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LovetoCauseMayhem Vice Captain
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 Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:44 pm
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:52 pm
 "We are the deranged..."
"We are the reborn..."
"We are the empowered..."
"We are the torn..."STORMTOP ANGELS "We have witnessed it all. But we have always been
here to save people. To protect people. And now look what we're doing." "T-bird ninety-nine-niner, you are clear for opening."
There was darkness above them, the clouds that gathered forever above Chamberfire stretched to even miles away, but beneath those clouds lay miles of clear, empty, dead earth, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The sun was just getting ready to set, and they were initiating the last flight of the day, the half-plane half-helicopter's blades whirling above them as the wasteland scattered beneath them.
The clouds were the sky, and they were a toxic plume of acid rain and ash, something that the heliplanes didn't dare venture into, lest they wanted the corrosive mists to shred apart the hull and send them down flaming into the dusty earth below.
"Roger that, T-6. Copy that."
"Are you sure about this, Sarah?" A worried man asked over the headset she wore as she stood in the cargo bay, waiting to be dispatched. "There's no retrieval team within immediate assistance to make sure you come out unscathed. You haven't been doing this for very long, and-"
"Relax, grandfather," she replied coolly, almost arrogantly. "I've done this enough times. You need to just cool your jets and let me do what I need to do." Heh, cool his jets. The irony was lost upon her as she fingered the collar of her armor, where the crest of the Iron Angel sat. "I am in her image. If she does exist..." Her gaze flickered to the metal ceiling above, and she imagined, above that, the eternal darkness of those black clouds. "Then she is with me." Her gaze turned back to the door. "Pristine, out."
She turned the headset off, and didn't hear the announcement as the hatch doors opened - only that they did.
Looking down through eyes that always seemed to blaze, she watched the ground speed past below, and, with a running start, leaped mightily from the heliplane, letting out a long, heartfelt 'whoop' as she sailed downwards like a stone.
Twisting herself, the wind whistling in her ears, she turned herself to face the ground, shooting downwards with purpose, like an arrow. As if, for that moment, she wanted to pierce the earth in her heart with such ferocity that the very world would choke in pain, collapse within herself, and finally bring peace to all that tossed restlessly upon her breast.
For that moment.
As the ground grew closer and closer, she could almost hear her grandfather in her ear, almost screaming at her that she was getting too close and to pull up, pull up, and oh Blessed Angel, pull up-
No...
I don't want to.
Not this time.
Several clicks announced her wings opening, the golden, tainted metal almost glowing in the late afternoon sun.
Just as she was about to impact, her wings spread above her, and there was a terrifically painful yank that she didn't even really notice anymore as her skin and entire skeletal system was yanked on, her wings catching the warm afternoon wind and stopping her descent, the rockets in her wings opening and activating, twin sets of fiery hell blasting out of the jets and powering her forward to skate along the surface, less than a foot from the earth.
As she passed, the warmth from her jets heated the sand she passed over so quickly that glass erupted into spiky, angry stalagmites that flared upwards as she passed, creating a streak that shown rainbow in the failing sun.
Looking up, she could see a few other of her sisters, catching wind and spilling wind. They were exercising their wings, and the crowd that had been brought out was made of only two or three - the most mature and the most powerful of the Stormtops, with a few of the younger ones who were being coached. Those few were many more feet down, closer to the earth and closer to Chamberfire than the more experienced Stormtops, just in case something went horribly wrong with their training. Sarah and her fellow older sisters, who had already learned how to fly, were stretching out their wings and enjoying the temporary freedom as the heliplane lingered nearby, not interfering but simply keeping watch on them, a safe haven if they grew tired and couldn't land safely on the ground. In truth, they weren't even supposed to land on the ground unless a dire emergency required it. The heliplane was their nest on outings, with both side hatches open and wide to allow easy entrances and exits, it sat there in the air unmoving, simply waiting to accept the children it had carted there safely in her belly.
That heliplane was the closest to a mother Sarah had ever remembered.
Angling upwards, she blasted off the wastelands and jetted back up into the sky, her wings opening to their full extent as she turned them to the sun, the solar panels her body had naturally grown on the blades soaking up what little light was left. This light energy helped fuel the rockets on her back, and re energized her entire body. However hard the scientists tried, however, they were incapable of completely replicating the sun's rays for Sarah to use within Chamberfire. Only pure light from the sun could fuel her body, and honestly, she didn't even want to substitute it for anything. Her body wrote the book on storing and making solar energy as efficient and long-lasting as possible. It was something that both frustrated and fascinated scientists.
Sarah's headset was still off, so she wouldn't be able to know when her and her sisters would be called back up to the heliplane. She knew, maximum, that one of her sisters would chase her down and let her know.
Otherwise, she was just going to keep a watch on the others and keep an eye out for any gathering activity that seemed to center around the helicopter.
Out of the corner of her eye, of course.
"We're killing them. We're killing everyone. How could this possibly
be right? God, where are you? God, where ARE you?!" TRUE ANGELS "We are the eternal..."
"We are the pure..."
"We are the powerful..."
"We are the true..."
"It's obvious what has to happen now, isn't it?
This can only end in bloodshed."
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LovetoCauseMayhem Vice Captain
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SilentShadowDreamer Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:24 am
We are the eternal. Somehow it’ll be okay, I promise. Isn’t this supposed to make things better? Stormtop Iron Angels/Humans   Blair's green-grey eyes flicked around to her sisters. The girls her age were mostly considered young - they had only just gotten to the flight stage, for the most part. She was annoyed that she had to fly with them, that she was limited to only the lower part of the sky and could only fly so far from Chamberfire itself.
Who dared put limitations on a goddess?
She was better at flying than the rest of her age group. That was not conceit, that was simple fact; she'd even heard a few of the other scientists say so. And since it was so, why was she held back from the sky that was so obviously her birthright?
Well, 'birth'. Her rebirth, after a fashion.
But that was not the point. The point was that she wanted to fly properly, fly as her older sisters did, and they were wasting her time with this nonsense. Her eyes were cold as she watched her sisters flailing and struggling with their wings, while she simply floated in the air. As though she were built for it. As though it was hers.
And it was.
Tossing her dark hair back, she gave one powerful push with her wings, and they gleamed weakly in the dull light as she soared upwards and out of the 'training' range. She pushed the boundaries in this way fairly often - but this time, she was intent on rising to as high as she wanted to go. ~  Faith's wings fluttered wearily on the air as she stretched them and took a much gentler, almost floating dive from the heliplane. Her golden hair shone even in the dusty, toxin-filled air, and as she floated gently on the winds, she looked every bit the angel they ascribed to her.
She watched Sarah's plunging dive, and though she didn't take an easy breath until the other woman had pulled out of it, she understood - a little - why she'd felt she had to do it. Faith didn't quite know what to make of Sarah, but she respected the other woman.
Her own easy descent into the airspace allowed for the older Angels was very quiet and smooth. She wouldn't fly as long as the others - she tired more quickly than they did - but while she flew, she was every bit as graceful. For a few minutes, she hovered, watching the younger girls test out their wings - and their limits. Her smile was soft, and there was a sort of quiet regret in it. They were only children.
Only children.
Closing her eyes, she began to move through the complex, intricate patterns of flight that she found so relaxing. The movements made her feel better, a little warmer when she mostly felt nothing but cold.
So cold.((OOC: Placement picture found. biggrin Thank you Mayhem, you sexy beast!)) Somehow we’ll make this right. This must end. True Angels/Nightrifters
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:21 am
ＬＯＣＫＨＥＥＤ ↘↘ ｓｔｏｒｍｔｏｐ
cαтcн мє ιғ ץσυ ∂αяє I don't want to die.
Her wings beat heavily against the air.
Breathe.
She labored for breath, chest rising and falling haphazardly.
Gravity, you merciless b***h.
She continued to fall, wings as wide as she was tall struggling furiously to keep her aloft.
Fly.
Such a simple command.
Fly.
So why couldn't she do it?
I'm falling--
The ground hurtled crazily toward her.
I can't--
Closer and closer now.
I won't--
She could see her shadow.
I can't die yet.
She did.
*
Lockheed woke with a start, chest heaving rapidly. That dream again. A recurring nightmare, one that started the day she'd taken her maiden flight. Flying was exhilarating, wonderful, freeing... So why did she dream of flight ending in a horrific death? It was a question the Stormtop couldn't answer, so she didn't bother trying. Instead, she shoved the thought out of her mind and focused on the figures before her.
She was in the aircraft that transported Stormtops outside the city limits. It was the last flight of the day and she was exhausted. Her morning routine had consisted of tests, tests, and more tests. The scientists enjoyed pushing Lockheed to her limits, enjoyed seeing her too tired to chew through the restraints. After giving her hours of obstacle course flight time, Lockheed found herself drained. Flying was no hardship for her, not at all, but sometimes she had to work harder than her sisters. Her mechanized wings were not as graceful nor as nimble as theirs, so she had to input more effort during her test flights. And the scientists liked to run her down, keep her too exhausted so they could do as they pleased later, when she hadn't the strength to snap their fragile, disgusting humans bodies in half with the slightest touch.
But Lockheed wanted to fly. Her body screamed at her no, but she ignored it and pushed herself toward the open door of the heliplane. Already her sisters were flitting about down below and up above. Their wings shone brilliantly in the light of the setting sun. Swallowing her envy, Lockheed brushed away the constraining hands that sought to keep her immobile.
You're too tired, they said.
Rest, they said.
"I have strength enough for this..." Lockheed muttered, letting herself drop from the heliplane like a rock. The wind screamed past her, catching at her hair and twisting through her blade-like metal feathers. The feeling was quite pleasant, and the sound left little room for thinking, just as she liked it. The altimeter reading on the inside of her glass face-plate showed she was falling by at least five hundred feet per minute. Her airspeed indicator neared the red; Lockheed was going much too fast and would have to slow before she lost control.
But the ground was so inviting.
The vivid image of her dream-death jolted her back to reality. Lockheed spread her wings wide, feathers pulling together to form one cohesive surface to catch at the air. Instantly the Stormtop slowed, having long past plummeted past her beginner sisters. She skimmed the ground a bit, letting her feet catch at the dead soil before stroking hard against the wind. Lockheed rose rapidly, shooting past her sisters again. They could dally all they wanted near the ground. Lockheed wanted the sky.
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LovetoCauseMayhem Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 6:34 pm
"We are the deranged..."
"We are the reborn..."
"We are the empowered..."
"We are the torn..."STORMTOP ANGELS "We have witnessed it all. But we have always been
here to save people. To protect people. And now look what we're doing." Wow. She really is retarded, isn't she?
Sarah did nothing as she hovered there, an icon of technical majesty in the fading sunlight, as Lockheed dropped like a stone.
She knew somewhat of the exhaustion the other Stormtop experienced on an almost daily basis. The scientists enjoyed fiddling with her rockets, poking at her solar panels - something that neither she nor her wings appreciated very much. They enjoyed sending her through hoops and mazes, testing her sense of direction and psychological control.
Silent and still, her rockets keeping her steady, Sarah watched Lockheed fall to what seemed to be her death.
Isis, looking up from the smaller ones she was teaching after Blair rudely took off, found her heart skipping a beat as the younger ones cried out in fear.
But she couldn't believe it.
"Get out of there, Lockheed," she breathed softly, catching a girl as she accidentally spilled too much air and lost control, the older Stormtop's eyes still on the sky. She hadn't been worried about Sarah when she had dropped - Sarah wasn't the type of person to be killed by the ground of all things, but she wasn't entirely certain (even after all these years) about Lockheed's mental health. "Please."
Then, her wings opened, and Isis released a soft breath as the wind caught, and Lockheed sailed out of harm's way.
Her eyes expressionless, Sarah watched this with a soft scowl, and she raised an eyebrow as Blair got to her level, her massive wings completely swallowing her tiny body.
While other Stormtops would be envious, Sarah was not. Sure, Blair had massive wings that made her flight all the easier, but one hard gust of wind that Blair wasn't able to handle, and those wings would turn against her and send her spiraling out of control.
"Aren't you supposed to be with Witchbane?" She asked Blair simply through the telepathic link that all Stormtops shared. Witchbane = Isis. Outside of the labs, all Stormtops had code names that both the scientists and they called each other by. For instance, Sarah's code name was 'Pristine'. The Stormtop decided on the code name that she would go by when her first true lone maiden flight was achieved successfully. The younger ones that Isis was training were strengthening the muscles needed, and not prepared yet for true flight. "I thought that's what you were told?"
Contrary to how she probably sounded, Sarah actually didn't care the slightest bit what Blair did, whether or not that was what she was supposed to do. As long as Blair didn't put either Sarah or the other Stormtops in jeopardy, she could be killing millions of humans, and Sarah wouldn't mind the slightest bit.
An echoing horn blasted from the heliplane out into the desert sands, signalling that it was almost time to pack up and go. All older Stormtops were expected to get back into the heliplane before the sun completely set, and the heliplane was reminding them of that fact. A smaller, faster plane would come and fetch the younger Stormtops.
It was dangerous to be out of the Chamberfire limits after sundown. Sarah grinned morbidly.
"Wanna set it on fire?" She asked Blair simply, the same question that was always asked- the revelation that Sarah hated what she and her sisters had become, and wouldn't mind some recompense for the pain and suffering they had gone through.
But it never happened. The reason they were now more than what they could've ever asked for was because of that pain and suffering, and if Iosara hadn't done what he did, they would still be miserable, wretched humans, stuck in the glorified prison of Chamberfire instead of enjoying dead, lifeless air free of smog and soot.
"Wanna set it on fire?"
"Wanna be free?"
"We're killing them. We're killing everyone. How could this possibly
be right? God, where are you? God, where ARE you?!" TRUE ANGELS"We are the eternal..."
"We are the pure..."
"We are the powerful..."
"We are the true..."
"It's obvious what has to happen now, isn't it?
This can only end in bloodshed."
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:36 am
ＬＯＣＫＨＥＥＤ ↘↘ ｓｔｏｒｍｔｏｐ
cαтcн мє ιғ ץσυ ∂αяє If her sisters disapproved of her recklessness, Lockheed didn't care. She could feel their eyes on her, hear the vaguest hint of their whispers cloaked by the whirring blades of the heliplane. The Stormtop let their words roll off her in waves. They could chirp and chatter all they wanted. For now, Lockheed was alone in the world.
Fluttering her wings as gracefully as she could, Lockheed drifted in the air. Her painfully bright blue eyes drifted shut and she allowed herself to relax. This is what she was meant for. To fly. To show those wretches down below that she was their Goddess and they her subjects. They were to weep at the sight of her majesty, fall to their knees and tear at their faces in euphoric agony. And then she would tear each and every single one apart for being so filthy, so wretched and stupid.
Turning to float on her back, the miniature engines installed in her wings helping to keep her afloat, Lockheed opened her eyes and spotted the broad-winged figure of Blair as she flew higher and higher, catching Sarah up. Little Ms. Pristine won't like that... she thought idly to herself, flicking the tip of one wing to distance herself from the squawking younglings. Yes they were her sisters, and she loved them in her own, twisted, distorted way, but that didn't mean she had to like them.
The horn blaring through the air jarred her a little, and she stumbled midair, turning herself upright to glare at the heliplane. That blasted monstrosity... Lockheed had come to hate it for being the ferry of her enslavement. Every day, without fail, the heliplane whine at them to come back, come back to your mothers, your fathers, the twisted bastards that had given you your god-like status. And Lockheed hated them. But she could not resist its siren call. Punishment was issued to the Stormtops that refused its summons. The scientists had long given up using pain as a weapon against her--they were the ones who ended up getting punished. So now when she disobeyed them, Lockheed had her flight privileges taken away.
Sighing, Lockheed flitted upward, leveling at Isis' level. Lockheed was older than her sister by a year, but Isis was ever the mother hen. She eyed the smaller Stormtop in Isis' arms distastefully before addressing Isis. "Babysitting duty again, hm?" she asked telepathically. Isis had frequently stepped in to quell Lockheed's many rages. Not many had the guts to stand up to the superstrong Stormtop, and Lockheed respected her for that. "Better leave her. Time to go."
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SilentShadowDreamer Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 8:15 pm
We are the eternal. Somehow it’ll be okay, I promise. Isn’t this supposed to make things better? Stormtop Iron Angels/Humans
She rarely thought of these things while in the compound. It only came to mind when she flew out here. When she was…as free as she ever was. A bit ironic, that; the emblems of the Iron Angel were held down by humanity. Goddesses in chains.
But they were not enchained, another part of her mind hissed. They were the Goddess. They were eternal power. There was nothing holding them back except their own choice to be so.
Blair watched Lockheed’s plummeting descent with the same look of bored tolerance that was on her face when the scientists did their experimentation – the only thing missing was the cold hatred that would flash across her face when they turned away.
Hearing a cool telepathic voice in her mind, she looked over to see Sarah. She’d known it was Pristine before looking, of course – each Stormtop had a distinct mental voice, at least to Blair, and Sarah’s was the crackling of flame, the intense heatstorm of rage, as easy to recognize as her unique wings. Though she didn’t need to look at Sarah to respond, she turned smoothly in the air to face the other Stormtop. She might have respected her sisters as much as she could respect anyone, but she feared nothing, and to look away or look ashamed was to seem fearful.
“They tell us many things,” Blair replied calmly. “A goddess’s decisions are her own.” Her dark hair fell loosely around her lovely face, and her greenish eyes were steady on Sarah’s. There was no humility in them, and it was likely that none was expected.
The echoing sound of the horn made Blair look up and snarl softly, her wings moving only the slightest bit to keep her on a level with Sarah rather than sending her shooting up past the heliplane itself. She did not want to go back in. Her natural arrogance demanded that she refuse the summons.
And then Sarah spoke again, and Blair’s eyes lit with an unnatural fire. Her lips curved in a way too feral to be called a smile.
“Let it burn,” she replied. “Let it purify.”
~ Faith’s smooth, flowing movements had started to become choppy a few minutes ago. She was growing weary, and though she might have tried to follow Lockheed to ensure that she pulled out of it all right, there was no way she would have been able to stop or help the other Stormtop – she was having enough trouble keeping herself in the air.
She allowed herself to move slowly towards the ground – towards Isis, Lockheed and the children. It would be easier if she were closer to the ones she was most comfortable with. The children always made her smile, even on the worst days; she and Isis were friendly in their way.
Then the blasting siren went off, and Faith let out a sigh. She was probably the only one who was ever relieved to hear the sound of it; her sisters all seemed to loathe it. But for her, the sound of the heliplane horn was a kindness, because by the end of the flying period, she was invariably using some of her psychic strength to help keep her in the air. Her wings and her questionable physical strength weren’t enough for the full time. To be called back to the heliplane was to be allowed to rest.
Letting her long hair flow out behind her as it caught the soft wind, she gave Isis and Lockheed the briefest flash of a smile – they would have time to talk later, on the way home – before kicking off of a platform only she could see or feel and taking off back towards the heliplane.
Somehow we’ll make this right. This must end. True Angels/Nightrifters
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Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:19 pm
"We are the deranged..."
"We are the reborn..."
"We are the empowered..."
"We are the torn..."STORMTOP ANGELS "We have witnessed it all. But we have always been
here to save people. To protect people. And now look what we're doing." Isis was expressionless at Lockheed's statement as the smaller plane meant for the younger Stormtops appeared, slick and aerodynamic in its design. hovering a few feet above the ground, there was a sense of urgency as Isis herded the young ones into the open mouth of the hatch, telling a couple of them that if they just kept working on it, they'd be ready for their maiden voyage before they knew it. But the reassurance was rushed, and without any true goodbyes the hatch closed and the plane rose into the air out of the danger zone, turning around and sailing back to Chamberfire.
"Please don't forget, Tempest..." she breathed to the other Stormtop, her wings of skin and metal opening, thankful to be free of the limitations, and flapping, sending her upwards towards Lockheed's level. "We were all that young at one time. And we needed teachers just like they did."
Speaking of teachers, Isis noticed that Faith was having some difficulty, and, flapping her monstrous, bat-like wings, she sailed up to the older Stormtop.
"Fiagre..." she breathed, or as the word had come to mean, "teacher of flight", "Do you need some help to get the rest of the way?"
Faith, despite her weakness of flight, had taught Isis the basics. And though the student easily and quickly surpassed the master, Faith had accepted her flaws and Isis' strength with grace and ease. As a result, Isis had insurmountable respect for the other female. She knew such a blow to one's pride would easily make Stormtops like Blair and Sarah despise the student, especially if they were almost effortlessly outclassed.
But Faith wasn't bothered by such trivial things such as pride. At least, not as far as Isis knew.
As a result, whenever Faith needed a hand, Isis was there.
But, in all actuality, it could be said that she was there for any other Stormtop that needed assistance, which was why Isis didn't really mind pulling baby-sitting duty.
Goddesses still had their roles to play. To ensure the lineage survived, and was as strong as the previous generation - that was the job of a Stormtop. It was the job of the Iron Angel, if she existed.
Isis was never one to believe without proof.
Farther away from the heliplane, Sarah seemed to legitimately consider it, but then, an echoing roar that didn't belong to the heliplane sailed across the sands, making the earth tremble, and she turned her head away from the direction of Chamberfire, to where she believed the origin of the eerie bellow had been.
After a beat, she stated,
"Not today." Her lips pursed. "Now, it's too late. If we destroy the heliplane, there will be no way to return to Chamberfire. We don't know enough yet. Let's go"
What she really meant was, they didn't know what was out there. She, being the oldest of the group besides Faith, had a good idea, but she wasn't certain yet.
She didn't want to find out with her reserves running almost low. If she was going to face whatever wandered the desert after dark, she would be as prepared as she could be.
Without waiting for Blair's reply, she flapped her iron wings and sailed back to the heliplane.
"We're killing them. We're killing everyone. How could this possibly
be right? God, where are you? God, where ARE you?!" TRUE ANGELS"We are the eternal..."
"We are the pure..."
"We are the powerful..."
"We are the true..."
"It's obvious what has to happen now, isn't it?
This can only end in bloodshed."
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LovetoCauseMayhem Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:26 pm
ＬＯＣＫＨＥＥＤ ↘↘ ｓｔｏｒｍｔｏｐ
cαтcн мє ιғ ץσυ ∂αяє The tempestuous Stormtop received Isis' message with a haughty look. As if she'd forgotten. Her juvenile days were riddled with pain and horror, perhaps even more so than the others'. Had their wings grown deformed and disgusting? No, but hers had. All the torture Lockheed had gone through as a hatchling had been for naught, for her own wings had turned against her, made her ugly, ridiculous, worthless. The scientists had given her these wings she bore now, and she'd had to teach herself how to fly. The only one with wings similar to Lockheed was Pristine, and it wasn't as if she was the most nurturing of Lockheed's sisters.
As Isis winged her way up toward Faith, who flashed Lockheed a smile she didn't return, Lockheed clenched her teeth and resisted the urge to roar and destroy everything around her. She hated being reminded of her failings as a Stormtop, absolutely despised knowing she wasn't as good as her sisters. So what if Faith couldn't fly long? At least she had normal wings, wings she grew herself. And sure, Isis' wings were strange but the fact remained that they were hers. Lockheed's wings were a mess of electricity, metal, and gas. There was nothing beautiful about that.
Tearing at the air with her wings, Lockheed soared past Isis, Faith, Blair, Sarah, past all of her sisters, ignoring the call of the heliplane. Her exhaustion went unheeded. Lockheed didn't care if she became too weak to fly and plummeted to the earth. At least then her wings, those disgusting heaps of waste, would be destroyed and she could finally feel some sense of normalcy.
The clouds hung above her, dangerous, foreboding, taunting her with their stillness.
Come, they said.
Brave our corrosive particles, young Tempest, and let us see how strong you really are.
Narrowing her eyes, Tempest snarled at them.
You cannot stop me.
And she would prove it. Higher and higher she flew, until the sound of the heliplane was drowned out by the sound of her heartbeat, the hiss and whine of her wings as they struggled to get some airflow over them as she soared near vertically.
She would show them.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:06 pm
We are the eternal. Somehow it’ll be okay, I promise. Isn’t this supposed to make things better? Stormtop Iron Angels/Humans Blair's face showed something mildly like disappointment, but she dipped her head in acknowledgement of the truth - it was the wiser way. That didn't mean she had to like it, but she was not stupid; she would not have lived this long if she was stupid.
There would be another time. There would be another way.
All debts would be paid.
As Sarah returned to the heliplane, Blair spotted Lockheed flying up - and up and up - past the heliplane and past any safe limits.
A part of her mind told her coldly to ignore it. Lockheed was a Goddess, just like her, and her choices were her own. If she wanted to fly into the clouds, let her do it.
But Lockheed was her sister, and had to protect her family had to had to had to.
The fierce push of a half-remembered memory made Blair's wings flap once, hard, and sent her shooting into the sky after Lockheed. With her superior speed, she would catch up fast.~ Faith looked up and smiled gently at Isis when the other woman approached her. She remembered very well the young woman's maiden flight - as the younger one's instructor, she'd pleaded to be allowed to be on the heliplane when Isis had gone for her maiden voyage, and reluctantly they'd allowed it. She'd watched her victorious flight, and she'd been...happier than she had been for a while.
She also recognized that Isis saw her in a way differently from most of her old students - for the large part, the children she'd taught had grown up, and they now saw her as a sort of pet, a kind of relic. Pretty, interesting, good enough for when they wanted a moment of affection or kindness, but ultimately useless. And she accepted it, because she had grown good at accepting.
But whatever way it was that Isis saw her - Faith hadn't quite pinned that down yet - it was different. She appreciated that.
Realizing that she was woolgathering, she blinked and smiled. "I think I will be all right - the heliplane is not far," she replied. "But thank you, dear one."
She glanced past Isis and frowned. "Where did--"
She looked up - and up and up - to see Lockheed's upward spiral, and she paled. "No. Tempest!" she called. "Don't!"
There was no way she could reach her sister in time - all she had was her voice. So, hating herself for doing it but knowing she would never be able to physically stop Lockheed, she put all the psychic power she could spare into her mental voice, and pushed.
"Tempest, please don't!" Somehow we’ll make this right. This must end. True Angels/Nightrifters
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SilentShadowDreamer Vice Captain
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LovetoCauseMayhem Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 8:32 pm
"We are the deranged..."
"We are the reborn..."
"We are the empowered..."
"We are the torn..."STORMTOP ANGELS "We have witnessed it all. But we have always been
here to save people. To protect people. And now look what we're doing." Sarah was already at the plane when she heard Faith's shrill mental cry, and even though it wasn't directed towards her, she shook with the psychic power of it. Looking up at the clouds as Blair soared past her, she immediately knew what was going on, and struggled to decide between either letting the self-incriminating Stormtop kill herself or not let Blair do all the saving.
If Lockheed was able to ignore that call and keep going towards her death, Sarah would have a little bit more respect for the other goddess. To ignore the call of one that made up for their lack of physical strength with psychic prowess would be a feat indeed.
"Tempest!" Isis cried as two more short, consecutive horns sounded from the heliplane, urgent and worried. The day was almost vanishing, and it would be terrifying indeed for the heliplane to be caught in the darkness. They should've already been on their way back. Hell, they should've already been halfway there by now. "Please, Tempest, there's no time left! At least if you're going to try to kill yourself, do it tomorrow so you don't take all of us with you-!"
"She's not going to listen," Sarah stated simply, cutting her off as she made her decision and soared upwards, following Blair and Lockheed. She didn't have the powerful wingbeats Blair did, but the jets on her back made up for what she didn't have in her wings. Doing this, however, would eat up what she had left in her reserves, and she would have to rely on her psychic powers and her wings until she managed to recharge.
Across the dead sands, another haunting cry echoed.
-----
Back in Chamberfire, the scientists of Project Purity had been alerted to the suicide attempt of Lockheed, and scientists were running around, scrambling to put together an overnight program that might make Lockheed a little bit more manageable and self-controlling.
Julius remained sitting, calm on the outside and quaking on the inside as he kept watch on all of the Stormtops' monitors, which told him their heart rates, blood pressures, stress levels, physical status and altitude.
All of those were off the charts with Lockheed, and his computer showed that if she gained too much more ground, she would dive directly into the acid clouds.
Sighing in fear that sounded like exhaustion, he rubbed his face.
"God, Lockheed, what're you doing?" he muttered. "This is no way to get those scientists off your back. You're just making it worse!"
------
In another room, on the far side of the facility, a woman drew lightly with pencil, sketching an image that had been scarred into her brain from that afternoon.
One of the young birds, a young Stormtop, was entering that step of tearing the skin from her back as the metal of her new, delicate wings pierced through her body, and for hours Kensie watched, horrified and fascinated, as scientists constantly monitored the poor girl, as she screamed and screamed and screamed, tugging at her shoulder blades and back so desperately that Kensie watched sharp, angry red lines rise to the surface along with the wings.
"What are we doing?" she had asked herself in horror as she had watched, face pressed against the glass as the poor girl, in her pain, grabbed a surgical tool one of the scientists was handling and pierced him through the eye with it, so deep that the tip of the tool appeared on the back side of his skull. It was then that an older Stormtop, one that had hung back to take care of the newlings when Faith went out for her turn of flight exercise, had to step in and psychically subdue her, pinning her to the table as the scientists peeled away her flesh and polished her new wings as they stretched upwards amidst fountains of blood. Kensie hadn't understood at first, but Julius had told her that if newlings proved too dangerous and violent while they were becoming goddesses, they had to be chained and potentially even put down.
She understood why the older Stormtop did it then. To save her younger sister, she had to ease her struggling, no matter how sick it made her inside.
But was it worth it? Was it worth it, to survive? Maybe it was best if the poor girl, writhing and bellowing with pain until she spat blood, were put down. Were put out of her misery.
Kensie didn't think she had it in her to be able to do such a thing. The next day, the successful Stormtops were going to be revealed to the public, with Sarah as the figurehead.
Thus, Chamberfire would become the greatest kingdom on the continent. Kensie didn't doubt that Chamberfire would use its pre-made goddesses to wage war against others. And the maker of such beasts, Iosara Blackblade, would become seared into history.
And so the entire world would become as dead and as dark as the grounds around Chamberfire. Kensie knew nothing of the world beyond the great walls that surrounded the city, knew nothing of any dangers or any cruelties that lay beyond the massive doors.
More than anything, she prayed for sunlight. For the clouds that eternally loomed over Chamberfire to one day separate and strike all those beneath with the powerful, searing hot white light of day.
"Iron Angel..." she breathed in prayer, closing her eyes and lowering her pencil, moving her hands to interlace her fingers. "Oh, Iron Angel, my Goddess true, I beg of you, shed the iron casing that binds your soul and release yourself. Reveal those lovely white wings, that when struck with light, create all the colors of the world. Teach the people of this place of darkness the meaning of white light. Of red and blue and green. Of sunflowers and trees and waterfalls. Tulips and foxgloves and rain not tainted by corrosion. You're in there somewhere, my Angel, so true. Release yourself from your prison, and save us. Save us all."
Her own prayer, her prayer to the White Angel that Sleeps, passed from her lips, and she found herself calmer than she had been before. She had never seen a foxglove, a tulip, or a sunflower. Or a tree or a waterfall. Or clear, crisp rain. But she had dreamed about them, and as their names ran through her head, one by one, she found herself praying even more fiercely.
"Save us, White Angel," she prayed, her eyebrows scrunching as she closed her eyes again, feeling her heart skip a beat. "Save us."
"We're killing them. We're killing everyone. How could this possibly
be right? God, where are you? God, where ARE you?!" TRUE ANGELS"We are the eternal..."
"We are the pure..."
"We are the powerful..."
"We are the true..."
"It's obvious what has to happen now, isn't it?
This can only end in bloodshed."
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:09 am
ＬＯＣＫＨＥＥＤ ↘↘ ｓｔｏｒｍｔｏｐ
If I wake up and I am not in pain, then I will know I am dead. Warning: Stall imminent. Warning: Stall imminent.
Lockheed ignored the silent woman's voice. All her hatred, all her fury, all her hurt and sadness were driving her now. Any logic or common sense was ignored. Lockheed had never had a stable hold on her emotions, so why should now be any different? Death was nothing to her, just an end to the pain, though she often wondered if she could die. After all, Lockheed was a fullfledged goddess now, and while there was much pain and suffering in her existence, the Stormtop truly doubted she was susceptible to death's cold touch. So what better way to find out than to actually try to kill herself? If in the unlikely event that she actually succeeded, there was nothing to be afraid of. Just silence. And peace.
Right?
But it didn't matter now. Lockheed was struggling upward, closer and closer, so close she could smell the sulphur, feel the corrosive mists start to attack her, taste the--
"No. Tempest!"
What?
"Tempest!"
Quiet. I'm trying to die.
"Please, Tempest, there's no time left! At least if you're going to try to kill yourself, do it tomorrow so you don't take all of us with you-!"
Loving words from a loving sister.
"She's not going to listen."
Damn right I'm not.
"Don't!"
Try to stop me, I dare--
"Tempest, please don't!"
The command. It ate at her will, tore at her mind, corroded her determination.
Don't.
Don't what? Her body struggled to accomdate the voice's command. Don't what? Unable to process just what it was not supposed to do, her body compensated by stopping entirely. Lockheed froze middair, wings still, limbs paralyzed, eyes wide and frightened and furious. She fell, plummeting towards the earth, unable to override Siren's command.
Don't, she'd said. Well then Lockheed wouldn't.
She fell, unable to save herself. Free to think but unable to fly, Lockheed was forcibly reminded of her recurring nightmare, only this time, she couldn't even beat her wings.
Breathe.
She labored for breath, body unwilling to cooperate, to go against Siren's command. Don't, she'd said.
Gravity, you merciless b***h.
She continued to fall, wings as wide as she was tall struggling furiously to keep her aloft.
Fly, damn you.
Such a simple command. One her body would not obey.
Fly, she screamed inwardly. For all that she'd stared death brazenly in the face, this was real, this was frightening, this was actually happening, there was no saving herself at the last minute, and Tempest found she did not want to die, not like this, not in someone else's terms.
Help me, she cried into her sisters' minds. Help me!
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SilentShadowDreamer Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:11 pm
We are the eternal. Somehow it’ll be okay, I promise. Isn’t this supposed to make things better? Stormtop Iron Angels/Humans
And it did.
Entirely.
Blair knew without even looking down at Faith that this was not at all what the older Stormtop had intended. For all her power, in a moment of panic Faith had cried out a command and not realized what the consequences might be.
Blair didn't worry about that. Lockheed was falling and she could hear her sister's cries.
Help me.
Slamming her wings closed, Blair twisted in the air, following her sister's path of descent. For an endless breath, she hung in the air. Then she plummeted after Lockheed. She'd catch up, she had to catch up, Lockheed's wings were open and slowing her descent while Blair's wings were tightly folded to make her more aerodynamic, she had to catch up--
She almost passed Lockheed before she realized that she was heading towards the ground. Her wings slicing open against the air and ignoring the pain as her entire body jerked violently to a halt, Blair positioned herself - and seconds later Lockheed's full weight slammed into her, sending them both spiraling downwards.
Blair's wings beat hard a few times - they weren't used to carrying her weight as well as someone else's as well as all their downward momentum - but after a few terrifying seconds, she managed to stabilize and even rise in the air again, Lockheed a heavy weight in her young arms.
"I've got you, sister," she crooned mentally. "I've got you."~ Faith watched her sister in terror for a moment. No, she couldn't bear watching Lockheed kill herself in flagrant disregard for all of their pleas to save herself. Pushing off and ignoring her own weariness, she began to move higher - to do what she wasn't sure - because she was so afraid that it hadn't worked.
A moment later, she knew true fear when she realized that there was a worse possibility - and that was that it had.
She had worded it poorly; she hadn't had time to think it through and stop Lockheed with a better, more specific command. She'd said don't. And Lockheed had stopped. Entirely.
As Blair plummeted after her, Faith poured her psychic strength back into her voice, both to give Blair a better chance at catching up and to free Lockheed from the inadvertent chains she'd placed on her.
"Use your wings, Tempest. Do what you must to save yourself," she called, putting the power back into her voice - the strength to overcome her previous command, to let her sister use her wings, but as she watched Tempest fall she was so afraid it would be too late--
When Blair caught her, Faith's shudder of relief was obvious. She closed her eyes.
This was why she was sometimes so afraid of what she could do.
Somehow we’ll make this right. This must end. True Angels/Nightrifters
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:10 pm
"We are the deranged..."
"We are the reborn..."
"We are the empowered..."
"We are the torn..."STORMTOP ANGELS "We have witnessed it all. But we have always been
here to save people. To protect people. And now look what we're doing." Seemed that Blair could handle the situation just fine without her. Annoyed, Sarah turned her headset back on.
"How about you fly that piece of junk further down?" she asked the pilots of the heliplane. "We're not going to get out of here any faster by flying up to your level, especially with the amount of time we have left."
Then she shut off the headset once more amidst the protests of the pilots.
Reluctantly, the heliplane shifted, then tilted to the right, drifting downwards and closer to the Stormtops as it issued a stream of urgent beeps, meant to be more annoying than anything else - just a method of getting the Stormtops there faster.
Isis, if Faith was going to try to assist Blair, wouldn't allow it. Ushering her teacher into the wide open cargo base of the heliplane and making sure she was firmly in place, Isis dove to assist Blair. It was only because of the younger Stormtop's massive wings that she was able to support Lockheed in the first place. Lockheed, with all of her additional machinery, was one of the heaviest of the Stormtops. The only one that was about even with her, with her armor, was Sarah.
After some struggle, Isis and Blair managed to get Lockheed into the heliplane. Scanning the area, making sure all other of her sisters were safely in the machine, Sarah turned and flew upwards towards it, landing safely in its walls.
Slowly then, the massive doors on either side slid downwards, and even before they finished closing the heliplane turned and sped towards Chamberfire, the dark of the night closing in behind them.
Sarah, from where she was seated, the walls indented to accommodate the wings, raised an eyebrow at Lockheed.
"What exactly was the point of that, again?" she asked monotonously, the eyebrow still raised. Isis looked away.
"Well, it's Tempest," she replied, making Sarah shoot her a look. Isis glanced up, saw the look, but merely shrugged. "She... does things like that."
Scowling, Sarah looked away.
"We're killing them. We're killing everyone. How could this possibly
be right? God, where are you? God, where ARE you?!" TRUE ANGELS"We are the eternal..."
"We are the pure..."
"We are the powerful..."
"We are the true..."
"It's obvious what has to happen now, isn't it?
This can only end in bloodshed."
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LovetoCauseMayhem Vice Captain
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