". . .I am NOT a child!" Hallucinogen yelled angrily, jumping up and down and waving his arms wildly. "I'm seven years old! Uh, wait. . . no, that wasn't what I meant!"
"You are only seven years of age?" Reginald said, leaning against a wall. "Impressive."
"But don't you think you're a little young to be in love, dear?" the Oracle said in a motherly tone. "There's plenty of time for that when you're older. . ."
"Dangit, shut UP!" Hal yelled, now appearing to be on the verge of throwing a tantrum. "I am NOT--"
He suddenly seemed to realize how he was acting, and slumped, his face flushed.
". . . Look, I'm calm, okay? Seriously. I'm NOT a child!"
"Yes, I'm sure you're right, dear," said the Oracle patronizingly.
Wielder looked down at Hal through the slits of his helmet, saw a small, green smoking hero, and shrugged.
"AGE IS OF LITTLE DIFFERENCE IF ONE FIGHTS FOR THE SIDE OF GOOD! BUT REALLY, WHAT ABOUT THE RIKTI!?!"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Hi, Hal. How's it going," Xander said dully, his head cocked to one side as he was still being dragged around by the ear. His neck was starting to get a kink in it.
"What about the Rikti, indeed," Jon growled.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things had been going far too well for Chief Soldier Chezret. Certainly it went against the mission parameters for him to have survived this long. Being the first, last, and only line of defense against counter-attacks from the mainland, he should have been overwhelmed by sheer numbers long ago.
But the heroes were not military personelle, and Chezret had begun to notice that they fought as individuals. Even with their superior numbers, they were not ofering much resistane to Chezret's highly disciplines fighting force.
[Indicates Individualist's Battle Deficiencies to: Kanocht,] the Chief Soldier said, [Small Unit: Superior to Mob.]
[The old ways of thinking are why our people spent six solar cycles cowering beneath the surface of this world,] Kanocht retorted.
[Thoughts of Kanocht: Too Human. Understanding: Limited.]
It was then that the first wave of heroes breached their line, not from the water but from south of their position. The few Headmen among the rabble of Conscripts immediately turned the troops towards them, and gave the order to open fire with plasma rifles.
[Artillery Positions: Maintain Vigilance!] Chezret shouted, drawing his side-arm and blasting at a fire-sword brandishing hero who had raced over his re-positioning front line and attacked the Communications Officer. The plasma blast hit him squarely, stunning the eager hero. The Chief Soldier surged forward, spinning through the air with his mighty sword held in a single hand. It slashed deeply through the eager hero's chest, sending him down to the ground.
He would never again stand up.
Kanocht was pleased, as he was finally able to unleash his awesome power on the Earth Heroes. The Rikti Power Sapper blasted them one at a time, and watched them crumble. They would soon know the most humiliating death in all the worlds. . . Death by Monkey.
"Um." Nena waved a hand over her head. "What are Rikti?" The little knight's foxlike tail wavered uncertainly.
Pariku just groaned, still coming back to himself, though the fresh air was doing him good.
Hallucinogen's communicator began to beep...It seemed Dr. West was calling all his affiliates to meet in the laboratories of Repliforce Paragon.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
". . .Dr. West is calling me!" Hallucinogen said, seeming to forget everything he was saying. ". . .Essex! I have to see if she's okay! Follow me! And watch out for the Rikti!"
Hallucinogen vanished, so that it was unclear exactly how they were supposed to follow him. . .
"I have no idea what is going on," Reginald said as he attempted to track Hallucinogen with his sensors, though he seemed to forget where Hallucinogen had been every time he looked away. . .
"I can sense his psyche." Pariku muttered irritably with a wave of his hand. "He went that way. His worry's so palpable I can taste it."
"Yay Pariku!" Nena chirped, trailing along with his direction and Reginald's.
Hallucinogen would soon lead them to a small grove of trees, one tree in particular seemingly split into a V by a lightning strike. As the smokey boy approached, it seemed to sense his coming and a bit of bark slid away to reveal a passcode system.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Here we go. . ." Hal said. Becoming visible again, he ran up to the keypad and typed in the passcode frantically, hoping it hadn't changed. . .
"Interesting," Reginald said as he watched. "This looks like rather advanced technology for this time period. . ."
Seeing how this exit had only led to the sewer exits of Perez, Hotaka took the time to get his bearings. Something felt...odd. It practically pervaded the air, but it was uncertain, unsteady.
Not only that, but the heroes hadn't tried to get at either him or the Jounin. Normally, he expected them to have tried to arrest them by now.
Lurking beside the sewer exit, he knew he had to make a decision...but which path to take...?
--------------------
"The first line's been breached! Fall back! Fall back!"
Another M30 detonated.
Then the flash of a teleport as the C4 went off, blasting a troop of Rikti to pieces.
Within moments, the Gunslinger appeared some distance away, leaping behind a tight wall of sandbags.
"What're we at?" he asked Lt. Volkov, peering around the corner of the wall to where the Rikti had overrolled the first line.
"Between a rock and a hard place." the military man sneered, reloading his rifle, "Pete, we can't hold out like this. Hammond isn't gonna get here in time."
"I know." Gunslinger Pete returned, watching the troops of sthe secod line bunker down. They had a few tanks, but those weren't exactly a match for an enemy like the Rikti, "I sent out a call to the mainland. Get some heroes in here. But they ain't here yet and I can't get through no more. Damn Rikti suckers must've figured out how to jam our comms. Even my cell's dead."
"Yeah. My radio's going bad too. If it goes on at this rate, soon all wireless communcation in Paragon'll be useless."
"Tarnation...they really planned it out this time, huh?" Pete hefted up the heavy assault rifle, loading another ammo belt. He had plenty of DU slugs left and he was gonna be damned if he didn't take at least a few of 'em down!
A massive explosion rocked the ground. Pieces of shrapnel sailed over the sandbags.
Pete smiled. Well, DU slugs and a few suprises in the ground.
"I just hope your signal got through." Volkov slammed the clip into his gun, "I figure we got about fifteen minutes before they figure out how to cross that mine field."
Another explosion echoed as a droned had tried to fly across. Then another as they tried teleporting.
"Make that ten." Pete grumbled.
For a moment, he sank into throught. What would they do if Dr. West hadn't received the signal? He hadn't heard anything back butstatic, and...
No, that was quitter talk! Even if the Repliforce wasn't coming, they'd show those Rikti what fer, come hell or high water...!
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
As Hallucinogen typed in the passcode, the air between the split of the tree rippled slightly with the presence of a portal, which would take him directly into the base.
Repliforce Unit Hallucinogen. was displayed on the small screen of the touchpad. Warning. Several witnesses detected. it continued, referring to the group that had followed him.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"I don't care, they're not Rikti, they're friends," Hallucinogen said, not sure whether saying so would make any difference. He had never brought guests here himself. . .
He ran into the portal. Reginald followed, muttering something about hopefully not being ejected this time.
The portal seemed to concede at Hallucinogen's words, and allowed the group in one after another.
"Are you guys coming?" Nena asked the group behind her cheerfully, tapping her armored foot in mock impatience at Xander, his father, Svetlana, and any of the others that had followed from the sewers.
Once inside, the area got a lot more sterile - bright LED track lighting lining the floors and pathways. Hallucinogen knew the base well by this point, and it was merely a short jaunt to the meeting room.
Dr. West stood at the head of the large meeting table, a contigent of colorful androids filling more than half the seats, up and down. Black and yellow, red and blue, purple and green, black and white, blue and gold...and all of them had different functions. Some of them seemed geared for land work, some for sky and sea, some even for outer space. The signature pink of Essex was about halfway down the table, flanked on either side by a lounging green and orange female Reploid with a sleek frame and a long katana carelessly leaned against the chair and a larger one with a strange, metallic wolflike helmet.
"Ah." Dr. West said, nodding to Hallucinogen. "Glad to see you safe, Hallucinogen. Nearly counted you among the lost..."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
((Well, if they're all here. . . why not! 
))
"Essex!" Hallucinogen exclaimed, running to her at once. "Are you all right? The Rikti, they're. . . Oh, uh, hi, Dr. West. . ."
"I suppose. . ." a small, deep blue android a ways down the table said, completely covered in a force field and floating off the ground rather than sitting, "that I. . . am glad. . . to see you as well. . . Hallucinogen. . ."
". . .Do you HAVE to talk like that, Deep Tide?" Hal sighed in exasperation.
"Awwww, feeling left out, dear?" the Oracle said to Reginald.
"Haha," Reginald chuckled. "Silly to worry about such things, when we all walk the same path, and stand beneath the same sky."
"You mean something like, we're all on the same side," said the Oracle, laughing as well.
"Oh, no!" Detective MacMaetor protested as Xander tried to follow the others inside, "You're coming with me, young man."
"But dad, they're trying to help. . . ."
"Heroes don't help! They're just criminals with good PR," Jon scowled at the hidden base and stormed off in the direction of the nearest Police Station.
Wielder looked around at Nena, Xander, and the portal and seemed to think about things for a second. Only for a second though.
"FOR GREAT JUSTICE!" Wielder shouted as he strode into the portal, Painpipe held high.
After the brief twisting, gut-wrenching sensation that he typically suffered from teleports, Wielder looked over at the gathering of reploid. He looked around, saw a few faces that he recognized from various places, and let his normaly omni-present ice armor melt away into wisps of freezing air.
"GREETINGS FELLOW HEROES!" Wielder shouted as he slid the Painpipe back into a strap dangling from his belt.
************************************************
"-ELLOW HEROES!" came a loud voice as Solid Shot switched his comm. to the Repliforce channel.
Stiffling the urge to curse, loudly, Solid tapped his 'ear' a couple of times to get Dr. West's attention.
"Yo, Doc," he said, talking a bit louder to be heard over the discharge and sizzle of heavy plasma fire. "News from Perigrine Isle."
Poking his head out of the shattered window of the house he was taking cover in, Solid saw a couple of people dashing out of an alleyway, only to be cut down by plasma fire from above as a patrol of drones swept down the street. Solid quickly ducked back into the house and sighed with relief when he wasn't spotted.
"Things are hell over here, Doc," he finally got around to saying. "The Police Department is just about all dead and most of the heroes taking the ferries have gotten their [censored] handed to them. What's left of them, that is. I managed to get a small group of fliers who'd listen to me to circle around the island and hit the Rikti by surprise.
As far as I know, they're all dead right now. We could really, really use some back-up out here. As far as I can tell, there's only a single, understrength Rikti rear guard here. If we can take them down, we can get to Portal Corp. I'll call back with some more details later and don't ask me why my radio is still working when all the others aren't."
Clicking off his radio, Solid slumped back against the wall and folded his arms in front of him. After a second or two or mourning, the android grabbed his rifle off a nearby table and started climbing the stairs up to the top floor.
*************************************************
[Reinforcements from High Command, Warmaster! Two Headmen armed with power sappers with a guard force of thirty Conscripts!]
[Heavily armed PPD force coming down from Galaxy City supported by Longbow! Drawing up the reserves to bolster Macheck's company!]
[The last council member has been found, Warmaster! She has been imprisoned with the rest!]
[Good,] Chertak said as he stepped backward through a hole in the roof of the City Hall and landed with a cracking of marble on the floor. [Direct several of the humans to begin operating the broadcasting equipment. I plan on making an announcement.]
[Is this wise, Warmaster?] Dra'tix asked as he followed Chertak down a hall to the press room where the cameras where still set up for an announcement from the Mayor that was supposed to happen today.
[It may not be wise,] Chertak replied as they walked. [But it has been ordered of us. How long until the humans are ready?]
[Minutes, Warmaster.]
[Good.]
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
The trail of bodies behind El Guapo Grande was growing immensely.
Somehow, through sheer force of will (and a bit of swimming) he had made it to Terra Volta, ready to face the Rikti onslaught...
"Well, it looks like we have another fatality, stabbed in the heart, so sad," the coroner said to his assistant, "Oh well, let's weight that brain and call it a day."
The coroner picked up a bonesaw and moved toward Ryuji's head...
"One inch closer and you'll draw back a stub," Ryuji said, his eyes still closed.
"WHAT THE?!" the coroner and assistant exclaimed.
Ryuji sat up and took the sheet off him. If he had a dollar for every morgue he'd ended up in, he could retire to some tropical island and drink pina coladas...
Oh wait, he did that during the 1920s...
"Don't be so shocked. Jeez you stupid doctors never read the profiles of the people you treat do you?" he chided.
"Y-you had a frozen spike sticking through your chest. Your heart was in three different pieces..."
"Three pieces? How long was I out?" Ryuji said, stretching his arms and legs to get the circulation running again.
"Just a few hours," the assistant said, "You had no next of kin so the autopsy went ahead rather quickly..."
"Where's my jacket?" Ryuji demanded.
"All your personal affects are in that locker over there..." the coroner pointed to a small storage locker. Ryuji's coat was hanging on the door.
Striding across the room, he picked up his coat and put it on.
He rummaged through a clothing bin, apparently a lot of people had died today. Which meant more work for him.
He found a pair of tight pants and short brown boots. Together with his coat, he looked like some kind of fashion model...miniaturized.
"Seeya," he said to the still dazed doctors, and left...
Towards the city.
Towards the Rikti.
"Oh, this is going to get me into more trouble than I even care to know." Hotaka kicked a rock out of the way as he made his way to the portal.
"But Sensei!" Waziri protested, "They will arrest! Or worse - the girl wears skin! You should not!"
"I know I shouldn't." Hotaka grumbled, "But I can't help myself. It's just wha...who I am..."
With that, the three stepped through the portal as well, continuing on to the meeting room. The atmosphere seemed light enough, for the moment at least, and Ryuu made sure both his Jounin and himself were in plain sight as not to breed any tensions right away.
If something like this was actually happening, there was abound to be something big, dangerous, and possibly deadly going on...
--------------------
Terra Volta was an utter mess. The reactor had melted down, and the excess heat had vented throughout the complex, causing steam valves to explode and all amnner of havoc. Contrary to what people normally believed, the reactor couldn't acrually explode per se - but the overpressure caused by the meltdown sure could result in a lot of destruction.
The Rikti, however, were already gone again, and there was no trace of the heroes that had come to stop them...
--------------------
"The second line's been breached!"
"Fall back into the compound!"
"Bravo Fiver, we need fire support NOW!!!"
"Calling down a bead on Charlie-Hotel-Seven-Tango-Niner!"
Portal Court had fallen into complete chaos. The Rikti were advancing, there didn't seem to be anything that could stop them at this point. With no more heroes arriving, Volkov, Pete, and the other defenders trapped here were too little to stem the tide.
"Son, if we don't make it." Pete grumbled as he lined up another shot at a charging armorsuit, "It's been an honor servin' with ya."
Volkov didn't get a chance to reply. Even if he could have, he would have been drowned out by the sound of thunder behind them. Not a second later, a squad of Rikti were blown sky-high by an 120mm shell.
Hammond had made it from the Shadow Shard - and so had his tank division!
"What are you gaffin' at?!" the General shouted to the retreating second line with a megaphone, "Fall back already!"
They didn't have to be told twice. Covered by the reinforcements, the second line fell back to the walls of Portal Corporation. With a knowing grin, Hammon bpulled out a remote and pressed a button.
The ground rubled a little, and then a miniature version of a war wall rose about the compound, the eergy fields shooting high into the sky, blocking the incoming fire.
For now.
The tanks weren't all they were cracked up to be. As soon as the element of surprise had passed, a few were already slag.
Once that wall went down, there'd be hell to pay...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Now then." Dr. West began, standing at the head of the table. "I am thankful to all of you for coming. We do not have much time to explain, however. I have already received a distress signal from some allies that must be addressed immediately with reinforcements."
"Sir!" the green and orange female android bolted upright, strapping her katana onto her back. "Permission to take a cell of reinforcements immediately!"
"Sit still for one moment, Delphi." West said. "I will excuse you after the essentials have been discussed."
"We don't have time!" she retorted. "Give us the information on internal comm, we've got to go, go, go!"
"...All right." Dr. West aquiesced. "Delphi, Orbit, Twilight, and Regina. You four go and offer support at these coordinates. The briefing will be forwarded to you shortly."
"All RIGHT!" Delphi cheered, sprinting out of the base at top speed and skidding around the corner, her squad following behind.
"Anyway." West continued. "It seems the Rikti have once again unleashed a full-out assault on Paragon City. I do not have much experience regarding the first Rikti War; I was in southern California at the time and researching for the war effort instead of playing an actively combat role. However, it has become clear that we are quickly being overwhelmed by the hostilities.
"All efforts must be made to drive off the invaders once and for all. I am mobilizing the entirety of my force, myself included, to assist in combat. The one exception is the S6 unit, who will remain at the base to serve as a central navigation and coordination unit. However, there is one point that I believe is worth making - we must establish a defensive cordon at as many hospitals as we can. As long as the mediport system is still functional, the job of the Rikti will be much, much more difficult. I have already dispatched several force shield and dispersion bubble drones to the hospitals in Atlas Park and Galaxy City - but there is only so much they can do."
Taking a deep breath, West paused a moment, taking in his reploids and guests.
"...Ladies and gentlemen..." he said quietly, "...Our world is at stake. I now open the table to discussion, though it would not do to tarry. Even now, people are dying by scores."
Essex quietly took Hallucinogen's hand.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Helper shuffled up the stairs from the basements of King's Row's Hospital ((Where's he's been since page one! I didn't forget about him! Really!)).
"The generators are working at full capacity, sir. They should hold out for a few days."
"Thank you so much, Helper," the doctor said, heaping praise upon the robot, "You've saved the lives of everyone in the ICU today."
"I am glad to help," he said in his cheerful tinny voice, "Now I must attempt to contact Repliforce Paragon. Do you have a land line somewhere in the facility? Wireless communications have been shut down, as you most likely are already aware, but, with the majority of telephone line being underground, lined communication should still theoretically be possible, unless the Rikti have cut off the central hub."
"Uhm. . . Of course, right here," the doctor said.
"Thank you, doctor. Must I dial 9 for an outside line?"
The doctor nodded, and Helper lifted the reciever and carefuly began pushing the buttons with his large fingers. Then he waited, and hoped his plan had worked. Furthermore, he hoped someone in the Repliforce Paragon base was in a osition to be able to answer the telephone.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detective MacMaetor stormed into the Atlas Park Police Station, Xander in tow.
"Jon! You're alive," the Desk Sergeant shouted as soon as he arrived.
"Yeah. Takes more than the end of the world to stop me," he said darkly, pushing his son onto a bench and warning him to remain seated with a finger. "Watch my kid," he said as he sped off for the briefing room, which he assumed by now had been transformed into a makeshift command center.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Have Prevented: Initial Hero Reinforcements] Chezret sent his mental status update message to the Warmasters.
[Please Provide; Additional Orders]
Suddenly, Gunslinger Pete received an incoming transmission...
On our way, Doc G! came a swath of orange text.
"KEKEKEKEKEKE! DEATH FROM ABOVE!" the messenger bot cackled as she leapt down, neatly impaling her katana backwards through the chest of an attacking Rikti with her full force of momentum.
"Stop playing 'Sephiroth' and get serious." the black and yellow Regina Apia scowled at her sister as she began drawing attention to herself. The brightly colored Reploid was designed to garner attention, and was built with the most durable material West could manage - an engineered titanium hybrid. The weapons of the Rikti would be able to take her down...but not for a good long while...
--------------------------------
The communication light came on in the Repliforce Paragon base, and West glanced to Essex.
"Get into position." he said. "...I hate to say it, but there is no time for goodbyes."
Essex glanced down, and squeezed Hallucinogen's hand once. "I understand." Pausing just a moment longer to give the boy a lingering glance, her fingers slipped from his and she skimmed off quickly towards the main control room.
Helper's call was soon answered by a voice he recognized well.
"You have reached the bases of Repliforce Paragon. How may I assist you?" Essex intoned as she hurriedly stripped her armor and skirt off to reveal the sleek black and orange bodysuit underneath with one hand and held a headset to her audioreceptor with the other.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Hallucinogen stood for a second, his hand still reaching out after Essex as she left.
He dropped it reluctantly. "What can I do?" he muttered to Dr. West.
Deep Tide had already disappeared into the innermost workings of the laboratory. He was one of the more skilled at maintaining the shielding and defense systems. Since it had been pretty much all he ever did in between undersea expeditions. . .
* * * * * *
An interesting message would soon reach Dr. West's central computer.
To--Repliforce Paragon
Subject: Rikti invasion
I have sent Hallucinogen to assist you, but the Disciples here will be happy to assist you should you need it. Many of us are busy elsewhere, but Brightflame and myself are free, and there may be others among us able to offer what help you may need.
I do hope you are doing well, and that you are enjoying the weather, which is quite pleasant lately. The sun reflects quite nicely off the Rikti assault drones, I find. It is calming when engaging them. But I digress.
Do take care.
--Moonscribe
"[censored]....[censored]....[censored]....[censored]...." Solid Shot muttered as he limped toward Portal Court and the newly risen War Wall, dragging the stump of his right foot behind him. "[censored] Rikti. [censored] giant swords. [censored] aliens."
A lone Rikti Drone shot out of a window leading into the alleyway that Solid was limping down and spotted him at about the same time he saw it. Solid's gun was up and firing at about the same time that the Drone fired, as well.
Now, due to massive amounts of combat damage sustained from an entire Rikti patrol he had sumbled upon, Solid was held up by little more than spit and prayer at the moment. Of course, all the broken systems that didn't need powering meant that his time sense could be amped up constantly, as well as the output from his electrical attacks. This meant that in the half a second that it took for his gun to come up, Solid had scanned, identified, and took aim at every single weak spot that that Drone had.
All of this resulted in one very dead Rikti warmachine hitting the ground and the exploding while its plasma bolt just barely missed Solid's head.
Ignoring his brush with death, Solid limped over to the Drone and grabbed a piece of alien metal. Stabbing it into his right leg worked to divert the flow of the fusion flames that went through his jet boots. Stomping the stump on the ground once to make sure it didn't come out, Solid lit his thrusters and leapt into the air. His flying was a bit erratic but he didn't hit anything, which was all that mattered.
"THE CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED!" Solid shouted out on the general band, which for him was somehow not jammed.
He followed up this announcement by landing behind a Rikti hovertank, sliding underneath it for a few seconds, and then coming back out the other side. The tank exploded a second later, tossing the squad of soldiers around it all over the place.
"I could use a door!" Solid shouted, sounding a bit panicked, as the Rikti began to react to his presense and he needed to focus more and more on dodging plasma blasts rather than shooting.
*************************************************
"WHERE AM I NEEDED!?!" Wielder asked in his customary bellow. "FOR WHERE EVER THERE IS EVIL, THERE SHALL BE A FIGHT FOR JUSTICE! BUT IT HELPS IF ONE KNOWS WHERE TO BEGIN THE FIGHT!"
*************************************************
"Try not to get yourself killed," Prototype Twilight said grimly as he blasted a bolt of darkness at a Rikti soldier, blinding the alien long enough for him to drain some of its life and transfer that health to Delphi and Regina.
************************************************** *
"Round up the boys," Toy Dispenser said into his wrist communicator as he stood on one of Grandville's watchtowers, watching the half-hearted recovery effort being waged to save any people trapped under the rubble of Spider Tower.
"The Rikti [censored] brought the war here and now we're going to bring it back to them."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Terra Volta." West responded simply. "I have been receiving distress calls from there, and it is where Delphi and the others have been dispatched to. However, it is already under heavy attack. I recommend that we do our best to create a bastion somewhere, an impregnable locale that is very difficult to get either in, or out of."
A hologram flickered to life of a tall building many of them would recognize.
"The Ziggursky Maximum Security Prison." Dr. West said. "I believe we can persuade the inmates to be of help to us as well - better than being shot like fish in buckets in their cells. Additionally, it is set up in such a way that infiltration is quite difficult."
"Yo...." an android lifted a hand, peering at West beneath its onyx blast shield. "Didn't Arachnos break into it like a zajillion times?"
Dr. West shrugged. "It is still standing at the moment. And the truth of the matter is, the inmates are all trapped there as well. I propose that we use that as a fort and proceed from there. Thoughts?"
The lights suddenly dimmed and brightened briefly. The reploids knew what this meant - Essex had taken complete control of the systems.
-----------------------------------------------
The control room was completely dark, except for the illumination from hundreds of monitors in every corner of the room, some physical, most holographic. In the center of it all was what looked like a huge egg.
Essex hovered in the exact center of the massive containment tank. Her hands were extended slightly to the sides. Hundreds, no, thousands of wires and communications cables were hooked all over her body, front, back, arms, legs, all the way up to her neck.
Her eyes blazed a bright green, looking almost haunting in the technological darkness of the room. Her pupils and the inner details of her eyes were no longer outwardly visible due to the brilliant harshness of the glare.
The android was now connected with each and every one of Repliforce Paragon's systems as a powerful router, communications hub, and navigation and informational unit. Each monitor had direct feed into her processor and each internal communication line was sent directly to her.
Moonscribe found his email answered instantaneously.
Bring all help possible to base, please. I trust you know the entry code already. Do not worry if it is improprietous to know it; the time for that will be later.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"I am very glad to see you are intact, S-6," Helper sad to the sound of her voice. "I wanted to inform Repliforce Paragon that I am intact and fully functional. Ready to be deployed as needed."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What the smeg?!" Kreigg barked at his instrumentation, which had all gone out. He pounded heavily on the control panel with one fist while his other hand attempted to wrangle the ship onto a level flight path.
The reddish colored insectoid alien glanced around out his cockpit window, and saw a small fleet of Rikti Drones barraging his tiny spacecraft.
"Bounding smeg on a frigate! Every smeggin' time I'm about to get off this planet it's something else! I swear. . . " Kreigg never got a chance to finish his oath, as his ship plowed into Grandville. He was thrown around quite a bit, his harness digging into his shoulders so deep it left a mark.
The tiny ship skidded to a halt at the foot of the remains of the once mighty Spider that had dominated Grandville. Kreigg popped open the hatch and leapt out of the ship, or he would have if he was not still strapped in.
"Smeggin' OWCH!" he complained, unbuckling the strap and vaulting from his pilots chair.
"Well, at least it didn't eject me that time," he conceded. Just then the tiny shuttle exploded, hurtling Kreigg end over end up into the air.
If anyone was listening carefully, a tumbling lavabug in the sky cursed loudly and bemoaned his fortune as he fell into the distance, "Me and my big moooooouuuuuthh!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Communications are all dead," Captain Wilson said darkly to the assembled police, "But at last report the situation in Atlas Park was grim. It's confirmed that a heavily armed Rikti battle division has already razed City Hall, and leveled the nearby tram station."
"What about the Police Drones?" someone asked from the back.
"They prooved ineffective against the overwhelming numbers and the ferocious suprise attack. Atlas Park is lost, we need to fall back. So far the Rikti have not been attacking unarmed civilians, so for their safety we've been sending them to Steel Canyon. From there we plan on loading cargo ships full of people and supplies and evacuating them from Independence Port."
"No offense, boss," Jon piped up, "But with Terra Volta taking the brunt of this, is that a good idea?"
"So far the Rikti have no interest in harming non-combantants. It's believed that, and this is highly classified so don't leak it, but we believe that they intend to mutate the civilian population into slave labor after the take-over is complete. Which means two things. One; they want as few collateral casualties as possible in their own best interests, and Two; word of this is not to get out, and we need have every appearance of getting civilians out of harms way to prevent the already widespread panic from becoming a fundamental breakdown of order."
"And what about us?" another officer asked.
"We're officially abandoning Atlas to the Rikti, and falling back to Skyway City," the Captain said.
Jon shook his head in disbelief.
"Everyone suit up, grab everything you can carry, and we'll meet at the 19th in Skyway City. May God have mercy on us all.
"Dismissed."
The assembled officers scrambled, but Jon slumped down on the dais, head in his hands.
Captain Wilson sat next to him.
"I know, Mac. I know," he said. The two men had known each other for over twenty years, "If you need to be with your family. . . "
"Nah," he said, "The ex-wife don't talk to me anymore, and if she calls now I'll tell her where she can shove it. And my kid is here, so. . ." his voice trailed off and he sighed.
"What is it Mac?"
"It's Alex. He's. . . He's gone and gotten himself turned into one of those alien-hybrid things. What do you call 'em?"
"Lost?"
"No, no no! Not those, the incorp'rel ones."
"Kheldian?"
"Yeah! He's got himself turned into one of them Kheldians. I don't know what to do."
"Well, Jon, the Kheldians have worked closely with us and Freedom Corps for a while now. You know we can trust them."
"But my kid, Willy! I caught him down in the sewers today, with heroes, fighting Rikti. Dammit, he's only fifteen! I mean, you were there when he was born for cris'sakes."
"Yes. I remember. Those were better times. But, Mac, he's your son. Which, among other things, means you can't stop him from doing what he thinks is right."
Another war already? Haven't there been enough in the last century?!
Hotaka grimaced. This was bad. He wasn;t the kind of guy who could take on huge armies. Well, maybe if they still fought with swords and gunpowder sticks, and he stil had his own...but not in this day and age. The old ears of japan had passed - Waziri, Katashi, and a few trainees were all he had to cal on. They were good, but no army to fight a war with.
"I have to object." Hotaa took the word to Dr. West's suggestion of the Zig, "While it is true the Brickstown prison is a fortress, it could easily be turned into a deathtrap."
He sighed, "I will admit, durning the first Rikti War, I made mistakes. But I learned. These are not the mountains of Japan, but I do not wish to see your ranges of steel fall either. My suggestion is to take the fight to them, to drive them from one of their objectives and hold it..."
--------------------
Pete just swore loudly, pushing past soldiers and equipment preparing for the stand as he fiddled with his teleporter.
The reploids were yanked from their current positions, reappearing next to the ex-Gunslinger, and one of them would probably drop out of the air.
Sadly, they had no way of hearing or seeing Solid Shot beyond the war wall. The fire pounding against it was simply too loud and bright.
Then again, they didn't need to. A new hero with powers of the mind had been here with his mentor when the whole mess started. The mentor had been lost in the fight, but he was still here, willing to help. A quick conversation with a soldier was all it took for the mesage to make its way to Pete.
A few seconds later, a certain mechanoid appeared beside him as well - Solid Shot...
--------------------
Warmaster Kul'bere was furious! How could these pathetic apes erect a meaningful defense?! The plan saw Portal Court already leveled, but here it stood, defiant to the last!
[We are bringing artillery into position.] a Chief Soldier informed her, [It will no be much longer now.]
[It had better.] she growled back mentally, her black-and-white armorsuit crushing junk and debris under its heavy feet as she walked to higher ground to get a better look.
[ QUOTE ]
[Have Prevented: Initial Hero Reinforcements] Chezret sent his mental status update message to the Warmasters.
[Please Provide; Additional Orders]
[/ QUOTE ]
[Chezret, you have spent too much time among these fools!] Kul'Bere sent back, [Your thoughts reek of their influence!]
A pause.
[Pardon.] she added. Even a Warmaster should not disrespect her troops, especially one as loyal as Chezret, [The day has been arduous. Your orders are as follows - we expect the humans to call for more reinforcements now that you have suceeded. We cannot let this happen. proceed to hubs of what they call the "telephone" network and destroy them...]
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"WHAT IS THIS ABOUT THE RIKTI!?!" Wielder asked as the rest of the group came up behind Reginald. "AND WHO IS THIS SMALL, GREEN CHILD!?!"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.