count was too high.

This policy was that a soldier - not even a veteran who was use to any of this, but a young girl, in this case - was to kill anyone who attempted to return to the trenches for ANY reason. What...the hell? Not only was the Lieutenant turning rifles - Well, one rifle - on them, but he placed this burden on a girl who did NOT look like she was up for this. They were trained to fight The Enemy. Federation soldiers were not The Enemy. This simple conflict might end up crushing her. Isaac would almost say that this was the sort of thing that you would preferrably put upon HIM, except that he wouldn't want to do it either! This was insane! It practically made Middleton a traitor! You can't shoot your own people! It's not even friendly fire! It's just murder! Isaac watched as the girl - Lucia, her name was - was crying already, and she hadn't even taken the first shot. He felt bad for her, and he couldn't take his eyes off until they needed his attention up front.

It was time.

Bayonets and other things were drawn. Those with machine guns didn't have bayonets. They just didn't work with such machines, especially when you considered the fold-out legs attached to the barrel. Isaac noticed a bunch of modified weapons in the hands of other people. They seemed to have more reach than his trench knife, but were they better, overall? Maybe he'd find out later. He heard Jean speak up, working to encourage people in a last-minute sort of fashion. He appreciated the effort.

"Remember your training and remember supporting each other! You'll need it!"

Now, came the whistles. For some, this resounding noise was already a climbing dreadful thing that would probably haunt them all in their sleep before the day was done. Isaac didn't like the sound of it either, but he wouldn't have time, really, to contemplate it now. The moment had come, the order to CHARGE was given. Rain was everywhere. This was gonna be rough, or rather slippery. God dammit, work at the farm was hard enough in the rain. Why the hell did they have to WAR in the rain?! There was this roar of people as the battle charge commenced. Why did they do that? Wouldn't it actually creep the enemy out more if they were strangely quiet? No time for that now, approaching the ladder- Dammit! He had to duck low because someone just got shot and almost fell on him as he was reaching for the rung.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

He made it over the top. It was a barrage of bullets in no particular direction, because they had plenty of targets to choose from. Isaac got moving, using a sort of low run he preferred to do when hauling heavy. You may not know, but when you're carrying a load on your back or something, moving lower naturally made you more able to move. It was balances and such. You may still be slowed down, but you'll be able to move, as in properly. Besides, keeping low was what you were suppose to do in these situations. Isaac also thought keenly of what ELSE he was suppose to do. He braced himself as he fired ahead of people and in the direction of their opposition when he saw an opening here and there. The enemy needed something to think about, bullets to feel panicked about. Even if it was a bit far, he needed to do this for the sake of his people, especially for the Shocktroopers who had to get in close. If he found himself exposed, he was taking a dive to the ground, getting ready to try and fire on anyone looking over the enemy trench, provided he could see anyone. Damn rain... He was gonna get people out of this alive, and if that meant sacrificing the lives of many Imperials so he could give his 'superiors' the earful they deserved for this bullshit, then so be it.

Metroid: Final Protocol

@SimpleWriter You're at a place with choices and darkness filled with who-knows-what. Weigh in, already.

Metroid: Final Protocol

'Hectic week' seemed descriptive enough to me.

Metroid: Final Protocol

Well, I am, but I guess the others are busy. I think Cas is trying to calm down from a hectic week.

✧ Adventure Must Continue ✧

She was wondering just what kept anyone, when who should appear but Tatter, with a quick entrance and a funny quip. Star chuckled at this, saying "I am feeling better, honest.". The demon did, after all, feel kind of bad about her earlier outburst way further down into the dark recesses of the the Cathedral. It was never her intention to shout at Volaris like that. It was just that the Supreme Ones were the greatest, the wisest, and the most powerful of Yggdrasil. It didn't seem possible that nearly all of them could be consumed with the world as their domain passed through to this place. It shook her belief, for a while. These people were important to her, and now most of them were gone. That'll make anybody's day HELL, but at least her mood had improved. A bit of violence HAD helped, to be honest.

Now, she was about to explain about her return with a prisoner, since Tatter had mentioned that she would need a good reason to break stealth. Star had one, but the Ubergeist interrupted both her AND Lucius, who was attempting to make himself known. The reason, though... That was a good one. She noticed kind of the same problem that Tatter did, actually.

"Yeah, he does look pretty bad, doesn't he? If you could make him more stable, but maybe leave the wings hurt? I don't want to have to chase if he tries to leave. That could get irritating."

Not difficult, just annoying. He couldn't get away, but if he started running, she was gonna sic the Manticores on him. Number-15 was suppose to be especially frisky right now. Could end up chewing him quite badly...

"Oh! Uhh... Anyway, the reason I came back is because I got some royalty. He is King Lucius of...ummm..."

Well, this was awkward. Star looked at Lucius, her expression one of puzzlement.

"Sorry, where do you come from again?"

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Dremoria... That was the name of the place, this country. He was disguised as King Lucius of Dremoria, and he was SO badass right now. The guards were eating this up. Either that, or they were very good liars. Either way, it would all become extremely entertaining. The great wall loomed before them, and as the gate opened, Garlock could see what all the bustle he had been hearing beyond it was in reality. It was an outpost, a big camp to guard the wall. This was border guard stuff, no doubt with patrols going up and down the length of it to the next base and the next. Are you getting all this down, shadow? It was all going to be important later...for as long as it was intact.

They all went to a medical tent, no doubt to get him fixed up. Good. He wanted to rock some mobility in this form, at least. Walking was only fun when he knew he was goofing off. This...was still fun and games, but it was a different kind. It wa the kind with some stakes on the table and something to lose. True, they had more to lose, but HE wanted to ponce about as King. Can't do that if you don't play the game. So saying, he still needed to play like he was an aging warlord trying to maintain his strength throughout now, as the captain got an obvious slave to get to work as he was placed upon a cot. Alskyra would have no trouble applying medicine or healing magic, dependent on what he had to work with. Since Garlock was not undead, he would not be hurt by actual healing power. However, since his health as at full, he would have to fake his recovery by making his form look like it was gonna mend itself according to his methods. Right now, of course, he looked like he was at the limits of a man, the state of a man who's been through hell and needed a fairly-sizable remedy.

"If that is all there is, then let it commence. Make quick your work, healer. I have much to do, and I don't intend to lay dormant for long."

Metroid: Final Protocol

Remember, you're in a dark stairwell now. Do please weigh in on the dark, the enemy, the situation, and all thae since you're not currently being attacked.

Metroid: Final Protocol

Zen's plan, Cassius' order - it didn't matter. They were headed for the nearest stairwell in an organized fashion. As they progressed, the question of actually destroying the X and of ammo was raised by the dragon. Not even pausing in his duty to destroy, the android replied thusly...

"The free-floating X are, at best, inconvenienced by our current weaponry, due to their higher resistance to attack. They are barely able to bring any harm to us, in turn, due to our protective fields. The problem of ammunition may be solved one of two ways: First, that an armory will carry either the stores to re-arm your weapon or entire new weapons to use instead. Or second, that power is restored to allow the use of a Recharge Station to instantly process new ammunition for all current weapons."

Indeed. Armories could contain power packs and energy cells of compatible with various weapons, or solid ammo containers for your various other weapons. More importantly, it was an armory, so it would probably have weapons and ammo available in accordance with whatever was stored here. And as for Recharge Stations, well... They were fully-functional synthesizers of ANY applicable ammo, regardless of the weapons. It scanned 'em, processed the materials, and supplied them to full, including spare ammo containers that you might have that were deplated. Isn't modern technology wonderful?

Speaking of decent tech, Amber's specimen gathering yielded some results. That is, the AI of her suit began to analyze the contents of her container for her and displayed what it found within the limits of a mobile scanner's abilities. To wit, it found that the rather disgusting material the Zombies were composed of was degraded organic compounds originating from human flesh. The cells had been either dead or dying, the human having been killed in some fashion, and this was what had been produced once the human body had begun taking on X. The 'melty' appearance and the zombie-like status was therefore due to a 'Garbage in, garbage out' effect. Already dead tissues forced into animation via regenerative properties will not become a human form. It will become some horrifying mutant. No doubt, this was the effect of having first been killed outright by whatever busted through here, and THEN having the X inhabit it.

Still no definite clue as to what could have done this. Only that whatever it was had obviously worked fast and hard, and that it had not gone downstairs, apparently. The door to the stairs opened as one of them hit the release. Like all such places, the doors would close after them and anything not built for the opening and shutting of doors - or for the destruction of them - would not be able to. This led them to the stairwell and cut the zombies off. It was dark down here...

Zen scanned around, his red eyes casting a glow for a limited range. He then deployed a pair of lights from within his shoulders. He didn't need them, but others might. There could still be things in the darkness, and it could be pitch black down here, save for the occasional emergency light. Certainly, there were no bunker lights on right now. They might've taken damage or ran out of their emergency power. Now, between Amber and Zen's scans and information of this place, it seemed like the armory was one floor below, then storage, then engineering, then the drill mechanism. The floor they were currently on was reception security, with living quarters above, then command and their lookout equipment. As stated, the Armory would have a Recharge Station, but it wouldn't operate right now, leaving only stored equipment available. Storage would be...just about anything they would need here that wasn't weaponry. Living provisions, spare parts and equipment, etc. Engineering was, of course, their actual goal. How they wanted to proceed was up to them.

Zen reported no immediate threat on the stairwell. So, it's time for a command decision. Where to?

Metroid: Final Protocol

Okay, keep moving.