MISSION: GET TO ZE CHOPPA

[initiatesnpc]

Date & Time: August 23rd, 2753 (OOCly forward-dated to the 1st)
Location: Uruguay National Defense HQ
Characters: All transports!
Summary: All transports are sent back to Uruguay to download a self-aware AI before it gets bombed out of existence by an early incarnation of the UE. Time distortion effects will be set right either on the way there or on the way back, according to player choice.
Warnings: violence, action movie tension, 3 terabytes of foot fetish porn.

The Transporter drops the entire transport population into what will quickly be established as Home Base, a mile from the vast, sprawling facility that is Uruguay's National Defense HQ. The low roar of helidrones moving above is pervasive, but the black ships can only be glimpsed here and there through the thick cover of trees overhead. If you keep calm and quiet, it's likely you won't be spotted. It's the UND HQ their attention is on, after all.

The population is quickly sorted by attending Initiate employees according to who volunteers to fight and who volunteers to protect, along with those with enough skill to access the computers, and those with enough skill to get them there. The fighters move out first, off to intercept the early UE's ships and ground troops, and to draw the automated defense systems of the facility alike. They'll be in a crossfire, and neither side will be happy to see them there.

The techies and their escorts are sent out far more quietly, in groups of three. Their task is to sneak past the front lines and into the facility itself. There might be alarms and automated defense drones, so those escorts may well be called on to earn their keep. The Initiative can't give any information about which building will house the AI's mainframe, that information was long since lost to history. All they can do is send out enough people to hope that one of them manages to find it.

And remember — as soon as the UE troops withdraw, there will only be minutes until the bomb drops. Everyone would do well to work fast.



[[ Mission information is here, and the techie/escort teams, along with their hacking results, are here. Each techie/escort group will have their own established thread, but Team Distraction and Team We'll Stay Here, Thanks are welcome to thread where ever and however they like! The newbie log that goes up on the 1st will also encompass the arrival back in Exsilium, if you'd like to play that out as well. ]]

Comments

[controlledvariable]

With the area clear, and trusting Crystal to keep an eye on things, Steph drops into crouch beside some of the weapons the soldiers had abandoned in the retreat. She's not familiar with them, but that doesn't stop her from doing what she can to render them useless with assorted tools from her belt, to make sure that no one can stumble across them and use them.

At the question, she looks up, giving a grin that might be a bit out of place on a battlefield, but Steph refuses to let this get to her, "I could use a hot bath and a nap, but I'll live. You?"

If useful looking bits and pieces of those weapons are disappearing into the pouches of her belt, well, maybe Crystal's just imagining it.

[peachbaths]

Ah! I'm, [ She wipes her tears away, but she's still crying. ] I'm okay. Just give me a second.

[ To show Sheryl this side of her... how embarrassing! While catching her breath, she manages to choke out, ]

I didn't know you were a songstress...

[payback]

[The look Rin gives him is, well, neutral. Lacking any experience with Remy, she's inclined to give him a chance, but not without staying on guard like she was on her own.]

Are you the other sneaker?

[peachbaths]

[ Oh yeah, they're friends! So that means... this is the first time a friend ever helped her in a fight! ]

Yeah! That's right! So, um... how are you doing so far?

[ Hopefully he hasn't destroyed too much!! Then again, Fairy Tail. ]

YESSSS MORE MASSACRES

[peachbaths]

[ Kougyoku grins in return. Recognition! ]

I'll do more than just that! [ Don't get too cocky... She fistpumps when she gets an idea. ] If I win, you can't say anything bad about me for a week!

[pixieboots]

Yeah? [ The gun is going to be one of those elephants in the room, he just knows it. It’s hard to take his eyes off it, and all the things it represents just by being there. No excuses, Batman would say. ]

I’ve got a few ways to make sure they don’t get close.

[firstroar]

I would not.

[these psychic amplifiers are not his, the ones covering his ears. how or why the Initiative even has these is...a question for a later date. for now, they can be put to use.

Blue fits them into place, turning his head to glance this team before gazing at the target well ahead.]

The path ahead needs to be trod with care... It won't do to be detected before even setting foot inside. [he flexes a hand.] If one can get close enough to scramble those free-standing turrets, I can dampen their energy signature to keep from being acknowledged. It may do those trying to keep the defenses busy some good, as well. [one less thing firing lasers is always a good thing.]

[hornedomen]

[The chaos and gore shocked him to the point where Ico thought he was the one being torn apart. He hesitated and he saw that the birds were not after him. The troops attacked the birds and Ico ran away.

He stopped immediately upon seeing Death. His appearance scared him. However, as fearsome as he looked, Ico was sure he was another Transport.]

Behind you!

[This time the facility's mechanisms approached.]

[crystalia]

Crystal, who’s never had much use for weapons, doesn’t pay them any attention in the slightest. That might be an oversight on her part, but to be fair it’s been a long day… week… month. Instead she just nods. “Both of those sound like heaven, right about now.” Of course, they’d be better if she were home on Attilan—no, Hala. Hala’s her home now, as she has to keep reminding herself, even if she hasn’t seen it in months.

“That was very impressive,” she continues, nodding at the now-empty battlefield.

[solitaire]

<sub>( Remy is preparing for the mission in his own way—which means standing against a wall, shuffling a deck of cards between his hands and looking on at everything with muted interest. He doesn’t really care about any of this, but damn, this is something he can do, something he’s good at. Being necessary and having purpose, who doesn’t like that? Even if it’s in the service of a group with veiled intentions who just dropped you and a bunch of children into a war zone.

He takes everything in with a slow, practiced eye. When he spots Elza, his lips curl into a smile. He crosses the distance between them in a few steps, cards still in his hands. )</sub>

Headin’ off ta war?

[crystalia]

_{( Crystal keeps to the ground for most of the battle’s duration—there’s more for her to work with when she’s actually touching the earth, and she’s not about to give up that advantage. But she tries to keep an eye on everything, even as they’re being barraged by the troops who make it past the shoreline. At one of those moments, she happens to look up and catch a glimpse of him through the vegetation. So she calls out: )}

Can you see the shore? How do things look?

[solitaire]

_{( Remy dips his head when spoken to, a gesture of acknowledgment. His tone is still largely amused when he asks: )}

Oh, is that what they’re callin’ us? Official name, an’ everything?

_{( But he nods, after that, and says: )}

Name’s Remy. An’ I am, in fact, a sneaker.

over 9000

[speakveryclearly]

[Success!! She glows brighter at the agreement.]

Excellent. Your species' young is so easy to amuse, you know.

[inutile]

[there's a bizarre relief in knowing that someone can validate his feelings of helplessness with his situation. but what's more is that Kaworu is so astute with his observations, a little unnervingly so -- in some ways, Nageki feels as though he's known him for some time despite his personal questions. it's nice, to be sure, but Nageki isn't certain he should be relying on him this way...

still, it isn't as though there are any rules for ghosts in figuring out their pasts and futures. and he knows there's plenty of merit behind Kaworu's words; there's no desire in his motives to fulfill himself by learning about his life, or at least, not anymore. he has no intention of making an identity out of it, and no reason to even assume he could. at best, he can only hope to move on, without feeling as though he's leaving his history with something (or someone) behind unfinished.

finally, with a resigned sigh, Nageki tries his best a explain himself. there's no reason to force himself to do it, but -- he doesn't feel as though he's forcing himself at all. if anything, it's a good way to sort out his thoughts,]

You're right, Kaworu-san. I'm not placing any guarantee on that. [he can't deny that it would feel good to gain something from it, but all the same.] I can no longer call myself that person, after all -- and I don't feel that will change from regaining those memories, either.

[he grows a little quieter now, a bit tentative, like he's not sure how much Kaworu wants to hear.]

But there are things that were very important to me back then. When I do pass on, I want to be able to let go of those things properly... how can I do that if I don't know what they are?

distraction

[blossomgale]

[ Sophie's in the middle of the battlefield, taking out her enemies with quick combinations of skillful punches and kicks. If she had any injury, they quickly recovered with her self-healing function. Every now and then, there may be a flash, stream, or a wave of light that follows Sophie's movements.

She whirls around to face some of the troops going for her back, but she sees Sayaka jump in on time to take their attacks. Hey, she could have handled that. And she sees her wink.

...Sophie doesn't know what a wink is supposed to mean. WHAT ARE YOU TELLING HER, SAYAKA? ]

...huh?

[payback]

[A moment drags out. Rin stares at him intently. Her smile stays.]

Thanks. I hope it'll go well. As long as somebody finds this thing we're after! Everybody's got a good job to do and that's good, you know?

[salvagedsoul]

[Kaworu scooches himself just a little closer to Nageki.]

Unfinished business.... is that what you mean?

[He watches Nageki's face, his own intense curiosity carefully kept from showing on his own. His new friend's situation is slowly unraveling in his mind... it's just a bit hard to believe with Kaworu's frame of reference from his own world.]

Does that mean... you're a ghost?

[payback]

That's what I'm calling us. Calling us what we do. [It's at least not meant to be a diss?] Did you get a map?

B

[blossomgale]

[ Every now and then, Sophie would switch from acting as a distraction and traveling over to home base to see who may need her healing. Both areas could use her help! She's leaving the front lines, for now, and on her way back, she catches sight of the small child watching the battle.

That doesn't seem right... shouldn't he be back in camp?

She'll fix this! Sophie runs over to the child at high speed and reaches to scoop him up under her arm like a football. ]

[kindking]

[ooc: don't worry about it. It's totally cool! stay safe on your flights.]

Both of you are amazing. You can stand in this situation without even being afraid. Aren't you worried that something might go wrong?

[miiracles]

[ Off to the side, Rika's observing everyone quietly and clinging to a large, ornate-looking plough, her sentient weapon which she had never brought out until now. She appears more subdued, unlike how she was back at Black Rock. She doesn't feel like doing much at all and has been sticking around the home base. Reverting back to her current self and getting a vision thrown at her was a bit too much for her.

She has been in a less talkative mood, but watching Larsa cast a few spells has her somewhat curious. ]

...

What did you do just now?

[explodewiththerage]

[There will be plenty more if Natsu's around. He always fights with and for his friends.]

Pretty good. Just finished taking out a bunch of smallfries further down the road. Should've seen the look on their faces when I roasted them out of their car-metal-armored transport.

[Honestly he's heard the abreviation for it but it has not stuck in his mind yet.]

[inutile]

[it's obvious that Nageki notices Kaworu shifting to sit closer to him, turning his head from the ceiling to watch him. if he's uncomfortable with the closeness, he doesn't say anything about it; instead, he watches Kaworu back, his own expression relaxing just minutely when the other boy speaks again.

even then, Nageki has to pause for a moment to think. unlike him, Kaworu must have only died recently and then come here... or at least, that's how it seems. maybe they aren't quite so similar as Nageki had first suspected.]

Yes... I believe I am what most people would refer to as that.

[salvagedsoul]

I suppose so. [He watches him for a moment.] So, who are you?

[solitaire]

<sub>( He shrugs. A fact can't really be insulting.

He holds out whatever information the Initiative handed out and points to a position on the map. )</sub>

Looks like the rest a us are holdin' the fort here, and we have to get past this way.