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Scanning…
Location… Helic Republic Outpost at Republican/Unclaimed Territory Boundary

Conditions… Autumn; 62 degrees with moderate breeze and wind chill. Partially overcast skies, potential storms forecasted for midday
Current Time… 0300
…End Scan

{ Open to: Everyone within reason. Primarily Helic Republic soldiers. Imperial soldiers may also join, with such reasoning as attending the meetings as described below in the scene. Rogues may join if they can find a canon way of doing so (likely later). }

The Outpost
Outposts usually house a few tents, some lean-to buildings and sparse guard meant simply to keep a lookout over its particular section of boundary territory. This is not one of those. Certain outposts overtime have been built up to resemble base-like structures, complete with sturdy stone buildings, full guard and grossly enlarged ZOID hangers. This particular outpost is the oldest of the Republican/Unclaimed territory base. The overhanging section beyond the outer walls claims a full air strip landing field for flight-based zoids, a secondary zoid hanger, a research facility, and secondary cadet quarters. This is surrounded by two layers of 12 foot chain link fencing, topped like icing on a cake with barbed wire. It is a place for cadets and young ranked soldiers to rotate through for instructional purposes and field training, thus its glorified look is founded in ancient military tradition.
The building itself is not monstrous, but it does border on castle-like. A stone outer wall reaches heights and thicknesses to sway a wayward band of ZOID-riding rogues from an outright attack. The inner courtyard is rather expansive, used for regular military exercises (north and east yards) and zoid mobilization (west yard), with the main zoid hanger located in the southern most yard attached flush to the main building structure.
Guard towers rise at every corner of the outer stone wall, and each corner of the main structure, and are routinely staffed with multiple soldiers. This would seem overkill, but only if one looked over the entire point of this place was a military outpost- it’s why they’re here at all. However, despite the heavy guard posts, the overall demeanor of this base is rather laid back. It’s such a well-known republican corner of the border lines that action is rarely, if ever, seen. Laughter, goofing off, and other such behavior is a regular scene outside of structured exercise.
Imperial soldiers are not an unfamiliar sight around here either. Despite the heavy barriers and foreboding structure, the gates are often open. For political reasons to enhance the somewhat fragile truce between the two factions, Imperial soldiers arrive for meetings and other debriefing sessions to return to their commanders.



_ __ ___ ----- ___ __ _

(Queue Scene)

Rhett laid on his back under the open sky in the dirt and dust of the unclaimed territories- the endless miles of variable desert and jungle. Currently, however, just desert. Sparse shrubs surrounded him, clothing him in deeper shadows as his watch glowed faintly:
::0237::
He sighed. Yet another sleepless, chilly night- granted, relatively warm for autumn- laying in pebbles and creepy crawlies, waiting for a message. Any message. He knew he was due tonight to be in this general location; he had been forewarned that his next order would come soon. His mysterious benefactor always remained just that- mysterious. But he never argued. Without any actual connections, should he ever be caught, he would be the end of the road of any investigation. And his targets would remain as targets.

Dim red, eerie eyes became apparent as an organoid’s head lifted. This particular one feline, or more specifically, caracal-like with its cougar-like frame and long ears tipped in antennae. Bronze-gold armor was streaked in red faintly glowing markings, and blazing red eyes. But despite how intimidating this could be, this particular organoid looks like it just does not care. About anything. Its voice that carried mentally to Rhett held about the same amount of concern. Or lack there of.


Location: Helic Republic Secondary Outpost 2-16.
Time: Change of guard 0300
Target: Colonel Serius Kolins
Background: Involvement i-

“Stop, you know better.” Rhett spoke up in a voice that seemed excessively loud in the previous silence of the night. “I don’t want to hear the reasons. I don’t want to know anything but the time, place and person.” It’s easier that way, he thought grimly to himself.

If a quadruped organoid could shrug, Arrow would have. This was commonly how Rhett received his orders, and Arrow never explained where he received those transmissions from. As he looked again at his watch :0240:, he gave himself a few moments to consider his destination. Arrow’s thoughts projected pictures which were helpful, laying out the foundation of the outpost, rotating it slowly much like a holographic projection would in a zoid’s cockpit. The colonel spent most of his time in the research facility in the overhanging section of the outpost near the airfield and secondary zoid hanger. He did mostly night shifts, but the fact that he was awake was unavoidable. Infiltrating such a large base in broad daylight was more than a little poor judgement.

“Do you have any zoid or other mechanical information?”

I thought you didn’t want to know.

“Just answer the question.”

Won’t it hurt your petty feelings to know him as a human?

“I’ll show you petty if you don’t answer me.”

You'll show me 'petty'?

“….”

Zoid: Konig Wolf
Organoid: Lizard-type. Increase in camouflage, addition of poisoning affects- slow core drain- to enemy zoid systems.

Rhett nodded, his aggravation over Arrow such a constant that so rarely did it last long enough to disrupt his mood. He didn’t intend to get into a Zoid-Zoid battle with the man, so it was only for personal curiosity. Slowly he rolled to his feet, patting the dust off of his old and tattered cargo pants and began walking. He never carried much with him, aside from a variety of weaponry tied around his waist and slung over a shoulder. Arrow followed after a few moments, his claws ticking metal-to-rocky surface somewhat quietly- more quietly than one would expect of a mechanical creature.

They would arrive at the outpost around 0255 hours, right on time to wait for the guard change. Until then, Rhett lingered in the shadows of one cold rocky wall, back pressed up against it, a look of quiet contemplation on his face.

Colonel Serius Kolins was indeed awake, and he had woken up a few very select cadets and rotating soldiers as well to come with him for a very early morning rounds on the progress of the zoid research. His organoid, Komodo, properly (or simply uncreatively) named for its similarity to a komodo dragon, stood bi-pedally at his side, though her mechanics notably showed that she could wriggle around on all fours as well.

“I want you all to appreciate this work.” He began, his voice deep and booming, though his overall demeanor was a bit weak. He carried himself with a slightly nervous posture, not so befitting of his title rank. One sweeping hand superfluously motioning over the railing of the metal, clanking catwalk the group currently stood on. He had called this meeting last evening to a few of the newest arrivals to make sure they understood why this outpost remained important. Over the railing was a large zoid of an almost unrecognizable structure. A hybrid of some sort, obviously, but so overladen with weaponry it would be amazing if it could move. The legs of a cow-like zoid, the hulking body of a gojulas, the head and fangs of a liger, long serpentine tails with heads that held fangs as well. A chimera, if you will. It was certainly a weird contraption.

“At this research facility, we push the redesign of old zoids and the designing of new zoids with access to military-restricted weaponry and cores. We also explore the remains of uncommon zoids we find on the battle field.” Think: Area 51. That leaves a lot of things left unsaid, of course. It’s also within reason to guess that there must be massive things behind the scenes going on if a colonel would openly explain something like this. Military-restricted weaponry could well boarder on weapons of mass destruction sifted beneath all the red tape- no questions asked.

“Now, why do you all think that it is a requirement of your military training to spend time here?” Too-soft, muddy brown eyes swept over those few gathered. It was like a mini-poodle trying to be a rottweiler as he tried to speak big, but looked so small. His 5’5” height didn’t help him much either.

Angelina woke as another soldier knocked on her door, she was one of the select few to be viewing the advancements in Zoid Technology put out by this base, she wasn't sure which top brass had recommended her but they had and so she was here.

Raziel who lay on the floor beside Angelina hissed a little irritated to be woken.

"Sorry but we have to go." she whispered to the organoid as she dressed quickly. Attendance was mandatory and Tardiness was looked down upon. Angelina tied her hair back after a quick brush. She moved to open the door and headed for the meeting

Skylar hopped off Angelina's bed and onto the other mechanical dragon's back. as Raziel stood and followed Angelina out the door.

Angelina joined the group as the Colonel began to speak. Angelina for some reason was really unimpressed with the strange chimera zoid, it was more disturbing than anything certain zoids where not meant to go together. They where obviously trying to recycle but, she strangely felt bad for the zoids whom where mashed into some sort of monster. Angelina remained silent she glanced quickly at the faces amongst the crowd. She didn't like the colonels description about the project either it made her rather uneasy.

Raziel didn't like it either but held her voice in check.


Lorna had been one of the first to get to the area as the new creature was unveiled it was certainly a strange thing, she wasn't sure if it was really even operable. It looked like it would fall over at any moment.

"So we can appreciate the technical aspect of advancements no matter how small or large." she offered, Lorna herself was a fine mechanic, she needed to take care of Ares. Things where becoming rather ominous. She didn't like it. Lonra saw Angelina and Shun. she gave them both a light greeting as best she could from where she was. At least there where some familiar faces here.

The idea of an untouchable army, shared or not, was one Shun wasn't so certain about. There were many things that could go wrong with that, he felt. But what caught his attention moreso was the Colonel's reasoning for why they were here. It was somewhat ironic that he bring that up, considering the chaos he had been through as of late.

He had an idea to what the answer was, or at least what the answer the Colonel wanted to hear, but remained silent as he seemed to want to hear what Angelina had to offer. The Private couldn't help but think somewhat of the things he and Talon were hiding for the sake of others. It was a little different, seeing how it wasn't strictly military knowledge, but when it really came down to it, it probably wasn't all that different.

As Raziel came on in, Bent-Tail glanced back and waved to the dragon organoid as a silent greeting. He soon turned his attention back towards the strange zoid these people were working on. It was too bad Zutnic couldn't come and see this; certainly the striker would have something to say here. Zutnic almost always had something to say.

The colonel nodded curtly. "There is nothing more important to you all than your service to your respective countries." He knew that they wouldn't, and wanted them all not to like this research. It was, of course, one of the highest sources of controversy in current scientific studies. Some people would argue zoids to be sentient beings. There used to be wild zoids afterall. Others, like the colonel here, believed them to be weapons and tools, controlled utterly and fully by humans. Or perhaps they were a mixture of both. Regardless, this science of destroying and recreating, disregarded the sentient thought-base.

"What do you think would happen if you all went about your merry way and voiced your own opinions? What would happen in the heat of battle? What would be the consequences to yourself, and to your fellow soldiers?" This one babble of questions was voiced directly towards Shun, in an attempt to draw his experience in battle into the light to flush out his point a little better for the more green soldiers in attendance. Notably, the couple of cadets standing hesitantly to the back.

These two cadets, Harry and Alice, had very different expressions on their faces. Harry looked like he was about to pass out from boredom and exhaustion. Alice appeared to be absolutely shock-stunned, mouth hung slightly open, a flury of furious words just bitten slightly back on the tip of her tongue. Widened, shell-shocked eyes turned to Shun. It appeared if he answered in a particular way, he'd have a very young, very inexperienced, dainty little soldier ready to swing a punch at him.

:0259:

Arrow left Rhett's side again, slinking off in his lethal-cat-like way around the side of the building. His armor shimmered and faded, his red eyes appearing as watered-out ghost-like whisps as he moved. His form seeming to be a trick of the eyes at first, second, or even third glance. The doors were open in this time of mixing guards, unlocked to allow brief free movement in the minutes around this time of the soldiers. As a guard opened the door, the feline-type organoid shifted in behind him, entering the building and slipping down to the lower mechanical level.

Rhett was swiftly right behind the organoid at the doorway, using textbook means to render the gaurd unconcious from behind, and slip his uniform jacket, badge and a few other essientials from his body. He figured he wouldn't need these items, but it was always better to have them than to not, just in case. And, besides, it was one less pair of eyes he had to look for.

:0300:


The lights go out.


Rhett was now somewhere in the building. Arrow was on the ground floor, beneath the group on the catwalk but impossible to see due from the angle and his stealthed armor. The caracal-like organoid stopped mid-stride. A fuzzy feeling came over his sensors. Organoids. But not the type that he hunted. They didn't feel 'right'. That must have been why he didn't notice them until now. But his sensors were stronger now, more awakened. They could feel these different organoids. These non-zoidian organoids. Those ear-tip antenae twitched. The dilute signals fished at an internal switch. Plucked at it. Taunted it.

The switch flipped.

Arrow's eyes glowed brighter, a wicked growl curling up from the depths of his throat- albiet ever so quietly. A weird dust-like texture engulfed his armor, as his path deviated from its current treck and up the catwalk.

His footsteps made no audible noise to the humans or organoids that he was headed towards. He paused as his head came level to the catwalk that they currently occupied. To the humans, in the dark, there was nothing there. To the organoids, a pair of glowing red eyes floated disembodied about a foot from the metal floor- staring directly at them.

Upon Arrow's 'switch' being flipped Zutnic's sensors went off with a warning. He could feel the ancient energy and feared it. It was something the great mother didn't like, the hate was given to all the great mother's children but the fear was something that was developed on his own free will. The striker clung tighter to the back of the Zaber's neck as he lowered his head.

"p-pilot need help... b-bad stuff." he mumbled to the zaber. "n-not great mother, enemy of great mother. I go, but hidden."

With as much bravery as he could muster he slowly detached from the Zaber's neck, scoped out the hanger, took note of the shadows, and lept cautiously to the floor below so he could make haste to "his" pilot's side.

The colonel was sated by Shun's answer. He had known well enough the 'hero' would know what to say. Any especially seasoned fighter would have to, or else they wouldn't be seasoned, as they'd likely be dead.

"That's exa-" He was cut off midsentence by the light 'failure', one of his hands reaching back to grip the catwalk's handrail to orient himself as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. The generator wasn't functioning (one of Arrow's quick deeds prior to entry), so the backup lights weren't coming on. The emergency lights were poorly placed, and lit only small circles around the main exits, and faded casts of light in the meters surrounding them. The center of the complex bobbed with a few flashlights that people had found, splashing cones of light haphazardly across floor and metal, the latter of which cast ghostly glints along the walls.

The screams and noises had diminished to hushed whispers and slightly louder orders to "get the generator up, now!" and a few 'OW #$%$ my foot!" and related such things, but nothing seemed entirely out of the ordinary. Not yet. Just a power failure.

Except for one thing. Those glowing red eyes bobbed slightly as the nearly invisible body of the feline-organoid shifted. A high-frequency hiss rippled through an open jaw, the frequency that of which the organoids could hear, but the humans would remain delightfully oblivious. Bent-tail's reaction made those eerie eyes level in his direction, and they seemed to- in some disembodied way, stalk closer to him. And that was exactly what was happening.

Arrow's armor shifted in that grainy way, and as he came within a few meter lengths of Bent-tail, his caracal-like form could be more distinguishable. All of his joints lowered- prowling, ready to pounce. In the most brief of moments, he sprung, but he wouldn't immediately make it to the little mechanical mouse. The cat was slammed from the side by the colonel's komodo. But it was a careless strike. Much too careless.

They both landed hard, the noise much more obvious- and seeable- by the humans, though the dim light probably will still make it very difficult to see details beyond general forms and glowing eyes. Arrow's rustiness and focus on Bent-tail had allowed him to get caught off-guard. Inexcusable. The usually "I could care less" attitude was overridden at this point entirely by his reason for creation: Destroy organoids.

The ancient-made caracal-like organoid righted himself quickly, in a smooth motion that made him seem far less mechanical, and far more organic. Claws caught the links that made up the floor of the catwalk and he launched himself ontop of the the lizard-type organoid as she was just positioning herself into a reptilian poise to strike- to sink her own poisoned teeth into his armor. But she was too slow. And this was no ordinary organoid. Silver claws pinned Komodo to the ground, and saber-tooth-like fangs pierced her neck armor with a wrenching and tearing sound.

The light in her eyes dimmed and went out.

Arrow's red eyes glowed brighter. He held that bite, special fangs deep into the neck armor to come into contact with the primary AI electrical system at the back of the head. He didn't just want to shut her down as a brief bite would. He wanted to destroy her.

Still with the limp lizard organoid in his mouth, he turned back to Bent-tail, paying little to no heed to the humans that had to have seen him by now.

Rhett heard the commotion, and his immediate reaction was to slap a hand across his face and groan. However, the more Arrow's actions sunk in, the more confused he became. Rhett had never seen Arrow do this- he had never disrrupted a mission before, especially right where the target was. He would have to take this opportunity. He'd have to take this chance to get to the colonel since his stealth had been so seriously jeopordized.

He scaled one of the many metal staircase ladders that were leaning up against the giant chimera zoid, jumping and pulling himself up by a handrail to a higher catwalk, and grabbing a pipe to pull himself up further into the rafters. Waveringly, he moved down the rafters, skittering under ventalation systems and shimmying around rafter meeting points.

:0303:

Zutnic had managed to get inside the building before the lights went out. The change in lighting would create no problem with his vision. It only took a moment for the adjustment to take place, and by than he was already on the walls climbing vertically toward the catwalk where the deadly brawl had just taken place.

Every sharp blade on his body tensed, the pincers on his tail shifted in a ready-to-strike position as he watched the komodo loose its life. The menacing look Arrow gave Bent sent the Striker into a rage mode. It was as if he reverted back into the hive-like attack mode Shun and Bent had witnessed a while back.

He begun to emit a loud metallic clicking noise. It was the same noise the horde of strikers made before their violent attack on Shun and Bent in the Zoidian temple. A communication of some sort.

On the plus side, Arrow was creating one hell of a distraction.

But it was throwing the whole place into a frenzy, and the organoid didn't seem like he was anywhere near done after destroying the colonel's partner. His silver-metal claws shifted on the metal platform, his armor shimmered faintly, and the feline-like shape became more apparent to humanoid onlookers. The sharp 'clink clink' of bullets smacked against the caracal's armor, but it seemed useless. Utterly so. The force of the bullets seemed to be irritating to the malicious creature, however, and it turned on the humans. Arrow didn't care about humans- they were squishy things and rode in zoids to battle. He didn't need a zoid. He didn't need anything but himself.

Well, that was almost true.

He had seen Raziel but she hadn't intervened yet. She was on the list. They all were. It was bad enough the ancients were out wandering around. Now all these other organoids were being created? Unacceptable.

He crouched slightly, coiling for a spring. He sprung. However, moments before he could make contact- unless of course Bent-tail met him midair- some horrific clicking noise sank like blades into his super-sensitive ears. The feeling of 'ancient' slammed into those senses as well, but it wasn't.. It wasn't 'ancient' like he was programed to find. It wasn't.. quite.. What on Zi was it?

It put him on edge. The only other ancient creature that didn't suit well with his senses was Her.

A metallic hissing left his jaws as he landed short of his target, glowing red eyes turned upwards to look for Zutnic.

Komodo lay, destroyed, behind Arrow as the intruder moved forward to continue his mission. Colonel Kolins had a look of horror on his older face before he found his voice, "Kill it!" He barked, the fury not yet over-reaching the shock of losing his organoid. Not that the order was necessary, the soldiers had already drawn their guns, and the so-named hero was already firing.

"Send your organoids out of here!" He found some sort of logic in the situation, and swung his rather short, stubby arm out to exaggerate the importance of moving quickly.

Rhett had moved nigh silently along the rafters, though apparently one of the soldiers had gotten some sense of his presence. But it was far too dark up there to see a definitive form or location as he crouched in the darkest region at the joint of two beams, some unseen object in his hands that he messed with, seemed to tie in a slip knot, then lower downwards. This unseen 'rope' (ie, fishing line) fell over the colonel's head. And pulled.

A dark form fell from above some meters away into the darkness below.

"Find a net gu-" The colonel's command was quickly interrupted. And any looks back would find a body, hanging.