Futuristic Blacksun (Notorious x C.DEX)

[C.DEX]

"This is where we make the plans to kick bad guy butt." Dayle said. She lead the girls along to her own pilot seat, where she bent down to get to Ayla's level. "Hold on!" she said, and wrapped an arm around the girl's back. Soon enough, she'd lifted her into the seat. It was a comical sight; the seat was far larger than what was meant for a child, and the girl's feet had no chance of touching the ground.


The pilot reached over to the manual controls, poking and prodding at the buttons until the viewport - which had normally only displayed current statistics, cameras, and other information that lead the ship to accomplishing its missions - was displaying a characterized version of an alien with three eyes and a robotic dog doing whatever cartoons do. When she had seen that the little girl was pleased, she offered a smile. "Now, don't forget to put your seatbelt on." she noted, pointing to the top of the chair and the buckle at the bottom of it. Of course, there was way such a mechanism would fit such a small child, but the little things mattered.


Just as Dayle had finished buckling the little one in, a rumbling had occurred outside of the Gaius. The pilot stood up and looked through the cartoon displaying on the viewport. "Shit." she murmured, as if suddenly unbeknownst to the child in her presence. She looked to Lucy, giving her a small plea with her eyes. "Look after Ayla for a bit." she said, "I don't want her down there when we have to deal with the Chancellor."


Suddenly, she absconded from the room and found herself downstairs with Vitor, leaving both Ayla and Lucy in the dust. She and Vitor would be the theoretical welcoming group to the large transport van, with Axel following close in the wings.


Outside of the Gaius, a decently large vehicle designed to take extreme offense without giving waited. It was emblazened with an emblem closely resembling the RCN's own, with a slight difference that indicated the division the vehicle had been from. Information and Acquisition. Given Chancellor Ifrit'a'Div wasn't there, that only meant one thing. Nephilim.


The doors slid open, giving way to a small swathe of guards. It was no surprise to anyone that the Vice-Chancellor would bring more guards with him at that point; after all, whispers of treason from within the RCN-1 had wreaked the massive station. Not only that, but the instability of the Gaius crew was up in the air. That hadn't meant that the Chancellor might take it easy on them, of course.


The Chancellor disembarked from the vehicle's ramp, hands tucked into the flowing navy blue garb that adorned him. His skin was a deep red, an interesting contrast to his robes. Stark black hair flowed down from his scalp. In a way, he almost looked thinly frail. Still, what anyone could see of his flesh bore no signs of combat or scarring. His hands, laced together, were soft and unused. Still, Nephilim walked with a certain conviction - shoulders and chin high - that would set anyone with sensibilities on edge. He looped around the corner, bearing large inhuman guards at his sides, while several others remained at the base of the loading ramp. They had effectively blocked off any means of exit the Gaius crew had, forcing what was going to be an inevitably bad encounter.


Nephilim honed in on them like a panther to his prey; silent and calculating. When he'd found that the only two that graced his presence immediately were Dayle and Vitor, his eyes shot up to the stairs that lead up to the cockpit. There was an acute awareness to him, and a tension in the air that seemed to play a small smile to his lips. A smile that had sent a shiver up the both of their spines, and caused the pilot to speak out and break the thickness of the air.


"Vice-Chancellor." Dayle said. While it was also proper notation to leave off the prefix, there was a certain rebellion and disrespect that came with the small amount of words that left her mouth.


"Pilot." He replied, then looked to Vitor. "Frede." he said, in greeting, with a small nod of his head. The smaller amount of respect that he'd given Vitor as opposed to the still wild-looking Dayle. It sent a slight tinge to her face.


"Assemble your team. I don't like to repeat myself."

 

[Notorious]

Vitor returned the curt nod, knowing better than to upset the Chancellor after what he had made him do. Perhaps, in a twisted way, it had been the right thing to do with their current situation. Maybe, just maybe, it should have gone longer too. Axel came walking out from behind them, surprisingly very little sounds from him walking up even with all the new metal augmentations. He looked like a war veteran that had gone in too many times, his experience scarring his appearance. Quite literally the opposite of the Vice-Chancellor before them who remained rather clean and proper, whilst Axel seemed dirty just looking at him. Without the hat or the big goofy grin on his face the Gaius captain looked much more intimidating than their previous exchange, his whole aura without Ayla nearby that of what it had been like when he was in that hospital bed.


"Chancellor Nephilim." Axel spoke, walking through Vitor and Dayle to out in front of them. "It's been a while, sir." He showed the proper amount of respect even under his own circumstances, he was great when dealing with people with massive egos but the Captain was vulnerable due to his anger. This conversation could go in so many different ways it was staggering, but, he took it over being bedridden any day. "I like the ship." He commented, looking out to what the Chancellor had arrived in. "The guards seem a bit overkill though. A man of your reputation and responsibilities does have to be protected though, don't mean it in jest." His words were sincere, even if he did find the amount of guards the chancellor brought was ridiculous.


In the background the guards had blocked off any paths of escape or entry, aggressively surrounding the ship and ready for any amount of action. This disabled any thoughts of violence towards the Chancellor, unfortunately so for those he dealt with. Civilians wanted to gather and watch this strange display but they were corralled on before they could even catch a glimpse of the action. Vitor thought that hopefully they wouldn't be getting another test of said action, not wanting to be humiliated and being used like a puppet again.


"We have a lot to discuss." Axel said, knowing that it was most likely going to be demands and reprimands over a discussion. "I'd like to start off by saying thank you for allowing us to heal before having this conversation. You didn't have to do that and the impression you gave off last time is you're a man of action and principal, we fucked up with the prisoner so we didn't deserve that. Thank you." Axel had a strange way of looking at how the Chancellor didn't arrive at the hospital as a courtesy but the more Vitor and Dayle thought about it the more it made sense. He was softening the blow by appealing to the Chancellor's ego quietly in the background.

 

[C.DEX]

"It wasn't for your benefit." Nephilim replied, almost immediately. "I had a while to ruminate on the actions that had occurred aboard the Gaius. What was supposed to be a simple mission turned out to be, in most regards, a clusterfuck. One that culminated in you being rushed to the Coalition's medical ward as a bleeding torso. At first, it was disappointing; hearing the news. Then, I found out that you'd lost the prisoner."


He took a sharp breath in, and averted his gaze. The guards to his sides stood steely and quiet.


"And then I was enraged. I thought ... how could a crew who'd taken down the entirety of an Exodlite prisoner ship fail so spectacularly in the face of a ninety-pound human boy? There is, of course, the extra addition of the skeletal robot who - for some reason that I cannot understand why you'd let him on your ship - absolutely decimated a team that had no trouble taking down a Warden. Are they stupid? Do they not have the forethought to anticipate that an unstable teenager might actually rebel against them? Or do they not realize that -" his gaze focused down on Vitor, who had taken a solemn silence in response to his presence. "- all of the zealots we face up against are the very same, at their core? Couldn't be that, could it?"


Offering a small, sarcastic laugh, Nephilim continued.


"It's a fault with you humans that I've seen in the past. It would be that the most violent, sadistic force in the entirety of the Universe is made up of them. And the worser failures in the Universe were also decreed by their hands." he said, locking eyes again with Axel. "Your team is so horribly hit or miss that I'm not sure if you're going to do something fantastic, or destroy a civilization. Take down an Exodlite communication hub, or get your legs ripped off by a discount sack of metal. And to be completely honest with you - because I suppose you deserve it - I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with you. Would you be more effective if I dissolved you and stationed you elsewhere, or would you spread your poisonous taint to others?"


In that moment, he sat in silence, eyes still hyper-focused on the raggedy-looking Axel.


"That was a question. Answer it."

 

[Notorious]

"In a conversation you usually wait for people to respond, not demand an answer like a child." He replied just like that, a smile creeping on his face. "We'd probably poison others, spreading to other teams slowly but surely. Maybe even make their way into your own ranks. Slowly... Quietly..." Axel smirked, something was loose rattling inside his head if he thought this would work. "You got a lot of men, Nephilim. A lot of men that probably appreciates the actions of a good team. Good teams sometime fail. Especially ones that are given the impossible task of weaponizing an unstable prisoner. I think by that tone of voice you got when speaking of humans you're letting your own personal biases get in the way of your work. Might need to reconsider how you think when it comes to men and women's lives."


He smirked in the Chancellor's face, the first legitimate one in a while. He got a rush by butting heads with someone that would fight back finally, everyone had been treating him like a weak, sick man. Nephilim offered no such sympathies and he enjoyed it in a twisted way.


"The most effective way to ensure that the RCN and its people stay safe would be to offer more support than 'head to a dusty planet and find something to do' to one of its most efficient teams. We're understaffed, under supported. Hell, we were thrown together by Div as a test and I'd say we passed that test pretty well. Our success rate far out weighs our failures and sure, we lost the prisoner. And yes, we did let that android on our ship but let me ask you something Nephilim..." He seen the mans' eyes light up, they were both enjoying this conversation in their own way. Vitor and Dayle just stood there dumbfounded as both men kept their composure whilst the entire time flinging hard hitting questions and insults at one another. "Have you ever been on a mission before? By your smooth hands and scarless skin I'd assume it would be safe to say you haven't even held a pistol. Have you ever been to a desolate planet where one of your own is blown away due to elements out of your control, forcing you to scower the entire planet looking for them? All the while that person is in the company of a prisoner project that is unstable and just waiting to escape? I'm sure you haven't... Hell, a lot of people haven't been put in that position with a 5 man team, a fifth of that made up of a fucking prisoner."


A guard shifted next to Nephilim, phrased like that it was a miracle the Gaius crew was even still around with those sort of odds.


"We let that droid on board as we had been working for a full day and night, there was no way of getting rid of him without us all getting killed. It was a calculated risk, one that cost me my legs but not any of our lives. I gotta live with that, not any of them luckily. A sacrifice that I made so my men and women could fight another day. Sacrifice." He said again, firmly. "You shouldn't disband us... Or spread us out throughout the RCN. That'd be a fool's move, an instinctual move from a rookie chancellor. One that's all to use to someone calling them "Vice" instead of just Chancellor. No... The right move for a smart chancellor would be to test this team properly. Fuck the prisoner project that was holding them back. Staff them properly with some reinforcements, give them a mission to kill some Exodlites and prove their proper worth."

 

[C.DEX]

"We both know this isn't a conversation, Captain. A conversation is two-sided. At this point, you're just flailing around like the large mutt over there," the Chancellor started, drawing a thumb from his robe to point at Vitor, "-last time we spoke about anything. Nipping and biting at whatever perceived flaws you can find. Trying to rip yourself from the abyss of a failure you put yourself in. Lawding around your own status like it's something, when we all very well know that Each. And. Every. Augment. you possess is an indication of the insurmountable failures you've bestowed upon the Universe in your life. At this point, that's what...? One, two, three, four ... Well, I see four limbs lost. It looks like you're on your last one, cowboy." Nephilim said. His smirk drew from a small smile into a shark-toothed grin; an unnerving visage. Much like a shark, he began to swirl around the team, disengaging lightly from the conversation and looking upon their ship.


"The difference between men like you and I, Captain, is that you're filling the vacant space inside of your head with thoughts for combat. That's what the more uneducated dregs of our society do. Your arguments are weak and invalid; and before I posed that question I knew what you would say. I just wanted to hear it come from your mouth. Keep us together," he mocked. "We'll do better next time! Does that sound familiar? I remember a very gracious ruling bestowed by Chancellor Ifrit'a'Div herself that had the same undertone as this does now. Except I'm not as kind as her. And I see that the only thing that separates this team from the prisoner that escaped from it is warring on a different side. The fact that you think you're the best is laughable, especially coming from what amounts to a chest on stilts."


"With all due respect, Vice-Chancellor-" Dayle started, steaming, but then was interrupted by the scathing words of the predatory man.


"With all due respect, pilot, shut your mouth. Nobody was talking to you. You'd think you might understand the standards upon addressing a Chancellor by now, but you all have the dignity and training of a flock of untrained house pets. You may think you have a say in this situation, but my questions to you are purely rhetorical. If your previous team had the dulled sensibilities to place you on the frontline any more than they already had, you'd be just as limbless as your Captain." he said, his expression of brief happiness for the fight turning into fleeting anger. It was evident then that Axel, in some perverted way, was the only one he had respected enough to speak to. Dayle opened her mouth to speak again, but the shock of being shut down so thoroughly just left her slack-jawed.


"Anyhow," the Chancellor continued, as if he hadn't scathed the woman who had been unwise to attempt to say a word, "Say I give you one final challenge. Can I expect that you won't lose your head as well? Our technology is great, here, but ... that's one thing that we cannot replace, Captain."

 

[Notorious]

"It depends on if you can do your job properly instead of trying to reverse my logic back at me with petty words with no meaning or facts to back you up, you're just trying to pick a fight. You're right, this isn't a conversation. This is me telling you what me and my crew are going to do." Axel replied bluntly, letting Nephilim speak but not letting him roll over him like he had done to Vitor. His eye met both of the Chancellor's, a morbid curiosity forming between the two of them in the background. None defied the Chancellor like Axel, and no one talked to Axel this way. It was an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. What was said here would change the course of the Renegade's history forever. "The Gaius crew is going to stick together with furthered RCN support, that means more firepower. More mission support. More troops under my command. No crew has this high of a success rate other than a few others and we're 3 people and a cadet. Most crews average 8 to 10. Other Chancellor's teams are better equipped, better briefed and get half the results we do. It's not me trying to inflate our value, it's what we're worth." He smirked, "As for Chancellor Ifrit'a'Div, it wasn't about her kindness, she's just smart. She knew our worth, she valued us and although a lot of my crew is on probation it turns out we work a lot better together than apart. I don't give a fuck if you're as kind as her or not, what I see in you however is... potential."


Axel took a step closer to the chancellor only for one of his guards on the side to hold out his hand, stopping Axel from getting any closer. He continued to speak passionately, ignoring the actions of the guard.


"3 people and a Cadet, Nephilim." He said, his voice lowering. "For a torso held up by stilts, even you can't deny that we've beaten the odds, what we're capable of. You knew that Vee was a big job, only an Exodlite base could be making that sort of noise. We did it with half a team and second hand respirators with a lazy mission briefing. So here's what I'm gonna do for you, Chancellor." Axel said, leaning forward. "I want you to throw me one of your most dangerous missions. We can leave whenever, we're all healed up and ready. We'll do it with the limited resources we have, we'll earn your added support later. You ain't got shit to lose but a leech and a few people. You act like we're insignificant, that's fair enough I can't stop you from being ignorant." He smiled at him, "You like to talk down to humans, you don't like us too much. Bringing up the failures of our race, that's fair enough Nephilim. Let me show you that we're not all like that."


He made some good points while restraining himself quite well but another round of Nephilim's bitter words would all it would take for the Captain to go off the deep end. He wasn't playing games anymore and he didn't have time for them. In order to get Casar and to stop the Exodlites they needed to be on the same page and if that meant either intimidating the Chancellor or perhaps impressing him he was about to do anything.


"These four missing limbs, these scars... They show that I am crazy enough to give anything to these people that need us. Anything..." He said, a fiery look in his eye that was unmatched by any other. "These people behind me, you might not respect them but you will when you see what they're capable of. Dayle is the best damn pilot I've ever seen, Vitor fights platoons of enemies with no hesitation and Lucy is the smartest, fastest growing cadet I've ever help teach. You'll give us one final challenge and we'll do more than impress you, you'll want to promote me to Vice Chancellor after you get promoted after what we do for you." It was an alluring offer from a mad man, a gamble. One that any sensible person would take. Axel raised his hand forward, "Every ruler needs a savage to do his dirty work. Keep your hands clean while I dirty mine for you." He raised it forward more aggressively, causing the guard that stepped forward before to grab Axel's arm forcibly and over stepping his boundaries.


It was the worst mistake he could have possibly made.


Out of reflex Axel twisted his arm out of the guard's grasp and grabbed the guard by the head followed by a swift knee to his helmet. Being his legs were augmented now the metal along with the inhuman amount of force generated shattered the guard's helmet and broke his nose all within one fell swoop. The man started to reach for his weapon but Axel was having none of that, slamming the man to the ground. Everyone watched in horror as Axel incapacitated the guard without even really trying. The other one to the other side of the Chancellor reacted after this was all said and done, rushing forward and raising his gun only for Axel to grab the barrel of the gun and clamp it shut as the guard fired, causing the weapon to discharge and explode in his hands. Axel however pushed the guard out of the way just in time whilst also stepping in front of the blast to make sure the Chancellor didn't get hit.


Everyone was still for a moment before the rest of the guards converged on his position, the Captain simply held his hands up as he turned to the Chancellor slowly. He dispatched two highly trained guards as if they were children and to the Gaius' crew's horror, it looked as if he enjoyed every second of it. Something about the brutality of his moves, his swiftness and manner of doing it... It all looked like he took a lot of pleasure out of defending himself. He then, once again, held out his hand to shake the Chancellor's.


"I can do a lot worse and a lot more to our enemies, if you have the sense to shake my hand as your equal. Look me in my eye and think of the possibilities. Of what we can do for the RCN... We can stand here and fight all day and neither of us would win. We'd have a lot of dead guards and I'd most likely be down a crew by the time we'd be done." Axel smiled, then repeated once more. "Keep your hands clean... while I dirty mine for you. One shot is all we need, just watch."

 

[C.DEX]

At the first hint of violence, the team that waited near the front of the transport van raised their rifles, scopes to their eyes. They lined up well with the scalp of the rowdy Captain. Under their masks, they breathed requests for commands from the Chancellor. "Stand down." he said, raising a hand and looking backwards to the armed guards that were more than ready to end Axel's life for hurting their teammates. Begrudgingly but silently, they lowered their weapons. Nephilim looked down to the guard at his side, who was clutching his shattered nose and dripping blood over the floor of the Gaius, and then down to the other. A deep grimace crossed his face. The scornful Chancellor gestured to the injured guard, and soon, the disgraced pair was set off back into the transport van with the assistance of the team members who had been so excited a moment ago to kill the Captain. "I don't want to see those two in my sights again." he said, to the escorting guards.


Then, he was standing alone.


It took a while for him to respond, but when he did so, he did it with a tone of voice so calm yet so scathing that it was as if Axel had done nothing more than splash water. "Now that you're done with your ... whatever that was. Display of power? Temper tantrum?" he said, crooking a smile. It was a smile that sent a shiver down the spine of Vitor and Dayle; one that had hinted that the exchange was, in some fucked up version of the universe, coming out successfully for the two of them. It was complimented by a strange, but familiar whirr. They managed to notice that the ship's own turret system was drawn onto them; pointing directly at the chest of Axel with a complimentary set looking to Dayle and Vitor. Waiting in the wings to decimate what was left of the unfortunate Leech crew. "I can end your lives with my hands still in my sleeves. But I won't do that. I'll save it for the last time you step further out of line. I don't enjoy your mouth. But you interest me. And that's more than I can say for your vapid ... friends."


He gave an irritated sigh, as if deigning to speak to the Captain was both exhausting and titillating.


"Well, if you think that I'm going to say yes to your ridiculous demands because you broke someone's nose, you're stupider and more brutish than I remember by our last encounter." he said. "Say I entertain you with a counter-offer, a grace you should be thankful for in any case, for I could slaughter you here and nobody would blink an eye. I don't like wasting resources, even damaged ones. I believe I can come up with a challenge. That said, your crew isn't going to be under your command. Any troops I deign to afford you will be mine. Any missions you do are going to be in the Coalition's best interest, not yours. And if I call on you, you answer like the obedient tool that you are." he said, biting back at the Captain with his own terms. "If you manage to not kill yourselves within the next few places I send you to, I may consider giving you a more permanent task force. But I expect you to survive. And if you don't, your crew not only won't have a place here, but your family as well. You ask for an opportunity to impress, so I'm giving you one."


Unbeknownst to both Vitor, Axel, and Dayle, a figure emerged from behind them. A metallic-looking beast with armor plating each and every area of its body. It stood behind them, calmly. A distinct lack of breathing made way for the assassin to take place without alerting any of them. Nephilim himself alerted the trio to its presence, drawing it forward without a word between either of them. Then, suddenly, it took a knee, bowing to the Chancellor from behind Axel.


"Meet Wraith. Wraith, meet the children you'll be babysitting."


A metallic voice reverberated from the one-eyed mask that adorned Wraith's faceplate.


"Hello, children, and leader of children! Thank you for not forcing me to kill you. I am told that killing children is a 'morally reprehensible' action."

 

[Notorious]

"Hello Wraith, it is nice to meet you." Vitor said cheerfully, breaking the otherwise tense negotiations that had been going on. While their words said otherwise, a strange connection had seemed to form between the Captain and the Chancellor. One of mutual benefits, even if neither showed the proper respect to one another. Axel smirked, in a way he had already won.


"Your words say one thing, but your actions another. Thank you for coming to terms Chancellor. Having a babysitter around is a small price to pay, and you're giving me a good soldier from the looks of things. We'll work on you show boating your superiority, your race has been known for that unfortunately. I'll take the flaws of humanity over trying to prove something any day." Axel just didn't know when to quit but neither did the Chancellor, no one was going to officially win this battle of wills unless it were to end in bloodshed. "As for calling me an obedient tool... I can be, to those man enough to wield it. You could kill me sure, but not before I got a hold of you." His smile was haunting, something really had came loose in Axel's head and everyone there knew he wasn't kidding. "You got robot bodyguards, turrets and a whole gang of other guards that belong in daycare still. Face your teams without worry, we're on the same side right?"


The guards that had been hauled away would have thought otherwise. The way he said it wasn't even a jab at the chancellor or at the guards he had taken care of, it was him stating a fact. If the Chancellor were to fuck with him or his people it would be the last bad decision he'd ever make. Even if it meant Axel's life, they'd be even before the end.


"You might be in charge but you're still a Vice Chancellor, a politician, someone who has more to prove than me or my crew do. You're making the right decision here, my team here will show you that. We'll get rid of that prefix infront of your title with our accomplishments, given that we work together and you quit trying to show your superiority." Axel glanced at Wraith, "Does he follow orders? I know he's under your strict control, naturally, but if he becomes a handicap to the team we're done. No point in fighting our own too when we have bigger things to deal with."

 

[C.DEX]

From behind Axel, Wraith looked up. "If you were to attempt to make a move at the Chancellor's life, I would terminate yours before you completed the thought. That said, I follow orders. The Vice-Chancellor's orders. To ensure that your worth far exceeds the expenses you incur. So, I would appreciate it if you didn't harm any more guards; you only have seven more before I must stop you." he said, before standing. With a handwave, Nephilim dismissed Axel's threats. It was obvious that the Captain was more unhinged than not, and while his threats were no doubt very real, the Vice-Chancellor had been in utmost confidence of his own bodyguard's abilities to protect him. He had been keeping a watchful eye the entirety of the time, waiting to step forward from the shadows. Not only that, but it was a behavior, in that case, he wanted to spur.


"Greetings, disproportionately large human!" Wraith replied, looking up to the massive Vitor. For an assassin, he was exceedingly polite, a stark contrast to the strict cruelty of Nephilim. The Chancellor watched them with interest, wondering quite how they would react upon the addition of his own personal bodyguard into the team.


"I trust you'll get along well. Wraith, on the next mission, the team will increase their worth by completing it independently. Simply watch, for now, unless you find that they are too wholly incompetent to make it back alive. Only then will you intervene." he said, to which the cheery guardian gave an affirmative nod. "To clarify, Axel Winger, he obeys my orders. None else. He'll keep me updated on your every twitch, and if he happens to see a treasonous hint he will act in the interest of the Coalition. Past that, he will defend himself. Then when I feel you have earned his support, he'll act in your interest. Then, his own. If you're asking for an android that will follow your every whim, then arm yourself with one."


The Chancellor smiled again, matching Axel's own intensity. "I'll send you your mission task soon. You'll get your rest, leave, and then make an impression."


He disembarked down the ramp, making his way off toward the transport van once again.


"Or, you won't. The decision is up to you."

 

[Notorious]

"We'll be awaiting your orders, sir." Axel said, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice but it was mostly intrigue. There was an uneasy partnership forming and while the rest of the Gaius crew was on edge for whatever reason Axel was not. The Vice Chancellor didn't lose, but he did let Axel speak which was more than what the others were granted. In fact, Axel got away with a whole lot in that conversation. Nephilim did too but the fact that they were pretty evenly matched spoke volumes about the two of them. Even with the babysitter onboard now it didn't bother the Captain, infact, he wanted the Chancellor to see. If he could successfully get him on their side and not be against them then they could truly make a difference. "Wraith... You may not be under my direct orders, for now, but I welcome you aboard." Axel said to the android, nodding at it.


At the drop of a hat Axel turned around and immediately went to the cockpit. Soon he came out with Ayla who was blabbering on about the cartoons her and Lucy watched. Lucy however had been watching everything in the loading bay unfold from a security camera that was out of Ayla's sight, witnessing the crazy events unfold. The chilling way Axel simply picked up his girl and acted as if nothing had just happened was pure insanity, the way he was acting out of character even for himself.


"Ayla and I should be going, know we just got here and all but Ajax is expecting us back at the house soon. Had to make sure I was around for the meeting with the chancellor, knew he'd swing by sooner than later." Ayla looked sad, as if she wanted to stay on the Gaius.


"Daddy... I only got to talk to Lucy and Auntie Dayle a little."


"That's okay Ayla, they ain't going no where. They'll always be around to spend time with their new bestfriend. They told me!" The idea brought a big smile to the little girl's face who began to wave goodbye to Lucy, Dayle and Vitor. "I'll be back later tonight, gonna go pick us up some supplies for the mission later then bring them here."


"Daddy means big guns! He was telling my brother earlier!" Ayla chimed in, causing Axel to shake his head.


"Spent a fortune but y'all are gonna love me. Catch you later." And with that Axel and Ayla left the ship, leaving an uneasy feeling in the three Gaius crewmates. He seemed... happier, leaving than he did arriving. It was as if he was recharged after seeing the Vice Chancellor and getting the promise of a mission soon, whatever it meant, it wasn't healthy.

End Scene 2: Magic Legs
​

"CAAAAS! WE'RE HOOOOME!" A synthetic voice called out as he and a giggling woman entered the dusty warehouse on the dark streets of Curretch. The two stumbled in, laughing together as they waltzed into the living quarters of Casar. They were both all smiles, Psy figuratively of course. The android dropped a bloody bag of what Casar could assume were augmentations right in front of him. "Guess what's in the bag Cas... Go on... Guess!" When the former Exodlite didn't answer his android companion he started to laugh wildly. "IT'S GREG! WE TOOK ALL THE VALUABLE BITS AND PUT HIM IN A BAG!" He opened up the bag and sure enough, bits and pieces of the formerly alive Greg were inside. The power core in particular was shining through the bag, the most valuable part. "Now... My dearest Imille is going to clean up all of Greg's gunk and then you're gonna become Super Cas thanks to this overcharged battery. You wouldn't believe the time we had!"

 

[C.DEX]

Casar drearily rose from the bed he'd been bestowed. There was a sleep in his eyes; despite being in an induced coma for a week and given a night's rest when they had arrived, he was still disproportionately tired. Whether it was from recovering or the small hell they were all going through was up in the air. He drug himself out of the bed, then drew his attention to the leaking bag of gore. Physical repulsion replaced the tiredness in his expression, a notion that caused Imille to give off another short giggle. The glee of Psy and Imille was sharply contrasted by the trepidation that practically oozed from the techno-mage. Because in all reality, it meant having another surgery. One that they had prepared for, but regardless. When the augment doctor noticed the very real distress on his face, her own fell a little bit. "Don't worry, Cas. It'll be over in a second. Almost all of the time we spent on you in the hospital wasn't spent replacing the core; now that mostly everything is repaired - as far as keeping you alive - it should be a quick switch, close up, and then voila! You know, for someone that can remain composed enough to snipe someone down a long hall whilst simultaneously showing them a snuff film, you get awfully irritated when having to go under the knife."


Casar averted his eyes, hinting that perhaps Imille had landed on a sensitive subject. It seemed that the helpful doctor couldn't win. She reached out and ruffled the techno-mage's hair before he could protest, shaking him out of his discontented mood back into irritation again. "You know, you should cut this off. You look like a mop. And you don't pass well for a girl. I could do it!" She said, grinning.


"No, I think I'm okay." Casar said. "Let's get this over-"


"Nope! Not that easy." Imille said. "'Cause I have something for you. I wasn't ever able to use this one before, but now that we're going to have an excess core... you're not going to have to do away with yours!" From her side, she unclipped a pistol with a large orb-shaped vacancy in the top. It was large - large enough to accommodate a power core. Then, Imille reached into the disgusting bag of gore and pulled out the power core that they had undoubtedly taken from the corpse of Greg. Like a glove, the core fit into the vacancy of the gun, and it began to whirr to life with orange energy. Casar looked between Imille and the gun.


"I'm not sure why it means that much to you, but fine." He said, to which the doctor let out a shrill giggle.


"Always good to know how to bribe you! Alright, let's go!" She said, excited. Then, she lead the visibly uncomfortable Casar out to the outer room. Her hand reached out and slapped a button on the wall. Then, the overhead lights that adorned the ceiling flicked on, changing the warm lighting to a cold, hospital blue. It shone down upon the metallic operating bench like a target.


"Lay down and we'll get started."

 

[Notorious]

As Casar was laying down, Psy practically floated around them in glee as he awaited his friend to undergo the operation that would make him strong again. The boy was much stronger than anyone had ever given him credit for and having that backed up by making him physically sound meant that what they were all going to do together would be that much more successful. Psy looked around the room and found some sterile gloves that Imille had a stack of and he walked over and started to fiddle with the box.


"You should have seen Greg, Cas. Oh boy was he NOT happy to see us. Let me start at the beginning." As he was fiddling with the box he managed to pull out two gloves that he began to put on his hands. Due to his hands being entirely metal however they went piercing through the rubber gloves, this however didn't seem to bother Psy at all as he retold the tale of poor Greg. "Now Greg... Well... Other than having a terribly human name, was a gambler. So, we found him at this dingy casino about fifteen minutes away. At first I was distracted by the lights and all those... beautiful... machines... But, I could not be swayed by such whores that let organics cram their money in and touch over and over." Psy shook his head as he handed Imille the box of gloves then waltzed back over to where he found them, grabbing a doctor's mask in which he promptly put on crooked over his face. Now all that could be seen was a side of his face, the top of his head and his glowing eyes.


Psy looked at Casar who seemed to have some hesitation about him getting ready to help Imille perform surgery on him so Psy put his hand on Casar's knee.


"It's not terminal, Patient Cas. We are going to make you better again my friend." Psy laughed, "Oh! Greg, I almost forgot about him. So metal man Greg was walking through the casino so the Doc and I followed him. He had spent his night drinking so lucky for us we won't have to disinfect anything since he already did that step for us!" By the look on Imille's face Psy noticed the error in his ways but he refused to stop his story again. "ANYWAYS! We followed him outside of the casino eventually and he was in this dark lone alley way. Cliche right? Like, that's where all bad things happen but people keep going into them. Idiot!" Psy laughed again, "So, not wanting to be a fucking slave to cliches like the rest of you meatbags, we followed him further until he was in the middle of a crowded street. Now Imille was begging and pleading with me not to do anything stupid, and well... You know me. No impulse control, I SHOT HIM IN THE FUCKING FACE!" Psy started laughing even harder, "PEOPLE WERE SCREAMING AND RUNNING ALL OVER THE PLACE AND IMILLE WAS SO EMBARRASSED. SOOO I GRABBED THE BODY AND FUCKING BOLTED IT!" He held his gut as if it was hurting from all the laughter, "I'm still picking off pieces of Greg out of my new hat. Here we were, perfect opportunity to take him out quietly but nope, we're in Curretch baby! Had to make a scene. The best part is that is such a common occurrence here that it's literally just a number in the death toll." Psy suddenly stopped laughing, "I love it here."

 

[C.DEX]

"That's great and all, but do you think maybe it's a bad idea to, I don't know... draw attention to ourselves? I mean, we just escaped." Casar said. In the same breath, Imille began suiting up. Only, instead of sterile hospital blue, she donned a dark red garb that was no doubt designed to conceal smatterings of blood. Black gloves and facemask completed the adornment, all in all making the augment doctor look a fair bit more menacing than she had when the three of them had first met. Then, she pulled out a kit that looked a decent amount like a standard first aid kit, with a black finish. Only, when she opened it up, vials of all kinds with indeterminate liquids lined the shelves of the kit. Drawing a needle and a vial, she pulled a full draw amount of sickly red-looking liquid from the vial, and approached Casar. He shot up, alarmed.


"Don't worry! This isn't hospital-grade shit. Remember how you wanted to be awake? Well, we can do that now! You won't be able to feel anything, you'll be able to stay awake, AND you'll be high!" She said, cheerfully. "Don't worry too much about being caught, by what we did. In order for the Renegades to find us, someone would have to make a report. You know what happens when people on Curretch make reports? They throw them in with the bodies!"


"I don't care what you did with him." Casar said. "As long as you didn't bring anyone here. I don't expect to be here long, anyway. If we can get off of this planet-" he stopped, suddenly, as Imille plunged the syringe into the side of his neck. He yelled out, hand reaching out to smack the implement out of her hand. Only, his hand didn't raise. "Whh- didyou..." he murmured, before falling backward onto the table. Sober lucidity escaped him, as lights began dancing across his vision.


"Shhh. Stop complaining." Imille said, with a quick pat to his forehead. Then, she brought her cart forward. "Medical assistant Psy, could you please hand me a scalpel?" She asked, opening a hand. "Okay, so once we get the power core in, Cas, I'm going to show you the augments we can install, one by one. Two grunts for yes, and one and a half grunts for no."


A sound emanated from the drugged techno-mage, which was immediately cut off by the antsy doctor. "Yup! Just like that! Let's get started!"

 

[Notorious]

Psy held out his hand and a massive knife was in his grasp, looking down he laughed at his own mistake. "Whoops, wrong scalpel. One moment, Doctor Imille." He placed the knife a little too close to Casar's head and grabbed a proper scalpel and handed it to the doctor. "The Doc has a lot of great enhancements here Cas, was my idea to let you be awake during too. The high part was the Doc's." He said chuckling to himself as he handed any tools that Imille needed while beginning work on Cas. What he couldn't see was her performing a complex procedure in which her only assistant was a psychopathic android.


What could go wrong?


The android began to clean the new power core of any remnants of Greg and used all of his focus to be sure to wipe everything clean and perfectly. There was no room for failure when it came to his friend and while he wanted to desperately do something impulsive and ridiculous it wasn't in his friend's best interest. He power cleaned the core better than Imille good, his robotic hands practically power scrubbing the core until it was practically refurbished.


"That is some high quality machinery there... Scanning." He began to scan the power core and was overwhelmed at what he seen. "Greg did not deserve this. This fucking thing right here is beautiful." He then nearly dropped the core, catching it at the last moment. "Here you go Doc!"


Out behind Psy, Casar caught a glimpse of movement in the window behind them overlooking the dusty warehouse. Those drugs were kicking in rather hard.

 

[C.DEX]

"Of course he didn't deserve it. Cheating bastard." Imille murmured. Down on the table, Imille prepared Casar to go into surgery, much like he had in the hospital where they met. Only now, he wasn't under the supervision of a medical team. Above him, the augment technician adjusted the electrically-tuned mirrors to show the techno-mage exactly what was happening. The small spike in his heartrate - which she had attributed to beginning surgery and being on a fair amount of hallucinogenic sedatives - slowly lowered. Then, scalpel in hand, she began her work. She was diligent, making light jokes and passing commands to Psy, who followed them out of the fear that his friend wouldn't make it otherwise. She kept an aura about her; one that reassured both the drugged Casar and his surprisingly diligent android companion that he would be perfectly fine. The distilled dread that the mage kept in the back of his mind began to trickle down as his vision distorted, replacing the medical lights that droned on above him with kaleidoscopes, distracting him from the morbid mess that was happening internally.


Still, something itched at his mind. A paranoia. Something was wrong.


"Pass me the core. It's about time to plug this baby in!" she said, excitedly. It glowed a fiery orange in her hand, a sharp contrast to the blue illumination that came from the revealed core in his chest and the light overhead. With one hand, she gently disconnected the core from the wires that supplied energy throughout his body - not before stopping output, of course. For a moment, sickness overcame the euphoria that the drugs had brought. Then, it washed away, as the blue core was pulled from his chest and replaced with Greg's. His cybernetic vitals stabilized. And a titian hue shot through the power cables, sending fixed energy throughout the entirety of his body.


Conscious but unfeeling, Casar's power, even newly acquainted to the core, began to rise. He looked away from the mirror, where Imille held up his blue core, and out through the internal house's window again. Yellow.


"Okay! So, Cas. How do you feel about subdermal carbon filaments? They'll help you, well... not die as much. Have to be reshaped a biiiiit, as Greg's Hycalian biology doesn't quite match up to yours, but I imagine we can take what he had and cut enough out of it to at least protect a majority of your internals, and pop in some on say, your arms? They've got eeety beeeety adaptive nanobots in'em that're powered by your core, so the more power you have, the easier it'll be for you to regenerate it if it gets scattered by say, a gunshot. Or a really hard fist. Or a laser. Or... well, you get the point."


Casar's eyes fixed out of the window. He wasn't sure what he was seeing, but whatever was in his sight then completely nullified the value of her words. "Chae....uhr." he murmured.


"That sounds like two grunts to me!"

 

[Notorious]

"Definitely, what else could that have been?" Psy asked chuckling. The android began following Imille's instructions on how to reshape the subdermal carbon filaments, having to do so outside of the body at first before being inserted. "You know Cas... This'll be a lot of help for when you go all Mad Cas on some motherfuckers. Just imagine! Someone is trying to get you right, and they're REALLY close... Like, uncomfortable close to killing your ass while you're defenseless-"


Yellow eyes began to peer through the darkness of the window, starring down at Casar as he was helpless to move. The moving figure had stopped moving, simply starring at his prey from the window.


"-and then BOOM! Super magic healing nanobots come in and save your ass. That's some magic shit if I've ever heard it, but hell... We can't all be totally metal and to have that ability on your side that'll be a life saver. I won't have to speed you across several systems just to get to a hospital either." Psy got in Cas' line of sight so the monstrosity he was watching was out of view for a moment. "Dude... I don't want to be that guy while you're getting filleted like a fish and have all sorts of bits inserted into you but... Even under drugs you look stressed out. I thought getting you high would calm you down but it looks like you're the type to freak out." Psy shook his head and stepped out of the way. "When we're finished with this we need to teach your ass how to meditate or something, that blonde hair of yours is gonna turn white before too long."


As soon as Psy stepped out of the way Casar could see a fully clear Jagar in the window now, the beast not moving but simply observing the operation. He knew that Casar could see him, he was toying with the boy, knowing fully well he could not alarm the others. The Vekht released his blade from his gauntlet and began to play with it, showing Casar that the time would soon come for him to come in there and finish his work. He had been there the whole time, watching, waiting. Letting his prey clean and lick their wounds as he waited for a proper fight. The beast then faded back into darkness, only to observe the operation from a different window that Psy just passed by completely missing him.


"Alright Doc... Work your magic. These are about as formed as I can get them."

 

[C.DEX]

The doctor made short but proper work of placing the subdermal filaments into Casar. They were slick, black, and metallic, and shielded his torso like a second skin. As soon as the plated connected, they began to dissolve and refit, signalling to the small medical crew that the installation had succeeded. Meanwhile, his vitals began to peak out. Imille stopped her work for a moment, having been alerted to the rapidly rising respiratory distress that something had put him in. Her scalpel hovered over his forearm, having completed the work on his torso. Her face kneaded in confusion. Then, for the first time since she had injected the boy with the solution that put him in the altered state, she glanced at his eyes. They stared directly past her, into the window where Casar's eyes had fixated the moment he saw a disturbance the first time. Then, she turned to look.


Nothing.


"Calm down, Cas. Iiii... I'm sure they did some bad things to you back wherever you were held. I've seen the scars. Most of them unnecessary. But I'm not going to do that, alright? We joke, but you should know that you're in good hands." she said, giving the former Exodlite a compassion that he hadn't been displayed before. She pulled a strand of hair away from his eyes, and offered a warm smile from beneath her medical mask. It made it all the worse. Visions flashed in his mind of Jagar's blade ending all of them, forcing away the only shreds of compassion he had been granted whilst not under the prisoner collar of obligation. His hand twitched, showing the first glimpse of manual liberation he'd had since being first given the solution. It was largely unnoticed by the both of them. "Like Psy said, all of this is going to help. I know you don't like hospitals, and I know you don't like doctors, but just... Trust me."


With his forearms open, Imille began to place the filaments inside. As she did so, she continued what she thought was a soothing diatribe.


"We'll do one more and close you up. How do you feel about synaptic accelerators? People seem to like to shoot you and slam your head into things, by the looks of it." she said, unknowing of how close to the truth she was. "If you can be a little faster, they won't be able to catch'ya in the first place. That one's quick and easy. Little injection in your wrist, little injection in your spine. Like a meth epidural!"

 

[Notorious]

"Meth?" Psy remarked outloud. "What is meth?" Like clockwork his AI core engaged and he began searching the net for the word meth. Before long Psy was on an introspective knowledge search of the drug all because of Imille's little joke. When he snapped out of it he shook his head and went, "Woah! Organics actually use that? Disgusting! They were missing their teeth and having holes where organics don't naturally have holes... And I thought you all were sick enough as it is." He shook his head, "I don't even want to learn what an epidural is if it is as equally disgusting as meth is. The actual effects intrigue me, but then again it seems like I'm always on meth." Psy laughed and began helping Imille again, turning his back to the closest window.


Jagar continued to toy with Casar as the operation went on, standing just mere feet from them all now. He made extreme eye contact with Casar, his eyes weren't his traditional neutral look. The creature was actually enjoying this, tormenting the boy as he laid powerless.

"Oh fuck me!" Psy said as he dropped a vial of the synaptic accelerators onto the ground. The liquid poured into a cleverly placed drainage vent in the floor luckily in which Psy bent down and looked only to find a massive amount of dried blood and other fluids. Giving it no mind he stood up and bowed his head, "Sorry Doc... These fucking gloves are driving me crazy. Good thing I don't really need them!" He tore the rubber gloves off and walked over to the sanitation station and dunked his hands in alcohol, cleaning them properly. He flung the liquid off his fingers then said, "Show me where the backups are Doc, if this is his last upgrade we should probably hurry. Cas hates doctors enough as it is, don't want to give him more reasons if we just leave him there."


They left for a moment and that's all it took. Heavy footsteps filled Casar's ears as Jagar had made his way in undetected, walking up to him and standing over him now. He was within arms reach as he looked down at him, his taunting yellow eyes smiling at him as if he had won without even trying. Jagar bent down and was merely inches away from Casar's face.


"You are weak hunt now..." Jagar raised his blade to Casar's neck, he was powerless to do anything as the monster had the opportunity to finally finish this. "No challenge... Target can not alert friends. When you awaken, shout... Scream... Tell them Jagar here." The Vekht smiled underneath his mask, his cheeks raising around the opening of his mask showing he was doing so. "Then... Jagar kill you all." The alien stood up whilst dragging his knife along Casar's neck, leaving a small line of blood dripping down to his chest. "Soon." He stated, then just like that the acrobatic alien jumped towards the ceiling and vanished from Casar's line of sight as Psy and Imille came back.


"Wow! Your vitals are off the charts, why the fuck are you bleeding from your neck? Old wound?" Psy shook his head, "We need to finish this up. And I thought I didn't like being put under."

 

[C.DEX]

"Worst is already over." Imille said, "Though it'd help, of course, if you didn't spill accelerators in my drainage ditch. That's how you get hyper-powered rats and cockroaches. Nobody needs that in their life, especially not me." she finished. "Alright, alright. One last thing. Harnessers in the wrists, so that you can actually use the accelerators and they're not just mething you up twenty-four seven. As hilarious as that would be, that's not something I would really wish on my worst enemy. Except Greg. Fuck Greg."


Getting back to work, and blissfully unaware of the impending danger, Imille began to place the last of the augments into Casar. His heart was beating through his chest, his respiratory system was distressed beyond belief, and what little he could move was moving to the best of his abilities. It only amounted to a small reach for Imille's pocket, where the core gun lied tucked. Wanting to end whatever distress he was in - and unknowing that it was due to the hunter that had personally paid him a visit - she unhooked a cauteration gun from the ceiling and began to seal back the flesh they had broken open. A sickly smell began to fill the air - one that only Casar, herself, and the Outrider that laid in wait were blessed with.


"Okay. Psy, get the synaptics ready. He's all 'stitched' up! Core, plates, and harnessers. Last step is the injections, and he'll be raring to go. Little heart is beating like a hummingbird, Jesus. You'd think that you felt any of that, Cas. Wait, did I...?! No, no. I picked the right liquid. Ha ha, lucky that. I've got something in that little kit that does the exact opposite; you can feel ALL the pain, but you can't move. But I don't use that on my friends." Imille said. She drew a syringe full of the steely metallic-looking liquid, and then began the injections.


It took three seconds before they activated.


On the first, Casar grabbed Imille. Her first instinct was to jerk back, but there was a strength in his muscles that he couldn't display before. One the second, he reached for the gun in her pocket. On the third, he grabbed for Psy, forcing a mental link to communicate with him what a slurred mouth couldn't.


That Jagar was there.

 

[Notorious]

Within an instant Psy ripped away the medical mask and grabbed the closest gun he could find, only for what looked like a demon bursting through the closest wall and reaching out towards Psy's neck. The android screamed out of pure fright, it had been only one of the few times someone caught Psy of guard and before he knew it he seen who the culprit was. "JAGAR!" Psy called out to Imille who looked like she had been scared out of her skin along with Casar who was recovering from the surgery as fast as possible. The creature roared as he flung Psy across the room and into the beautiful display of guns that had been proudly displayed on the walls. The glass in front of the more pristine ones shattered all over Psy as he stumbled to his feet. Jagar twisted his head towards Imille and Casar, his gaze lingering for a moment as he memorized how the human woman looked like. He recognized her from the hospital, and now she too was going to die with them.


"HOW IN THE FUCK DID HE FIND US?!" Psy shouted as he turned to the guns he was surrounded by and picked up the closest one. Paranoid Imille kept them loaded, to Psy's delight and luck as he began to fire at Jagar who dodged the attack with ease. All that made Psy do was light up Imille's once beautiful and peaceful home, the high powered blasts leaving big scorch marks on the walls. Small fires began to ignite from the energy weapon as chemicals in the air ignited, causing parts of the room to engulf in a blaze rather quickly. Psy soon found himself without ammo on his current weapon so he threw it at Jagar who caught it and ripped it away, throwing it at Imille and hitting her directly in the face with the butt of the gun. Jagar then dashed forward, his blade outstretched towards Psy. Luckily for the android, he was getting a read on the Outrider. Psy backed up just in time to slam both his hands into the sides of Jagar's head, dazing the alien. He then reared his leg back and kicked the brute as far as he could directly into a small fire in the corner.


The beast slowly rose to his feet, flames flickering off his body as he stood up street. His eyes said it all, nothing they had done thus far had hurt him. He had already practically destroyed their only home and he had been there for less than a minute. He then raised his arm, the one opposite his blade, out popped a gun barrel from his other wrist. The wrist gun fired and a massive blue light filled the room as an EMP wrecked havoc in front of him, the blast shutting down Psy completely as he collapsed into a pile in front of the guns.


Jagar turned to face the bruised Imille and the rising Casar. They needed Psy in order to properly defeat the crazed mercenary, meaning they had to hold him off while he rebooted.


"RCN pay great price to find you." Jagar said, walking forward slowly. "Rise... Casar. Fight me as you did Warden. Jagar grant you warrior's death."

 

[C.DEX]

Imille stumbled backwards, clutching the small gash that had arisen from having the stock of a gun thrown at her by the ludicrously strong Jagar. She caught herself on the worktable behind her with her other hand. Struck with both surprise and fear, but well-versed in reacting, the armament creator reached to the drawers where her hand met the table, ripping them open and pulling out what looked like a metal capsule. Then, she depressed a button on the side of the unassuming device, and threw it out toward the assaulting beast of a man. Three ticks was all it afforded him, before it exploded in a metal-eating cloud of poisonous reek. With his reflexes, he was more than capable of moving out of the way in time, but it bought the doctor enough time to rip Casar away from the table, overturning it in the process. Stunned blue eyes set on her, to which she offered a shake of the shoulders. "Wake up, Cas! Use the synaptics!" She hissed, before grabbing the barrel of his gun and shoving his old, bloody core into it.


Suddenly, Jagar's blade cut through the overturned table. The two of them scattered away from each other like scared rats, and soon, the assassin had successfully separated the three of his targets.


Casar, coming to his senses, combatted the effects of the drugs with his newfound augment. He willed himself to move, and when he did, he found that he was even faster than he had been before. His hands reached for something - anything - that could stop the relentless assault. They landed on a tube adorned with switches. Then, when the blade of certain death came charging toward him again, it was met with the heated monomolecular mass of another. The techno-mage wasn't strong enough to maintain the hold, but it did give him the leeway to stumble back through the doorway and out into the factory main.


Most of him screamed out to run, but the dazed Imille and Psy willed the terrified boy to stay, despite being pushed out of the structure. That, and he knew he wouldn't get far.


"The doc... the doc is innocent. Leave'r out of this." He slurred, from outside. "You don't need t'do this!"

 

[Notorious]

"Yes, I do." Jagar raised his arm and slammed his blade into Casar's once again, then again, then again. He felt the boy was much stronger than met the eye but he was able to overpower him. This ironically angered Jagar. He reared his leg back and kicked Casar deeper into the warehouse, making him slide and hit one of the machines with a loud thud, luckily for him his new subdermal armor taking the blow for him. "You stronger than that. Jagar see Casar help kill Warden!" He growled, getting agitated that Casar wasn't impressing the hunter. "Then you ask for mercy on doctor... You only know few days, why do you care?..." For some reason Casar fascinated the hunter, mostly for the hunt itself but he noticed a drastic change in the boy he had fought along side in the ISS Sinai.


He hesitated, something he rarely did on a job but this one felt different than the others to him. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to kill such a warrior like Casar, he hadn't matured enough in Jagar's eyes and it almost felt like a waste. That was until Psy attacked him from the rear waking him up out of his trance.


"YOU AREN'T WELCOME HERE HORNY MAN!" Psy said, bashing Jagar's head with a metal beam not realizing the implications of his words. To Psy's horror, Jagar stood completely still as the metal beam bent around his head from the force of the blast his helmet taking most of the hit but his actual skull itself being ridiculously tough. "I uhh... Wow... Dude, you are a fucking freak! I literally, just bent a metal pole around your head and you just stand there? Fuck you are creepy!" Jagar turned around quickly and grabbed Psy by the neck once more. "The neck again? Don't you know I'm synthetic? DUMBASS!" Psy revealed something that he had yet to show just yet as he began to open his usually dormant mouth. Inside his mouth was a charred barrel that immediately shot out a massive laser out and hit Jagar dead center. His grip on Psy was torn away as Jagar was flung into a nearby metal fabricating machine from the blast. "GOTCHA BITCH!" The android called out, a steaming hole was now in Jagar's armor dead center. A potential weak spot, all thanks to Psy's ridiculous sneak attack.


Jagar raised up from the machine, digging himself out of the now broken fabricator and facing Psy. Instead of an angry look in his eyes it was one of amusement, this insane alien was enjoying this. The more they did to combat him properly the more he enjoyed this battle. He released his blade and dashed forward towards Psy, causing the android to retreat backwards while open firing with an assault rifle he had grabbed on his way out to the factory. Jagar absorbed the shots, including the ones that managed to hit his now exposed chest only for him to bleed very little from the shots. One person was able to do enough to Jagar as it was but it wasn't enough, they all needed to come together to prevail. Psy then had to reload and he cursed as he hurled his gun on Jagar only for him to catch the gun then rip it in half.


"My trick." He gruffly said, referring to how he had just done the same move to the doctor when he entered the factory. "When you reprogrammed you need more training."


"I'LL SHOW YOU FUCKING TRAINING YOU ALIEN FUCK!" Psy rushed forward and began to unleash a flurry of hits on Jagar who began to dodge them all, his body moving much more fluidly than what someone would think the alien was capable of. In the midst of his flurry Jagar reached forward and grabbed Psy's armor plating and ripped it clean off. He then thrust his hand into the robot's metal ribcage and out came Psy's belongings. He cried out, "NO! MY TRINKETS!" And tried to keep everything he owned inside. Jagar was confused but finished the attack with a hard bash to the head, sending Psy to the ground who was now cradling his belongings back inside himself.


He then turned back to where Imille was hiding.


Jagar began walking towards the doctor who had been hiding back in the house, not exactly being a combatant compared to Casar or Psy. He had his blade drawn and as he crossed the threshold back into the house he picked up one of her own guns and tucked it under his arm then began to shoot up the entire room without prejudice. He wasn't expecting he'd hit her, he just wanted to scare his prey even more.

 

[C.DEX]

Imille looked up from her hiding place as Jagar absolutely decimated her home. He did so carelessly; while it did in fact scare the augment doctor, it also completely enraged her. Her house, room by room, lovingly crafted by mostly her own hand, was falling away as if it had been made by scrap metal. She staggered up, pulling herself from the ground whilst simultaneously attempting to weave away from the gunfire. There wasn't much in the way of armaments that she could grab without having to cross the furious path of Jagar herself, but that didn't mean she couldn't try. Practically throwing herself forward, she weaved through reign of bullets to try to get to the other side of the room unscathed. She landed in front of Psy, who was fervently shoving meaningless items back into the vacant hole inside his chest that had been exposed.


Suddenly, the factory around them began shaking, settling anyone who had been on their feet off balance again. It rumbled, as if a gigantic beast from beneath had been awakened, its roar composed of a mechanical orchestra. The lights outside of Imille's abode, normally dimmed, began brightening row by row. Somewhere in the factory, the techno-mage had brought all of the denizens back to life, and the darkness that Jagar had grown so accompanied to dissipated as quickly as it had come. Then, a bullet, composed of pure energy and no physical exterior, came careening out from the top of a steel press tower. It flew past Jagar's head, landing craterously between the knees of Psy.


If Jagar wanted a warrior, he would get one.


Another shot careened out from the barrel of the core gun. It moved erratically through the air, as if its own existence threatened to dissipate upon reaching oxygen. Then, another flew out. It pierced the holoblade that jutted from Jagar's armor, cutting it in half as if it were a child's toy. With a redeploy, it was back to normal within seconds, but that didn't mean that his sights weren't still bearing down on the beast that was prepared to end his friends.


Friends. Is that why the self-serving Casar would perch himself on top of a tower, angrily firing off shots to protect someone other than himself? It was certainly a novel behavior. One goal perpetuated itself in the mage's mind: make the assassin regret keeping him alive. Forcing Jagar's attention on either closing the gap between the techno-mage and himself or getting proper cover from the pure-energy gun became a concern at the forefront of his mind. Within a moment's notice, the cat had become the mouse, with the distance between them far too much for anything other than a well-placed rifle shot or Casar to bridge. His eyes were emblazoned with orange energy, making the two have an eerily similar glint in the moment. Filled with rage, and numbed to the point from the drugs where the only thing that'd phase him would be knocking him out entirely, the techno-mage scarily bore down on the assassin's position like the incensed maw of a beast.


"Cas!" Imille screamed, though her voice didn't carry properly over the sound of the living factory. "Don't shoot - that's what he wants! Just run, damnit! If we all die here because you're trying to be a hero I'm gonna be mighty pissed!"


The words fell on deaf ears, with Jagar being only inches away from killing the only people that Casar had properly cared about in a long time. A deep dread settled in her chest; while she didn't have as much experience with indiscriminate hate, there was no doubt a bond that had occurred between the three. When he'd seen that he'd given Imille and Psy the opportunity to at least flee in the other direction, he held his fire and ducked low. Along the way, the good doctor snatched up a weapon of her own creation.

 

[Notorious]

Jagar was impressed with the three of them, that didn't matter much as he intended to destroy each of them but they were quite formidable when he hadn't had them separated. As he was taking cover with the lights fully on he realized his element of surprise and his brutality wouldn't mean much if Casar could see him the entire time, it put him at a huge disadvantage when it came to fighting 3 on 1. He looked around while Casar unloaded on his position and unfortunately for Jagar, Psy had almost cleaned up all his trinkets.


"WHEN I PICK ALL MY SHIT UP I'M GONNA RIP YOUR FUCKING FACE OFF!" Psy grumbled, picking up the remnants he had kept of RU-22. The faceplate with the carved in face he held near and dear to his heart, that is if he had one. As Psy was cleaning, Casar was onloading on Jagar and Imille taking up the rear with her own weapon now Jagar was running out of options. He looked around at all of them and stood up abruptly, causing Casar to stop shooting as it looked like Jagar was surrendering. He turned and made eye contact with Casar and bowed to him.


"This is fight I want, thank you, Warrior." He then raised his hands to his mask and clicked a button on the side, the contraption falling from his face and onto the ground. Words Casar overheard came flooding back to him from Fetch way back during the ISS Sinai mission.


"His people are from a desolate world and rely on technology to keep themselves grounded in reality, otherwise, they are killing machines wanting nothing more than to rip anything challenging in half." Grounded in reality? Those words didn't mean much at the time but now they meant something very real. As the mask fell from Jagar's face, seeing his mouth for the first time was a gruesome sight. It was very different from the standard alien's mouth, he had several razor sharp teeth that were tucked underneath very thin lips. To their surprise Jagar's species lacked a traditional nose but instead had slits for nostrils. Fangs came jutting down his cheeks showing that his face with a horned, teethed mess. The face of an apex predator from where he haled from, a creature formed quite literally for hunting.


"Mask there not for my safety..." Jagar spoke, the mess of frightening teeth moving as he talked. "But for your's." Jagar then took in a deep breath of the unfiltered air. It only took a moment for the change to occur but now it made much more sense on why he wore the mask. The chemicals in the air caused a chain reaction in the foreigner, his species had not been able to acclimate to normal atmospheres without technology. Soon his body began to change slightly, his eyes seemed to grow bigger, his pupils dilating further than his iris, his eyes pitch black now. His muscles tightened underneath his armor and all inhibitions he had before was now gone. The beast growled as he began to hunch over slightly, his eyes darting around the room looking for his first target. Then, Jagar was gone.


All that was left now was a beast ready to kill them in succession, one by one they were all going to die.


Jagar leaped out of no where soaring high into the air, his physical capabilities shattered by embracing his species flaw. He went flying towards Casar's position and almost made it but luckily for him Psy came flying up and grabbed the Vekht by the leg. It was a selfless act, and a bad one for Psy. Jagar in his battle haze turned to Psy and embraced the android, forcing him to fall down to the ground. Jagar then began to pummel Psy without mercy, breaking robotic components and shattering parts of his metal body. The android screamed out in pain as he was mauled by the wild Jagar, unable to defend himself while he was being swarmed. If Imille and Cas didn't act quick he would be taken out quite painfully.

 

[C.DEX]

Casar practically threw himself off the tower upon seeing the transformed beast hauling toward his location, catching himself off the lip of it. He hung, for a moment, before hearing the androidic screams of Psy as he began to acclimate to a quick destruction. He pulled himself back up just as quickly as he had descended, and the vision he had been given made his heart sink.


"No no no no NO!" he screamed, unwanting to indirectly cause the death of his metallic partner. Overcome by anger and fear, the mage rose his weapon again. One shot, and then another rang out, directly searing the skin of Jagar, punching holes through to the other side. The beast, overcome by bloodlust, only seemed to fight harder, fixated on his goal. Then, to Casar's horror, the Outrider displayed the same quality that Warden Leviticus did, on that fateful day on the S.S. Sinai. He began to heal the wound back up, almost instantaneously. Knowing well that Psy wouldn't last a few moments longer under the berserker's embrace, Casar returned the selfless action. In a near instant, he was sliding down from his safety perch, leaping into the fray of combat to save one of few people he had considered a friend.


Imille, on the other hand, used her diminutive nature to accomplish what she'd needed to. After all, she wasn't the main target. Now that all bets were off, and the beast in front of them had his sights on them all, she needed to take action. In the short lapse of time that she'd been afforded, she donned an anesthetic mask, gracefully hooking it up to a blue portable tank in the midst of battle. It was like watching a calm tinkerer work their magic; she moved with a fluidity that hinted that the augment technician knew conflict quite well.


The techno-mage, puzzlingly enough, backed toward the beam of the steel tower. His hand grasped behind him, until it met a vacant, large tube that looked eerily similar to the power IV they had given him in the hospital. Ten times larger, of course. Using a small amount of power to kickstart whatever beast of a machine laid to the side of him, the battery began roaring to life. The lights abovehead flickered, as what they would find to be an energy furnace came to life. It pulled massive amounts of power from the grid; power that Casar had intended to feed into the far too small core gun to lay suppressing fire onto the beast that was mauling Psy.


And that's just what he did.


Flickering lights filled the room, flashing to white every time the mage had overloaded his old cybernetic heart and pulsed the energy into liquid-hot beams that'd threatened the very life of Jagar happen he dare to stay in the same place. The place where Psy lied, screaming. To the side of Casar, the furnace roared white hot light; contained in a vertical beam through the structure, but scalding enough to melt most of the hyperdense metals in the Universe. With every shot, the furnace's vertical beam skipped a beat, and the lights flickered down, then bright white.