Futuristic R E S O N A T O R . Schrödinger's Gambit (IC)

[Euclid Leaf]

Surge

Mocking Jay

Codename: Mocking Jay

Abandoned Warehouse

The echo paused for a moment, before approaching Jay. Kyu pointed at her handler, her head tilting slightly in curiosity, as if asking if the edenis needed help preparing for tomorrow.​

Jay tried their best to maintain a look of authority and determination when they turned to Kyu, furrowing their brow with the edges of their mouth pulled tight. However, it was tough. They almost broke at this sudden, unexpected approach. Thinking about how in the past, the lone ECHO simply would retreat to be a recluse in their room. Now, she was taking the initiative. Jay's heart swelled, and tears almost formed in their eyes. More than anything, he wanted to swoop down and give her a big hug. Even if might earn him a swift knock on the head. But he couldn't falter now.

The edenis dug their fists into their sides and stood firmly as they spoke.

"Stop thinking about others for once...!" Jay tried to shout with their meek voice, only managing a squeak. "Even heroes need breaks. Tonight, you'll let me do this one favor for you. We're going to make sure all your gear is in tip-top order! Fighting isn't about just weapons. We need extra subsidiary equipment, and ample supplies too. No complaints! And..." their head lowered a bit, "Who knows how much time we still have together... So let's make the best of it."

In the middle of their pattering speech, their nose began to twitch. It was a faint residual, but unmistakable in salinity. He has caught wind of this smell a handful of times before. In the workshop, there was a fabled piece of equipment. Of its many practical functions, a particular set of armor had also been unwittingly used as a vomit bag on multiple occasions. Most definitely, that was not part of proper RCL equipment handling.

Turning their head, they would see a hobbling, almost meandering figure headed past them. It was one of the RESONATORS from within the meeting room. In the open air, the smell was much more obvious than in the cramped room full of other bodies. The gruff woman showed up at the last possible moment, practically barging through the door. Then, there was that salute. Jay disapproved of the disorderly, frankly, insubordinate behavior, but he wasn't frowning out of judgement. Rather, it was out of worry. There was something oddly sad in the way they walked. Then it clicked. It was the same way they all walked. Pain. They all knew pain.

Though perhaps this one is more physical, than figurative.

The edenis looked at Kyu a moment, bringing forth a slight smile before holding out a hand towards the familiar smelling stranger, "Hi! You're part of our new team. Um. Are you okay...? You look like you're a bit... well, unwell? Hung-over, perhaps. Eh. Just a guess... Do you need water?"
Jay fished around in the many bags strapped to their plated skirt before bringing out a slender metal canteen. It had a layer of cold frost, indicating whatever inside was still fresh.

"Here, umm... You can keep it. Erm. You must be the Hammer. Your armor makes the rounds in our repair bay." Jay said, dusting their hands and making a quick glance over at Kyu. There was a side-to-side motioning with their ears. They then made a disarming smile, and shrugged their shoulders.

Who knows. But let's try and get along.

"We were headed down to the base's armory workshop. As one of the lead mechanics, I have special access to the machinery and tools there. I planned on making last-minute adjustments to our equipment in preparation for tomorrow." Jay says with an upbeat smile, "If you would like, I can do the same for you?"

Jay then glances down at Kyu, as if waiting for their reaction. "Oh, and this is Shrike. Though, I'm sure you already know that, haha."

...

Code by Serobliss

Mentions: Lekiel FabulousTrash SirDerpingtonIV
Open to interact with anyone.

​

 

[mizton]

Machine Savant

Angel Salvatierra

Codename: WINGS

Warehouse

"Uh—" At the sight, Angel recoiled within a centimeter of himself. His wrist lifted in defense of the sudden kneel & even his mechanized coverts twitched in response—a muscle-controlled function; in his frequency found wearing some form of suit, most things he wore tended to have an opening for his attachments; either ripped through himself or mended in. Today's was mended; he remembered the ANGELA employee who'd done it for him: another analyst, like that morning's.

So his wings flexed.

Hearing his antics returned in kind made the towhead falter, if only minutely; lack of practice, was all. Admittedly, it was a recent development that Angel had begun acting outside of his old golden boy nature; most tended to not react or roll their eyes. This... was definitely new, at least for him at ANGELA. Was TERESA just stuck up?
Despite the nature of his handler's implication, the boyish grin he wore nearly blinded Angel: if the guy had a tail, it'd be wagging no doubt. That thought helped in Angel's internal recovery & planted a seed of interest in seeing the pup frown.

If he had to place it, the difference between him & 'Inugami' was that the latter wore his thoughts rather plainly; what he was thinking, no idea but he was happy about it. As for himself, Angel tended to need to exert his features to form them into any sort of expression; without such effort, his comments often came deadpanned. Like now, when he—with a laugh of a sigh—managed, "Easy, boy. Buy a guy a drink first." In saying this, Angel established a bit of needed distance between them with a hand at arm's length at the other's shoulder.

Only to close the gap by bringing the guy in by his shoulders, Angel's other arm spanned out to survey their team. "Okey," he began, "Eye out for a brain—some handyman, ¿sale? There's, like, 20 of us. Sub 20 hours to prep: the Shop's gonna be packed."

"Angel."

"Hang tight," With a quirked grin & another pat at the guy's shoulder, finding a bit of humor in walking off, he left their exchange to pick up an earlier abandoned pager from Triella's desk. His name had been idly interjected while the lilac-haired attendant handled others.

With a new frown—brought on by a bitterly overheard comment about a lack of gaming from a pointing child (how young was RCL recruiting?), to which he muttered a sharp "rude"—Angel found his pager to have been re-calibrated. When he'd made his way back, he found the space to be a few Resonators short. At this, his mind conjured, amidst his sea of strangled utterances, I should be headed out too... After he'd thought it, his mind's occupants resounded the syllables: too, too, head, dead, dead... Annoying.

He huffed & nodded his chin at Inugami's direction, sighing out, "Alright, whatever. Buddy system; you're with me." He slapped at his handler's back on his way towards the door, following poor example set after the drunkard that'd last come in. For a moment, he idled by the door.

The way one might've fumbled with their keys at their doorstep, Angel mishandled his own hoodie's zipper. He made jerked motions to tug at it, almost comically, to no avail. Now a bit exasperated, he abandoned the task. Instead, he rose his arms slightly, a bit in disbelief at his handler's (at this point, he still hadn't gathered his name, but he'd have a couple weeks to figure it out) lack of urgency, though that flat tone of his betrayed nothing. Clearly, he'd meant now; the hell was the guy doing?

"Hello? Coming?"

Code by Serobliss

 

[Sharatayn]

ZeresveilAtunity Edenis

Hum hum hum. Now what did we have here? Granted, finding the Commander was not entirely strange, considering all of these people were called for a level five mission. A fellow resonator by his side and someone dedicated to surveillance...was a bit stranger, all things considered. But the fact they were chosen over allegiance? Hum. Something was a bit fishy about things, but there was also a bit of a thrill coursing through the Edenis. It wasn't every day one was made privy to this sort of topics, or given such important duties alongside them. Huh? What duties? Well of course she didn't know what it was yet, but why else would so many of them be called if not to fulfill some sort of mission? It was certainly not just for them to brag about their recent findings, right?
...r-right?

Thankfully for her, that was indeed not the case, and she let out a sigh of relief. As Commander Noan kept detailing the specifics to the crew, Helena kept wondering what their role in all this would be, especially as an oddly familiar piece of equipment seemed to be included in the oh-so-important object they were being shown, quickly lowering her fist onto her open palm in sudden realization. "So that's what it was for."

The explanation kept going, touching on some subjects the rest of her companions would surely be a bit sensitive about (in all honestly, having been in the Angela since before the Betrayal, her life hadn't changed all that much, except for refugee presence and slightly different scheduling.) Then things about uncorrupted bits of the Code of Life, and this Friedrich fella, and an expedition into the megalith, and then - right, this was all important of course, extremely so. Unfortunately, her memory wasn't the best...in fact, if she had remembered to bring pen and paper over, she would've written down the specifics.
Er...on second thought, maybe it was better she didn't bring it, considering the importance of the topics discussed. Hopefully the others' memory was better than hers...whatever the case, she remained silent for the rest of the briefing, leaning back and forth.

"Hum hum. So we're going to be leaving at the same time? Well, you're the boss, boss." She raised an eyebrow to the 'execution' order. That was a bit extreme, right? Was she biting a bit more than she could chew?
...nahw. She'd be fine. What was a bit of secrecy and risk between friends? Were they friends yet? "Hum..." Taking a quick glance at the rest of her allies, she found some friendly faces, and some not so much. Some knew each other, and others were as new to her as to the rest of the team. She couldn't help but feel like she should have talked to more people throughout the years, seeing as she wasn't even sure if some of them were originally stationed alongside her or not. Oh well, their faces weren't as important as their capabilities. With those kinds of thoughts in her head, she approached Triella, spinning her phone out of its little 'holster' and handing it over for modification. "Heheh, you know, I wonder how similar that tank is to mine?" Sure enough, the tank hanging from her back was of similar dimensions, but the comparison was clearly only small talk considering how one kept Liquid Hydrogen, and the other the one thing that could save this waning world. Well, she may have also been trying to get her mind out of the kill order. Things were dire, sure, but that bad? It wasn't even that long she was showing off a cool chemical reaction to some kids on the street, and now she was allowed to kill someone for asking the very reasonable question of where she was going in such a hurry? Geeze...

Once the mod was applied, she walked back towards the entrance, giving a simple wave to the Commander and Nightingale during her retreat. She didn't seem to be the most adherent to formalities, for sure, but at least she said bye, quickly ducking by whoever might have been blocking the door at the moment. There was time for introductions later, now she had to make sure her room wouldn't explode in her absence. Hum...maybe that line of thinking was the reason she didn't know any of them yet?
...eh. She could fix that sometime later. It wasn't like she was going to up and die during the next week, right?
Don't answer that. Then again, if anyone were to call out to her, she wouldn't mind making merry for a bit. The gas tank in her room could wait, right?
Don't answer that, either.

Mentions | Lekiel Euclid Leaf donutcry FabulousTrash mizton SilverFlight Cresion Breezes SirDerpingtonIV

 

[Wilder28]

Surge

Damien Harte

Codename: QUIETUS

Mentions: Lekiel Euclid Leaf Juju SilverFlight Sharatayn Cresion Breezes FabulousTrash mizton seasonedcat SirDerpingtonIV donutcry

The Commander's Office

Once he had made his entrance, Damien made a beeline for the nearest wall, turning around so that he may lean backward upon it. Even in such a secure location as this, filled with people who were ostensibly his allies, he felt safest with his back to a wall. All the better to keep an eye on things.

He'd thought when he'd entered that he would've been the last one, since a team like this was pretty sizeable as it was. But then, over time, more people still trickled in, tallying up to a grand total of a dozen Resonators by the time the Commander began their brief. Some of them he may have recognized from seeing them around before, but most he didn't. The only ones he might have seen more than once or twice were Hammer, who he recalled only because he'd seen her around Magdalene back in the day, though he'd never gotten to work with her directly; and Angel, who he vaguely recognized as a celebrity from days past. It wasn't often that he had gone to Sanctum Andlang, but the few times he did, he could recall seeing his face here and there.

Ultimately, though? There was no one here that he was particularly close to, which was about par for the course these days. Some of them did recognize each other, and he spectated some of their exchanges out of the slightest bit of interest, but few of them seemed to acknowledge him. And that was fine in his book, because right now, the only person whose attention he cared for was the Commander's.

Once the man in question began to relay the info that they came for, Damien turned his head to watch him, though he still kept the rest of the room in his peripheral. What was said, he received without a word, focusing first on Noan himself before turning his gaze on the hologram that was eventually brought up. The revelation that this would be top-secret information was no surprise to him, considering the whole Clearance Five deal and all, and the prospect of not telling anyone naturally followed. Even if it hadn't been said, even if it hadn't been required, he was a secretive person by nature. And who would he even tell, anyway? It wasn't like he was a socialite.

As for the top-secret information in question, it started with the hologram, when he started to examine from the moment it came up. Naturally, he didn't recognize the object that was put on display, nor was he able to discern its apparent purpose, but he could only presume it was important. One of the others in the room piped up in recognition upon seeing it, but he only spared her a glance before looking right back at it. His focus remained heavily on the image even as Noan continued to speak, relaying information that he obviously already knew. It didn't hurt to hear about it; the state of the RCL, and of the world at large, was a sad reality that he had long grown used to living in. His only thought on the matter was in reference the Commander's last remark.

'Maybe because they can't,' he thought. If the Sons could simply make a comeback and steamroll them with Corruptants, then Damien saw no reason that they wouldn't. But they didn't, likely because the Sons were a sizeable minority of humanity, and even with all the Corruptant they could muster, they had no surefire way of beating out the remnants of humanity with sheer force. Why else would they have tried so hard to sneak around and tear things apart from the inside?

Sure, two Fortresses were a lot weaker than twelve, especially in their current state. But those two fortresses were still packed with plenty of vengeful Resonators and far fewer Sons of Pythagoras, and the former were now quite a bit wiser to the tricks of the latter. If they came again, it'd almost certainly have to be direct, and it made sense the Damien that such preparations for such an attack, if they were being made, would take more than a few months to sort out.

But, he supposed, that was neither here nor there. The report continued, and though he didn't show it, Damien's interest was piqued as the Commander spoke of hope, and began to relay what had gone on at the Fractelum Megalith. He hadn't known about it, but it didn't surprise him that it had apparently gone terribly wrong, given their entire situation. But what did surprise him was that there was apparently something left of it. And that apparently this odd tank device was that something.

He glanced at Edenbliss once, then back at the hologram as he finally went into detail about what it was. There was no explanation as to what it did, but what was given was pretty world-shaking all on his own. Enough for him to raise his brows just the slightest bit.

The hologram changed afterward, and Damien watched as Dr. Friedrich Schrödinger came into view. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the bastard, but he gave no reaction other than that. It went without saying that most people - Damien included - loathed the man on some level, for the part he played in sending the world to shit. But he set that aside for the moment while he watched the recording play on.

What was revealed was certainly news to him - good news, in fact, at least potentially - but despite that, he had a hard time feeling excited about it. Maybe it was because he was naturally pessimistic, and he doubted that just a single shard of the old world could completely restore the universe. Maybe it was because he just didn't have it in him to feel much in the way of hope anymore. Or maybe it was some combination of both.

Either way, the mission was clear now. Get the tank, deliver it to this fucker, and hope he can somehow rebuild reality with it. Sounded simply enough, he supposed.

Once the message prematurely cut off - because of course it did - he turned his head to face Yurica as she began to elucidate on the operation proper. Everything she told him seemed pretty straightforward. Not only was he right on the money about the mission, but he was also expected to keep secret about it - which, again, wasn't a problem for him. The only part of this that actually caught him a little off guard was him being cleared to kill someone if pressed too much about his mission. Convenient, he supposed, if necessary, but... he highly doubted it'd be necessary. Not when he could literally just disappear on someone.

That aside though, it all seemed simple enough. He had no need for supplies, since he had his own already, so he wouldn't need to approach Triella about anything; he just stood and waited while Yurica ended off her debrief with an on-the-spot assignment of one of the other Resonators - Inugami, apparently - with Angel, who was evidently an Echo. Lucky him.

Once all was said and done and the group was dismissed, Damien took out his communicator and waited behind some of the others while they went ahead to get their fixed. Once that was done, he stuck around just a little longer, not because he had any questions to ask, but in case any of the others did, which he hadn't thought of. Hammer's in particular was relevant and very much worth sticking around for, but Niriq's? Not so much. The kid earned from him a look of disdain; he couldn't imagine gaming in the middle of what was probably the most important mission since the Shattering.

At any rate, once all questions were answered, and he saw nothing else to linger around for, Damien began to make his way out, deftly weaving around those who chose to stay and chat with one another. Should no-one intercept him, it wouldn't be long at all before he called on his Spectral Armor, cloaked himself, and disappeared into the night.

Code by Serobliss

 

[SilverFlight]

Scrim

Gell Watanabe

Codename: INUGAMI

Commander Edenbliss' Office

The mischievous grin broke into a broad smile, and he was caught off guard by the laugh that came next. It was real and delighted and...he couldn't remember the last time he had laughed?
Gell wondered if Angel's flustered capitulation meant that he had won their verbal game of chicken, but in the end, he decided it didn't matter. The echo had a sense of humour, that was all the victory he needed. Then Angel reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. Gell had to force himself to stay in one place. The feeling was too familiar...

"If the workshop's going to be packed, we'd better get going." Gell replied, mentally shaking his thoughts away. He watched his new partner finish things with the supply officer, and threw a press-lipped smile at the young horned edenis who had so casually insulted everyone in the room.
He's just grumpy, he mouthed behind Angel's back. When the echo turned Gell blinked at him innocently.

He gave an audible "oof" when Angel clapped him on the back.
"So, is there a handler guidebook? Maybe an informational video?...infocard? Am I stuck with you like, 24/7 or do I get weekends and bank holidays?"
Gell's easy smile never faltered.

He watched Angel fumble the zipper on his hoodie. "Wow, I knew you needed a handler, didn't know you needed a nanny too."

Gell bit his lip at the exasperation that met him, but he was smiling all the way through it. Angel seemed like he wouldn't be the easiest person to like, but Gell found the echo's irritability more endearing than off-putting, or...maybe it was the slow realization that he wasn't going to be alone anymore...
"Coming coming, keep your wings on."

Once out of the room Gell overheard Jay, the bubbly rabbit edenis he had met first on the way in.
"Hey, are you guys headed to the armoury too?" He glanced at all the others he could see: Damien, Natalie, Helena and more.
"You know, it'd probably be a good idea if we went together, so we could calibrate our equipment to be complimentary, ya know, if we're going to be fighting together and all that. Can't argue with the statistics, so come on."

mizton Euclid Leaf Wilder28 Sharatayn Lekiel Cresion Breezes SirDerpingtonIV FabulousTrash donutcry Juju seasonedcat

Code by Serobliss

 

[FabulousTrash]

Echo

Song Kyung-Min

Codename: SHRIKE

Abandoned Warehouse

Kyu blinked.

Jay's response was a bit... unexpected. She could hear the falter of his voice, trying to put their foot down.

Her shoulders rose and fell slightly, as the echo sighed lightly. It seemed that their handler wasn't going to take no for an answer. Kyu looked around the room. If she really wanted to she could just leave. But the voice continued to tell her to stay.

Kyu's eyes met Jay's as they made their last comment. Her head tilted slightly, but she did nothing. The words however, remained in her head.

Who knows how much time we still have together....

Before she could dwell on the thought any longer, Kyu's attention turned to the newcomer. Her eyes met Jay's momentary glance before looking back at the unknown woman. Kyu could immediately tell they had their fair share of alcohol from the night before. The echo remained silent as Jay spoke to the woman, eventually offering a canteen of water to them. Kyu's eyes caught the edenis's silent gesture, to which Kyu shrugged again.

When the echo was introduced, Kyu did nothing as her eyes continued to observe the woman. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed movement as everyone else was beginning to file out of the meeting room. One of them, another edenis, brought up the idea of everyone going to the armory as a group. Kyu said nothing. She just wanted to get this done quickly so she could sleep.

Without warning, she turned and began walking very slowly towards the exit, exaggerating her steps as a way of saying for the others to hurry up.

Code by Serobliss

 

[Lekiel]

Machine Savant

Klora Marlow

Codename: Gale

Central ANGELA

-The Elysium Calling -

We are but fools, for thinking we were anything except mere tadpoles futilely swimming in the vastness of the ocean of existence. Every ripple that we propagated in our efforts to command the unchanging reality that is time only served to embolden our hubris. We deceived ourselves in our arrogance, thinking that we had achieved Godhood, self-proclaimed presiders over our very own destiny, for we had prised the secrets of the Universe from the depths of our continuum. But we could not have been further from the truth. For a tiny fish could only see the rippling effects of its wriggling tail as nothing else, but a miraculous disruption of the waters surrounding it. But in the scale of the ocean, it was nothing. For Men was, but Existence always is.

~Sons of Pythagoras.​

two : escApe into the Greylight​

”Weak. . . you’re too weak. . .”

“She couldn’t save us. . .”

“She didn’t want to save usss. . .”

The young woman stood in the middle of the street across from where was, guarding her position. She didn’t have to look up to feel her chilling stare following her every move. She didn’t have to look up to know her facade was pallid with dried oxidised blood streaking from her nose and the gaping hole that was part of her left eye. Nor the fact that parts of her armour had been blasted away revealing bloody charred flesh below.

“You should join us,” her cracked and bloodied lips only moved to form a broken smile, yet the voice echoed in her head, “you’ll see, you’ll understand.”

”yes. . . she’ll understand. . .”

I’m not afraid. Even in her mind, she sounded like the terrified little girl she’d been all those years ago. She’d learned to ignore them. Pretend they’re not there, utter denials and they would go away. Nevertheless, they always knew what form to take to get to her. Klora looked up at the apparition standing before her, though her gaze went right through it, just like the patrolling trooper who clearly could not see the wretched figure. She cast her gaze to the ground, distracting herself momentarily with the dark rivulets of WISPs that sifted from the ground at the beckon of her hand. Her extended shift should have ended ten minutes ago.

She turned around to look for her handler. Penn was leaning against the yellow and black temporary barriers staring down one of the four avenues that led away from the S. Barrier pylon which they guarded, along with a dozen RCL Troopers (the kind of guard duty which usually wasn't a Resonator's job scant months ago). He’d been silent the whole day, no make that two days, that had been how long they were standing guard here. It was unlike him, but who can blame anyone for uncharacteristic behaviour especially after losing so many? She had warned him against forming personal connections. But that had always been who he was. Somehow, he’d managed to carry on; but perhaps not this time. Perhaps, this last round of losses had finally broken him. It’d only been a week, or two–it was hard to keep track these days–but they barely had time to check up on each other. Really check up. Which was funny, considering she was the Echo.

Klora let out a sigh, letting the filtered air expand her lungs and the subsequent temporary relief ignoring the susurration voiceless whispers in her head. Though the RCL had sufficient essentials, specialists like the Resonators were being stretched thin, especially with the almost complete destruction of their VECTOR corps.

“Gale!” Hearing her callsign snapped her attention to the front, where two figures were jogging up to the checkpoint. The troopers immediately became alert, though they relaxed somewhat when Klora greeted the newcomer. “Claws,” the first she immediately recognised. A rather enthusiastic scrim who she’d mentored in the past and was part of their team running sentry over the pylon. The other–she couldn’t see for a brief moment as Claws’ body blocked her field of view as he tagged his identification card at the gantry gate.

“Who’s the other–”

“You won’t believe it, they assigned me an Echo–” Claws was turning to introduce the other, but a shout from when of the troopers turned her blood cold.

“HEY STOP–” She caught a blur of motion as the other Resonator pushed past the Scrim, bodying a trooper in the process. It happened too fast. She could see the other troopers raise their weapons. Then the face of the other Resonator came into her field of view. She saw the crazy rapturous eyes. The swirl of gathering WISPs that got brighter by the millisecond.

His colour is azure. It was an inane thought than ran through Klora’s mind as the Echo dissonated, the resulting explosion disintegrating Claws and the trooper as the brilliant azure energy expanded.

“NO–” She screamed in defiance, emerald green flashing in her eyes as the Echo mustered all the WISPs she could bear; a storm of black and green rushing forwards to encompass the azure blue. The ball of energy continued to expand momentarily as the counteracting WISPs faltered, but just as it seemed like it wouldn’t hold, it stopped as a surging mass of green and blacks contained it in its entirety forcing the ball of energy to collapse on itself.

Klora sank to her knees from the effort, blood streaming from her nose at the strain. “Penn. . . warn–” she began weakly, hearing the rush of boots behind her as something metallic cold pressed to the back of her head even as the sting of a Severant pierced her neck.

“I’m sorry love, it’s the only way.”

“Why–” She did not hear the gunshot. But she did feel the pain, stabbing from the back of her skull and bursting out her left eye. And just for that instant where she was both dead and conscious, Klora wondered if Echoes could see their own futures after all.

0230 hours, Day OneThe start of the attack came out of the blue. No advanced warnings from Scouts, not until the alarms chimed in from various outposts further out from the FSFs almost all at once. It had never been an easy task to monitor all directions, especially in the plethora of areas where the Blight was the thickest.

“LAGRANGE PARTICLES INCREASING!”

“This is Command, come in Outpost 5, come in Outpost 5.”

”Outpost 3, can you read me?”

“Splinter density increasing at the borders! Multiple siege Cruors detected!”

The Command Tower of ANGELA was a bustle of activity, as officers, operators and attendants rushed to and fro, relaying orders and commands. While it hadn’t descended into total chaos, there was an air of urgency never before seen in months. Not since the betrayal. A multitude of holoscreens filled the room providing visual layouts of various sectors and surrounding garisons around the FSF. Most showed red warning markings.

“LAGRANGE LEVEL 2 AND STILL INCREASING!” By now, the Blight could clearly be seen even beyond the shimmering Schrödinger Barriers. A murky cast of iridescence shrouding their protective bubble.

"Command to all units in Outposts, fallback! I repeat, all units in Outposts are to fallback!" A familiar lilac-haired Triella issued a singular command overriding all others. She rubbed her temples as she leaned back in her chair, taking a brief moment to glance to the back of the Command Center. The FSF ANGELA High Command. Noan along with a handful of commanding generals were huddled around a command table, they seemed to be speaking hurriedly, frowns creasing foreheads as one would occasionally point at an advancing mass of red. Feeling her worried gaze, Noan looked up and offered her a poignant look; the Corruptants were not known for organisation on this scale. Could the Sons be making their move? Or worse. . .

All of a sudden, shrill alarms blazed across the room as an automated voice disrupted the already dire situation.

warning, barrier failure imminent. . . warning, barrier failure imminent. . .

"Lookout!" A shrill cry, followed by a roar of startled gasps as out from the Command Tower windows, there was a burst of energy from one of the five main Barrier Pylons, it surged from the structure and up into the glimmering forcefield in the sky before scattering the barrier into a million shimmering particles.

warning, barrier coverage at 80%. . . warning, barrier coverage at 80%

“PERIMETER BREACH!”

”Defensive forces engaging–”

“How the fuck–” Commander Edenbliss was momentarily stumped as the worst-case scenario manifested itself, but he regained composure in a second, “REROUTE POWER FROM MINOR PYLONS NOW!” he almost didn’t have to shout the command as the well-trained operators had already sprung into motion.

“Pylon 2A rerouting complete.”

“Pylon 2C rerouted!”

“Pylon 2D done!”

“Pylon 2B?? 2B REPORT!” The commander’s hawkish visage zeroed in on the Operator in question, who had stood up. She began reaching into her pocket, “THE FRACTALS ARE HE–” BLAM BLAM, the woman tottered on her feet as blood exploded from shots on her chest and head, the source a smoking gun in Edenbliss’ hand. Guards sprang into action at once, securing the traitor. The very shaken operators shook themselves and resumed their duties.

“TRIELLA”

“On it Commander. . . Pylon 2B rerouted!” Outside the Command Tower, the missing stream of energy that powered the barriers returned as did the shimmering forcefield, though it was visibly not as strong as before.

alert, barrier coverage at 95%. . . alert, barrier coverage at 95%. . .

”LAGRANGE LEVELS RISING!”

“Damage report! The fuck happened to Pylon 5!?” Noan barked.

“Breach contained, but reports indicated several Corruptants broke through. We aren’t sure what or where they are exactly.”

”It’s the Sons. . . they’re everywhere–”

“Commander, there was an explosion. We lost Gale, we’ve got witness reports indicating that she was trying to contain a dissonating Echo–”

Fuck it, Klora. . . what happened there. Inwardly Noan grieved the loss of the Calamity class Echo. One of the few he’d trust with his life. His thumb and forefinger pinched at his forehead as more reports chimed in. They had to fight. They needed to buy time. He turned to Triella and nodded and the operator immediately began issuing the commands. But almost as soon as she began, half the lights of the Command Tower flickered and blinked.

“Comms down. . . We’re being hacked!”

”Firewalls breached!”

Bewildered, Noan looked at his Lilac-haired chief operator but even the renowned hacker was stumped, staring at her screen where a bloodied maple leaf overlay had taken over her screen. He knew immediately.

“Historia.” He spat her name. She was here. . . there was no other explanation for this.

Shit.

“GET ME ALL AVAILABLE ECHOES NOW! WE NEED HER OUT OF OUR SYSTEM!”

◇ ◇ ◇​

Yurica was in the midst of her final preparations when the first warning siren went off. Such sirens were not uncommon as the FSF came under attack a couple of times a month. She glanced at her communicator and noted the level 1 alert, before continuing with her preparations. But despite that, she couldn’t shake the feeling of dread on the nape of her neck.

Sure enough, before too long, the dreaded ping came in. Alert level 3. It was followed by another chime on the secure line but at literally the same moment, there was a whine of machinery as the lights around her flickered and dimmed for a second. A frown creased her forehead as she checked her wrist communicator.

Begin the operation now! The <message corrupted>

She tapped out a few keys, bringing up a simplified minimap of ANGELA. Monarch, Mono, Mocking Jay, Jubilee, Shrike. The Agent identified those of the team closest to Central ANGELA. Then off to the east, Quietus & Inugami. The rest were beyond the reach of her communicator and the local Comms hub, especially considering something had taken out their centralised comms systems. Considering that she had not received the complete mission details, she doubted that any of the others did.

Yurica cursed the need for complete secrecy as she was now the only one with knowledge on the location of the Shard and the transport they were to take. They were on their own.

She tapped into her comms to send a message to all within her reach, “Monarch, Mono, Mocking Jay, Jubilee, Shrike if you copy, converge on my location. I don’t know what the hell just happened, but the mission is go. I repeat, whatever you're doing, drop it. Our task is to secure the Shard in the location I have just shared. Quietus & Inugami, you’re the only ones within reach of my communicator on the East end. I need you both to gather the others and head to the South to secure our ride out of here. Locations have been shared. Something is interfering with comms and judging from our paths, we’ll go dark from each other for quite a while. If we are not at the vehicle bay by the time it is secured, and you haven’t heard from us, head to the Shard’s location.”

Yurica checked to ensure that her message had gone out, both the location of the Shard where it was contained in a biomedical bay and of the Badger a custom troop carrier. Satisfied, she hefted Galatine and locked the lance to the magnetic attachments on her suit’s back and descended the stairs of the Central Barracks. Barging through the main doors and out into the central plaza, she was greeted by complete chaos. Sporadic gunfire reverberated through the streets accompanied by the occasional explosion. Troopers were rushing about, some with clearer orders than others while others looked on confused as one of their own suddenly opened fire on the rest. Glass shattered from the whizz of bullets as the Agent instinctively ducked.

"Yurica here, I'm at the Central Plaza and it's a complete meltdown. Get here as soon as you can but watch out for the traitors.

Code by Serobliss

◇ ◇ ◇Mentions: donutcry SilverFlight mizton Sharatayn seasonedcat Cresion Breezes Euclid Leaf Wilder28 Juju SirDerpingtonIV FabulousTrash

GM Notes:
1. FSF ANGELA is divided into five Sectors. North, South, East, West and Central. Each has its own main Schrodinger Barrier Pylon which in turn covers an area approximately 4 miles in diameter. The one that was hit was Pylon 2 in the east. Yurica and her team start in the Central region and have to head West while Damien and Gell’s start in the East and have to head South to the abandoned vehicle bay.

2. Echoes with at least 5 Willpower can breach the blackout and sift information from the local surveillance systems. They will learn that Pylon 2 is down and is supported by the auxiliaries, they will also encounter the bloodied Maple leaf of Historia. Echoes with at least 8 Willpower, can hack (with considerable effort) snippets of information (just pick a small portion of whatever scene I wrote) from what went down at the Command Tower, after which they will be ‘kicked’ by the bloodied Maple leaf.

3. Alert levels. There are a total of 3 alert levels in all FSFs. Level 1 indicates that the FSF may come under possible attack, separate alert messages will also be sent out to all troops who are mobilised. If you do not receive a message, you are to stand down. Level 2 indicates a greater likelihood of attack on the FSF. If no messages are received, all other troops are to be on standby and/or help out with the evacuation of non-essentials to safety bunkers. Alert 3 is the highest, putting all RCL personnel on battlestations. They are to report to their assigned posts immediately.

4. Sorry for the wait, writing this took out so much from me >.<; You are free to write up your surroundings according to the parameters I have set. If it wasn’t clear, we will be splitting in two teams because of the current location of our characters. Team 1 (closer to central) Yurica, Kyu, Jupiter, Jay, Brigitte, Niriq. Team 2 (closer to the East) Angel, Damien, Gell, Natalie, Helena, and Maya. Much of the FSF is chaotic as Corruptants attempt to breach from the outside while the Sons of Pythagoras are wreaking havoc on the inside. For now, you would only traitors, which would be doing any multitude of dodgy shit e.g. friendly fire, arson, and general sabotage. They’re roughly 20 percent of ANGELA’s populace, though this number includes both soldiers (and Resonators) as well as non-soldiers; more of the latter. If you want to write encounters with enemy Resonators, refrain from using Echoes and Agents as they are much rarer. You also may or may not notice Corruptant Nodes forming in less populated areas as the breach increased Lagrange Particle levels within the FSF.

5. For those in the East, depending on where you place your character, you may have heard/seen the explosion at Pylon 2. However, except for Gell and Damien, they would only receive a secure message ping without any content.

 

[Euclid Leaf]

Surge // Handler

Mocking Jay

Codename: Mocking Jay

Central Refugee Shelter

Each heartbeat filled their shivering hands with red syrup. The hot, vicious fluid stained their fingernails as the edenis applied immediate pressure upon the fresh compress. This must have been the third time it has been swapped. Everything was going wrong. The rhythm was going off-sync. The thrum of their heart felt weaker with each attempt at life.

Mental Triage Evaluation;

Aorta is completely severed from the heart. Catastrophic hemorrhage. According to analysis of injury and state of current equipment, Category -1 intervention shall shift to exception; Incompatible with life. Any further attempts will only be an unnecessary use of scarce materials. Treatment should be diverted to those with higher chances of survival.

These apathetic thoughts ran through the head of the RESONATOR known as Mocking Jay. The usual timidness seem extinguished. They had fully submitted themselves to the role expected of a combat medic. Trained to remove emotion in order to exercise objective judgement and assessment, and render the best possible outcome for the most possible people. Countless times they have performed similar procedures. But something pushed them beyond logic.
The rabbit edenis continued to apply pressure against proper reason, while a spare hand shuffled into their open triage kit. Desperate fingers grasped around for familiar shapes, feeling through the vials, tubes, and metallic medical instruments within the many pouches and compartments. As per the case of a completely severed bloodvessel, surgical clamps were required to perform an emergency ligation.

But at this point, the equipment was all a jumbled shuffled mess.

In all honesty, there was no treatment capable of such a miracle. Especially with such a redimentary toolset. The patient only had a few minutes left, in the best case. This was all a show, a desperate song and dance. But for who?
Even when acknowledging the absurdity of attempting the wasteful surgery, Mocking Jay continued calmly. They had already set down a neat arrangement of scalps, tweezers, and catheters.

"Big Sis… where did you go…?"

Jay blinked for a moment, the sudden squeak rousing them from their trance.
"Are you hurt...?" they said in reply.
"No... the pain is gone.."

Good. The anesthetic is working.
The voice squeaked again. "Are… the scary people gone…?"
"Shhh… Don't worry. I made the bad people go away."
Mocking Jay then began to lean to the side, grunting to maintain pressure as they reaching for a piece of equipment from the sprawled triage kit. "Just hang in there. I have to..."
Suddenly, a tiny hand grasps their wrist. "You're hurt, Sis... Are you okay...?"

Jay tried to hide their shock when they reached up, their fingers coming into the contact of warm blood streaming down their cheek.
When did that happen? When did any of it happen? It all just changed so fast. Just a moment ago, this place was full of living people. The initial plan was to prepare the refugees for evacuation when the Level 1 Alert signaled. Then, all of a sudden, everything began to burn and flash...
The edenis took a deep breath, steadying their heartrate, before looking down at the dazed face. A stiff smile wore like a cheap disguise, for the worry that clawed from within.

"Just a scratch, haha. I'll be fine." There was truth in that, somewhere.
"It's okay to be scared..."
Jay blinked again. "I'm not...!"
The child grinned, grasping the shaking wrist on their chest. "You're shaking, sis. You're a RESONATOR. But you're still like us..."
The rabbit went red, quickly beginning to shake their head. "Hush now. I need to focus, so please be a good girl... Okay...?"

No response.
In a panic, Mocking Jay turned to the silent bloodied form under their squeezing hand. Their shirt had been ripped open, torn to rags by bullet holes and shrapnel. The child's eyes were losing their luster. Their dark brown eyes stared up at the face of the feminine edenis, but they appeared to flicker back and forth from aware to absent. It only made their movements more frantic. The rabbit snapped back to the outstretched equipment, returning to their search for the parts to put together the ventricular pump. But when they dared inch to the side, the small hand only held tighter. There were tears in their eyes now as they choked up a plea.

"It's so dark... Are you still there? Please... don't leave me..."
Jay wrapping the small head by the navel of their arm, like a sling.
"It's okay. I'm still here."
"You won't leave me all alone too, will you...?"
"I won't.
"....Do you promise?"
"I promise."

When they heard this, the child made a smile. Weak as it was.
"You're still shivering. Are you cold...? Here. Let me hold you... Big Sis... It's not fair if I'm the only one warm."
This sudden comment caused Jay to pause. Was it really that obvious, despite their best efforts to hide it. Even acknowledging the condition's onset, their hands didn't stop shaking. It wasn't until they felt how warm and strong the child's hand felt on their own, that the stuttering quake finally relented. Jay almost broke out laughing. What a silly state, a dying child trying to soothe a grown adult.

You're even stronger than me, aren't you?

In that moment, the edenis seemed to have a change of heart. Forgetting about the useless procedures, they leaned in and cradled the child in their both their arms. Jay plopped down next to them, and nuzzled their face with their own. Their long black ears flopped over and tickled the child's cheek, causing them to let out a coarse giggle. In that brief expression of joy, just for the shortest of seconds, a foolish delusion sprouted in Jay's mind. An insidious thought. That everything might just be okay. Help was on the way, to save everyone. Even if they knew it was lie, they should just play along with the fantasy for now. A last memory should be a happy one, should it not?

"Look. No more shaking. You cured me." Jay said, nuzzling their nose with their own.
"Yay...! I helped Big Sis...!"

A child shouldn't suffer like how adults do.
Jay held their head against their chest, and began to hum. They felt their tiny heartbeat. It was like a fading metronome.
"Do you feel safe?"
"Yes..."
Picking up their small hand, Jay began to loop around a colored ribbon. It was from the treat bag gifted no so long ago. Though now, it felt like a different life. A shame that half of the cookies, muffins, and other treats lay spoiled and scattered across the stained, battered ground.

"What is that...?" they ask, holding up their hand and gazing at the dangling blue satin chord on their pinky. Jay then held up their own hand, revealing how they were both linked by the string.
"We are tied together. That means we can never be alone."

The nameless orphan gazed up in wonder at the sight, until their hand abruptly dropped to the side, causing Jay's to also smack across the cement in a splash. Their heart grew tight as they saw a darkness looming behind the glassy eyes. All too familiar was this sight, in this broken world. It was almost time. But Jay didn't want to let go. Not yet.
"I feel so tired…" they muttered.
Jay held on even tighter. "Yes, that's right. You've worked hard. You can rest now."
"...Will you be there when I wake up, Big Sis?"
"Even better, when the sun rises I will come wake you up myself... Then, we can watch it together."
"The Sun...?"
"It's bright and shiny. It used to keep us all warm, in the past. I promised to bring it back for all you children." a pause, "Do you think I can?"
"Of course, you're Big Sis! You can do anything...!"
"Then wait for me, okay?"
"You better not forget, okay...?" they giggled, "Um... I really liked your cookies, Big Sis..." As the spoke these words, their voice became so soft it was hard to tell what was being said. "...Can... I have some... more, next time?"

Before a reply could be made, the last breath was drawn. Their tiny heart echoed no longer.
"Of course..." Mocking Jay whispered these words while cradling the unblinking dull eyes, wiping away the stray hairs clinging to their face.

The small form now lay limp in their arms. Jay's eyes clung onto this last smile, as though haunted by the image. Or perhaps they were trying to stop theirs from falling apart. But it seemed almost futile. Their false hope ruptured like an avalanche, and their face twisted in agony. The rabbit didn't want to look away. They tossed out a silent wish to the world, begging for it, all of its cruelty to freeze for just another minute. In that way, they might be able to preserve the smile a second longer. Spuming red waves rolled beneath the quiet pair, threatening to carry them away, causing the shivering Jay to cling on only more desperately.

But the chaos of this cruel world came banging. The sounds of the sanctum turned warzone started to return in crashing, thundering bars of explosive fire and horrific roars. The blaring emergency siren rang in their ears, causing them to go dizzy for a second from the pain. The screams of confusion and stray artillery rounds shaking the earth, appeared to be a great enough disturbance to finally force them to move.

The edenis raised a hand to close the child's eyes. They don't deserve to see this. Nothing here was fitting for the soundness of a soul.
Mocking Jay covered the still form in the same way one would tuck in a child for bed. For a blanket, they used the oversized gray bundle that the child wore. The cloth was dirty and ragged, no doubt from the many nights they used to keep warm in the cold. Now, it was stained in blood. It wasn't fitting, but what else did they really have to use. At least it was something familiar to hold onto, in the great dark sleep.

In tender motions, as if afraid to accidentally wake them, the rabbit gathered the scattered treats, and lay them in a bloody bundle atop the gray mound.
"Make sure you share with the others... okay...?" they whispered, laying a gentle hand on the body one last time.

Mocking Jay rose from the crater like a zombie from a grave. Their eyes were listless as they gazed across at the glowing cinders of destruction.

Nearby, the modified RCL supply truck, the mobile kitchen sat in a heap of smoking, twisted metal. Spilled spaghetti noodles intertwined with the intestines on the ground. In just moments, all their weeks of toil to convert the vehicle was undone. But it wasn't just their work alone that had been undone. The entire ANGELA relief effort had been vanquished. The sprawled corpses of RCL troopers, traitors, and civilians all lay in bloody pools among the craters lining the bomb ruined refugee shelter. Despite their conflicting allegiances, the dead and lost all shared one singular thing. Their hands held out for reprieve. Rows of lifeless bloodied palms, fingers like twisted branches reached out to. And Jay stood at the center of it all. Pale dull pink eyes turned back and forth at the countless shapes stretched out from the rubble, in search for something to spare them. But no savior answered. Only a rabbit donned in with fake wings. A great pretender.

Among the twisted hands, were those tiny ones adorned in familiar colorful ribbons.
Jay shivered as they looked down at their hand soaked in blood, the same that had been used to stem the bleeding of the artery. Countless cut ribbons trailed off of each finger. Each one represented a lie they told today.

With a motion, they sliced the newest ribbon, the blue dangling from their pinky like a severed nerve.

It was still the same. Nothing has changed since then.

Their breathing suddenly grew sharp. They held their chest, unable to breathe. Suddenly, flashes of red and explosions filled their ears. The dozens of broken, bloody hands began to animate. They latched out and grabbed Mocking Jay, dragging them downwards. Their back arched and Jay nearly crumbled inwards as their body fought against the growing mass of squeezing fingers. Suddenly, in their haze vision, there was a child standing outside the cage of hands. They held up a finger to their lips.

'Hush.'

But a distant cry knocked Jay from their throne of self-pity. They blinked, and the scene of the grasping, groping hands shattered, the rotting limbs returned to their dead owners. Their sweaty face pointed upwards, their burning eyes darted up at the warped grey sky which let forth another throaty, deathly scream. There was a tear in reality, a sickening, festering black wound that gaped wide, indicating the failing of ANGELA's S.Barrier. It was growing larger by the second, as a tidal wave of iridescent shadows crashing down from above. If there was a hell, this was the gateway.

Mental disturbances... Lagrange intensity must be increasing.

Mocking Jay turned their eyes to the ground. There were others that still needed saving. The RESONATOR picked up the triage equipment, reassembling the kit, before moved for their assault rifle. JACKHAMMER was still warm. Without a pause, they moved over to a corpse of a nearby dead soldier. Their helmet had been scorched from the explosions, their torso ripped to shreds, ribs and intestines exposed from bullet wounds. But Jay moved with apathy. Just like in the beginning, when they were administering treatment, they appeared an entirely different person than their usual awkward self.

A sort of morbid grace embodied the edenis, almost like they had been possessed by a hollow spirit.

Slim hands caressed the body, reaching for the fastener, unclipping the magazine belt with a single flick of their wrist. Sliding it off, they barely acknowledged the blood dribbling all over their dress, and began to replace the missing cartridges in their ammo bags.

Discarding the belt with a overhead toss, Jay embarked to a strange contraption of metal straddled to the adjacent mass of rubble. They bent over and with a touch of a side-panel, the harness snapped across their waist, the machinery coming to life with a slight whir and shimmering glow. The energy core jolted life into the limp the hydraulic arm adorning the special metallic case, causing it to raise and stabilize mid-air.

As ruthless as the secret within was, one needed to remember. This was not a weapon. It cannot compare to a sword, or a gun.
But it is greater than either of those, in its intended purpose.

Monarch, Mono, Nightingale, Jubilee, Shrike... This will be my team.

Jay recalled the urgent message sent by Yurica before the series of explosion erupted across the entire Central district, signaling the second betrayal. They scanned their wristed mounted pinger to check for any updates. It was futile, considering how the communications all across the board appeared to be in complete haywire. Command must be scrambling to form a proper defense. The whole FSF must be in complete disorder, if not worse.

But in actuality, regardless of command or order, there was only one thing they truly wanted to see.
The pink eyes gazed down at the name of "Shrike" in their personal pinger, hoping for a new message. Anything.

Even with a realistic expectation preemptively set, seeing the jarbled map and empty bell still dowered Mocking Jay momentarily.
The edenis stared at the blank screen, flicking it off with a short sigh.

The tall rabbit gazed down at the gray bundle beneath them. Seeing the dead was enough to spurn the edenis to leap into the smoke, causing a ripple in the rolling ash cloud as they bound from one broken ledge to the reach the other side of the cleaved shelter. They darted at a breakneck speed, moving down the alleyway down towards Central Plaza in nearly a streak of pink and black. For a moment, they thought of using their SURGE to reach the destination quicker. But anticipating tougher resistance ahead, they decided against it. Their naturally enhanced body seemed more than adequate as they bounced like a shadow from corner to corner.

The RESONATOR hugged the wall as they bound at blurred speed, their thin heels clicking against the cold metal like a drum of needles. They hoped their speed, along with their ears standing alert for signs of conflict, they could avoid anymore unnecessary combat.
Jay held a prayer to the soldiers fighting, hoping they could hold off anymore attacks while they devoted full efforts on their main assignment.
But there was still the haunting feeling of the countless hands wrapped around their own. They glanced at the ribboned fingers one more time.

"Kyu... Please don't make me come find you too..."

0257 hours, Day One // Central Plaza
The Central Plaza was in a blaze of swirling smoke by the time Mocking Jay arrived. The edenis stared out at their home turned into a charred battlefield, as tracer rounds and artillery shells rocked the nearby structures. It appeared most of the fighting in Central was concentrated in this zone, as RCL and SoP fought for control over the FSF's main military checkpoints. It was clear, outnumbered as they were, that their target was to try to cripple and segregate the main RCL forces. But defeating the defense garrison was not crucial to their goals. Perhaps a day ago, they would've been ignorant enough to believe this. But now, with final gambit in mind, securing The Shard was surely their true motive. It is no coincidence the traitorous curr struck now.

But how did they know?

Knowing this didn't change anything. What is done, is done. But moving forward, they cannot act alone. Jay immediately turned to their pinger to locate their squad leader.

But their eyes didn't need the help of the coordinates. A shrill cry averted their attention from the flickering screen. Just below their balcony position overlooking the main plaza, there was the sight of the signature red pony-tail. Seeing someone familiar from their team put something of their heart at ease. They looked harder to see if the recognizable toothed oriental tech-mask had already joined Nightgale. But they needed to put their search for Kyu at a temporary rest. Nightingale seemed to be under fire as one of their own began to fire wildly into the mobilizing RCL infantry section. Mocking Jay did not hesitate when they took aim with their rifle. With a quick burst, the traitor was shot dead. But it was too late. The damage was done.

Several of their own lay in crumpled heaps, caught in the sudden crossfire.

The peach-haired rabbit approached the scattered squad of bewildered troopers, rifle still primed and raised, "All of you head to secure the defensive front on the East. If I see any stragglers, I won't hesitate to shoot. I won't risk taking another bullet in our backs. I advise you to do the same."

Waiting for them to disperse, the edenis swiftly squatted near Nightingale. They made a half-salute before speaking. By this point, the RESONATOR was soaked in blood, causing the hems of the dress to droop like a wet plastic plate. But they didn't seem to recognize this fact.

Compared to their clumsy introduction yesterday, they appeared an entirely different person.
"Mocking Jay reporting for duty, Captain. Shall we secure a perimeter while we wait for the others?"

They then turned to Yurica. Despite the stoic expression, a choking worry in their voice broke out through the cracks and strangled the words of their next sentence.
"My... Echo. I have yet to secure them. Do you have any idea of their current status...?"

...

Code by Serobliss

Mentions: Lekiel FabulousTrash

...

 

[SilverFlight]

Scrim

Gell Watanabe

Codename: INUGAMI

Refugee housing block C-24, Eastern district

Gell jolted awake. The sounds of the alarms were blaring in his sensitive ears. The tiny, one-room bunk he’d been able to find in a temp refugee housing block shuddered with explosions.
“Early.” He muttered. Gell shut the holo screen he’d fallen asleep with and proceeded to haul ass.

Armoured and geared, as he’d had the sense to visit the requisition office after the armoury, Gell sat back on the cot cross-legged and closed his eyes. His breathing slowed. One breath, two, three. When his eyes opened, they were calm. Gell didn’t really know when he had perfected this technique, if it was a form of mind training, else an unhealthy level of dissociation, but he could push his emotions so far under the surface he barely felt them at all. Whatever it was, it was the only way he could get up day after day and do what they did.
The comm buzzed and crackled. It was Nightingale. Gell stored the information word for word.
“Orders received.” He didn’t know if his reply got through, but hopefully, it wouldn’t matter.

There was noise from the corridor; shouting and then several shots of gunfire…and screams.
“Shit.” Someone kicked down his door and pointed a gun in his face. He had half a second to think. Gell put his head down and raised his hands.
“Don’t shoot!” His terrified voice shook and he added a pitiful sob for good measure.
He let the Son of Pythagoras drag him by the hair out into the corridor with other refugees. If they had looked just a little closer, at his gear, or his face, they might have realized what he was. They did not.

There was a large common room on the ground floor and Gell was shoved to his knees. He looked left and right: Terrified civilians, children among them, were cowering at gunpoint. Hostages? He sifted through a mental map of the area to try and predict the traitors’ true target. Possibly the munition stores, if they knew about that, or the comm tower two blocks over. In any case, Gell would have to extricate himself from this mess before he could start his mission, but he would do it with minimal casualties.
Once the Sons had emptied the building the hostage count numbered fifty, and there were seven armed men. Gell had kept his head down, but he counted voices, the heavy footsteps of armoured bodies, the familiar click of their gun mechanisms.

Okay, break it down. They need the people to stay scared but not panic, they won’t open fire into the crowd, but they’ll remove and shoot disruptors. I can start a fight directed away from the civs. I can play to their fanaticism. All I need to do is make them mad.

Gell raised his head. His defiant gaze caught the eye of one gunman, who shouted at him immediately.
“You’re a joke.” His acting had to be on point. They had to believe that they held all the power, and that Gell was frightened enough to be drastic.
“You wanna die? Shut up and get your head down!” Gell remained where he was, even when the cool steel muzzle of the firearm was pressed against his temple.
“Just so desperate for some semblance of control you’re willing to destroy as much as you can before you die yourselves. I feel sorry for you.” Gell turned to the other hostages, spoke to their down-turned heads.

“Don’t fear them! They are nothing! Just sad, frantic mice with nothing left to lose.”
Gell was surprised that was all it took. At the barked order from the lead gunman he was hauled out of the crown and shoved against a wall. He was going to be made into an example, but now all seven were looking at him, and they were all at the front of the room. Rookie mistake.
“If you all do as we say, you will go free, but act like this fool here?”
Gell stood straight and closed his eyes.

The gunfire was aimed directly at his heart. His body jerked with the impacts: one to five. There was a second of shocked silence as the echoes of the shots rang in all ears. The bell-like clink of shells on cement. Gell began to fall forward. In that silent second, his enemies’ guard was down.

His eyes snapped open and from the fall, he launched into a sprint. He grabbed the Kevlar armour of the first soldier and threw him into three more with such force the man’s bones snapped with the throw. Three skulls crunched as they hit each other and the wall in quick succession. Before they hit the ground Gell had a one of the guns he’d pulled out of a hand. The butt connected with another skull, a third, and the final one. The entire battle was over in three seconds and the bodies dropped, not a breath of life in any of them.

“Guess I should count it lucky there weren’t any other resonators here.” He said to the crowd, who slowly began to raise their heads in confusion. His armour had been made to resist Archer spines at point blank, bullets were not a problem. Gell tossed the ruined gun aside and kicked another to one of the women in the front row.

“Lead them to one of the underground shelters. Now.”
Without another word, Gell retrieved his gear and started at a sprint. He slid to a halt just a little way in though, because he spotted something that would make the trip a lot more fun.
Hotwiring the bike had taken a few moments, he didn’t bother with the helmet, his head was harder, and it would be easier for his team to recognize him, ears and all. Best thing? It was orange.

◇ ◇ ◇

The bike sped along the quiet roads, his progress was slowed by debris often, but it was certainly faster than running, even with his power. He saw firefights as he went, running people, tears and screaming and blood, but he couldn’t stop. There was only one way to stop this.
“Inugami here, heading south to Hangar 847 as per instructions. Wings, Vulpes, Hammer, Quietus, Adarna, do you read?” He had no idea who was in range, maybe no one, but he had to find Wings at least. He had meant what he said, it was a promise he intended to keep.

mizton Wilder28 Sharatayn SirDerpingtonIV donutcry

Lekiel

Code by Serobliss

 

[Juju]

Scrim / Handler

Brigitte Lefèvre

Codename: JUBILEE

Corruptant Research and Development Lab

┌──═━┈━═──┐
The briefing...
└──═━┈━═──┘​

An unblemished code of life. So that's what this was all about. Brigitte had been able to multitask writing the recipe and listening to the briefing, but this made her pause. She recognized the holographic man immediately, even if he was a shell of the picture she knew from genetics research papers and news headlines.

"It almost seems too good to be true…" Brigitte muttered, a finger thoughtfully under her chin. She already saw a red flag when she was included in the category of "farthest people from cultists", but this was on a whole new level. Just how dire had things gotten?

Brigitte sighed, like someone having to work an extra five minutes overtime, and cracked a playful smile. "Well I suppose I should start packing my things. My my, it's been a long time since I've gone on a road trip! The summer after graduation to be exact! Although I have the sneaking feeling this will be a little bit more eventful~!"

After the briefing, Brigitte asked for the finer details about supplies. Unlike the others, the most critical thing she could prepare was Jupiter's medications. This journey would span several weeks, even months, and if just one medication ran dry she would have to terminate the Machine Savant before he lost control and attacked the team. It was not something she intended to do for such a preventable reason.

On her way out she was stopped by Gell and Jay, who invited her and Jupiter to the hanger for gear preparation. She happily accepted, mostly for the opportunity to talk to her new allies, and ended up completely losing track of time. She managed to secure all the needed medication, and left the visit to her lab for the morning. It was pretty late, and while she had terrible sleep habits, she wanted to make sure Jupiter had ample rest.

At least, that's what she told herself. If she was honest, she just wished for one last peaceful night together at the apartment.

┌──═━┈━═──┐
0230 hours, Day One
└──═━┈━═──┘​

Mention: seasonedcat Lekiel
The day had begun rather uneventfully. After everything was packed and Jupiter had eaten (under Brigitte's strict orders) the scrim had one last idea. A fresh batch of macaroons were hastily yet masterfully prepared. It was uncertain when or if they would be returning anytime soon, so she wanted to make sure she and her new team left in good spirits. A little treat on the road would do wonders for morale.

It was the same reason why she had smuggled some spices in the supplies, something she was sure Gell and Jay would appreciate. Just thinking of it brought an impish smile to Brigitte's face as she fastened her bag around her shoulder. With the lingering scent of sugar and frosting, the apartment was locked up and left behind.

There was only one last thing to retrieve before meeting up with the others; her pride and joy of experimental ammo application-- "Peggy". Due to restrictions and an accident that totally wasn't her fault it was never allowed to leave the lab without special permission. The sort of permission that had been granted with this mission. Even after a night's sleep it still didn't feel real. Brigitte still wasn't sure if it was more dream or nightmare.

With Jupiter in tow, the two made their leisurely stroll to the lab. Brigitte had gone off on a tangent about the parallels between splinter hive construction and human architecture and before she knew it the reinforced doors to the lab were in front of her. She scanned her access card and the door opened on its own with a hiss and a beep.

Brigitte lead the way into the lab foyer. The administration desk was empty, but it wasn't too out of the ordinary for Brigitte to feel any alarm. She turned to Jupiter and said, "Righto! I shouldn't be too long. Just need to grab the prototype and some ammo. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to leave behind a note, but with all the secrecy..."

It was at this moment she received the first pager alert. She glanced down at it, and in seeing that it was only a Level 1 alert, Brigitte returned to what she was saying, "I'm sure the team will do just fine without me! Owen can handle everything while I'm away, as always. Dear me, no more stalling. Feel free to-"

The reinforced doors and one-way windows to the research facility did well to block out the sounds from outside, but it only served as an echo chamber for the sound of gunshots deeper in the lab. Brigitte froze, eyes wide with realization. Almost in sync with the gunshots, the pager beeped again, this time displaying the dreaded Level 3 along with a message, 'Begin the operation now! The <̶͈̹͓́͘m̷͓͇̣͂ë̵͓̹̖͔́s̷̻̬̀̾͗͝s̸̯̬̓̆̍å̵̧̹g̶̤̃̒e̸̥̼̦̓̅ ̸̙̖͇̀ć̶͖̫͖̓́o̸̢͑r̵̯̓ŕ̴̘̮͈̺͘u̵̝͉͋̔p̶̼̲̠̆̋̍t̷̡͔͐̿̈́e̷̜̯̗̝̎̍̂̈́d̶̬͉̮̉͜>̷̡̘͔̇̄'

Another message, this time from their leader.

She tapped into her comms to send a message to all within her reach, “Monarch, Mono, Mocking Jay, Jubilee, Shrike if you copy, converge on my location. I don’t know what the hell just happened, but the mission is go. I repeat, whatever you're doing, drop it. Our task is to secure the Shard in the location I have just shared. Quietus & Inugami, you’re the only ones within reach of my communicator on the East end. I need you both to gather the others and head to the South to secure our ride out of here. Locations have been shared. Something is interfering with comms and judging from our paths, we’ll go dark from each other for quite a while. If we are not at the vehicle bay by the time it is secured, and you haven’t heard from us, head to the Shard’s location.”

"Monarch and Jubilee reciving message, roger. Ah, and do forgive the delay!" Brigitte responded, not really sure if the message could go through or not. Her expression was serious as she addressed Jupiter.

"That gunshot was from Blight Research. Monarch, eliminate any and all hostiles. Do not let them get to storage. If they do, this whole sector could be compromised. I'll retrieve the prototype ammo and rendezvous with you here at the front. " Brigitte ordered, taking off at a sprint towards her own lab. She called out as she ran, "If you see a red keycard take it."

She was relieved to find the door closed, and when she walked inside she found the lab to be just how she left it before the meeting last night. Rushing around a table filled with samples, she skidded to a halt beside her office door and became aware of two things at the very same time; one was that it was unlocked, and two was that there was only one other keycard in the whole facility that could open it.

Cold metal pressed against the back of her head, and a familiar voice spoke from behind, "Don't move."

"Ah, hello Owen! I was just talking about you!" Brigitte grinned, her chest full of thorns.

Dr. Owen Woods had been a part of the research and development team for seven years. Since the beginning of it all. He had been a mentor when Brigitte had joined the science field again after her recovery. In terms of splinter knowledge, he was the closest to her equal. The betrayal had hit the lab hard, and still Owen had been a fundamental support for the whole team. Brigitte tried to play back the years in her mind and pinpoint the critical moments she had been blind to. When had he strayed? How did she miss it? How could she have avoided this?

Her thoughts welled up like brine, and she only resurfaced to a fraction of what he was saying. Something about Pythagoras, Darwin and the evolution of man. 1 plus 1 equaled 3. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

Stars swam in her vision. A blow to the head. A headache was forming, but any scrim was quick to develop a tolerance to them.

"I will shoot you, Brigitte!" Owen hissed. She knew him well enough to know he didn't make hollow promises. "The Sons have reached out to you, more times than you deserve. They only spared you because you are one of the few gifted with sight in this blind world. You've glimpsed it too, Brigitte. The truth in all this futile effort. Ignorant, clinging to a bygone past instead of embracing the enlightenment. Don't you see, it is transcendence. Those who are not fit... well you know how natural selection works."

"What about Tabitha and the kids? Are they part of this 'evolution'."

"Last chance Brigitte." She could hear the click of a prototype ammo being charged up in the chamber. Is that why he had been so eager for a demonstration?

"Fine, fine... I'll go with you. I've been thinking about it for some time, and well if nothing else works there is really only one other option. Besides, it could be interesting!" It was a lie, mostly. She would never join the Sons, not after everything they did and stood for, but it would be a lie to say that she wasn't at least a little curious of what their so-called 'transcendence' would be. Perhaps she really had caught the crazy.

Brigitte could see the confusion on Dr. Wood's face when she turned around to look at him. There was red on his clothes and in his hands was the Prototype Ez-sample Gun. It didn't frighten her even half as much as the smile on his face and the fact her lie was convincing. Was her interest in splinters really that odd?

Part of her had hoped there was something left in there she could talk some sense to. When she heard about the secret mission she had taken some comfort in the fact that if she was marked as MIA, Dr. Wood could pick up where her research left off. The lab could still function, and maybe they could find some way to counter the corruptants with their own biology. If they could obtain true understanding of that, they could master this new twisted world. It was a dream they had both shared, and had worked tirelessly towards for seven years.

Now she could see it wither to ash in front of her. The Sons of Pythagoras could not be allowed to obtain the research they had worked on together, nor the man who had been half of the project. Even if it meant the termination of the splinter research initiative. Even if it meant destroying everything she had worked for.

It was time to face the music. She just had to stall him until Jupiter caught up with her.

"Well if you're going to steal my pride and joy you should at least use the newer ammunition. If I just--" Brigitte froze as the gun was shoved into her chest. The green glow from the barrel told her it was the corrosive rounds ready inside. At this range? He'd kill both of us. She raised her hands up slowly, "Dear me, does everyone think I'm plotting something! A bit hypocritical, no?"

"Can't be too cautious with resonators. Go on then, open the storage. Anything suspicious and you'll get to test your 'pride and joy' first hand."

"I can think of worse ways to go~" Brigitte hummed brightly as she undid the locks to the experimental ammunitions storage. "So? What do you think? Is the grip comfortable? I adjusted the kick too! Also some -"

"Shut. It."

Code by Serobliss

 

[FabulousTrash]

Machine Savant

Song Kyung-Min

Codename: SHRIKE

Central Angela

The echo took a deep breath in and out, repeating the action a few times.

On the rocky ground before her was the body of one of the many Corruptants she killed along the way, joining the others behind her. As she returned her blade to its sheath, Kyu's eyes looked upwards, past the sea of RCL members. Before them was their final objective.

Fractelum Megalith Alpha. A moment years in the making. Finally, the RCL were just moments away from putting down the biggest threat to humanity since the Shattered Heavens.

Finally, Kyu could rest.

A familiar voice spoke behind her.

"Back straight, Kyu. We're almost there."

Her eyes fixed onto the source of the voice, greeted by the sight of her handler. A somewhat tall human male, with short brown hair. He gave the echo a warm smile as they approached them.

"When we get back to Himari, drinks are on me. Well, food in your case."

The echo nodded. The corners of their eyes tightened slightly, indicating she was smiling behind her mask. In that instance, everything felt right. Everything was going to be ok.

Until it wasn't.

First came the screams. Then came the gunfire. And suddenly, hell broke loose. Kyu frantically looked around for any Corruptants they missed. But it wasn't them. It was their own, turning traitor in their midst. She watched as some of the RCL members cut down others, declaring their true intentions and identify. The Sons of Pythagoras.

Kyu quickly drew her sword while her handler raised their weapon, watching each other's backs. Who could they trust? Who was still on their side?

Before they knew it, the pair were attacked. As the infighting continued, the ground shook, as the Megalith Limiters were deactivated. The Corruptants returned in force, adding more confusion into the mix. Kyu couldn't discern between friend or foe, except for the one behind her. All she could do now was protect them. Or at least try her best to.

[PRESENT DAY]​

She drove her sword through the chest of her attacker, the man gasping and screamed in pain as they dropped their weapon. The man collapsed to their knees, clutching to their chest in a fruitless attempt to stop the bleeding as Kyu pulled the blade out. Raising up her weapon, she swung downward and across his chest, delivering the final blow. The man's body collapsed to the ground and remained still, joining the other 4 bodies on the ground. The echo quickly ran off, leaving her barracks.

Kyu had retreated back to her room after gear preparations, and convincing Jay that everything she needed was ready to go. After that, the two went their separate ways. Then the alarms came. At first, Kyu thought nothing of it. Level 1 alerts came up every so often and typically, a response from an echo wasn't needed. It wasn't until the explosions that Kyu knew something was up. Then came the Level 3 alert and the message from Yurcia. As the echo was leaving her room, there were a group of 5 dressed like your regular RCL soldier, weapons drawn and pointed at her.

She knew this feeling all too well.

As she exited the building, Kyu's eyes were greeted with the sight of red and orange, as flames raged from destroyed buildings. Hundreds of people were running in whichever direction, responding to the sudden attack from the Sons of Pythagoras. Memories and emotions from the day they first revealed themselves filled Kyu's mind.

Anger. Hatred. Confusion. And blood lust. She wanted to kill them all.

A voice rang out though her mind. A voice she knew. His voice.

Before she could dwell any longer, the echo heard footsteps running towards her. They were dressed like RCL, but the barrels of their guns were aimed towards Kyu.

"Open fire!"

A red shine emitted from Kyu's eyes as a barrier of WISPs formed around the echo, blocking the incoming wave of gunfire. In the next moment, the barrier exploded outwards, the WISPs reforming into thin yet pointed spikes. They punched through the group of attackers as they fell to the ground. Kyu quickly took off before more could arrive.

As she ran, her eyes watched. Who knew how deep the got into the RCL's ranks this time. Kyu could only trust a handful of people. The ones that were at the meeting earlier.

It didn't take long for Kyu to near the designated meeting area. She was on the elevated roads above the plaza. Running towards the edge, she looked downward. The echo was quick to locate the familiar pink hair and rabbit ears. And the incoming group of turncoats.

Kyu jumped down and ran headfirst, holding the sword behind her. Before the first of the Sons could reach Jay and Yurcia, the echo held out her free hand, gathering a small ball of WISPs, then threw it forward. As they flew, they took the shape of throwing stars, striking the closet attacker. Kyu's blade came downward on the rest.

The echo's eyes looked towards her handler, before taking a defensive stance, keeping herself between Jay and any more who tried attacking them.

She had to protect them. She had to.

Code by Serobliss

Lekiel Euclid Leaf

 

[seasonedcat]

Machine Savant

Jupiter Syun

Codename: MONARCH

CORRUPTANT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT LAB

the day started as it always did when the two had missions. Jupiter struggled to stomach the food before him but listened to the orders as well as he could. Jupiter followed behind his handler as they made their way to the lab, a sight not uncommon for the two. Though as they entered the building, their repeatable morning took a sharp turn. The slight ease in Jupiter's posture quickly vanished as the message reached their ears.

Jupiter took out his gun quickly, watching their surroundings as Brigitte talked to the two. As Brigitte gave him his orders, Jupiter gave her a quick salute before they departed on their separate ways. Jupiter slammed the doors open quickly and met with the surprised face of scientists. Or rather they used to be scientists; the guns in their hands and their dead kin that scattered the hallway with blood showed off their betrayal.

it was easy for Jupiter to put a bullet in two of them before their inexperienced skills managed to catch up with the situation, no longer facing defenseless men and women but an armed machine. As they pulled the triggers, Jupiter's hand did not hold his gun; he grasped the air in front of him in an upward motion, navy butterflies solidifying just as the bullets hit them. Sliding quickly as the makeshift shield shattered to a nearby pillar, he let the structure take more shots before he formed a ball in his hand, throwing it around the pillar. As it hit the ground, it exploded with a bright ray of light.

moving quickly, he fired into the last two, unflinching as their bodies hit the floor. Reloading his weapon, he moved to the other end of the hallway, quickly checking the fallen enemy's pockets for the 'red card' as ordered. Satisfied with not finding it, he followed the bodies and blood with a quick pace. Putting a few more cultists to rest, he reached the storage Brigitte was talking about, opening the door just before it, only to jump back as a laser knife shot upwards to his face.

his gaze jumped from the cultist in front of him to the one in the back, gun trained on him. Frowning to himself, he positioned his dodges to keep the knife freak between him and the gun, the wielder unable to pull in fear he would hit his comrade. "Bastard, stay still!" the man hissed as Jupiter dodged. Jupiter, of course, ignored as he gathered the energy of WISPs to prepare for his next attack. After one last swipe from the man Jupiter was ready, the giant butterfly wings forming behind him. With one swift motion of their birth, they collapsed forward, cutting off the screams of his competitor as it sliced through his flesh; as the wings drew back, his gun was already trained on where he knew the other was, the bullet hitting his head as his eyes fell on the pieces of his ally.

butterflies dispersed around him as he walked up to the fallen woman; thankfully, she had the red card and not the other, or else it would have been in pieces too. Satisfied with his job, he was about to make his way back to the meeting point before a strangled voice met his ears,

"Monarch-" his gun trained on the coughing woman, another scientist, a few holes in her stomach as she reached out towards the man. Jupiter froze, lowering his gun as he recognized the woman. One of Brigitte's coworkers was one of the few who wasn't scared of his presence. She always said hi to him whenever he came with Brigitte; she remembered Brigitte dragging him to her birthday party, and he remembered her twin daughters and how they thought he was a robot.

he quickly fell to her side, reaching to grasp his combat med kit when she motioned him to stop, "enough of that; we both can see I don't have much time left." she managed as she grasped his descending hand, "Brigitte, you have to find her. Owen has gone crazy, probably going to blow this whole place up for that damn cult," she was cut off by coughing up a concerning amount of blood, "you have to find her, she doesn't know who is her enemy here." Jupiter tensed at this news, quickly standing up to move,

"I will come back for you." he offered before taking off after Brigitte,

"I know you will.."

--
as Jupiter made his way back through the massacred hallways, he reached the meeting point, coming to a halt as he remembered his orders. He was to wait here for Brigitte to return. He glanced anxiously at the doors behind which she had disappeared, his heart racing faster than when he was mowing down cultists. His scar burned painfully as he stared at the door hard, his breathing thin.

"this isn't some game; this isn't your old life anymore. You are a tool for me, for the government. If I say shoot, you shoot. If I say cut off your leg, you say yes, sir. If I tell you to die, you say gladly. Your life is nothing more than that of a machine for me to use; do you understand this Monarch?"

the smell of his own burning flesh was suffocating him, and he wanted nothing more than to remove his helmet for some fresh air, but he couldn't bring his hands to move. He closed his eyes, gripping his wrist tight enough to bruise as he willed his legs to move, to do something. Images flowed through his head the day Brigitte handed him a blue piece of paper, a mischievous smile on her face. She didn't give him pills or look at him like he was an object. She smiled when he succeeded; she beamed when he offered her his stupid arts and crafts; she didn't treat him like a machine.

Jupiter almost laughed. His head was swirling with memories he wasn't supposed to think about, his stress levels were too high, and he wonders if Brigitte were here if she would have had to subdue him. Would she become one of the faceless blobs that haunted him in the night? Another memory he couldn't grasp as he woke up sobbing in the night? The thought made him sick. How many pills would it take him to forget her?

the door in front of him opened before he realized he was moving; his head was too fuzzy, too many thoughts he wasn't allowed to think, flooding his brain. As he ran, he saw bodies he knew were not there, the blue butterflies feasting on their skin as he didn't give them another look. He can't place when they turned into Brigitte's body, fallen in a different way each, though none were unfamiliar to him. He could almost place how he knew them, but he knew thinking any more onerous would lead him to stress levels he couldn't return from.

at the sight of Brigitte opening the storage, gun placed on her head, he didn't need much else thought but to put a bullet in Owen's skull, thankfully no blood sprayed over his handler as his gun didn't shoot bullets. His chest was heaving painfully as he watched the body fall with a loud thump, rushing over to Brigitte's side without much thought,

"are you injured?" he asked quickly before realizing his place, dropping quickly to a low bow, "Ms. Jubilee, please forgive my insubordination. I heard you were in danger and rushed to back you up. I will take whatever punishment that you see fit."
Juju

Code by Serobliss

 

[Wilder28]

Surge

Damien Harte

Codename: QUIETUS

Mentions: Lekiel SilverFlight Sharatayn mizton SirDerpingtonIV donutcry Juju Euclid Leaf FabulousTrash seasonedcat Cresion Breezes

Somewhere in East Angela

Damien well knew that the wise thing to do before a mission of this scale was to get some rest. And he did. Once he had gotten home, and made sure that he had everything he needed ready to go, he went ahead and went right to bed, since there wasn't really anything else he needed to take care of. He'd been up all day already, so he figured that if there was ever a time to catch up on sleep, it was then.

When he woke up, though, it was earlier than he had anticipated - around 0200.

He'd wanted to go back to sleep, to catch up on that last bit of rest while he still could, but though he tried, he found that he simply couldn't. Eventually, he decided that he may as well just stay awake until it was time to go; at least then he'd have time to make any last-minute preparations if needed.

There wasn't much to do in his room, though. So, with nothing to repair and nothing to make, he decided to set out for a little while, heading down to a particular spot in the East Sector that he'd come to frequent during his time here.

There was nothing particularly special about it. It was just one rooftop of many, and particularly one that allowed for a pretty decent view of the surrounding area. He liked to go there during his downtime, when he had nothing else to do; it was a nice spot to sit and reminisce, or else to plan for the future or ponder over the present.

And that brings us to now. For just about half an hour, the lone Surge had been spending his time mulling over the mission that loomed ahead, and the consequences it could have if they succeeded. He wasn't particularly optimistic that everything would work out for the best, but at the very least, it seemed like they had a real shot at it. And that was quite a bit more than he could say for any other mission he'd been on since the Betrayal.

Up until now, he'd never felt any semblance of hope doing what he did. And why would he? After having their chance at victory torn so cruelly away from them, just when they had been so painfully close to achieving it, it seemed like everything that came after was just... token. He didn't fight because he believed they had a shot at winning anymore, he did it because he saw no better alternative. He refused to live a lie like they did in the Sanctums, and he'd be damned if he was just going to stand around and wait for the end to come.

No. If worst came to worst and the end of everything really was on the horizon, then he was going to go down on his own terms. Every Corruptant that dared to draw close, he'd put it down. Every Son he ever came to face, he'd cut them down to size. Whatever the universe threw at him, he was all but ready to face it, if for no other reason than sheer fucking spite.

And that hadn't changed. But now, with this whole situation springing up, Damien felt for the first time like he had a little something more to fight for.

Was it certain that delivering this Shard thing would make everything right again? No, of course not. And Damien wasn't going to hedge all his bets on it.

But nonetheless, just the idea of having a chance to reverse everything... Well, a part of him found that worth clinging to.

The shrill wail of a siren was enough to pull him out of his thoughts, prompting him to look up from the hilt of Incendium that he held in his hand. His pager went off, and he spared a moment to look at it.

Level One. Nothing to be concerned about.

Without hesitation, he put the pager away, setting it again on his Utility Belt. Whatever was going on, he wasn't being called to deal with it, and even if he was, he had a much bigger task to worry about. Someone else could handle it.

... Or so he thought.

Just a few minutes later, there came an explosion. Damien's head snapped up just in time to see the nearby Pylon begin to collapse.

That was enough to get him on his feet.

"What the hell...?"

Almost immediately after, he received another ping. Taking off his pager again, he looked upon his screen to find that the alert had now progressed to Level Three.

Shit.

All around him, the Fortress began to rapidly descend into chaos, the prior ambiance disrupted by a mass of shouts, cries, and resounding gunshots that rang out from all directions. It was almost enough for him to miss the message.

'Begin the operation now! The <message corrupted>'

Before he'd even finished reading it, the last of his nanites were already moving into place. It was a damn good thing that he'd already come equipped, because otherwise? He'd have been fucked.

As soon as his armor was set, he activated its cloaking feature, allowing it to reflect the light of the city, and of the fires that begin to ignite around him. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he could hazard a guess: They were being attacked. Not just from the outside, but from within.

After four whole months, the Sons were finally making their next move.

And what a time they picked, too. It couldn't have been a coincidence. He was sure of it.

“Monarch, Mono, Mocking Jay, Jubilee, Shrike if you copy, converge on my location."

Yurica's voice rang out from his pager, drawing his attention.

"I don’t know what the hell just happened, but the mission is go. I repeat, whatever you're doing, drop it. Our task is to secure the Shard in the location I have just shared. Quietus & Inugami, you’re the only ones within reach of my communicator on the East end. I need you both to gather the others and head to the South to secure our ride out of here. Locations have been shared. Something is interfering with comms and judging from our paths, we’ll go dark from each other for quite a while. If we are not at the vehicle bay by the time it is secured, and you haven’t heard from us, head to the Shard’s location.”

His response came without missing a beat.

"Roger that."

Meet the others at a vehicle bay in the South Sector. Sounded simple enough.

Once the message concluded, Damien wasted no time checking the locations she sent. The Shard was somewhere in the West, while his destination was down South. He hadn't been here long enough to get to know this base as well as he had in Magdalene, but he'd nonetheless been around enough to know where to go. He'd by that particular vehicle bay before. So once he internalized the location, he was all but set.

He put the pager back on his belt, and without any further delay, he was on the move.

Just as before, he kept to the higher parts of the city, traversing the rooftops so as to avoid all the traffic below. And in this case, it served him a lot of good, because what was going on below was not ideal for travel by foot. People were fighting, shooting, breaking, burning - the Sons were wreaking as much havoc as they could. He didn't know how many there were, but there were clearly a lot more than he'd ever anticipated. And from where he was, it was hard to tell who was who.

A part of him wanted to get down there and get involved. But he couldn't; he had a mission to attend to.

However... that didn't mean he couldn't take a few down on the way.

He never stopped for long. His path was a bit of a winding one, so some parts of it brought him closer to the chaos than others. And every now and then, he would drop in. An RCL soldier was unloading his magazine into a panicked mob of refugees - until he was quickly and suddenly cut in two. Elsewhere, someone had managed to set fire to a warehouse - and just moments after they stepped out, they found themselves dead on the ground. A couple of nodes were spotted, too, here and there. He went out of his way to smash them both.

One particular incident involved another Resonator like himself, a Scrim who had a civilian woman in his grasp. His right arm was shifted into that of a Warrior Splinter, and it was held at her throat. A handful of bodies littered the ground around him, arranged into some kind of symbol.

No doubt about it: This was one of the crazy ones.

"And blessed you shall be," he crooned, his claws beginning to press into her throat. "That in your demise, you may serve-"

That was about as far as he got before his head went rolling.

The woman was naturally horrified, but Damien didn't stick around to comfort her.

Soldier, Resonator, civvy, it didn't matter. If they were with the Sons, if they were a threat, he killed them when he got the chance. And in all the confusion, they never seemed to see him coming.

“Inugami here, heading south to Hangar 847 as per instructions."

The voice came from his pager while he made his way around.

"Wings, Vulpes, Hammer, Quietus, Adarna, do you read?”

"I read," he responded right away. "Heading South as we speak. For those of you who missed it, our team is split. The others are securing the Shard; we're securing the hangar. With any luck, they'll meet us there eventually."

Gunshots rang out from close by. Very close. Damien slid to a halt, gazing off in the direction they were coming from.

"... Inugami, share the locations. I'm going to go take care of something."

And with that, he put his pager away and proceeded ahead.

It turned out that there was a shootout taking place not far from where he was. A squad of RCL soldiers were taking shots at another within a relatively wide street. Damien overlooked the scene from above, taking his time to discern which side was his own.

It took some scrutiny, but it didn't take long.

Out of the five Sons present, one of them had just ducked behind cover when he heard something touch down beside him. By reflex, he snapped his head over in that direction - and found nothing there.

"Wh-"

Before he could finish, the unseen fist of a lone Surge pulverized his head, crushing it against the very surface he'd been hiding behind.

The others hardly even had time to process what was going on before Damien turned on them next. In a series of three consecutive Dashes, he sped right up to one of the remaining soldiers and put them down with one slash each. The last only managed to get a single shot off before he was speared through with Incendium, and even that missed by a good margin.

With that done, Damien withdrew his blade into his hilt and took off once again. This fight was over. He had to keep moving.

Code by Serobliss

 

[mizton]

Machine Savant

Angel Salvatierra

Codename: WINGS

Training Room > Barracks

0200

Like all mornings, the simulation room had called to Angel in the dead of night when his mind found difficulty in stilling. He was to be up in a couple hours to prep for the mission, yet his rest had been cut short by either nightmare, difficulty breathing, or both. Upon waking, he never remembered.

So here he was, going through his motions of his last mission for the umpteenth time that month, practically a color guard performer in the way the training dummies fell like cut sand sculptured, dampening his movement to pure fluidity with no resistance.

It was when in the aforementioned dead of night that his headset pinged that his session of being actively monitored. This landed him a limp blow to the shoulder of one of the shielded bots, one who'd caught him when he faltered, for it was genuinely disturbing that someone else was up so early. He stood paralyzed, though outwardly apathetic, before that bot then tackled him with a force strong enough to raise his brows. When his temporary surprise subsided enough for him to blow off the bots with little effort on his behalf, he asked aloud, "Fuck was that?"

There was an annoyance to him as he went on, "Anyone there? Hello?"

"Hello!" boomed over the simulation room's speakers, shrill & chipper, not even in his headgear. He winced at the noise, though it did not abate in going on, "Ready for round 2?"

"What the fuck—"

On pure instinct, Angel's right shield splayed to block an incoming projectile of an faux Archer's model arrow. A harmless goo splatted on the ground below his wings, though his simulated peripheral analysis registered the temperature of it to be heated. Different from his sessions before.

"Remember when you," asked the simulation room, "asked about a harder difficulty?"

"Wha—"

"I do!" It replied, unconcerned with Angel's confusion, "Figured out how to overclock them." The bots, whenever the room spoke, paused their attack, so they waited, menacingly. His vision registered their heat index as around 124°F; idly, Angel deciphered that to around 50°C. The room asked, "What do you think?"

Before he could respond, a Shield tackled him with a greater force than before, summoning great effort from Angel. For the next minute or so, the blond fended off a unique wave of simulated monsters. During it, he'd taken to ripping off his headset, it clattering on the floor as he watched the bots come at him as what they were: pristine, albeit a bit worn, mimicries of Splinters, all blocky & clunky. Without the simulation's overlay now, they'd look almost cute in another circumstance.

When the last of them fell, some slowly rising to perform self-repairs but generally allowing a moment of rest, Angel fumed, "Fuck's up with you?"

"I did what you asked," came the room's cold reply, "like I always do."

Angel scoffed, catching on incredulously, so he mocked, "Oh what, you're fucking mad? Getting back at me?" He gestured with his lance, swinging it over the momentarily decommissioned bots, as he laughed, "Did I hurt your feelings?"

A silence fell over them. Him & the room, at least. From inside the observation room, Angel figured they'd just turned their comms off. When the analyst's voice came this time, it was clear, unfazed, & detached. She told him, "You're stuck in there."

The training bots stirred from their inactivity, encroaching a ring around Angel, as she returned his scoff, "Good luck."

A high still about him in having gathered her angle, he pierced one bot's makeup. He shouted as he pulled his polearm out from a limp faux-Splinter, "You think I won't last."

The room boomed with a single laugh. It almost echoed, bouncing around the mirrored walls. "With your stats?" it mocked, "I know you won't."

Angel's wings flared up, blocking the incoming projectiles of the new wave. When bots jumped him, his shields flung them off & he'd made quick work of them a third time, albeit with broken sweat this time. Inwardly, Angel couldn't make sense of the situation; was this a game? A sick joke by an analyst who'd had enough of him? It sounded believable, but... he just couldn't ration it. When the fourth wave came with little warning & a projectile cut at his cheek, he growled. In the lapse afterwards, his head snapped toward the particular wall of the simulation room that he knew, from four month's of experience, that the observation room could peer in through.

In meeting the mirror, he startled. Without jacket, slouch, or general aid to his appearance, he was... sick. The sight of himself just about made him so; an empty stomach's acid gargling the instant his reflection's eyes met his own.

Punishment damned, he'd had enough of this game. Regardless of the cost deducted of his mentioned, but never received, pay, he'd had enough of whichever analyst this was' humor. In a lapse of judgement, Angel hurled his spear between his reflection's eyes.

In the moment he'd caught them, he watched his irises match for once as they flared a gold. In an instant, he expelled a burst forward & met his reflection's nose for but a second. In the instant that he'd flung it, he'd caught his spear just as it broke glass inwards on the observation room. Around him, the shards moved in a motion slow enough for him to almost touch; as result, tiny white flurries caught each shard.

One nose, to another; he'd landed on top of the control panel from yesterday, nearly going cross-eyed in his proximity to the familiar analyst's face. For but a moment, the glass around her—them—suspended in air, before dropping with great clamor.

Angel sat back onto the panel.

"So predictable," he'd pieced together; she'd said it under her breath, but the mouthing couldn't be clearer. The analyst—the one from yesterday, he'd remembered—laxed in her seat, as if behind him wasn't the view of training bots with their targets set on the man before her. Unbothered, she monologued, "Two altercations in your career. System notes call you a mediator."

"I think..." She began. Angel bristled, holding a bit of a breath as she spoke. His wings, though outstretched to mind any incoming projectiles, had a gap in protection right at his back, so in the moment she'd gone on to say "that's bullshit" did Angel act. In that instant, a sharp crunch of broken glass behind him rang in his ear, the starting pistol for him to spring behind her. He'd jumped over her & her chair, kicking it out of her & lifting her chin with his polearm's length, pulling her up to a stand. Her hands flailed to reach his head, one smacked at him, the other squirming to get underneath the bar. A Resonator against what he'd presumed was a human, it was no contest; he didn't budge in his hold.

His shields curved around them. The bots bounced off them, ravenous in their approach. From what Angel could see through the mass of green, one was stalking to wrap behind them, so he growled into her ear, "Call them off or I will."

"You're sparing me," she said with a lilt over her shoulder. There was a near-elation in the way her lip curved to speak sometimes, as if he was making her laugh. With her face then-turned away, he couldn't make out the "Is that what happened before?" she had uttered, but did catch the way her shrill voice pierced the air as she screamed, "Traitor!"

Angel's hold over her neck tightened across her throat, barking, "Shut up!" In his mind's space, her words rang nonsensically, with that last word taunting him.

In the lapse of voices that followed, he caught under her breath, her saying, "Coward..."

It sent him. In great motion, he pushed her aside & like petals stirring themselves from the corners of the room, that light flurry from before shot themselves towards the onslaught of bots, inserting themselves like parasites in their systems: deactivated. The analyst dropped to her knees, pulling herself up to the control panel, coughing as she did. When her hand reached up to press something, Angel twitched forward but again startled at the sudden tab of familiar faces filling his vision, projected from the panel below, casting a blue hue on the scene within the room.

"Sons," she'd begun with a raw voice, "Their hits. & you."

She sat on the control panel, slumping as she went on, "Some mediator."

With second wind, she hissed, "You let them go?!" Her hands flung upwards, before crashing down onto the control panel at her side, tabbing out to another screen: one of his numbers. Without abating, she went on, "I've gone over your stats! You—you could've..!"

"But I didn't," Angel managed with weak voice. A hand rubbing out the creases in his forehead, he sighed, "Alright, I get it now." With vigor matching hers, he snarled back, "What, this revenge or something?!"

"Vengeance."

"Whatever!" He threw his hand up, exasperated, "You think you're funny, smartass?"

"I—I've always been! & nice! But—that's not the point!" She fussed, still weak from the loss of air from earlier, "Traitor!" Despite that energy level, she pulled something quickly from a bag on the floor. By the time it registered, she'd already shot two bullets into his chest plate, chipping at them. Angel tanked them with a glare that held through as the ricocheted. With their trajectory, they would've killed her were it not for the WISP clusters he'd sent out; she had to have known.

"Dumb shit analyst," he spat, swinging his polearm for emphasis towards the bots, "Great plan! Machines to kill the Machine Savant!"

"Oh, fuck off! I came here for our backups—I... It's hell out there—but then—then I saw you & just... I just..."

A sigh. Not from her, from himself. His brain was doing gymnastics to keep up with her rationale, but she went on. Her voice, though he could barely hear it over the chorus, was weak, defeated, "They're not dead. Savants disable them all the time here when they... when they train. They're supposed to be Splinters, remember?"

The realization dawned a bit too late as the aforementioned bots stirred from their supposed deactivation. Rising, they lurched forward to flood into the room. Angel stiffened for another wave. With a sigh to match his, the analyst typed something into the panel that stunned them; some were mid-flight in swarming the room, so a great clamor marked their true deactivation.

She shrugged, "You really wouldn't have lasted." Angel glared at her, earning himself a sheepish glance toward the side as she went on, "I just... didn't account for the glass."

Angel faltered at this knowledge. She really tried to kill him, but... Angel found it hard to find further reason to draw more emotion than he already had; like last night, he found himself wondering if he was getting old. He didn't know the logistics of whether or not the bots would've been strong enough, but... it seemed like she was banking on exhaustion, of which he'd already been feeling by the fourth wave.

He shook his head, ridding himself of lingering on the thought of a traitor aside from a Son. When he did, the lights overhead went out with a hiss as other technology whirred to a silence. When they came back online, the monitors & all the projected screens of the room swept a bright red, with little leaves dancing across the overlays. On the main holo-screen of the room, a maple leaf pattern flashed for but a brief moment.

With a sudden sobriety about him, Angel pressed a hand on top of the control panel's surface, his other aimed toward the limp security camera in the observation room's corner; a white device attached itself onto the camera's body like a parasite. White, sharp angled lines snaked along the surface, congregating at his palm & forming a sort of orange or yellow-rimmed white mass at his fingers. Crisis damned, his overlay manifested as an indistinct flower, flickering between CRT lines, upon which Angel grinned towards the analyst's direction. For a moment, the air between them felt the way it did yesterday, when he hadn't almost been a hit for a delusional analyst.

Angel didn't have to hear to know the sigh that'd come from his side. "Cute," responded the analyst.

For only a couple seconds, security footage was diverted from the command tower of ANGELA & into the tiny observation room the two stood in. Jittery footage from the command center played in sub-second intervals, flashing & flickering with no rhythm:

”Sons... everywhere–” flashed one clip, an overhead view of Command; darting operators & attendants stepping around a dark pool in one of the aisles; a body lay limp for practically a millisecond before the next clip played.

“Commander... explosion." The perspective shifted to the old guy from yesterday, hunched over & pinching his brow.

Another overhead view giving a direct bird's eye view of an operative's receding hairline as the observation room's speakers boomed, while the darting miscellany around him paused as a voice rang out, ”Firewalls breached!” Lekiel

Then, in an instant, that bloodied overlay of a maple leaf, flickering & corrupted, squelched Angel's pathetic flower.

An indistinct voice—no, idea—infiltrated his thoughts, mocking him with a haunting 'I see you...' His voices latched onto the soundbite & repeated in a demented asynchronism of 'I see you, see you, you, see you, I see you, see, I, I,' before devolving into a screeching, start & stop derivative of itself, accompanied by chipped & distorted tracking. The way it hiccupped was an almost-laughter.

Angel ripped his hand away with a yelp as though the control panel burned.

His WISPs spun out erratically, losing the color he'd given him & darting towards the corners of the room in tiny black masses. In his loss of control, he stumbled back onto his backside, his armor clattering along with him in the fall; subconsciously, he tugged at his underlayer's collar to wipe at a bleeding nose, his eyes unfocused but darting over the ground before him in a spastic urgency: he traced the contours of the glass, the edges of the panel, the tiles until words found themselves back in his throat.

"Historia..." he'd managed ingeniously. He didn't know when, but the analyst had fallen to his side; in his mind's panic-induced reset, he'd remembered her name: Ivette. She was from TERESA where he'd spotted her on occasion before. If he'd been given a moment to decipher anything else besides the scene he'd just witnessed, he might've been impressed with his own recollection of a dusted memory.

Instead, the WISP that'd fled to the seams of the room like rats now found shelter in the pores of his skin. There were cracks & chipped bits of it from the unusual force of the training bots. Idly, he lamented having worn the facility's shitty training armor again today. The WISP didn't care; they bore holes into his skin & slithered within his veins, raising his skin at their congregated locations. The prickling sensation brought him out of his fascination & delusion, along with the urged voice of Ivette beside him, shouting, "Get up!"

He got up, like a dog commanded, albeit frantic & gangling in his rush onto his feet. A stream touched the faults in his lip, at which he again wiped away; mind clearing, he barked, "Pack your shit."

Perhaps then, the dynamic between them really had reverted, for Ivette let out only a meek, "Yes sir."

He made great fuss towards the door, pulling the analyst along by her wrist when she'd skipped to his side with an armful of data stores. At the door, he faltered, lashing backwards in an instant upon an echo of the incident—I see you—toward the security camera. Whizzing past the analyst's dark hair, he'd commanded a white shard to take the room's eye out. In his state, the WISP dispersed almost immediately, falling mid-air like tapped ash from a cigarette. Another drip from his nose, Angel pulled her down the hall.

He didn't know when Ivette had been called to the side of the halls they stormed down—someone familiar, she'd said, thanking him for the escort. He lingered in the way she rubbed at a raw wrist—but Angel found himself in his own complex: a massive structure that housed incoming Resonators & military personnel alike. He didn't know how many he shoulder-checked in his urgency to reach his dorm, only knew that upon one instant, he'd been shoved back & hit a wall, reigniting a chorus of relentless echoes. His headache boomed, though he got up all the same. Only a few more doors.

The door swung open with a slam at the adjacent wall. Upon arriving, he'd nearly dropped to his knees in his perturbation. His legs that by then had begun to feel like massive weights, stumbled to carry him toward the bed. Along the seemingly great distance that was his door to his pillow, he'd ripped off & discarded loose accessories of his temporary armor; his shoulder plates, chips at his abdomen from when he'd been shot at—anything. He felt constricted, feeling a great mass of WISP underneath his skin, looking for anyway to shrug them out.

Movement near-primal, he tore off his pillow to reveal a single bottle of DS pills.

With hand-fisted fumbling at the cap, he'd shaken out a handful to drop onto his tongue. He crunched down onto one, rubbing the powder across gums. Then another & then one more, as if they were only mints & he was running late for a dinner. The last, he stowed under his tongue, by then finding a perceived momentary relief. Rationally, it'd take a minute or two for them to kick in, even sublingually, but the relief in having reached them flowed through his shoulders, lulling him into a moment of respite enough to slump onto his bed.

His hands held his head for that moment.

Had Gell asked Triella for a stockpile? Had he? He couldn't remember. Where was his foresight? Yesterday, he & Gell had packed, but his mind lapsed in any memory of his pills. Normally, his missions were short enough for him to not need any stockpile. Yet, this one... He knew it was different & yet, in his hand, only a couple days' worth, rattling softly within their bottle with every movement. His mental stock knew he had about a week or two in his room, half-consumed & forgotten blister packs strewn across drawers; some even in a pill box he'd bought himself during one of his highs; he'd been so adamant on establishing a good routine back then.

It'd been a result of his behavior that he was newly unapproved for prolonged possession. For fear of overdosing, for fear of forgetting, misplacing—Angel didn't know. At the time, he was already so reliant on the systems he served. Now, the window outside showed a burning base; he prayed Gell had enough.

From his bed, his gaze led over to a mirror, half-covered in a thin sheet. In that moment, his communicator finally pinged, blaring into ears: "South... team—split. Hangar."

Without missing a beat, Angel tapped at his jaw gear's PTT button: "This is Wings. Comms coming in broken. I'm outbound for hangars."

Sharatayn Wilder28 SilverFlight SirDerpingtonIV

if this doesn't make sense, forgive me. i died writing this. this only my ghost pressing send, proofreading be damned.

Code by Serobliss

 

[SirDerpingtonIV]

Surge

Natalie Welles

Codename: H A M M E R

The Armory

They were talking to her. An invitation, to do something. Words, from those who would be her squadmates. Didn't matter. She'd received the mission objective, and her question had been answered.

"No. Go without me."

There wasn't much keeping her there, so the Resonant turned about and left, the smell lingering much longer than the weary soldier had bothered to. She walked off into the night. The objective. The shard, it's destination. It was all that mattered.

It was all she remembered the next morning too.

An explosion. Natalie jolted awake, the arm of her suit swinging up, nearly taking the head off one of the mechanics that had been working on it. The man fell back, off the step-ladder he'd been atop of, crashing to the ground below. The woman staggered forward, the tips of her metal gloved fingers set against the glass dome that protected her helmet to give any pressure to her pounding headache. Or, they would have, if it was there. The glove was pulled back, as was the interior helmet, both resting on the ground beside her. She hadn't pulled them off last night, she was pretty sure. Her head hammered with pain, as it seemed to always do after heavy drinking. Hangovers didn't normally last this long. She knew, she'd had half of all hangovers, surely.

Natalie trundled forward, a low groan escaping her lips, her one eye moving to the man below. "Sorry," she said, the word slipping out of her lips, before she paused where she stood. Something warm and wet was running down her face. It forced her to close her eye, it dripped down her face, she could taste it on her lips. Iron. Blood. Her brows furrowed, lips parted. "Fuck?" she mumbled to herself, setting those metal fingers against her flesh, reaching upward until they touched metal. A shard of steel, stuck out of her head. She pulled it out with a grunt, the broken blade falling to the ground infront of her. She'd been stabbed. It wasn't a headache, someone had stabbed her in the head.

The soldier turned, glancing down at the man, at the fear on his face, at the broken knife in his hands. Her confusion vanished in an instant, and he was already scrambling backward. But he was slow. She was not. Each of those metal footfalls was a crash against the floor, and the man's stammered, labored breaths growed higher pitch, layered in fear as she thundered over. "Wait!" he cried out. She did not wait.

The massive metal boot came down on his knee. It didn't require much strength, the armor weighed more than a ton, after all. Simply setting her foot down crushed the limb, the knee pulverized in one solid footfall. His leg seized and the mechanic let out a horrible scream. She recognized him. He'd tended to her armor before, but they'd never spoke. The pain must have been unimaginable, it choked him, stole his breath, sat thick in his throat. Natalie got down then, a heavy metal knee slamming into the ground beside him, her other foot still set on his knee, grinding the powdered bone into the floor. She wasn't a sadist. The only thing that slowed her was the pain in her head and her own grogginess, but even in such a state, she moved fast. All the target had time to do was just raise his hands, before her massive steel fist crushed straight through them, and into his skull. His head exploded, splattered across the floor like a bursting grape.

She stood, raising a hand to wipe across her face, the cold steel dragging across her flesh. Her blood and his mixed across the surface of the steel, a low hissing breath drawn out from between gritted teeth. Anyone else would have died to the knife, killed before they had a chance to act. Natalie wasn't anyone else. The knife had gotten stuck in the bone above her brow, and it'd snapped as the enemy tried to pull it out. Bone must have healed around it too fast. He'd pulled her helmet off, and tried to assassinate her. Why? Was the explosion she'd heard in her head, or just the feeling of getting a knife stabbed into your head?

Another explosion. Gunfire. Maybe it was both. The door burst open, a man in black stepping through, gun in hand. Sub Machine Gun, bullpup. Body armor, helmet, visible eyes. He raised his weapon. She raised hers. Bullets bounced off the bulkhead of her shoulders, sparks flying as the scream of steel burned in her ears. She squeezed her finger back, and the man was blasted off his feet, the slug hitting him dead center. Punctured the plate in his vest, terminal injury. Natalie stepped forward, as he lie there. Words left his lips. They didn't matter.

They never mattered. Her boot crushed his ribcage, flattening the bone and bursting organs, killing him instantly. Natalie kept her arm raised, the Mauler's barrel set on the doorway. But no one else came through. Natalie moved, wrist aimed towards the doorway still as she moved back through the room. Over the years, countless people had mocked her. Didn't get why she slept in the armor so often. It'd been an issue. She didn't trust her squadmates. She needed mental evaluation. The armor reeked and the mechanics needed to clean it.
She was alive. Many of them weren't. She knelt down, grasping the metal interior helm first. She raised it up, set it on her shoulders, felt the servos whir, the locking mechanism trigger, a hiss of air about her neck. The dome was on next. As the HUD in the Interior helm activated, she set the dome over her head, the bulletproof glass tinting her gaze, until the machines in the helm adjusted her vision. A hiss. Locked.

Another man in the doorway. Another blast. He hadn't even fully raised his weapon before the shotgun blast ripped his right arm off at the shoulder. Blood splattered, his voice raised into a scream. A firearm hit the floor, discharged. The bullet bounced off something. She wasn't fully paying attention. Already moving across the room towards the two mechanical arms that hung from the machine, illuminated red by the emergency lighting of the room. She tilted her wrist and the Mauler cranked, ejecting two shells, white smoke rising from within, before the tiny mechanical arms in the arm slotted in two more slugs. Another wrist movement. The Mauler shut, ready to fire again.

She reached out, extending her cannon-barrel arms. There it was. The Cannibal. Closer to her than a friend. Natalie pulled the KIRT Heavy Shotgun free of the machine arms, gripping it, adjusting it. From the bulkhead shoulder-plates emerged the stabilizer-arms, reaching out for their partner. The shotgun was heavy, but not to her. It was light in her arms, weightless. She opened the breach, slotted in two flachette rounds, closed the breach.

A message flashed across her field of view.

<< Begin the operation now! The - >>

Corruption in the data. Hacks. Enemies were in the system. Natalie tilted her head slightly, within her mechanical shell. Flicked a finger, moved her gaze. The computers within the suit shut off, all electronics save the bare minimum going inactive. Comms stayed on.

Natalie moved forward, the weight of the Cannibal a reassurance in her hands. Without computers, she couldn't remote open the hangar doors. Even from here, she could see the manual controls had been smashed too. Likely the work of the mechanic. So, it was the long way out. Natalie crashed through the steel door leading out into the Access Hall. She began to move. It was cramped, tight. But she managed, stepping through the hall, lights flickering above. The place was alight with sound. Gunfire, screams. The world had overturned, but all that ran through Natalie's head was what was in front of her. The doorways, the corners. Places hostiles could appear.

A voice over Comms. One of the other squad members, a resonant. She didn't know the name. Didn't care either. They were moving south, Hanger 847. Orders, though she hadn't recieved them. She'd move that way. If the orders were false, and the voice belonged to a Son, she'd kill them. Find orders from somewhere else.

"This is Hammer. Wilco."

Her voice was flat over the comms, stern, solid and steely. the alcoholic waste of the past day entirely out of her system, adrenaline surging through her. She moved, each step like rolling thunder as she surged through the hall, the route to the nearest exit clear in her mind. Once outside, she'd begin moving south, through the most direct route. This was a Sons attack, which meant there'd be more of them.

Natalie rounded the corner, and bullets bounced off her armor. Another long hallway, the last before the exit. A mass of figures, slowly moving down the hallway towards her. Eight. They stopped when they saw her. A shout, more fire. She could see two figures to her right, RCL troopers. The men shooting at her were too, but these two were in cover, clearly in a gunfight with the Sons in the hall. Her eye slid over them, determined they weren't a threat to her, and she centered her gaze back on the enemy. She didn't waste time. Acknowledge the scene, hostiles and friendlies. Eliminate hostiles. She raised the heavy iron, the Cannibal's barrel centered down the hallway. There was no need to aim. Not here.

Natalie pulled the trigger and the bloody weapon roared. Several dozen metal shards, small, sharp-tipped steel darts, ripped through the air at over a thousand feet a second. The eight men broke, blood and metal torn through the air. Natalie moved forward, opening the breach of the weapon. She slotted in another round. Slug. Natalie moved, stepping through the bloody refuse of the eight lives she'd just ended. They stood no chance, their bodies mulched by the shotgun blast. Their gore squelched beneath her boot, their bodies little more than an indescribable mash, paste after she'd destroyed them.

The door opened before her. Outside was worse, but it wasn't surprising. The Fortress was in chaos. Natalie walked onward. She'd meet the others on the way. Probably.

Code by Serobliss

 

[Cresion Breezes]

NIRIQ-THE-NAUTICAL-NORTH-STAR-7680B5 ​

Something was stirring in the distance.

Click. Click.

Beep. Boop.

Niriq sat in an empty corner of the storage warehouse, there was a low humming and an occasional rumble that came from the outside. But Niriq didn’t really mind, that sound simply represented how the outside world is, or perhaps how the world always was. The storage house was dark, on basis that no one was coming here. The slightly backlit LED screen from the small handheld game console illuminated its holder’s eyes, an unnaturally bright spark in the dim and silent warehouse. The buttons were clicked in silence while the extremely outdated sound effects rippled out before fading into the darkness. It filled the air with static, only with an occasional metallic clink of the long spear-like weapon that was loosely held up in Niriq’s arm leaning and hitting the shelving.

Click. Click click.

“Oh right.”

A sudden sound, one that is crisper, high-definition, one that didn’t fit the dusty dimness of the room rang out from Niriq’s communicator.

“Oh right. There is something I have to do.”

Niriq looked at the message, and then at the time displayed on the device. It sure was sudden, there was a change in the mission plan. But that was normal, so many people think they can plan for things, yet it always goes awry. Niriq never understood the point of making those plans if they never worked, an excise in futility.

Beep. Click click.

[Your progress has been saved.]​

The backlit LED screen was turned off and the room returned to its tranquil darkness, despite the omnibus rumbling and occasional screaming from the outside. Niriq sat on the shelving for a moment to wait for their eyesight to adjust to the darkness before jumping off, disconnecting the few cables that ran from their belt pack to their game console and weapon for better movement. The slightly rusted doors made a creaking sound, but it wasn’t Niriq that opened them.

Two silhouettes were framed by the door, and two average-sized people were muttering something between them.

“Damn it, no power, how are we supposed to search for anything useful?” A somewhat frustrated voice echoed throughout the dusty shelves.

“No biggie, this place is mostly useless anyways, we’ll just blow up anything that can be useful after a quick look. RCL doesn’t keep their important shit in places like this.” Another more reserved voice added on.

Niriq didn’t seem to care though as they walked towards the door anyways, right in front of the two figures, and looked up. They were both slightly taller and wearing something that Niriq remembers from Sanctum Aaru.

“...” Niriq held the stare at the pair of Sons for a moment, the yellow-blue eyes reflected the dark blotches of human silhouettes against the orange-grey blazing field that was the chaos outside. They had no expression, not of surprise, or fear, or even joy, it was simply just eye contact in its purest form.

“Excuse me.” Niriq said as they lifted their feet to try to shove past the two insurgents. “I have somewhere to be.”

This was before the more frustrated seeming man grabbed their shirt and threw the Edenis against one of the shelve frames. There was a certain vibration to that, at least that’s what Niriq felt, the vibration of coming in contact with something that is a bit jittery like rusted shelves. A long time ago in one of their books that they were never good at studying, Niriq learned that the human brain and eyes were like jelly. Only after they have become a resonator they really understood what that meant. Perhaps that was what it meant to be a “hands-on” learner. Like jelly, things vibrated a bit.

“Holy shit! So you can see it too!? I thought it was a hallucination!”

“That thing’s real! You moron! It’s a fucking person!” The one who threw Niriq at the shelf yelled, looking over at the Edenis who isn’t feeling like moving since the world began to vibrate.

“Okay okay, is it dead? It’s a person right? I don’t know why but that freaked me the fuck out.”

Things were a bit blurry, likely because of the vibrations. Niriq doesn’t want to stand up and go to the rendezvous point, the message said to “drop everything you’re doing” and go, Niriq wondered if they had to drop the act of being in a coma to go. It sure was demanding. There wasn’t much to do if they stayed here anyways, other than lying around and feeling the jelly, perhaps going on the mission would be more fun…

The silent and tranquil rumbles and distant screams were ripped apart by a new sound, the sound of metal raining from the sky. Niriq looked up, it appears that some sort of explosive was set off and the metal rods of the shelves were now in the process of falling upon them. Ah…it would be bad if I get impaled. I wouldn’t be able to go to that place if I get impaled. Niriq thought of the broken pieces and did a nine-point eight towards them, before rolling to the side of the collapsing shelf.

“Eek! I thought we were blowing this up!”

“Change of plans okay, don’t question it.”

“B-But my leg! My leg! I can’t feel it, it’s-”

There were voices in the distance.

“A-And that thing! It’s still alive.”

Niriq opened their eyes to a figure pointing right at their direction, they wanted to get up, but realized that one of their forearms was caught under the rubble of metal. They looked at the SoP insurgent that was pointing at them for a few moments, it looks like they were both in a similar predicament, as one of the Sons was also trapped by the leg under some collapsed shelving. Niriq looked at the two without much intention or expression, simple eye contact to acknowledge the other’s existence. After all, that’s what everyone needs right? To have their existence acknowledged. Niriq tugged their arm a few more times before sighing and pulling out the rounded blade that they carry, causing the still-standing Son to go on guard and even point their weapons at the mysterious Edenis.

“W-What do we do? D-Do we shoot it? Is that a resonator, w-why is it alive?”

“It doesn’t have ranged weapons and its stuck, it’s not a big deal, we should just take it to the-”

Ploink-

Crunch-

Despite the chaotic sounds surrounding the burning warehouse, the screams, the rumbles, explosions, gunshots, and everything else, the sound came through particularly clearly to the two Sons. As Niriq drove the rounded blade into their stuck forearm’s flesh with great effort. The sound of splattering flesh and crackling bones drifted to the two’s ears. And then they did it again. And again. And again. And again. Until the entire wrist and hand part that was stuck underneath the rubble was severed off, not cleanly at all. Rather, a mess of blood, chunks of flesh, and splinters of marrow-drenched bone shards littered the area and dyed the fluffed sleeve collar of the Edenis’ jacket. Niriq stood up slowly and turned to the two Sons.

“...I wanted to wear this one to the mission too…” Niriq mumbled as they flicked the spear-like weapon that laid on the ground beside them up with their foot, holding it up in the crevice of their arm that was still dripping blood and grabbing it with their remaining hand. Yellow-blue eyes glanced over at the two, one of which was holding a weapon up. Niriq sighed, and without any warning charged at the still-standing Son. Although a few bullets came their way, some grazed and even hit the Edenis’ leg, there was no change in their movement. And in a flash, the remaining insurgent was skewered by the pointed end of the spear and pinned into the rubble beside her already trapped partner.

“What the hell! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” The SoP actor screamed as she gurgled up some blood.

Niriq tilted their head while still holding the spear firmly, then casually kicked away the weapons that the Sons have dropped. “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” Niriq looked up at the impaled woman and blinked in confusion a few times, the same expression as always. Eye contact. Eye contact. It’s important to make eye contact while talking to people.

Just then, the other Son trapped under the rubble spoke as well, although this one seems to have calmed down about his predicament a bit.

“H-hey kiddo, let’s make a deal, how about you join us?”

Gasping for air, the impaled one also agreed.

“U-ugh…yeah! It hurts, doesn’t it? The RCL must not treat you very well.”

Niriq blinked a few times, the signature pattern of blinking that indicated confusion as the jelly inside their skull was trying to process something.

“Ah…oh. No, it doesn’t hurt.” Niriq pulled the spear out and let the Sons insurgent slide to the ground.

“...Pain is an indicator of something being wrong and needs your attention, but I don’t need to pay attention to that. It might be a problem for other people…” Niriq eaves their still missing hand around a bit, “...but I figured out that it isn’t one for me, it'll just grow back, so it doesn’t hurt anymore. Maybe if I get stabbed like that…it might though.”
The two Sons look on, half with terror and half annoyance, and half with rage, somehow upping the human limit of emotional capacity to 150%. It wasn’t a new emotion for Niriq though, they’ve seen it at Aaru a while ago.

“...And besides, whether it’s you, or the RCL…you’re both really the same anyways, no point in joining either one, just which one gives me more games to play.” Niriq patted the game console in their belt pack as the rage simmered over the two Sons.

“What the hell do you mean we’re the same! Those imbeciles will never understand! Our new world! OUR ORDER!” The woman was clearly bleeding out at this point, yet she somehow gathered the strength to shout complete sentences once again after hearing Niriq’s refutation, but the other remained stalwartly expressionless.

Niriq squatted down, balancing their missing arm weight with their spear, resisting the urge to impale the Sons again because of their noisiness. “...When I was in school, I learned about the universe, and it was created from some sort of big bunga. So I never really understood how that a universe born from that chaotic calamity could ever hope to grow to be orderly. Whether it’s you guys, or the RCL, it’s all the same.”

“Living itself is…a fluke from the chaos, attempting to impose order on humanity would be like installing smoke detectors in Hell. I’m sure you must know what that’s like, everyone talks about it a lot, I’m starting to think I’m the only person who doesn’t know what it’s like.” It was different this time, Niriq…smiled. It was a gentle smile they cracked at the dying Sons of Pythagoras members, one warm and so different from the expressionlessness they show prior. It was warm, unlike the sunlight of the passing days, but more like the lingering remains of aurora borealis, cold, yet radiating.

Niriq leaned over to the Sons, whose colour had drained after the intense outburst caused more blood to pour out of the sustained wounds, and whispered something with the same smile.

“......------”

---------GOODNIGHT-------- ​

“Oh…right.”

“There is something I have to do.”

The Edenis said to themselves as they left the rubble, metallic rods, and corpses behind, walking into a larger field of rubble, metallic rods, and corpses.

 

[Sharatayn]

ZeresveilA Reaper's Duty / Atunity Edenis

Atop a roof, overlooking the streets of the FSF Angela, one young Edenis was thinking to herself, fully outfitted for war. "Hummm...hum hum hum." Now what did we have here. Heheh, my oh my, that was a lot of explosions and gunfire. Not to mention the big one that happened just before! Must've been near where the Pylons were located at. Whoo boy, that could've been dangerous! Wait, did it actually hit the place instead of just being near? Well that would have certainly not been good...what to do, oh what to do. Sure, there was a level 3 alert, but it's not like she was obligated to...oh, was a drone finally flying up to her? How quaint! Ahah, yep, there it was, a grenade, taped to the side and without a pin to stop it from detonating. "You know, you'll have to try a biiiiit harder than that. I mean for pete's sake, you'd think you would have used the one with a 360 degree camera, no?"
With a twitch from her fingers, the scythe that had been previously placed by her on the other side of the street, on another building across from her, suddenly flew out with a burst of flame igniting from its handle. The hardened KIRT blade cut through the drone with ease - and the grenade with it, in such a way that its ignition never came to be. Then, with another burst, it flew back to the smiling Edenis' hands, leaving behind it a trail almost white in color. Just the slightest hint of a light blue, oh so faint, would be the last thing the camera could see. And soon enough, the girl had landed next to the drone operator, a gust of flame from behind her lessening the impact that her Resonator body could already handle with ease. There, with a smile still on her face, she would throw the scythe again, allowing it to burst a third time as it ran through the betrayer's body.

"Heheh, you'd think they wouldn't spare any effort for the sake of such a stupid endeavor, but here we are!" Her harsh words were not fitting for her joyous behavior, but perhaps that was simply how she was. "Then again...your buddies sure are wreaking havoc out there, ain't they? Sure hope they won't miss your fireworks." She stepped past the bleeding person, picking up her scythe and swinging it to let loose the fabric and bodily fluids that had gotten stuck on its blade. Sighing, she spared a glance at the dying Son of Pythagoras, thinking how they looked exactly like the rest of the Angela's personnel. If it wasn't for the 'claymore roombas' they were using to attack people, it would have been hard to tell them apart from a normal operator. "Tsk. This is why you can't just let scum run rampant, they get funny ideas." Detaching the Staff from the tank, and with a heavy swing, she spared them the rest of the agony. She didn't have the time to be sticking around and ensuring they went through enough pain. Best to just cut that loose end completely before going on. Time...hum hum. What did she have time for, anyways?
"There is that...heheh."


By the time Inugami's message played out through her earpiece, Vulpes had cut and smashed a path southwards, having faced soldiers, resonators, even some very determined people wielding homemade weaponry. Covered in blood (only some of it her own) she cheerfully tapped on her phone's surface, sending a message of her own after everyone else's replies. "Yep yep! Vulpes here. Heheh, what a coincidence, I just so happened to be heading south too. Be there soon!" After the receiver cut out, she gave the Atunity across from her a wide smile, as their attempts to get the other betrayers back up and running seemed to not be working quite as well as they hoped. "Come on silly, you can't just up and un-melt nylon and kevlar from a person's skin, you know? What's all that healing for if your silly little neurons haven't gone past second grade level?" With a gust of flame from the staff, she dashed forwards, the Scythe's blade going through pavement and person with equal resistance - that is to say, none. And as the mace's flanges were still red hot, she turned around and swung it over and over, ensuring her target was down for good. She had a definite target now, but they shouldn't know that, now should they? Nope, no they shouldn't. No need to take chances, even if that left her arriving a little bit later. "Guess I should clean up before going out..."
"...that includes you, you know?" A bluff, directed at no one in particular, but one that would lead her to finding yet another uninvited spectator hiding behind a wall. Now they were even betraying their fellows to try to live a bit longer, huh... "No rest for the wicked, hum?"
The reaper would arrive...in time, as they are known to do. Perhaps her codename should be reviewed after this.

Mentions | Lekiel Euclid Leaf donutcry FabulousTrash mizton SilverFlight Cresion Breezes SirDerpingtonIV

 

[Lekiel]

Galvode

Yurica Aeterna

Codename: Nightingale

Central ANGELA - Eastern Sector

Smoke, blood and ruin.

Nobody gets past. . . Not till they’re safe. . . or I’m dead.

Yurica let out a huff of air to alleviate the annoying itch from caking dried blood that had begun to irritate her right eye. With the other, she peered through the scope of the SAGITTA, training the sniper down the ruined boulevard. From her perch, lying prone on the upper floors of a residential building which had been blasted open, she had a fair vantage point if not for the billowing smoke from hundreds of destroyed vehicles and crumbling buildings obscuring her vision; or shrouding her from view of others. A dull red glow emanated from her back, like heat wicking off into the air, scores of tiny nanites dispersing from her cybernetic implants.

A blip appeared across her iris, accompanied by a soft digital chime. SAGITTA shifted, it’s dark barrel now pointed directly at the target through the smoke.

600. . . 500. . .

The blip coalesced into a vaguely humanoid form and a fraction of a second later, during which she had to analyse the target’s movement, gait and silhouette, she stilled a breath. Trigger-squeeze. The muted whine of the SAGITTA’s particle compressor firing. Target dropped, its head blown apart. There was that odd chance that it was friendly. But they couldn’t take chances.

The queer feeling crept across the back of her head again, if only for a millisecond, before her conditioning suppressed it. After the better part of a decade firing on anything that wasn’t human, having to suddenly change their tune still felt damningly. . . natural. The plague that was the Corruptants had presented them a chance for redemption, in its own sick twisted way. For murderers to justify killing. But it was all whitewash. She knew then that no matter how much you healed, no matter how deep you buried your demons, they were always there.
A sudden blip on her Auraseer arrested her attention, this time it was much closer and coming in from her back.

The Agent cursed, she’d focused most of her OMNi’s to the front in an effort to extend their range and in the lapse while her thoughts wandered, she’d gotten careless. The mark was closing in fast. She’d only a moment to react. She let go of SAGITTA, turning and reaching for her dagger in one fluid motion to confront her assailant.

“Boop!” Cold steel bopped against her forehead, causing the Agent to flinch.

“You’ve gotten careless Yuri,” the silver-haired woman teased as she reattached her lance to her back after having taught her sister a lesson. She was always so lighthearted, no matter the situation; it was no wonder they made her the de facto leader of their group. Yurica couldn’t help but feel a little flustered at her ineptness. If it’d been anyone else, she would probably be dead, “I presumed Nagale had my back–”

“I did!” A voice drifted in her earpiece as Yurica spied the sandy blonde archer appearing over Tersola’s shoulder.

“C’mon, it’s our turn to go now, the evacuation is done.” Tess reached out a hand to pull Yurica to her feet, the latter pausing for a moment to survey the ruined cityscape that had been their home. The sounds of gunfire had all but vanished as only the occasional explosion rattled the ground in the distance. There was no longer any resistance, but they would be foolish to presume the war was over. The massacre of the defenceless was to follow, if it hadn’t already begun. Noticing her gaze, she heard Tess’ voice, detected the tinge of sadness in her tone.

“There’s nothing left, Yuri. . . it’s all gone.”

◇ ◇ ◇​

It’s happening again. A statement of fact.

"Mocking Jay reporting for duty, Captain. Shall we secure a perimeter while we wait for the others?"

“Good shot MJ,” Yurica nodded to the Surge’s salute pulling the callsign abbreviation out of nowhere, it was just. . . practical. “No,” came the next answer, “we’ll head out east, we’ll rendezvous with the others on the way,” she watched as the RCL troopers gathered themselves and began moving out. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted what could only be other Resonators hurrying into the plaza to survey the area. She wasn’t sure but she thought they seemed to pay a little more attention to the two of them.

"My... Echo. I have yet to secure them. Do you have any idea of their current status...?" She noted the worry in their voice. It was understandable, as due to the nature of their comms calibration, only hers actively tracked the others. After the mission began, the others had to ‘touch-base’ with another before the tracking began.

Ruby irises shifted to regard the bunny-eared Edenis, though in reality her eyes tracked the movements of the newest silhouette to appear on her auraseer. But before she could speak, a sudden commotion disrupted their talk as several troopers broke cover, weapons raised towards friendlies. Unfortunately for them, they were right in the incoming Echo’s sights and were promptly dispatched.

“Shrike,” Yurica moved forward to grip the Echo’s shoulder in acknowledgment, “let’s go.” With Shrike accounted for, it was time for them to headout, the plaza was way too exposed to other individuals, making it difficult to react in case traitors were abound. The Agent broke into a brisk jog, taking one of the less busy routes allowing the other two to do some catch up. It afforded her some time to assess the situation – Mono was on their route, amidst a cluster of lesser-used warehouses while both Jubilee and Monarch were much nearer to their destination in the Corruptant R&D Lab.

“Mono, we’re on our way, hang in there,” Yurica commanded, knowing the Atunity, out of all of them, was the most vulnerable alone should he run into fanatical Resonators. “Monarch, Jubilee, you’re both nearer to the package than we are. If you get there before us, secure the area but do not go in. Stay sharp, I’ve got a bad feeling we’re not the only ones in the business.”

Commands relayed, she turned to the other two, “try to keep up,” before taking a sharp left off the street they were on, vaulting over a fence with ease to gain elevation. The pace she set was demanding, but not overly so, to allow Shrike to keep pace with the other two. They needed to get to Mono fast, and through as little people as possible. Rooftops were far too exposed, so Yurica chose to blitz through the back alleys and empty buildings, relying on her auraseer to lead the way. They were on hastened approach to the warehouse Mono was in, footsteps echoing off the deserted section of structures when a sudden fast moving blip on Nightingale’s hud snapped her attention.

“Lookout–!” She’d barely got her warning out before a blur of motion cut the trio off as something zipped out from one of the side alleys, narrowly missing them to crash against the wall to their right. As the shock of the moment passed, they noted the presence of a dark-haired woman clinging to the side of the cracked building like a spider, large black scythe in hand. The traitor let out a crazed cackle, sneering at them, “missed. . . or not!” Yurica barely had time to react, reaching to her side to fire off her bastion. The blue protective bubble deployed just in time to absorb the impact from several explosive rounds. Her HUD registered two other incoming enemies and considering their movements, they were Resonators. She hoped there weren’t others.

As the dust began to settle, she whispered to Shrike and Mocking Jay, “Take the two, I’ll deal with the scythe-gal.”

Code by Serobliss

◇ ◇ ◇Mentions: seasonedcat Cresion Breezes Euclid Leaf Juju FabulousTrash

GM Notes:
1. Both Monarch and Jubilee are already in the R&D sector which covers much of Eastern ANGELA. They must make their way carefully as this is prime pickings for the SoP. Though they are careful, they eventually run into more Pythagorasian fanatics, including Resonators, who appear to be searching for something.
2. MJ & Shrike. The trio has been ambushed by what appears to be three Resonators. You’re free to determine what type the other two enemies are as long as they’re not MS.
3. Mono. Niriq might’ve heard the commotion just outside from the warehouse he’s in. If he check’s he would see the 6 Resonators in battle but due to his Attunity sense, he would find it strange as he can detect a seventh Resonator in close proximity. Should he investigate, he would find another Atunity hiding out in one of the warehouses near to the battle to heal their compatriots or trying to sneak in an attack.
4. For the others, depending on the situation you may start running into SoP Resonators or even tanks and smaller Latro VECTORs.

 

[Euclid Leaf]

Surge // Handler

Mocking Jay

Codename: Mocking Jay

Central Plaza // Warehouse District

The rabbit ears twitched.

Mocking Jay turned from their captain to see the very thing they just warned about. A group of stragglers.

With a snap of the loader, pulling back the priming rod on the receiver in a fraction of a second, the edenis glared down the luminant sights on JACKHAMMER. Their finger was a hair away from pumping the trigger, before a series of metallic shapes rained down upon the attackers. The first let out a scream as the star-like projectiles pierced the armor, and rend their skin to shredded giblets.

…!

Their big pink eyes widened in recognition.

When the famed MACHINE SAVANT made their entrance, their signature curved blade sliced through the air with a wide flash. The rushing bodies fell forward across the ground in a splatter of large, wet chunks.

Jay was awestruck, holding their gun out and left watching. They’ve seen it many times before. But each time, they are always stunned by the brilliance and grace. Despite the danger, this one always threw themselves in the way. This was the hallmark of a true hero. Against the chaos, the standing figure seemed like a radiant guardian of hope. It is no wonder they became a star amongst the RCL.

After a second longer of silent admiration, Mocking Jay lowered their assault rifle and stepped forward.

The rabbit, despite adopting their persona as a ‘perfect soldier’, couldn’t properly hide their true feelings. On their face was the biggest smile, yet puffy and wet were their eyes. Sensing this, they tried their best to keep their composure. It took all their will not to just jump up in joy, then go running to tackle their friend in an emotional embrace. Perhaps they should? Who knows how much longer they have together… Today, more so than most days, was a great reminder of that.

But there was still a long road ahead, to be celebrating now.

Mocking Jay simply stood beside their friend and guardian. At this moment, this was enough for their heart.
They looked over their shoulder, teary eyed, “I’m glad to see you, partner.”

There seemed to be some other form of word, or emotion caught in their throat, but before Jay could find the courage to continue, captain Nightingale pulled the half-assembled squad to motion. By the urgent tone of the leader, it appeared the others were caught up with certain... complicated roadblocks. Although, it eased their heart a bit at hearing orders being assigned to the other currently estranged members. It meant they were still active, at the very least.

Mocking Jay listened intently, and upon hearing that they would meet heavier resistance, their expression grew grim. Images of the dead piled at the shelter crossed their mind.
Many of those were by their own hands. An enemy RESONATOR will be a terror in their own right.

"Try to keep up."​

These words roused their attention from their concerning thoughts.

With this command, Jay turned to their partner, Shrike, nodding their head and reaching out their arm. This was a common combat maneuver, as the two have utilized this strategy in previous missions. When speed was of the essence.

As quick, deadly, and nimble as their esteemed partner was, there was no chance they could keep up with a full powered SURGE.

Originally, it wasn’t meant to be an aggressive tactic. Injuries suffered on the frontline meant death by nature, something Mocking Jay couldn’t accept. And so the rabbit set into their workshop, and devised a solution early on in their career. Converting cover railings from salvaged VECTOR cockpits, they attached mantling points on their grappling hardware so that it would be easier to carry people in and out of the battlefield quickly.

As it turns out, it can also be used in another way.
By sitting atop a speeding, surged Mocking Jay, anyone with a powerful ranged weapon, would essentially become a mobile heavy weapons platform. A two-man surgical strike team.

Truthfully, it was Kyu who suggested they use it as an offensive tactic. A clever idea, if not entirely reckless.
The initial idea was proposed under a display of crossed arms, and a frustrated gaze. At the time, months ago, Mocking Jay struggled to understand their new mute partner.

The little warrior tried all kinds of motions, combining sign-language queues with simpler hand moves to get the edenis to understand. But no matter how obvious the gesture, Jay simply couldn’t grasp the meanings. Talking to people was not like reading an instruction manual or copying blueprint schematics at all. On top of the emotions, it all confused Mocking Jay. Apologies only seemed to make Kyu more aggravated. Then, perhaps out of frustration at the dense rabbit, Kyu began swinging around her arm in a chopping motion. As though it was a sword. She then moved, slicing the air as though cutting down a swarm of splinters.

Kyu glided with such earnest across the room, slaying make-believe splinters with her fake sword hand, it caused Mocking Jay to burst out laughing.
For the first time since the fall of THERESA, Jay regained a bit of themselves.

I wonder if you remember, Kyu… How you made me…
The sweet, silly memory of the silent girl pretending to swing a sword faded as the screams whirled in the dusted air around them.

They needed to focus on the present now. That was all that mattered. Waiting for their partner to mount on their harness railing, Mocking Jay then unleashed a series of grapples with a click from a controller at their waist. With a sharp whizzing, the pair of hooks burst forward from either side. The mechanism snapped, with Jay jumpstarting a launch by crouching and bouncing with their powerful legs. Kyu better have held on tight. With their inhuman strength, the SURGE was able to retract and swing the grapple between gaps in the buildings, while the retracting mechanism spun rapidly to reeled in the metallic chords.

With these two forces working in tandem, the two friends bounded through the narrow streets like a jumping spider within a concrete jungle.
And speaking of spiders. It was too late by the time Nightingale shot off the warning.

"Lookout-!"​

A blur caused Mocking Jay to veer downwards, barely dodging a thick metal blade aimed for their head. They spun a full circle, grabbing a tight hold of Kyu's arm as they nearly slamming into the ground beside the captain. The rabbit skidded across the paved cement with their metallic heels, staring up at the crazed aggressor jeering at them. It was a face they recognized from a previous mission. Jay felt a flush of regret as they prepared to trade shots, standing in the way of their captain, before the illuminant hardlight barrier came up, protecting the three from the explosive rounds.

As the dust settled, she began to whisper to Shrike and Mocking Jay, “Take the two, I’ll deal with the scythe-gal.”​

Surely enough, overhead, two more shadows came bursting from the burning haze clearing above the light shield. One moved with incredible speed, while the other ducked to the side and began laying down additional rounds into the barrier.

Jay nodded upon receiving the orders, glancing back at Shrike.
Now was their chance to act. They waited a second, allowing their partner to either remained mantled, in order to move in together, or to jump off now and act separately. Either way, the SURGE began to shift.

The pink eyes immediately bloomed with faint honied sparks as twin grapples fired into the air above, piercing the cement and latching into the nearby structure. With both their empowered legs, they kicked. Jay, and Kyu, if they had chosen to hang on, would be slingshot into the skyline in a faint blur.

For a second, they floated above the buildings above, overlooking the two enemy resonators.
Jay took aim downwards, having a clear shot at the one further down the alley, but as lighting quick as they were, the bolting shadow met them in the sky.

As they feared, it was another SURGE.

If they were still together, Jay barely had time to grab Kyu and shove her off the mantle, flinging their ally to hopeful safety on a nearby rooftop. The shape smashed into Mocking Jay without mercy, and the two RESONATORS collided with the nearby building like a violent wrecking ball. It was not enough to say they tore a hole through it.

1... 2... in a few seconds, they were already breaking through a third wall.
Among all the transposed flashes of collapsing rooms whizzing past the dazed edenis, a sharp pressure was building in their chest. A blade was jammed deep, attempting to pierce into their armored vest.

Then a sharp flash overhead. Mocking Jay barely had a chance to swing their arm up in defense. A dagger pierced their forearm and splattered a streak of warm red over their face. If it wasn't for their amplified strength, the blade would have continued deeper. The point dug centimeters into the frontal skull bone, the metal vibrating violently as was forced to a struggled stop. The trashing sensation filling their head with the painful sound of nails dragging across cement. If Jay had been just a second slower, it surely would've killed them right there. Intelligent, and deadly. Perhaps the worst combination they could have hoped for.

But there was a single grace. A lack of patience.
Jay stared into the crazed eyes of the male resonator, whose gasmask was stained in still-fresh blood. They let out a shrill cackle as they continued to ram forward.

A monster... How many had they already killed?

Feeling that the blade was retracting, Jay seized the opportunity. A SURGE can either split their enhancing power, or focus it, into either aspect of strength or speed. Currently, their opponent was fully committed to speed. It explains how they caught up so fast. But their strategy of a quick-kill was quickly becoming a dangerous gamble. It wouldn't be long until they realized to divert their power reservoir. The edenis needed to press their current advantage. Speed only mattered before one connects with a target. To deal a finishing blow, this relied entirely on strength.

Mustering all their might into a fist, the rabbit hammered it down on the arm that held the long- curved blade piercing their chest. The flesh bent as the two connected, and a loud, wet crack was felt.

Letting out a howl, the SURGE attempted to flee before another strike could land. Jay immediately twisted their body, swinging an elbow at their recoiling opponent. The enemy SURGE blocked the strike with their speed, of course, but was swatted to the side by the thundering strike. The two RESONATORS split in sharp angles, like a cannonball cleaved in two, crashing at the bottom of the wrecked warehouse at opposite ends.

Waves of smoke and dust was spilling everywhere, while bits of rubble dripped like minced flesh from the rusted, twisted foundations.

Jay stepped up from their bed of gravel and rocks, feeling the familiar wetness of blood. They could barely move. A creeping stiffness crawled up their abdomen. Something must have broken during the fall. The rabbit pushed against the stubborn numbness, and inched forward with a stern gaze out at the rumbling smoke. The barrel of the gun curled the smoke as it sweeped in a wide arc. Not even a second later, the pattering of footsteps.

A metal pallet spun out from the darkness, sticking into the wall like a giants throwing star as the rabbit narrowly ducked to the side. The shadow swiftly emerged from the plumes of smoke, aiming a bloodied dagger for their head once more.

A curdling roar echoed as they dove down from above. In that moment, Jay recognized their handiwork. Where they struck, the right arm had been broken, flopping like a bloody rag at their side. A few shots from JACKHAMMER caused the downward leap to alter course. As a result, the dagger aimed at their neck instead was driven into their shoulder.

But their opponent was cunning. Perhaps they anticipated it, and let go of the weapon as it was caught in the armor. Swinging by, a bloody hand grabbed the rabbit ear and yanking with all their might. Rip.

The floppy black ear was torn clean off, and as Jay cried in pain, a fist came down on their bloodied head. Then, within a second, two others. The rabbit was sent a few meters tumbling into the wall, as the screeching SURGE continued their onslaught. The quick fist came down like iron hammers. Everything was getting dark. There was no time to think.

Pushing with all their might, they hopped forward against the strikes and collided with their foe. The two were briefly a mangle of limbs, but in the spluttering, Jay managed to grab a hold of the flailing hand. Their dull eyes sparked. Twisting it with all their empowered strength, it popped like an orange in their grasp. The bone within was practically pulverized into splintered shards. It dug deep into the soft underside of their palm, like painful bits of smashed glass. But they continued to squeeze.

The traitor launched a foot into their stomach, pushing with all their might to separate the grip. But Mocking Jay was not letting them go so easily this time.
The SURGE howled desperately, whipping back and forth in a frenzy, as blood splattered between them.

Eventually, something gave way. And in a cursed cry, they were gone, disappearing into the smoke.
Jay stared down at the object in their hand, barely blinking. A shredded arm twisted from its ligaments, nerves and stretched tendons hanging in the air.

"For... My ear..." the rabbit muttered, as the sight of the broken warehouse whisked above them.

Jay barely remained conscious as they fell back against the cold metal-sheet wall, their head slumping. With their torn ear, the chaos outside sounded like dribbles of noise. The light in their eyes faded. There was no use in using power when their body was near its limit. The gentle rabbit was a bloody mess, red streaks pouring down and painting the contusions swelling in their bruised face. Their throat croaked as blood piled in the fleshy pipes. They tossed the discarded hand to the side. It was no trophy. Wherever their opponent went to lick their wounds, they will surely be back.

And not alone.

The hydraulics in their harness seemed to still function, by some miracle. Jay wasn't so bold enough to proclaim their own ingenuity at a perilous time like this. The rabbit thought for a moment as they gazed at the encased weapon, watching as the core within bore light. In fables, SURTR was responsible for the cataclysm known as Ragnorak.

If an enemy appeared before an ally face did, Jay was willing to bring the heavens down with them. All of them.

...

Code by Serobliss

Mentions: Lekiel FabulousTrash Cresion Breezes

...

Summary Details:
1. TEAM Y(urica) has engaged with 3 traitor RESONATORS in allegiance with the SoP, somewhere in a warehouse district within CENTRAL while headed to the second team in EAST. Their route intercepts with Mono, who is very close by the time they are attacked.
2. Mocking Jay is separated from TEAM Y, by a fanatic SURGE. The two engage in bloody melee combat that led to them crashing multiple levels into a nearby warehouse. (Not the same one that Niriq is in.) The status of the other two enemy RESONATORS are yet to be known.
3. The SURGE has retreated after both their arms have been crippled, one shattered and the other completely severed from the socket. Their location is unknown at large. But it can be assumed they are going to the hidden ATUNITY to be healed.
4. Mocking Jay has not suffered immediately lethal injuries for a RESONATOR, but is currently incapacitated due to the severe bone damage all over their body.

 

[SilverFlight]

Scrim // Handler

Gell Watanabe

Codename: INUGAMI

Communications tower 2, Southern district

The radio was full of static, and the roar of the bike’s engine wasn’t helping, but Gell thought he heard an end to that transmission:

“Som…..in..fering….comms…”
Gell pulled out of a side street and raced down a main throughfare. The comms…the communication tower? That was why the radio went dark. The Sons must have put one of their Machine savants onto the entire communications system, but if they could isolate even one tower, get control away from that Savant…
The next exit: ANGELA South comms tower. Well, that was convenient.

Gell pressed his short-range communicator once more.
“Hey team! I’ve got an idea. The sanctuary needs a secure comms channel or it's as good as dead. I’m headed to Comms tower 2, South district. Wings, if we get you up there do you think you can get that tower away from their Savant?”

The signal went static and Gell swore.

“Don’t tell me they have short range jammers on the tower too. They thought of everything…”
He tried again. “I’m sending you my tracker code. Come find me!”

That wasn’t too hard right? Finding him? He was headed for the tower, and the tower was, well, a tower, not exactly hard to miss. Gell could see it right now rising out of the smoke and ash before him. The echoes of explosions chased him down the highway as he turned off and slowed the bike to a crawl.

No doubt they’d have scouts. Gell took the bike as near as he dared before stashing it with his gear and taking to the rooftops. Getting up was easy, a balcony here, a drain pipe there, and a jump which, thanks to his strength, landed him on one of the best vantage points overlooking the ground surrounding the tower:

The tower complex took up almost an entire city block, with a wide, open space surrounding the tower base, no cover. The tower itself was a thick, tall structure that rose three to four times the surrounding buildings' height. From what Gell could see, an elevator shaft ran up the central column, while a set of stairs seemed to run around the interior of the building, spiraling up to the top. The top was where Gell guessed the central control unit was...and where they needed to go.

There were about a dozen armed soldiers, stood in teams of six, and around the perimeter at least four more circling the space like sharks, two clockwise, two counter. They checked in with each other each time they passed. Gell counted the seconds. 240. 4 minutes. If one of the perimeter guards went down, they would have under four minutes to get to the tower undetected. He didn’t like those odds, because at the tower entrance were two hulking Vector Mechs, at least a story tall each, manned with what looked like regular people. They were geared like them at least, heavy vests and helmets. The man that stood between them though? He had no vector, and wore no heavy armour, only a set of black gauntlets and a cammo top and jeans. Resonator. Either a scrim or a surge, but Gell couldn’t tell just by looking at him. He was at least twice Gell’s size, bulky and frowning. Yeah, that guy would be a problem.

There was movement just inside the doors, another resonator? It was too dim to see, and she was standing out of view. Likely, maybe some form of support? Atunity? Or something worse. Gell had no idea what was inside the tower, there could be more resonators.

“Not good. If the others try to break into this, they’ll get surprised.” He said out loud to himself. “Buuut, not if I surprise these jokers first.”
He pressed the button on his comm again. “Hey team, you get one window.”

With that Gell took a string of explosives he’d thought to take from the bag and went to work.
Dodging the perimeter guards was easy enough, they never looked up. Gell placed the explosives strategically around the rear of the tower, and down into the alley. By sheer dumb luck, there was a refueling station not far from there. Now that would cause some chaos! He tried not to enjoy the thought too much.
Done and done, now to get back and start the party. It was with that thought that he turned down a side street and…ran smack into a shaky, young, helmeted perimeter guard.

“Y-you’re not with us!” The—well he was practically a boy—shouted.
“Aaand you’re off your patrol route.” Gell pointed out.

In response the youth fumbled his communicator.

“Dammit! I got caught by the rookie?! What are you, like 16?” Gell grabbed him.
He crushed the communicator quickly, sprinkling the pieces of it onto the road beside them.

“When you wake up, you should rethink your life choices…” In the next breath he struck the boy lightly on the back of the head and he fell limp. Less than four minutes.
Gell carried the youth well outside the blast radius and set him safely in the nearest dumpster. Smelly but, at least the kid wouldn’t get his brains knocked out…probably.
By the time Gell made it halfway back to his starting point, he could see one of the perimeter guards looking around. The rookie’d missed the checkpoint already. Damn.
“Time’s up. Light the candles and make a wish.”

Gell pressed the first detonator. The explosion ripped through the wire fence behind the tower, flipping an SUV so high it landed straight across what was left. The fence fell in what looked like slow motion, dragged down by the weight of the car. Gell had felt the heat of the blast, and in the chaos that ensued he couldn’t help but laugh.
The guards were flocking to the blast, radios in hand, even one of the vectors began it’s slow lumbering way to the attack point.
“Not done yet.” Gell taunted under his breath, his voice lilting. The second detonator.

The building across the street went up, the windows blew outwards, spraying glass in every direction. This one knocked some people off their feet and they fell, scattered in bed of glittering shards. Gell crept back around to the front. The resonator was standing right where he had been. The others had panicked...but not this one. Fine.

Last detonator in three, two, ONE. The ensuing explosion rocked the entire area. Gell was ready for it, but still, the concussive blast, even from this distance, made his ears ring. A solid jet of flame burst up over the tops of the buildings, billowing acrid black smoke as it went. Now there was shouting, people running everywhere, even the resonator guarding the door looked around. Okay, Now. Gell slid his gauntlets on, cleared the fence in one leap and rushed him.

Spoiler: Fight theme

The man caught sight of Gell from five paces away, but Gell was moving so fast he only had time to block. Metal struck metal and the sound echoed like a gunshot. It knocked the resonator off his feet, but the man recovered and struck back with a roar. He only hit air. Gell relied on his speed. This was a surge, he was sure of it now, and dodged the attack, which had strength poured into it. A second strike missed, a third, Gell lashed out with the claws on his gauntlet and raked the thin armour, cutting flesh underneath it. He didn’t let up, sending in a flurry of new attacks, but the surge was shifting, the first two landed, the next was blocked, the fourth…that missed entirely. Now the surge was matching Gell pace for pace. Gell feinted and rolled away, breaking from the bout, which he would have lost now, with the surge in speed mode. The Surge gave chase. In the background Gell had been paying attention to the other Vector. It had been moving closer as the two fought. Before it could decide on an attack Gell had leapt straight onto it, dislodging one of the gun turrets with a twist and a kick.

“Go fetch!” Gell chucked the gun over the tower fence, kicking off from the vector with a force that made it rock off balance. The mech suit crashed to the concrete but the surge was already vaulting over it. Gell's leap was a wide one, he landed and made to lead his opponent further from the door. Just a little more…something black flashed in his peripheral vision. On instinct, Gell dodged, just as a razor-sharp pair of claws barely missed his ears.

The splinter landed with a screech and circled round. For a split second Gell froze. He was back in the ruins of the frontline, alone...The surge came to a stop on his other side to flank him, smiling in triumph. His way out was now closed. In the doorway Gell could see the second resonator, a hand out, focused on the beast.

“Scrim. That was it.”

“Any last words?” The surge asked, drawing a heavy-looking blade.

Gell's glance back was almost undetectable. How long had it been since he contacted the team? 15 minutes? 20? “Uh…maybe duck?”


mizton Wilder28 Sharatayn SirDerpingtonIV donutcry

Lekiel

Code by Serobliss

 

[Cresion Breezes]

NIRIQ-THE-NAUTICAL-NORTH-STAR-7680B5 ​

A soft hum that is drowned out by the slurry of chaos around the plaza was streaming out of a small-statured Edenis as they walked towards the rendezvous point. Shrapnel and debris often blitzed towards them like heated rain, however, the Edenis remain unflinching. It was difficult to tell if it was tenacity or something eerier that is going on beneath the hood. There sure was a lot going on, it all blurred together in Niriq’s mind, they were never the one for environments like this, and when too much was happening, it almost feels the same as nothing was happening.

Yellow-blue eyes fluttered shut as the world went silent, Niriq thought it was the logical thing to do. If the others on the mission were also resonators, it would be natural to only look for resonators instead of trying to sift through all the unnecessary noise.

“Five…six……seven…right.” Niriq opened their eyes again and looked around, there was one…two, and three the recognized from the room before, so that means…

The severed hand was making its progress on growing back, the bones were mostly in place, along with some strips of muscles and sinews that are crawling onto the pale white bones like ivy on a rusty fence. The Edenis moved their newly regrown fingers a bit, seemingly trying to keep track of something. “Three there…so four are not ones I know…hmm, should I be counting myself? Can I even sense myself?” They muttered as they uncurled the boney fingers.

There was something in the distance, a spark of some sort, it felt fainter than the other ones, likely because it is further away. Niriq looked onto the scene, there was a fair amount of fighting going on, and all the others were accounted for as best as they could identify in the smoke and debris. There wasn’t time to recount, but the faint signal was coming from about the direction they came from, the warehouse area, backtracking seemed like something just as frustrating as recounting. But at the very least, it could lead to something new.

The heavy doors of the warehouse creaked as Niriq shoved it open and glared into the darkness, it was good that they camped out in a similar place earlier on, their eyes were adjusted enough to the dim lighting. They glanced around the disheveled storage unit and blinked a few times until a sound rang out. There was someone here, the darkness and blindness can sharpen one’s other senses, and it was the same for an Atunity’s extrasensory abilities. Yellow-blue eyes closed again, and with a spin and a flip of their spear, Niriq’ flicked at the power lever near the entrance of the warehouse. The structure didn’t seem so damaged that the power was completely cut, and the lights were likely off to draw fewer eyes and suspicion on it as a hiding location. As the bright fluorescence sprung to life in an instant Niriq can see the sprawling veins of their eyelids even while they are closed, whoever else was in there would not have gotten off so lightly.

“W-Who!”

Following the sound and reactionary noises, as well as the resonance of the target, Niriq flipped onto one of the shelves and weaved past a few crates with openings that seemed too small to fit a more… “average-sized soldier”. Peaking out from behind the box another resonator can be seen, Niriq has seen the symbol on one of the numerous packs they were carrying, it was one for medical services. Another Atunity. The other Atunity looked in Niriq’s general direction, the sensory ability was two-way after all, but they were still blinded by the sudden light flicker to grasp the blur that soared from the top of the shelves.

Sploch-

Crack-

It was a familiar sound, it was the sound of flesh going against something of a much sturdier build. The leap from the shelves provided some extra acceleration, Niriq knew they weren’t the weakest resonator in physical combat, especially amongst Atunities, but it was difficult to know anything about this other resonator……Maybe it’s not even an enemy. Niriq looked down at the other resonator who’s abdomen and torso they have just managed to pierce with the high-ground strike.

“...Are you…my enemy?”

Gurgle-

The other resonator looked Niriq’s in the eye while gurgling out a bit of blood, Niriq has seen people with those kinds of eyes before, usually, they were the enemy, but it won’t hurt to ask. After all, you had to ask to do anything in the RCL, they were just following standard discipline.

“What the fuck is wrong with you! Die!”

The Atunity, despite being largely pinned to the ground by a torso-piercing stab wound was still quite alive, and was seeming to reach for something in one of the various packs they were carrying. It certainly wasn’t the medical symbol one. Niriq saw this and decided that yes, this was indeed an enemy, then tried to twist and move the spear pinning the other to the ground like if one would try to mop with a particularly sticky patch of ground. There was a flash of a muzzle, as the enemy resonator pulled a gun from the patch and aimed at the target that was in melee range, but the sudden twisting and dragging caused the aim to tilt. One of the shots hit the Edenis’ horn, the bullet itself ricocheted off, but a portion of the coated armour cracked and peeled off, revealing the bone-white substance beneath. The others Niriq could barely feel, it was only the whistling winds that fed into their jacket through a bullet hole that told them, the soaking blood brought a bit of a chill too as the patch of red spread from the Edenis’ right clavicle.

“Okay…you are…then…” Yellow-blue eyes perked up and gazed at the resonator on the ground. There was no malice or ill-intent in the barely audible murmur, it was as if they were simply stating a fact as objective as the sky being grey today.

A click can be heard as Niriq pressed some sort of mechanism on the spear, only now the staring Pythgorian Atunity realized that the hand that was holding the spear in place barely had any skin or even a completed set of muscle sinew. Rather it was a dark reddish-pink construct with veins crawling and seeming to be growing back in real-time. Atunities weren’t fazed by injured, perhaps if this enemy was a little less fazed, everything would have ended differently.

The light whirling of mechanics can be heard as the pinned resonator could feel something stirring, the piercing wound from the attack seems to be opening up again despite their natural regeneration that had been kept in control for a moment. There was the distinct sound of tearing flesh and cracking bones, loud enough to bounce off of the walls as some chilling echo. The mentally KIRT spear’s tip was expanding within another human being’s body, the sharpened edges that were pushed out of the weapon expanding indifferently through organs. Blood-red liquids and darkened marrow spilled out of the wound, while a few bone splitters flew out of the wound as the ribcage was pressured to the point of collapse.

“W-what- W-w-why-”

Niriq couldn’t really hear what the other was saying, if it was an enemy, it doesn’t really matter as the voice began to gurgle and choke more and more as the pieces of stray rib bone and the KIRT edge itself has begun to collapse the lung of its victim. There was a subtle movement with the arm that was formerly holding the pistol that Niriq was shot with, but Niriq quietly stepped on the twitching appendage, and leaned more of their weight on it until the cracking of bones can be heard and the forearm began to discolor from the intense pressure. The gun spun around and slid away from the two Atunities.

After pulling out the spear-like weapon, with the tip changed from a pointy trident-like shape to a more flat, almost-spoon-ish shape, Niriq looked at the enemy they were supposed to fight. There was a large hole torn through the abdomen, the bottom half of the ribcage exposed and mostly shattered, with the sternum shifting upwards almost 90 degrees by the pressure. Bits and pieces of ruptured organs and tissue littered the floor around, some flowing out along the large expanding pool of blood and some sticking to the ground via some kind of mucus, along with other coloured liquids stemming from the stomach and gall bladder.

“Oh right…the acid…I forgot.” Niriq looked at the tip of the weapon, stomach acid was a potent thing. It wasn’t good to damage your weapon’s service span right before a mission.

“I have to wipe it down…”

“Gah- K-Kghah—”

The Pythagorian Atunity still seemed to have some life, perhaps it was because of the resonator traits, or the Atunity healing. It seemed even worse than being a regular person in a situation like this, a regular person would have bled out long ago. Niriq patted the battery on their back, it was fully charged. It wasn’t good to use up your battery life right before a mission. Glancing around, the Edenis caught sight of the gun that they previously forced the opponent to drop, Niriq had barely fired guns before, but it seemed easy enough against something that can’t move.

After picking it up, Niriq pointed the muzzle at the Pythagorian resonator’s left eye. With a bit of hesitation, they jammed the barrel closer, and closer, until it was almost jammed right into the eye socket. Then Niriq fired, and then fired again, and again, and again. Until the weapon made a clicking sound and no longer sent out a vibration to their arm and a red-white coloured splatter to the ground. The signal was gone now. Some blood trickled from Niriq’s sleeve and the bottom of their jacket, joining the much large pool of blood beneath of the loser of this death match. The blood drops became indistinguishable after pooling together. Niriq wanted to shake off some of the blood, but the wounded side’s shoulder refused to move, it was stiffened up. Niriq wondered if they needed a massage, one of those things for stiff shoulders or whatever.

“...It’s…MONO, I found an Atunity, it was an enemy, so I killed it…” They said blandly into the communicators as they walked back towards the entrance.

But there was something outside, there was another resonator. Niriq dragged their feet a bit, and the wound have begun to clot. It was nice and peaceful in the warehouse, nothing but the white noise of the humming of the lights and the mellowed-out explosions and screaming in the distance. It was a good place to heal before a mission. This was until the peace was broken by the door being slammed open, the signal was of another resonator, it was someone Niriq didn’t recognize. It was someone missing an arm and covering their face.

“...Do you need healing?” Niriq stood in the shadow of one of the shelves as they picked up the bag with the medical symbol from the Atunity’s rather mutilated corpse. Maybe this thing was the symbol of being a good healer, then Niriq could use one too.

“Oh right, that’s the wrong order.” Strapping the blood-soaked bag to their shoulder Niriq looked at the new intruder, who seemed to have paused for a moment upon entering and seeing the scene in the warehouse.

“...Are you…my enemy?” Yellow-blue eyes looked at the masked resonator and inquired expressionlessly.

K A B O O M ​

A human-shaped figure crashed out of the warehouse’s doors and landed amongst the debris outside, rolling like a ragdoll a few times before hitting a slab of tilted metal. There was a distinct ‘clink’ sound as the horn that the figure had tapped on the metal as the rolling stopped.

“Okay…you are” The Edenis coughed a bit. “…Then…”

There was a tingling type of pain stirring inside, it was the coldness, the pain of the coldness. When Niriq was young, they learned that if you hold ice and snow for too long, there will be a type of special pain. It was painfulness and numbness at the same time, even with a bit of warmth to it, as paradoxical as that sounds. The temperature draining out of a body with all of its bloody fluids, the coldness brings pain, but it also brings the numbness with it. That was the type of pain Nirqi can feel, the type of pain that only exists as numbness.

It was a good thing that all throughout that, they were still holding onto the weapon. It wasn’t good to lose your weapon right before a mission. It was also good that they had it because it let them parry the other resonator, probably a Surge judging from the speed and strength even while severely injured.

This one didn’t talk much, it liked to scream more. Niriq wondered if the dulled screams they’ve heard were mostly this guy’s. The Surge’s hit on the spear made the entire pile of rubble vibrate, Niriq clicked another button situated on the weapon’s handle and the enemy resonator flinched away for a moment due to the electrical shock, while Niriq quickly flipped behind the pile and hopped away backward as they kept an eye up and weapon drawn. It was strange, it didn’t seem to have a weapon, ranged or melee, perhaps it has lost it. Niriq thought as they saw the Surge charge them again, despite the injuries it has sustained, it seems pretty adamant to take them out.

Parrying the next hit felt like being hit down to the bones, Niriq glanced at the hand that was holding the weapon steady, it seems as if some of the flesh, muscle, and bits of baby-pink skin has fused together with the weapon handle. The hand had healed over the metallic material as Niriq never really let go of the weapon ever since the most fundamental skeleton and muscle structures regrew. It was like the KIRT handle was baked into their bones, no wonder those tremors shook so deeply. Their other hand still felt numb, cold, and tingling with some sort of pain, even though the wound has mostly closed. Some sort of damage to the shoulder blade through the clavicle, Niriq might have even preferred the arm to be gone completely, at least that might tingle less.

As the Surge tried to shove the Edenis further and wrestled to grapple them through the weapon, Niriq pushed the spear that was horizontally situated between them forward in a sudden burst of strength and then propelled forward. The KIRT armoured pointed horn of the Edenis aimed at the taller resonator’s mask. The tip went through the eyehole of the mask, it cracked slightly but didn’t burst. Niriq tried to shake, but it was clear that there was something stuck there. The Surge flailed around wildly as well, clearly losing its composure as the battle went on further. With the same, if not more power as they used on cracking that Atunity’s arm, Niriq kicked the torso of the Surge and tried to wiggle free, putting some distance between them and the shortly dazed enemy. Flipping back behind another piece of rubble, Niriq jammed the spear beneath the chunk of concrete and torn their hand from the handle. A small shower of newly healed skin and blood fell around as once again, only the fleshy muscle structures remained of the half-healed hand. Once the polearm was in place, Niriq jumped on the other end, the lever see-sawed the large chunk and flipped the entire piece over, slamming into the Surge.

Niriq felt a bit tired, not the usual type of tired that came with sluggishness, but the type of tiredness that came with the cold and stiffness and tingling pain. Blood was trickling from both of their sleeves and while the smaller bruises and scratches on their face were disappearing and closing up, the chipped armour of the Edenis’ horn still showed as proof of something dire has happened. Niriq was very protective of that horn after all. They panted a bit and looked around, where’s the next signal? It wasn’t that far away, at least the nearest signal wasn’t, and it wasn’t moving either.

FASTTRAVELING...
​

“...Are you an-”

“Oh, right, I’ve seen you before.”

It was lucky that their legs weren’t too damaged, as Niriq could still run away after attempting to incapacitate that other resonator. It wasn’t good to use up all your energy and supplies before a mission. They followed the next resonance signal, statistically speaking, after running into two enemies it might be a non-enemy for the next one.

“...Do you need healing?” The Edenis looked at the other Edenis, who were laying against some metallic debris. This person was at the office, it was someone Niriq had seen before, so it was nice to be able to skip one step.

“I found…this too…” Niriq held out the bag with the medic symbol they found on the other Atunity, their still regenerating hand with muscle ligaments and bones exposed. They stared at the bag themselves for a moment and blinked a few times before seemingly having an epiphany, and then setting the bag down on Mocking Jay’s lap.

“Ohhh, right. I can’t hold it for too long…My flesh would heal over the strap again…”

Interactions: Lekiel Euclid Leaf seasonedcat Juju FabulousTrash (Team)​

 

[Sharatayn]

ZeresveilSmiling Reinforcements / Atunity Edenis

As a cut up transmission reached her ears, Vulpes stopped her hands which were previously cleaning the blade of her scythe. Focusing on the audio, it seemed like she was the only one that could ignore the scene of a massacre all around her.
“...eam!...ower 2, sou…way from th…avant?” Hum hum. That must have been Inugami’s voice there. Although, with all that static, it would be hard to tell for even people that knew him well. Still, her hearing was nothing if not great, so after flashing a smile towards one of those she had just 'saved', she turned her attention to the nearest tall building. Between a hop, a burst of flame, and a little dextrous swinging from nearby fixtures, she quickly ascended the stories from outside, leaving behind her the macabre sight for those left alive to cower from.
‘ower 2, sou’…hum, hum hum hum, now what did that mean exactly? Let’s see, the transmission came from short range, so that probably meant it was South at the end. Of all the buildings that were named with numbers, a Tower would be the most likely target, especially if their comms were shot like…well, like she could hear right then and there. It was a miracle she could even hear anything, and the following transmission wasn't much better at all. “...acker cod…find me!” Well, it’s not like she necessarily required it anymore, considering she was heading to said tower anyways. Heheh, good thing there was enough cleanup that she didn’t start moving towards the hangar yet. Lucky!~

She certainly enjoyed the rooftops. In fact, make that heights in general. Maybe it was the sense of reassurance that even if she fell, she would be alright, no matter what. Maybe it was the gusts of artificial wind blowing her hair wide, simulating what it might feel like to fly through the night sky that no longer existed. Heheh, maybe she just liked it, simple as.
But stood about a block away from South Tower 2, she looked on as Gell’s next transmission came in, this time crystal clear. She saw him vanish into one building after another, doing lord knew what, and as he went into one last street, she saw the boy’s fumbling with an even younger guard, and the subsequent explosion chains. Quickly assuming she wasn’t atop any targets of interest for the Scrim when it was the places he went into that blew up, she sat at the edge of the roof and enjoyed the fireworks, waving some smoke away from her face with her gloved hands.

Hum…well, he sure was having a fun fight down there, what with that Surge and those Vectors. If only she could join, or even keep up with those ludicrous moves…alas, fate decided her strengths lay somewhere else. And so, after witnessing one of said Vectors be partially disarmed, she hopped down from the third floor rooftop without a care. The Atunity landed gracefully and began making her way towards the tower, barely making noise. Her russet hair and darker clothes must have not called almost any attention in the sea of flames and smoke she was traversing. Just like she liked it.

Then, just as it seemed like the pair (or was it trio?) had cornered the intruder, her cheerful voice came from not-quite-afar. “Quack~” With a burst of flame, the scythe-wielder was pushed forwards from where she stood, gliding above the pavement. After getting as close as she dared to without being discovered, and finding her one window of opportunity, the blue fire coming from the staff propulsed her by Gell’s side - the KIRT blade of her weapon cutting off most of the splinter’s right legs before it could even figure she was there. With a bit of a slide, there his reinforcements came, now standing right beside him.
“Y’know, dear, you could’ve waited a bit longer ‘fore starting up that goose chase. Had me running all the way from that building to here.” With her scythe having spilled Splinter…blood (?) she quickly pulled out the staff onto her spare hand, ready to bring down the piping hot mace onto the beast if it was ordered to get close. Her eagerness and preparedness could make anyone wonder if she really was an Atunity…and if she had actually picked the right job.

Sparing a wink and a smile to the master of the Splinter, she kept talking. “Oh but don’t think I’m leaving you out to dry here, darlin’, I’ve got plenty in me to spare once I’ve got your pet in a more…manageable shape.” If the beast didn’t bring her down, it seemed like her next target would be the one hidden beyond the door frame.

Mentions | Lekiel mizton SilverFlight SirDerpingtonIV Wilder28 donutcry

 

[Wilder28]

Surge

Damien Harte

Codename: QUIETUS

Mentions: Lekiel SilverFlight Sharatayn mizton SirDerpingtonIV donutcry

ANGELA South Comms Tower

Damien was still on the move when the message came in.

“He... an idea. Th... a secure... as dead... tower 2, South... get you up... get that... Savant?”

It wasn't like the others. This one came only in fragments, a sign of very heavy interference. He could recognize the voice of Inugami, but beyond that? He had only the foggiest clue what was being said.

He could take a guess, though. And what he had in mind was only solidified when he received a ping from his device.

"I’m send... code. Co... me!”

The message that preceded it was no more intelligible, but it didn't need to be. The moment it came in, just after clearing a good-sized leap between two buildings, Damien whipped out his pager and took a look. It was a tracker code. Inugami had sent the coordinates to his location - and he wasn't all that far off.

“On my way."

Damien doubted the transmission would be received, but he decided to send it just in case. And with that, he promptly changed course and headed for the nearby South Tower, which he could see looming in the distance. He wasn't sure what this had to do with the original objective, but the more he thought about it, the clearer it became what the Edenis' plan must've been.

Communications were jammed. Maybe they could take a shot at fixing that.

Would it work? Possibly. Was it risky? Almost certainly. Would that stop him? Hell no - especially since his teammate was already out there. If he was out to do some extra good for the Fortress, then why not join in?

He moved quickly as possible, traversing the rooftops of the fortress as quickly and efficiently as possible. This time, he didn't get too distracted with other affairs on the side - mainly because the opportunity didn't present itself near as much. So altogether? He didn't turn up until the explosions had just begun.


“Hey team, you get one window.”

This transmission had rang out much more clearly to him, perhaps because by the time he'd received it, Damien was a lot closer than before. And now, he was taking that message to heart.

Just as the last of Vulpes' words had left her lips, there came a flash of reflected light, and the Scrim she had addressed suddenly jerked as it passed clean through her. There came an abrupt gasp, and then... nothing. Unceremoniously, she just collapsed onto the ground in two pieces.

The blade that ended her, stained red with her blood as well as that of quite of few others, seemed to remain suspended right there over where she lie - until all at once, its wielder came into view. Damien had known the woman, at least somewhat; he recalled having seen her on a mission or two, here and there. It was a shame to find that she was one of them.

He paid no mind to her now. Instead, his focus was on the Surge that stood across from them, who stood wielding a blade of his own. The Splinter was a non-issue for him - Vulpes clearly had that one locked down. To him, this guy was the bigger threat.

Or so he'd thought at first. Just when he had been on the verge of lunging into battle, however, he caught sight of something behind his potential adversary, and he paused. Then, he turned and headed off, choosing instead to track down and take care of that other VECTOR before it could make its way over to them. This situation was clearly handled.

Code by Serobliss

 

[Juju]

Scrim / Handler

Brigitte Lefèvre

Codename: JUBILEE

C.R.A.D.L.

seasonedcat Lekiel
“J'ai pris un bateau pour quitter la terre~♪” Brigitte sang lightly to herself as she undid the locks.

Just as she had hoped, Owen pressed the gun to her head. “I said to shut it…”

Brigitte didn’t consider herself much of a gambler, but between judging how far she could push Owen and how likely it was for Jupiter to bend her orders, she was really banking on probabilities here. Then again, she liked to think of such things more as scientific hypotheses. It wasn't luck she was waiting on, but a chain reaction of factors.

Weapons don’t think, and when they’re told to stay put they do. When told to kill they do so without remorse. Brigitte had read Monarch’s file, and when she was transferred as his handler she was instructed in the ‘proper’ way to treat the weapon. It was a shame Brigitte took them only as guidelines and suggestions. To objectify something so complex as the human psyche. A similar folly that Schrödinger himself had fallen for. They way Brigitte saw things, Monarch was a weapon, but Jupiter was something else. There wasn’t much left there, but that didn’t mean it was worthless. Perhaps it was just her researcher side, but she couldn't help but conduct a few 'experiments' here and there.

She heard the slink of bone and brain matter being sliced clean through, and then the sickening thud of a skull colliding with the lab floor. Sticky blood pooled around her boots.

“Just on time!” Brigitte said in the same cheery tone she was known for, though her hands shook as she clicked open the final lock. The storage door slid open without her prompt.

When she stiffly turned around her eyes fell to the shape on the floor of her office, a mound of dead meat wrapped in a bloody lab coat. There she could see one of humanity’s last brightest minds, spilling on the floor. An utter waste. At one point he had been a friend, at least she thought so. How much of it was fabricated?

"are you injured?" he asked quickly before realizing his place, dropping quickly to a low bow, "Ms. Jubilee, please forgive my insubordination. I heard you were in danger and rushed to back you up. I will take whatever punishment that you see fit."

Brigitte looked up from the corpse on the floor, “Yes, you didn’t stay at the entrance like I told you to…”

Her eyes softened and a smile struggled to appear on her face. She held Jupiter's free hand in two of her own and looked up at the mask. “You did excellent, mon cher! I couldn’t be more proud. Once again you've saved me from a spot of trouble. Thank you, Jupiter.”

Brigitte withdrew her hand and stepped over the body of Dr. Owen, keeping her eyes away from the downturned face in the blood puddle. She plucked the sample preservation kit from off her desk and promptly began to load it up with the experimental ammo and any empty sample canisters she could carry.

“I trust you found the red card?” she said as she packed, glancing over to Monarch, who had dutifully passed it over to her. She ignored the blood on it and slipped it into her pocket. Then she took off her own keycard and placed it with the others. “After the Betrayal our lab took extra precautions for well… the events of today. We made three keycards that could control the emergency protocol. Red, Blue, and Yellow. The representatives of each wing…”

Brigitte’s eyes were in a daze as she knelt down to unclip the yellow card around Dr. Owen’s neck. She looked at it for a moment and wiped the blood off before she placed it in her pocket with the red card. She then took the Protype gun from Owen's rigid hand. He was already growing cold.

She let out a sigh and looked around the lab. Ever since the world flipped she had dedicated her remaining life to researching a means for humanity to understand the new laws and creatures of reality. Adaptation begets survival. It was something Owen had said to her during her first day at the old lab. The dream of overcoming the corruptants and blight had been something shared between them. Now the remnants of it laid broken on the floor of her office and the bloody corridors.

Brigitte might have laughed at the bitter uselessness of it all. The sacrifices of past researchers -- her friends --, even her own years, made utterly useless. It was just like the day she fell from that boat. To toil for a future that slipped through your fingers. Needless to say, whether or not this mission was successful or a complete failure, there was no more use for this lab. She looked at the stacks of research papers she would never finish, and the rows of pipettes waiting for an intern that would never return. Off to the corner of her desk she could see a clay splinter figurine, a birthday present from the departed.

"Was there anyone left?" Brigitte asked. She already knew the answer before Monarch uttered it, though it did little to soften the blow. Her research team was no more. "I see... so Danielle was here. Can you bring me to her?"

She followed Monarch back to the Blight Research wing and found her friend slumped against the wall. The bullet wounds in her abdomen and the bloody mess of the defectors left no mystery as to what sealed her fate. Brigitte knelt beside the woman, brushing the golden hair out of her still face. Her twin daughters looked just like her, and with a pang of dread Brigitte realized they would be orphaned and alone. She only hoped they were safe. Just as she had done with Owen, Brigitte took Danielle's ID card, though this time she slipped it behind her own.

"See you later, Danielle. Sleep well." she muttered before standing up. She adjusted her bag and stuffed the prototype gun into a pocket. Turning to Monarch, she said, "Come now, there's one last thing that needs to be done."

She stepped past Monarch and lead the way down the corridor so that he couldn't see the wetness of her eyes.

◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤​

The terminal for the emergency control was within a locked security room, though with the keycards in her possession Brigitte and Monarch had little issue getting inside. Around her she could see various switches and emergency alarms, most of which had been flipped off. Ignoring them, Brigitte opened the hatch to the terminal and one by one inserted the colored keycards into their positions. Brigitte entered the required passwords, accessed the appropriate command, and flipped the lever.

All at once the lab went dark, lit only by flashing red emergency lights, and a low droning alarm that echoed through the vacant lab.

"Quickly now, Monarch. We don't want to be inside here when the asset purge begins! This way!" Brigitte shouted above the noise, motioning for him to follow.

The two ran through the dim hallways, past figures slumped against the walls and through doors that shut and locked mere moments after they dashed through. When they made it back to the foyer the windows had been covered by metal sheets, and the door was already partially covered by a pleated gate. Had the two not been resonators, it was unlikely they would have ran out the front door before the gates slammed shut and metal bolts fastened into their places.

Brigitte caught her breath outside of the lab, "Ah dear me, perhaps we should have adjusted the countdown time! That was a lot shorter than I thought we agreed on!"

The sound of roaring flames and scattered bangs sounded from within the lab's locked door. Smoke billowed from the vents above the building, puffing up with each muted explosion. Finally, the lab's very foundations shook as a blast of green, purple, and blue flames erupted from the back of the lab, flaring upwards in an exploding multicolor bonfire. It reminded Brigitte of firework displays to mark the beginning of a new year, back when seasons existed. Then, just like the ending of a New-Year show, the explosion died down and all returned to shouldering streams of smoke and ash. The blight samples inside had been exterminated safely.

Brigitte watched it all quietly, her face blank and her gaze somewhere else. Briny water rolled down her face, but she only noticed it when it fell onto her coat in little droplets. She blinked, causing even more to fall, and quickly used a sleeve to wipe her eyes.

Her pager beeped again, and she heard the voice of her superior once again.

“Mono, we’re on our way, hang in there,” Yurica commanded, knowing the Atunity, out of all of them, was the most vulnerable alone should he run into fanatical Resonators. “Monarch, Jubilee, you’re both nearer to the package than we are. If you get there before us, secure the area but do not go in. Stay sharp, I’ve got a bad feeling we’re not the only ones in the business.”

"You can count on us." Brigitte responded, her voice strained, though it would go unnoticed in the chaos.

She adjusted the strap holding her sample kit and turned away from her lab for the last time. How quickly everything could change in a moment. That was all it took for the living to become meat, for wakefulness to become sleep, for reality to become warped. The awareness of this had shaped her mentality since she had woken up from her oceanic slumber seven years ago. Every single moment was precious and should be experienced at its fullest, unshackled by past or clouded by future. When everything else was gone, the present moment is all that was left.

Although her chest still ached, Brigitte straightened her posture and let out a sigh, a tenacious smile returning to her face, ""Dear me, we're quite behind schedule! Monarch, with me! I believe we have an important package to secure..."

Code by Serobliss

 

[FabulousTrash]

Machine Savant

Song Kyung-Min

Codename: SHRIKE

Central Angela

The echo's eyes stared down at the ground.

In the dirt, there was a small mound, her handler's weapon resting on top. Many other makeshift graves surrounded the area, with the tools of war the only thing that identified who was buried underneath.

The attack from the Sons of Pythagoras was over. But it came at a heavy cost.

There was no victory celebration, no cheering. Only the quiet air of grief and sorrow as the RCL just managed to survive. Many were packing their equipment and beginning the journey back home, to begin preparations for the retreat to FSF ANGELA. But all Kyu could do was stand, and stare.

Why is this world... so cruel?

Small tears escaped the corners of her eyes. With one hand, she reached up, clasping her mask. With a soft hiss, she removed the face covering, holding it by her side. The corners of her mouth tightened as her eyes squinted. But her attempts at bottling up failed, as she dropped down to her knees, breaking down and crying.

Everyone she knew and cared for was dying around her. And yet she remained.

Is this fate? A curse?

Why them. Why not me?

"Song!"

A voice was calling her name. The echo gulped, taking a deep breath before re-fitting the mask on her face.

"Lets go! We're all leaving!"

As Kyu stood up and recomposed herself, her sadness transformed into something else. Anger. Bitterness. Dread. Her eyes narrowed as she stared down at the grave before her.

Whoever was her next handler, Kyu prayed she wouldn't get too attached to them.

The pain was becoming to much to bear.

[...]
​

Kyu glanced behind her, eyeing the teary-eyed edenis. She blinked, then nodded once at her partner's words. Her eyes drifted back outward, keeping an eye out for any other SoPs that tried attacking the group. But for the time being, it seemed that they were in the clear.

The echo felt another hand grip her shoulder. It was the captain this time. At her command, Kyu nodded and sheathed her sword, running with the group as they made their way to regroup with the others. Kyu had no trouble keeping up to begin with, but she was starting to lag behind. Unlike other resonators, Kyu couldn't enhance her physical capabilities. How much she could lift or how fast she could run depending on her time spent working out. And aside from trainings, Kyu didn't do much of that.

Thankfully, Jay was quick to offer their hand. Kyu immediately took it, climbing onto their back and securing themselves on the metal rungs.

It felt like yesterday when the two were first paired together. And nothing was more difficult than trying to communicate with Jay. it took all of Kyu's willpower not to strangle the edenis back then, or to simply just give up. Why the echo insisted, she couldnt remember. But had she not persisted, there was a good chance the two wouldnt be able to work well together as they do now.

Kyu held on tightly as the two zipped through the narrow alleyways and streets. Just as she began to settle down, Kyu felt Jay jerk downwards as he gripped her arm tightly. The girl held on as the pair nearly came crashing downward, the edenis just managing to recover and skidding to a halt. In front of them, the cackling of a woman wielding a scythe greeted them.

The echo was just about to draw their sword when the protective barrier formed, explosives rounds impacting it. She kept a grip on the handle as Yurcia issued orders. Kyu turned her attention to the other Resonators that were moving in to fight. One continued laying down fire, bashing the barrier with more rounds while the other blitz past down the alley.

She looked at Jay, nodding once and stepped off. Her handler took to the sky as the echo turned her attention to the second Resonator, who was taking cover behind a corner of one of the buildings. From the looks of it, they were wielding a large cannon-like weapon. And they were about to fire again.

Kyu rushed forward, sword drawn. She watched as the enemy aimed directly at her. The trigger was pulled, and another explosive shell raced towards the echo. In the blink of an eye. a wall of WIPSs raced to Kyu's aid, taking the brunt of the explosion. A opening then formed in the middle of the wall and the echo was quick to close the distance to her opponent, bringing her sword downward and cutting into the cannon, disabling the weapon before jumping over and landing behind her opponent.

A grunt could be heard as the second SURGE as they turned to face the echo, throwing the weapon to the side. Kyu wasted no time re-engaging them as she thrust her sword forward. However, a hand came forward and caught the blade, stopping Kyu in her tracks. The opponent SURGE ripped the weapon out of the echo's hand at the same time their other hand came forward in a fist, hitting Kyu squarely in the stomach.

The echo was sent backwards, tumbling over herself, eventually coming to a stop as she slid across the rough ground a good distance away. Kyu gasped, trying to recover what little breath she could as she pushed herself up from the ground. She could hear the footsteps of her opponent drawing near, and fast. Her eyes flashed red as WISPs rushed to her aid. As the girl raised her hands into a fist, the WISPs mimicked it.

Her opponent threw out another punch, and the echo met it with one of their own, a small shockwave resonating out from the impact. Kyu brought her other WISP first forward, scoring a hit against the other resonator as they stumbled backwards. The echo wasted no time, continuing to pummel her opponent. She landed a few more hits, causing the enemy SURGE to jump backwards in order to recover.

Kyu opened her hands, out-stretching her fingers. The balls of WISPs changed shape into small stars like before, rising up in the air. The echo raised her hand up, then brought it back down as the WISP stars rained down onto the target. The SURGE grunted in pain, raising an arm to shield their face from the downpour. But it wasnt enough. The enemy resonator ripped a few of the stars from the body as they continued their advance.

Before Kyu could do anything more, they reached to their side and drew a second weapon. A handgun. A series of bangs ran out as bullets flew forward. Kyu quickly ducked out of the way, taking cover behind the corner of a nearby building as some bullets scrapped by, chipping away at the concrete.

She had to end this fight soon, or it could drag on for much longer.

The echo reached to her side, where a couple of canisters were clipped to the belt around her waist. Had it not been for Jay's insistence, Kyu would've only carried her sword into battle. But reluctantly, she agreed to bring extra gear with her. The compromise was that Kyu got to pick what she wanted.

Kyu gripped one of the canisters, pulling the pin out from the top and tossed it out into the open. Smoke began to hiss out from it as the canister spun around in place on the ground. A smoke grenade.

Reaching up to the side of her mask, Kyu switched to thermal vision, quickly moving out of cover. She could see her enemy clear as day, but the same couldn't be said for them. More gunshots rang out to no avail as Kyu charged at the enemy. One hand came up, grabbing onto the gun and twisting it out of their grip. Kyu's free arm came up, hooking around other resonator's neck as the echo pulled herself up and over the other. As she came back down, Kyu pulled down her opponent, dropping them on their back.

A third flash of red emitted from her eyes as she called on the WISPs once more. This time, they formed much bigger spikes, like the ones you see hanging from the ceiling of a cave. The WISPs came down, puncturing the enemy SURGE and pinned them to the ground. A scream of pain followed as the enemy resonator struggled to free themselves.

Kyu released her hold, walking back to where her sword lay. Picking it up, she moved back towards her opponent. Her knuckles turned white as her grip on the handle tightened. As Kyu stared down at the face of the resonator, all she could see were the many faces of those that betrayed the RCL.

Without a second thought, she brought the blade down, driving it through the face of the enemy. A final scream left their mouth, drowned out by the pooling blood before their body went limp. Kyu pulled the blade out as the WISPs faded away. Her vision returned to normal as she looked around, finally having a moment to survey the field. Then it occurred to her.

Where was Jay?

Her eyes frantically looked around.

No no no no no. Its too soon, its too soon.

Kyu didn't see where Jay had ended up after they zipped into the air. But judging by the nearby destruction of a warehouse, Kyu had a strong guess as to where they ended up. The echo quickly ran over, scrambling over some of the debris until she found her handler. And they did not look good.

The echo could practically smell the blood, and Jay only had one ear. Their target was no where to be seen, but before Kyu could get closer to assess Jay's injures, more footsteps could be heard. Reinforcements.

Given the current circumstances, it was relief to see that they were just regular soldiers. Dispatching them wouldn't take the echo long. Before engaging, Kyu called up her WISPs, forming a barrier around the injured edenis. Her eyes retained their red glow as Kyu had to hold her concentration to maintain the protective barrier.

With her sword in hand, the echo charged forward back into battle.

Code by Serobliss

Lekiel Euclid Leaf