FloatingFatMan

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*sits in the corner and plays with his dice*

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*Re-reads a couple of times*

I'm SOOO glad you said 'dice' there...





What? WHAT?




I thought he was going to say Dell!!!

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What is this? Battle of the Gadgets?

Nerds.

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Takes one to know one!

Carefull, or I'll bring my laptop with me as well!

I have a PDA phone too!! Not quite as new and shiny as Ghosts as he got a newer model, but I have some games on it!

And TomTom mobile, which I shall be trusting to get me to Bristol alongside my flashgit Bluetooth GPS unit..

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And that then leaves it a bit late to actually tell anyone I'm coming because you'll all be away from computers, as will I...

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Well, I'm sure one or two of us doesn't mind PMing you our mobile number so you can send a text or something... If you want it, let me know and I'll PM you mine.

If you'd rather not, the restaurant is the Beefeater attached to the Haymarket Travel Inn.

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But you're not as ripped off as the Irish.

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Yeah, but you found the solution to that little problem and moved to England! Smart man!

Indeed.. we concluded that a large 10oz steak here, is 283 grams... In Holland, a medium is 250 and a large 300...

Plus, we probably pay more too!

Wouldn't it be cheaper on the train mate?

So far we have the following.

FFM
ShadowGhost
Ravenswing
Aisla
Workmaker
Jennybear
Doc T
Hikari-Hime
Jedi-and
Max
Quilla
Zortel
Gideon

These are unconfirmed for dinner:

Silver Weasel
Stasis
Guinevere +1


Please people, if I've missed you out, or you're unconfirmed, we need to know asap or we're going to end up in a chippy... I'm happy to phone the Beefeater and book once we have confirmed numbers...

So... Do we have proper confirmed numbers yet, and has anyone tried phoning the Beefeater?

If you can put up with being surrounded by a bunch of carnivores, I'm sure we can put up with a couple of carrots!

Oh, Jedi's having trouble logging in to the forum, but he's coming too, and likes Steak.

Max, he'd like you to get in touch with him so you can co-ordinate meeting on the train.

Yay Hiki!!! Mucho congrats and Miss Ellie's tentacles are waiting!!!

She's next btw...

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Wordy's post is the absolute truth of the situation

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Mooooo?



<blam!>


<sizzle>


<Munch>

Nuff said?

Hey guys! Apparently the travel inn we're staying at also has a Beefeater restaurant!

Hmm.. You lot STILL here? Damn.. I need a bigger gun..

Right folks! We have 15 days left, and we need to know exactly WHO is coming and what types of food you'd like.. We did come to a tentative decision earlier than everyone likes steak?

We're at about 20 people I think but we need hard numbers NOW!

So...

Me and Jitze - We both like steak!

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The Rangers are here to stay!
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

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*Get's his shotgun*

Wanna bet?

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Grats from "Lina Subverse"!



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A Slayers fan!!! Yay!!

Oh, and Edge... Gratz and all that, but PACK IT IN!!!

http://www.comicexpo.net is what you're looking for.

There's a lot of backstory behind Ellie's PB. The biggest part being most of it was destroyed last year, leaving just a small vestige of it left. It's surfacing during this rescue was part of a greater backstory, and clues to this rest in the story as well.

Thanks for the comments though!

At the edge of Liberty town, in Founders Falls, the group of heroes slowly faded into view and Ellie collapsed to the ground, loosing her hold on the others as the glow from her powers winked out abruptly. Behind them, deep in Hutchinson Park, a bright light was fading as a huge cloud of oily smoke billowed into the night sky, and a deep rumbling tremor made the very ground tremble with the shockwave, before it faded away.

Inago stood, awestruck, as the devastation became clear, “Dou shita no…”

Kneeling quickly at her side, he checked Ellie for any injuries. “I think she’s OK Jess-Chan, she’s awake, but pretty groggy.”

Worry creased Jess’s face as she looked down at her lover. Still holding tight to Jo, she looked quickly at Inago, “Help her up could you? We need to get Jo somewhere safe.”

With a nod, Inago bent down and carefully helped Ellie to her feet, Then Jess muttered a spell of teleportation, and the heroes vanished in a flash of light.

******************************************

A short time later, the heroes arrived at the nearest entrance to Mileena’s fortress; the apartment building in Founders she’d recently purchased. Opening the magical doorway, Inago stepped through, helping Ellie, and Jess followed still carrying Jo.

Once inside, the door sealed itself shut behind them and Inago led them towards Yoko’s quarters. Hearing the noise of their approach, the door opened and Yoko looked out. As she saw the state of the heroes, her eyes widened with shock, until her gaze brought her to Jess and the unconscious form of Jo in her arms.

With a small scream, she dived out the room and ran to the tired group, “Jo! Oh my god Jo! What happened?”

Jess nodded towards the bedroom door, “Let me put her down first, and we’ll explain everything.” Moving to the door, she nudged it open wider with her foot and entered the room, moving to the bed and laying Jo down carefully. As she touched the bed, Jo whimpered and curled into a foetal ball, shivering violently.

Reaching for the blanket, Jess quickly covered Jo, tucking her in, and sat beside her, her hand resting on Jo’s arm. As she did so, Yoko sat on the edge of the bed and hugged Jo. Looking up at Jess, she demanded to know what had happened, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Before she answered, Jess turned to gesture to Inago to place Ellie in the bed next to Jo, and cover her as well. As soon as he had done so, Ellie fell into a deep sleep, utterly spent. Checking she wasn’t going to fall from the bed, he then slipped from the room, muttering something about getting a bowl of water to clean her up.

Eyes widening at the state Ellie seemed to be in, Yoko again demanded to know what had happened to all of them. As Jess began to explain, her expression changed from one of worry, to anger! Why hadn’t they called on her to help? If they had, Jo might not be in this state! As her voice began to raise, her temper flaring, Jess placed her hand on Yoko’s knee and stilled her with a single word, “Time.”

Stopping her tirade, Yoko glared at Jess, “Time? What do you mean time?”

Sighing, Jess carefully explained to Yoko that there just hadn’t been time to call her. If they’d waited even the few minutes necessary to call her, they may never have found Jo again. Glaring, but finally accepting Jess’s words, Yoko glanced over at Ellie, “What’s wrong with her? Why’s she in such a state?”

Looking worriedly over at where Ellie lay, Jess saw that Inago had returned and was sat with a bowl of water and a cloth, and cleaning the blood and grime from her face. “I… I’m not sure… Something happened to her. She somehow got us all out of there alive, and destroyed the entire base. Whatever it was she did, it seems to have completely drained her.”

“Is she gonna be OK?”

“I think so… She doesn’t seem hurt, just exhausted. It’s probably best to let her sleep for now.” Turning her attention back to Jo, Jess stroked her hair gently. “Yoko, there’s something else you need to know. Quanta is gone…”

Yoko frowned, “Gone? What do you mean gone? She can’t be gone, she’s part of Jo!”

Shaking her head in sympathy, Jess looked Yoko in the eyes, “They must have hit her with dozens of quantum array blasts. Her bond with Quanta has been shattered, I don’t know where she’s gone, but she’s not within Jo anymore.”

“Wh… what does that mean… For her, for us?”

“I’m not completely sure… Normally, when a Kheldian and the host choose to separate, both will retain the memories of the other, but not the abilities. But being forced out that way… Well, I’m worried about Quanta. We didn’t find any trace of her.”

“We should call a doctor or something!”

“For what? Physically, Jo’s fine. This has affected her at a far deeper level that anything any human doctors could do. What we need, is Quanta.”

Tears leaked from Yoko’s eyes as she held Jo tight, “Find her Jess, please? Do everything you can, just… Find her!”

Nodding, Jess rose slowly from the bed and left the room, intending to call Sunstorm. As she exited the room, she almost bumped into Mileena, who had heard the disturbance and was coming to investigate. Giving her a hurried explanation as to what had happened; Jess carried on to the magic portal and left the fortress so that she could call Sunstorm on her cell phone.

Mileena stood at the entrance to Yoko’s room for a moment, watching Jess depart, before pushing the door open and stepping into the room. Taking in the situation in a glance; Ellie sleeping and Jo seemingly unconscious and shivering. She immediately used her magic to increase the temperature in the room, realising that without her symbiont; Jo was probably suffering the effects of cold. Then, moving over to Ellie, she bent down to examine her carefully.

After a few minutes of study, she gestured for Inago to move to one side, and lifted her from the bed, “She desperately needs a source of energy. I’m taking her to the baths, please stay with Yoko and Jo and get them anything they need, Kyo.”

Inago nodded as Milly left the room with Ellie, heading towards the healing baths, “Hai, Milly-haha.”

After she had left, Inago turned back to Yoko and Jo, “Yoko-Chan, anything I can get you? Tea, snacks?”

Yoko looked up at Inago as she held Jo tight, “N… No, nothing Kyo, thanks.” Returning her attention back to Jo, Yoko held her even tighter, rocking her gently as she did so.

Kyo sighed and stood to leave the room. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

As he neared the exit on his way to the kitchen, it glowed briefly as it admitted Jess, “Jess-Chan! Any news on Jo-Chan’s Kheldian?”

Jess looked at Inago, the worry clear on her face, “She’s been injured, but is safe up on the mother ship. Sunstorm was pretty frantic, demanding to know what on earth had happened.”

“Did you tell him?”

Jess considered her talk with Sunstorm for a moment, before replying, “I told him some of it. The rest I said would have to wait until the morning. He wasn’t very happy.”

Inago looked down and frowned, muttering something in Japanese, then looked back up at Jess, “I’m going to get something to eat… Milly-haha has taken Ellie-Chan to the baths and Yoko-Chan is still with Jo-Chan. I’ll be back in a minute, okay?”

Jess smiled and nodded at Inago, “Alright Kyo, see you in a little while.”

Inago nodded back to Jess, then turned and headed down the corridor. As he left, Jess sighed and headed towards Yoko’s room. Outside the door, she paused briefly then looked further down the corridor, considering going to the baths to see Ellie and Mileena. After a moment’s hesitation, she came to a decision and pushed open the bedroom door, slipping quietly inside.

Inside the room, Yoko was still holding Jo and rocking her gently back and forth, as one would rock an injured child. Her face softening, Jess walked to Yoko and placed a hand on her shoulder. Yoko glanced up at Jess, then down at her hand, and smiled briefly. Then, placing her own hand over Jess’s, she nodded appreciatively before turning back to Jo, rocking her in her arms once more.

In the cellblock, all was quiet. Moving quickly from cell to cell, they checked each one until they found what they were looking for on the lower level, Jo.

Jess stepped forwards and cast a spell to create a crushing field of force under the door. As the door groaned under the strain, Ellie stepped forward and grasped it by the barred window. Muscles rippling under her fur, she heaved, and with both the strain of the crushing field and the lateral forces applied by Ellie, the reinforced door gave way with a shriek of tortured steel.

As Ellie threw the door aside, Jess dispelled the crushing field and Inago rushed through the door to Jo’s side. “Jo-Chan! Chikushoo!”

Following Inago, Jess and Ellie stepped through the door and quickly moved to her side. Kneeling quickly beside her, Jess checked Jo’s vital signs. After a few moments, she heaved a sigh of relief. “Physically, she’s OK I think… Just knocked out; but… Quanta… she’s lost quanta…”

Behind her, Ellie started to curse in Kheldian. Raising her voice, she started yelling almost intelligibly and blasted a smoking hole in the side of the cell wall. Getting to her feet, Jess turned to face her lover, “Ellie! ELLIE!”

Seeing she was having no effect, she took a deep breath, “Mikoshi!”

Immediately, Ellie stopped and turned to face Jess, her angry expression slowly softening. “You have realised at last then, Shokushu?”

Flushing visibly at the mention of her Kheldian partner, Jess fired off a quick question, “How long have you been here?”

“Since the fight began. Ellie’s restrictions stop her from battling efficiently, I am not so restricted, nor is the feline, Mogs. He too is here, and has been enjoying the fight immensely

“Where’s Ellie? I want to talk to her!”

Ellie, or rather, Mikoshi, shook her head, “She is sleeping. When this is over, she will awake, not before.”

Frowning, Jess studied Mikoshi. A part of her knew this being, but he seemed different, harsher than her Kheldian memories indicated. Certainly, he’d never been such a ferocious fighter…

Frowning, Jess looked the figure of her fiancé over. “How can you be here? Voyd destroyed you… Well, most of you anyway.”

“Ellie’s essence has been reformed many times since then Shokushu, and with each reformation, a little of me is restored. I am still not as I once was, I can only appear like this at times of extreme stress, but I grow stronger each time Ellie falls in battle.”

“And your intentions?”

Smiling, Mikoshi reached a hand towards Jess, palm upwards. “Have no fear Shokushu, I will never try to harm Ellie, or anyone she cares for. Far from it, for I too care for you all.”

Confused, Inago looked from Ellie to Jess and back again, somewhat frustrated that once again, no-one was explaining to him what the hell was happening. Muttering his annoyance, he turned to leave the cell, and froze; they were not alone.

“Uh… Guys… Heads up…”

Whirling around to look through the door, Jess’s eyes widened as she took in the sight of dozens upon dozens of enemy troops, and at the front, battered and clutching a shattered arm, stood Langdon.

Spitting blood, Langdon snarled, his face a mask of hatred. “How touching, but it’s time for you to pay the price for what you’ve done.” Nodding to his troops, a detachment of six sappers knelt and unslung their rifles, taking aim at the trio.

“The ‘Cockroach Kid’ is dead, but you women… You’re gonna die real slow… We’re gonna have some fun with you first, especially you, witch!” As he spoke, a group of 4 Hercules titans powered their weapons, taking aim at Inago.

Ellie moved swiftly to the rear of the cell, and bent down to pick up Jo; then deposited her gently in Jess’s arms. Looking into the eyes of her lover, Jess nodded in understanding; they were going to die here. “I’m sorry love, looks like we’re going to miss our wedding.”

Ellie smiled and slowly shook her head. “Ellie’s story is not yet ended Shokushu; do you trust me?”

Jess glanced at Inago and Jo, then looked once more at Langdon and his troops; finally, she nodded. “I trust you.”

“Then both of you, take my hands.” Ellie reached her hands out to Jess and Inago, and as they took a hand each, she turned to face the assembled enemy troops. “You will not receive satisfaction here this day Malta, nor any other day. All you will receive is your just rewards for what you have done.”

Langdon snarled, and called for his men to open fire. As the hail of energy weapons, missiles, grenade and bullets streamed into the cell, Mikoshi focused her power, and the group of heroes partly faded from view. The wave of destruction passed through them, only to obliterate the rear wall of the cell.

The group of heroes floated gently from the ground and drifted slowly through the outer walls of the cell, as if they were ghosts. Ellie’s body began to glow brightly as Mikoshi focussed her power further, and the enemy troops held their hands in front of their eyes, trying to block the glare. Finally, with a sudden surge of power, there was only light.

(( Hope you're enjoying the story so far... Fifth and final part tomorrow! ))

Cause it makes for too big an thread, and last time I did it, people moaned.

Meanwhile, Ellie and Inago had entered a large cavern. As they carefully advanced, they spotted a large group of Malta agents ahead, including a Hercules Titan. Grabbing Ellie’s hand, Inago pulled her back for a hurried discussion. “Ellie-Chan, can you take that mech?”

A small smile crept onto Ellie’s face and she nodded slowly, “That I can little one.”

Inago looked at her closely, puzzled by the odd change in her speech, “…uh, OK. You take the mech then, I’ll concentrate on the sapper. Then we’ll take down whatever’s nearest, right?”

Ellie nodded slowly, the glow in her eyes flaring ever brighter. Then, stepping back from Inago, energy rippled over her body and the ground trembled as she transformed to Kurukt, the White Dwarf. Inago hopped backwards, startled at her sudden transformation, “Jeez, warn a guy when you’re going to do that, will you?”

With an almost disdainful gesture, Ellie turned to face the Malta agents; then Inago heard a single word in his mind, “Go!”

At that, Ellie vanished in a burst of light and energy, only to reappear behind the Hercules titan, and immediately slam her massive claws into its back.

With a wild yell of “Banzai!”, Inago leapt after her, ploughing into the surprised group of agents, and headed directly for the sapper. As he slammed into the sapper agent, crippling him with a kick to the solar plexus, Ellie roared with rage and slammed her massive foot into the ground, channelling a huge burst of energy through the floor and knocked the herc and the other agents to the ground.

As the herc went down, she doubled her fists and delivered a massive hammer blow to the central chassis of the mech, smashing through its outer casing. Quickly, she continued her assault and ripped through the damaged area to the machinery inside. Grasping a claws worth of components, she ripped them free and the mech fell limp, the whine of its servo’s fading as she severed the connections to its power plant.

Turning from the downed mech, she saw Inago finishing with the sapper and immediately moving to take down the gunslinger. Grunting with confidence at his prowess, she turned to face an operations engineer, just as he armed a turret and leapt away from the hail of bullets that slammed into Ellie’s armoured hide.

Inago turned at the sound of the turret opening fire, just as the gunslinger he was fighting dropped to the ground, unconscious. “Ellie-Chan!” Coiling his powerful legs, he leapt over Ellie as she was driven back by the hail of bullets. Landing lightly behind the turret, he aimed a crippling axe kick at it, smashing it with a single blow. With a loud blast, the turret exploded, throwing Inago back to crash painfully into the wall.

Roaring in rage, Ellie dropped from the dwarf form, powering her shields as she did so, and summoned her photon seekers to take care of the last of the enemy as she rushed to Inago’s side. Humming loudly, the three seekers darted towards the last group of Malta and detonated, throwing their bodies in all directions. One slammed into a wall, straight into an alarm signal. Instantly, a loud klaxon blared into life, accompanied by a synthesised voice “Intruder Alert! All forces to ready stations! Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!”

Ellie swore as she knelt by Inago’s still form. Placing her hands to his head and chest, she concentrated and a pulse of healing energy flowed from her hands and into his body. With a loud gasp, Inago’s eyes snapped open, “Itai! What the hell hit me?”

Helping Inago to his feet, Ellie spoke, “You forgot Inago, turrets explode when damaged. Please be more careful in future. Now, the alarm has been raised so we must proceed faster.” Turning her head to look down the corridor, Ellie sniffed. “This way, I smell Jo.”

Swearing in Japanese, Inago nodded and the both headed deeper into the complex, Ellie following a familiar scent.

***********************************************

Back in the control room, Jess cursed as the alarm started to sound. She turned away from the now unconscious forms of Langdon and Harding and headed to the control console. Looking quickly over the myriad array of controls, she swore softly. “Dammit Ellie, where are you when I need you?”

Sighing deeply, she reached into her magic pouch and fished out one of her few admissions to technomagic; a small device, a mixture of scrying tablet and what could only be described as something resembling a star trek tricorder. Muttering the spell to activate it, she passed it over the controls, watching the runes form on its screen as it scanned the equipment it was passed over.

Finally, the devices’ screen glowed green as it identified the control to shut down the alarm. Reaching out to the identified control, Jess hit the switch and the klaxon died. Sighing in relief, she reset her device to scan the bases computer system for information on Jo’s whereabouts.

Images flickered over its screen and then finally, a view of a security cell appeared. Crumpled in the corner, seemingly unconscious, lay Jo. Jess quickly called up the location of the cell and called to Ellie through their bond. “Ellie, I’ve found her. She’s held in the security cells in the southernmost cave system. I’m going to wipe their systems here and meet you there.”

“We are on our way.” Came the reply.

Frowning slightly at the odd way Ellie had phrased her reply, Jess set her scrying device on top of the computer console, and muttered another spell. Immediately, the device began to glow a deep red as it began to access and wipe the mainframe, storing a copy of the data as it went. A few seconds later, a low chime came from the device as it finished its work, and the lights in the entire complex went out, the hum of the ventilation system stopping as all power in the base was cut off.

A few seconds later, emergency lighting flickered on, then steadied into a dim red glow. Making sure the two bosses were still out cold, Jess turned and left the control centre, picking up her scrying pad as she left and returned it to her pouch. Then she turned invisible as she headed through the tunnel leading to the detention cells.

***********************************************

Ellie and Inago paused as the lights went out around them. Muttering a curse, Inago shielded his eyes from the bright glow surrounding Ellie, “Hey light bulb, hit the dimmer switch will ya?”

Ellie frowned at Inago, then the glow surrounding her faded out, leaving only her eyes glowing brightly, lighting the tunnel. Then the emergency lighting system kicked into life.

“Looks like Jess-Chan has taken out the base control systems, that’s good!”

Ellie nodded, “She has located Jo, in the southernmost caves, just around this corner. She will join us in a moment.”

Nodding, Inago replied, “We’d better wait here for her.”

Ellie didn’t reply, but instead sat on the floor, crossing her legs and closing her eyes. As they waited, Inago looked worriedly at Ellie; something had obviously happened, she was acting so strangely! But what?

A few minutes later, Inago’s keen hearing picked up a soft footfall, and Jess faded into view. “You two OK?”

Inago nodded at Jess, “I’m fine, Ellie-Chan though… She’s acting a bit weird.”

Jess frowned and moved next to Ellie, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Ellie?”

At her touch, Ellie rose to her feet in a single fluid motion, “Come, we must hurry; Jo needs us.”

After a second of observing Ellie, Jess nodded, “You’re right, let’s finish this.”

Moving to Ellie’s side, the three stepped into the final chamber before the cellblock. At the back of the room, stood another Hercules titan, and a large group of both Malta and Crey operatives.

The gunslinger at the front of the group spotted them immediately, “There they are! Open fire, we can’t let them have the woman!”

Unhitching his rifle, the sapper immediately took aim and fired a blast at Jess, in virtually the same motion; she muttered a quick incantation and raised her hands. As the sapper beam reached her, a dispersion bubble sprang into being around the group. The beam slammed into it and was deflected away in a wild coruscation of energy.

As the beam was deflected, both Inago and Ellie leapt into battle. Inago reached the gunslinger scant seconds before Ellie, and with a spinning kick to the wrist, disarmed him. As the kick landed, there was an audible crunch and the gunslinger screeched and dropped to his knees, clutching his shattered wrist in agony.

Ellie charged forwards, her face a mask of fury, and as she leapt over Inago, she transformed with a huge surge of energy into the form of Mefnanim, the Bright Nova. As her almost squid-like form slowed above the group of villains, a huge surge of energy rippled from her form and a blast of energy smashed into the centre of the group, scattering them like pins. Then, with a twitch of her tail, multiple bolts of energy fired into the still downed villains, knocking many of them senseless. As some of them tried to regain their footing, she fired further bolts of energy into them, disabling two more, before shifting back to human form and ploughing into those remaining, a feral snarl on her lips.

Jess paused for a second, astounded at Ellie’s ferocity, before shifting her attention to the Cryo Tank that was taking a bead on her position. Quickly summoning her singularity, she bid it move forward between her and the tank just as he fired. Quickly, the singularity dashed forwards and absorbed the blast of ice intended for Jess, then it cast a hold against the tank, lifting him into the air and holding him harmless as it increased gravity around him in a crushing field of force.

Inago, meanwhile, was busy dealing with the two Voltaic Tanks that had decided to remove him from the equation. As one fired a blast of electricity at him, he ducked and swept the legs of the other out from under him. With a loud clatter of armour against the stone floor of the cavern, the tank crashed into the floor and Inago was upon him in a second, aiming a crippling axe kick at the mans head before leaping off, arms outstretched, right into the gut of the second tank.

Catching hold of the tankers arms as he barrelled into him, Inago swung him over his shoulder the moment his feet hit the ground, using the momentum from his leap. As he arced over Inago’s head, Inago executed a back-flip and rammed his feet straight to the tankers gut, slamming him into the ceiling of the cave and putting him out of commission.

Dropping to his feet in a half crouch, he swivelled just in time to see Jess taking out a couple of tactical operatives. “Jess-Chan! Everything good?”

Trying to catch her breath after having been kicked in the stomach, Jess nodded, “Wh… where’s Ellie?”

As she spoke, an ear splitting scream of rage rattled the very walls of the chamber. Ellie had engaged the Hercules titan in head on combat, and this time, without the advantage of surprise. Taking a direct hit from a salvo of missiles, she staggered back, but dug her feet into the ground, tearing a long furrow as the missiles battered her backwards. Spitting blood and with energy flaring wildly, she leapt at the mech, energy claws fully extended, and tore into it.

Seconds later, a large explosion rocked the room, staggering Jess and Inago, as the herc exploded. As the blast echoed through the chamber, a bright ball of light streaked past Jess and slammed into the wall, leaving an appreciable crater, and the light flickered out. Rushing over to the smoking hole, a horrified look on her face, Jess looked inside.

Inside, Ellie was trying to get to her feet. Smoke was rising from her singed fur as the armour coating hung in tatters about her. Blood was flowing freely from a cut in her forehead and soot caked her face.

Coughing and spitting blood, Ellie clambered from the hole in the wall, Jess helping her. As she climbed back to the floor of the chamber, a bright green glow surrounded her, and the cut to her head sealed itself.

Jess, worried for her lover, fussed around her, checking for further injuries, “Ellie, are you alright? What the hell do you think you were doing, taking that thing on alone!? You could have been killed!”

Taking hold of Jess’s arms for a moment to still her fussing, Ellie looked her in the eye, “I did what needed to be done, and I am fine. Come, Jo needs us.”

Nodding at Inago, she stepped away from Jess and moved to the rear of the chamber, to the cellblock, leaving both of them with stunned expressions on their faces. Glancing at each other, as if to say “What the hell?”, they quietly followed her.

Well, the fight was long and hard, but the Free Clockwork of Dark Astoria won the day! They battled hard and fast, not giving an inch, and were joined by the respected police robot, Ulfsark! Who was convinced the PCPD crackdown on the clocks was illegal. Another non-clock rallied to help the little machines, Sylpheed!

((In other words, we kicked bottom!! The cops were made up of 99% level 50 characters, with all their SO's and far hight compliment of insps. The clocks were 99% made up of level 10 or lower characters with their TO's and small number of insps. All players were exempted down to level 5, but still, the cops had the advantage.

End result, they were OWNED!!! We just had too many end drainers and rad debuffers against a team made mostly of blasters!!
))

Inside the tunnel, all was quiet. As Ellie took a few steps inside, she heard the sound of first Jess, then Inago, dropping into the tunnel behind her. Silently, the trio advanced through the dank tunnel.

After almost 15 minutes of walking, the tunnel began to open out and signs of occupation could be seen ahead. Being extra silent now, Jess motioned for the two to hold back a moment and faded from sight, turning herself invisible so she could safely check the area ahead.

A few moments later, Jess reappeared and spoke in hushed tones, “There’s a group of 4 Crey about 50 yards ahead, and 2 Malta operatives, one of them a sapper.”

Inago narrowed his eyes, “Any quantum weapons?”

“Not that I could sense.”

Inago thought for a moment as he considered different tactics, “Jess-Chan… Ellie-Chan and I can take this group easily enough; can you scout ahead and try to locate Jo-Chan?”

Jess considered this for a moment, “Are you sure?”

Inago nodded, explaining that with that many opponents, three of them fighting in such close quarters would be a mistake.

Reluctantly agreeing, Jess hugged the two of them, pausing to kiss Ellie on the cheek, then stepped back and disappeared from view once more. “Good luck, give me two minutes to get clear, OK?”

As the two nodded, Jess slipped further up the tunnel, her magic softening her footfalls into inaudibility. Once she reached the group of villains, she held her breath and slipped through a gap between two of the Crey agents, and moved around the corner and into the base proper.

********************************

Ellie and Inago meanwhile, were preparing themselves for battle. Taking a deep breath, Ellie focused her energies to increase her defensive powers, and a shield bubble flickered into view around her. It had been awhile since she’d done this…

Inago was busy stretching his legs, making sure he was loose enough so that he didn’t suffer any strain and mess up the entire fight. After a moment, he nodded to Ellie and they both moved slowly down the tunnel.

Stopping just short of the corner around which their foe lay in wait, Ellie glanced at Inago and mouthed a single word, “Now!”

With a yell, the both sprang around the corner and charged the surprised agents.

Heading straight for the soldier with the sapper rifle, Ellie leapt into the air in front of him, and brought both fists down in a punishing blow to the head, knocking the man senseless. As he dropped his rifle, she slammed her foot into it and smashed it to pieces; then she delivered a crippling punch to his sternum and he dropped to the ground, gasping for breath and out of the fight.

Inago meanwhile, had charged straight into two Crey agents, taking one out with a vicious kick to the crotch. As he landed and rounded on the other, the agent pulled a handgun from his holster and started to draw a bead on the young hero. Swiftly leaping up, Inago performed a perfect backwards somersault and his toe hit the agent in the chin, knocking him out cold before he could fire his weapon.

As the second Crey agent dropped, Ellie was finishing the other Malta operative, firing a burst of energy directly into his chest and stunning him to unconsciousness. Pivoting on her heel, she stood next to Inago and they both faced their next two opponents, a Crisis Unit, and a Power Tank.

In unison, the two leapt at the Crey agents, Inago going for the Crisis Unit whilst Ellie tackled the Tank. Leaping again into the air, Ellie formed her hands into a pile driver and, with energy coruscating around her, slammed her fists into the Tanks armour, cracking it open. Staggering back, he raised his hand and fired a powerful blast of energy direct at Ellie’s Head.

Ellie didn’t have time to duck and the blast caught her straight in the face. Her shield blocked most of the blast, but what got through blasted her off her feet and into the cave wall; she went down, her head smoking from the blast.

As the power tank walked over to her still form, ready to deliver a final killing blast, Ellie leapt back up. With an almost animal like snarl in her throat, she smashed into the Tank’s armour, her energy claws fully extended. Scant seconds later, the form of the tank flew down the tunnel and smashed into the wall 20 feet away. With a groan, he slumped to the ground, not moving.

Meanwhile, Inago was having his own difficulties. The crisis unit he faced had managed to unholster his grenade launcher and had loosed a shot. As the mini-grenade flew at him, Inago threw himself to the floor, sweeping his assailants legs out from under him. With a yelp, the crisis unit clattered to the ground and swiftly Inago delivered a kick to the side of his head, knocking him cold.

Jumping back to his feet, Inago dashed over to Ellie, where smoke was still rising from her hair, “Are you OK?”

Ellie turned to look at him, energy flaring in her eyes, and answered in a distant, almost cold voice, “I am fine Inago, do not concern yourself over me.”

Inago stopped, puzzled at the sudden change that had come over her, “Ellie-Chan? What’s wrong?”

Ellie turned away from him and started to move further into the base, “Nothing Inago; come, we must hurry.”

Inago paused for a moment, looking at Ellie with a worried expression on his face, before moving to follow.

********************************

Jess, meanwhile, had managed to penetrate to the heart of the installation. As she approached the control centre, she heard angry voices ahead. Slipping quietly to just outside the entrance, she paused for a moment to listen.

“Dammit Langdon, I told you not to harm her! We needed her intact you bloody fool!”

“We had no choice Harding! As soon as we revealed ourselves, the alien attacked; two of my men went down straight away! If we hadn’t had those quantum weapons, we would have had a problem.”

The man referred to as Harding grumbled something inaudible to Jess, before raising his voice again, “There was no need to overdo it, you damned idiot! Driving the parasite out of Mathers was the last thing we needed. Now she might be useless to us!”

Langdon seemed to mutter something under his breath, but too quietly to hear. Then his voice grew louder as Jess heard him approaching the entrance to the control room, and her hiding position. “Oh she’ll be useful to us; I can guarantee you of that! Time to let some of the men have a little fun with her I think, soften her up a bit…”

Jess’s eyes widened as she realised Langdon’s implication, the man had just sealed his own fate. Dropping her invisibility field, she set herself, and stepped into the doorway. “Not if I’ve got anything to say about it!”

At those words, she raised her hand and cast a spell. Instantly, the man called Langdon was lifted into the air and thrown into his colleague in a jumbled tangle of arms and legs, a curse on his lips. Grimly, Jess stepped further into the room, slivers of her fiery armour manifesting themselves at her shoulders.