The Crossing ((open RP))

Meanwhile...

"Care to explain this one, then?" the Outsider sighed as she pinched her nose. Derek merely answered with the silent stroking of his stubble before he finally broke his thoughtful silence.

"I would if I knew -what- in the hells it actually wa-" the wanderer answered, only to be interrupted by a sudden scream behind him which faded into silence as quickly as had started, leaving the both of them slamming their palms firmly onto their foreheads.

"What part of don't kill him did you -not- understand, eh?" the Outsider snarled.

"It was that rope, I swear!" Derek pleaded. Though he knew that his companion was something of a pacifist to the degree that violence was only a consideration if her life truly depended on it and wouldn't so much as flick his ear, he was certain that she had figured out some non-violent way to torture him for the rest of his days by now. Or that she would simply leave him for the next regiment of gear knights to come their way.

Not that they had to wait at all. No sooner had their prisoner fallen to his eventual death by exposure to vacuum did it turn out that he was little more than a scout that had somehow revealed the duo's current location to a much larger squad, this time armed with clockwork rifles and ready to fire upon them at a moment's notice.

"You... checked him, right?" the Outsider said, her back against Derek's as soon as the danger became apparent.

"Sure I did!" Derek declared confidently as he glanced to the young woman, only to be met with the same distrustful glare he had received just a moment ago. "Okay, no."

"Sometimes I wonder how you even survived your teenage years, you know?" the Outsider responded. "Okay, so we're surrounded by guns at all angles with some wacky... thing that can't be explained right next to us."

"Derek the Aimless!" a deep voice bellowed from the north. "And the nameless maiden!"

"That's what they're calling me now?" the Outsider muttered to Derek. "I mean, it's not like -I- even know if I've..."

"I hereby place you both under arrest," the voice continued, "For crimes against the Netrid Empire and its neighbouring states!"

"How about worrying about -that- a little later, okay?" Derek responded to his partner in 'crime'. "Think about how we can get ourselves out of this mess."

"Short of hoping that swirly thing's a portal to another land or something, I'm kind of... stumped."

"And if it kills us as soon as we touch it?"

"Well, let's hope it's a quick death, because their precious Emperor won't be giving us that!"

"Alright," Derek sighed, looking up at the wall of trees and rifles surrounding them. "On the count of three?"

"Sure." the Outsider smirked.

"Alright, then. One... Two... Hey, I never said three yet!"

****

Steel Canyon...

On the plus side, the strange entity had not brought death upon the young woman, as she learned quickly upon landing with a less than professional roll along something that, though flat, felt rough like partially-used sandpaper.

It felt like concrete.

The Outsider promptly sat bolt upright as soon a the realisation set in and looked down at the ground beneath her. It was concrete alright, which suggested one possibility: that she had finally found her way back home, or at least to Earth. If she still had to figure out where exactly she lived and what plane to catch, that didn't matter. She was finally home!

Oooor so she thought up until she looked up at the sky, where she beheld some sights rather unfamiliar with herself. She certainly didn't remember her homeworld having men that could fly unaided, after all. Nor did she recall anywhere on Earth that was surrounded by a giant forcefield.

"We're not in Kansas anym-" The Outsider muttered shortly before Derek announced his arrival behind her with a painful "Oof!"

The young woman then looked up just in time to see the duo's exit out of the Bubble Bath close up mere moments later.

"Well, the good news, Derek," the young woman laughed nervously to her disorientated ally as he struggled to pick himself up. "Is that we're still alive and not facing an Imperial execution."

Meanwhile, Elsewhere Elsewhen...

“In retrospect perhaps today hasn’t been the best day” Cathak Mirel grumbled to herself as she trudged through the blistering desert, her heavy black armour causing her misery two fold; both causing her boots to sink a little into the loose sandy grains that made up the ground in this forsaken place and the shiny black plates, that while put together in the style of lamellar armour (though custom shaped to allow her to at least hint at her curves while wearing it) was made from much more durable mystic jade, served only to absorb more of that accursed suns heat.

She paused for breath, grateful that her men had long since fled so she wouldn’t have to show such weakness in front of them. The thought of their retreat from the battle caused a very nasty looking snarl to obscure her otherwise picturesque face; the fools had run from a lowly peasant rabble lead by an idiotic low born Outcaste, elite troops indeed, she would be having words with her uncle about them.

“Or at least I will be when I get out of this Dragons forsaken desert” She said as she brought up a gauntleted hand to wipe the sweat off her brow, managing to stop herself just in time before the hot gauntlet did something like sear the etching of a dragons head that decorated them onto her otherwise flawless skin, the story of which would no doubt make her the laughing stock at Dynastic parties for the next century. That was the last thing she needed, her reputation among the Great Houses was hanging by a thread, she needed some grand victory or great find soon or her rather generous income would soon find itself diminished.

Aware she was staring into the back of her gauntlet, and had been doing for the last few minutes, Mirel swiftly moved her hand to flick some of her long back hair aside (More out of habit to make it seem like she meant to do something rather then actual worry that someone was watching her) and found some solace in the fact there was still the hint of it not being dry yet, as though she had been swimming not too long before, showing she still at least had the grace of the Water Dragon to support her.

With renewed vigour she set her ocean blue eyes (which had the occasional hint of a wave to their colour) on the cave entrance that was now only a scant few hundred yards away, she was going to wait there until nightfall and then make her way back to the encampment. With purpose restored she trudged her booted foot out of the sand a put it firmly on thin air… wait what?


Talos Island, Paragon City

With no time to react Mirel found herself tumbling through a very brief rip in the multiverse, tumbling head over heals until she landed on her armour plated backside on a grass little hill somewhere near to where she could hear the sea. Quickly she got to her feet and recomposed herself, while relived to find herself near a beach of some kind and the oppressive desert heat now only a bad memory, new and rather more pressing problems had replaced them; such as the vast strange city she saw stretched out before her (which if her initial guess was right outsized the Imperial City itself by several orders of magnitude) framed by vast blue flickering walls of some kind.

“I didn’t even say ‘it couldn’t get much worse’ why do you have to pre-empt me Universe?” She said quietly to herself as she attempted to get her bearings, hoping that she’d at least be able to do that much before something or someone interrupted her.

Ethan slide into what little cover the cars wreck provide, and drew the Blackhawk magnum from its holster. Rapidly he discarded the idea of hauling out his Ranger battle armour, there was no time to suit up, and instead he swapped his Shady Hat for one of the less dented Talon Combat Helmets in his large backpack.

Sweeping around the bridge pillar came the drone that Dr Mechano had dispatched, it scanned, looking, seeking…..

Ethan peered at the Drone, clearly it was not a Mister Gutsy, or a Mister Handy, but it was some sort of robot. Finger tense on the trigger of the .44 Ethan slowly move out from behind the wreck to see what the inquisitive robot wanted…..

Steel Canyon

"Hey, bud. Check it."

The Outcast nudged his companion, the two gangers pausing in their swaggering saunter through the parking lot.

"Woh...Nice wheels, man. Whatsit?"
"Ford Mustag, GT500. Twenty ten model by the looks of it."
"You read way too much, you know that?"
"Shaddup."

The pair examined the pure silver car for a moment.

"Nab it?"
"Nab it."

The car spotter glanced around quickly. Luckily for them it was quiet around, people either busy at work or not yet up. He slipped the fireaxe he still kept spare from the back of his belt, lining up on the window to shatter it as neatly as possible. No point denting your new ride, after all.

"Woh, woh, you are kidding me, right?"

The pair froze, glancing around for the source of the voice. No capes around, but that didn't matter when the damn Heroes could turn invisible on you. They quickly moved back to back, the first creating a fireball in his spare hand, the other coating his fists in thick ice.

"Where the hell are you?" the Freezer muttured, eyes flitting back and forth.
"Right here, bud."

Metal shifted, gears whirred, pistons kicked into life. Servo-tendons clenched and modular joints slid into position. With a humming, whirring finale the movement ceased, freezing the scene in place for a moment.

The Mustang was gone. In it's place stood over fifteen and a half foot of shining robotics, sleek metal and armour plated chasis. A surprisingly human face smirked down at the pair from atop the towering form.

"I think you punks need to hop it," Quicksilver suggested, flexing one large hand.

The pair needed no second bidding. Without a second through they fled, the fire axe calttering forgotten to the floor behind them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

OOC: The Blackhawk .44 scoped? Isn't that complete overkill? >.> BIC:

Amatus was not that much a hulk, standing at six feet (although the winter gear was a little bulky). The man gave the offered pamphlet the same look one would give an oncoming locust swarm.

"...I sincerely doubt that." He said, finally reclaiming his grip on stability for the moment. "No, much much easier if I just ask these simpletons instead..." He muttered, turning to the three collapsed Skulls. Now he saw what had actually happened - he had been dropped here by accident, if what the woman in conjunction with the drone were saying was true. Attacking or accusing them would be foolish, but since he had already disposed of the Skulls...waste not.

"Unconscious memory is perfect, after all..." He muttered. He yanked the knife out of his chest, blood staining his white clothes, and dropped it on the ground. The wound had apparently already stopped bleeding, for no additional flecks of red appeared to blemish his outfit. He then stood over the three thugs, and brought his hands together. There was a sharp cracking noise, and a ball of buzzing golden light formed between his hands...

Edward's eyes opened wide as he looked at the incoming rift. It was big, really big, lord knows what was coming through that.

Switching in to contact all the Drones he had sent out.

"Alright, I want eyes on the scene, pull away from your current missions and head towards this location, not too close though."

The Drones at various locations simply took off, not offering any kind of explanation as to why they were leaving but throughout Kings Row, people looking to the skies could see there were atleast six drones on duty all converging on a single point.

The skies darkened as the huge rip in reality swirled about in the sky, the large tear in space/time easily noticable from most locations within Kings Row. With a flash something very large was dropped through the rift and landed with an almighty clang.

Standing there was one gigantic mechanical crab. Coloured Gunmetal grey apart from a red glow coming from underneath. The beast only knew one thing, that it would continue it's attack pattern it had been doing before it was bought here.

It scuttled from side to side, crushing cars in it's path. Proceeding to attack nothing inparticular with a left claw swipe, then a right claw swipe and then blowing a stream of bubbles which, while very large, did nothing to the surrounding area. Where it came from that stream of bubbles had been a devastating attack but here the bubbles abided by the physics of this dimension.

Every so often it would let out a high pitched very computerized roar before continuing with the pattern.

Kings Row

Unnoticed one moment became duly conspicuous the next as she called in the others, Ildeala's ears having no trouble telling she to whom they belonged that someone was talking not a few meters from her, the warbled, electronic tone reminiscent of an Imperial Stormtrooper coming loud and clear from apparently thin air. Just what was being said wasn't so easy to determine however, chiefly due to being spoken in a language that sounded like a mixture of Balkan, Czechoslovakian, and Klingon.

It didn't remain that way for long though, a flicker of humanoid-shaped static soon producing the source of the voice: a suit of armor that while fitting the general proportions definitely didn't belong to any sort of human. Powered, integrated, and hermetically sealed, it looked like something that someone would've used to play the role of catcher to a pitcher in orbit. Of course, that alone wasn't so uncommon in Paragon. The plasma rifle was a different story, though.



Thankfully, the owner didn't seem to have any hostile intent, for said rifle quickly found its way to the armor's back, attaching there with a confirming click while the armored figure approached Ildela.

"Please do not move." the electronic warble became English as it bent down to get a better look at her, albeit with a heavy Slavic accent, "You have been in a collision and may have sustained internal injuries. A medical technician is on the way..."
__________________

Talos Island

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omega_Chief “I didn’t even say ‘it couldn’t get much worse’ why do you have to pre-empt me Universe?” She said quietly to herself as she attempted to get her bearings, hoping that she’d at least be able to do that much before something or someone interrupted her.

No such luck. In a chain of events like this, the universe tended to take such thoughts as a challenge.

"Quargh..." sounded a groan from behind her - or more accurately just below her initial point of impact - where there lay a figure clad in nearly the very same armor Ildela had encountered over in Kings Row. There were marked differences, though. First, this type had a tail, snaking and saurian in nature, and leg casings built to fit digitigrade feet. Second, the forward half of its helmet was a bit broader and longer. Finally, a four-fingered hand clutched a stick roughly as long as a human was tall, a rifle nowhere to be found.

"And what should I think?" the armor's electronic tone queried rhetorically, "I didn't even say anything at all..."

Steel Canyon...

"So let me get this straight, okay?" Derek groaned, following the young woman out of the alley they had landed in. The Outsider made a cautious call by first having a little peek at what intelligent life may be passing by. Humans, she noted, and all wearing the standard of clothing she remembered of her homeworld. With any luck, she could pass her wanderer friend off as a cosplayer or perhaps someone heading to a fancy dress party. "You're finally home... but you're not home?"

"Something like that." The Outsider answered. "More like a different -version- of home."

"That's possible?" Derek asked.

"Derek, you live on a network of self-contained planet fragments floating in space, held together by the efforts of a bunch of long-dead wizards. I think it's safe to say -this- is possible, alright?"

"Fair point," Derek sighed. The Outsider poked her head back around once again.

"Okay, I think we can blend in for now while we look for some answers." the young woman suggested. "Though if anyone asks, you're in fancy dress, got it?"

"Okay?" Derek answered, clueless as to why. However, the Outsider wasn't about to give him time to dwell on it and immediately dragged him out into the open street by his hand.

"Alright," the young woman smirked, her inappropriately-clothed friend in clumsy tow. "Let's see if we can find a library and with any luck... a public computer."

The Mustang trawled lazily along the road, simply following the traffic through - he checked the map - Galaxy City, before moving on into Kings Row.

And then he heard it. The high pitched, mechanised roar, the sounds of explosions, shouting and chaos.
"Oh please, if theres any justice in the univerese, tell me that isn't Dynobots gone nuts..."

As Quicksilver sped up, jinking through traffic towards the sounds of devastation, he was at least proved correct. What he found, however, wasn't much better.
"Giant Craboid? Great. Just great. Sure couldn't find a welcome wagon with a nice explanation and a howdy-do, huh?"

Still, the thing was causing havoc, that much was clear. As Quicksilver sped up, certain parts flipped over, swapping stock symbols with one a little different...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

((I probably wont post too regulary or often, but I will try. This was too tempting to resist, if I go a tad over the top, feel free to PM where I will happily alter it. ))

Place: Paragon zero sector.
Dimension: A None Primal Earth previously unknown.

A row of ten soldiers stood in a street in a wedge formation, they were all in red and black armour with full head helmets with gold mirror visors that revealed nothing of the face beneath. They clutched rifles to their chests with their sleek but armoured gloves in a salute awaiting orders. The street had elements of the primal Paragon but was rather drastically different in other regards. Flames from huge metal industrial chimney stacks were burnt off into the red and grey sky. aAnd red neon lights were along the sides of many buildings and red electricity made spider web like patterns in the sky. Four more figures approached a door of the building the soldiers were waiting outside of. It was a simple warehouse, it seemed normal and unassuming that was apart from the unearthly purple glow flashing through its windows.

A hovering helicopter like craft arrived overhead and a red spotlight lit up the warehouse in a red ominous glow. Inside the dimly lit cockpit of the craft the pilot was bent forwards in a padded seat, he was looking through a submarine like scope that provided a display to the targeting systems. The pilot had a similar helmet to the soldiers only with no face visor, this revealed a badly scarred pale face with a tub going into the right side of the pilots mouth and his ears had been replaced by mechanical flat round devices. The pilot pressed a button on the hover ships control column and a flat robotic voice said, “Scanning underway, central hive mind processor alerted”.
The pilot zoomed in on the warehouse and writing in English and computer code scrolled from left to right on the bottom of the display screen. It read, energy spike detected, origin unknown, meta units alerted and on scene mind link commencing pilot now to surrender to external mind control. The pilot then seemed to make a motion like he was stretching his neck then his movements became far more robotic as his mind was given over to be controlled by the super humans who were about to enter the suspect building. The flat robotic voice said almost needlessly, “Scan complete, central hive mind processor connected to leading council. Observation commencing, recording commencing, now proceeding passive scanning”.

The three figures who were approaching the building got into a wedge formation, the front middle of the three figures was a woman in a cape that has a large red scorpion on a black circular background on it and the same red and black armour that the soldiers wore. She had a robotic metal spine that was visible but covered with a force field. She also had pale skin but more due to the low light than to anything else, she had a cybernetic right eye that clicked and whirred as it moved and it glowed dimly red. She had red and black hair and had a tube that was in her neck and went into the side of her cheek. To her right was a tall red robot with almost Crey looking face details. It had an oval shaped head and one big eye on the right of its face and two smaller ones on the left. It stood roughly seven foot tall, it had talon like robotic feet and spiked metal clawed hands. It followed her silently, five similar robots were lurking in the background. They looked slightly less advanced and seemed to be dormantly waiting for orders. To the woman’s left was a half human half reptilian cyborg in the usual armour but with no cape. This figure was a man with a metal claw for a right hand. He also had a robotic bottom jaw with sharp metal teeth in it and these three figures approached the doorway closer.

As they approached the doorway they saw the glow seem to get more intense. The woman said in a human voice that seemed to have a slight robotic tint to it and very little emotion, “Unit Taliea to leader council, the energy form seems aware of our approach, almost like it is hungry, should we proceed?
The flat robotic voice from before said, “Proceed, investigate, report”.
Taliea sighed sounding reluctant, her first sign of emotion. Then she quietly swore before saying, “Understood command, will Proceed”.
She them turned her head to look at the robot, “Activate your drones to follow us, I have control of the pilot above, now we enter, crush all resistance, there is obviously illegal and dangerous activities going on here, such activities are punished by death”.
The cyborg said sounding decidedly unhappy about the situation, “I don’t approve of being used as a bullet shield for commands query”.
Taliea looked at him and said, “They can hear you, know your place”.
“I do, I just don’t like my place”.
Then Taliea pushed on the door and it came open and there was suddenly a loud electronic crack and a flash. Then the three members of the entry team vanished leaving the soldiers staring in confusion and making the drone robots collapse on the floor as their link to their lead unit was lost.

The Drone that had obviously been seeking Ethan swung and moved off, upward over the bridge.

With no other clue to follow Ethan set off after the robot. The side of the bridge provided just enough handholds for his assent to the road way, years of crossing hostile terrain meant he kept low and his eyes took in everything. The drone was moving fast, it was reaching the opening to a huge four lane road tunnel.

Intent on the drone Ethan’s brain could only take snap shots of the surroundings, lights lots of lights , far too many for safe travel, the road surface un-cracked , clear and clean , buildings not in ruins or boarded up , a group of men, ragged , armed , ..no, they had not spotted him… Wait !! there with the men a huge hulking figure , a SuperMutant ?!. long tuned reflexes added speed to Ethan’s gait and he dashed for the cover of the road tunnel’s walls.

Squatting low Ethan ran his standard checks , his Pip-Boy report no Rads, always good, with no time to spare if he wanted to keep after the robot Ethan ran down the tunnel hugging the wall.

So far having been under a bridge and in a road tunnel Ethan had not had much to look up at, now as the exited the road tunnel his gaze was draw up first to an intact road sign, naming this new area as Kings Row, next to the huge walls of some alien power (( the war walls)) and thirdly to a cluster of robots (( the Drones)) circling a huge metal thing , what appeared to be a gigantic mechanical crab. Coloured Gunmetal grey apart from a red glow coming from underneath.

Ethan sort cover, fast, very fast……..

Kings Row

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rebel_Scum "Pssh. If I was hurt I'd feel worse than I do... wait. Alien in armor suit. Am I still on Earth?"

"Earth yes. Still no." came the curt and colloquial response of the armored figure over Ildela, and despite the electronic modulation of its voice, a gentle smirk was easily imagined onto whatever face might've been behind that visor.

Two more suits of armor faded in from the air just then, their owners dropping the thermo-optic camouflage. The first didn't look any different from the one kneeling over Ildela, but the second had both a tail and sharp claws that looked forged of pure silver. In addition, that one didn't stop, or even slow, instead yanking the individual that had been examining Ildela away and to its feet by the shoulder.

"Careful, Sir!" it warbled loudly, rifle pointed straight at Ildela's chest, "That's an unbound demon...!"

Edward sighed.

"Alright I've seen two responses to this thing...guess I better send out the drones to gather the newcomers..."

He dispatched drones to return to all those they could find, giving a warning that a large creature was on the rampage and that they would be required to defeat it. They also displayed a little map showing where this hulking thing was running amok and providing directions to the nearest monorail for those not located in Kings Row.

"Ech now I know what people say when they mean 'trying to herd cats'...though I refuse to be some kind of behind the scenes benefitor to these new people...simply isn't my style, lets get this mess cleaned up then I can go back to taunting the heroes of Paragon City."

Steel Canyon University...

To say that Derek was bored out of his skull while he waited for the Outsider to operate the strange device she referred to as a computer was an understatement to say the least. Nevertheless, he waited until the young woman finally stopped pressing all those odd little buttons and broke her silence.

"Wow." she uttered, her attention still focussed on the device. "I mean, wow. It's as if we've been pulled into a comic book."

"I'm sure that would sound lovely," Derek droned. "To someone who actually knew what a comic book was."

"It's a book full of pretty pictures that tells a story." The Outsider answered with a dismissive wave in the wanderer's general direction. "Long story short, this Earth is full of people with different powers and abilities, stuff that just wasn't possible on -my- world."

"Wizards?"

"Apparently, some are, but it looks like there's a lot of, erm, non-wizardy people out there that can fart lightning out their backsides."

"How so?"

"Exposure to certain chemicals, genetic mutation, rigorous training, advanced technology... there's so many different causes for these powers it'd take me months just to tell you them all!"

Derek sighed, pushed himself out of his chair and adjusted the scabbard of his left sword before double-checking that the right one, which he had confiscated from the gear knight they had left dangling, well, falling to his doom back on his world, was still there, decorative cog at the base of the pommel and all.

"I should hope it won't take as long to find a way back, right?" the wanderer enquired.

"Well, I hope not too, but it's not as if I -know- what the hell it was that tossed us here."

"Wonderful."

"Hey!" the Outsider sharply turned to her irritable and irate ally while the computer fell into a power-saving state. "Would you prefer to be stuck in some unknown world and start trying to find a way back WITH a significant probability that we'll live to tell the tale to the nearest bard, or be dragged at gunpoint to an on-the-spot execution in front of the Emperor, eh?"

Derek took a moment to consider his options before coming to an answer.

"Okay!" he sighed. "You win this one."

"Good. Next question..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr_Mechano He dispatched drones to return to all those they could find, giving a warning that a large creature was on the rampage and that they would be required to defeat it. They also displayed a little map showing where this hulking thing was running amok and providing directions to the nearest monorail for those not located in Kings Row. "Ech now I know what people say when they mean 'trying to herd cats'...though I refuse to be some kind of behind the scenes benefitor to these new people...simply isn't my style, lets get this mess cleaned up then I can go back to taunting the heroes of Paragon City."

"...is where did that thing come from just now?"

Derek's answer, as always, was to draw his sword at the unknown entity before them, perceiving every newcomer to their person as a potential threat. Both swords at that. Mere seconds after drawing them, however, the Outsider gently pushed the swords to one side and approached the robot.

"When you're done overcompensating, Derek..." she said jokingly. While the wanderer stood on the spot feeling somewhat insulted she peered at the new arrival, taking in everything it had to say. "Giant crab... rampage... needs defeating... okay, where the bloody hell is Kings R- oh. Right. That's a long walk from here, and we're kind of short on cash at the moment."

"I'm sure one of the... non-wizards here could take care of it." Derek huffed. The wanderer crossed his arms behind the Outsider and glanced about, feigning ignorance.

"Probably," the Outsider answered. "But! Since we might be stuck here a while..."

"You're not suggesting we..." Derek protested.

"Yes I am." the Outsider interrupted. "It'll be a long walk, but I don't think that thing'll go down too fast. We might be able to collar one of these... 'capes' when it's all over, ask a few questions, maybe get pointed in the right direction for getting ourselves set up on this world while we're stuck here? OOH!"

Derek blinked as the Outsider jumped slightly. She then fumbled around her back pocket and brandished the smartphone she complained about back on his world. Derek had no idea what a smartphone actually was but to the Outsider it was her faithful iPhone that had served her well back home, not that it was much use in the 'Bubble Bath', even after a wizard zapped it with who knows what spells and enchantments he had zapped it with. Assuming whatever he zapped it with was even supposed to be helpful to begin with.

"Okay?" the Outsider said, raising a brow at her phone as it emitted a regular soft pulsing hum from the screen rather than the speakers. "I... think my phone just read that thing's map?"

Confused, Derek peered over to look at the device's display, which was now a mess of coloured lines and dots swirling and swishing all over the place.

"If I may ask," the wanderer then said, looking up at the Outsider with an equally raised brow. "What exactly does it mean by 'Translocating in 3'?"

"Wait a second, wh-"

****
Kings Row, perhaps a little too close to RoboCrab for comfort?

"-at?"

Derek continued to gawk at the Outsider. He was hoping for a straight answer, after all, not a "What?"

"What?" Derek asked, blissfully unaware that they were no longer in Steel Canyon. "What is it?"

"I... hate wizards." the Outsider sighed. "Just thought I'd tell you that startling revelation now."

Talos Island

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omega_Chief “You should think about telling me who you are, where you got that armour is, where we are and which abomination is your master” Mirel stated in a firm level voice with just a hint of righteous anger, the irises boring into the armoured figure looking almost like miniature storm wracked oceans, “Answering quickly would be best, I would hate to have to damage such valuable armour, it would b-“

"Always the same with you humans, isn't it?" the armored individual peeled itself off the grass, where the impact of Mirel upon it had left a decent impression, using the aid of the long stick to stand up, "You, you, you. Everything is..."

A breath and a sigh came through the electronic modulation, "Please forgive me. I'm letting old thoughts get the better of me. I've never seen you, I don't know you, and I somehow doubt you're from the..."

"Nevermind." the figure shook his head momentarily, then performed a respectful bob of its head toward the armored woman, "I am called Kri. Of Rulus. I am a shaman. This armor was crafted for me by the technician elders of the VFSSR. We are currently on a world the natives call Earth."

As these words were spoken, Mirel's Essence boosted senses very well might've made out several more beings in armor of the same general type as the shaman wore gradually approaching this location. Unlike Kri however, their thermo-optic camouflage was very much still active, and their weapons were raised, heavy-duty PGMP rifles aimed in the direction of the armored woman.

"As to my commanding abomination," a slightly malicious chuckle came through the modulator, and the individual's head turned to the nearby water, "that would be the great flying stomach swimming around down there right now. But maybe I'm being unfair. He didn't get a chance to feed after we landed, and he did make a gate large enough for all of us, which I do know takes a not insignificant amount of energy..."
__________________

Kings Row

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rebel_Scum "Wha... Oh, right. Yeah, I guess", she answered, sounding mildly exasperated. "Would you mind not pointing that at me? Really, if I had any inclination to attack, steal your soul or whatever it is you think I'm going to do, I would've done it when there was only one of you. Since I didn't..."

The armored figures chuckled collectively at this, though the one pointing the rifle didn't lower the weapon until the one who'd first spoken to Ildela both cleared its throat with emphasis and stated commandingly, "Lower your weapon. Now."

"Let me make this clear." was added almost immediately, "You are part of my crew, and as such under the authority of myself and SSR common law. Not Cerosian. You will not attempt to bind her, coerce her, or infringe upon her person in any way without provocation. Is that understood?"

The silver-clawed individual responded with something in another language. From its curt nature and the satisfied reaction of the tailless one, it stood fairly obvious that it had been a yes.

"Now that this is settled," the first figure addressed Ildela again, but didn't get any further before suddenly whipping its head about skyward with the exclamation, "Incoming from above! Scatter!"

The others didn't need to be asked twice, and the armorsuits winked out of a large band of the EM spectrum one after another in rapid succession as those within them spread out and took cover, not content to rely fully on the thermo-optic camouflage. Not a few seconds later, the 'incoming from above' indeed came in from above.

Dr. Edward Mechano's drone...

Talos Island

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeviousMe "As to my commanding abomination," a slightly malicious chuckle came through the modulator, and the individual's head turned to the nearby water, "that would be the great flying stomach swimming around down there right now. But maybe I'm being unfair. He didn't get a chance to feed after we landed, and he did make a gate large enough for all of us, which I do know takes a not insignificant amount of energy..."

Mirel carefully considered a response for several seconds, not liking the odds of this engagement at all; the forces surrounding her were very good at their stealth and seemed to be well equipped enough to make the Power Armoured squads of Lookshy jealous. In a fair fight she’d loose, which of course meant she had to play a different game or at least find a distraction.

As if on cue one of Dr Mechano’s drones, a flying variant designed for rapidly disseminating his various messages taunts and pranks from the looks of it, practically fell out of the sky it’s engines whirring to life at the last second to halt the drop before it impacted (which knowing it’s creator would have resulted in a not too inconsiderable explosion). It hung there for a second as the engine whirring died down enough for it to begin warbling in its semi-piratical tone about some disaster at the Kings Row.

While she only really caught half of what the drone was saying, the corner of Mirel’s mouth twitched into a smirk. This was perfect, but it would require a gamble to pull of, but then gambling was her forte.

With a slight movement the blades on her gauntlets retreated to their hidden state, and acting as though she hadn’t noticed the camouflaged troops, Mirel launched herself into the air as if her armour were as light as a feather spinning a few times before landing atop of the drone, riding it as if it were a surfboard.

“Well, you heard this message bringer, it sounds like the King needs his Row saving, and as I’m going to need to see him anyway why don’t we go and make an entrance mmm? There is room for one more on this after all”

She even held out a hand to offer the Shaman a hand up onto the drone that had started grumbling to itself, letting her mind wander as she waited for his reply. The perfect chance to not only gain reputation with this city but to shore up her rather sagging reputation back home, a giant beast slain, a city brought back into the fold and a beastman shaman with her to either be an ally or handed in to the King for extra reputation if it turned out he was a trouble maker.