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Corruption: The Aftermath; ...Let the corruption begin again...
Topic Started: Jan 10 2008, 03:47 AM (8,287 Views)
~Bloody Pom~
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Science Team has vapor for brains.
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T'kran sighed. He'd much rather do this alone. Rundas was one of the few other hunters he'd respected, even though he'd never met the man himself. He'd read up on the ice-wielder though, and he was both intrigued and impressed. A hunter on par with the Huntress herself... that was definetely enough to pique the ex-Pirate's interest.

"If you insist on coming, Al'an, I won't stop you. But this is still something I'd rather do alone. I already know where most things in Bryyo are. I've been down here before, a couple months after the Leviathan incident."

He stood up again, and replaced his helmet. "I'll get back to you in a while. I have a request to make to the PED captain." With that, he walked off back to the docking bay where his ship was held.

----------------

About twenty minutes later...

"Where is she... hmmm... if I were the captain of the PED squadron, where would I be..."

T'kran searched high and low throughout the Federation compound, now fully equipped with his armor and weapon upgrades. And he had a good idea how he could power them for a longer period of time...

"Ah, there she is." mumbled the bounty hunter to himself as he spotted Jayone.

"Captain! You got a moment?" he called, hurrying over to where she was. Removing his helmet again, he held it under his arm.

"I have a favor to ask... these upgrades you can see on my suit aren't exactly energy-efficient. I'm no stranger at handling Phazon-based equipment, so..." He shifted a little, seeming a little uncomfortable with himself. "Could I... borrow a PED unit while I'm here? I know it sounds crazy, but I'd rather not become a Warp Hound's lunch. And I'm not about to put all my faith in Al'an, either."

He felt like such a hypocrite... practicing what he preached against...
"A battle for supremacy against many foes is a battle of the best kind. There are few considerations, only those concerning where to place your next shot. It is war in its purest form." - Commander Karziel, Ultramarines 5th Company

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~beflexor~
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I just _____ in the _____.

Quite often, ships were equipped with lights to help simulate the natural light of a sun hoping to ease the ever-so vigilant cases of Cabin Fever that plagued many a crew member. They often proved to be annoying in how bright they were, and blue, so they actually made more detailed tasks, like reading, difficult.

Of course, Lorrilal wasn’t concerned with reading so much as the need of the light itself.

Although many of the lights on the ship were the ‘natural light’ kind, they still didn’t have that ‘kick’ that a good old fashioned sun did, so she was forced to rely on less efficient sources for the majority of her energy, like food or sleep.

Despite the timer in her room going off, causing the room to brighten, she still slept.

Her dreams were like a kaleidoscope of several senses, never seeming to focus on one thing long enough for the Fae to grab a hold of, so she just drifted, like a leaf that had just landed in a river.

Her mother leaned over her and smiled, holding something in her hand, she spoke. “This is for you.”

As much as Lorrilal had been expecting something more mysterious and fitting to Enigma, she found herself being given a phone. “Is someone calling me?”

“No.” She frowned. “You left a message first, they’re just calling you back. Perhaps you should answer it.”

Lorrilal looked at the phone again. “Why isn’t this a Fae communicator? Like the coin you gave Trisha once?”

Enigma shrugged. “This is really just a reflection of your subconscious. Right now it’s trying to make you aware of something by putting it into a context you understand. The details aren’t important. You’re you, the phone represents some kind of contact, and I represent the longing for your matriarch along with the want for a better emotional range, however, you will notice that I am becoming more like you as you quickly move toward consciousness. There is an outside disturbance more attentive to you than what I am able to hold here. Of course, none of this will be remembered as your short-term memory span will have discarded it before you even open your eyes…”


Lorrilal woke, realizing that she’d overslept by ten minutes, something on her bedside was chiming, it must have woken her. She picked it up and hit several buttons. An image of her parental guardian, Ben, came onscreen.

“Hey Lori, it’s me.” He said, looking more than a little concerned. “I haven’t heard from you since you decided to hop aboard that other ship. Call me when you get the time, okay? I’m just a little… well, I’m sure you’re in better hands than you are with me anyhow. Either way, yeah, like I said, call next chance you get.”

Lorrilal cocked her head to one side and played the message a second time before deleting it.

Just outside the hangar she paused, hearing a voice ring out down the halls, they sounded confused. She could have sworn she’d heard the voice before.

Hello. She called back to them. You sound lost. Are you okay?

For some reason, she felt like she was picking up a proverbial phone…
Someone made the mistake of letting me publish a book, check Dusted Here!
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+Lt. Jessie+
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“There was nothing wrong, Admiral, until you started looking for me,” Keeler replied. “Up until then, everything was going perfectly.”

Maeda noticed that his eyes kept shifting to and fro between the lot of them, trying to focus on her, but even then, his eyes wandered elsewhere before returning to meet hers.

“Tell me, Admiral. Have you ever heard of Darklings? I have seen one… seen him with my own eyes.”

The mention of Darklings made her blood run cold. She flinched as she thought of the past, as many of her friends were killed by these dastardly dimensional beasts during their outpost on Aether. She had read the logs and research that Samus had uploaded into the Federation databanks, of how creatures of the light dimension were taken over by these shadow creatures called Ing. The more she read, the more terrified she was. It had been over nine years since she last heard them during the Phazon Wars. Everyone assumed that they were all dead since the planet of Phaaze was destroyed, not to mention that the dark twin of Aether was said to have been destroyed. Could it be that despite this world collapsing on itself, there were those who managed to survive by finding hosts?

Bloodsbane shuddered inside his suit as he made a notice to Ross to find as much information on the Darklings as he could, through all possible databases, even contacting the Luminoth if he had to. If anything, these moth-like creatures of light would have the most information on them than Federation resources combined. He could feel the tense atmosphere as the commander debated with herself, only to answer quietly.

“Yes…” she managed to hiss through her lips, trying her best to keep from panicking. “I have heard of them… They were last seen on Aether, but there were reports of them on Phaaze, their forms enhanced by Phazon… But even then, the planet’s been destroyed. What does that have to do with you, Keeler? No human would get mixed up with these creatures unless they were forced…” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “…or even worse, complied with allowing the said creatures to take over…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jayone was busy catching up with some of her friends who were stationed here, laughing merrily as they tossed stories back and forth of what was seen, as well as their misadventures with the Reptilicus. As she was about to tell her tale, she noticed T’kran approaching her. With a quick whisk of her hand, she dispersed her little reunion and turned about face, meeting eye to eye with the Zebesian.

“Everything all right?” she asked as he took off his helmet.

“I have a favor to ask…” he began quietly. “These upgrades you can see on my suit aren’t exactly energy-efficient.”

“I’m sure we can do something about it,” the PED leader pointed out. “What you see is mostly what you are able to use with discretion.”

“I’m no stranger at handling Phazon-based equipment, so…” He shifted a little, seeming a little uncomfortable with himself. "Could I… borrow a PED unit while I'm here? I know it sounds crazy, but I'd rather not become a Warp Hound’s lunch. And I'm not about to put all my faith in Al'an, either.”

Jayone was rather surprised at such a request, but she had her orders of aiding the hunters in any way possible. Of course, Admiral Sandoval had already cleared all the hunters currently at hand with the ability to equip the said units, given that they were under watch of two PED soldiers for safety reasons. This was a great amount of faith that he was putting in them, but the leader knew better than to question his decisions. She smiled slightly at the thought of the tough Al’an try to give aid, especially to an ally who just dropped into his lap.

“Fallow me,” she replied cheerily. “I’ll get you set up right now. Jake, think you can help me out here?”

“Sure!” the weapons expert answered from behind a monitor. “I just ordered a unit over, so we should head over to the locker.

She motioned for one of the scientists and a pair of weapons experts to pull out one of these units from the rack as the delivery boys dropped it off on the counter. With careful tuning and modifications, they were able to get most of the unit to fit snuggly over the armor, as well as the wires tucked out of the way. Jake stepped back and looked at the dark-colored armor that was now glowing with streaks of blue. He shuddered at the thought of what would happen if things went wrong, and continued to work on it.

“So, uh… What brings someone like you on this mission?” Jake asked as he climbed a stepladder to get a better look at the connections. “Is it the money as with most hunters, or you have something else in mind?”

Jayone hissed at her friend and whacked his calf, causing him to buckle slightly before he regained his balance. He whined a little and he continued to check the seals.

“Don’t mind him, T’kran,” she apologized. “He may seem very complex and all, but he’s actually quite simple… You know, with you having some knowledge of handling this substance, I think it was a good thing that you came along.”
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~Bloody Pom~
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Science Team has vapor for brains.
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T'kran had seemed a little uneasy as he watched them modify the suit he was in. He kept telling himself over and over in his head that this time he would be in control, not the Phazon. "Thank you for this, Captain. The last time I came down here I didn't know what to expect, and it almost got the better of me."

He looked up and frowned for a moment as he heard the man speaking.

“So, uh… What brings someone like you on this mission?” Jake asked as he climbed a stepladder to get a better look at the connections. “Is it the money as with most hunters, or you have something else in mind?”

He almost laughed at Jayone's reaction. "It's alright, Captain, I've got no problems telling him. In fact, I think it's something you should hear."

Sighing, he stared at the glowing blue Federation symbol on his suit's right shoulder, the control unit for the PED.

"Well I am in it for the money, and Al'an's discovery of the remains of Rundas have interested me. There's always the possibility of bringing him back via cloning." He closed his eyes, folding his arms, lost in thought for a moment. "I'm also here for personal reasons, concerning the Phazon on the planet. You see... I was corrupted not long after the Tallon IV incident. But thanks to the tinkering the Pirates had done on me while I was still in their ranks, I didn't lose my mind. I just became a little... unstable. Eventually I got so corrupted I had to seek their help again. What you're looking at now is my second incarnation."

Looking up again, he waited until they had finished the modifications. Looking himself over, he seemed quite impressed with the job they'd done on short notice. Replacing his helmet, his visor flickered for a moment as text scrolled across the inside.

Code:
 
New hardware detected. Identifying...

Hardware identified: Mark 5 Phazon Enhancement Device. Initiating system connections... done. Searching for anomalies... no anomalies found. Beginning final startup sequence. Ready for initial Hypermode test run.


"Looks like it's ready to start. Alright.. might want to stand back, I'm beginning the test run." Stepping away from where they had been working on the suit, he shook himself off, calming himself down. Reaching for the control unit, he hesitated for a moment, before tapping the unit.

Code:
 
Energy Tank Injected. Hypermode.


Almost immediately he could feel his suit coursing with energy, the excess visible as large amounts of static discharge emitting from his suit. Everything seemed enhanced: sight, hearing, perception... he felt like he was part of the suit, something he had never experienced before. It was like the massive rush of energy he felt when he lost himself to his corruption in the past, but far more controlled. Tapping the control unit again, the system shut itself off, venting the energy tank.

Looking at Jayone, he smiled behind his helmet. "Now I know why the Pirates want their hands on these. I think I'm ready to tackle Bryyo one more time."

He'd forgotten how much he enjoyed the rush...
"A battle for supremacy against many foes is a battle of the best kind. There are few considerations, only those concerning where to place your next shot. It is war in its purest form." - Commander Karziel, Ultramarines 5th Company

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~DarkKnightCuron~
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He kept his eyes closed, feeling his mind searching for something that he thought wasn't there. His brow tensed together as he listened to silence for a few moments. No...he was just hallucinating. There were no such things as psychics or telekenesis or anything like that. That was just in stories--

Hello. You sound lost. Are you okay?

Curon's eyes snapped open after he heard it. It was...clearer this time, as if someone had actually, purposely, responded to him. He concentrated on the voice...yes, YES, this WAS the voice that he heard back on the Aquilla...he was SURE of it. While Curon's eyes were open, he couldn't see the room; His mind was too obsessed with the voice that he heard, and he tried desperately to respond.

Were you the one I heard before?
Marching to the Black Gates...
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~The Boss~
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Native Son

The chill Maeda felt was understandable. No race in the galaxy exemplified pure, unadulterated evil better than the Ing. That any person would willingly get mixed up with them... well it was best not to dwell on the darkness that would be in such a person's heart.

As it turned out, Martin Keeler was just such a person.

"I was forced into nothing..." Keeler replied. "Though you could say I cooperated out of fear. If you have ever seen a Darkling for yourself, then you will understand the fear I speak of... the kind that penetrates the very fabric of your being, simply by being in their presence.

"And to answer your question," he continued, this time addressing Twilight, though he still found it near impossible to focus on his face - or in this case, his visor. "There are always stragglers. One would be stupid to concentrate the entirety of their numbers into a single location."

Keeler studied Twilight as best he could. He wore the heavy-duty armorsuit of a Trooper, though it was dark purple rather than the standard blue-gray, and the visor was a deep, fiery red. Although it could have easily been nothing more than a creative paint job, it was a familiar color scheme. Very familiar. That, and there was his sudden and intense interest at Keeler's mention of Darklings.

"Well well," he said, finally zeroing in on Twilight's face, however momentarily. "It would appear that I am not the only one on this boat who is keeping a secret."

He turned back to Maeda. "Back to what I was saying," he said. "Seven months ago I met a man in London named John Tyre... although to call him a man is stretching the definition of the term. I know now what he is... a Darkling. I did not believe it at first... I thought that Darklings were but a ghost story, told by superstitious sailors to scare wide-eyed young adventurers on their first trip to the rim. But they are real... very real indeed.

"Mr. Tyre, he asked me to do some things for him. To aid his brethren, he told me. That is why I am here... to ensure that his brethren can do their work unmolested. Or, failing that, to see to it that such complications do not go unpunished.

"You are walking right into a trap, set by the dark ones. All of you have been, since the moment you departed from the station. I am merely the cleanup crew."
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~Deadly Aim~
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Deadeye '17, eager to move on from the slow-motion train wreck that was last year.
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(OOC: Slight joint with the El-tee here. Also, HOLY CARP I'M BEHIND! :blink: )

The mention of Darklings sent of jolt of horror through Travis' body.

( But *how*...? ) The hunter thought to himself, careful not to give any hint of the alarm that he was currently feeling as he eyed Keeler's hideaway with steady scrutiny. Travis knew what Darklings were; that is, he knew what they really were. He knew the danger that the Ing could pose well enough of them to know that Keeler posed a much more massive threat than he had anticipated. They were a danger to anyone unwary, coming in swarms as creatures of nightmare. They took the shapes of men, beasts, and even twisted abominations of black malformities. The images of Ing as he blasted them to ribbons were engraved into his mind clearly enough.

But still, for someone like Keeler to be possessed by a Darkling was a threat that was causing a rising urge in Travis to squash the fugitive before he became a threat to the crew, the other hunters and even himself. He narrowed his eyes as the grip on the trigger handle tightened, finger slowly moving over the trigger button to fire at a moment's notice...

"Admiral... move away from the door. Keeler is not safe for you to speak with..." He whispered to Maeda, trying to think of the best course of action to take. He could consider blowing the door open, but he didn't know if it would set off the bomb Keeler had planted somewhere. Or, maybe he could try to reason with him... even if it hardly seemed rational.

Maeda looked slightly to the side at Travis, but motioned to keep his weapons down. As of now, the situation was now too risky; far too easily unstable for it to tilt in the Phazon-crazed man's favor. The hunter complied, in spite of his considerable unease.

"Keeler... why are you doing this? It's not like you... You don't strike me as the type to just agree to randomly assist a man and his "bretheren" as an act of charity. So... I'm going to have to ask you... do you still have your free will?" He asked through the door, trying to raise a logical discussion.

Edited by Deadly Aim, Mar 31 2008, 09:19 PM.
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~Metamyth~
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BURMA
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Darklings? Faulias thought. I thought I'd heard the last of them on Aether...

Faulias had fought few battles on Aether, actually encountering the Ing only once. Of course, that was more than enough time to spark a hatred for them. He had traveled there with a platoon of fellow mercs under his command. Quickly, the squadron had been wiped out, leaving nothing but more graves to be made and fuel to the fire of his anger. He reactivated his Breaker Gauntlet and cocked his gun, but kept each lowered.

If the man was going to make a move, he would be ready, but by god he wouldn't be the one to provoke Keeler into it.

"Keeler... why are you doing this?" Travis spoke. "It's not like you... You don't strike me as the type to just agree to randomly assist a man and his "brethren" as an act of charity. So... I'm going to have to ask you... do you still have your free will?"

Faulias, through closed helmet, opened his vox systems to Travis's suit. -:- Careful Travis, don't get too close to him. He might freak out at any moment. -:-

He closed the channel and leaned in to Admiral Maeda's ear. "Hey," he whispered "if you want this taken care of the hard way, just give the word."
"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."


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~Twilight~
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OOC: Cause I cant really think of anything more to post...

'Stragglers...? Not all in one spot...? Of course... The Emperor sent out Ing to seek out other worlds when the Luminoth started losing the war, what an idiot I am...' Twilight thought as he continued to look towards the man behind the door, whoever he was he seemed to be telling the truth, if there truly was other Ing out there he would have to seek them out after this and destroy them, but for now he had to focus on the task at hand.

Without truly realizing it Twilight took a step forward, though upon doing so froze up, what the hell was he doing? If he showed his interest in the Ing, anyone who had read about them should be able to distinguish his armor from a paint-job to a darkling possession, though his armor was still moderately different from your average possession, due to their being nothing organic in it like in the marines that had been possessed on Aether.

Though it was hard to do so, Twilight forced himself to stay silent and keep still, though his right hands fingers was twitching aggitatedly. Was there nothing he could do in this situation? 'Damn it all... I will need to hope for them to force the information out from him, theres very little chance for me to talk with him privately' Twilight thought as he clenched his right hand into a fist, before moving it up on chest level and holding it against the glowing light crystal, the soothing feeling it gave him was enough to keep him calm at the moment.
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+Lt. Jessie+
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“You are walking right into a trap, set by the dark ones. All of you have been, since the moment you departed from the station. I am merely the cleanup crew.”

“Look, Keeler…” Maeda began after noticing that the hunters were getting edgy. “I don't understand how this ties to us, other than there is Phazon involved, but you cannot put all of us in danger. It will be on your head if the lieutenant is harmed further than expected, or better yet, when the Silverado stop sending time checks…”

As much as she hated it, she had to get Keeler out, but not until whatever Bloodsbane was looking for was found. The story made her feel more uncomfortable. The mention of another who wanted to help his brethren return… This was not right on many levels. For someone to mention quite a bit about Darklings who had little access to Federation Databases, or better yet experienced it first had, really meant news of all sorts. To have them resurface after so long… Was it also just a coincidence that everything seemed to point back at the substance they tried to keep others away from…?

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind as she focused on the task at hand, which was to keep her men safe.

“Keeler, you don't need to do this… You don't need to listen to what these… creatures are telling you to do,” she pointed out. “You risk everyone onboard. If you think about it, if your plan of being the so-called cleanup crew for these things goes through, you will end up killing yourself also. Is it really worth the risk that you give your life for something that means virtually nothing to you?”

After hearing this story and slowly connecting what she knew, she began to fear the worst, especially with the mention of the Darklings. The creatures… Taking over a host one at a time without a word… Not to mention hosts that would be potential threats…

No… She had to keep her mind on her men first, then everything else.

“Come on, Keeler… Just come out so we can help you. I don't want to hurt the hunters, or my men, but I also don't want to hurt you, dangerous convict or not.”

She did not want to unleash the hounds... Not quite yet...
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