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Gestalt Effect Vice Captain
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 Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:46 pm
Nick had to keep thinking of how to distract him from figuring out who she was, but it was not in her nature to babble on like a canary. She dew a blank when she tried to think of something else to say. Hopefully the odd architecture was keeping his thoughts occupied...
Once they passed where the lines stopped Nick could hear a quiet grinding noise. She paused to listen. Soon dust and dirt begun to fall from every strange line in the ceiling. When Nick looked back up at them they were now half an inch lower than the rest of the ceiling. Than came a strange clicking noise.
Nick's eyes widened, her right one brightened, as her right hand emerged from under the cloak to pull Shun past where the dust was falling and where lines were no more.
Of course the Judge wouldn't have said anything about traps... at least this meant they must be getting close to what the Judge was looking for.
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 3:01 pm
Shun paused right around the same time as Nick when the soft grinding noise started up. Looking around, he saw dust falling from the ceiling above. That couldn't be a good si-
Click
Before he could do much more, the woman had grabbed onto him to pull him forward quickly. Stumbling forward with that, he went past the apparent threshold before quickly turning around to see what was happening exactly, also noticing Bent-Tail letting out a loud squeak and rushing forward to join the others as well.
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Gestalt Effect Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 3:27 pm
*CRASH* *CRASH* *CRASH* *CRASH*
Section by section the ceiling came crashing down to the ground and soon created an incredibly thick wall between the exit and whatever lay forward. The last wall came down just as the tip of Bent's tail made it past safety.
Nick released the Soldier's uniform after the ordeal was over. The palm had become warm in the ordeal, any longer and his shirt would have been a flame.
"Great." Nick growled as she looked at the door. At least... -IF- he found out who she was there would be no reinforcements. God only knows where this place let out. If it did.
"Hope they didn't expect you back any time soon Cadet..."
She let out a long breath and shined the light into the room that was just to the left of them. Empty... small and empty. Not even worth a look.
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:34 pm
Shun stared with wide eyes as sections of the ceiling came crashing down where they had been standing just moments ago. Once he got past the shock, he quickly looked over his organoid to make sure he was in tact. Bent-Tail looked shaken, but was thankfully unharmed.
"This day just keeps getting better and better..." he grumbled " Why the hell would this base still have active traps?" he frowned. Though, he supposed the real question should have been 'why would a base have traps in the first place?'.
With a huff, his eyes were drawn towards the light as he quickly looked into the small room to the left, which seemed to have nothing of interest.
In any case, hopefully they wouldn't be stranded for a prolonged period of time.
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Gestalt Effect Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 7:34 pm
"Before it was a base, it was an ancient Zoidian temple. And most temples were trapped to keep grave robbers out." Nick begun to walk past the door cautiously. There looked to be something on the wall just ahead.
"...perhaps the last soldiers reset the traps to hide something."
In fact, it was a place that was unknown to the soldiers. These traps have been dormant since the time they were set. Nick wouldn't release that data as it would cancel out her story about her family heirlooms. At least she figured he would catch on quick had she told them that.
A strange metallic clicking noise echoed through the hallway, than stopped. It was followed by several metallic murmurs.
The noise reminded Nick of the Jury. It sounded like him trying to carry on a conversation... she had heard it once, but the noise was unforgettable. It was because of this Nick was starting to become more leery of this place. Perhaps she should have scared the cadet off....
"Stay close." Nick ordered as she stopped to look at a bunch of runes on the wall.
One of the symbols looked like a Spike covered snake with long legs, long arms, and long claws. The teeth on its bottom jaw were longer than any other tooth on the creature. The full picture depicted the serpent creature mauling several, what looked to be, humans. Above that was a rune of a strange dragon looking creature with four arms. Each arm pointed in a different direction. Each arm was also a different color. The color was faded slightly, but still noticeable. One Black, one Red, one Blue, and one possibly gray. The last was hard to tell... This dragon, thing, was possibly controlling the serpent creatures. At least the picture looked like that.
Nick shivered before she reached out to touch the wall. Once she did the red hand on the dragon begun to glow crimson, than every other rune on the wall begun to glow the same color.
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:06 pm
The fact that it was a temple long ago sure explained the structure itself, but Shun couldn't help but frown still. What could the Empire be hiding here? Perhaps it had something to do with some early war weapon, but he wasn't sure. Over all, it just seemed odd to him, but there wasn't much that was said that would suggest otherwise.
Pausing, he looked around as he heard a strange click echo about. More traps ready to spring off perhaps? Whatever it was, it likely couldn't be too good for the sake of their wellbeing.
The cadet blinked at the order... not that he was going to be straying off anywhere. But it amused him as on a normal basis, a 'civilian' wouldn't be ordering a soldier anything. Though he still had strong feelings that she wasn't who she claimed to be anyway; he just didn't really have anything to prove his hypothesis.
Perking up onto his hind quarters, Bent-Tail peered around at the runes and at the strange symbols on the wall. He tilted his head and gave a curious squeak.
The organoid wasn't the only interested party either. The symbols on the wall were... a little disturbing to say the least. He wondered the significance of each of the symbols.
As the red hand glowed, he watched as each of the runes did the same. Eyes widening, he stared at Nick after glancing down the hall to make sure no giant boulders or anything of the like were headed their way because of this.
"What the hell just happened?" he asked with a frown.
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Gestalt Effect Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:33 pm
Kagi... The runes must have recognized he was attached to her. But how? Nick frowned. She missed her companions dearly, and this did little in comforting her in their absence.
"It's probably... my prosthetics... the walls might have some mechanical device behind them." She sounded quite unsure, the whole image threw off her act for the moment. She knew what it was about. All but the strange serpent thing.
Bent would be able to hear more than murmurs, it was a language. An odd language. Nothing he could understand. It was of an ancient tone...
The walls groaned a little as Nick withdrew her hand. She could feel its presence. Which was most unsettling.
Once her hand was away from the wall the glow gradually dimmed than left the wall as it was before.
"Common...." Nick huffed as she continued down the hall toward the next door.
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:10 pm
The ancient language disturbed the organoid quite a bit as he didn't know if what was said was some sort of warning or something else. Chittering nervously and softly, he inched closer towards Shun, deciding that he didn't like this place very much. Between the whole nearly getting crushed by a falling ceiling trap and the eerie mumblings of some ancient language at least.
After glancing down at the rat that had bumped into him from scooting so closely, he narrowed his eyes at the woman and at the wall. He had doubts what she said the cause was, but he couldn't think of what it really was anyway.
As the glow faded, his eyes lingered on the wall a little longer before he turned to follow her. Earlier on he would have never thought what should have been a quick and simple investigation to end up like this. He supposed he should stop groaning internally whenever given what seems to be a relatively menial mission or task seeing how they just might take an unexpected turn or two. Or three in this case.
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Gestalt Effect Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:47 pm
Nick had, for the most part, stopped worrying if this soldier found out who she was. Her focus shifted souly to the surroundings and what might possibly jump out next. Every muscle in her body tensed as she looked about the halls alert.
Even her posture had somewhat changed to reflect her awareness of the surroundings.
When they came to the next door she stopped to shine the light inside. Her mouth gaped slightly when she saw its contents. The room was massive, with stone stairs leading three flights to the floor below. But it wasn't the mass size of the room that startled her, it was its content.
Shining metallic pods completely lined the floor, walls (except the walls near the stairway), and ceiling. The metal was old and had lost its shine over the years, but they still looked solid. They seemed to be growing from the stone like plants. There had to be more than a hundred of these things just sitting there. But what were they? Nick quickly moved the light out of the room.
Suddenly the voices fell silent, as if waiting for something to happen next. Nick held the flashlight out for Shun to take.
"Here, I'll have a look first. Stay here... I'll signal when it is clear for you to enter... Don't shine the light in the room until you get my clearance. Understood?" Her face was quite stern as she glared him in the eye and waited a response.
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:01 pm
Shun had noticed the shift within the woman, and quite frankly he didn't really care. The more alert they were, the better really, in case there were more unpleasant surprises awaiting them. He did, however, now wished he had more than just a pistol and two daggers on his person.
I guess that's fine, seeing how she's armed enough for the both of us, he thought somewhat bitterly.
As they came upon the new room, he peeked around her to try and see as well. It wasn't the easiest feat considering she stood several inches taller than him.. His brow furrowed at the sight of the metallic bods all around the room. Was this what this place was hiding? What were they in the first place?
Looking up as she addressed him assertively, he tightened the grip on his pistol before nodding tersely with a glare back. There was little mistaking it now in his mind.
"Yes, Captain," he replied lowly as he took the flashlight. She might not be apart of the military any longer, but he may as well treat her as a higher up for now. Even though they seemed to be close in terms of age, he was certain she had more experience between her time as a soldier and her time as a fugitive.
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Gestalt Effect Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:59 pm
Nick froze with wide eyes. Her jaw locked. It had been so long since she had been addressed that way, and to hear it now stung at the heart. Very few had made it as far as she did at such a young age, and very few had lost it all within a matter of hours. All because of one man's greed. The memories of that time were now a bitter taste in her mouth.
Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "I'm no captain..." She spoke flatly as she slowly backed away into the door.
At least down here he would not have any back up. If things got ugly... Nick shook her head as she cautiously descended the stairs. No, only if he threatens her life first.
The voices again begun to whisper to the rat organoid again. Their tone took a dramatic change to condescending. They seemed to be mocking him, or amused? Nick had started to hear them too, but what they were saying to her was something completely different.
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Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:13 pm
"For now, you may as well be. If you really prefer I can treat you as an enemy fugitive instead. I'd rather not do that right now," he growled lowly. The way he saw it, with what he knew now, it was either he treated her as a wanted enemy of the Empire or see her as she was before she had killed those men and fled. The latter was likely going to get them further.
His glare shifted downwards as he felt Bent-Tail huddling by his leg. The organoid still knew not of what the voices said, but he didn't like the tone. Normally he'd be soaking in attention but this wasn't exactly the type of attention he liked. He wanted to know what was behind these voices and why they seemed to mocking him so. Was it because he wasn't one of the ancients?
Without the light shining into the room, Shun had little idea of what was going on. He was able to see a faint glow thanks to Nick's eye, but that was about it right now.
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Gestalt Effect Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:40 am
"As you wish Cadet." Nick had little to argue about now. If they were fighting no one would get anywhere and she would no doubt be pulled back into the nightmare. There were too many lives riding on her own for her to roll over.
Nick paused on the step just before the stairs changed direction. The clicking noises had changed to rattling and sharp metallic screeches. Not as banchie-like as the Jury, but close. It caused Nick to wince and back up. Slowly she removed her cloak and let it fall to the abyss below. She than readied her right arm. The palm begun to glow with an immense heat, turning red, blue, than white. "That's what you wanted?" She grumbled to herself.
Nick continued to back up until she was once again in the presence of Shun. All her focus remained on the dark room. Her body turned slightly so the right side faced the door and her left faced the cadet. The left arm was held between herself and the cadet while the right was raised slightly with the hand spread out and ready to strike. Shun would be able to see the waves of heat obscuring the view of anything directly in front of her palm.
Another shriek... one by one pairs of red dots appeared in every pod location, soon illuminating the room with a dim light, but still bright enough to lift the dark veil and reveal what was behind it. Creatures just like the ones in the runs on the wall begun to emerge from all the pods in the room. Too small to be organoids, too tall to be MRZs, they were neither. Nick only had the name the Judge had given to her before the mission.
"Strikers..." She hissed.
Sharp bodies, two tails each with sharp pincers, they were quite the intimidating force. And there were hundreds of them...
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Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:21 am
"By the way, it's Cadet Shun Kuroda," he mumbled, figuring it'd be best to level the playing field before anything else happened.
Frowning, he waited for Nick to do what she needed to do in the room. The screeches were rather unsettling and he had to resist the urge to shine the light into a room to see what was going on. All he saw was her arm beginning to glow with heat before she came and rejoined him.
Gripping onto his gun, he readied himself for whatever was coming. He couldn't see much with Nick and the glow in the way, but once the second shriek had come, he began seeing little red dots around the room, giving off just enough light. The cadet's eyes widened as he recognized the creatures from the wall before. He had never seen them before but apparently Nick was somewhat familiar with them.
"What the hell...? Did you know these things were here?" he hissed before crouching down and raising his gun so that he could shoot around Nick if he needed to. The strikers, as she called them, looked rather deadly, and their depiction on the wall before just added to it. Quite frankly, he wasn't even sure if his gun would be of much use against them. They were also one thing he would not want to get into a knife fight with, should he run out of ammo.
Bent-Tail huddled at each of the shrieks, and when the Strikers began to awaken, he just looked at the two humans nervously, chattering softly to himself. He didn't like the looks of the strange metallic forms ahead, and he definitely didn't like that there were so many of them.
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Gestalt Effect Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:48 pm
"I didn't know what they were." She growled. "Or that there would be so many of them."
The lights in the room begun to shift as the horde moved toward the door. The rocks groaned as they clawed their way up the walls or ran up the stairs to meet with their targets.
"Aim for their eye sockets. Their armor spreads everywhere but there."
Never did she think to be fighting along side an imperial soldier again.
Nick tensed once again as the lights drew closer to the door. All her focus was with them and keeping her palm at max heat. It took a lot of concentration to do, and was draining to the mind.
The first Striker that poked its head out of the door quickly found its head in Nick's grip. The metal skull hissed and collapsed under the heat and pressure. All the while the creature made an awful shrieking noise.
A second crawled through the top of the door as Nick lunged for the first one. It hissed at Shun, flashing its incredibly sharp teeth.
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