Ozell_One

[ QUOTE ]
looking at Lyden, Xey said" while your in town you mind picking up food I’m super hungry o and if it’s not too much of a pain a pie please."

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The voice Lyden used to respond seemed to Xey as if it carried a mechanical tone- muffled by his mask and broadcasted directly to the earpiece, to anyone else it would seem as if nothing had been said at all.

"Understood. Unit Lyden designating secondary objective: retrieve food. Designating tertiary objective: retrieve pie. Advise resting above ground level in trees to minimize chance of detection. Contact Unit Lyden should any circumstances update."

After taking a few steps back to pick up his gear, he turned back to Xey and flashed a quick salute.

"...Moving out."

He turned, and dashed off into the woods- moving around the perimiter of the town in a wide arc, keeping a far distance away from any roads leading in or out of the area.

Lyden pressed the button again, and Kefetasura's efforts would be eclipsed by another three eggs going off:

2 went off with a belch in Kaloaten's hand, soaking his arm with goo. He yelped and fell to the sand.
14, the egg Stellarmare had taken as a backup and was now being fought over, broke and promptly splashed every which way. Kefeta could take the credit on that one, if he wanted.
4, the other egg Kaloaten had been holding, then exploded. Now soaked from three eggsplosions, he sat in the sand and looked at his hands in disbelief. He whimpered a bit.

"...What the hell! No fair!!"

[ QUOTE ]
After about a mile Xey sat down and asked Lyden to do the same so they could talk about there next course of action.
"So Unit Lyden where in Central Europe ok where in Central Europe? The Holy Roman Empire, France where?

[/ QUOTE ]

Seeing Xey wanted to sit, Lyden obligingly squatted across from him. "Team position is currently several territories east of France. Historically, we are located on the eastern edge of former Holy Roman Empire."

Sitting back and unsure of what else to say, he looked to the night sky. The whole mission had been wrong from the start, but it was unquestionable that the intel he had been given was perfect. The base wasn't there. The town was occupied. Among military units, Lyden hadn't been recognised- not even as a threat. Thinking back to the loss of contact with all Greensryche radar systems, Lyden's assumption was that some displacement had occured.. big-time. He looked back down to Xey, the more serious than usual tone he took on contrasted even sharper to his youthful, innocent eyes.

"Unit Lyden must return to the town to commence investigation regarding multiple anomalous occurences. In order to minimize risk levels involved, Unit Lyden will be returning to the town.. alone."

He took a brief pause. "Remaining as a group dramatically increases likelihood of detection- disbanding currently the most tactically viable maneuver. Unit Lyden will circle around town perimiter along forested route- Teammate can operate independently, but advise travelling in a polar opposite direction to Unit Lyden. Notwithstanding..."

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small black earpiece with 'GSR' imprinted to it in white- handing it to Xey, seemingly wanting him to take it.

"Advise remaining in contact."

Kaloaten gasped as Combat Toy was moved in his direction- falling backwards onto his rear in the sand, he managed to scramble backwards until he was out of arm's reach. He then stood up, and took cover behind the same palm tree Morsko had climbed. A quick egg check and he realized that the gooey number 19 had fallen loose in his getaway- it now lay in the sand, and Combat Toy was probably gonna step on it.

Lyden pressed the button again, setting off the next chain of eggsplosions;

8- Seeing as how Solid Shot was holding it protectively, his hands would probably minimize the splatter factor.
16 burst immediately after- and unfortunately for Helper and Experiment, that meant so did their potential plan.
7, which Kefetasura had promised would carry him to victory, was now a mess.

Kaloaten glanced to Stellarmare- yes, there -were- eggs in the carton. Good idea! Dashing back to the patio excitedly, he returned shortly with egg 19 that was gooey from a previous in-carton explosion, holding it in his right hand along with 2. Now holding three eggs, Kaloa was quite pleased with himself.

Lyden pressed the button again. This time only one egg would go off- 15, which had been in CC's posession.

((But, she's away till tonight, so more pops in a bit. >.&gt)

"Yay!" Kaloaten gleefully accepted the egg Helper had given him, holding it between three fingers.

Tomanton, looking on, realized the truth in Helper's statement- it didn't really matter at this point if he didn't have an egg- the real competition would start when the numbers were running low. He stepped over to Kaloaten and handed him his egg, number 2- knowing that the only chance he was increasing at this point was his chance of staying clean.

"Yes!!" Kaloaten grinned and completely forgot about being covered in goop, clutching an egg in each hand and striking a pose. "I'm winning!"

Lyden pressed the button down on his remote again. Three more eggs would go;

21 would burst in mid-orbit around Moonscribe's head, a bit of goo flicking here and there while a few chunks went loose and fell at his feet.
18, held at the moment by Stellarmare, popped a split-second afterward.
6, in the little android Essex's posession, seemed to go off rather messily.

Lyden looked up again. Toy Dispenser's tactics were questionable at best but there was, of course, no rule against hoarding eggs. It was more or less an unwritten rule NOT to- because the more eggs you had, the more people would be trying to take from you. Dismissing the thought, he pressed down on the detonator. Three eggs would burst:

23, in Acid's posession. As if the poor guy wasn't miserable enough as it was.
22 had never been picked, and was still sitting in a carton in the patio. A small egg yoke mushroom cloud could be seen from the beach.
1, which had been in mid-toss, burst and rained down on Kaloaten. Shocked that his number had come up so quickly, he made no attempt to dodge the splash- it got all over him. "Aww.. no fair! ..Tomanton, let me have yours!"

"No."

((No, you're right on Lyden's weight- Lyden himself is around 165-170, add his gear and you're over 200. Good call. ))

As it was when you were dropped, Lyden would tumble as his legs hit the ground. He rolled a bit forward, clutching to his case so that it wouldn't get knocked loose and possibly hurt either of them...

[ QUOTE ]
"Well now, who the hell are you? Where are we and who was SHOOTING AT ME!?" With a smile Xey passed out from the immense pain in his wings and shoulder blades.

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course, when he saw that Xey had it much worse than him, he set it down immediately. He figured that someone in that much visible pain didn't care for the formal introduction. As for the other questions, he'd answer them the best he could.

"Unit Lyden is... Unit Lyden. Current physical location is central Europe- Current political location, however, is unknown. Assailant likely affiliated with unknown military entity."

Lyden wouldn't let him pass out, either- seeing him begin to drift off he put an arm underneath Xey and stood him up.

"Advise against immediate rest- lack of activity following intense physical leads to muscle pain and soreness. Attempt to briefly walk and warm down."

[ QUOTE ]
"Ill get tactical here." He said to himself, quite sure Lyden had heard him. He walked 10 paces backwards, took a concsion grenade out, and tossed it over the makeshift wall, he heard the grenade hit the floor, He hadnt thought about this, but there was a window three feet away from where Lyden had been standing.

The grenade had a timer on it, ten second timer, it was at 7 by the time it had hit the ground. Thuel would poke his AR52CC around the corner and fire one shot in the general direction of Lyden. He quickly detatched his sniper barel and unloaded the bullets, then put in a magizne for Assualt Fire. He took safety OFF, and scelected the Single-Shot fireing. He counted down from 7 to 0.

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Behind his mask, Lyden gritted his teeth at the shot- the panic grenade still cooking in his hand behind him. He spoke out, knowing he would be heard. His voice was strong and clear- fear entirely supressed.

"Unit Lyden has no intention of causing trouble or harm. Requesting permission to withdraw peacefully from the area!!"

He had just taken a step back, glancing at the chunk the one shot had taken out of the box beside him. Then he would hear the clinking of the grenade.

[ QUOTE ]
"HE THREW A GERNADE!!RUN!" yelled Xey as he ducked around the corner as Thuel got to five.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lyden didn't have to be told twice, dropping his own grenade as he darted around another corner. 'Panic' apparently meant 'Rave in a can'- going off, the grenade began to spin, flicker and howl- peals of sparks and jets of smoke and mostly harmless shrapnel flying everywhere as it ricocheted off the boxes in the corridor Lyden had dropped it- it was the best distraction he could hope for, as he ducked around another corner- and found himself face-to-face with Xey. Looking him- and his wings- over, His reaction was immediate, holding out his arms to hold onto and speaking with urgency over the howl of the grenade.

"We need to get out of here."

Three.. two..

[ QUOTE ]
"A quick question though, are my bots allowed to participate or do they have to stand out?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Lyden blinked. "Affirmative- particpation to Mastermind subordinates granted, though Mastermind unit -must- personally posess an egg in order to be considered for victory. Example: if two intact eggs remain, one each posessed by a mastermind subordinate and another contestant, victory immediately granted to other contestant."

Lyden, on his trip back for another egg, had noticed there were two less eggs than there should have been- he didn't care. If anyone had taken extras with the idea of improving their odds, right now they would be concealing them at a price. He waited for the others to announce their readiness.

As the egg sailed through the air, Lyden watched it dully. Pulling out the remote and pointing at it, he pressed down a button with the corresponding number to the egg sailing in the air- it burst. The magnitude of the burst was no larger or more powerful than that of a large water baloon- but nonetheless it ensured that anybody who might have been holding onto it would get quite messy.

Kaloaten gasped. "It.. it egg-sploded!"

"EX-ploded", Tomanton corrected, oblivious to the pun.

Lyden had already continued to read. "As you can see, the eggs you must defend are rigged with low-yield explosives. The remote Lyden is carrying will allow him to monitor which eggs are still intact- and to detonate one or two or three eggs every few seconds, in no particular order ((Random number generator for amount of eggs burst [1-3] and numbers of the burst eggs [1-24, including ones that were not picked])).

Does this complicate things? No, it does not.. as the aim of the game is not to be the last one holding your egg, but to be the last one holding any egg. Do not fret should yours burst- merely attempt to steal one off of another contestant. Do keep in mind that while these are bombs, they are still eggs- you know what will happen if you attempt to take one too violently.

Is this even worth it, you ask? To face possibly dozens of burst eggs in the name of claiming immunity? Determining risk versus reward is entirely up to you. The last contestant to still be holding an intact egg wins- the name of the game is 'Chicken'."

With that, Lyden folded up the paper once again and pocketed it, looking to the group and readying his remote. "Commencement pending contestant readiness." Tomanton sighed and loosely gripped his egg, holding it at arms length. Kaloaten assumed a rather awkward looking fighting stance, cupping his egg- appearing ready to toss it in the air whenever Lyden was about to detonate them.

Down on the beach, the last of the clouds were gone. It had turned into a beautiful day, if a bit unpleasantly windy this close to the shore. Lyden stood at-ease, watching as everyone made their way down to the beach with their eggs. In his right hand was a remote control, in his left hand was another sheet of paper- evidently explaining the challenge required a bit more eloquence than Lyden was able to procure on his own. When he felt he had a good amount of attention, he unfolded the paper and began to read.

"Good morning, contestants- or if the collective assembly of you found yourselves incapable of rising with the sun- good afternoon. According to the weather reports, the beach should be quite pleasant today, and will continue to be so until the challenge begins.

By now you will all have selected an egg and have it on your person one way or another- and as long as you are holding one, you stand a good chance of victory. Be prepared to guard your egg, and do right by it- however, you must also accept the fact that your egg will not be doing right by you. Aside from their geometric perfection and unparalleled taste, there is one characteristic that sets these Greensryche-engineered eggs from any regular one. Lyden shall demonstrate this for you now."

After reading a bit further down the list in silence, Lyden jerked his head up. "...One moment. Unit Lyden must retrieve an egg for demonstration purposes."

He uncermoniously dashed back to the patio, returning moments later with egg 20. After looking to it a moment, he stepped through the gathering of contestants to Mini Bot- looking down and handing it to him, he gave an order that after watching him in the morning he knew Mini Bot was well capable of.

"Pull."

[ QUOTE ]
"Owww son of a-" He teleported into a wall, he had to walk the rest of the way, now. He was sure Lyden could have heard the thump from when Thules adamantium chest, coverd with a flack jacket, hit the crates.

[/ QUOTE ]

A bit of dust fell off the top crates down onto Lyden on the other side of the stack- pointing his pistol in the direction of the sound, he could immediately tell what his opponent had- to get so close so fast he had to have teleported, and to find him so quickly he would have to be tracking him somehow- and, as he knew he hadn't been hit with a tracer, it had to be heat vision. Not good- not good at all.

He held his pistol out a moment longer as he heard Thuel's steady approach, then was reminded again how he most definitely did not want to dig himself into a bigger hole by lethally engaging the apparent leader of the unit. Watching the hall infront of him and trying to anticipate when Thuel would appear, Lyden holstered his pistol and used that hand to reach around to his belt. He firmly clutched a cylindrical grenade and pulled it free from its bindings, then with a flick of his thumb, pulled the pin out and began cooking the fuse. Written in small white letters on one side of the thing were the words "GSR PANIC INCAPACITATION GRENADE".

Lyden waited.

((I shudder to think how many posts will be made while I'm in class today.. ;_; ))

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Thuel hopped over the fence, into the nearest building, he looked around, not seeing Lyden. "Sir, he ran off." He made eye contact with one of the Steel Troopers who saw Lyden run past. "Where did he go?" He got a response "Down the stairs." Thuel ran off down the hall, out to the porch. He looked around, he crouched down low, he hoped he was unseen by Lyden, who was now climbing down the fire exacpe.

[/ QUOTE ]

By the time Thuel reached the porch and could see Lyden again, he had already jumped down into the next alley and was running down it. Glancing over his shoulder for a moment, he could see bits and pieces of Thuel poking out from behind the mesh and railing. Thuel would also see now that Lyden had his pistol out, but didn't have it raised as if he was going to shoot at him.

Seeing his pursuer had caught up to him so quickly, Lyden tried to get out of the open as fast as he could, again by way of shooting the lock off the door closest to him- practically tumbling as he shouldered the door to force it open and ran inside. It was an abandoned warehouse, as large as it was cramped- stacks upon stacks of unmarked wooden crates made for narrow, blind hallways. Glinting in the light of the broken windows by the roof were several cables- above-ground winches and trollies that must have been shut down in place when the factory closed. Several still had crates balanced precariously on them.

Lyden was nowhere in sight, but based on the size of the warehouse alone he would definitely still be in it by the time Thuel caught up. By now the pair of them had far outpaced the less versatile Steel Troopers, so there would likely be no more outside interference in this chase- at least, not for awhile.

((Yeah, Term- it's really not as big a gap as you think, and, uh.. stay. I'd think of something else to say but I just woke up and I'm tired and there's no need to pull out when you're just not active for a day at most. Staaaaaaaaay. And thanks Arashi, while I was gonna PM Essex to let her know, I guess we can always tell her infront of everyone.. >.&gt)

The eggs were being plucked from the cartons fairly steadily, and currently only nine remained- while there was a surplus of eggs to contestants, the surplus was a bit smaller than it should have been. At some point during the selection, egg 13 had vanished from the pile and was otherwise unaccounted for.

Lyden glanced up at Combat Toy, then at everyone else in the kitchen. He seemed to think there was enough as he turned back to Combat Toy to speak.

"Majority of contestants are active and present. Unit Lyden will detail the challenge."

[ QUOTE ]
She muttered a question of her own, but it was lost in the peanut butter. It almost sounded like, "Do we get to go to the beach too?"

[/ QUOTE ]

"Affirmative." Lyden picked up on the question perfectly, nodding as he rose. Striding over to the door to the patio, he lifted up the edge of one of his gloves to expose a barcode on his wrist, pressing it against a small black patch beside the handle- there was a buzz as the door unlocked. Turning, he spoke strongly and clearly to try and gain everyone's attention.

"Pending completion of breakfast, day two 'immunity' challenge will begin. Located on the patio table are eggs numbered one through twenty-four. When ready, select one egg. With priority on safekeeping chosen egg, report to the beach."

With that, he opened the back door and stepped outside onto the patio. Unstacking the cartons of eggs, he popped them open- each looked to be fairly normal, though they had been branded with the numbers 1 to 24, as Lyden had said. After laying them out neatly, he started across the backyard and down the small slope to the beach.

Kaloaten grinned in delight. "Eggs are fun! I wonder what we're doing...?" Wolfing down the rest of his crepe, he hopped up and made his way out onto the porch, taking egg number 1- because, well, he wanted to be number one.

Tomanton just sighed, but rose up from his place anyways. "I suppose I should go, I'm finished. And.. Kefetasura? Please come to my room after whatever this is is complete." As he turned to make eye contact with the demon, his eyes glinted in a way that could only be described as.. ambitiously. "I'd much like to continue discussing that tea metaphor- I found it interesting." With that, he stepped outside and took egg number 2- because, really, whatever egg he took didn't matter.

((Pyrria, who might not be here for this, has informed me that CC and Lily would otherwise be taking numbers 15 and 3 respectively. So.. uhh.. EGGS RESERVED.))

((Crap, I can't even take a class without the thread being flooded? x_x And, it's not about getting caught or getting away, it's about leading you on a merry chase! ))

[ QUOTE ]
He kicked down the door and walked out, uncloked now he contuned to follow Lyden. The Steel Platoon following Thuel. Thuel leaned aginst a wall and got down low, Lyden in his sights.

[/ QUOTE ]

For just a moment, Lyden would make eye contact with Thuel. He knew immediately that this person was different, that this was someone to watch out for- hundreds of missions, hundreds of targets had given him that sixth sense. One of the first things Thuel would see about Lyden, though, was that he had climbed up a set of stairs in the back alley, bringing a garbage can with him as a bit of cover- then, when he got to the top, he gave it a swift kick to send it tumbling down the stairs toward him. It was an effective diversion- jagged cans and broken glass flying everywhere with each loud bang the thing made against the metal stairs. For the few second duration of its tumble, it near-completely blocked the line of sight.

[ QUOTE ]
"I got your back" Xey said in a whisper to the man

[/ QUOTE ]

Lyden was unsure of what to make of the third party entering the chase, but for now he knew that he would multiply his chances for escape if he could get indoors. Taking a short hop while the trash can still spun and bounced, he dove shoulder first through the upper pane of a glass patio door, and into someone's apartment. Lucklily, the place seemed to be abandoned. Lyden debated for a moment whether to hide or keep moving- then decided on the latter, opening the front door to the apartment and bolting down the hall.

From the looks of things, he was in the hall of a large apartment building. He first ran to the stairwell to begin heading down, but decided against it when he could hear the thundering of another robotic squad coming up toward him. Slamming the stairwell door and running back down the hall, two shots could be heard- Lyden had pulled out his pistol and blown the lock clean off another apartment door, kicking it in and running inside. Again, he hesitated for a moment before running out onto this apartment's porch- he wasn't sure how much time he had, but he wanted to make sure he could get away- and do so without killing anyone. Starting down the fire escape, he pulled a smoke grenade and a concussive grenade from his case- prepared to use either as necessary.

It was just a small hillside clearing a half-mile into the forest. It would be the perfect place to build your base, no doubt.. but even after triple-checking what coordinates he had, Lyden was all but positive- no fort existed here in the first place. But something had certainly happened. The hill was pockmarked with craters, many of the trees were burned and charred in places- markings that Lyden had decided were consistent with an arcane battle. Odd, again- there was supposed to be no conflict here.

No violence was good violence, though. Lyden sat down in one of the small craters on the hill, setting his case infront of it- opening it and setting his pistol back inside, then dismantling the stock, scope and silencer from his SMG- then putting all those in, too. Then standing up and beginning his long trudge through the forest- he would check out the town next. It would do no good to walk around with all of his weaponry out. His lander was still on the beach when he arrived- the door had closed automatically. At least it wouldn't be going anywhere.

- - - - -

The town was populated, albeit sparsely. Lyden found it odd as he casually but alertly watched the streets how ill-kept the people looked, and how they would forcefully avert their eyes when they saw him- this was different from the staring in public he was used to. Of course, he still looked like a soldier, so he would stand out no matter how he walked- and he would soon be noticed as a roving Steel Trooper squad, who had been walking in the middle of the road when they noticed him, turning and heading directly toward him in formation. Lyden stopped to meet them, and a mechanical voice rumbled out from behind their black and red armor.

"Provide identification or we will open fire."

Lyden blinked. Fair enough. "Unit Lyden is a supersoldier owned by Greensryche Research, subsidary of Greensryche Industries." As an afterthought, he slid down one of his gloves, revealing a thin barcode on his forearm. There was a flash of red across it as it met with the lead bot's scanners, and then silence.

"No match found. Provide correct information or we will open fire. This is your last warning."

"..."

Well, not having armed himself while in the town was an innocent mistake- but an easily correctable one. Lyden fixed his glove, and appeared to be taking a deep breath to speak- then expelled a thin cloud of negative energy and bolted backwards into the alley behind him, turning a corner before the first volley of shots clamored off the wall in his path. Lyden had a new mission now- get to cover, assemble his weaponry, and defend himself.

((Didn't mean for this post to be this long when I started it. >.&gt)

From a distance, the closed-top lander looked not unlike a coffin as it slowly but surely crossed the Black Sea. Glossy, armored and radar invisible, the jet black vessel carried but one small bit of insignia- embossed on the hull towards the rear were three letters, only visible from time to time as it bobbed in and out of the rolling waves: G, S, and R. The overall size of the thing hinted that it could hold anywhere from twenty to thirty passengers- though, completely shut out from view on all sides, it was all but impossible to know that there was only one.

"Twenty-five minutes to landing", the onboard computer's voice called out. This update remained just above the command line on the bank of monitors and computer terminal occuping one wall of the lander long after the voice had stopped. Whether or not the lone soldier inside took heed of the warning, Lyden remained in the statue-like sitting position he had kept for the past three hours. A twitch of his eyes to the seat across from him, where he had set his gear- then eyes forward once again.

"Twenty minutes to landing." Lyden knew the importance of his mission- after all, it had been punctuated with the Greensryche Research underwater fortress teleporting the lander across hundreds of miles to be sent ashore to this location. Aside from the gravity of the task, it was a clear cut one- after coming ashore, he was to make his way into the forest infront of him to a mercenary compound. He would then gain access to the compound by any means necessary, locate and interrogate the prisoners of war contained within for information with regards to an anti-Greensryche group- and then eliminate them. He had been given no overworld map of the area- that the locations of the beach insertion point, a nearby port town and the forest compound sort of formed a right-angle triangle was all he needed to know. The computer systems would calibrate the rest of the details. It was then that Lyden became very concious that the computer's next warning was quite late. Breaking his stillness, he turned to glance down at the main screen.

]GreensrycheUnderwaterFortress Radar Uplink lost retrying 5 seconds
]Connection to GreensrycheUnderwaterFortress Radar Uplink unsuccessful retrying 5 seconds
]Connection to GreensrycheUnderwaterFortress Radar Uplink unsuccessful retrying 5 seconds
]Connection to GreensrycheUnderwaterFortress Radar Uplink unsuccessful retrying 5 seconds
]

The connection to the fortress, and thus to the mission coordinates, had been lost. Any nervousness Lyden may have felt was nullified by the emotion-suppressing chemicals overriding his brain. It was probably just Master or Phrygen or Locria recalibrating the connection- that usually took about 10 minutes. No worries. Unblinking, he rose and stepped over to the console- he didn't need a connection to headquarters anyways, there were others. A light clacking sounded as Lyden's hands flitted across the keyboard. He'd try something local.

]stop
]Retry attempt(GreensrycheUnderwaterFortress Radar Uplink) stopped
]connect EU072
]Connecting to GreensrycheRomania Radar Hub
]Connection to GreensrycheRomania Radar Hub unsuccessful retrying 5 seconds
]Connection to GreensrycheRomania Radar Hub unsuccessful retrying 5 seconds
]

...Odd. There wasn't any response from the closest point on the Greensryche network, either.

]stop; connect EU012
]Retry attempt(GreensrycheRomania Radar Hub) stopped
Connecting to GreensrycheMoldova Radar Hub
]Connection to GreensrycheMoldova Radar Hub unsuccessful retrying 5 seconds
]stop; connect EU014
]Retry attempt(GreensrycheMoldova Radar Hub) stopped
Connecting to GreensrycheUkraine Radar Hub
]Connection to GreensrycheUkraine Radar Hub unsuccessful retrying 5 seconds
]stop; connect EU***
]Retry attempt(GreensrycheUkraine Radar Hub) stopped
Connecting to first responding radar hub on GreensrycheEurope network
]GreensrycheEurope network not found, ending
]

...And there wasn't a single Greensryche signal in all of Europe. It was a technical error, it had to be.. but he would make sure.

]searchlocaltransmissions*100*10
]Searching for transmissions within 100mile radius in 10second timeframe
]12 transmissions recorded, content unreadable

Lyden withdrew from the monitor a bit in disbelief. The lander itself was not malfunctioning, it was picking up -something-... it was inconcievable, but it appeared to be true- all contact with Greensryche Industries had been lost. No. Impossible. It was just some error, and it would be resolved while he carried out his mission. In the meantime, though, he could only hope that the lander was still on course... though an earlier than expected soft nudging of the lander running aground would indicate it was not. Again, he turned back to the computer.

]deploy
]Opening lander door. MissionOfficialStartTime logged 0545 hours. Good luck, Unit Lyden.

The lander emitted a soft hiss as the door was hydraulically lowered, the vessel flooding with dawn's light- Lyden snatching up the black attache case containing his extra gear as he stepped out onto the beach to get a look around. He wasn't too far off, he figured- the port town being in sight meant he was a bit west of where he was supposed to land, but no matter. Just as he began to set foot toward the jungle, though, he stopped, finding himself glancing back to the town... something was wrong.

Popping open his case he pulled out a small pair of binoculars, lifting them to his eyes to get a better look. There wasn't a single light on, and many first-floor windows had been smashed... several buildings seemed to be partly or completely charred husks, the aftermath of being ravaged by fire. Furthermore, poking out from behind a wall seemed to be the skeletal remains of a tank, and the wingtip of a downed plane. Nearby on the beach, what had seemed to be long morning shadows were, on closer inspection, craters. In fact, the whole sky had a surreal haze to it. The area was in no way in a period of unrest, or so he had been briefed. But this destruction, and this feeling of darkness.. he could feel the negative energy levels growing in his body just as he watched. What was going on...?

Tomanton raised an eyebrow- sitting across from Kefetasura he had picked up on the exaggeration fairly easily. Spending most of his time in the royal courts back on his home planet, it was all too simple to tell when someone was faking. Still, though, he masked his amusement- he could stand to gain from a situation like this.

"Hm. A shame." Politely standing up, he picked up Kefeta's teacup and walked back to the kitchen counter- first getting a teacloth and tossing it back to the table toward the spill, he set the teacup on the counter. "Fill you up again, if the mood isn't spoiled?"

Lyden, sitting on the couch, was now looking rather nervously to Toy's voice- he had first written it off as coming from another room, but the fluctuating source really was coming from within the main area. And he couldn't exactly keep tabs on intangible contestants.

"..."

"Is that so?" He took another sip. "England only recently started brewing tea on its own soil- for the past several centuries, it seems it exclusively imported it from elsewhere- primarily India. Is that supposed to mean it's all grown up, or something?"

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"Sir Lyden, would you like one?"

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"Negative. Consideration for Unit Lyden is appreciated." Whatever, not worth it. He could eat the rest of his rations later. Getting up from the table to set the box back in the fridge, he took care not to bump into the tails of Rosalind and Acide, or to nudge Kaloaten who was now furiously mixing more batter. He then went to sit on the couch, idly staring at the turned-off television.

Tomanton continued to sip his tea, staring across at Kefetasura. "Of all the things I've gotten used to on coming to this planet, tea has got to be one of my favourites. How is it possible that so many varieties exist?"

[ QUOTE ]
"This, sir..." she said to Acid with a bright smile, "...is a crepe."

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Kaloaten had creeped over to the fruit-pastry-thing and was staring at it attentively. When he thought nobody was looking, he assassin's forked it- slicing off a small piece from the end, impaled the piece, and popped it into his mouth. After a few chews, his eyes began to widen.

"...This is awesome! We have to make more of them! Lots more!" And then he was in the fridge, rummaging for the same ingredients she had used, then finding an egg beater in one of the drawers. He turned back to look at Essex expectantly. "I'll just make the batter, okay? You did a really good job cooking it."

Lyden sort of bunched himself up closer to the table and his ration box, concious of how many people were appearing and having been instructed not to speak to them unless first spoken to. He picked around at his lunchbox in silence- synthetic food that was faker than plastic, and just more pills to swallow.

Tomanton just continued to sip his tea. "I've boiled some water if anyone wants to do something with it."

Kaloaten grinned childishly as she walked in, closing the door behind the both of them.

"Good night, CC."

He would linger in the living room for a few minutes after she went off- getting on and off the couch and walking in circles, Kaloaten soaked in the main room in silence. A few moments after he left and went upstairs, the overhead lights all turned off in unison, letting moonlight flood in. Laying awake in bed as he'd predicted, Kaloaten's mind was alert with excitement- this early in the game, he really had no idea what to expect or what was to come... but if first impressions meant anything, he had high hopes. Very high.

Bad Company was on.


--Day Two--Twenty Contestants Remaining--
--08:25 AM--

Hitting of hands down against a table. "Tomanton, why bother with making anything?? You can just get the butlerbot to do it!!"

A clinking of small dishes and a swilling of water. "Kaloaten, be considerat. Your so-called 'butler bot' is no more responsible for maintaining this house than you or I. I am perfectly capable of making tea under my own power."

Uncomfortable silence. "Advise use of a lower speech volume while the majority other contestants are still asleep."

"Oh.. sorry, Mr. Lyden."

"My apologies, Lyden. The tea is ready. Would you like some?"

"Negative."

It was a picturesque morning. The still-rising sun was hitting off the small drops of moisture on the grass and on the vehicles in the open garage to give everything in sight an earthly glow- none of the indoor lights were on, but that didn't stop the main room from being swathed in a soft, warm light. It was still slightly chilly outside (Acid would find that a black blanket with the letters 'GSR' in white on it had been placed on him some time in the night), but the last remaining clouds breaking up in the wake of the rising sun was a good sign- it was going to be a great mid-autumn day.

Tomanton, Kaloaten and Lyden were in the kitchen area. Tomanton, two small cups of tea in hand, joined the other two at the table and set one infront of Kaloaten- who, while curiously watching Lyden open and pull out the contents of one of the GSR ration boxes, missed it completely. Lyden would immediately lift his mask to swallow two gel capsules and chase it with a small black bottle of some liquid or another, but then just stare at the ambiguously-packaged foodstuffs still remaining in the box. Evidently, he wasn't hungry, and it was hard to blame him- for something that was supposed to be carrying food, the box had a rather unpleasant chemical smell to it.

A sheet of paper had been taped to one of the walls in the main room, and beside it had been placed a pad of paper and a pen. The sheet read:

Aside from the voting off of contestants, Unit Lyden will require contestant assistance in dealing with various contest administrative functions. Advise checking this wall frequently for any updates. In the event of any questions or concerns, approach Unit Lyden at any time or merely slide a note under his door ((Send a PM ;p)) with the message paper provided.

Prior to the beginning of this contest no special arrangements with the medicom systems was made- If you are seriously injured you will be sent to your respective hubs -VERY- far away from contest grounds. Advise taking simple precautious (other than avoidance of violence) to avoid this and ensure safety, such as not running around the pool area. Contestant cooperation is appreciated. Lyden.

Directed at anyone in particular? Unlikely, though the electronic lock was in place on the back door, though, making it impossible to get out to the patio and pool. If one took a good look outside, though, they would see two black egg cartons sitting on the patio table labelled 'Greensryche Poultry Farms'. It probably had something to do with the forthcoming immunity challenge.

"That's a relief.. Morgant's okay."

With everything settled settled down, a cold breeze blew by- Kaloaten blinked as he found himself alone with CC on the back patio. He looked across to her and smiled a bit, then walked over to the discarded hot tub cover and lifted it back into place.

"...It's crazy late, isn't it? Tomanton is always telling me to get to sleep on time, but there's no point. This whole.. house, experiment thing, it's exciting. I'm probably going to end up laying awake in bed all night.. I must drive him crazy."

He smiled meekly a bit. In the sky the overcast clouds were parting, beginning to reveal a rather nice night sky away from the light pollution of Paragon.

"Even if I'm not gonna sleep, I won't ruin it for you. Celtic Cross, right? CC for short? It's gonna be fun hanging out here for the next however many days. I just hope I don't get.. y'know, voted off before I really start to enjoy it. ..And you say you like to fight up close, too? Let's beat the living daylights out of a punching bag together sometime."

Kaloaten turned, walking back toward the house- silhouetted against the glass backing to the two-story, fully lit main room, he actually looked pretty tiny. He opened the backdoor to start inside, then paused- turning back to CC with a grin, holding the door open for her.

((*prepares the bigass day two post* >.&gt)