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Descending Twilight
Topic Started: Dec 23 2008, 08:30 PM (6,559 Views)
~The Boss~
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Native Son

"...Fine. Just be sure to write your report before you contract phazon madness, we'd prefer if it was not blamed on us."

"I appreciate your concern," Donovan replied nonchalantly. "I assure you, I'll be fine."

The agent inspected the pair of briefcases that the Marines had brought to him, scanning both objects with the visor tech in his sunglasses. The energy core definitely bore all the familiar electromagnetic signatures associated with artifacts from Aether. He wasn't interested in that, however. The boys back in Virginia, they'd be interested. Donovan, on the other hand, found his attention drawn to the other object. The HFI.

Scans indicated that it was receiving a signal, though it was very faint. in fact, it was little more than static at the moment. But it was definitely coming from an external source, likely whatever had been controlling it. And unlike the energy core, the HFI did not bear the usual Ing signatures.

That, and the purpose of the device itself (there weren't a whole lot of people he could think of who would go around with a flying holographic projector) told the agent all he needed to know.

...........................

Wight wouldn't find any comm signals that he could trace to the Grey Fox, no matter how hard he scanned. The reason was fairly simple: she had stopped communicating.

He would, however, come across many calls made by Rex Vega. He made three directly to Grace, all of which went unanswered. He stopped trying after he realized that the reason she hadn't been answering was because her phone was still in the car. A few more calls were made to his brother Jimmy back on Earth. Both of these were so far unanswered due to the simple realities of interstellar communication. However, they would prove to be quite revealing.

Rex told Jimmy everything. About Twilight, about Grace and her elaborate scheme that seemed to have no real rhyme or reason. He needed help, and even though his brother was likely to only be angry with him, at the very least he could find some friendly people in this system. Henry's turf was back on Earth, but he had allies and influence everywhere. Surely there was somebody out here who could help him.

Of course, Rex never really was a part of that world. He was born into it, but never had to actually deal with the day to day life. Consequently, he didn't always worry about people listening in on his calls. And as a result, tended to talk too much.

...........................

Sanctuary
Six months ago


Conner knelt on the cold metal floor, his hands bound behind his back. Grace yanked the sack off his head, and he could see where he was for the first time. It looked to be a little compartment off in some forgotten corner of the station, at the moment lit with just a single dim light bulb.

"Adam says you're a Fed," Grace said, her voice dripping with venom. She'd trusted Connor. Fought by his side, laughed at his fucking jokes. Sometimes, she thought, they just had to give the knife in your back that little extra twist.

"And you just take his word for it?" Connor said, spitting blood on the floor. He'd already been roughed up a bit. "Just like that?"

"Actually, yes." Grace knelt down to get at eye level with him. "You see, Adam's not the kind of guy who would just say something like that about someone without being able to back it up. He's a man of integrity. A man you can trust."

"You wouldn't trust him so much if you knew who he really is," Connor said. "What he really is."

"Yeah yeah, he's a computer. An AI, I know. Everybody knows. He acts like it's this great big secret, but the cat's been out of the bag for a while now."

Connor shook his head. "No... no, he's much more than that."

"Self-aware, blah blah blah. Guess what? Nobody gives a shit!" She sighed and shook her head, as if dealing with a student rather than a Federation spy. "Look, I dunno if you thought about this beforehand, but these lame attempts to impugn Adam's character aren't really helping your cause. What will help your cause is telling me who the others are."

"What are you gonna do, torture me?"

"Hadn't planned on it. Besides, I ain't some sicko gets her kicks from torturing people." Grace stood up and racked her pistol, and stuck it right in Connor's face. "But I am very impatient," she said. "So I'm putting you on the clock. You got thirty seconds, starting..." she looked at her watch, waiting until the second hand hit twelve. "Now!"

"Ask your boss where he really came from," Connor said. "Ask him about the military, about the program. Ask him."

"Seriously," Grace said, "you gotta cut that shit out. Twenty seconds."

"That's not gonna change the fact that he's not who you think he is!"

"You know, I'm thinking maybe I just forget all about this countdown and blow your brains out right now, whatdya say?"

"Okayokayokay!" Conner stammered, sweating pouring down his brow. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Mathias and Sponder."

"Mathias... son of a bitch..."

That was a big blow. Sponder, she understood. She'd always figured that slimy bastard for a Fed anyway, and even said so to his face once. But Mathias... another person they all thought they could trust.

"You gonna let me go now?" Connor asked. "I told you what I knew."

"I never said I'd let you go," Grace replied coldly. "You're a traitor, Connor. You know what we do to traitors."

She turned around and walked out of the doorway, hitting a switch. The floodlights came on, and Connor realized for the first time that he was in an airlock.

"Oh no, please..."

Grace threw the switch and the heavy door slowly slid shut. The claxon blared and the yellow warning lights flashed. She watched as the airlock opened and he was flushed out into the vacuum.

...........................

Present day

From her perch on the roof of a parking garage, Grace counted the troopers on the street below. Six with the agent who looked like police, and another five that were clearly military. She could only guess there were even more elsewhere.

Whatever Adam was doing here, it had something to do with Twilight. At the moment, she wasn't exactly sure which side he was on, but that could be sorted out later. Right now she had to attend to the business at hand.

Back on Sanctuary, Adam had told her to do whatever she had to do to keep the Feds out. Of course, she did interpret his orders with a particular... enthusiasm. But if she had to take out a few Feds to protect the colony, then so be it.

With that in mind, she aimed her sniper rifle at the soldiers, putting one of the PED troopers right in the crosshairs. The rifle itself was just an old fashioned, bolt action .30-06, nothing real special. It was however, loaded with high explosive rounds, making it a devastating weapon indeed.

She fired, taking out the PED trooper with a headshot.
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~Twilight~
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Just... Kind of out there...
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
OOC: Sorry if its kinda crap, was feeling real uninspired when I wrote it and somewhere through it I got really tired xD

"Uh sir, are you sure about this? Phazon radiation does not just give you cancer, it-" The PED trooper standing opposite of the lead trooper began, but was cut off as a loud bang echoed out across the large alley and a flash exploded on his helmet before pieces of metal and blood went flying everywhere. The rest of the troopers were on the move before the unfortunate man had even hit the ground. "Shit! SNIPER!" The lead trooper yelled as he and the rest of the troopers ducked behind cover, the the lead trooper and the remaining PED trooper activating their hypermodes as they began to scan for the assailant. In the meantime the normal marines swung the suitcase-like boxes under their arms and took cover as well.

"This is Lt. Evenn, we are under attack by an unknown, we have a man down. Requesting immidiate assistance, over." The lead trooper spoke into his comm-unit as he readied a rifle that looked to be more like the standard issue one among G-Fed marines. It took a few seconds, but then it appeared as if Evenn had recieved a reply. "Copy Sergeant, bring the pain." And after saying this the man jumped out from his cover as his eyes darted rapidly along the visible roof edges as his suits visor changed to thermal. Even if the fox shot at him, she would notice how his armor was either a lot more powerful, or the hypermode improved that as well.


Nearly at the same time a group of marines appeared on the streets around the block, with PED troopers scattered between them. After a quick look it would become clear they were encircling the area. With the roar of engines a medium sized transport vessel came down near the ruined warehouse, barely avoiding denting the ground beneath it as it came to a stop after a high speed descent, following it was a dozen troop transports and a few fighter ships now circling the area. There was nowhere left to run.


And at the same time, a large group of fighter ships were descending from the orbiting fleet. However their target was not the Fox.

---

"Rex Vega, I presume?"

Though he had not been able to track the Grey Fox, Wight had been more than capable of finding the location of her helper or tag-along. Infact it had been so easy that Wight had contemplated it being a trick by the fox, but it seemed too obvious and was seemed to be so revealing. The man was probably just an amateur, which seemed to check out when he did a brief background check on Rex Vega through the fleet in orbit.

Wight was now standing just behind the man, shimmering into view as he disengaged his stealth field. "Any sudden moves, and you're a dead man. Now I've got a proposition for you. You tell me where the Fox is, and everything you know about her, and I'll just leave you to the police, you lie, and I will make you regret ever leaving Earth." Though he spoke with little to no emotion in his voice, it was clear Wight was not acting and his threats were very real.
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~Metamyth~
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[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
"It's not like normal energy weapons," Faulias said. "You can feel it when you use it. It feels... unnatural. It's like an restrained force, unleashed after eons of being withheld. It's strong in that sense... but it leaves marks on you, on your mind. Even in this suit, with it being used, it's gotten to me. Not enough to be dangerous, but just enough to give you some pretty weird thoughts." He thought for a second, trying to describe it better. "It's like a drug. You feel powerful when you use it, but you'll always feel the side effects when you're done."

On the ship's viewscreen, something caught his eye. Upon looking at it, there was a massive amount of activity coming from the planet's surface... right where they used to be. "Look at that," he said quickly. "That doesn't look good... What do you think we should do?"
"Nothing... a shadow is nothing. It is merely a question not yet answered. We only fear the dark if we have no means of lighting our way.

Death comes to all, Morningstar. The world turns, the dawn comes... and under the light of the sun I shall slay giants."


Dresden Codak, Dark Science
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+Aiko+
Roffel House!

(OOC: I can't really do much until somebody decides to play with the HFI. ;-) )

Moments after the gunshot rang out, Adam had determined its source, and he was livid. He had no idea why Grace was on the planet to start with, and he equally didn’t understand what possessed her to start shooting soldiers when the battle was over. She had a bloodthirsty streak, that much he knew, but it was normally bound by at least a distorted sense of purpose. This, however, was completely senseless.

He was tempted to intervene but quickly decided against it. If he protected the soldiers against additional shots, they’d be able to zero in on his location. And, despite the good deed, they’d naturally suspect him of planning the attack with Grace in the first place. Adam was, after all, a threat to national security, and a super intelligent AI hell bent on destruction.

On the other hand, if he went to stop Grace from needlessly killing these men, he would immediately be associated with her, and blamed for the deaths of the men themselves. Adam was in a catch-22, and the only course of action he could take was inaction.

On Sanctuary, Grace had been his sword. Although Adam, being a military man, understood that sometimes men had to die to protect what he cherished, he also understood that he was no longer human. If he had taken care of the spies himself, he wouldn’t have been classified as a murderer, but as a monster. He already had horrible PR, and he didn’t need to give the Feds any more ammunition than they already had.

No, a human had to make the decision to kill, and a human had to carry out that decision. But right now, all Adam wanted to do was take a battering ram to Grace’s skull to make her see sense. If only his HFI was working!
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Native Son

There was never nowhere to run.

Grace had always loved parking garages, for a number of reasons. Low security, good vantage points, and most relevant to today's situation, plenty of available getaway vehicles.

She heard the fighters when she saw them, coming down from the sky and bearing down on the city block. Without even thinking about it, she bolted into the lower levels. Had to get some cover from the death from above. She ran through the rows and rows of cars, searching for something appropriate to the situation.

After all, Grace couldn't just boost any old clunker. It had to be in fairly good condition first of all, otherwise it might break down in the middle of the pursuit. Any vehicle with a car seat in the back was also probably not likely to be truly capable of hauling ass, which was her primary concern when facing a high speed chase. Sports cars were good, but convertibles were right out. Blasts and bullets just shredded ragtops.

She spotted a good one, a BlackStar Chimera. Very sporty, very fast. She was about right about to smash the window when out of the corner of her eye, she saw something even better... a bigass super heavy duty pickup truck.

Sometimes, speed wasn't everything, a hard thing to admit for someone like Grace who lived and died by her speed. Sometimes... sometimes you just wanted to smash shit.

Grace broke in and quickly hotwired the truck. She revved up the engine, then came barreling out of the garage ready to plow over anyone or anything that stood in her way. She smashed through the barricades and tore down the street at full speed.

The chase was on.

...............................

"Any sudden moves, and you're a dead man. Now I've got a proposition for you. You tell me where the Fox is, and everything you know about her, and I'll just leave you to the police, you lie, and I will make you regret ever leaving Earth."

Rex immediately put his hands behind his head. He knew the drill.

Then again, he was also Rex Vega. Which meant that even in a situation like this, he just couldn't help himself.

"Everything?" he said. "Well lessee... her favorite color's blue, her favorite movie's Casablanca, she smokes Red Planets, she roots for the Yankees, uh... her favorite song's 'Me and Bobby McGee'..."

...............................

"Go! Go after her!" Donovan shouted, firing his sidearm at the fleeing truck. The troopers began the pursuit, and his gunship took off, ready to join the others. For now though, he'd have to let her go. Between the troopers and those birds in the air, she wouldn't be able to get far.

He still had the HFI in his hand. The signal was weak, but detectable enough to follow. The sounds of weapons fire still raging all around him, he walked into the alley, going wherever the signal led him.

It got stronger slowly but surely, at one point giving off an unmistakable power spike. He guessed that was a sign that the device had once again become active as it came within range of the signal's source.

Donovan turned the corner, and suddenly found himself face to face with a purple gunship parked right there in the alley.

"Captain Malkovich, I presume."
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+Aiko+
Roffel House!

Adam watched helplessly from two sets of electronic eyes as a lone man zeroed on his location. He found it a rather brazen effort, especially since it appeared the man understood just who and what he was tracking. It would take nothing more than an absent thought and an effortless laser sweep to vaporize the man.

The skies were clear. He could leave at any time now. His window of opportunity had appeared. Yet he stayed put, as much intrigued with the agent from Section 6 as sensing an unprecedented opportunity. His electronic mind spun into high gear as he thought of several scenarios with hundreds of thousands of iterations. It all came down to how first contact went, and if Agent Donovan really did have the balls to knowingly stalk a gunship or if he was an idiot chasing a signal with no knowledge of what was on the receiving end.

Based upon Mr. Donovan’s impressive curriculum vitae, however, Adam had to assume that Donovan knew exactly what he was doing. That was why, when Agent Donovan came around the corner, that he came face to face with a purple gunship and not just empty air.

Adam’s gunship was nothing like the craft he had originally been implanted in. This ship was only a fifth of the size of the ship originally assigned to Samus Aran. It was a really nothing more than a juiced up reconnaissance skimmer, capable of only holding a single passenger. The tall rear engine cowls slid gracefully down to a slender nose, widening in the middle to include a small set of decurved wings. Under those wings hung Adam’s fangs. All available space was taken by independently rotating laser turrets, depletable missile batteries, and additional strange, unfamiliar assortments of gadgets.

Staring nose to nose with Adam’s gunship was like staring down the barrel of a pistol, and yet Agent Donovan didn’t even blink.

"Captain Malkovich, I presume."

“Indeed,” Adam replied simply. “Mr. Donovan, pardon my rudeness, but I’d rather converse in a more comfortable location.”

The HFI required repair, but it was still capable of generating and impressively powerful force field. The field surrounded Donovan, aided by another generator located under the wings of Adam’s ship. Donovan lifted off the ground and felt the unmistakable prickle of an EMP. Adam’s hardware was heavily shielded against any electromagnetic interference, but he sincerely doubted that any bugs present on Mr. Donovan survived the pulse.

The bow of Adam’s ship opened upward like a gaping maw. With some deft piloting and careful manipulation of forcefields, Donovan found himself trapped inside a tiny cockpit with only a single HUD and no controls to speak of. He watched as the ship’s skin shimmered briefly, and then they rose quickly above the cityscape. Details of the landscape were lost as they traveled higher and higher, until the gentle curve of blue atmosphere was obvious beyond the nose of the tiny ship.

“Now, Michael, I assume you would like to chat?”
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Jenosa listened intently to what Faulias had to say about the Phazon, and nodded with grim understanding about its effects. She had never tried it - and never wanted to - but she with her acute, sixth sense, she thought she comprehended the sensation of using such an enhanced weapon.

She took notice of what was happening on the view screen just as Faulias was, and inquired to her A.I., "Magellan, can you give me a better idea of what's going on, aside from the fact that ships have entered low orbit."

"Currently, the ships appear to in pursuit of truck," the A.I. confirmed, "Ships are using heavy weapons fire, although the buildings and civilian appear to be making it a difficult target. They appear to be intent on completely destroying the vehicle."

Jenosa raised a brow, and mused with a smirk, "Really? Someone must be doing us a favor- then she frowned -just hope whoever it is doesn't decide to get those civilians involved."

She turned to Faulias, "This could be a lucky day. While the Feds are distracted, we can use the opportunity to try and rescue Twilight." She peered at the view screen one more time as they just entered the atmosphere, still cloaked. "We'll need to act fast, though; I doubt that cargo ship that came for Twilight will wait for us."

As they quickly found the best vantage point to drop off without being detected, Jenosa asked in an enthusiastic voice, "So, unless you got anything to add, I assume you're ready to have some fun?"

_____________________

Contemplation…

It was probably the closest state of mind that he get to towards ‘sleeping’…and ‘dreaming;’ and right now, Gellion was deeply in it as he rested his damaged body. The human female Jenosa was safe, to some of his relief; and he had, to a point, found it worth the trouble in luring her close to him. Just for that brief moment of close contact, which helped him confirm…a few things.

And yet, he now felt – what was it – torn. Jenosa was a threat to his kind, because not only did she share hostile intentions towards them, but she also, quite possibly bore an immunity to their virus. She would have to be eliminating before either this mutated pathogen was passed on, or a method to replicate this possible immunity was found. If she wasn’t, his kind would be presented with a great obstacle.

However, the brief but rapid exchange of information between them had allowed him to feel his own kind’s instincts dwelling within her – as well as fragments of a plausible identity that had once been his kind. The exchange was something he reveled and longed for, but frustratingly got very little because of his missions; and now…now a chance had come to rid himself of this torment. Her mind was one of their kind and yet not at the same time, and if he could find a way to – as humans might say – tip the balance in his favor, he thought desperately. If he could do that, then he would no longer be alone; granted, in due time, he would be with his kind, but there was no telling what happen between.

There was no telling if his mind would ever make it.

As he rested and bathed in a strange, energized liquid, he could she was coming back, as he had expected, and knew he had to make a decision fast. She would be in large amount of danger – especially with many of those soldiers utilizing the Unhinged Substance as a weapon…

…She may not survive against them without his help, he thought, hopefully.
"I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams is something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death."
— Monty Oum
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(OOC: Just gotta get this in there cause I know Aiko's gotta be dyin')

"Only my mother calls me Michael," Donovan replied. "Everyone else either calls me Mike or Agent Donovan."

It was an very tight fit inside the cockpit, which was no bigger than that which you would find in a fighter. It wasn't the most comfortable place to be, but he supposed that was partially the point.

"As for you, I hear most people just call you Adam nowadays. Sanctuary's enigmatic military guru. But they don't really know much about the man, Adam Malkovich, do they? They don't know about the career that was as distinguished as the Corps has ever seen, about the life you once had.

"I've read all the files. Gone over the logs of every mission, including the last one. Especially the last one. It's difficult to reconcile that man with what you've become.

"I don't mean the machine. I mean the person. The one who was there by the side of his old protege Samus Aran as she went around thumbing her nose at the Federation. The commander of his own private army of mercenaries, one of whom I'm sure you've noticed is currently running amok in the city below."

Donovan peered out the cockpit, trying to pinpoint where on the continent the city was located. Outside, he could see other ships in the distance. They were too far away to tell if they were civilian or military. He did know the fleet was in orbit, so that very well could have been them.

"We both know why I'm here, Captain Malkovich. The question is, why are you here? What is your connection to the creature known as Twilight?"
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(OOC: Hehe, you're right Jefe.)

“For one who works for Section 6 you are, with all due respect, woefully uniformed. Sharing the whole story and giving you associated files would require far more time than we currently have, so I’ll do my best to summarize my position,” Adam replied patiently. He knew the rot ran deep within Federation agencies, but generally section 6 was very good at scratching away the corrosion of deception in other military documents to get at least a glimmer of truth that lay beneath. But, he supposed, no bureaucratic agency was capable of escaping corruption if the information it was being fed was inaccurate to begin with.

“I’ll begin by defending Samus. Samus made a tactical decision, unmarred by politics and scientific curiosity, that I as a military man agreed completely with. And, considering my…unofficial demotion as it were, I was willing and able to assist her carry out what was morally and ethically correct. It is no secret that the Federation has always held a secret annoyance with Samus for her seeming impetuous desire and raw ability to destroy things before they could study them. I remember I shared that same annoyance as her commander, but as I spent time with her I realized there was a maturity and,” he paused briefly, “a particular sadness, that gave her the personal strength and wisdom to do what was right regardless of outside pressure. If I, by association, have fallen into disfavor because of it, then I suppose there are greater sins a man like myself can be charged with.”

He paused again, chiefly for Donovan’s benefit. Adam long ago had lost the need to stop speaking to reorganize his thoughts. “As for my little band of mercenaries, Sanctuary is not, despite its original purpose, a military vessel. It’s a colony ship, housing Federation refugees and their families who have no where else to go. Most of these people aren’t criminals, but for one reason or another were targeted as scapegoats for whatever failed project they were involved in. These are politicians, scientists, computer engineers, former colony leaders, and even chefs, electricians, school teachers who were wrongly accused with various false charges for the sole purpose for the protection of the wealthy bureaucrats sitting comfortably in an air conditioned suite on Earth. I have the records. I have the data. Gathering incontrovertible evidence is what I do, first as a military commander, and now as something else. If I had any remaining credibility within the Federation what-so-ever and if I had any leverage other than fear and sword, long ago I would’ve released the information so these people could get their lives back. I’d be more than happy to release the data to you, if you care to review it.”

Adam sighed mentally. Although he no longer had a body that could experience weariness, he was tired. He hid it well from his subordinates and friends, but when discussing the one topic against which he, for all his omnipotence, was completely helpless, the strain was difficult to mask. For one without a face, he had learned that his voice was the only face he had, and it was remarkably expressive.

“I am here because Twilight is another of those refugees. He was tricked into coming here, offered a bounty when all that was waiting for him was a stasis tube. We didn’t start this fight, and I arrived too late to prevent it. I will not stand for the blatant abuse of the rights for sentients, and if you read my files as closely as I hope you have, then I’m sure you can appreciate why.”
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~Metamyth~
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[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Jenosa's ship darted through the skies undetected as they used the chaos below as a cover. They were approaching the landing zone when Jenosa spoke up from behind Faulias:

"So, unless you got anything to add, I assume you're ready to have some fun?"

"Oh, of course," Faulias said back, glancing over to the door, open for their quick departure. "You just try and keep up, little girl, and I'll make sure none of those big meanies hurt your widdle pwetty face," he said with a cackle, quickly jumping from the ship - and out of her angry reach - landing easily on the grass below. He hurried over to a nearby wall, standing flat against it while waiting for Jenosa. She jumped down soon after, and Faulias quickly whispered to her as she approached.

"Alright, what now? Twilight, if he's been capped, will have been moved onto one of these ships... and Adam's nowhere to be found. What do you think we should do?"
"Nothing... a shadow is nothing. It is merely a question not yet answered. We only fear the dark if we have no means of lighting our way.

Death comes to all, Morningstar. The world turns, the dawn comes... and under the light of the sun I shall slay giants."


Dresden Codak, Dark Science
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