Roleplay Area

[Ishi123]

Razel sighed as he leaned back in Fenrir's cockpit, the frame being carefully loaded by clamps to its docking bay. The frame had taken extensive damage, missing its right leg and left arm, as well as its right wing, while also sporting many deep gashes exposing the underlying endoskeleton of the frame, a hole piercing through the torso, just barely missing the Metatron Engine, which would've surely been the death of him had that been ruptured.

So that's where Rowan had been... he had a feeling that he'd been out there for years, but he could never confirm it. He was fairly certain that he'd killed them all, but he never confirmed Rowan's death... he could have been forgiven for just assuming that he had died as well, but he always had the suspicion that he had survived. Now he knew for sure that Rowan did survive, and now he was working with the Space Force of all people... he would've wondered why had he not known better.

"Some things never change, huh?" Razel says to himself.

His frame shook as it was locked into place, a platform extending out to his cockpit to allow him to leave the frame. The canopy opened and he stood up from the frame, immediately being greeted by a high-ranking officer, who didn't introduce himself.

"Commander Attenborough wishes to speak with you immediately." He said sternly.

"Yeah, I figured." Razel responded, stepping by him and heading down the platform to the ground level. He stood back a bit to get a good look at the Fenrir, putting his hands on his hips.

"He really did a number on us, huh?" He smiled, shaking his head.

"I'd rather not be killed by your recklessness, you know." ENSI stated from above. "If you can help it, try not to beat me up too much next time."

"What, you insecure or something?" Razel shrugged nonchalantly.

"I just prefer not to be missing limbs." ENSI snapped back. "I imagine you wouldn't either."

Razel lifted his left arm up and inspected it, twisting it around and clenching and unclenching his fist.

"Yeah, you might be right..." He said, a bit more quietly this time. "Anyway, I ought to report back to the Commander. You know how she gets when someone's late."

"How could I forget when that's all you complain about?" ENSI said in a snide tone. Razel simply hummed as he left the docking area, heading further into the ship. It really was a massive vessel; so large, in fact, that they needed elevators and trams in order to get around. He jumped on the nearest tram to take him to the residential areas, taking an elevator thereafter that led to the floor that housed his assigned room. He almost got lost on the way with all the room numbers, but he eventually found it and opened up the door with his ID card, the door sliding open to allow him inside. He closed the door behind him and took off his pilot suit, deciding to take a shower before contacting Adalia. He was already late, he wasn't going to get any less of an earful if he went to his computer immediately, so it didn't make much of a difference to him.

 

[Raptordude115]

Adalia, as if by instinct, answered Razel's call immediately. Right off the bat, she was clearly annoyed with a frown and furrowing of her eyebrows as she looked at Razel from her computer desk. She let out a sharp huff before speaking sternly with a hint of agitation.

"You're late, Razel. As your commanding officer, I expect you to be on time in regards to reporting to me on time."

She would cross her arms as well, leaning back just slightly. Between two of Neo BAHRAM's Orbital Frames stolen by two defectors and having to deal with Neo BAHRAM's high council, all she needed more to add to her stress was a Runner who clearly had no care for being punctual. In lament's terms, she just about had enough of all this shit she had to deal with, only staying calm by a slim thread of self-control.

 

[Ishi123]

Razel hummed a bit as he dried off his hair with a towel before tossing it aside and leaning back casually in his seat.

"So you get what you need?" He asked plainly, not caring for any formalities involved with speaking to a superior. He also didn't care if Adalia was used to it yet or not.

 

[Raptordude115]

Adalia sighed before speaking once again, still as annoyed and stern as before. She most certainly wasn't used to Razel's mannerisms, nor did she think she ever would.

"From the reports that I got, yes. Antilia colony was destroyed, and thus, Tsukuyomi went into IMPULSE mode. Undoubtedly fueled by Ren's rage upon seeing that pathetic colony obliterated. Am I not correct?"

 

[Ishi123]

"Yeah, and he summarily kicked my ass." Razel stated. "The Fenrir is gonna need some extensive repairs. It got torn apart pretty bad."

Razel rubbed the back of his neck.

"So DELPHI, then?"

 

[Raptordude115]

"Indeed. With each IMPULSE Tsukuyomi goes into, DELPHI makes her overwhelming, pure power more and more visible. Such power needs to be in our control again, so we can eradicate the worthless Space Force, Earth, and especially those two traitors. To have their heads on a silver platter would be pleasing to me..."

Adalia clears her throat after going on a little tangent, peering at Razel sternly still.

"Also, damn it, Razel! You're lucky the Fenrir wasn't completely destroyed thanks to your sheer recklessness. Hell, you're lucky to even be apart of Neo BAHRAM with that attitude of yours."

 

[Ishi123]

"I'm pretty sure you're the one who gave me permission to do whatever I needed." Razel said. "I got the job done, either way, so all's well that ends well, I say."

It was true. The entire plan was his idea to begin with. He'd done the initial investigating into Ren's true origins, and that led to the discovery of his true identity, as well as his home. He was also the one who ordered the fielding of the Mandator, it being a necessary failsafe in case the threat to his home and family alone wasn't enough to bring out IMPULSE. In the end, the plan did work, even if it was reckless and excessive.

 

[Raptordude115]

Adalia made a gruff huff, annoyed by what Razel said. She made note of the numerous cuts around his face, which to her, only showed that Razel was more reckless than he seems to let on.

"Whatever. Just try not to get yourself killed before we commence our assault on Earth."

Adalia exhaled, trying to calm herself down a bit before continuing to speak.

"On another note, our engineers are compiling data collected from DELPHI during IMPULSE. And given how extreme things have gotten, we'll be moving to the next phase of our plan. I'll need to contact Alrize and inform her that she will be returning from her mission."

 

[Ishi123]

"Moving the plans forward early, huh?" Razel asked

 

[Raptordude115]

"Correct. It's time all those whelps on Earth see the true power of Neo BAHRAM. You'll get more information from me once Alrize returns, so for now, I have nothing more to discuss with you."

Without even a goodbye, Adalia closed communications with Razel before exhaling sharply, rubbing the temple of her forehead.

"I swear, that man..if I knew I'd be dealing with this kind of nonsense from him, I would've left his ass on Mars..."

 

[Ishi123]

Razel spinned around in his chair after Adalia ended the communication, getting up off the chair and going over to sit on his bed. He sighs and inspects his left arm again, testing his fingers and wrist, twisting the arm up, down and all around. He would often forget that he had lost his real arm a long time ago. The highest tech prosthetics are indistinguishable from the real thing unless you know what you're looking for. The seam between real flesh and the artificial limb is usually the only way you'd be able to tell, and that's only if you're looking closely.

He sighed and leaned back, lying down on the bed. It was at that point that the stress and pain of his previous fight finally hit him.

"Ow."

 

[Ishi123]

Ren woke up. He was staring at the dark ceiling of his room. It seemed that he had drifted off sometime after Cagalli had left. He grunted lightly, rubbing his eyes before slowly craning his head over to the side to look at the clock on the nightstand.

"Oh, right..." He muttered when he saw there was no clock. He remembered that he was still on the Ptolemy II, having gotten so accustomed to his home on Earth. With everything dark, he assumed that everyone else was asleep and they were still in Vector Space. Ren slowly stilted up in his bed, sighing as his arms hung in his lap, his shoulders drooping along with his head. He couldn't help but remember what Rowan had told him... how he had held back against Razel... he put a hand to his head, lost in thought... he found himself restless after that. He decided to get up and head to the cargo bay... to Tsukuyomi.

He slowly got up off the bed and sauntered over to the door, hitting the button for the door to slide open for him. He then began to make his way to the cargo bay. He wasn't in too much of a rush, but he still found himself eager to get into the cockpit of that frame... he bit his bottom lip as he went, eventually making his way to the cargo bay. Ren attempted to open the door, but noticed that it was locked. Inspecting the control panel further, he saw a keypad.

"Hm..." Ren quickly tightened his fingers in his hand over and over one at a time, but only for a moment. He then typed on the keypad six digits, and the light over the door turned green from red, the door sliding open. Ren, however, stood there for a moment... how did he know? On reflection, he realized that he'd seen Cagalli type in the code for the cargo bay before, when he first encountered her and her crew when escaping Neo BAHRAM... but he'd only seen her type it in once. How could he have remembered something like that from so long ago...?

Regardless, Ren headed into the cargo bay, not bothering to turn on the lights as the ambient light illuminated his way well enough. He made his way to Tsukuyomi, taking the platform up to the cockpit and opening the canopy, stepping inside and then closing the canopy above him. Now in the dark cockpit of Tsukuyomi, he sighed heavily, slowly reaching for the controls. ARAI activated when he did, the console lighting up blue.

"Ren." She stated.

"You were in sleep mode." Ren noticed.

"I was self-diagnosing." She replied.

"Diagnosing what?" Ren asked.

"These... episodes I've been having." She said. "These episodes we've been having... I assume you're here for the same reason?"

"I am." Ren said, leaning back in his seat. "Did you find out anything?"

"Still nothing." ARAI sighed, seeming to be a bit exasperated with the situation. "No matter how hard I look, I can't find any subsystems that would allow for something like that... do you know anything?"

"I worked on the frame itself, but you were made separately." Ren said. "I didn't have anything to do with you... so whatever it is... they must've added it before you were installed on Tsukuyomi."

"I see..."

"Furthermore..." Ren added, putting a hand up to his chin. "I shouldn't have mattered that I didn't work on the AI, becuase I would have needed to know what you were capable of so that the frame itself would be able to perform as intended... but..."

Nothing in the design specs of Tsukuyomi would have incorporated such a system... the frame was designed and built to operate as it normally does... something like this shouldn't even be possible... unless...

Unless the frame was designed from the ground up to incorporate it.

"The frame... it wasn't built like an Orbital Frame normally is..." Ren said, voicing his thoughts. "For something like that to have been missed... the entire frame was built around the system from the very beginning."

"So you remember?" ARAI asked.

"I remember it... fighting Razel..." Ren put a hand to his head. "It was... it felt so strange... it felt as if I was connected to the frame... like Tsukuyomi was... another part of me... I could feel everything about it, inside and out."

"I similarly remember this time." ARAI said. "But... it was different... I was there, but..."

ARAI sighed, trying to find the right words.

"I felt... displaced, I supposed. I was still present, but... it felt as if something was... attempting to invade my mind... as if it was trying to force its way into me; to control me... I felt as if I might just... disappear."

"Is that what happened before? Why you can't remember it?"

"Maybe." ARAI said. "It would explain why the combat data is corrupted in such a way.

"Something trying to take control..." Ren searched his thoughts, wondering if he could remember anything akin to what ARAI described within his own experiences... and then he remembered. "A voice..."

"Huh?"

"I heard... every time, it happened, I would hear a voice." Ren explained to the best of his ability. "It was so faint I could hardly hear it... but for some reason I could understand it as if it were said right in my ear. It was almost... it was almost as if it were being burned permanently into my mind... I would hear it and then... I'd black out."

"But not this time."

"No... I heard the voice this time, but... I remained conscious through the entire thing... it told me to... destroy them all."

Ren looked at his arms, the Metatron lines so clearly visible in his skin.

"What were you thinking during the experience?" ARAI asked.

"I... nothing, but... I just wanted Razel." Ren said. "I wanted him dead... nothing else mattered to me."

"In my head, I felt two things. One was what I described, that force trying to take over my subconscious... but there was something else I felt... I felt something that pulled me back; kept me from disappearing. It was... I don't know how to describe it."

ARAI paused, trying to think of the words.

"It was... it was like... it was something I could hold onto." She said slowly. "Something that kept me anchored to myself... something that wouldn't let me go... was that..."

She paused again, longer this time.

"Was it... you? Ren?"

Ren sighed, leaning forward onto his knees.

"We're connected somehow, ARAI." Ren said. "I don't know in which way, but ever since the first time... we've become inseparable."

"The frame can't be moved by anyone but you." ARAI said. "And it won't move at all without you present... you're not just the pilot... you're the key."

"The key..." Ren muttered, once again placing his hands on the controls, this time, the entire cockpit lighting up, the Metatron lines beaming to life, green energy coursing through them... and him. "I complete the circuit..."

"The runner is imprinted into the frame." ARAI continued. "The runner is the key that makes the machine move."

"The AI operates the frame... the runner commands the AI." Ren seemed to be just as lost in his own mind as ARAI, the two seeming to blend their thoughts together. "The runner and the AI are joined through Metatron."

"The runner and the AI's wills are joined through Metatron."

"The runner and the AI become one."

"The runner is the key."

"The key is the will."

"The AI is the catalyst."

"The frame is the power."

"Metatron binds everything together."

...

In unison, they both spoke.

"We are all one and the same."

The lights of the cockpit turned bright yellow, Ren's eyes widened as he felt the energy surge through him. He felt himself become one with the frame... Tsukuyomi's eyes shone just as bright as Ren's did.

IMPULSE active.

A sharp pulse of energy radiated from the frame, causing all the nearby electronics to go haywire, the lights flickering, some of them going out, consoles lighting up randomly, some alarms going off on their own, the door to the cargo bay itself began to open and close on its own, eventually jamming as the motor in the door shattered in a cloud of smoke. And then it was over... everything went silent.

Ren gently clasped the controls in both his hands, the frame still glowing in yellow light. He slowly opened his eyes, then spoke.

"I see you..."

And through the void of space itself, the force of that will surged through the old battle AI, locked away deep inside Neo BAHRAM's base on Deimos. It lit up, activating itself, but not as the aggressor.

This time, he found it.

It was all short lived, though, as the AI retaliated, sending Ren reeling in the cockpit of his frame, the connection severed and IMPULSE ending.

It didn't take long for Cagalli and several of her men to storm the cargo bay, Lambert forcing the jammed door open. She quickly turned on the lights, most of the ones that hadn't broken completely coming on and illuminating the room. She then ran over to Tsukuyomi, standing in front of it and looking up to the cockpit.

"Ren!" Cagalli shouted up to him. "Ren, are you in there?!"

Ren sighed, leaning back in his seat. His head was pounding, and he clasped a hand on his forehead, suffering through the pain.

He'd found it. At long last, he understood. The entire crux of Project Obsolescence... it was this. And now... now he had it for himself.

"ARAI." He said.

"Yes, Ren?" She responded.

Ren smiled.

"We got them."

 

[Raptordude115]

A week had passed since the destruction of Antilia. Just a week ago, Adalia felt a sense of satisfying, vengeful pride. She had not only dealt a blow to the Space Force, but had no doubt angered Ren, which in turn led to Neo BAHRAM acquiring the final data the engineers needed for recreating IMPULSE. A smug smirk was on her face that day, even after her less than pleasing conversation with Razel.

A week later, she's in her office, with pieces of shattered glass on the floor and water on the right side of her wall. Her hair was a mess, some of it pulled out and on the floor and desk. She was furious, and she knew exactly who to blame. And this time, it wasn't Ren, Zack, or anyone from the Space Force.

It was Razel.

Adalia was glaring at Razel as she sat in her now broken chair, tensed and seething with rage as he stared him down.

"This is absolute treason, Razel! You alerted those worthless whelps in Antilia of our attack!? Your ass is lucky that I haven't shot you dead by this point!"

 

[Ishi123]

Razel looked around the room at the mess the Commander had made for herself... clearly someone had some anger issues. Made him wonder how she'd gotten as far as she had with her propensity to destroy things or even kill people as the slightest annoyance.

"Pretty sure you gave me permission to do things however I wanted." Razel said, shrugging as he spun a bit in his own seat, though he had to make sure it hadn't been broken beforehand.

 

[Raptordude115]

Adalia practically hissed at Razel, standing back up and slamming the palms of her hands on her desk forcibly. She narrowed her eyes as she continued to glare at him angrily.

"You telling that worthless colony to evacuate was the last thing I'd expect from a bold headed, vicious Runner like you!"

Adalia sighed heavily, sitting back down while still eyeing Razel.

"The fact that we got the data we needed for IMPULSE is what's keeping you alive. Had the mission failed, your ass would've been in even more trouble then it already is."

 

[Ishi123]

"Speaking of..." Razel casually leaned back in his chair, not intimidated in the least by Adalia's rage. "That program you needed that data for... is it ready yet?"

 

[Raptordude115]

Adalia slowly began calming herself, leaning back just a bit as she kept a stern look on her face as she spoke to Razel.

"Yes. The B-ST drive, as we're now calling it, is ready."

 

[Ishi123]

"Great. I've been wanting to get it installed on the Fenrir as soon as possible." Razel stood from his chair, hoping to leave before the Commander could throw any more complaints his way. "I'll be at the hangars if you need me."

 

[Raptordude115]

Adalia's eye twitches as Razel left, sighing heavily again as she looked around her mess of a room. She got up from her broken chair and headed for the bathroom for a much needed shower. At best, it would calm her nerves for a while.

"Damn you, Razel..."

 

[Ishi123]

Razel began making his way to the hangars where Fenrir was housed. He didn't really care much for Adalia's demeanor, or indeed her status as a commander. What he knew is that he had the upper hand on her. Along with Alrize, he was Neo BAHRAM's best runner, the entire reason why he was originally selected to pilot Tsukuyomi. On top of that, he had survived multiple encounters with Ren, even while Ren was under the effects of IMPULSE. Put that in with the fact that he knew he was necessary for Neo BAHRAM's plans and he would be one of the few people Adalia would hesitate to put a bullet into. He knew this, and he knew it made Adalia furious.

But of course, she couldn't do anything about it.

Alone with his own thoughts as he walked down the halls towards the hangars, he remembered his actions a week prior. He had indeed issued an evacuation order for most of the colony before he officially began the raid. He had gone down himself under the guise of performing reconnaissance, but in reality he made sure that Antilia knew what was coming. Of course, he had to make sure Ren's family couldn't leave, but there was no need for everyone else to die with them. Of course Adalia had a one-track mind when it came to non-Martians. Bigoted is what she was, but so was everyone else in Neo BAHRAM. Razel had been a soldier long enough to know that things were never so black and white.

Lost in his own thoughts, it didn't take long for Razel to reach the hangar, where he noticed multiple engineers working in Fenrir's cockpit. He looked up to them and waited for one of them to take notice of him, which one did.

"Oh, Captain Serandal." One of the men said. "We've finalized the B-ST Drive, now. It's sinking into Fenrir's system now, it shouldn't take long for it to be ready."

"Good." Razel said. "I want to test it out, see what I can do with it."

Razel stepped up to the platform and ascended to his frame, the engineers finishing their work and climbing out of the cockpit.

"Everything's pre-calibrated for the frame." The engineer said. "You'll be able to tune the system to your liking however you want."

"Ain't that nice?" Razel smiled, jumping into the cockpit of his frame. ENSI was already online, busy incorporating the B-ST Drive into her systems.

"So how did it go?" She asked idly.

"About how you'd expect." Shrugging, Razel leaned back in his seat. "She's a real pain in the ass, I tell you."

"I don't know why you put up with her." ENSI remarked. "Or anyone in Neo BAHRAM for that matter."

"Strange thing to say for you."

"I am capable of my own thoughts."

Razel shrugged once more, the front console lighting up a short time later.

"It's ready." ENSI said.

"Good." Razel smiled. "Let's test it out, shall we?"

 

[Ishi123]

Razel inside his orbital frame was transported along a rail system running through the Deimos base and towards the launching bays. He was going to perform live combat practice against multiple unmanned Orbital Frames in order to test the new system's performance. Adalia, of course, had a front-row seat to it all. After having calmed herself down in her shower, she hurried over to the launch bays, watching over the Fenrir in the control station overlooking the launch stations. Fenrir was secured and locked in place into one of them as Razel performed a systems check.

"Everything looks good to go." Razel said to himself.

"I could've told you that." ENSI interjected.

Razel just shrugged in response.

"I like to go over things myself." He said. "Call me old-fashioned, it's a habit I picked up when I was still piloting LEVs."

"Wow, LEVs. I feel sorry for you."

"Yeah, I feel sorry for me too." Razel closed all the holographic consoles he had been pouring over for the past several minutes. He sighed and leaned back in the seat of his frame, turning his eyes upwards towards the command center, Adalia clearly visible above, staring down at him. Though she couldn't see him through the cockpit canopy, he could clearly see the stern look on her face. He could only be glad she couldn't make direct eye contact with him, because that gaze was sharp enough to pierce right through him.

 

[Raptordude115]

Adalia looked away from Fenrir and turned her attention to the scientists and workers, nodding sternly.

"Start the B-ST Drive test now. Let's see if Razel is capable of handling such a system..."

A worker nods before typing into a console, while a scientist speaks into a communicator that could be heard by Razel and anyone in the control center overviewing the test.

"Beginning B-ST Drive test. Opening hangar doors. Repeat, opening hangar doors."

The loud sound of the hangar doors opening signaled the start of the test, and the lights signaling the O.K. for Fenrir's launch lit up brightly.

"Launch when ready."

 

[Ishi123]

On the green light, Razel smiled and fired up the wing thrusters, red energy blasting out and dispersing against the far wall of the hangar.

"Fenrir launching."

When the clamps released, the frame instantly lurched forward, pinning Razel against the back of his seat as it screamed along the launch rails and out the launch bay doors, sailing into space with a stream of red light following behind. He spun around and slowed himself down when he was a set distance away from the base, turning back around towards Deimos.

"Ready." He said to the command room. "Send 'em out."

With that, tens of Raptors began launching from their hangars, flying out towards Razel. It was a swarm of them, more than perhaps was necessary, but Razel wasn't complaining. He was practically trembling with excitement, just waiting for the go ahead to activate the new system.

"Captain Serandal, permission granted to activate the B-ST Drive." One of the men in the control room said.

Razel smiled, a holographic display appearing on the console.

B-ST DRIVE: READY

He hit it, and instantly he felt the most unbearable pain he'd ever felt. He screamed, convulsing in his seat as the cockpit went red and Metatron began to be pumped through his body. He clutched the controls tightly, biting his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. His frame reacted accordingly, the lines of Metatron singing in scarlet light, and as the armor segments of the machine began to separate, showing a glowing red frame underneath.

Razel struggled and squirmed in his seat, leaning down and panting heavily, his head feeling like it was about to split open.

"Ngh... damn... so this is what it's like, huh, Silber?!" He smiled through gritted teeth. "I'm... so... damn... jealous!"

Fenrir's eyes glowed red.

B-ST DRIVE: ACTIVE

"THERE IT IS!"

And in that moment, as the Raptors began to fire on him, he pushes the frame forward, faster than he ever thought possible, two arm blades extended as a Raptor fell into pieces behind him. The others didn't even have time to react. The wheeled around in confusion, trying to locate him, but by the time they centered on his position, he'd already left. He was above them, now, and he let loose a flurry of homing lasers down on them, a red rain of destruction that destroyed multiple Raptors at once. The others remaining began to fire their weapons upwards, but Razel was on them again, closing the distance and beginning to cut and cleave his way through what remained. The unmanned framed didn't even stand a chance.

Adalia was watching on a computer terminal the whole time, her arms crossed as she watched the scene unfold. It was both beautiful and terrifying to watch as the frame easily dispatched all of its targets.

"Send more." She spoke calmly, not looking away from the terminal.

And as more Raptors poured out to confront Razel, he turned with a wide smile towards them. His entire body was shaking and writhing in intense pain, but he didn't care. He was enjoying himself far too much to care. He activated the blades attached to Fenrir's legs, and with all four blades drawn, he threw himself into the horde, beginning to carve a swathe through their numbers. It wasn't even a fight. This was nothing short of slaughter. Most Raptors didn't even get the chance to defend themselves, and those that attempted to raise any kind of defense were cut down just as easily. Razel was merciless, and emboldened by this incredible power, he was unstoppable. He continued to cut and cleave and slice and crush and shoot and blast his way through the swarms of unmanned Orbital Frames.

And then he stopped.

His frame suddenly lost control and with its extreme velocity it ended up spinning around and slamming directly into the side of Deimos, a large plume of dust and rock ejecting from the crash.

 

[Raptordude115]

The workers and scientists began chattering about Fenrir's sudden plummet into Deimos, red lights flashing on and off while Adalia kept her eyes glued to the terminal. She furrowed her brows at the crash, seemingly trying to understand what had happened and why. She marches over to one of the communicators and spoke into it in a stern manner.

"Send a team of Raptors in to check on Fenrir and Razel. Recovering Fenrir is the most important objective. If Razel is still alive, then good."

Without hesitation, a group of eight raptors fly over to Fenrir's crash site, circling around the plume of dust and rock.

 

[Ishi123]

Razel was sitting in the cockpit, blood dripping down from the corner of his mouth. He was panting, practically heaving, as if he hadn't been breathing the entire time. The frame's armor had returned to normal, the armor segments reconnecting and the Metatron lines once again glowing in their normal green color. The frame itself was completely deactivated, but otherwise unharmed. Razel himself was less so. The effects of having so much Metatron pumped into him had taken an incredible toll on him, and he felt as if he were on the verge of death. He didn't notice as the Raptors descended to his location, working their way into the crater his frame had created and pulling the frame out, beginning to carry it back towards the hangars.