RPG Maverick Hunters: Personification

[Domon]

[COLOR=green][i]Fenir had stepped off and was greetd with a volley of buster fire, he ducked and rolled just as a blast landed where he had just been standing. Fenir took some cover behind an upturned hovercar, he cocked his buster and fired at the closest Reploid, he soon started fireing into the mass and soon they were down, after he had given the main team some cover he ran past some of the bodies. He walked closer to them and saw that there wasn't exposed circutry, but instead where there were circuts there were bodily entrails and blood. If Fenir had been human he would have vomited right where he stood.[/i]

Fenir: [i]To himself.[/i] Dear god! These are civies! Not Mavericks. I knew something was wrong. Damn! I've gotta warn the others.

[i]Fenir slipped out of sight and brought up his HUD, he accessed his tracking system, he had to find Reverb and tell him. His HUD displayed him also heading away from the battle, Fenir stopped dead in his tracks and decided it would be faster if he grabbed a hoverbike and chsed after them. Fenir headed back to the battlefield and saw a discarded hoverbike, he hopped onto it and started it. Thankfully the engine was well and working. Fenir shifted the thing into drive and took off towards Reverb's position.[/i][/COLOR]

[Talon]

[color=teal][i]Xion walked through the field. The civilians....dead. He had failed. His rage knew no bounds. His organic half retched repeatedly. He almost screamed. They had broken the first rule of robotics, "A Robot must never harm a Human being", into pieces. And all the while, he had been beaten down by Green Hunters. His shoulder was in disarray, and his left buster's energy core was damaged. He grabbed his Alaris, revving out into the streets. He stopped and slowed, idling, when he saw some familiar shapes heading through downtown. He drew his blade, his anger getting the best of him. He cried out in rage as he tackled Reverb from behind.[/i]

[b]Xion:[/b]DAMNIT! WHY?!?! WHY DID YOU KILL INNOCENTS? WHY SPILL INNOCENT BLOOD?!?!

[i]Reverb tossed Xion off, standing up and telling the others to stand down.[/i]

[b]Reverb:[/b]They were our orders. We found out too late.

[b]Xion:[/b]Who gave those orders? I will not stop until I have their dying body writhing in agony at my feet.[/color]

[Flash]

[B]Demos:[/B] It's not so easy as that.

[b]Reverb:[/b] Do you remember Duke?

[B]Xion:[/B] Yeah, I do.

[B]Reverb:[/B] Well, it seems that Duke has taken control of MHHQ.

[B]Xion:[/B] I don't care! That'll just make him easier to find.

[I]Demos stepped towards Xion, pressing a finger hard on his chestplate.[/I]

[B]Demos:[/B] No. You've been exiled from the city. There is no way in hell I'm letting you blow our cover.

[I]Xion slapped Demos' hand away with the back of his own, and glared at the Elite Hunter.[/I]

[B]Xion:[/B] I'm not under your jurisdiction anymore, Demos. I'll make him pay for what he's done.

[I]Demos shook his head, and readied his buster. He pressed the barrel up into Xion's chin. Xion could feel the Buster humming, slowly charging. It was warm.[/I]

[B]Demos:[/B] I could kill you right now, Xion. Earn myself a medal for taking out a terrorist and enemy of the state. Listen to me. If you even get [i]close[/i] to Headquarters, Duke [i]will[/i] find you.

[b]Xion:[/b] That's a risk I'm willing to take.

[i]Demos pushed his buster even harder into Xion's jaw, as if to draw his attention.[/i]

[B]Demos:[/B] You're not listening. It's not a risk; It's a guarantee. You want to get yourself killed? Be my guest. But don't do it anywhere near us. Take the Subway entrance.

[I]Demos pulled his Buster away from Xion's face, and pointed him down an alleyway. There was an access hatch, visible from the street.[/I]

[b]Demos:[/b] It's up to you, Xion. Your call. Don't **** up.

[i]And with that, the leader of the Elite squadron turned from the Exiled Reploid, and headed towards Hunter HQ. Each glancing one last time at Xion, Reverb and Iota also turned, and followed Demos. Xion stood alone in the street, next to Alaris.[/i]

[Warlock]

[I] Bringing Iota?s car to a halt, Warlock stared openly at the flare of light sparkling up above, at the edge of a cliff. Reading on his visor began filling the side of his vision, listing levels of brightness and other units of information in tiny letters. [/I]

[I] And then? it hit him. [/I]

[I] Or more specifically, Spark Mandrill?s massive fist did. [/I]

[I] Warlock was sent flying from the car, tumbling end over end in the air before smashing head first into the cliff face, some of the incredibly powerful armor in his helmet sent flying off the helmet and to scatter around the dusty desert road. [/I]

[I] Meanwhile, behind him, the ten foot high Maverick jumps onto Iota?s car, cracking metal and lowering the height of the hover car. [/I]

[I] Passing the car, Launch Octopus idly walks over to the still recovering Warlock, reaching out with two tentacles and grabbing him, before[/I] throwing[I] him over the car, away from the cliff, to land on the sandy floor, his face stuck to the ground. [/I]

[B] Launch Octopus: [/B] ?He?s all yours, Vile! Really, I see no reason why the [I] others [/I] needed to be brought along.?

[B] ??? [/B] ??Now [I] that [/I] wasn?t very nice.?

[I] Fading into sight right beside the water based Maverick, Sting Chameleon looked from the injured Warlock, to the Octopus beside him. [/I]

[B] Launch Octopus: [/B] ??Why [I] mu--[/I]?

[I] The sentence was cut short, however, as a barrage of light and energy flashed forward overhead, the charge of Vile?s cannon complete. So bright was the light that the Mavericks had to shield their eyes from watching the destruction of the ex Hunter, all they could do was listen to the explosion as the energy slammed into Warlock and the ground beneath him. [/I]

[I] After about half a minute though, the light had died down, the dust had settled, and now it was time to see if anything of Warlock remained. [/I]

[I] Spark Mandrill jumped off Iota?s now wrecked car, walking over into the blackened piece of earth that Vile had completely demolished. And from the look of it, no piece of Warlock had survived. [/I]

[B] Spark Mandrill: [/B] ?Nothing here, boss!?

[B] Vile: [/B] ?A shame? ?I [I] did [/I] promise to deliver his head.?

[I] From the edge of the cliff, Launch merely chuckled, wiggling all his tentacles, very amused by the look of things. [/I]

[B] Launch Octopus: [/B] ?Heh, I [I] atleast [/I] expected a fight.?

[I] So focused on chuckling, the Maverick didn?t notice Sting?s eyes widen, before quickly jumping and clinging to the cliff, scrambling up it. Though he [/I] did [I] notice the sound of an energy weapon charging. [/I]

[B] Launch Octopus: [/B] ??Vile, what are you going to destroy now, his [I] car [/I]? That seems like a bit of a waste of energy, don?t you think??

[I] After getting no reply, only stunned silence, Launch looked up? before spinning around. [/I]

[B] Launch Octopus: [/B] ??Holy c--"

[James]

[color=#507AAC]The sizeable plasma engines began to rumble softly, as Echo activated the transport's start up sequence.

Proteus activated his night vision censors and explored the interior of the transport vehicle. The area that he stood in was not terribly large -- perhaps three metres in length and two and a half metres in width. But it was large enough to carry anywhere from eight to ten collapsed Protogen units, Proteus suspected. He sat down against the front wall of the cargo area. Behind him was the control center, where Echo was no doubt preparing the unit for launch. For several minutes, the engine hummed quietly and the transport did not move. Proteus didn't really know why, but he soon found out; a small communication device on the interior hull crackled to life.

"Hey Proteus...I'm just making sure that we're not bugged or something. Don't want 'em tracking us now..."

Proteus smiled. "Sure, that's fine," he replied.

He stood up and made his way to the rear of the vehicle. Two sharp rectangular windows were situated on the rear door of the transport. Proteus peered out into the darkness and saw nothing but sand and trees, as well as the soft orange glow of the rear thrusters.

But soon, he saw ruffling in the foliage nearby. And then he heard it; the sound of guns and armor clicking and clanking. Red Alert 05 forces knew where they were and were closing in fast. Proteus dashed over to the communication port and pressed the large red button near the speaker.

"Echo! The guards are coming! They've spotted us! Hurry up!"

Proteus heard static for a few moments; Echo's voice was hard to make out. But it didn't matter now, as Proteus could feel the entire transport rumbling. He looked out the window again and saw the forces running along the sand toward their position. But thankfully, he also saw the ground moving away; the transport slowly launched from the sand.

The droids below aimed at the transport with their various weapons and began firing. Proteus saw the explosion of gunfire below and immediately, he could hear the bullets hitting the outer hull of the transport. Once again, he ran over to the communication port on the wall and prompted Echo to do something about the situation.

"Okay, I have an idea...don't worry!" Echo replied.

Suddenly, and with a thunderous boom, the transport lurched forward, emitting a powerful blast of heat from the rear thrusters. The blast effortlessly knocked the droids over; some of them were pushed into the ocean, which destroyed their fragile circuitry in seconds.

Proteus opened the door that led to the frontal cabin of the vehicle and joined Echo. "Great job," he said calmly. Echo merely smiled and continued to focus on piloting the heavy machine.

As the transport vehicle sailed through the evening sky, over the ocean below, both Proteus and Echo could clearly see the fleet of transports ahead. There were perhaps twenty in total, each with around ten Protogen units inside. Two hundred suicide bombers. The thought disturbed Proteus beyond what words could explain, but he knew that somehow the Hunters would be okay.

Proteus checked his internal clock. It was nearly 2am; the transports would not make the final approach for at least another three hours. Of course, back in the days of traditional flight, the time taken would have been much greater. But the plasma engines of the transport vehicles allowed for much higher speeds.

Proteus sat back in his chair and sat his feet on part of the control panel. He noticed that Echo had relaxed somewhat now that they'd joined the group of transports. None of the other vehicles seemed to realize that they were imposters.

Echo looked over at Proteus and opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to speak. But he didn't. Instead, he turned back to the control panel and continued reading the various displays. Proteus blinked and leaned forward a little. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's just...", Echo seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "You're a Hunter...and I'm a Maverick."

Echo paused and looked up at Proteus again. "So?", Proteus replied with a slight grin.

"Well, aren't we supposed to be enemies?", asked Echo.

Proteus shook his head slowly. "No, not necessarily. We have a UN mandate to protect the peace...it just so happens that Mavericks were the cause of much unrest in the past. But that doesn't mean that all Mavericks are bad."

Proteus paused and then continued, "It's like with Hunters. Not all Hunters are necessarily good. We are synthetic, but we still have freedom of thought. I've seen plenty of bad Hunters in my time." Proteus ran a metallic hand through his fibre optic hair and looked at the dark blue clouds on the horizon.

"I don't know what to do, Proteus. I mean, when we get there...what do I do?" Echo looked worried.

"What do you mean?", asked Proteus.

Echo's facial expression was still quite awkward. "Well, once we land, won't the Hunters just kill me or something? Now that I've escaped from Red Alert 05, there's nothing for me to do".

Proteus smiled. "First thing's first, Echo. Once we land we must tell the Hunters about the Red Alert organization. It's [i]really[/i] important that they know."

"And then?", asked Echo as he adjusted his headset.

"And then," Proteus leaned forward, "then I tell Hunter HQ that you helped to save one of their elite members. You'll get a medal and maybe I'll recommend that you join our organization."

For the first time during the flight, Echo beamed. "Really?! They'd let in a Maverick?"

"I don't see why not. You've got the talent and your heart is in the right place," replied Proteus calmly.

Echo continued beaming and didn't stop for the rest of the journey. The events of the past few days had indeed been horrible and there was definitely still a lot to come; the Red Alert attack wasn't going to be easy. But nevertheless, both Proteus and Echo felt that things were starting to calm down. The pair of them were going home for good this time.[/color]

[Flash]

OOC: EM, dude, what_the_hell. You managed to Overlook the facts that;

a.) It's been made very clear that Signas' office is on the 19th floor of the main complex of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters. That's nineteen floors up.

b.) THERE ARE NO WINDOWS IN HIS OFFICE ANYWAY!

c.) It's several Kilometres from the Main Gate to the Main Complex anyway.

d.) MHHQ is one of the most highly guarded place on earth. You think you'd just be able to [i]climb up[/i] the ****ing outer wall? Ever heard of safety precautions?

e.) WHAT CAVE LEVELS?!?! I made it clear a few posts back that Sub-Level 5 was one of the last 'free-access' levels. There are no elevators that go lower than Sub-Level 6.

Whatever.

But, I'm going to off it anyway. Observe.

---

[I]Hunters around the base were on full alert, as Duke ordered a full search for Xion. He [/i]would[i] catch the Ex-Hunter who made him look like a fool, even if he had to follow him to the ends of the earth.

Nearly instantly, his energy signature was located and traced. Duke ordered a lock-down on the Sector, and at once, Xion was encased in the corridoor, locked between two massive plates of titanium. Duke sneered, and activated the Teleport system. Xion, along with some rubble in the corridoor, were instantaneously transmitted particle by particle into Duke's office. Xion's eyes widened as he appeared in front of the pale, tall, thin figure.

Duke grinned with a hint of sadism, and threw a hard-punch at the Ex-Hunter, sending him spinning to the ground. Duke arose him with the flick of his fingers, a burst of invisible energy throwing Xion into a wall. Duke approached him, laughing.[/I]

[B]Duke:[/B] What, you thought I'd just let you waltz on out?

[B]Xion:[/B] (Sputtering) So you're going to kill me?

[B]Duke:[/B] What? Goodness no. You'll beg for death when I'm through.

[I]Xion snarled, and deactivated his Limiters. Limiter release. Xion knew what he had done. He had technically doomed himself to death, but he had a good five minutes in which his power was virtually unstoppable. But after that, he'd shut-down, and go into Stand-by mode. He had five minutes of glory.

He drew his Beam Sabre, and pushed off from the wall, activating the sabre as he flew through the air. Duke answered quickly, moving out of the way, and grabbing an Ornamental Rapier hanging on the wall. He drew it from it's sheath, and pointed it at Xion.[/I]

[B]Xion:[/B] Ha ha.. You're kidding. Some Commander you are.

[I]Duke growled, as a bright green light flowed from his fingertips, into the handle of the Rapier. Soon, the entire sabre was alight with patches of Viral green energy.[/I]

[B]Duke:[/B] Indeed.

[I]Duke lunged at Xion, their blades meeting between them. For some reason, Duke's Rapier did not give way when Xion's beam sabre touched it. It held; And quite well at that. Duke jumped back, and thrust the sabre at Xion, who smacked it away with his own weapon. The two dueled, both quite able swordsmen. But before long, Duke's attack intensified, and Xion buckled under the pressure. Duke gained the upperhand, knocking Xion's beam sabre out of his hand, and onto the ground. Pulling back his hand, Duke smashed Xion's jaw with his palm, the ex-Hunter being smashed backwards, stumbling, and falling on his back.

Duke loomed over him, holding the Raiper to his neck. His emerald eyes gleamed with a twisted desire, and he spoke harshly to Xion.[/I]

[B]Duke:[/B] Ha ha ha. Don't think I'm going to kill you now, scum. Your end will come slowly and painfully.

[I]Suddenly, a voice came over Duke's Communications device. It was one of the hunters in Cerebelum Prime, HQ's main command center.[/I]

[B]Hunter:[/B] Duke, Sir! We've picked up something on radar that requires your immediate attention!

[I]It was in this moment that Xion grabbed the blade of Duke's rapier, twisted it, shattered the Virus-infused blade. Duke bore his teeth at Xion, and stood up, putting his boot over the Hunter's neck, and pressing down hard. Several Hunters, along with Zero, burst into Signas' office, hearing the commotion.[/I]

[B]Zero:[/B] Duke, Sir. Are you alright?

[B]Duke:[/B] Of course I am, you fool. Take this pathetic excuse for a Reploid down to the Brig. Don't worry, he'll be no struggle. He released his Limiters, and should be out of power... Now.

[I]Right on que, Xion was silenced, and fell into Stand-By, the reploid version of Unconsiousness. Zero's eyes widened.[/I]

[B]Zero:[/B] You managed to contain a Limit-Released Maverick by yourself? But you're not even a Reploid! Ah, I mean, no offence, Sir.

[B]Duke:[/B] How do you think I got to where I am today, Zero? I'm not some Pen-Pushing Neck-tie. I've had my glory days.

[I]Zero nodded obiediently. Demos would have hurled if he'd been there to see Zero's latest round of ***-kissing. Duke grinned, and looked at Xion.[/I]

[B]Duke:[/B] We'll schedule him for public execution. Let him be a lesson to all.

[I]The Hunters in the room, and gulped. Even Zero seemed phased.[/I]

[B]Zero:[/B] Y-Yes, Sir.

[I]The Hunters dragged Xion out of Duke's office, downstairs, heading towards the Holding cells of MHHQ. Meanwhile, Duke sat down at his desk, and was patched into Cerebelum.[/I]

[B]Duke:[/B] Please, continue.

[B]Hunter:[/B] We've detected a fleet of ten transport ships arriving from the North, Sir. They're just outside of the City Limits. They're not registered under any known organisations, Sir. Should we dispatch a unit, or activate our defences?

[I]Duke thought to himself. He thought they were arriving from the East. He frowned, and shrugged it off.[/I]

[B]Duke:[/B] No. They're from the UN's Special Ops team.

[B]Hunter:[/B] Aye, Sir. Shall I Hail them?

[B]Duke:[/B] No, that won't be nessecsary. Just let them through if anything happens.

[B]Hunter:[/B] Yes Sir.

[I]Duke terminated the Comm. link, and leant back in his chair, forming an arch with his hands. He had requested another squadron of Green Hunters to be dispatched, and was expecting them to arrive from the east. But here they were, 10 transports coming from the north--Twice as many as he had asked for. He hummed, and went back to monitoring the Hunters still at the Power Station.

Little did Duke know of the true origins of the Transports heading in from the North.[/I]

[James]

[color=#507AAC]It was five o'clock in the morning precisely. Proteus had prudently activated his stand-by mode for a couple of hours, in order to perform internal diagnostics and repair operations. But now, in the darkened cockpit, the vivid blue glow in his eyes emerged.

Proteus leaned forward over the command console and peered through the expansive glass facia of the transport. Sure enough, they were getting close; Proteus could see Novus Concordia's Darwin Port. It would only be a matter of minutes before the transports were breaching Hunter HQ air-space.

Meanwhile, Echo was still busying himself at the other end of the console. He was scratching his head thoughtfully.

"What is it?" asked Proteus, as he sat down next to Echo and looked over the piloting mechanism.

"If we follow the other transports all the way in, they'll mistake us for Protogen units. We need to find somewhere to land before we get too close," said Echo.

Proteus nodded. "Can you bring up a local area map?" he asked.

"Yes, here," Echo's large fingers punched the keys on the pilot mechanism quickly, which prompted one of the command console monitors to display a map of their surroundings. Proteus examined the map carefully for a few moments and then he saw it; a car park just inside the outer barrier of the HQ.

"Okay, can you sit her down here?" asked Proteus, his finger pointing to the virtually empty car park.

Echo nodded. "Yeah, that's no problem. It doesn't look like it's very busy at this time of the morning," he said.

The transport's orange thrusters faded slightly as the vehicle's speed retarded. They were now crossing the outer barrier to Hunter HQ. Echo had never seen Hunter HQ in his life and the view beyond was breathtaking. Hunter HQ was literally a city within a city. Echo guessed that the entire complex and surrounding buildings must have been several hundred miles across in every direction. The HQ itself wasn't simply one building; it was many hundreds of buildings. Some appeared to be tall apartment towers (for the staff of the HQ, Echo assumed), whilst others resembled expansive bunkers and hangars of various sizes and shapes. Between the buildings were a network of inter-connected roads and highways. Clearly, it would take an individual months to [i]walk[/i] from one entry gate to its counterpart on the opposite side of the complex. Sure enough, Echo could make out hundreds of sets of tiny lights, which appeared to belong to private vehicles. In the distance, on the horizon, Echo could barely make out a single enormous structure. It looked rather like an office tower, but it didn't appear to contain any windows (or at least, very few). The sides of the tower were flanked by gigantic guns, which seemed to be attached to stadium-sized hydraulics on the ground. As their transport moved forward a little further, Echo could also see that there were dozens upon dozens of towers and interconnecting superstructure surrounding the primary tower in the middle. Echo guessed that the large tower must be at least 100 floors in height -- it certainly [i]looked[/i] as though it dwarfed even the pink and purple clouds in the early morning sky.

"Hey, wake up Echo!" cried Proteus.

"Huh? Wha? Are we under attack?!"

Proteus laughed and tapped Echo on his metallic head. "You weren't paying attention! We nearly missed our drop-off point. But we're here now; let's land and get on stable ground!"

The transport slowly banked to the left and gently touched the car park's cool asphalt. The engine continue to hum for a few moments, before the orange thrusters faded and became dormant once more.

The side door to the transport slid open with a soft hiss as Proteus stepped out. Echo exited the front of the vehicle and joined Proteus in the carpark. The pair looked up into the purple sky and saw them; all 20 transport units. They had travelled a little farther south now and had crossed at least one sector. The transports were relatively silent, but were nevertheless an eerie sight. The airspace around MHHQ was relatively calm at this time of the morning, save for a few dozen UN transports and MHHQ fighters here and there.

Of course, the Maverick Hunter transports and fighters were nowhere near the north gate right now. Nor did they even notice the oncoming transports, apparently. The transports were now travelling in single file and were slithering between the apartment and office towers like some kind of enormous black snake. Their plasma engines were casting a vivid orange glow against the buildings surrounding them.

"How do we stop them?" asked Echo with a sense of urgency in his voice.

This was an interesting question. How to stop them indeed! Proteus had not thought this far, which immediately made him both frustrated and angry at his own lack of foresight. How would it be possible to stop twenty transports full of Protogen bombers? Proteus rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then turned to Echo.

"We need to shoot them down [i]before[/i] they eject the Protogen bombers. And to do that, we need to find the nearest Barrier Guns. They have automatic controls, but we can man them manually. There are two such guns only two blocks from here; but we'll have to hurry!" Proteus began running through the car park and as he did so, he gestured for Echo to follow. Sure enough, Echo's thunderous footsteps could be heard echoing throughout the empty lot.

The transports continued to amble their way past the gigantic Hunter HQ structures. They appeared to be speeding up and covering more distance in less time. Proteus had no idea where they were headed, but he suspected that they'd try to strike the central command tower. Both he and Echo continued to run through the streets, which were all but deserted in this sector. Occasionally, Proteus would see a startled scientist or medic, who's facial expression seemed to be saying "Hey, what's the rush?"

Finally, Proteus saw them; on either side of the eight lane street were two five story buildings. On their rooftops were situated two enormous laser cannons. The cannons had extensive barrels, which ended with a fine diamond tip. And at the base of each barrel (which was attached to a 360 degree rotation platform), a small Gunner Cell was located.

"Hurry! You take the right, I'll take the left!" cried Proteus. Echo didn't need further instruction; he dashed at full speed toward the right-hand side building and burst his way through its double doors.

Proteus, on the other hand, immediately activated his anti-gravity boots. Their soles glowed softly whilst Proteus was running. As he neared the building, he pushed at the ground hard and leapt in the air, scaling the five story building with little effort. With a loud thud, Proteus hit the roof hard and rolled forward, so as to avoid taking too much damage to his legs.

He could see a Gunner Cell Officer sitting inside the cell itself. The officer was reading what looked like a Mega Man comic (typical, thought Proteus). Proteus tore the cell's entrance door away and threw it to one side.

"Hey hey!! What the hell are you doing?! Are you insane or something?!" yelled the officer with a startled expression.

"Get [i]out[/i] of my way!" cried Proteus. "Now!"

He formed his right arm into a powerful plasma buster and aimed it directly at the officer, who dropped his comic and almost tumbled backwards out of his chair. He hopped around on the rooftop, on the other side of the cell; he'd spilt hot coffee all over his lap and was trying to remove his pants in a hurry.

At any other time, Proteus may have seen the humor in this situation. But not now. He jumped into the seat and activated the enormous weapon. With a series of clicks and high-pitched beeps, the gigantic hydraulic platform rotated to face the Red Alert 05 transports. They'd made quite some distance now, but were still clearly visible. Proteus quickly looked over to the building across the street and saw Echo sitting comfortably in the chair. He didn't seem to have any trouble gaining control of the laser.

Just as he had looked up again, in the direction of the transports, Proteus already saw bursts of yellow and orange light coming from various areas underneath the first transport. The Hunters in the area had been alerted and had commenced firing on the invaders. Seconds later, an almost deafening air-raid siren sounded and echoed through all corners of the city-sized Hunter HQ.

Moments later, Proteus saw the side entry door on the first transport open. A handful of Protogen units stood at the edge of the transport with their eyes closed and their arms crossed over their chest.

"No!" cried Proteus helplessly.

But it was too late. Three Protogen units tumbled from the side of the transport and disappeared below the visible horizon of buildings. Split seconds later, a deafening roar exploded through the streets within that sector, shattering windows and setting off car alarms for several kilometers around. Proteus stared in horror at the dark horizon. He saw at least four plumes orange light rising from the streets below the first transport. As the flashes of light ceased, nothing was heard. No more gunfire. Any Hunters below had been effortlessly destroyed.

Proteus was angry. He felt the rage run through his cybernetic veins and bring him alive like no other emotion could. As he fought back tears of shock and grief, Proteus grabbed the controls of the cannon and aimed at the first transport. He squeezed the trigger with all his might; nearly snapping the control stick in two. The entire cannon bucked fiercly, as a ring of sharp blue light spiralled down the massive barrel to the diamond tip and exploded from that point in the form of a large blue energy burst. The wave of pure energy moved so quickly that it almost looked as though it had disappeared and reappeared at the point of impact at the same time. The bolt of energy struck the first transport, causing an earth-shattering explosion of yellow, orange and blue. The transport disintegrated in mid-air. The explosion created a powerful shockwave, which in turn formed concentric circles around the core impact. The shockwaves forced their way in all directions, hitting several other transports at the same time. The result was a chain reaction of epic proportions; the first five units were torn apart. Within the resulting fireballs, Proteus could see dozens of Protogen units falling to earth. As they fell through the plumes of fire, they each exploded, creating streaks of fire which stretched almost to the ground.

Another loud "whoosh", followed by a powerful "bang" was heard, as Echo fired his cannon soon after. Instead of aiming at the first unit, he aimed his weapon at the last unit in the fleet. The result was the same; several fireballs (which easily drawfed the 100 floor central tower and obscured it from all view) erupted throughout the sky and created a blanket of orange and red haze.

Fire and burning debris rained down over several sectors of Hunter HQ. The thousands of pieces of metal were like extremely hot bullets and their impact was quite similar; several nearby towers were riddled with gaping holes. Tonnes of glass rained down from the upper levels and blanketed the streets below.

Already, Proteus could hear the sirens of emergency aid vehicles. He could even see several making their way south from the nearby street.

Proteus exited the Gunner Cell and sat on the edge of the rooftop. He could hear a myriad of noises coming from the central sectors. Shattering glass, further small explosions, the crackle of fire and the desperate pleas of mothers for their missing children.[/color]

[Chaos]

OOC: A beautiful post, James. :)

-- -- -- --
IC:

[i]The explosions were deafening. The silence of early city life was ripped apart, the smoke and fire and heat everywhere. It seemed the destruction had no limit, and shrapnel rained down upon the earth as if it carried some bane for all life. Metal came down in showers as if to purge the planet of existence. The small squad of Hunters dove down, and had to keep moving.

Within the few surrounding blocks, the Protogen attack was Hell on Earth, yet on the Hunter HQ alone. Rocks now fell, giving this apocalyptic image an even more frightening bite of realism. Chaos reigned supreme here, and it showed. People were running around, some getting cut down from the falling obstacles.

Others ran for cover in buildings, and others curled up into balls and cried for their mothers. The Hunters did no such thing; they dove for the subway, along with what few humans and reploids that had the sense to go underground. Emergency response vehicles were heard roaring down the streets, avoiding regard for own personal safety.

Sirens called out a warning to all, a prerecorded voice breaking the repetitive air raid horn, calling for people to seek shelter, and to not leave until the siren was deactivated. The message was repeated, and then night sky was then once more subjected to the harsh alarm.

The Hunters sighed, and took to the tunnel, looking to see for any sign of a train, by sheer habit alone.[/i]

[b]Demos:[/b] "Oh what the Hell what the Hell what the HELL..?"

[b]Reverb:[/b] "HQ isn't establishing contact. I can't even get dispatch."

[b]Iota:[/b] "Great, we can't even find out what happened."

[b]Demos:[/b] "I'm not even sure we want to know..."

[i]The rest of the group was silent from here on in, and they listened to the screams of the people, the hammering of the debris, and the wail of the sirens...[/i]

[Outlaw]

[I]The streets where covered in glass and debre from the surrounding building. One crisis had been averted, but at what price. The people of the city scrabled around the ruins, searching for lost friends and family. The entire city was in panic. Only one figure seemed to remain calm, slowly limping through the streets. He had been gone for so long, and had finaly found his way home. The figure caught Proteus' eye.[/I]

Proteus: Who the hell? That guy looks familiar, but I can't recall from where...

Echo: [i]hearing him from across the roof tops[/i] Could he be a left over Maverick.

Proteus: I'm not sure. Go down and check, I'll keep watch from up here.

Echo: Afermative.

[i]The massive reploid lept from the roof, sliding along the building side as most reploids are able to do. He landed with a large thud, startiling the obviosly injured reploid. Before he could say anything, the Reploid reported himself.[/i]

Repliod: Lt. Bogard, Maverick hunters [i]groans[/i] Elite Squad, repoooo ahhhh

[i]Bogard colapsed on the ground from exastsion. He was out cold.[/i]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
OOC: Sorry I haven't posted in a while guys, we moved and it took a long time for us to get the net running again.

[James]

OOC: I just want to remind everyone that the attack occured well within the boundaries of Hunter HQ. In other words, it didn't occur within the city at all.

Remember, Hunter HQ is like a city within a city. The difference is that only the staff of the organization (and guests) are allowed inside the barrier that seperates Novus Concordia with Hunter HQ.

So, none of the actual city was damaged. But when you consider that Hunter HQ has hundreds of thousands of employees (and possibly more than a million), you can see why the devistation was so massive. I'll edit this later with a post.

EDIT: Oh and...the entire city wouldn't really be in panic as such. The attack covered around three inner blocks of [i]Hunter HQ[/i]. So, the glow of fire might be visible from the rest of the city (which is outside the barrier), but the real panic and chaos is occuring inside Hunter HQ. Even on the outer sectors, it's totally calm...that's how massive Hunter HQ is. Just needed to clarify that a bit. ~_^

If you read my post carefully, where I describe the HQ...you'll see what kind of place it is.

[Outlaw]

OOC: Sorry dude, just the way I read it it sounded like the attack was stopped before hitting HQ. I'll keep that in mind in later posts though.

[Talon]

[color=teal][i]Xion's Limiter reactivated ten minutes before his execution, which was broadcast live to every television in the range of eighteen miles. Xion sighed, his energy levels cooling down. He looked at his busters, which had been removed. His blades, taken. A firing squad of Green Hunters stood before him. Something was wrong, though. He smiled and began to laugh maniacally.[/i]

[b]Xion:[/b]You fools! By publically executing me, I can expose you all! People of Novus Concordia! Do not trust the Hunters anymore! They are responsible for the attack on the power facility! The Hunters killed humans! DO NOT TRUST THE HUNT-

[i]The squad fired. Xion's main core reactor was hit, his body wracked. Still he lived. To avoid detection, he set himself into deep standby. Zero checked his vital signs, but saw the glowing LED. At once, a moment of conscious struck the red Hunter.[/i]

[b]Zero:[/b]He's....he's dead. Shall I junk him?

[b]Duke:[/b]Do it. Throw him in the trash heap. His parts might contaminate more of our upcoming Hunters...

[i]A Hunter put Xion's body in the dump, five miles away. Right next to the AX-busters and the two sabers. But somebody had to reactivate his system soon, or core leakage would cause him to implode. Luckily, the Hunter was Zero. With a flick of the switch behing Xion's left shoulder blade, deep standby was cancelled.[/i]

[b]Xion:[/b]Thanks....but it's too late. I'm dead. Nothing more......just......dead...................

[i]Xion's HUD flickered, reading SYSTEM CRITICAL: CORE SHUTDOWN IMMINENT. LIFE SUPPORT: OFFLINE. Xion's eyes closed one last time, his body surrounded by garbage and maverick parts.[/i]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There, I'm dead. Any of you happy?!?![/color]

[Chaos]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by James [/i]
[B]-insert rambly stuff-[/B][/QUOTE]


Ever seen something explode? Notice that things go out and up when they explode. THAT'S what was going down in my post. Silly Jeh-Jeh. ;P

[James]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Medra [/i]
[B]Ever seen something explode? Notice that things go out and up when they explode. THAT'S what was going down in my post. Silly Jeh-Jeh. ;P [/B][/QUOTE]

Ahh, yeah, but you have to remember a few things.

First, despite the size of the explosion...it would still only cover around 2 to 4 "city blocks" of MHHQ.

The key is to remember the sheer scale of the MHHQ territory. It's not just one building; it's like a city within a city, as I mention in my post.

Even those in the mid-sector areas of MHHQ would not see any debris. They'd certainly see the explosion (and probably hear/feel the impact), but it wouldn't affect 'em.

So, for those outside the MHHQ barrier...well, they would probably see the bursts of light in the distance...but even then it would be very remote. An explosion of that size is large, but how large is it from over 100 kilometers away? You could probably see a flash of light, especially at night...but it wouldn't be very devistating.

Also, the people who live inside the MHHQ barrier are all MHHQ staff. Even excluding the reploids, there would probably be thousands of human staff.

So, anyway...I'm sorry for that long response, but it's really important to be accurate. I did my best to describe the HQ in my post (considering that I had to do so relatively briefly). So if you ever need a reference point, my post has that paragraph in it. Also, hopefully we can get a scaled map of the place soon...and then everyone can see how it goes. ^_^

But yeah, let's get back to the RP posts. We don't want to disturb the story too much.

[Flash]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Etarah's Maverick [/i]
[B][color=teal] There, I'm dead. Any of you happy?!?![/color][/B][/QUOTE]

Your words man, not mine.
---

[I]Duke was enraged. Various reports flooded onto every single screen, all showing damage caused by the series of major explosions. Hunters were constantly running into his office, shouting out more news of the aftermath of the explosion. Others were investigating the causes of the attack. Duke was sick of it already. He slammed his fist down on what was once Signas' desk, cracking the wood down the middle.

His teeth were grinding against each other, and had his knuckles been visible underneath his black gloves, it would have been clear to see they were white. All entrances to Maverick Hunter HQ were locked down, and all Hunters on maximum alert. Such an attack on HQ had never happened--Even before the high-level security systems had been brought online. Another screen flickered to life, but this one had nothing to do with the Attacks. A Hunter in a green Commander's uniform appeared, promptly saluting Duke.[/I]

[B]Commander:[/B] Sir Duke!

[B]Duke:[/B] Commander?

[B]Commander:[/B] The fleet is arriving from the East, as you ordered, Sir.

[B]Duke:[/B] Ah, finally, some good news.

[I]Duke leant back in his chair, and relaxed a little. Finally, everything was beginning to fall together.[/I]

[B]Commander:[/B] Has something happened, Sir?

[B]Duke:[/B] Nothing out of the ordinary, Commander.

[I]The Commander frowned, but tried his best to maintain his attentive stance.[/I]

[B]Commander:[/B] Sir Duke... Has the committee given you permission to do this? Is the committee even aware?

[I]Duke leant fowards, nearly pressing his face against the screen. He spoke in a harsh, raspy voice to the Commander.[/I]

[B]Duke:[/B] Either way, It does not concern you. Stick to your duties, [I]Commander[/I].

[I]Duke pressed the 'disconnect' button fiercely. Everyone was getting on his nerves lately; But soon, that would all change.

Just outside of the boundaries of HQ's perimeter, Demos, Iota and Reverb entered HQ via the underground subway access routes. Not many people knew about them, and those who did needed Commander-Level clearance to get through. Fortunately, Demos had just that. Several Titanium-plate doors slid open, and the three Hunters entered. They were on Sub-Level 3. It was virtually abandoned; The few Hunters that were usually posted here were obviously on the higher floors. The three hunters walked around, until they found a medium-sized storage room, filled with metal crates and computer equipment.[/I]

[B]Reverb:[/B] Well, we're in. Now what?

[B]Iota:[/B] I dunno. We should probably try to keep a low profile, because if Duke finds us, he may very well have us executed.

[B]Demos:[/B] Hmm. So you're saying we should stay low until the other Hunters get back?

[B]Iota:[/B] Right. That way, Duke won't know.

[I]Demos nodded. He opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly, he was picking up a familiar signal--Proteus. He looked around, getting the bearing of the Elite Hunter. He was outside, in the car park. There was another with him.[/I]

[B]Reverb:[/B] What is it, Demos?

[B]Demos:[/B] Proteus is back! Dammit, we need to get him down here... But with all the static from the explosion, I can't get a message through.

[B]Iota:[/B] Let me try.

[I]Iota placed her right hand on the Radar device on her ear. It produced a faint humming noise, and sent a high-frequency signal to Proteus. It was unaffected by the jamming caused by the explosion. Iota opened her eyes, and looked at Demos and Reverb.[/I]

[B]Iota:[/B] I think he got it. With any luck, he should be down here in a few minutes--If he can find a way in.

[James]

[color=#808080]Proteus had been sitting on the edge of the rooftop for nearly half an hour, when he received a garbled transmission from what appeared to be one of the sub-levels of Hunter HQ. It bore a familiar signature; Iota. Proteus sighed and stood up slowly. His legs and arms felt unusually heavy. The air still carried the scent of charred plastic and ash. And the sky over Hunter HQ was scarred by a deep gash of vivid crimson.

Proteus leapt from the rooftop and landed softly on the cool street below. Now, the streets in this sector were deserted. All of Hunter HQ's Emergency Services units were centered around Sector 2 and 3 (Sector 1 being the area directly surrounding the Capital Building). Proteus could not even bear to glance down the road. He could almost [i]feel[/i] the continual heat eminating from various buildings, despite the fact that even the closest damaged buildings were around three kilometers away.

A heavy thudding sound echoed throughout the nearby streets, breaking Proteus' thought. It was Echo. Even though he was a machine, he looked exhausted. His eyes seemed different to Proteus; they were still the same color and shape, but now they seemed to have years of experience and wisdom behind them.

"Proteus sir, we did our best...," breathed Echo, as he awkardly struggled with what could only have been his emotions. Even a Maverick could understand and comprehend the seriousness and tragic nature of this situation.

"Yeah, we did," replied Proteus softly. He smiled at Echo. "We've done everything that we can here. Had we not acted, many more may have suffered today."

Echo nodded slowly. "What now?" he asked.

Proteus paused for a moment and opened his mouth. He began speaking in a female voice, laced with static interference. After a moment, he stopped.

"I just replayed a message that I received moments ago," he said.

"Who was that?" asked Echo.

"It was Iota. I think they're on Sub-Level 3. I need to get there, Echo."

Echo nodded and patted Proteus on the shoulder. "Yes, you should go to your friends."

Proteus smiled. "What are you going to do now?"

Echo sighed and drew a long breath. "I'm going to help the Emergency Services. I might as well make use of myself while I'm here," he said.

The pair nodded and bid each other goodbye. Echo trundled south down the deserted street, whilst Proteus headed north. Getting to Sub-Level 3 was significantly easier when one was already inside Hunter HQ. In fact, most of the employee apartments had some sort of access to the Sub-Levels. However, Sub-Level 3 contained some very sensitive areas -- in particular, it contained expansive weapons storage depots. Thus, only Elite Hunters and equivalent human personnel were allowed to enter the expansive Sub-Level 3 without a senior escort.

Proteus engaged his internal Hunter HQ map and plotted a course for the general area where Iota's transmission had originated. And with that, Proteus ran along the footpath as fast as his legs could carry him, toward the nearest security checkpoint. From there, he'd be able to use a security car to reach the inner depths of Sub-Level 3.[/color]

[Chaos]

[center][b]Communication Uplink :: Establishing...
...
...
Communication Uplink :: Failed; Unknown intereferance[/center][/b]

[i]"****ing Hell. I can't even get Havoc. What the Hell is going on? Proteus should be here by now, and I have no clue where the others are. Hell, I'd even be glad to see X's bleeding heart about now. Dammit. Flash, if you were here...what would you do? God I miss you. And Omega. ****, if you two were here, and Warlock, this would be so much easier. ...But you aren't. I'll be strong, you two. I'll do this for you.[/i]

[b]Demos:[/b] "Okay, look around. See if there is anything in here that you can find to use. We're going to make a stand against Duke, at on point in time. You don't really need to take any weapons right now if you feel like it, but it'd be a good idea to know where a certain what'sit is at."
-- -- -- --
WB...God_damn_it_all.

[James]

[color=#808080]The Sub-Level 3 carpark was completely deserted. The asphalt was cool and dark; no vehicles had been to this part of Hunter Headquarters in several days. The darkness was broken by security lights on the surrounding walls and ceilings. The crimson rays of light were dividing the darkness like shards of broken glass as they flickered silently. But soon, the silence was disturbed by the soft humming of a fusion engine. A curvy, titanium and fiberglass security car entered the carpark from one of its many exit ramps and rolled through the enormous area. Sitting snugly inside the car was Proteus, who was carefully following his own internal schematic of the complex. The map was hovering over the side of the car's windshield; as soon as Proteus had sat in the car, he was able to link his own internal navigation system to the vehicle.

"I must hurry," he thought to himself.

For the next half hour or so, the security car rolled quietly through the carpark and through several access corridors. The corridors were large enough to fit several vehicles (various APCs routinely travelled through them, particularly when they had undergone repairs or had new weapons fitted). But now, like the carpark, the access tunnels were empty. This surprised Proteus, because even at this time of the morning (around 5:30am), these areas were usually full of Maverick Hunter employees, transport vehicles, security cars and other machinery. Proteus guessed that most of the security cars were patrolling the barriers now, in case of a second attack. He also guessed that most of the human employees had been ordered to remain in their apartments for the time being. Most staff didn't begin work until around 7am, but the top secret Sub-Level 3 area was usually full of staff throughout all 24 hours of the day.

Perhaps Signas had called them to a meeting. Or perhaps they were assembled within special emergency bunkers to await security instructions. Proteus had no idea. And for his own aprt, he didn't know what his friends knew about the MHHQ leadership. But he [i]did[/i] know something they didn't; the origin of this latest attack.

Finally, Proteus came to a Service Gate. He couldn't take the vehicle any further. This part of Sub-Level 3 contained a string of corridors and access tunnels that were several kilometers in length either way. Vehicles were not allowed because this part of Sub-Level 3 was highly sensitive; only the most senior of staff were able to travel here. This is where some of MHHQ's most secretive weapons labs were located. Proteus thought that it made sense for his friends to hide here. Afterall, it was very quiet and they'd have plenty of time to prepare plans for their next move.

Proteus pushed his face into a mould on the wall, which promptly skanned his microhydraulic retina and performed a quick surface sample. Within seconds, the data was analyzed and compared to a security database. As expected, the heavy door opened with a sharp "click". And the light above the mould turned green.

Beyond this door was the very first of several hundred access corridors. The environment inside was surprisingly serene. Also, it was not as dark as the more "public" areas of the Sub-Level. The entire corridor was lit up. It was also an incredibly clean environment, devoid of dust and dirt. This was because of the sensitive nature of many of the weapons projects inside. Proteus began making his way down the hall. His HUD was still active and he could see the small blinking dot (representing Iota) blinking. He was only a couple of turns away from his friends' location.

[center][img]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6052[/img][/center]

Little did he know, the heat-sensitive security cameras were still active in this region. Nobody was supposed to be down here under such an emergency. The static had caused major interference between communications systems across the Headquarters, but nevertheless, [i]someone[/i] now knew that the Sub-Level 3 high security areas had activity within. Proteus and his friends had unwittingly lessened the amount of time they'd have to make plans. At the very least, they'd be located and called to action. And now wasn't the time for that; Proteus needed to explain about the Red Alert organization (or at least what he knew) and he needed to learn what his friends knew. Hopefully this hastily convened meeting would provide both parties with some much needed answers...[/color]

[Flash]

[B]Iota:[/B] I don't think that's an appropriate course of action at all, Demos. Duke doesn't even know we're here, let alone that we're going to retaliate.

[B]Demos:[/B] I know that. I'm talking ahead of time.. If we ever need to fight, it'd be best to have a stockpile of weaponary at our disposal, right? Besides, Sub-Level 3 is the perfect place for a rebellion--Weapons everywhere, and an exit that I doubt even Duke knows about.

[B]Reverb:[/B] Right. Well, I for one am eager to find out what that 'Phi' was talking about...

[B]Iota:[/B] Yeah, me too..

[I]But Iota already had a good mind that she knew what Phi was talking about--But little did she know, it was only the tip of a massive iceberg. And still, she kept quiet about it. She felt bound by some irresistible force, compelled not to say anything, no matter how much it bugged her.[/I]

[B]Iota:[/B] Hey, Demos, how far down does HQ go?

[B]Demos:[/B] Hmm.. Lemme think... Sub-Level 5 is the last level with Public access. Most of it's just storage. I've been down so far as Sub-Level 8... That's where I found you, Reverb.

[I]Reverb raised an eyebrow. No-one had actually told him where he'd been found before. The thought interested him.[/I]

[B]Reverb:[/B] What's on Sub-Level 8?

[B]Demos:[/B] To tell you the truth, I have no idea. It looked pretty damned old, though. I think it might have been some kind of genetics lab... The whole place was trashed, though. And there were you, encased in a capsule, sleepin' like a baby. Heh heh.

[B]Reverb:[/B] Ah... So what's below that?

[I]Demos closed his eyes, and shrugged nonchalantly.[/I]

[B]Demos:[/B] I dunno. I doubt anyone really knows. Flash might, were he still here...

[I]Iota looked away from Reverb and Demos. She knew what was down there, and she was burning to tell them. But still, that unspoken oath of secrecy confined her, and she said nothing.[/I]

[James]

[color=#808080]After an additional few minutes of corridor negotiating, Proteus had finally found the small bunker in which his friends were waiting. As the door slid open and everyone was finally able to see Proteus, the emotion in the room became obvious. Even Iota, who hadn't known Proteus at all before, seemed happy to see him.

The room they were in was full of titanium and aluminium crates. This was one of the smaller ammunition dumps within the Sub-Level 3 area. Proteus sat down on a nearby crate and glanced at everyone briefly. Demos wasn't his usual self. He wasn't running around with his usual fiery attitude; instead, he sat in virtual silence. He was deeply contemplating the events of the last few hours. Reverb's face was the same, but it was also very different. He had now experienced death -- perhaps in the worst possible way. And now, perhaps through this experience, he was truly one of them.

Iota, for her part, remained highly composed throughout the ordeal. She didn't seem to be visibly shaken, but Proteus knew that the gravity of recent events did not escape anyone in the small room.

Demos sighed and rest his hands on his knees. "So," he breathed, "what's the story?"

"Where do I start?", questioned Proteus.

"Well, you could start with that missile incident," replied Demos slowly.

Proteus nodded. "It was Dr. Karman who had me kidnapped from here."

These words alone revealed so much to the others in the room.

"Dammit! So [i]that's[/i] how the terrorists knew how to strike us?!" Demos seemed infuriated. He stood up and kicked the titanium crate to one side.

Proteus nodded once again. "Yes. That's how they knew. Dr. Karman has been planning revenge on the Hunters for quite a while, it seems."

Reverb glanced at Proteus. "I don't get it...why would she want revenge? For what reason?"

"Well, it's a long story. But basically, a family member of hers was killed in the airstrike that Warlock ordered several years ago. She has never forgiven this organization for that loss," explained Proteus. "In fact, she has set up some sort of organization abroad...called Red Alert. It seems that her entire purpose is to undermine the Maverick Hunters. I am her creation...she wanted me to infiltrate this place. But when she realized that I was never activated, she decided to do it herself."

Everyone in the room was silent. Proteus' words were revealing so much about recent days; it was coming together for them.

"And so, the suicide attack was orchestrated by her group. I don't know how large they are, but the Red Alert 05 complex in Kyushu is pretty large. It covers the side of a mountain range there."

Iota interjected; "Wait, Proteus...you said [i]Red Alert Five[/i]. Does that mean there are others?"

"I don't know. I didn't find any information to suggest the existence of other centers...but I wasn't there for very long."

Demos sat down on another crate and looked up at Proteus. "Yeah, well...now everything's really screwed up. Red Alert is just another problem we gotta deal with here; there is something going on with the Hunter leadership. Duke gave us some pretty crazy orders back there..."

Proteus questioned what Demos meant by this and Demos proceeded to explain the civilian deaths that had occurred at the hands of the Hunters. Proteus was flawed by this news; he looked visibly shaken by Demo's words. He had thought that Red Alert was bad enough on its own, but now this?

"I don't know what to do," he muttered. "How can we possibly have any control over this situation?"

The others did not respond immediately. But finally, Reverb looked up at Proteus and smiled. "I'm sure we can do something, Proteus. We're not [i]just[/i] servants of Maverick Hunters...we have our own free will. We can sort this out if we have to."

These words were comforting to Proteus, as was Reverb's enthusiasm. But still, he had no idea how this small group of hunters could do [i]anything[/i] to repair the massive problems that they were facing...[/color]

[Flash]

[I]Iota rubbed her chin, thinking. She had a realisation, and didn't look pleased. Her expression was one of worry and anxiety.[/I]

[B]Iota:[/B] Wait a minute--At the Facility Duke ordered us to attack, there were ALED officers there, right?

[B]Demos:[/B] Yeah, you shot one right through the eye. Nice shot, by the way.

[I]The female reploid forced a wry smile.[/I]

[B]Iota:[/B] Uh, thanks. But what I'm trying to say here is... Won't ALED retaliate?

[I]Reverb looked up at Iota. He too showed signs of worry.[/I]

[B]Reverb:[/B] Good point. They have every reason to attack us..

[B]Demos:[/B] Heh, knowing them, I'm surprised they haven't yet.

[B]Proteus:[/B] We've got to speak with Duke.

[I]Everyone went silent. To do so might very well cost them their lives, but they had to, for their safety and the safety of everyone at HQ. Finally, Reverb stood.[/I]

[B]Reverb:[/B] I'll go.

[B]Demos:[/B] Alone? You got a death wish or somethin'?

[B]Reverb:[/B] No, It'll be fine. I'll transmit everything straight to Iota, who can relay it to you guys.

[B]Proteus:[/B] We can't just let you go alone!

[B]Reverb:[/B] Trust me.. I'll be fine. You guys stay down here, I'll start transmitting as soon as I get to Signas' office.

[B]Demos:[/B] [I]If[/I] you can get there. Half of HQ is locked down!

[B]Reverb:[/B] I know a few secret-passages... Heh heh.

[I]Reverb saluted the others, and ran out of the room. Iota grabbed him by the forearm as he did so.[/I]

[B]Iota:[/B] Be careful.

[I]The Hunter nodded, and ran off into the corridoor, the metallic door to the storage room closing swiftly behind him. The other three stayed put, much to their own reluctance. After half a minute, Proteus stood, and ran out after Reverb. Demos yelled at him.[/I]

[B]Demos:[/B] Proteus! Where are you going?

[B]Proteus:[/B] I'm gonna cover Reverb!

[I]The door slid vertically up and back down behind him. Iotal looked at Demos, who shook his head back.[/I]

[B]Demos:[/B] No way. We're not going [i]anywhere.[/i]

[I]Iota smiled, and giggled to herself, as Demos put his hands behind his head and leant back in a comfortable position. He hadn't had a decent chance to rest in days, and by god he was going to do it now. Iota slid back, and looked at the ceiling, considering the idea of an attack by the ALED, while thoughts of Sub Level-11 continually crawled menacingly through her mind.[/I]

[Chaos]

[i][center]No... ...No. Can't go. Nope. Not a chance. I'm not moving. No way in Hell. They'll be... ... ...

I'm not going. Nope, nope, nope. Not. A. Chance.[/center]

Demos continued to lay back, counting off the seconds, which crawled by in his head. Similar thoughts ran through his mind and he ignored the impulse to just go out and start killing things.

[center]It would be a waste of energy. Let the ALED take care of the automated defenses of the base. And the drones. Less to spend money on repairing. Then we could virtually waltz in and launch a strike. Yes, that will do.[/center]

Demos didn't seem to notice the slight beeping noise that slowly crept through the hallway outside. Little did he know that a little commotion was about to start...[/i]
-- -- -- --
*eats WB*

[James]

[color=#808080]Proteus dashed down the white hallway after Reverb. Finally, he caught up. He grabbed Reverb by the shoulder and pulled him to a stop. Reverb recoiled immediately and aimed his buster at Proteus.

"Hey! Agh, sorry Proteus. I got a fright; I thought it might have been a security droid or something," Reverb lowered his buster and smiled. "Why are you here?"

"I came to cover you," said Proteus. Reverb nodded in response. Somehow he suspected that Proteus would try to protect him.

The pair began walking down the hallway a little more casually, perhaps bolstered by each other's presence. Reverb was clearly very alert. Proteus noticed the sharp movements of his eyes, as they scanned the hallway further ahead. Reverb was ready for anything.

Proteus was very curious about Reverb; about his origins and why he was here.

"Heh, I wonder how many unactivated reploids they have down below us," he muttered.

Reverb nodded, but continued scanning the halls dilligently. "Yeah, it makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

"I still don't feel like I belong. Well, not completely," said Proteus. At this, Reverb did glance over at Proteus for a brief moment before fixing his gaze on the corridor once more.

"Why do you say that?"

Proteus paused. He wasn't comfortable talking about personal issues, mostly because he never knew how to express his own feelings. Even though he'd had years of experiences and years to come to terms with emotion, he'd never really been able to understand his feelings.

"I don't know. We get produced, we perform our professional duties and then what happens?"

"Well, we [i]are[/i] designed for the Maverick Hunters. We're owned by the United Nations. This is what we're here for, I guess," said Reverb.

"But doesn't that bother you?"

"What?"

"The fact that you don't even own your body. The fact that we're just military tools for some beauracratic organization. I mean, what if I want to retire? I don't get paid and I don't have any chance of living outside this place."

Proteus went silent after these remarks. He didn't realize what he was saying while he was talking, but it suddenly occurred to him that he'd provided a major revelation about his own uncertainty of the future. Reverb also sensed this. But he did not appear to be uncomfortable at all.

"It doesn't bother me, I guess. I'm proud of my job. I'm proud of the fact that I protect peaceful citizens from the Mavericks and everything...that's enough for me, I guess," he said.

Proteus merely nodded and continued walking.

Several minutes later, Proteus stopped dead in the hallway. Reverb did a double take and spun around. "Hey, why did you stop?" he asked.

"Reverb...that strike on ALED...did Duke know that ALED was even there?"

Reverb rubbed his chin for a moment thoughtfully. "Well, I don't know. Maybe he thought it was someone else and we accidentally attacked the wrong people. Maybe it was an honest mistake. I guess we should at least [i]assume[/i] that it was a mistake," he replied.

Proteus shook his head slowly. "But what if it wasn't? I agree that there's a small chance of it being deliberate. But if that chance exists, what then? If we confront Duke about this...and if we are wrong in assuming that it was an accident...we don't have any chance of resolving the problem", said Proteus.

Reverb nodded slowly. He understood what Proteus was saying; better to be careful, just incase they're wrong.

"So what do we do?" asked Reverb after a moment of thought.

Proteus sat down on one of the thick curves that was jutting out from the tubular wall. "I don't know," he said.

"Perhaps," began Proteus, "we should make some sort of secure area within Hunter HQ. I mean, we should find a place where we can store munitions and communications equipment, just incase things get nasty."

Reverb sat down next to Proteus. "Do you have any idea where we could go?"

Proteus shook his head. "No. Maybe we could use Iota's apartment, it's on the outermost sector of Hunter HQ...if anything, the security droids here would be looking at the Sub-Levels and other sensitive places. Duke isn't looking for us [i]yet[/i]. So, we can take advantage of that."

Reverb nodded. "So, we make a base of operations and then we create a plan for dealing with this?"

"Yes. We have to find a secure place to talk and work things out. We won't be able to stay in the Sub-Levels for a very long period of time"

Proteus and Reverb both stood up and began running back to the storage room for the others. Little did they know, they'd find some resistence on the way there...[/color]

[Flash]

[I]The doors to the storage room burst open, Reverb and Proteus running in. Demos casually looked up.[/I]

[B]Demos:[/B] Back so soon?

[B]Proteus:[/B] I had a thought. Perhaps we should make ourselves a 'safehouse'--Somewhere we can escape to if things get out of hand.

[B]Demos:[/B] Sounds like a good plan. But where?

[B]Reverb:[/B] Well, we were thinking of using... Your apartment, Iota.

[I]Iota threw her head back, and laughed heartily, with a hint of sarcasm. After a few moments, she lowered her gaze at Reverb and Proteus, and stopped.[/I]

[b]Iota:[/b] That's funny... No. I do have an idea, though.. Warlock lives in that city out in the desert, doesn't he?

[b]Demos:[/b] That's right, he does.

[b]Iota:[/b] So why not use that as a safe-haven? It'd certainly much easier than setting up a base of ops so close to HQ.

[I]Reverb nodded, and looked at Proteus, who too nodded in approval.[/I]

[b]Reverb:[/b] Alright then. You guys, start grabbing munitions from here to smuggle back to Warlock's place. Iota, contact Warlock at once. I'll go and see Duke, as intended.

[b]Proteus:[/b] I'll go with y--

[b]Reverb:[/b] --No, stay here. I'll be fine. If Duke sees you, it's gonna raise alot of questions. We needn't bring any attention to ourselves.

[I]Proteus reluctantly agreed to Reverb's terms, and stayed with Iota and Demos. Reverb took a deep breath, and exited the storage room, heading for Duke's office.[/I]

[b]Iota:[/b] Good luck.

[i]Reverb turned to the female reploid and smiled, as the metallic door closed swiftly behind him.[/i]

[Chaos]

[b]Demos:[/b] "*******'s gonna get himself smoked."

[b]Iota:[/b] "I really wish you hadn't said that."

[b]Demos:[/b] "Huh? Ah, crap. I did it again. I was just thinking about what I would do the next time I see Duke."

[b]Proteus:[/b] "Heh. If I may interrupt, however, we need to start packing."

[b]Demos:[/b] "Hmm. I wish Havoc was in contact. All lines of communication are down though. Not even the emegency frequency. Iota, if you would, do you think you could try in a few minutes?"

[b]Iota:[/b] "I can as long as Reverb isn't trying to call in. And provided that the interferance clears up."

[i]Demos nodded solumnly, and opened a large metal crate on the side of him. He was instantly greeted with a load of ancient, yet effective, grenades. Specifically, ball-bearing grenades. Next to him, in a closet-like area, he found many military-grade duffle bags. He began stocking many of the grenades in the bag, also finding various scrambling devices.

Likewise, Proteus and Iota followed suit, finding other heavy arms.

Demos, however, focused on anti-personel gear. A heavy machinegun, a larger version of the prehistoric M60, was slung across his back, a chain of 10MM bullets leading into another duffle bag, filled to the brim with rounds. In a ammo belt, straped across his chest, Demos filled up with something relatively new to combat; beam crystals, glass surrounding a genorator with a steel pin going through it. Upon pulling the pin, five seconds until detonation, which unleashed a field of energy, with the same effects of a beam sword, and a radius of ten feet.

Demos also grabbed several generic beam sabres, strapping them to his side, and grapped a Vash-like hand cannon, which fired a miniature plasma grenade, which was especially useful for high-speed battles in which a moderately large explosion was needed.

Upon completetion, Demos was weighed down with three bags [one for the 10MM ammo, one for the grenades and rockets, and about four hundred pounds of C4 evenly distributed through the three bags], a huge AP gun, and his hand cannon, along with the extra beam sabres.

He noted that he was a bit eager on his weapon-gathering, and Iota and Proteus weren't quiet done yet. So he patiently waited, and checked his sytems;

[b]Overall System Performance:[/b] 87%

[b]Fuel Supply:[/b] 89%

[b]System Integrity:[/b] 19%

[b]Weapons Strength Rating (WSR):[/b] 92%

[b]Coolant Reserve:[/b] 66%

[b]Primary Systems Reserve:[/b] 89%

[b]Secondary Systems Reserve:[/b] 64%

[b]Energy Output Percentage:[/b] 72%[/i]

[b]Demos:[/b] "Well guys. I'm ready to go. Systems are in the green, and I'm ready to kick some ***. Ready when y'all are."