[ORP] At a CrossRoads. Bar and Grill. [FIN]

[PuddleInk]

Her humerous reply was worth a bark of a laugh. She was nice, once Marcia knew you werent a threat. Those pain pills were taken and thrown down his throat with a glee. They were bitter and probably swallowing them dry wasnt the best way to make them work faster. It was all he had before examination. "They're the first to vanish too. " he said, trying to get the little moisture he had in his mouth back. He wanted to be able to talk.

It was an instinct to cringe away from pain. The sore flesh screamed and demanded he pull away from the gentle examination from the good woman. That wouldnt be a good idea to do that. That move would also hurt a lot more than the poking and prodding. All Talon could do was wince and force the pained expression into the best and happiest smile he could manage. It wasnt going to be completely successful, but practice makes perfect, and he was gettin oodles of experience in it. Or maybe it was the pain pills.

' Were?' He thought and tried not to dwell too hard on the question. Numbers. The woman wanted numbers. She wanted to mnow how many were there before it... His throat seemed to close despite his effort to speak and list off all that had been there before he had left and been attacked by that cat. "I ... There had been ... " Talon had to count on his good hand. Did she mean people? People and organoids? People, organoids and Zoids? His mind told him to just count the meatbags. " Probably no more than six. But... The Empire. That bloody scrap shot something at the Empire. Who knows how many have been ... Marcia, I dont think there are any survi--!!?"

Talon's harsh words were put on hold as he saw the large liger limp towards them. ( Sometimes it was useful bein the size of an ant to these behemoths. This was one of those times) he had never seen the liger before its transformation, he was still impressed. Perhaps he was gawking at it too hard. A jolt of paint from his shoulder brought him back. Was that a large metal splinter!? What kind of a shock wave threw metal shrapnel?

While his lips tried to form coherent words to voice the pained confusio , another crackled clearly through. The half formed mental sentence had been paused, in body and mind while the numbed brain caught up. Help? Someone wanted to help them? Why did Talon suddenly feel frightened at the thought of some stranger helping. Especially with a string signal like that! He thought 'scavangers' and 'mercenaries'.

He didn't remember when Moe had wiggled its way onto his lap, nor when his harness was removed. But he did rememeber starting to laugh. It wasnt half crazed, it was a subdued laugh at the situation. The gods hated them, but liked them just enough it would seem to make sure they were all alive for their next set of tricks.

The momentary bout of insanity passed and Talon decided it was time to see the damage. He needed to see how long it would take to repair his friend. With a numbed grunt of discomfort, he crawled out of the canopy, winced at the light and stared at his Tyrant. With the right tools... A month. "Tell whoever that is that the need to bring a welder and quite a bit of scrap and sealer if they want to help."

And, Talon though to himself, once you're all fixed you will help me find that boy that brought this hell upon us all.  

[GunSniper]

Every spike along Blaze's back begun to bristle as he continued to watch the cross-roads survivors. Crimson eyes were pinned upon them, yet at the same time they seemed completely focused elsewhere as if lost in thought. Thankfully for the group he seemed grounded where he was for the time being. Grounded or simply desired to remain put was as good as anyone's guess.

The jury, on the other hand, turned attention away from Blaze to the group and begun to advance in long strides toward their location. His right hand was slightly raised palm up while the left was tucked back as if it were a wing. From a distance one could see a shadow-like ZOID nestled within the palm, but as he drew closer his mountainous size would leave even a death saurer blind to what was there.
His skeletal head was lifted high and unmoving as he advanced, in fact his right hand and head did not move despite his very impressive stride. Azure eyes flashed before his pace begun to quicken. Within moments that 'mountain' was almost at their location.

"I shall be upon you within the moment than." The elderly voice responded. "Do sit tight."

Off in the distance a bird-like shadow, roughly three times the size of a normal seeker, could just barely be seen jetting off toward the Empire.  

[NinjVet]

The Jager moved slightly closer perhaps a few meters, though he stopped and turned, pacing perpendicular to them as if he could go no closer. The pacing was staggered due to its seemingly injured paw mechanisms, but surprisingly fluid all the same. The Zoid was a different beast now. Perhaps even it did not know what it was capable of.

Over the intercom, the Jager's link to Catastrophe buzzed louder until the background noise suddenly cut out and a very quiet voice took its place. It was a kind voice, sounding much like a 20-something year old jovial male except for some odd quirks, such as elongated r-sounds and a curling in the background that was far more akin to a tiger purring (or chuffing, if we want to be politically correct here) than static noise.

"Yes. Rrrright there. Not bad." The Jager continued pacing, the haunting blue flames still weakly simmering from its collected back blades. "This cannot help wounded." It seemed to be referring to itself, not the approaching Jury, with a hint of disappointment that faded out the pleased-cat sound to almost null.  

[PuddleInk]

Talon glanced at the damage with Moe clung to his good shoulder. He frowned and snorted before glancing back from the damage up to Catastrophy and Marcia. " Do we have a choice? " he called before taking another long look at the damage. Yeah... He wasnt going anywhere for a while. " I cant. Move him until I get the servos back up... So if your afraid of a behemoth that isnt spouting an airbour carsonogenic hallucigen, start moving. Otherwise I do not see the issue. If it wanted to kill us it would... "

Trailing off, Talon pulled a pannel off the Tyrant, Moe chittered, and muttered something about fried wires. With a growl, he glanced to the horizon, frowned, noticing the interestingly large bird flying. He felt his heart fall.

It was momentary. Not like things could get better. He snickered to himself and went back to work. " I'll... Stay here and make a camp, Marcia. There might be survivors closer to the blast point. "  

[NinjVet]

The Liger-type Zoid in the distance paused its pacing, and the noise over the intercom sounded more and more like a tiger's pleased chuffing. His long ear blades returned back on its head, as it got a response. He seemed overly pleased that he was communicating with another Zoid. The Jager, unlike his partners in crime, enjoyed many things, and this new concept was no different.

"Not bad." He didn't seem to think he needed to explain that. There was a long pause that followed Catastrophe's next questions, and the ghostly blue eyes of the Jager turned towards the distance in the direction of the one that had offered the others help. The Zoid seemed uncertain of an answer, and the greeting sound stopped, leaving the other end of the communication dead for a number of seconds.

"They cannot come." The comlink finally sounded and then quieted again. The Jager sounded pleased with itself once more at having an answer and an explanation was apparently found to be unnecessary. He was not helpful, surely, but it was noticeable that he was not only standing off in the distance, but also surveying around them. Initially, it was for dangers, but as if in response to the pilots' conversation near the gigantic biozoid, his eyes glowed a deeper more haunting blue.

"Scanning..."

"Scan complete. Closest heat signal registered at 20.1 kilometers north northeast."
 

[Gestalt Effect]

"I am not as capable of tending to human wounds as I am damages to your ZOIDs, however if needed I will do my best." Jury's response came as his colossal frame was already towering over them. "Given my previous record I do believe it would be wise of me to advise I mean no harm, mental or physical. A great deal has happened since I have encountered each of you, too much to be explained now, but do rest assured I am no longer on the 'dreaded' leash of the Judge."

A term Jury hoped they would understand. Jury, or great father as Atelius and Zutnic had referenced him, had recently been able to re-gain his ancient mind from what venom had previously driven his destructive actions. Most of those not purely ancient would not have remembered what the first ZOID was actually like, temper or appearance. Jury did have the resolve to eventually change his forced menacing appearance to what it was previously.

Smaller cords, though a good size in comparison to the other ZOIDs, begun to emerge from the base of Jury's ankles. Each one begun to split as it snaked its way to the damaged ZOIDs.

Blaze begun to shift his weight as he turned fully toward the group. Slowly his feet begun to pull his massive hulk forward. Unlike the Jury Blaze's footsteps were audible from even a great distance (In fact, if one were to pay attention, one could notice that the Jury's feet didn't actually touch the ground. A feat that would seem very impossible given his immense size...)

His crimson eyes flashed as he shifted focus to the blue glow of the once jager. All the spikes along his back settled as he moved. Sluggish yet with his great stride he was able to make acceptable progress toward their position.  

[PuddleInk]

The colossal figure of the ancient Zoid didn't really shake Talon right now. Yeah, he was standing there with his injured arm just hanging uselessly at his side and his good arm blocking the sun so he could get a better look. Yeah, his mouth was open ( probably from looking up. Humans can't seem to close their mouths when they look up. ) Yeah, the being was impressively large.


It was also unnerving just watching those cords split and split and split and touch his partner. Though, Tyrant didn't quite seem to mind. He probably just needed the help. And if this was going to help him, Talon could pretend he wasn't mildly put off by all those cords and wires. He did like the attitude of the Great Father. "Dully noted. Though forgive those of us that are a bit...jumpier and not so trusting. I have many questions, but I think... I think I'll just sit here and wait for you to do whatever it is you do. " he said, directing most of this conversation to The Jury. They would have time. And as many questions as he had, Talon knew that he didn't quite want to know the answers. Not yet anyways.

They had to deal with the damage. His arm needed to heal. He needed to make sure that he could use it completely later. All sorts of things were more important. Oh. And food. Food would be important too. The Liger baised Zoid's words brought a snort and perhaps a humored chuckle. Couldn't come? Perhaps they were almost dead, if it was discussing a human. The location, though, was quite useful.

His gaze fell upon Marcia... It was her call. She was the one with the only working Zoid/Pilot relation going on.  

[NinjVet]

The Jager tilted its 'ears' up as soon as Jury was near, turning its attention towards the colossal Father Zoid approached. The liger-type backed up a couple of steps, before pausing again with one of its metal paws raised slightly off the dusty ground.

"Yes, rrre-trieve the heat source." He replied over Catastrophe's intercom in response to Marcia. "Will go with you if rrre-quired." Was added, as if in confirmation that the advanced liger unit wasn't terribly damaged.

It was then that Jager picked up Blaze on his scanners. It was weird how the gigantic chaotic Zoid had been missed from its scan just moments before, but it didn't remain in consideration long. "Frriend." Jager sent to the Sniper, turning itself in his direction in anticipation of his slow, ominous approach.  

[PuddleInk]

Mentally, Talon was going to let Marcia handle all the major decisions right now. She seemed the most sane out of the lot, minus the giant metal beast working its magic on slowly coaxing the Tyrant to heal itself. ( Which was working to his amazement. Them ancients knew their stuff, eh-yup. ) Moe had scuttled over and was draped over Talon's good shoulder while the human sat in the sand, dirt..whatever it was. The little MRZ was trying to comfort his traumatized human; it was working quite well, actually.

He heard vaguely over the din of the metal and cords fixing his own partner that there was a heat source none too far away. He glanced at Marcia and gave her a lazy grin, "I ain't going anywhere for a while. Go and seek them out, or whatever it is. It looks like it'll be some time. The Great Father has it covered for internal repairs. To which I am grateful. That would have been a b***h to do in a place like this with a practically dead arm and no tools. " He was laughing... He had to. Why not? Pull his pain away, rip apart the part where he almost died ( again), and throw some black fog-be-gone there and this entire situation was a riot and a half!

Or not. "Ow-ow-ow-ow...Haaa schh--" Maybe laughing wasn't a good idea. There were probably some bruised ribs there. Somewhere. Mostly around his diaphragm. Blasted safety harnesses bruising up all the muscles he used the most to just, you know, breathe.

The loud methodical thuds of more footprints of a giant of the mechanical inclination was heard . Glancing in that direction, and from the way the other larger creatures reacted, he figured this one would be friendly. But he did recognize it when it breached the horizon. "Its like a bleeding reunion of near death experiences, huh Moe?" he muttered, getting a coo and a wiggle from the dino.

Tyrant, feeling better, was able to slowly get back on its feet to a more practical and less compromising position. It was still no where near ready for battle, let alone walking at this point, but it wanted to prove that it was still functional on some level. It growled its thanks, though at this point it was too weak to even bother with the subtle Zoidian language it was encoded with. Talk about embarrassing! The beaten up Sub-Geno looked like it had picked a fight with a blender blade...and nearly lost..but it was getting better. Slowly. It would need to rest a bit more, and let Talon patch up the broken panels.

Talon got the sense that his Zoid was getting tired of these near death experiences as much as he was. Perhaps they needed to take a more proactive approach and maybe cause a few of them for others instead. After all... The green monster was called a 'Tyrant'.... right?  

[GunSniper]

-My pilot had somewhat of the same experience. I do understand the oddity of having a civil conversation with a creature that had not but a few months ago tried to eradicate your entire species from our planet... The thought still boggles my own mind. But, I have realized I have a fondness for humans. Oh, such amazing culture. Why, I do remember the first ones to come. They were quite startled... of course, I did not look as menacing as I do now...-

Jury continued to work on the less functioning ZOIDs with his cords until they showed signs of being able to improve on their own. Once the tyrant begun to stir he retracted the cords back.

-Talon, do try to not move so much. From what information I can bring on your condition, it is not advisable to stress your body...-

Yes, the Jury had a knack for reading minds as well. In fact, his entire colossal frame did harbor a great deal of the black fog still, in addition to the now gray mist, a more human friendly improvement.

-And you are quite welcome little one.-

-It's been too long...- Blaze rumbled a response to his long time friend. Though his tone had changed considerably to match his current appearance.

His head slowly turned toward where the heat signature had been coming from. Really? Some one else had survived that? Best someone else take care of that... Blaze had already set a course to re-join at Jury's side and with his frustratingly slow pace he did not wish to alter the course. He wished only to be close to his pilot.  

[PuddleInk]

Moe let out a chirp and a salute when he was told he wasn't to let Talon up. It's tail just wiggled, and wiggled, and wiggled... Perpetual wiggle machine, that one. With a few groans and grimmaces, the wrapping was done and done with.

"I won't move. In fact, I'm going to lay down right here, and soak up...dirt. Yep. Dirt. Dirt sounds nice. And safe. " A rumble that could have been an eyeroll came from Tyrant. Perhaps it was a chuckle of agreement. No one was moving anywhere quickly. " Nice and safe and not going to go squish. Yep. " Moe chirped and curled up next to Talon's head, peering up at the Great Father, still in some awe.

A moment and Moe was chattering up at the Great Father, telling him all sorts of stories about how the two had met, and how many times they almost died, and the most recent one about how Moe had been tragically separated from the bumbling human, and the whole scary event in the temple cave...and Atelius bringing him back and how glad he was he was back...Blahblahblahblah.

...It got Moe a snuggle from Talon's left arm. The arm that wasn't damaged. The arm that was being a nest for the little dino. And Moe just seemed to beam all proudly up at the great, hovering, grey mist monster that was the Great Father. This was his human.  

[NinjVet]

The Jager hummed as its scanners fizzled and blacked out as the bio-zoid's pilot appeared to desire no more help. His attention more fully devoted itself towards Blaze and the Jury. Although his steps were staggered slightly, and his gears weren't quite fully functional in their entire range of motion, he would probably make it to the Great Father before Blaze. "Verrrry." He responded to the gigantic, mutated gunsniper, though he seemed at a loss for words otherwise. Presence spoke volumes more.

Rhett blinked against sand and sun. On raising an arm to shield his eyes from the dust and brightness, an exhale turned into a scream, his skin wrinkling against itself as the burns were disrupted by the movement. The scream arched his back, creating more movement, creating more pain. The world spun, but he fought the blackness, fought passing out again. Forcibly he slowed his breathing. The pain immobilized, paralyzed him, and he closed his eyes against the irritation of the world around him.