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

[fujibayashi]

[Of course he doesn't care. But she's keeping a close eye on him in case he wants to try suicide by crazy future alternate universe Cruxis technology. She doesn't trust Zelos not to do something goddamn stupid just to make a statement.]

You're getting sloppy! [She says it like a challenge, sending a sealed kunai so deep into a security bot's panel that it sparks and explodes.]

[wilder]

[To be fair, that sort of idea had crossed his mind a couple times while preparing. A chaotic battle was the perfect place to fall. But of course, something caused him to dismiss the thought]

Aw, don't tell me you nearly got hit by some wind, my hunny.

[He meanwhile turns and slashes through a bot coming near, his blade making quick work of it's metal]

[fujibayashi]

[Good. When Zelos loses all sense of self-preservation, she'll have to step in and kick his ass.

She recognizes the nickname-- of course-- and it gets under her skin a little. Is he doing that to prove something? Or maybe he's actually starting to accept--

-- nah. She scoffs.] I'm not your hunny, and you're leaving your back wide open!

[Such is a thing that happens when you're taking the time to cast spells. She doesn't think that he might have super angelic senses. It's not something he brings up a lot of the time, so she just slides in close enough to watch his peripherals while fighting. Better than making fun of him and letting either of them get hurt.

Three heavily-armed technosoldiers approach Sheena. She doesn't flinch or complain, just moves. A simple Pyre Seal knocks down the first one. The second runs in to engage her at close range, which is a mistake; she launches her foot into his crotch, followed by a swift elbow to the face, and then a knockdown from above.

That leaves the third one, who is a bit aggravated at this strange ninja girl ruining his business. He holds out a crackling stun-rod that he probably ripped off Reno's dead body.

Some real winners here in the UE. Zelos can help or he can see what she does. It doesn't really matter.]

[wilder]

[Lies Reno never dies]

[Zelos turns to see the battle with the technosoldiers. She fights just like he remembers her doing. Quick and deadly, just as Mizuho teaches. He debates just letting her handle it. Even if that rod is crackling with enough energy to seem like it came from Volt, it wasn't like Sheena couldn't-]

[His thoughts stop when he hears the whistling of something incoming. Not thinking at all, he calls out her name and grabs Sheena's side and pushes her over and down to the ground along with him right before there's an explosion near them, sending earth as debris flying which he tries to shield from by turning his back towards]

[When it settles, he looks down at her, almost wanting to ask if she's alright. Instead he chooses to look around. While that technosoldier had been stalled by the near explosion, he seems to be up again and approaching them with that rod]

Aw man- I was really hoping that'd take you out!

[fujibayashi]

[Sheena whips her head around to look at Zelos. Only then does she hear the bomb coming, but it's too late to move. She can't keep up with his angelic reflexes, and it's better that he grabs her anyway. Next thing she knows, she's being shoved down into the dirt.

Everything is painful and choking hot dust and she can't breathe. Her ears ring, and the world seems white and red, shaking, unreal. She's so completely stunned as to be useless, staring wide-eyed at Zelos as if she can't compute what he just did.

And really, she can't compute much. Even Kratos would be a little rattled after having a grenade go off by his head.

She needs precious moments to recover. For a minute, she's haunted by the white flashing, thinking it's Volt and the body shielding her is her grandfather-- but she blinks, and the vision disappears. Even so, her fingers are trembling. As Zelos turns away from her, she sees the cuts on his skin made by flying bits of rock.

He's hurt because of Sheena.

And he's going to get hurt more if she doesn't move. She knows she isn't alone now. She has friends by her side. Lloyd is out here somewhere on the battlefield, along with his father, and there is Zelos right beside her. She's not alone.

She's never alone.

And so, even though she might be pushing herself through the screaming white noise, she staggers to her feet. If he wants to play with lightning, so be it. She imbues her attacks with the power of the opposing element and charges. She is sloppy and unbalanced but not unfocused, and the soldier goes down within seconds.

Sheena stands over the fallen soldier, panting from the effort and from... well, screaming at the guy, and then she looks back at Zelos.]

Y-- You're hurt.

[And she is so terribly, terribly open in that statement that it, too, hurts.]

[wilder]

[In truth, he doesn't even feel the cuts on his back. It's not that he doesn't feel pain, he does. He's not that far gone from his humanity. But rather the flashing of the explosion to enhanced vision, and the sound it made- well, even with the earplugs in his ears it still has his head and ears throbbing in much more pain than the cuts]

[Enough pain that he doesn't really pay enough attention to Sheena taking down the trooper before his prior flippant comment that's expected out of him. Doesn't get up to help or even to stand as back up. When she remarks about his injuries, only then does he look over his shoulder to see at least a couple of the cuts that are causing a bit of blood to flow.]

[He doesn't know what to make of that open tone. The pain in her voice. It's hard to process even when his head isn't throbbing.]

...It's nothing. Just some cuts.

[Sure isn't going to draw attention to the rest of the pain either]

[fujibayashi]

[Other transports pick up the slack. The ebb and flow of the fight continues to go on around them as if nothing happened. Like there's another world and only Zelos and Sheena are caught in it. She takes a couple of uneasy steps toward him, her balance continuing to suffer from the harsh blow to her equilibrium.

Her still-trembling fingers reach out into the air, and then hesitate. She's being stupid. It's just a couple of gashes, and she knows that, even if the sight of his blood is quietly horrifying.]

Wait. I have-- [She reaches around into her pack and... realizes she didn't pack any gels before being whisked off to Neverland. Whatever, she has a roll of bandages. The tricky thing is trying to catch him.

Ugh, she's getting emotional and she can't help it.]

Why? Why? You didn't have to protect me! What if that had been closer? You could have— [She inhales sharply, then forces herself to exhale as slow as possible. It's staggered, a telltale sign that she's trying not to freak out.]

... You idiot, [she says finally, her voice cracking. Because of the explosion or from choking back tears, it's hard to tell.] You need to take care of yourself.

[wilder]

[Why, he almost wants to ask at that last remark. For what purpose did he have to do such a thing? So he could keep doing these missions for the Initiative? So they could all keep pretending he's their friend?]

[But he bites down the urge, his head hurts way too much to get into that talk and they are sorta in the middle of a battle-]

[Oh. Right.]

[He grimaces a little and forces himself to get up before she can reach him with the bandages. His head is still hammering worse than a serious hangover, but now is not the time to go put a pillow over his head and try to block out this world that is so persistent on him staying in]

[He can tell the telltale signs of Sheena getting upset, this whole thing probably reminded her of that incident. For a moment, he almost feels a pang of guilt- though he quickly brushes it aside. It's stupid anyway]

[So the answer of course, is to be a dismissal asshole]

Yeah yeah, next time there's about to be a giant explosion I'll just save myself, deal?

Now c'mon, I'll heal them later when we're not out here. No big.

[fujibayashi]

[As much as she hates to admit it, he has a point. They really shouldn't get into it in the middle of a battlefield. Their mission is important. If they fail here, then all those people infiltrating the base will be in danger.

That sobers her up. She takes a moment or two of silence, her fingers pressing into her temples. She sounds stupid. She hates how easily he turns her words back on her to corrupt the meaning. That's not what she meant at all, but it's... not important right now, is it?

At least they're talking. At least they're both okay. At least he isn't fighting with the intent to die.

She smacks him hard in the upper arm, and then adds:] Don't make me hit you.

[But at least she doesn't sound like she's going to cry anymore.]

[wilder]

Ow! [He flinches at the hit and rubs at his arm where she hit it.] Can't you ever learn to say that before you hit m-

[He cuts himself off, realizing just how too familiar this all seems. Like he was her Zelos and everything was normal. Or at least, how it used to be.]

[But it's not. He's not her Zelos. Her Zelos was somewhere else, off being alive and...doing whatever it was. He was just a dead guy living far too past his time. No one at all. ]

...Whatever. Let's just get a move on.

[fujibayashi]

[Sheena sees that expression. She knows what he's thinking because he said as much before. He basically outed himself as a 'different' Zelos and therefore, one that doesn't matter. One that shouldn't matter.

So she hits him again.]

You know why.

[And then she charges back into the fray. He's welcome to let her disappear. It might be best; there are a lot of things to distract and they work well alone. But if he feels like it, he can follow the flash of pink darting in and out between machines and add his own damage.

She's giving him that choice.]

[wilder]

Ow! [His arm goes to rub the spot she hit again! Why is she so violent?!]

[But he won't have a chance to say anything before she charges away. He considers following...but he knows it's probably for the best if he doesn't. Sheena really was freaked out about what happened and he wasn't exactly at peak condition right now]

[Still, as he continues fighting on his own, he can't help but occasionally glance around for that flash of pink.]