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 Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:17 am
Word traveled fast in Team Rocket...especially these days. Any information that was uncovered spread like wildfire. Until today, there hadn't been much to spread. Ironic choice of metaphors, that.
Headquarters had been swarming with rumors and conjecture in the lack of concrete information. While it was true that the boss' brother being the main target of the Galactics was believable, those who had been on the previous raid to destroy the Machine couldn't help but wonder if this were also some sort of revenge plot for their actions. The thought that teammates could be in danger and hurt because of their actions...
Well, one dark-haired Grunt hadn't been comfortable with the thought. Sierra had done what she could, but with few elite resources of her own, she'd concentrated on her physical therapy instead, determined to be ready when the time came.
The time was now.
She wouldn't be running any marathons any time soon, and her leg still showed evidence of earlier trauma...but the look on her face was one of determination as she jogged down the hallway, heading towards the hangar. At her side, a shiny Umbreon loped along, casting a subtle concerned eye in her direction from time to time.
If she could do nothing else, Sierra' could join the scouting team to try to help bring their teammates home.
There weren't many familiar faces in the hangar area, but that was of little concern. The swarm of activity made it hard to concentrate on any one person for too long anyway. With the helicopter in sight, Sierra put on a burst of speed, a mere sprint really, spurred by the knowledge that the team was about to head out. Forgetting about her injury in the adrenaline rush, she took a short jump into the helicopter...and landed on her left foot with a cringe and a hand on the door frame to steady herself. Khalon frowned at her disapprovingly as he landed lightly on all fours beside her.
Noting the gathering of superiors nearby, she saluted smartly, quickly correcting her posture to hide any lingering sign of weakness. "Grunt Istas, reporting for duty." With a polite nod, she broke away to claim a seat and get buckled in securely.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:36 am
She could tell that the Jirachi wasn't entirely into the idea of leaving the search, she didn't blame him for wanting to go, it was what any good pokemon would want when it came to their masters.
But the choice was being made when Seth's orders said to get the Jirachi out.
Faleen of course did not argue against her superior.
She knew the Jirachi, like her own pokemon, knew how to behave themselves around the equipment of the tech department, so having the pokemon around wasn't something she was worried about. but these were orders now.
"Alphard, you need to go back to the room." she told the Jirachi. "Leave it up to us, alright."
She knew he wasn't going to like it, and she probably wasn't sounding exactly as reassuring and comforting as she could have.
She was used to dealing with dark types, She was trying her best with Alphard, but a child like Psychic type was on the polar opposite of her skills and understanding.
A hand on her shoulder caused her to glance over, eyes widening when it was Frost and he was announcing that they had found a location.
Yes! This team was as officiant as ever!
"We're prepping for lift off." Faleen announced, reaching out to pick up a head set to put it over on over her ears, adjusting the audio piece before she started to work with the controls while everyone got seated.
While she did this she lifted up her Rocket Dex, speaking into it to contact one of the other agents.
"Agent Claire, there has been an update, It looks like we're heading to Hoenn with this lead of a huge smoke source, please relay to anyone searching Kodo needs to be aware. Repeat: we've got our sights set on Hoenn Coast."
When Seth took a seat at the co-pilot chair that the Jirachi had been in, she glanced over at the Elite with a soft nod.
They were ready.
It didn't take them very long before they were in the air, and on their way toward the Hoenn region,
She didn't really know who was joining them, since she didn't really turn around the entire flight, keeping her eyes forward, with a determined, but distant look as she searched the skies ahead.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:53 am
Wait, what? "What?" As Frost had declared him in charge of... something... Alba had looked more like a Deerling in headlights than someone ready to take control of anything. But things were happening, people were looking at him, and seven Rockets were still missing. Straightening as best he could while supporting his weight on a single leg and crutch, he gave a single nod of confirmation. "Understood, Sir." As Frost left, Alba turned to the small crowd that had been trying to get rid of him just a moment ago. "Well? You heard the man! If you're going, get gone. If not, get back to work. Staring at the old guy isn't going to get our people in the air and finding anything. Any of you here in the hacker or comm department Agent Frost mentioned?"
He was going to see the helicopter off, first and foremost, before heading for the other departments to handle those still on the ground. If there were any last minute orders from those on the air vehicle, it would mean he was close enough for not to not worry about info delays.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:57 am
Alphard blipped out as Seth threatened to sit on him and reappeared in Faleen's lap. He still hadn't decided whether Transformon was really more important, but things were getting busy and there was something in the way she said 'leave it up to us' that caught his attention. She'd never used that tone with him before.
A quiet Okay echoed in the agent head, and then the legendary was gone.
Faleen! He was back.
The Jirachi pushed a pair of glasses at her and disappeared as the helicopter started liftoff.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:13 pm
The voice she didn't expect to hear again suddenly echoes in her mind, her head jerked back slightly, glancing around for the Jirachi and ask him again to return to the room before he got into trouble.
But he was only there for a second, and she found something being pushed at her by the little pokemon.
And then he was gone.
Blinking in surprise, Faleen glanced down at when she in instinctively taken.
She stared for a couple of seconds, her eyelids fell a little when she quickly recognizing that she was holding in her gloved hand.
She only allowed herself a few seconds before she forced herself back into focus on her task.
Her hand closed around Hayes' glasses for a couple of seconds, firm, but very careful not to break them.
It wasn't likely that they would find Hayes and the others today, but.... who knew.
"Good thinking Alphard, thank you." She said, not sure if the Jirachi would hear.
Placing the glasses down on her lap to keep them safe for now, and free her hands.
If nothing else they were taking a step forward... they WILL find their comrades.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:18 pm
Thanks to efforts refining police and new reports made by Alba and the rest of the gang back at HQ, the Rockets soon had a precise location.
With her head start Claire would be first to arrive at the explosion site and find it marked by high wisps of fading smoke caught in the morning breeze. The large plume was no more. When the helicopter carrying the remaining rockets arrived the smoke was gone.
The airship had vanished, but there was no doubt it'd been here. The site was a mess of charred earth and mangled metal. Deep circular holes marked the ground where the massive craft's supports had been resting. Judging by these marks the explosion was on the left side. A semi-circular blast radius spread out from where the ship once sat. Hunks of the torn hull littered the area.
Those who had infiltrated Galactic HQ knew the airship was painted black. The unpainted metallic side of the fragments was coated in soot. The blast had come from the inside.
Joining the ship debris were mech parts. Lots of mech parts. A massive metal Gyarados fin was sticking out of the ground like a knife. What looked like an oversized Ninjask leg was nearby, next to a small smoking device shaped like a piece of toast. A hunk of the Dusknoir mech that had taken the missing rockets was lying on top of a tree it had flattened. All over the scene pieces of Deimos' creations decorated the landscape.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on varying opinions) machines hadn't been the only casualties. It looked like several Galactics had been caught in the blast. They were scattered here and there, none of them in pleasant states and none of them alive. Despite the mess, there wasn't any indication that the airship had been involved in a fight. No police, no other vehicles. No evidence of outward attack.
The area was still and strangely quiet but for the crashing waves of the beach over the next hill.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:52 pm
His question had been answered rather quickly and now they were headed for the Hoenn coast. And some time later, they came to the site which was already vacated as Seth had suspected. As they flew over, he scanned the area, noting the various pieces of mechs and other debris... as well as the scattered bodies.
"Set it down near the blast site," Seth instructed Faleen. It was very possible that they might find the most valuable clues there.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 6:11 pm
Back at base, everyone awaited news. "They're nearing the site now," stated the young man who had been tracking the helicopter's progress. At the table behind him, maps and reports and writing utensils were scattered across the surface. The Rockets that had helped to triangulate the location based on those maps and reports stood around the comm room, waiting to hear if their work had paid off. The only person sitting, other than those working the radios and other machines, was Alba.
The older Rocket steepled his fingers against his forehead at the table. "Have they found anything?" Please... Please... let them find something that would help them...
The radio person took off his headphones, and switched to speakers.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:21 pm
Luckily someone thought to relay the location to Claire, otherwise she would've flown in circles around Kodo for the next several hours. Instead, before the message even finished she'd changed her course straight to Hoenn. Also just as luckily, her rocket dex had a GPS on it.
It took quite a while, even with Odette's speed, to reach the site of the explosion - and it was plain to see that this could only be the explosion site - and it was also easy to see no one else had arrived yet. "I've found the site," she said into her dex after pulling it from her pocket, guiding Odette around to scout the location from a few meters up to make sure no surprises awaited them there. "No sign of the airship." Well, there were plenty of signs of it littering the grassy field she was flying over, but no sign of it in the skies, which was where it no doubt would be now somewhere..
The sound of chopper blades met her ears after a few more moments, unsurprisingly belonging to her teammates. While she was glad they were here - the whole scene was really starting to creep her out - she was simultaneously incredibly disappointed they hadn't found the ship. Or to be more specific, hadn't found Aulus. Soon, she hoped. The blast wouldn't have hurt them, would it..?
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:30 am
Spotting what remained of the blast from the air, and given the conformation from Seth to take them down, Faleen looked got a good landing spot.
Though she couldn't help but stare, her mouth opened slightly as she got the full grasp of how large the explosion must have been, already she identified three different mecha parts among burnt earth.
Once she was set down, and gave the clear to get out of the chopper, she moved out of the pilot seat herself.
As she hopped down onto the earth, she took a couple of seconds to put Hayes' glasses in one of the small pouches she had to her belt with her small tool kit.
Oh ground level now, the wreckage was much easier to pick out details. She looked over a stretch of twisted metals, though now that she was closer to the ground, she could see the bodies of Galactics also laying around the ground, it was truly unnerving to see the human body twisted into such a state. Untill she had to she chose to pay more attention to the bits of metal.
Her expression was cold, scanning the heaps of destruction with a calculating air before she caught sight of one of their Rocket's heading toward them.
"Agent Claire" Faleen greeted with a nod, having heard she had beat them to the site.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:42 am
As they landed, Seth vacated the chopped and started to look around. It was a rather grim scene indeed, although he certainly didn't have any sympathy for the strewn bodies of the Galactics. They were all dead, and wouldn't be of any use to them.
"Spread out," he told the Rockets as they left the vehicle. "Cover as much ground as you can, but stay on your guard, just in case. And if you find -anything- that might give us a lead, let me know."
He then looked over at Faleen. "You're with me. We'll survey the mechs. Or what's left of them anyway."
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:55 am
Well, here they were then.
As they touched down Frost hopped out of the helicopter and surveyed the area in silence for some moments. Eventually he made a small noise of disapproval and pulled on a pair of gloves before moving over to one of the bodies. Kneeling down beside it he grasped it by the chin and turned the head to face him, studying the horribly burned features dispassionately. Death, he imagined, had been swift. Perhaps they hadn't even lived long enough to feel fear or pain.
Releasing the head again he started to search the body for anything of use or value.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:47 am
Sierra let the others lead the way out of the chopper, waiting until it had fully settled and quieted before she made her own exit. Her calf had protested her earlier careless movements, so she begrudgingly decided to listen and cater to its complaints for a while.
Even without knowledge that there had been some sort of accident here, the wreckage and destruction made that plain to see. They would need all the eyes they could spare to search the area quickly and efficiently. Four flashes of light revealed the entirety of Sierra's team, blinking and looking to her for information on the scene before them.
"Search for any clue that might relate to our teammates, or what direction the Galactics may have gone from here. Return to me with anything you find. Don't spread out too far though...keep within sight and hearing range. We don't know for sure that it's safe here; there could still be enemy agents about." Pausing, she turned to her Pidgeot. "Celeste? We'll need your eyes in the sky. Maybe you'll see something that we can't from down here. And you'll be our first alert if anyone else is in the area. Good?" Celeste trilled softly in acknowledgement. The Pidgeot flared her wings, sending up a gust as she took off for the sky.
When the dust cleared, Sierra turned to find that Marle had begun her investigations with one of the fallen Galactics. She sent a light jolt through her tail to the body, watching for a response. "Marle!" The Pikachu jumped, turning her eyes back to Sierra. "Stop that," she started, then paused, adding in a softer tone, "please." Her icy eyes panned over the corpses left behind, then she shook her head. "Leave them be. They're gone. And therefore, no use wasting time with them," she finished coldly, turning on a heel and heading towards the burnt mech wreckage. She held no love for the Galactics, that was for sure. But it did no good to mess with corpses either. Their concerns were with the live specimens.
The torn chunks from the ship's hull littered the landscape, and Sierra saw more than one piece of mech debris that looked vaguely familiar. There had been so many in the hangar on the last raid, it was hard to pick out just one to recall, however, the Gyarados mech shone vividly in her memory as she passed by the upright fin. Her leg had started to ache, and she'd unconsciously started to favor it as the memory began replaying like a film reel in her head. Shouting, both orders and of panic, human and Pokemon filling the air...then the fighting...blood...explosions...pain...
Her leg burned with the memory and she stumbled, reaching out to grab the edge of the Gyarados fin to steady herself. She was careful not to cut her hand, but she did curse under her breath. There was no time for this. They had to find the others. And fast.
"Khalon! Layla! Let's check this area, around the destroyed mechs. See if either of you can sense anything out of the ordinary that could help us track those Galactics down." The Eeveelutions, not far away, looked up and bounded over to join their trainer, getting to work, pawing through the sooty rubble (much to Layla's dismay) and sniffing about for clues.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 1:18 pm
Claire offered Faleen a similar nod as she approached the rest of the group. As much as she wanted to be more polite or ask how she was, she really didn't have the heart to do much else. In retrospect, it had been incredibly foolish to think Aulus - and the others, she supposed - could have escaped during the blast and would be standing around waiting for them.
Two flashes of light revealed a happy Growlithe and a chubby Pikachu. They both looked confused -- the former incredibly do, but the latter only briefly before he looked to his trainer. "Artemis, find Aulus." While she knew he wasn't here, the puppy Pokemon may find traces of his scent around the area, and if she found his scent, the rest of their missing agents would be there as well. That was hard to phrase into a command that the dog would understand, so a simple 'find' would have to do. "Zeus, you too. Look for any clues and bring them to me. Or Faleen," she added after a moment. She trusted the Pikachu to know what was important and what wasn't. After a moment, both Pokemon headed off in different directions - Zeus relying on sight, and Artemis following her nose in a more meandering path.
After both departed, Claire mounted Odette again before the Pidgeot took off to the skies. If nothing else, it would enable her to see if anyone - or anything - was coming to try and sneak up on them. She would not let that happen again.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 1:42 pm
There were not time for pleasantries, once their boots hit the ground it was all business.
The Rockets were given their orders, a few got their pokemon in to help with the search.
Faleen looked over at Seth when he recruited her to him so they could look over the mecha.
It was tragic really, to think that something like this could happen in a robotics lab, made her cringe thinking about the like happening at Rocket HQ's Robotics lab.
There was really no hope for any of these former machines.
She had no idea what they were looking for, so she went over everything she could get her hand on in the mechas.
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