DeviousMe

((Sleep.))

Get that sandwich out of your pie hole, maggot!

((Torn-out windows, hole in wall, same difference. ))

Scirocco did not seem amused, his hardened visage a slab of stone. He didn't hesitate even a moment.

Malak's arm shot forward, tendrils of mystic lightning lashing out at Acanous with a crack of thunder, seeking to encase the intruder in a cage of lightning that would render him helpless and easy to dispatch...

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"Now that it's powered again, feel free to try." Ken allowed himself a slight laugh, "It is an assembly though, so it might react if you get past the first layer. And yes, I'm sure the things that turned out to be too nasty and destructive to catch will figure out time travel any moment now and come after us."

The saurian then dropped his sarcastic tone, continuing, "Look, the nulltime deformer runs on dakkardim principles, and the Shades never came close. As I've said, what we're worried about right now is that one or more may have latched on when we jumped. That's why I've patrols combing every square nanometer of the hull. Oh, and your enemies of course, but that goes without saying."

"Then again..." Ken remarked in thought, "If they stay nice and quiet, I've probably got the time to fill you in on this stuff. Interested? Or would you just prefer to move along...?"

Sorry, was writing that as you posted.

Now then, let me consider your proposal...

Okay.

What? Stating my observations with little to no regard to how they might be interpreted by the observed? Um, no duh. I've been trying to get you out of your box for a while now. I know I said earlier that I know nothing, and while in a cosmic sense that might be true, I do know I've seen more of this world than you. It's just a fact. Since you won't believe me, of course, I'll leave you where you are: in your box. No offense intended, but you really do live inside your own little world. But if you're happy with that, that's cool. I'm not trying to force you out of it - just to understand why you're in it.

And no, I haven't had any luck. With any of ya. Crazy's what yalls are, that's what.

"Hm..." Ken uttered, hooded head tilting upward somewhat as the three hopped from the skiff. Though the clack of claws upon the floor plating couldn't be denied, the obvious saurian still kept his vestment such that no part of his body stood visible. Even to Energon, this must have appeared odd by now, especially since Groul hadn't had any qualms about this back at the Bastion.

His momentary consideration apparently concluded, Ken directed a short inquiry of foreign tongue at U!n'kd|m, earring a rasp in response. It seemed to have been a positive answer, however, as the saurian then commented to the hero, "Yes, it looks like we have time. To be honest, I'd expected this place to be a war zone by now, but it looks like your enemy is a bit slow to pick up on things. Oh well, can't say I'm complaining."

"And you're quite right." he followed up with confirmation of Energon's assessment, "We've narrowed it down to either the wrong time or the wrong level. Not sure which yet. The dark gateway and the nulltime deformer are integrated into one another, so it's difficult to tell if one or the other threw a fit."

"In any case, that explanation probably doesn't do you any good," Ken stated with an audible smirk, "so let me see what I can do to clarify. You already know that your universe isn't the only one around. You call other ones dimensions, we just call them worlds. Makes it easier to differentiate between other places in the multiverse and actual mathematical dimensions. Anyway, in the 15th catalogued, there's a version of Terra that's pretty unique. Or there was, before a certain someone blew it up. Now that I've been there, I can't say it was a bad idea, though."

"Long story short, it's a planet where everything's out to actively kill you - even the atmosphere." Ken chuckled in a sinister manner, "Ever had air attack you? You don't want to see that, trust me. But as I said, blown to monoatomic vapors. While it existed, however, something called a Shade lived there. Vindictive, vicious, vile, nastiest thing you ever did see. As far as we know, they've killed over five thousand other worlds. So I said to myself, 'hey, that'd make a cool weapon.' Since they're not around anymore though, getting one would be tricky. So we do research. Lots of it. Get an idea: go back in time, steal one, mess with its genetics, make more."

"In the end, bad idea of colossal proportions." Ken allowed himself a sigh, "Thought we'd covered everything, and next thing we know, they pull new stuff. Big brawl, I say 'forget this', we run like there's no tomorrow. Sadly, by that time they've already torn into our ride, and we end up here instead of where we wanted. From what I can tell though, none of them managed to hitch a ride, nobody died, and we're all a bit wiser, so I can be happy with that..."

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In addition to Jake's counterattack, Acanous likely noticed himself in a great deal more trouble than he'd bargained for when a literal tornado blew into the room.

It was a dust devil, and though small, the whirlwind stood as herald of what was to come. Its winds made contact with nothing at all, not even seeking to buffet Acanous, as he might have expected.

Instead, the sands quickly coalesced into the form of Imad Malak - and form the glare in his eyes, Scirocco wasn't at all happy to see a hero here that still drew breath...

Oh, don't you dare go there! I had a dream about that once, and let me tell you, Happyland still gives me chills.

And I don't know about you, but I certainly care. Otherwise I wouldn't be doing what I am. I'll admit, I can be a bit cold in that respect, though I'm not quite sure why. I mean, when that stupid wave wiped out all those people a year back, my first concern was that there went most of my local manual labor force - and the rest now thought I was some sort of bad omen. As Marvin woud say, "Delays, delays."

I don't know, I guess I still haven't fully adapted to this whole shmeer. Stuff from earlier's probably leaking through somewhere. I suspect the do-not-open door, but have yet to find any incriminating evidence. Point is, there are those who care. I know for a fact I'm not the only one.

As for Averick, I can see you've never met a politician. Or a diplomat. Sorry man, it looks like your box is just too small for me.

Changing lanes for a moment, that made me wonder - how connected do yalls feel you need to be? As in, are you someone who can charge on ahead alone, or do you need others to make you comfortable? When you're walking around and see another person, what do you see?

Hmm? I would do something? I mean, other than laugh?

OOC:

Well, I dunno what the Arbiters actually do, so ya got me on that one. And aye, wait it shall.

And as for 'powerplay', I more meant the doing stuff while assuming other people's characters wouldn't respond to it (unless yalls are collaborating on this, then feel free to ignore my ramblings ) but yes, that could probably use tweaking as well.

I mean, just ask yourselves when writing this stuff: if bla is yay powerful, are the villains still a threat? After all, if your guy can just wipe the floor with the Fortress' occupants, the plot here kind of goes out the airlock, wouldn't you agree?

((Whoa guys, do please watch those powerplays. This thread's got a good vibe, and I'd really hate to see it wrecked by something like this, aiight?))

Scirocco gave a sigh as Cry departed. He knew he should have stopped the infant - it was his responsibility, after all - but against his better judgment, Malak opted to have the Arbiters handle this one.

They'd probably suspend Cry for a while, which would be an inconvenience if a powerful mentalist would be useful for a certain operation, but if the undead Lieutenant showed this sort of blatant disrespect for the framework Lord Recluse had set in stone, Malak and the Arbiter Corps had no choice but to enforce it. Discipline was needed here, and the Arbiters would dispense it.

Wait...that reminded him - where were the Arbiters? Where had Tamesis and Walsh gotten to? True, Malak could always just pass the job to one of the general corps, but these two sat just about in charge of the entire facility here. If they weren't doing their jobs, then...no, that couldn't be. Walsh especially had always been so fervent and loyal.

Something was wrong.

"Seek them." his cold tone commanded to one of his nearby Mu mystics, and it didn't take long at all for Scirocco to put two and two together.

Apparently, the Sky Raiders had managed to disable the Fortress' base-wide intruder alert before they'd struck, leaving only a small section of the base aware of their presence. The internal communications to said sector had likely been jammed as well, otherwise the Arbiters and their men could've called for superior numbers to just push the attackers back out.

Now Malak was truly frustrated. Not only had Cry attacked Ernesto, but he'd also compromised the security of the entire stronghold by not informing anyone else of the Sky Raider strike. Now Scirocco had to call upon the corps. But first, he'd have to remedy the incursion.

It took only a few moments to rile the Fortress into an all-out frenzy, security teams storming toward the embattled sector in hopes of 'there being pieces left for them' when they arrived. This done, Malak relayed a short set of orders to the Arbiter Corps - they'd have a tribunal going in no time flat. Arachnos may have followed a Darwinian philosophy, but Cry had gone too far. The Arbiters would perform their function.

Scirocco, on the other hand, now had elsewhere to be...

((And I guess I'm stuck there until Acanous posts. Krazy, you're best with Arbiters; mind picking the corps up?))

Yeah, I'm fine. From my point of view, anyways. From the view of your medical science with its voodoo-possessed pills, I seem to be a certified headcase, though. Ah well, if I was sane, chances are I wouldn't like my job so much.

And no, I can't rant like Vernon. Would be fun, but even when I really get going, I'm only about halfway there. As for my post petering out, like I said, my chain of thought ran away. I had a bigger point to it all (or at least I like to think I did - I've been told I have delusions of grandeur ever now and then ), but it said, "To the escape pod!" at some point while I was typing.

Heh...I really need to upload that voice-type-thingy software to this computer here.

Actually, I did explain it a ways back. But I can see you don't want to allow that, so fine, I'm dropping the subject.

And do I think I'm wiser than humans? You bet I do. I'm sorry if you're offended by this, but humans are in general bloody crazy. I mean, you will literally kill each other over the stupidest little things. Land. Money. Religious beliefs. That's just...wow, I can't even think of a word for it. But it's not smart, that's pretty obvious, right? And I don't even want to get started on the myriad of other junk.

Now it's true, the above is a generalization, and there are a good few exceptions. Sometimes they're even crazier, but often that's a good thing. But yeah, if this isn't obvious to you, then I don't know what to say to hammer that point in.

As for we; was a typo. Meant me alone.

As for your beliefs; great. You've created rules and regulations that govern the behavior of things from your point of view, and that's great. I mean, if you didn't, you'd just muddle around in chaos all the time. But now you need to expand your horizons. Broaden your understanding. Open your minds (careful though, you don't know what might walk in ).

1+1=2=0 all at the same time, depending on the point of view. Neither answer is wrong, nor are either static and unchanging. Now yes, I concede there are absolutes - one literally ran over me not...bah, shoddy memory...a while ago. But if you lock yourselves down with these things and keep saying, "this is" instead of "this could be", well then of course it's going to look wrong to you. Because it is. And it is. And it is. And it never isn't. So from your point of view, you're quite correct, and that's wonderful. From mine, you've got a lot to see. But that's okay.

Hm, I seem to have lost my chain of thought. I wonder if something ate it. Would be amusing. But yes, points of view are good. Just don't limit yourself to one.

Hah, look at me saying that. You know, you've got a gift there. Or a curse, not sure. In any case, it's something I can't do. Go figure. Either way, don't waste it.

This is fun.

Yeah, sorry about that. Incidentally, Averick was right. I just found an absolute.

And I gotta read more of this now that the question of worshipping stuff has emerged.

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I cannot see the contradiction because no one can see the contradiction, not even you. If you could, you would point it out. But you can't, so you don't.

Sorry, that's just an absolute truth.

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I haven't? Do excuse then. As Dr. Kaba would say, here it is..or they are, in this case:

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Speaking of which, he already gave definitions and axioms in terms of 1+1=2. Thusly, 1+1=2, always, it's always right under those conditions. Therefore, it is eternal and certain.

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Absolute truth doesn't mean I say something and then it's absolutely true here, there, everywhere and with all the definitions of all the words changed and redifined.

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Absolute means that it does not change.

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I do wonder why some keep referring to others as no one, though. Are your fellow beings that insignificant to you?

But if you don't want to acknowledge negating yourself, that's fine. Just please don't push it off on me.

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I hope humanity one day rises to your level as well. Remember to get a job now, while you still know everything!

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That was uncalled for. I may not get a paycheck, but you know I have a job. And I enjoy it very much. Also, I'd appreciate if you didn't put words in my mouth. At no point did I say I knew everything.

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Why was our point of view expected to differ again? I didn't get that memo. This is supposed to be a logical discussion, your opinion doesn't mean anything. My opinion doesn't mean anything. I put my two cents in about absolutes, you've yet to counter it, only push around semantic arguments.

I'm really interested in hearing a real argument, or at least you acknowledging that absolute truth is a repeatable and dependable force pervasive throughout the known universe that operates at a predictable rate. For example, gravity, friction, mathmatics, chemical bondings at various temperatures, etc.

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Because our ways of thinking differ greatly. To simplify, you see the world in blue, we see it in red. So of course what to you is blue is red to me. Everything is relative and depends on the point of view you're looking at it from - relation of observer to observed. It is this same logic that does not allow me to acknowledge anything as absolute. Because from what I've seen, the world is not as predictable as you claim. if this is not a logical discussion to you, I really don't know what is.

Epic, just epic. Poor FF defenders still can't find any teams.

How much do I think I know? Oh come on, that's an easy one: nothing. And I dare say that doesn't sound a little high and mighty, but very high and mighty - from your point of view, of course. From mine, I think most of humanity's behaviors are downright silly, so of course I consider the potential ramifications of realizing this amusing.

As for quantum physics; partially. One can see the beginnings of these things within quantum physics, but they stretch a whole lot further. Nope, I haven't got a clue where to. I'm only up to understanding 6 1/2 of the however-many dimensions there might be. Thankfully, I know people who are further ahead there than I, and I'm allowed to ask.

And yeah, you're probably right. We are shameless. Poor OP.

EDIT: I have to say, I like Pratchett's rules of the universe. Like the Theory of Darksuckers, but better.

In one word: zilch. Since the OP's 'experiment' is a theory (which I didn't notice at the time of my first post here, remember?) it doesn't depend on absolutes. But someone started discussing, so I went with it.

And Averick, if you can't see your negation...well, than I can't help you. We'll just have to acknowledge that our points of view differ, which was to be expected anyway. Gonna be a fun day once humans wise up a bit. Or at least it will be for me.

Feh, I probably shouldn't be asking this, but I can't help it, and I won't tell if yalls won't. What do you guys think is humanity's relation to your world? As in, how much do you know, how much do you think there's left, and where do you fit into it all - you know, stuff like that.

I am trying to understand, but you keep contradicting yourself. You argue that absolute means 'it does not change'. Good. Then you argue that reations such as 1+1=2 are not subject to change. Bad - because such relations can and do change, and indeed do so all the time. And no, I do not mean their semantics.

Only if you lock down the conditions at the precise location of the original outcome can you say for certain that said outcome will never change. Since you of course can't do that, that means the outcome you get next time may well not be what you got last time. Ergo, it is subject to change, and therefore not absolute.

Energon was quite mistaken; although he may have well imagined the three to be startled at his pronunciation, in truth they hadn't even taken note.

"Actually, no." the robed saurian replied to the request for confirmation, "But my name is quite long, and I've found Ken to be quite acceptable."

In response to Energon's next remark, Ken turned to his left, looking upon U!n'kd|m with a visible confusion, "But he hasn't said any...oh! You mean Forty-Four."

The amorph didn't make a sound as Ken inquired something of it, then produced a tentacle from its 'stem' and held the tip toward the saurian, who gave a nod in response.

"Must be the losolvatt." Ken concluded, eyeing the microscopic device that floated about in the protoplasm of Forty-Four's tentacle tip, the translator no larger than a speck of dust, "We really need to upgrade to something less susceptible to pressure."

"Malfunctioning translator." he explained to Energon as they descended, "Although a human shouldn't react like that. Are you by any chance a Sun Engineer?"

Meanwhile, the un-dented hangar doors atop the Dark Rover ground open, the noise suggesting a tough and very complex locking mechanism beneath the thick armor. One could only imagine what sort of ludicrous specifications the vehicle had been built to - and the even more frightening stresses it had been subjected to.

After a few moments, the pair of doors finally slid aside, allowing view into the chamber below. To most, there wasn't much to look at, though Energon's opinion may well have differed on that matter. A ship reminiscent of a sporty trimaran stood in the hangar's center, the heavy fighter ready to launch at any given moment, and about the periphery meandered creatures of quire a few shapes and sizes, wearing (or not wearing) just as many forms of attire. Currently, they seemed engaged in transporting otherworldly cargo crates from the hangat to other sections of the Rover. The reconstruction effort stood in all ahead...

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"I say you take him up on that." Danger gave Wolffe a verbal nudge, though the Specialist didn't truly believe the man would need it, "Oh, and just out of curiosity - when the GC-I mean, Portal Corp. building was destroyed, did anyone find anything...strange underneath?"

Groul's eyes darted to his comrade, the towering draconian almost holding his breath for a moment. The answer to this question would clarify a great many things.

One way.

Or another...

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((Seriously Proj, I'd really appreciate if you cleaned up your grammar some. No offense, but your posts are still hella hard to read. ))

Scirocco's lips curled into a frigid smirk at Cry's attempt to redirect the conversation. The undead infant should have known better, but Malak simply left the topic at that.

"Then next time Ernesto surfaces in our central medical facility, I shall make sure to direct Silver Mantis to rock you to sleep instead." he told Cry, the smirk wiped from his visage once more. He'd had enough trouble getting away from that madwoman this time, and therefore harbored no desire to encounter her again for quite a while.

Malak's eyes narrowed without warning, his tone growing even colder as his face neared that of the infant, "I cannot allow this infighting to continue. A house divided cannot stand, and the same applies to Arachnos. You are but fortunate the Arbiters seem to have cast a kind eye upon you. Now, explain to me your strike at Rodriguez..."

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Ah well :P even if the absolute truths things doesn't work, it was just there as a logical limiter to the concept of this null entity. All that happens without them is that it can dictate anything and everything about ....everything...without argument. >.>

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Well, isn't that what religion tells you? At least the really big, monotheistic ones with lots of followers?

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I'm the kinda person that won't give humanity more credit than I think they really deserve, meaning my views on culture is that they are more of an arbitrary abstraction of survival and comfort seeking that simply came about due to society. As such I can't really consider humans all that far up there, realistically we have no hard evidence that places us that high up. Can we really tell what a rat's thinking when it doesn't emote, communicate, or have the same behavioral patterns as us?

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Okay, that there confuses me just a little. Did you mean a culture in general, as in anything above mere survival behavior, or did you mean human culture specifically?

And yes, there are a good many ways to determine what a being very unlike you is thinking. It's not easy at times, I'll give you that much, but it's certainly possible. However, that doesn't belong here yet, so I'll just sweep that under the proverbial rug until the time's right.

Nope, but to someone without B cones, green will look very different indeed.

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Absolute truth doesn't mean I say something and then it's absolutely true here, there, everywhere and with all the definitions of all the words changed and redifined.

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Actually, yes it does. That's what absolute means. What you are describing is a relative, or partial, absolute. A perfect example is an inertial reference frame - you can have one relative to something, but an absolute does not exist because everything in this universe is moving.

Now, about this universe's workings being temporally static...hmm, you might be right there, as I don't think local deviations factor into an observation based on a mean. Well, not within our lifetimes, anyway - or so I'd hope.

As for the definition of numbers, I wasn't demanding anything except that the possibility of such be acknowledged. Conventional mathematics will only hold under certain conditions; if these conditions are not met, it falls apart. And it wouldn't be the definitions of the numbers that are altered (although you could, I'm not sure why you would), but the surroundings that determine the result.

For example, add two pairs of atoms in your hand. Get four, right? Add two pairs of atoms in a relativistic setting, and you might get who knows how many. And that's just one example. There are more than I care to think about because the hugeness of that number would probably scare me right outta my hide. I'm just happy with the prospect that in this universe, it'll generally hold. But it's indeed very useful to know that if I hop over to another, it might not.

Hm, not sure there...'imply' and 'display' carry different meaning, at least in my opinion. Doesn't mean that I couldn't have misunderstood, of course.

As for monkeys, I don't know. I wasn't aware they could do these things. And I've got even less of a clue about the behavioral patters of dolphins. I've done my research on rats and humans, though.

But I guess the age-old wisdom that a human will not consider something until it is actually encountered still holds true. So I'll file this away until the day you run across an intelligent being with a really tiny brain or a something with a really big and complex one that runs on pure survival instinct. Should happen sometime, assuming no suicide of the species.

Still, I have to say I'm surprised that people here still can't see there's no such thing as an absolte, something that is valid no matter what. I mean, you even wrote:

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Speaking of which, he already gave definitions and axioms in terms of 1+1=2. Thusly, 1+1=2, always, it's always right under those conditions. Therefore, it is eternal and certain.

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Under those conditions. Not under all. The conclusion of certainty is erronenous, not to mention self-contradicting. Quoad erat demonstrandum.

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I don't see why rats wouldn't have "fuel" and we do, the concept of a soul or some such here is one we can neither perceive or prove.

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That's why I said fuel, and not soul. And I'm not saying rats don't have it for a fact, but that they do not show any evidence of thus. At the same time, their biological building blocks are the same as a human's, only yours are scaled up in size. Since size does not equal power, and yet humans are still sentient, that suggests a human has something a rat does not: fuel.

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Aside, rats have displayed the ability to learn beyond basic instinct, as for culture, wouldn't that really weigh on what you define as culture? They have life cycles and have communal interactions even if they are different from ours. Not even our own race is consistent in cultural design and behaviors, not even all groups have culture as you may find in major civilizations, so to make such a remark is more a display of personal bias.

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Ouch, I thought we were having a logical discussion here, not a personal attack. Furthermore, I did not use the term civilization. You grabbed that one up from somewhere. A culture and a civilization are very different things.

A culture is anything that goes beyond solely survival of the species. In beings with auditory senses, a good indicator of culture is generally music, but it can really be just about anything that does not directly and intrinsically affect the biological survival of the species. Rats display no such thing - they are concerned with nothing beyond ensuring the survival of their species, and every behavior of a rat directly reflects this.

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On the math thing, wouldn't that be introducing separate variables that then wouldn't be an actual pure remark of "2+2=4"? That would kinda be going against my prior stated them being directly the absolute concept of "2" in about a blunt and simple as it can be, same with 4 and +/=.

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Yes, it would be - which is exactly why it is not an absolute truth. It will only hold if certain conditions are present. If they are not present, 2+2=4 can be as false as 1+1=10, even though both can be true. They just aren't true under all conditions, and therefore are not absolute.

((Um...I'm confused now. Why would they be startled? Also, U!n'kd|m is the hunched dude. Forty-Four of Six is the amorph. And I meant to Energon, as in the point of view of a human. Or are you telling me he can't look at a rainbow/listen to music anymore? ))

As would figure, however, another factor came into play before the scout drones could even make it out of the corridor. Though wide, space was still at a premium in this hallway, and one of the Arachnos soldiers accidentally brushed past the odd circuits of the wall panel in the dead end as he busied himself setting up his partition of equipment - and in doing so, touched the contact plate.

Before anyone could react, a transparent field of pale-blue energy projected itself across the corridor, severing the hallway at a distance from the dead end precisely equal to its width, resulting in a sealed-off area that resembled a bent square. Whoever had been in this area with the soldier was now of course trapped behind the field.

Whatever the Arachnos man had set off, however, didn't stop there. The ceiling above the contained area gave a click and a clack, then split into a complex pattern of interlocking, curved beams, each of which quickly ground into either the far or side walls, effectively eliminating the ceiling in less than two second.

Then the partition began to rise. It was en elevator.

Viewed from below, in the unsealed area of corridor, the mechanism wasn't much more than a pillar that conformed to the shape of its shaft, resulting in a solid wall as the energy field disappeared into the ceiling. However, this also meant no one could be crushed by the elevator platform descending once more once it had reached its apex.

Undeniably, this happened quite soon, the ascent only lasting a few seconds, after which the mechanism's motion arrested, depositing the Arachnos soldier and any who'd accompanied him on the level above.

And what a level it was.

The chamber seemed to encompass the tower's entire upper partition; large, cylindrical, and at least as tall was it was wide, if not even further. Darkness prevailed, as aside from the luminescent circuits of other panels strewn about here and there, no sources of illumination could be seen. However, this resulted not from absence of such, but rather deactivation.

From what could be gleamed in the gloom, the room sat mostly empty, a large pillar in its center rising to perhaps five or so meters in height, which incidentally was also its width. Aside from circuit panels, only large areas of some manner of scripture hung present on the walls, the same language as on the fiery beacons and monolith that stood outside on the docking platform.

And upon closer inspection, it would of course be found - a panel along the exterior wall alongside the elevator here contained an identical contact plate to the one below. Giving this a touch would send the platform back down...

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"Toy, I'm hurt!" Acid loudly chuckled back to the robotic mastermind in response to his remark, "Don't you remember...oh right, never mind!"

The reptilian cursed his shoddy memory once again. Of course the guy wouldn't have remembered this suit from whence they'd first met. After all, for Toy, his first meeting with the Khelari had been Acid's second with the sentient mechanoid - and he hadn't employed any of this stuff since said former first contact.

Well then, let's see if this sticks.

Delta 5, however, was feeling in no way cooperative. Using this minute distraction of its opponent to its advantage, the Titan managed to ignite a foot thruster just as the energetic grapple released, causing the mechanoid's trajectory to shift. Instead of slamming into the waiting arms of Randall Grey - a place that really didn't look fun - the Delta unit impacted just slightly above, ricocheting off the man's granite armor like a bullet gone wrong, and rather involuntarily charting a new course through the air, as evidenced by its madly flailing limbs.

Toy of course had the capability to compensate for this, his lightning arc striking true, propelling the Titan through the air even faster, not to mention heavily damaging the thing. The resulting ballistic arc of great velocity sent the Delta into the ground just behind the downed Drop Ship, causing the vessel to jitter slightly, though sadly not leap into the air.

Dangit...that would've been cool.

Ascend, however, the craft certainly did, and by none other than the force of Delta 5. Though visibly scorched and battered, the mechanoid wasn't finished yet. It had deployed plasma-wreathed blades from its wrists, stabbed them into the Drop Ship's hull, deactivated the plasma fields, and now lifted the whole vessel into the air like a forklift possessed by the Borg - or some-such techno-force with demonic likeness, anyway.

Throwing the thing at Acid did not come to be, however. Not half a second later, the Delta unit slumped to its knees, then bowled over forward, the ship still grasped in its 'hands' slamming to ground with thunderous applause.

Behind the downed Titan stood the reptilian, and this time it was the suit's right arm that had become a cannon. Outstretched toward where Delta 5's back had been before its collapse, the muzzle still glowed with venomous green - and the hissing hole of crystal in the back of the mechanoid showed quite visibly what had just happened.

Acid was a sucker for dramatics, but he wasn't stupid. When he saw an opening, he took it, and teleporting behind his opponent as it focused on something else had felt like the most natural thing in the world right then. Toy's assault had been the key element, forcing the Delta unit to the brink, and the Khelari wasn't foolish enough not to take advantage of this.

"Sorry, but time demands." the reptilian remarked as his right arm returned to just that from its cannon mode. He then turned to Grey, inquiring of him, "Everyone okay?"

It was a valid question. After all, the Drop Ship currently blocked his right to Toy, and he had no idea where the Warmaster had ended up either. More than likely, however, Cher'tak had managed to loose himself when Delta 5 had lifted the craft. If not, he'd probably be somewhat dazed right now, but not necessarily harmed.

Before anyone could answer, however, things went catastrophically awry. Scrounging together a last gasp attack, the Delta slumped onto its side and loosed a quad plasma blast at Acid's back, striking true and sending the reptilian into the closest wall like a luminous rocket. Rock and metal alike broke apart with cacophonous violence, the collision tossing a cloud of dust and debris into the impromptu arena.

Acid's battered form detached from the jagged impression his impact had created, several cracks of green iridescence plainly visible across the suit's entire backside. The reptilian hit the ground on hands and knees in instinct, even as his conscious mind still puzzled together what had just happened.

OVERCHARGE SHUTDOWN FAILURE. CONTAINMENT BREACH IMMINENT.

Launching to his feet, the Khelari swore in an alien tongue, then cast a nervous glance at Grey before trying to run in the first direction they weren't - as if he expected to get more than two steps out of it; a rather depressing thought.

Aw snap...this is gonna hurt.

Acid vanished in a violent detonation of luminescent green energy, the explosion cloud intermixed with crystal fragments of the same hue. However, these disintegrated rather quickly, absorbed by the discharge within fractions of a second. Thankfully at least, the detonation didn't grow any larger than a few meters in diameter.

The explosion lasted only a few moments, and as it dissipated into thin air, the resulting sight was likely quite the surprise for all about - including Acid, who still stood there facing towards the stone-armored Randall, arms brought up crosswise ahead of his saurian visage.

The armorsuit was gone, lying in fragments about the reptilian's feet, and his outfit had been shredded and tattered in a good many places (though as some said, this look was all the rage right now), but the Khelari himself didn't look any worse for the wear - and he seemed quite happy about this as he opened his eyes to cast a surprised glance around.

"Huh..." he remarked, lowering his arms again, then letting his hands pad gradually down his body to convince himself he wasn't hallucinating; that everything was indeed still where it should be, "That didn't hurt half as much as I thought it would. Awesome."

Upon reaching his back, however, the reptilian's slowly building smirk disappeared almost instantaneously. With a slight gargle came the words, "I was wrong..."

With that, Acid fell forward without so much as a warning, his eyes rolling back within their sockets as his body hit the ground. As he lay there motionless, clearly out cold, the cause now stood for all to see: a large collection of luminescent green crystals had embedded themselves into the scaleless hide of the reptilian's back...

--------------------

Solid Shot may have wished to reconsider his target, as the pair of battle drones present of course threw themselves into the brawl as well. While they couldn't just jump away from their position at the pillars, they certainly could take single shots of carefully aimed fire to support the elite Gunslinger and his experienced comrades.

This action of course meant they'd let Mini Bot pass unheeded, but it soon became apparent just why. Though the assault bot had been bowled over by the impacts of Combat Toy's missile barrage, it was far from offline. One of the mechanoid's back plates may have been unattached, but that certainly didn't render the machine non-functional. A check-up could be performed quite reasonably with systems powered up.

Thus being, Mini Bot may have been quite surprised as one of the mechanoid's arm cannons came up to greet it with force...

--------------------

Rikti Warship
The Jade Moon

On the bridge of the Vanguard-controlled discus, Acid's explanation of the astrogation console abruptly stopped in its tracks. A shudder ran through the reptilian's body, the twitch only more pronounced due to his sudden silence.

"Something's wrong..." the Khelari whispered, bolting over to the Colonel the Lady Grey had placed in charge of the warship. With swift words at normal volume, the reptilian left the bride to the woman, then shot to the nearest door fast as he could.

"Mr. Wallace, I may need a copilot." he stopped briefly at an intercom, speaking the phrase into the in-ship lines with great haste, "No time for questions, meet me in Hangar 2 ASAP..."