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After-Effect; Post-AC RP
Topic Started: Oct 24 2010, 10:41 AM (21,531 Views)
~Alissa~
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Alissa watched the exchange between her friend and the clone tensely. She had drawn her blaster when the blade came out and it was only Jenossa’s signal urging her to stay back that had prevented Alissa from discharging the weapon into Armoria’s temple. Phazon and other enhancements aside Alissa was fairly certain that at this range the subject could neither dodge nor survive the blast. However she stood aside without making an aggressive move during the whole standoff.

Fortunately for Alissa things did not last too long, there was a tense minute or two before the Armoria vented her frustration on a nearby crate. Alissa glanced between the two of them before turning down the hall once again toward where the blackbird advised her she could find Dr. Tamaki at Armoria’s command request.

“So…new friend?”

Alissa glanced toward her friend a moment, physically there were no real signs of her fight with Armoria present. Even the cracks in her armor from when she had been restrained had repaired themselves in the time that had passed.

“I am….sympathetic to what she is experiencing” Alissa said at last as they strode down the hall

“I believe Mr. Clark is addressing the issue of the bomb” she said as they came up to a door which Alissa began to unlock.

“I’ve agreed to locate Dr. Tamaki for…our new friend” she said as the door hissed open and she slipped through “I suspect we will revisit the subject of hostilities at that time” she said quietly leading them both at a brisk walk through the corridors of the facility as if she’d lived there for years, following the beacon set by her computer that should lead them strait to Dr. Tamaki
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(OOC: Oh. MY. GOD. This post is big. Going into 8 pages. Granted, Alissa has some responses in the middle, but still. And so long too. But this is a wrap up post for Armoria. Mostly. So enjoy ;))

Unlike her good friend Alissa, Jenosa still showed plenty of signs of her struggle; and chances were it was going to stay that way until the end of this 'mission.' She simply did not have the luxury of rapid regeneration, but quite honestly, she was rather happy, in a stubborn way, she hadn't developed such a trait. Being able to still feel her cracked ribs, however painful, was a nice reminder that she was more human than she often thought she was.

Having wiped most of the blood off of her face, and occasionally clutching her sides as an indication of her injury, she replied to Alissa with a raised eyebrow. “You're sympathetic to what she's experiencing? Heh, sorry, but I've got you beat – she paused, smiling wryly, but then her face darkened - I feel every range of empathy for her.”

She saw her friend give her a cursory glance. “No joke,” she clarified, “I'm...literally experiencing every waking moment of her life. Right here, right now – every footstep she takes, every breath she makes, and every ounce of struggle her soul is in. It's like I'm in two places at once, but I'm only me here.[/i]"

And it was clear in Jenosa's expression that she was finding this all a bit...unnerving. It was one thing to feel empathy though personal experience – and she was certainly a sympathetic woman – but to feel it this directly? Especially this intense while this close. Well, that just took things to a whole new level for her.

Still, even so...as they continued their trek now in silence, Jenosa couldn't help but, well, continuously glance back at her – clone? - in genuine concern. She had only just met this woman , and yet she found herself deeply relating to the her situation. True, she had never had the mentality of a conditioned soldier, but the fear and confusion that swam in her mind felt all the same to her. All the same to what she had gone through with her, well...'mutation'.

Quite frankly, despite their little standoff, she actually wanted to help her. Hell, even comfort her, although right now that didn't seem like the best idea.

Then again, she reflected, all of this may become a moot point if the panting brunette white coat they just bumped into decided to give them trouble. Or more correctly, have her...'sister' give them trouble.

“Ta-Tamaki!” her 'clone' said in surprising elation.

“A-Armoria!” Tamaki said, surprised, “w-what are you doing here? W-What are they doing here?”

There was a brief sense panic in – Armoria, really? – even as she started to regain some composure. Then she stood strait, stoic, and saluted. “Ma'am', I-I-I was - was...”

“Kinda lost and needed a bit of help to find you,” Jenosa finished, kindly fetching the words her, um, 'sister' lacked to say.

“You – you two helped her find me?” Tamaki said, and then looked back at Armoria, “And you went along with them?”

“M-ma'am, I-I'm sorry I disobeyed direct orders but-but...”

“Armoria, it's alright, calm down,” Tamaki eased, “I understand. The base became threatened as whole, and that put you under a lot pressure.”

The soldier simply nodded.

“Hey, if it makes her feel any better,” Jenosa pipped in, “her orders did specify to take us in alive. Here we are.”

To her surprise, the woman smiled, “Yes, I suppose so. Armoria, please stand down.”

Armoria relaxed, but mildly so.

“Ok, soooo...” Jenosa went expectantly

Tamaki looked at her, and then the other woman. She sighed, and nodded graciously, if not incredibly nervously, “Thank you.”

Jenosa blinked, “Uh, beg my pardon?”

“Thank you,” she repeated sincerely, “I mean it. Although I have to admit, I'm questioning the blood on you,” she pointed to Jenosa.

“Yeeaaah, well, I was kinda forced to do a fatality on one of your Phazon freaks. Sorry about the mess.”

“She means the Machine,” Armoria stated flatly.

“Ahh, well, I'm just going to assume it was because he had a few screws lose for the time.”

“Seriously though,” Jenosa said, “you're not gonna wail on, ahem, her to bring us in.”

Tamaki shook her head fervently, “No, that is not my interest. That's military. No, as hard as this will be to believe, I...actually want to resolve this situation peacefully. Judging by you similarities, I'm taking you're the unwilling blood donor.”

“Jenosa Arma in the flesh.”

“You though,” Tamaki said, pointing to Alissa, “I...know you, or...you face rather. Let's see pail color, whites eyes.” There was a moment of thought before she gasped, “Oh my god, you're...one of the Achilles subjects from Olympus tech!”

“You know Alissa?” Jenosa blurted out. There was equally some silent confusion on Armoria's face as she simply stood, listening.

“Only by face, swear,” Tamaki said, “we had an Olympus tech adviser here for...Armoria's conditioning. I got into an argument with him a while back, and he used you're escape as one of his examples.”


There was a brief almost imperceptible flash of real fear across Alissa’s face, Jenosa might have caught it knowing Alissa well enough but it was likely the others did not. There was however the sound of the safety being removed from his pistol and the weapon charging quietly, though she didn’t move, in she had become so perfectly still for a moment that it might have been disconcerting.

“There was an Olympus Technologies adviser here? I found a virus in the system….” She had actually used it, it had saved her a lot of time, but she had assumed there had been an infiltrator. “You argued...about what?”

"A virus? In our system? But I thought that was one of you." Tamaki replied, surprised.

"Tamaki," Armoria called out in warning, her 'eyesight' allowing her to see the weapon charge despite.

"I'll be alright," Tamaki said, nervous but resolute. She sighed and looked at Alissa, "We argued about...about how to control Armoria." The woman paused in distaste, as if saying those very words now made her revolt. Then she continued, "He insisted that emotions were the enemy, I insisted they were the best defense against Phazon madness. He looked at her like a weapon, I - and a few others - looked at like a soldier. And now...I look at her like the person I or we - raised."


Alissa studied the doctor for a long quiet moment, eyes intent as she seemed to be processing the information she had been presented. She shifted slightly letting the pistol return to its clip on her hip there was a small sound of the weapon powering down.

“of course there was a virus, you allowed a representative of Olympus technologies into a top secret facility” she said quietly looking down the hall “Control would never let an opportunity like that pass” she took a deep breath letting it out slowly as she looked down the hall a moment.

Tamaki suddenly felt baffled and cheated. “Dammit,” she uttered, “do you know what kind of damage and information they might have do– no, wait, that isn't important right now. The bomb is.”

“You mean the Phazon rigged explosives? Already being taken care by my boyfriend,” Jenosa assured.

Tamaki didn't look assured by this.

Jenosa sighed, “Look, he wouldn't risk it trying to defuse the bombs unless he was sure he could do it. He'd call us if he did.”

The brunette still didn't look eased by this, but before she could say anything, Armoria finally spoke after minutes of restless silence from her. “T-Tamaki,” she stammered, “w-what's going on? W-who are these people? A-aren't t-they t-the enemy?”

All eyes now refocused on Armoria, it became quite noticeable that, still standing strait, her arms were beginning to shake. In fact, it seemed like all of Armoria was beginning to quiver, as though agitated.

“No, they're not, there's been some confusion,” Tamaki said, and paused with concern in her eyes. “Armoria...is something wrong?”

The woman began to hyperventilate, “N-no m-ma'am, I-I'm fine, really. P-please, give me new orders. I-I need something to-ah-ah-ARRRG!

Armoria suddenly bellowed in agony, bending forward with her arms clutching in pain. So did Jenosa. At the same time.

Tamaki looked at the two woman in worry and confusion, “Jenosa? Armoria? W-What's going on?”

Out of the two of them, it was actually Jenosa who found the strength to respond, if only because of how she was experiencing the pain. “Y'know about that bomb said not to worry about. Well, guess what, it's not the on we need to worry about.”

“What!? You can't mean-

Her!” Jenosa replied, making a nod towards Armoria, who, her back now against the wall “ because believe it or not lady, I'm feeling everything thing she is. And ooohhh boy, it's a doozy.”

“What is?”

“Well, y'know that blue mutagen stuff you pumped inside of her? I think, since the fighting stared, it's been growing!

Tamaki's eyes widened with genuine fear. “Oh no,” she whispered to herself, and slipped her remote detonator out from her pocket. It's mutation indicator wasn't beeping at least not yet, but the Phazon quantity readings were way off. Far than Armoria had been infused with.

Without everyone else knowing, the situation in the facility, and possibly even on this planet, had gone from bad to beyond worse. Armoria was not just some explosion just waiting to happen; if the data that she had analyzed before was any indication, their super soldier could transform into a super virulent abomination. The Phazon would imbue the reproductive aspect of the pathogen, creating a unstoppable, mutating disease that could quickly spread, within the hour, out of this facility and onto the planets atmosphere. Even if her 'parent' could kill her.

Except to Jenosa and the pain that ached through all 'her' muscle fibers, it was far more than a massive mutation. It was a fight her 'sister's' soul was having with itself. There was no accurate means to describe it, only that, inside 'her', was this...'aspect' that felt like 'her', but deep down, really wasn't her. Come to think of it...

“I...know this,” she gasped, in pained elation, “I know this. I've been through this before.”

Tamaki only had a chance to say “What!?” before, working against the 'pain', Jenosa ran up to Armoria. The woman herself, back still against the wall, now clutched two spheres of crackling Phazon energy, one in each hand, in an attempt to relieve the 'pressure.' Except Jenosa clearly had a thing against this as she yelled “No!”, literally grab and ripped the spheres of energy out of Armoria's hands with her own, and briskly tossed them out of harms way.

It wants you to ride it's energies like that. That's how it'll win,” Jenosa said, as she desperately clasped Armoria's face with both hands, forcing a face-to-face confrontation. If she wasn't in so much in pain, Jenosa would have been knocked away with ease.

“I-I h-have to,” Armoria stammered, sounding desperate. Her hardened demeanor had almost completely crumbled now.

“No, no you don't, what you need to do is to be yourself.”

“I-I am myself.”

“No, you're not. You're just letting yourself take orders willy nilly.”

“B-because I'm a sol-

“Soldier,” Jenosa finished, “yeah, I get that, but why are you one?”

“To - protect!” Armoria stated more resolutely. And, finding the strength, shoved Jenosa against the wall opposite of her. She screamed upon impact as real pain mixed with imaginary; yet she did not crumple, not when the situation was this dire.

Dire enough that Armoria was in the belief of letting more of those 'energies' surge through her hands. Only Tamaki's commanding voice made her freeze in quivering posture, and leave her palms simply glowing white.

“Listen to her. Treat her as your commanding officer,” Tamaki said, working more off of gut, maternal instinct than logic.

Armoria did her best to straiten up as she struggled with the swirling energies inside her, all the while now maintaining eye contact with Jenosa's green eyes. For all intensive purposes, despite her own pain and injuries, Jenosa really did show such demeanor.

But she spoke with compassion in her voice, “You want to protect others. Heck, I can say I feel you've made it your duty to protect. And that's alright; that's you, but it's not all of you.”

“Then what is?”

Jenosa shook her head, “I don't know. That you need to figure out. But right now, you're worst enemy is relying on orders to give you a sense of direction.”

Armoria looked scared now. Scared at the prospect of doing what she was suggesting. Her shoulder muscles began to bulge frighteningly. And the beeping quickened.

“Armoria,” Tamaki said, “she's right. You don't need orders, certainly not with how long you've been holding 'it' in you for so long. You'll us- she motioned to both Jenosa and Alissa -to help guide you, but the only order you need to know is Sigma protocol-9. Armoria, I release you.”

If Armoria had shackles, everyone might as well have heard them clatter to the ground. Because to Jenosa, that's what it felt like, and to everyone else, Armoria froze, processing just what she had been ordered to do. Or rather, released from. Then, with tactile response, finding strength when she had expected to feel fear and panic, she began to fight it. The urge that it was, the aspect that it wasn't, and the murder and ecstasy it wanted.

And during these, she looked at the three people before her.

First at Alissa, who had been the most unusual enemy she had ever fought. And the most unlikely sparing opponent. Her shoulder muscles spasms stopped and returned to their normal size.

She then turned to Tamaki. The person she could not help but care about the most. She began to stand tall again, and the detonator's beeping lessened.

Then, finally, she turned to Jenosa, who had walked back up to her with expectation in her eyes. The strangest of strangers: someone who looked like her but wasn't. And the first person – and the first time – she found herself admiring in terms of spiritual strength.

The quivering stopped. So did the beeping. She now stood completely strait as she faced Jenosa. It was hard to tell now, but the fight was still going on inside her. Only now, with everything about her pulled back together, she had a bulwark against the invasive urge. And, her energies raging in her like a turbulent storm, she was actually strangling this 'fake' aspect of her.

Then, just as everything was subsiding and Jenosa taking her hands in smiling triumph, Armoria felt a tiny surge race across her spine. And then the world for her went black.

For everyone else, her head bent backwards and her heavy body went limp in Jenosa's arms. Shock and surprise hit both Tamaki and Jenosa, but it was Jenosa who spoke first, “It...it sucker punched her. She was winning, and it suckered punch,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Tamaki asked, realizing with panic that the micro bomb in Armoria's skull had detonated. There had been no input code or transmission from hers, and even the signal sent by the other executive holding the 2 nd detonator would have been register would have been registered. All the screen registered was “Error – signal lost.”

“What do you mean by 'it'?” she continued, “The Phazon in her system?”

Jenosa shook her head, “No...something else. Like some...corrupted persona of hers. I really, honestly don't know. All I know...is that she isn't actually dead. Just...in limbo.”

Tamaki, who looked ready to burst into tears, asked, “Can you please be less vague?”

Jenosa frowned, “I'm afraid I can't. I'm not a walking tri-corder. All I can tell you is that I died once. And then I came back to life because of a bunch of energy.”

“And Armoria has a bunch of energy inside of her, so why-

“Round 2,” Jenosa stated, and added, “Look, I'm terrible at translating gut feelings; kind of why I don't listen to it. Heck, the empathy is all gone now. But I can ignore this nagging feeling she's still fighting. She just got knocked off her feet, that's all.”

Tamaki looked skeptical, and before she could say anything, the red head walked past her and said soberly, “Now, if you don't mind, I still got an appointment with Delacroix.”

And she added, “Oh, and Alissa, help Tamaki out. Maybe she can do something sciency to figure out what my guts makes of all this. And don't berate her.”

With that, she left to find Delacroix. Or Colonel Jenkins if it came to that.
"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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~Alissa~
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“Oh, and Alissa, help Tamaki out. Maybe she can do something sciency to figure out what my guts makes of all this. And don't berate her.”

Alissa stood watching her departing friend for a moment before turning her attention back toward Tamaki and the unconscious Armoria regarding them quietly for a time before she moved quietly, reaching down with her uninjured hand Alissa pulled Armoria’s arm over her own shoulder and stood up slowly.

“We should leave…the fleet will be here soon” the implication was clear; if Tamaki and Armoria were in the base when the fleet arrived it was unlikely that things would end well. Tamaki would likely be arrested, and Alissa could not guess what they would do with Armoria. And so she started down the hall toward the emergency escape system knowing the mechs had not attacked the unarmed shuttles.

“You released her from her conditioning…” she said as she started walking down the hall assuming Tamaki would follow Alissa was confused by Tamaki, she did not know what to make of the scientist. “even though it could have been counter to your own best interests….why?”
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Clockwork Master

It was easy to see that Tamaki nervous in the presense of only Alissa, if not also appearing fatigued. After all, as Tamaki understood it, this woman probably didn't have the best treatment from scientists. Ones like her. Still, she was...thankfull for the help, and nodded in acknowledgement of what might happen when the Federation troops arrive. While she probably would have let herself be taken in for being so involved with project Vertigo, the fact that Armoria might actually...be alive meant she still needed to be around the woman when she came back.

If she came back, she reminded herself solemly. She found it hard to believe Jenosa's words, but...she had to remind herself Phazon was an incredible mutagen. And dangerous one.

Her train of thought was snapped when Alissa broached about her decision to release Armoria's conditioning. She sighed, "Call it a mix between maternal instinct and desperation. Armoria was on the verge of exploding into a virulent monster with us right next to it, and, well, I guess if i hadn't said what I had, even you may no longer have been yourself."

Tamaki walked up to Alissa's side, and stroked a hand compassionantly through Armoria's mix of blue and ginger hair. "But to elaborate more," she continued, "when we set forth to...raised her, I knew enough about the Phazon's psychological effects that no amount of conditioning could hold back any form of madness. We needed her loyal, but with a...flexible mentality."

She continued to stroke Armoria's hair, feeling how arm the body still was despite there being no breath. "In between her bouts of brutal training, I, and some others, showed her comfort, even small bits of compassion. Enough that, in a small way, made her care for us - and understand what she was training for. It made her fight harder."

"I admit, it was mostly an act at first to set the seed in, but I just guess, as we watched her grow and succeed, some of use grew attached to her. Including me. In fact, I think I'm the one who understood her the most, which was what made me make that split second decision. No amount of orders would have staved that off that mutation. She needed, as you're friend had said, to be herself."

she chucled, more to herself than Alissa, "You could say...I put a lot faith into spirit."

It was then that, an idea struck Tamaki's mind, and she said, "Hold on, wait here a minute." She rushed into a lab they had barely had, and true to her word, she came out in less than a minute holding somekind of tablet. She walked up to Alissa, detached a small device from the tablet, and connected it with the armor along Armoria's neck.

"This is a bio-suit OS interface tablet. If the suit's internal bio-monitor is still working, I may be able to - there."

The screen's data blinked in confirmation of the still operating bio sensors, and as they continued their walk, she looked over the data. She found, and repeated what she saw, "No breath, no heart beat, or neural activity. She may as well be dead."

Her brow then furrowed as she went down the list further, "But...I'm getting some very strange bio-energy readings though. Almost like her body's still active, but without the neural activity." She muttered to herself, and then spoke to Alissa, "It'll take me time to make sense of this information, but I guess it'll be one way to check if you're Jenosa was right all along."

"Shuttle and strange life, here I come."
"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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~Alissa~
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Alissa was silent for a time as they walked along the corridors making their way toward their emergency escape.

“If she is willing you might compare notes with DR. Kensinka” recalling some of what she heard from Alana the two stories bore some remarkable similarities between the two stories. “As I recall Jenosa was in much the same state for some time as well”

“As to what you did for Armoria though…it was more than just releasing her from her conditioning” she said quietly “You gave her choice….free will” she said pausing to adjust her hold on the unconscious Armoria as they made their way through the corridors finding a shuttle that had not been touched. Inside Alissa would settle Armoria before heading toward the cockpit, her suits computer already providing the startup sequence.

“No one gave me that, I had to fight though my conditioning to make my first real choice.” Engines had started to wind up and the hatch was closing. “Free will is at the core of what it is to be human, I had to take that for myself….you gave it to her.”
Alissa keyed the radio “Mr. Clark I’m going to get some noncombatants clear while you finish up down there. I will jump once I’m clear of the atmosphere. Jenossa the blackbird will know where to find me”
That done she turned her attention to Tamaki “I would strap in, these shuttles are not known for their smooth ride.
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"Perhaps," Tamaki said, in response to Alissa's suggestion about this Dr.Kensinka. She was undoubtly very concerned about that state Armoria was in, but also seemed uncertain. Uncertain about where everything was going now, and how; something she certainly wasn't used to be in. Still, at the very least, she was certain about staying beside Armoria until...until whatever happened.

As she sat down to buckle up, she heard Alissa speak up again. This time, about free will. Relaxing a bit, she looked up in thought, and replied, "Yes, I suppose, in a funny way, that's what I gave her. Even if her...'choice' at this very moment held heavy influence from all of us, at least she did what she did out of care; not because someone barked orders at her."

After a brief moment of silence, she said, "Such irony, to actually meet you, of all people, here. I suppose you hate the people that conditioned you, not that I blame you. That man, the tech advsior - he really didn't go beyond the surface of things. All he seems to see if opportunity and weapons. I question just how he views an ordinary person."

As the shuttle began to launch, Tamaki asked one final question, "So...where to from here?"
"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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"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a voice from the back, just before the shuttle was about to take off.

Sitting in the rear of the shuttle was Jimmy Vega, looking very relaxed. They hadn't noticed him until now, but clearly he'd been sitting there for some time.

"The panel's rigged to blow," he said calmly. "I'd been expecting Delacroix. Thought for sure you guys'd still be running around in there, looking for shit." He lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply, giving the two women a you-know-you-want-me-right-now look, even if he wasn't consciously trying to.

"So," he said, "unless you want a face full of metal and glass shards, I suggest you shut this thing down and defuse that bomb. It ain't too complicated, it was all I could whip in three minutes. Should be a piece of cake for the likes of you."

((Guys, let me know how this sits with you))
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“So…Where too from here?”

Alissa got quiet for a moment considering her plan of action “we need to jump out before the fleet gets here, I’m going to….”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Alissa had a pistol cleared and aimed at Vega before he finished his explanation. It was by slightly altering her aim that the blast that left the weapon scorched bulkhead rather than hitting him in the head. It had been a conditioned response, no thought on her part.

“You blew my cover…” she stated flatly as she studied Vega slipping out of the pilot’s seat starting the shutdown sequence “You put my life, the lives of my team, and the lives of the staff in this facility in danger”

“You have one chance to convince me not to shoot you”

She said evenly as she stepped back to get a better shot on Vega.
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[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
"Take that one to the lab."

He would not be poked or prodded like a child's science project. His grip tightened upon his armored gauntlet, looking upon this massive human man, armored similarly to Jenosa. So certain he was of victory--a certainty the Chozo had more than enough reason to nullify.

"Kill that one."

Perhaps that was a trigger in his mind. He rebelled and reviled the idea of being some scientist's pet--but the death of Travis was out of the qustion entirely. He refused to let that happen--no matter what. They had gone too far together just to fall here and now!

"Well, someone must really like you."

"A curiosity they will regret," the Chozo warrior said, his beak gritting against itself. Leave it to Jenosa, again, to make light of a particularly serious and dangerous situation. If this was her way of psyching up her comrades for battle--by annoying them--she was certainly doing a completely stellar job thereof. Did she always come across as this annoying, or was their mutual familiarity resulting in her knowledge of how to get under his skin? If this was her way of displaying friendship, she was probably far, far stranger than he gave her credit for--

Before he could resolve to open fire on the large man, Jenosa was a flurry of motion, launching her trio of bombs towards their foe, likely catching it on a fatal backfoot--and resulting in a large number of cargo boxes and palates to fall to the ground, forcing the Chozo to leap back and away from the falling containers. His chest burned with pain again, the drug injected by Travis earlier still working its magic at keeping him alive--and quite well, all things considered. But there was likely a limit to all medical advancements. His body felt almost heavy for a moment, as if his bloodstream was filled to the brim with stimulants, drugs, and medical substances. Almost like one was swimming in a pool of the stuff. Still, the feeling was far superior than being laid out on the floor, waiting for his blood to seep out of his body.

"WARNING: BALLISTIC MISSILE SYSTEM MALFUNCTION. SWITCHING TO DIRECT COMBAT ROUTINES: ALL FRIENDLY PERSONNEL ADVISED TO CLEAR THE AREA OF ENGAGEMENT."

Z'Gato never pretended to have a firm grasp of the human's english language. It often confused him at times, even outright irritating him with all the contradictions and exceptions their language seemed to hold. But even he knew an escalating situation when he heard it--by all appearances, the mechanoid opponent would now be more dangerous than before, now that its targeting parameters were changed to 'everything that moves.'

Travis was assaulted by the drone combatant, leaving Z'Gato to use suppressing fire against the few marines still posing a fight. Much like Travis had warned earlier, it was not necessarily their fault that they were at odds, but trying to intimidate hardened men into ducking behind cover or keeping them from firing while being fired upon was a lot harder than just trying to kill them. Still, soon enough, Travis displayed his incredible combat prowess, taking down the drone with skilled--if frantic--precision. The marines in the room seemed awed by the display, enough to allow Z'Gato a moment to collect himself and rise up from his nealing position.

"Come on, Z'Gato!" Travis said, bolting further into the facility, forcing Z'Gato to run after his battle brother. The pain in his chest flared to life again, but no where near as bad as it was a few minutes ago--strange how both Travis and his own suit had worked so hard to keep him alive and fighting. But the marines behind them were quick to gather their wits and pursue them. While Travis pushed ahead, Z'Gato continually engaged the foes behind them, forced to fall further and further back, deeper into the facility. Soon enough, there was enough interferance between their suits to block their positioning systems--at least on Z'Gato's end. His suit seemed to be suffering one malfunction after another in the heated battle. Chozo were not trained for prolonged battles--theirs was a fast, hard strike capability. He tried to push into the facility where he believed Travis had gone, but each turn yielded no sign of the fellow battle brother. For a moment, he felt the irritation of being left behind, but he calmed his emotions--'tis far better that Travis continue onward while the Chozo occupy their pursuers.

The frantic fighting seemed to stretch on for long minutes, forcing the Chozo to employ more and more power of his suit--missiles, for the most part. In such a heated engagement, collateral damage of the facility was inevitable when faced with the onslaught a Chozo warrior could unleash, but the more he seemed to escalate the firepower, the more attention he seemed to draw upon himself--more attention than he could singularly handle. No use--he had to retreat for now.

The Maru-Maru was functioning perfectly, at least. The Chozo was quick to find an access shaft of his own to hide within, utilizing his suit's advancements to navigate through the tight corridoors and shafts afforded to him in his time of need. After long moments of no pursuit, the Chozo uncoiled in a large ventillation chamber and focused on breathing--on keeping his lungs and body functioning.

"Alis--skirtz!--s, Z'Gato, w--brrzzzt--us?”

"What? Repeat," Z'Gato tried to say through his communciation system, but the communication system seemed to be damaged. He tried again at contacting them, but to no avail--he was cut off from the others entirely. He would have to find his way back to them. He couldn't even tell who was addressing the lot of them. Was it Jenosa? It was hard to tell with the interference.

[There was a short silence at the other end, and then a series of explosions from up above, five of them, all in rhythm. And then a not quite as loud but certainly bigger rumbling, shaking the walls even this deep within the base.]

The rumble of the facility could always be felt in various sections of it--particularly maintenance sections. Z'Gato felt the rumbles quite profoundly where he was, pressing his back against the wall of the 'room' he was in in order to keep his feet from falling out from under him. Something was wrong--very wrong. His scanners could not pick up where the explosion had come from, but it had been big--really big. Whatever it was, he felt that it would not be beneficial to their cause in the least. He would need to move again.

Moments stretched on as he navigated the shafts, emerging from a sealed grate after utilizing a Maru-Maru bomb to grant him escape from the maintenance and ventillation ducts. Perhaps now, he could link up with the others, provided he did not run into any unexpected resistance. By the sounds of things, the facility was more-or-less quiet. For now...
Marching to the Black Gates...
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Deadeye '17, eager to move on from the slow-motion train wreck that was last year.
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((With a little help from the Bossman, here it is!))

After a few nerve-wracking minutes in the dark that consisted of creative use of algorithms, Constantine finally managed to get the door open for Travis to enter his destination. It didn't take long for him to survey the scene; what must have been at least eight tanks of Phazon lined the walls on either side of the room, and situated around every tank were blocks of C12, all rigged to blow.

(Bombs to trigger a bigger bomb; not surprised, Grace plans ahead, or she doesn't and throws the plan together anyway.)

Travis had to grudgingly admit; where he despised that woman for all she chose to strive for and had done, Grace was ANNOYINGLY excellent at slipping away. Not only that, she was notorious for being difficult to predict, much less explain. Even if she wasn't here of her own free will, why was she playing these games with him?

Travis scanned the chamber for any life-signs; he found that there were none; if there had been, the life had since deserted this place, so far underground. If Grace had been here, she was long gone. He continued his lone sojurn within the pit of sealed horrors, until he found an object in the middle of the room at his feet; a console with a detonation function, obviously left with the intent that he found it. In fact... there was a message on the console waiting for Travis.

(Couldn't let me get the last word in, could you...?)

Travis examined the message.

"All of this is yours, Travis," the recording said. "It's my gift to you. I think we can both agree that something this powerful is better off in your hands than in mine. You know my position: blow this place sky high, and Delacroix with it.

"But I know what Phazon is. I spent a year living among the Pirates, so I've heard all the stories. And I honestly don't know if pushing that button will destroy this stuff or spread it. So that's why I'm giving it to you. Cause you'll make the right call, while I just wanna blow shit up."


Upon finishing the recording, a thought crossed Travis' mind. Yes, Grace was far from a "good" person, especially by the standards he did his best to abide within, but clearly she knew that on some level if she had done this. The woman knew herself well, it seemed.

(Well enough that she felt it wiser to turn all of this over to me.)

Travis set the detonation console down for a moment and examined his surroundings once more. Within every single tank inside this room was a storage of a substance aptly called the "Great Poison". Indeed, Phazon was a terrifying thing, twisting harmless creatures into monstrosities, and it was capable of twisting monstrosities into utter abominations. The corrosive effects of the substance far outweighed any of its' twisted benefits the majority of the time; entire worlds and star systems had been ruined by it, after all.

Travis clenched his fists and grit his teeth underneath his helm; that wasn't the only thing Phazon had ruined. The memories came flooding to him like a merciless cascade; the GFS Aquila, the bloodshed and the suffering, the cruelty forced upon one of his dearest friends as the sentient consciousness of the living mutagen turned her body into a living vehicle, a friend who he was very nearly forced to kill and by a sheer miracle alone he was able to triumph without doing so. The scandal had ruined her body and her reputation; in recent times she had done nothing but hide from the public eye, so that she could at least spend her days in peace, cut off from the outside world and even her closest friends.

If securing this wicked mutagen could prevent even an ounce of the suffering endured by Jessie Falcon on anybody else, Travis would do so gladly. Still, as he sat there in the dark, he picked the console back up, and took one long and appraising glance at it.

(Maybe... maybe there is hope for you yet, Grace. There have been those worse than you who changed their ways. Then again... this is you. Still hope I'm right, though.)

Travis broke from his pondering; there would be time to think of the implications of Grace's actions later on, but for now there was the matter of the eight blocks of C12 rigged to blow. He first set to finding the type of detonation rigging he was dealing with; scanning the console allowed Constantine to detect that the explosives were set to blow with the implementation of a 20-variable code, which would trigger three sets of algorithms over the console's wavelength to blow the explosives. Furthermore, the scans revealed that the columns on the C12 were magnetized; they could not be physically disarmed by him alone, not all at once. Regardless, this left Travis with a grim realization; catalyzed by the C12, there was easily enough to possibly collapse the mountainside, if not the whole mountain.

To disarm the explosives, Travis would need Constantine to run his own algorithms and find the code that would initiate a detonation countdown, which didn't take long.

["Huh... well, they have a sense of humor with this one."] Constantine observed with a chuckle. ["Have a look."]

Travis peered into the wrist console and shook his head, if partially in morbid amusement. Set on the console screen was indeed a 20-variable code, a phrase typed to set the explosives to detonate on a timer: "FromFoxxyWithRegards."

(Real cute, Grace.) Travis shook his head; it would figure that Grace would want somebody to know she was behind this. If there was a detonation code, there was a counter code to go with it. Constantine continued to compute, using the arming code as his cipher to determine the disarming code. When he saw it, however, even Travis had to laugh a bit; after all, it fit their approach with him so far.

"Heh. 'Clark'sUpTime2GetOut,' Huh? Real funny, Grace. Real funny."

She must have recorded the code on the fly, Travis reasoned. All that was left to do now was impliment the code, broadcast the signal and...

[C12 RENDERED INERT; DETONATION TERMINATED.] The detonation console gleamed in the light. Travis breathed a sigh of relief; one less issue to worry about.

"This is Deadeye, everybody still breathing up there...?" Travis began; there was no point in maintaining radio silence. "I think our impending doom is finally postphoned. Nobody's dead, I take it?"
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