Build seemed to absorb all the knowledge he good from the little journey. If his nannites couldn't copy the type of technology they created their own. As he arrived infront of the train he let out a snort.
"Not half bad. Now can we get moving?" He said with an annoyed techno voice.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
Dr. Phillis was one of the last to step through Verns portal. He didnt trust the strange creature in the slightest, but he also wasnt much up for arguing with what could best be explained as a middle schoolers wet dream come to life. He snickered lightly as he stepped through the shining gate, fitting his goggles more snuggly on his face as he did.
Once inside the Labtower, the man stuck close to Dr. West, not wishing to be near the others. He didnt trust them at all. Of course, he shouldnt trust Dr. West either, as Dr. Phillis was currently in a campaign to steal and study his reploid technology, but he would rather be with someone familiar than with the entirely foreign scientists. At least he was aware Dr. West had morals. All the others seemed to have was a strange obsession with dead things, not to mention some serious issues with their transformations. The doctor took it that Build had purposely changed himself in anticipation, as there were several mad science types he knew of that worked in genetic transformations.
Lagging behind a bit, Dr. Phillis was the last in the gravity shaft, running his hand along the metal wall just before he stepped in. He was a bit nervous that he would be too heavy with his suit on, but the shaft seemed to regulate him just as well as the others. He felt like quite the fool floating upward with his arms crossed, a large frown on his face.
As Vern explained the mobile laboratory, Dr. Philliss mood failed to change. He still didnt like any of this, especially when every idea he had was shot down. He wasnt called a genius for nothing.
Excuse my ignorance, Midas asked as he looked at the train, But where exactly are we getting moving to?
"Oh." Said Igor, almost dissapointed when he learned he wouldn't be using the Rocket Carriage.
He shuffled his feet nervously.
"Am I thill allowed to thcatter dutht and thpiderth about?" He asked hopefully.
((Oh hay wuts goin on in dis thread? IMMAH CHARGIN MAH PORTAL JACKING))
Contrary to Doctor Phillis' belief, he was not the last one to step through the portal.
In fact, the person who came after him didn't look in place at all.
"Aww yeah." The Cuban grinned, strapped to the gills with ammo, a Squad Automatic Weapon with several unneeded 'tacticool' modifications across his back. "Portal secure." He barked into a radio.
The next three looked like German Infantry, with their black helmets and gray uniforms, all carrying M4 carbines. They came out rank-and-file, the last one bearing Medical marks.
The next two through the portal were black-on-black clad balaclava wearing Spec Ops, each brandishing a silenced SCAR with a grenade launcher on it.
The final being through the portal could only be described as an amphibious human who was surrounded by a visible haze of bacteria and blight. A tattered cape gently waved behind him as he deliberately stepped forward. Coming to a stop in front of the others, Osh'Kan Pestilence Operative Drechi spoke clearly in a rasping voice.
"Sorry I'm late."
"No, you definitely need the latter as well." Vern added to the discussion, referring to Solid Shot's remark with a wry smirk, "At least from some people's point of view. Personally, I don't consider asking the tree to grow a certain way to be amoral, but there's a good few who equate that to messing with nature and perverting it and corrupting it, bla bla bla. It pays off though, so we don't much care, right Drechi?"
Indeed, the plant that had spread itself through the Labtower formed the veritable heart of the facility, metabolizing, translating, and passing on the various hyperenergies linked to it. Build would quickly find himself incapable of recreating just about anything here - the bulk of the place operated on a parabasis, which quite simply exceeded his capabilities of detection. Though he may well have known of different means to achieve a like effect of what he'd intended to copy, the means in use here remained a book with seven seals.
"We'll be able to get within about ten clicks of the position Madam Eirene gave us." the Krayten further elaborated, "From there, no tracks lead any closer. Logic suggests our friends are operating out of Neryungri, flying in their supplies and taking them into the mountains to the south - the river coming out of Gorbylyakh, to be precise. They're probably using it for power. That means we'll be heading somewhere between Zolotinka and Berkakit. Exactly where is still up in the air - we'll just stop at a few vantage points and then pick the best one..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Having not received an answer from Igor, Jake had to force himself to calm down, a calm, albeit, irritated, crossing over his face once more.
"Sounds about right." He replied to Vern's proposed course of action. "No objections here."
"Very good." West said, with a slight nod to Drechi. "Then let us make preparations immediately."
Turning, he regarded Toy and Dr. Phillis with a genial smile. "I propose that we use the aforementioned surveillance drones at several vantage points about the area. Being merely in that distance should place us in a good position; we are merely looking for the compound itself and are not worrying about infiltrating it at this time. Vern, may I have a map, please?"
When the image of the map was provided to him, he frowned slightly, pointing out several points in the area between the two Russian outposts the Krayten had specified.
"If we place surveillance in the following places we should be able to at very least see anything that may be in between. I trust your drones have infrared and ultraviolet capabilities, as I suspect their compound is at least partially underground."
"But did'na th' surveillance tapes show it outside?" Vanessa wondered, raising an eyebrow.
West snorted. "No self-respecting organization with any degree of secrecy they wished to maintain would operate in plain view. I suspect a sustained underground ecosystem, likely for the purpose of growing food. They likely wished as few contacts with the outside world as possible. Purchasing enough food to support a facility...well. It would turn a few heads."
Vanessa whistled a little. "Aye, then. Wish I'd brought me diggers."
Essex glanced back to the portal, and brightened at the sight of Drechi and his operatives.
"Sir Vasquez!" she chirped, springing down from Gasket's shoulder and looking up at the massive Cuban in adoration. "How are you?"
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Dig I can do." Vern remarked to Vanessa's concerns, "The ground's quite easy to get aside. You just have to know how to talk to it. Now then, shall we get going...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
The fuzzy mini-bear, Felix, crawled out of Essex's grasp only to perch on her shoulder. There, it let out a noise akin to blending a hum and a squeal (three parts "hum," one part "squeal").
Sheldon clicked his tongue upon seeing his pet's behavior, but he knew Felix had a soft spot for females. He just hoped the little guy never had to make a choice between S-6, Sarah Grey, or Katie (his surrogate daughter, based off lab mouse DNA; how a lab mouse got into the Grey's Army base was another question entirely, considering the fact that the actual base was hemmed in by the King's Row sewers).
Ryat99 made for the machine that would be their conveyance. He didn't see the point in questioning further, a suitable means of transportation was now available, and bickering only wasted more time. Fortunately, he refrained from saying as much, hoping his example of simply stepping aboard would get across better.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Doin' alright, healbot." Vasquez nodded, scratching at his warpaint. "Sorry we was forever comin', we had some fallout wit da Paragon Police we hads ta take care of."
Drechi grinned a very evil grin at Vern. "Right indeed." He rasped, hefting what looked like a cross between a biological sniper rifle and a giant syringe on to his shoulder. The group's medic sternly stepped around the room, taking some readings and occasionally shooting a hateful glance at Essex, obviously miffed that there was a healer already here.
The two SpecOps looked up when they heard 'Observation.'
"You rang?" One motioned, grimacing slightly at the mention of observation drones. "Ah, don't feed me that [censored]...You need something that can react real-time to situations, not some [censored] windup toy. Come on. You want us."
[ QUOTE ]
You want us."
[/ QUOTE ]
"And me," Build spoke up in the weird technoized voice from the corner he was crouched in. His black anarchy t-shirt had changed colors from black to white to blend in with the light coating of white, downy fur that now covered his body.
The claws that protruded from his huge mechanical arms popped in and out in quicked succesion, as if he anticipated a future battle and the shedding of blood. "That is, unless you want me to stay here. In this stage I'm a predator, not the best move to keep something like this locked up in here," Said the mechanical voice that spoke for Build.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
[ QUOTE ]
"Now then, shall we get going...?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"We shall." Jake responded as he stepped onto the craft, only glancing back after getting a comfortable spot. The scientist turned predator, in particular, bothered him. Anything without rational thought bothered him, in fact. The inability to think things through and act only after thinking of the consequences made him almost consider the thing a hostile. Only the fact that it was speaking to them kept him from labelling it an enemy.
Of course, this also went for any type of zombie or any other creature without the ability to think. Were it not for their having a master to obey, he would attempt to take them down as well.
"Don't need men if I've already got my drones in position," Toy said flippantly as he faced Drechi while walking backward toward the train. "They should be infiltrating the compound shortly if my transmissions are accurate."
"Which they are," remarked Solid Shot with a sarcastic tone of voice and roll of his head. "Combat efficient your [censored] may not be, but I haven't fought anything else with the same C&C capability you've got going."
Toy Dispenser cocked his head in response to Solid's comment and paused just before he stepped onto the train.
"Whoever said I'd deployed the combat specced drones before?" he said as he spun around and walked onto the train.
Solid Shot froze in midstep to consider this information and one could almost hear the gears in his head turning. Eventually shrugging, the rogue security droid boarded the train as well and grabbed a seat near to the door.
Toy Dispenser sat down near the front of the car while his drones filed in and tried to take up as little space at the back of the car as they could.
********************************************
Even as Toy Dispenser verbally flicked Drechi's men off, the two Stickmen scout drones were approaching the compound's position. Next to impossible to detect, the Stickmen would have the unusual leisure of being able to take their time to infiltrate and slip inside unnoticed. Once inside, however, the real time limit would begin as they raced to identify as much of the facility as possible before they had to escape, relay the information, and run as far as possible before self-destructing.
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.
Experiment took his own seat on the car, minding his own business as he began tapping his PDA repeatedly- He'd recently got Bejeweled on there, and was tempted to try beating the Global High Score.
He was nowhere close, but still.
His legs crossed themselves on the seat in concentration, tongue slightly out of the side of his mouth. "Ruby with diamond... Hah! Gotcha! Bugger..."
Random commentaries of this sort would emanate from him every once in a while, but other than that, he wouldn't actively associate with the others unless spoken to- He was thinking about stuff that he had been messing with for a while, and was distracting himself.
For now, anyway- He didn't want to burn himself out on the situation before they got to the location.
Build walked slowly on all fours into the train, one would get the picture of a great cat pacing. He walked to a seat and crouched on his haunches beside the hero who was inveloped in his videogame. "Got Tetris on there? Can't have any games 'less you got Tetris." He asked as his nanites examined the heros PDA and armor.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
Dr. Phillis shook his head and glared at Toy while speaking to Dr. West. Let him use his scouts, Im sure theyll be more efficient than my own. He sounds like hes more likely to get what we need than I am, and Id hate to give us away with needless competition. He said, trying to be rational, but unable to not sound infuriated that he had been one-upped. Im sure Ill be more than useful in later phases of our operation, for now Ill sit back until I have a chance to shine.
He tried to grin, but it looked more like a snarl than anything.
"Tho...What are we thuppothed to do while we thcout uthing thtate-ofth-the-oh-tho-highetht-art dronth to thcout?" Igor asked with an unbelievably stoic face, which didn't tell whether he was being sarcastic or not. "Do we jutht thit around? No thir! If you could direct me to the nearetht material thtorage area, I will be getting to work."
"Of course I do," Experiment replied, grinning as he got four diamonds in a row, then had it fall on three sapphires. "Hah, gotcha... Yeah, I got Tetris, Snake, Bejeweled, Space Invaders, and Dead Rising... I can not see the words in Dead Rising, but I don't care."
After a single switch, the rows of jewels reduced by three, mainly by pure lucky placing. "...Oh... Oh that was cool..."
Vern said nothing, opting to be diplomatic instead of voicing his thoughts about Build's metamorphosis. As far as the Krayten was concerned, the guy had quite stupidly treaded into territory his human mind wasn't used to or ready for. He was just lucky they didn't have any time to waste - and that humans tasted lousy, of course.
"While I'm not exactly sure what you mean by materials," he answered Igor, "we are carrying everything with us that a true geologic expedition would need. You're free to look about the equipment car."
As soon as everyone had climbed aboard, the train received the green light. The fake diesel engine revved its motors audibly, and in short order the cars followed their locomotive out into the cold, Siberian tundra.
Well, not exactly.
First, the landscape that rushed past the windows was that of a lush, green forest, the railroad tracks suspended more than a dozen meters above ground, and with no visible supports. Myriads of plants could be seen every which way, the hangar they'd just departed already having vanished in the thick crowns of green.
"Great, now I'm hungry again." Vern sighed with a smirk as the landscape passed, then without warning gave way to the true surroundings of the Labtower: a vast expanse of permafrost plain.
The construct that had obviously been some sort of greenhouse encircling the Labtower soon fell behind in the distance, and now the tracks hovered over a desolate region that resembled a gigantic meteor crater. The clouds above were black as night, resembling supercells to a tee, and encircled the formation's far perimeter in a thick blizzard the likes of which struck just about anyone that turning back was a good idea.
Of course, the train didn't have to worry about that. It would never even enter the storm wall. A few hundred meters beforehand, the tracks merged with the ground once more, smoothly transitioning at the rocky caldera wall, and then trailed in a curve toward a destroyed wooden bridge.
Vern's unperturbed demeanor, however, already suggested the out-of-order crossway wasn't what it appeared; and indeed this was so. As the locomotive came upon it, the world outside changed without warning, doing so in a nearly immeasurable amount of time. The caldera had vanished, the bridge now sat behind them, and the skies had become normal once more - well, at least as normal as they got in Siberia. Thick clouds of white blotted out the sky, and falling snow drifted wildly by the speeding train.
"We'll be joining the main rail in Berkakit in about two minutes." Vern explained, feeling that was all there was to it, "from there, it's about thirty kilometers to Zolotinka, so that's our OA for now. We'll have to look carefully to find a good observation post..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
West glanced at Dr. Phillis with a neutral look in his eyes.
"Doctor Midas Phillis." he said with a wry smirk. "If everything Essex has told me about you is true, then I am certain that your abilities will find quite a stage to perform upon very soon."
Was that a hint of something else in Daniel's voice? Suspicion? Of course he didn't trust Dr. Phillis completely. But that tone in his voice was almost a good-natured assurance that West had his eye on him.
"And my android is not apt to lie." he chuckled, glancing back at Essex while they rode the train to their destination.
"Miss Rosie said she's seeing some Freakshow guy lately..." she was prattling to Vasquez. "His name is Volt Bishop or something, and I guess he's pretty cool, but I never really liked the Freaks...Should I tell her I saw you?" The little android absently scratched Felix's ears as she spoke.
Vanessa, on the other hand, had her arms folded, watching the crew with a crooked grin. Eyeing some of the mercenaries accompanying Drechi, she snorted. "Some o' Reikoff's ol' boys..." she muttered, turning away ever so slightly in distaste.
The woman scientist raised her voice to Vern. "Actually, would it nae be better t' hunker down somewhere it's bloody difficult t' find us and send out our surveillance from there? Seems t'me that usually when ye find a place ye can see everyone, everyone can also see you pretty easily."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
The Spec Ops quietly growled at Toy before stepping back, loading their Grenade Launchers with Flashbangs and smacking in new Magazines into their SCARs.
The Mercenary Soldier closest to Vanessa snorted mockingly at her distaste. "Relax lady. We're mercenaries. We don't carry grudges."
"Not against some people, anyway."
Vasquez laughed at the thought of Rosie and a Freakshow. "I don't even know how that's gonna work, but nah, I figure, it's better that Freakshow don't know 'bout me, 'cos at the mention of her even knowin' my name, he'd [censored] so many parts he'd be human again."
Drechi finally spoke up.
"Alright. I'm helping you with your damn human problems. I assume you have some sort of payment already arranged for me."
At this, the Mercenaries suddenly stopped kidding around. They eyed the group defensively while Drechi maintained a steady composure.
"This is a volunteer mission." West said, turning to face Drechi only slightly. "This was made amply clear in your invitation, I trust."
With this, he slid a glance to Vanessa, who returned a thumbs-up.
"Took care o' it, Ocky." she said.
"That having been said." West continued, "This organization has several cordons of various weaponry, strategic equipment, body armor, scientific devices, and the like that I believe we, as a group, have deemed unnecessary for them to remain in possession of for much longer. I believe these commodities will net you, considering you know the proper buyers..."
Daniel tossed Drechi a disarming smile.
"Which I am certain you do, as any proper businessman is certain to know his market..."
He turned his attention back to the front.
"...More than a fair sum, with a great many zeroes involved."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"That's the idea." Vern smiled toothily to Vanessa with his answer, "First rule of covert operations: hide in plain sight. After all, if we were really a hostile force, why would we be so stupid as to park where everyone can see us, right?"
Indeed, this was an age-old strategy, and not just one employed by humans. Common sense suggested that any covert force should remain just that, and this strategy completely counteracted this, making it a still very unusual aspect of clandestine operations.
Vern did not underestimate the enemy, however; he fully expected their leaders to turn attention their way if they truly went through with the plan, so he'd modified it just a little, and would choose a final destination in such a manner that nobody could derive any suspicion from it - neither hidden nor plainly observable.
Since the paper trail was there (even publicly accessible) in the Kremlin, and the mask of a geological expedition extended beyond just the train itself, these guys would have to have been several orders of magnitude more paranoid than the Malta Group to even dream that there was anything amiss here.
After all, Siberia was a land undergoing intense scientific study. If the enemy made it a point to keep tabs on every such expedition, they would've soon descended into an information chaos the likes of which no human had ever seen...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"My ops have always been hit-and-run, blow [censored] to hell things by preference," said Toy after a few minutes. "If we're really going to be lying low, I'll defer to the professionals. That said, I should probably change clothes too."
That said, Toy got up and moved back to the rear of the train among his bots. Combat Toy stepped in front of the group to block them all from casual observation and then a low humming seemed to emanate from the group. If anyone was able to see Toy at this moment, they'd see his ever present aura of electricity intensifying as it always did in periods of strenuous activity and his armor flipping around and shifting about like one would have seen in the Transformers movie.
At the same time that Toy was morphing his armor, his bots were also undergoing a few cosmetic changes, mostly involving their coloring shifting to pitch black with dark red streaks across their chests and legs to the accompanyment of the same red electricity that was crackling across Toy at the very moment. A few spikes also jutted out of their armor, mostly at the shoulders and wrists, though those drones with hands got a few nasty looking spikes on their knuckles as well.
"I love this disguise," chuckled Combat Toy as it pounded one fist to it's chest before stepping back and letting Toy Dispenser return to his seat.
Toy now looked like a much darker and more evil version of himself. Instead of the bright primary colors of his normal costume he was instead painted in a black and red scheme similair to what was on his bots. His shoulder pads were more rounded with sharp red spikes jutting from them and the flanges on his wrists were smoothed out so as not to be visible unless one peeked under the black sheath of metal they were hiding under.
"Paranoia much?" said Solid Shot as Toy moved to retake his seat.
"Paranoia nothing," Toy said as he sat back down. "This actually works. If there's nothing else I learned in the Isles it's that ninety percent of everything evil dresses in black and dark red. I've been able to get ahold of interviews with the survivors of missions I've done in this outfit and the best they had do to describe me is 'some dark villain type with a bunch of black robots.' Cliches are rooted in fact, after all."
Solid sighed in mock disgust but said nothing else.
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.
"Not all of us have access to extra-solar technology," Toy Dispenser said in response to Experiment's question. "Nor some of the morals that might get in the way of applying said technology."
"I think you just need the former," Solid said. "Messing with the second generally gets you in trouble."
"People didn't object much to Block Bot," Mini Bot added. "And he was made with the-"
The chipper little drone was cut off as the aforementioned robot bonked Mini Bot on the head.
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.