Roger had caught up with Anna in time to see Raven and Mack was approaching. Mack was covered from head to toe in blue blood, with a bit of Human looking blood on his gauntlets. He was dazed a bit still and he snapped to when Raven spoke up. Far as I can tell we got some Inglai Infiltrators in here….unless this the most hardcore training sim in the world.. He sort of smirked. He really felt naked without his rifle right about now. Has anybody gotten comms from Spartacus or Quuen Bee?
Mack found the group gathered, and could tell they had a bit of action themselves. He smiled under his mask, proud to see his Troops handled themselves well. He pulled off his helmet and began to look Raven over for injuries. Often in shock and excitement of combat, People wouldn’t notice an injury until they were calm again. You five by five Widow Maker? He shot a look up to Roger and Anna, inspecting them once over as well. I haven’t got direct comms, but I sent a hailing freq and both of them acknowledged, so they’ll be on their way soon. They can handle themselves. But there’s something new….looks Human.. He was talking toward Raven. They wear customized armor…tough as shit too. I iced 10 Inglai and an Inglai Commander, but this Guy gave me the fight of my life before I finally finished him. He tossed a shattered piece of the strange helmet from the Newcomer.
*Leon gripped the Inglai’s arm tightly, attempting with all his might to break it by simply pushing with his hands in two opposite directions. However, this wouldn’t even slightly dent the armor it wore. The alien pulled back his armed arm, and as he was about to thrust it into Leon’s abdommen, and a voice came up from the brush, sounding…well…human.* “Drop him, Thel. He’s more use to us alive for now, remember?” *The voice sounded gruff, old, like some rugged veteran of a thousand battles. What was more surprising, was that the alien listened, and dropped Leon to the ground. Without a second thought, Leon stood, and readied himself for a fight, when a third voice rose from the bush and came into sight beside the man shaped being the first voice came from, her weapon aimed at Leon.* “I wouldn’t if I was you bub.” *Leon looked to Rissa, to see if she was ready for a fight, but shook his head no as he calmed down as well. Behind the two human forms three other Inglai came through the brush and closed the circle.*
“So, you’re the famous Leon Petrelli, commander of Echo Base and one of two survivors of the Eternium project.” *The man was the one who was speaking, and he sized him as he approached.* “I thought you’d be taller, but you were certainly as hard to capture as they said you’d be.” *Leon’s thoughts were ready by Harver, and within less than three miliseconds, a distress signall went out, hailing to all Dire Wolf frequencies. He then answered.* “Well, I see you’ve done your research. Though, I haven’t a clue who you are.” *The man chuckled, the Inglai stepping behind them to his brethren and engaging in conversation. The man speaking to him placed a hand on a rather odd looking pistol at his hip, as he spoke. The female adjusting the aim of her weapon to slightly above Rissa’s head.* “That is something I hope to change.”
*In that moment, two shots were fired and the sizzle of a Energy blade beaming to life was heard, though after that, nothing. Leon looked to the man, realizing he was still alive, then looked to Rissa’s camera image on his helm, and realized she hadn’t fallen either.* “There, now we can negotiate the terms.” *the old man spoke calmly.* There are no more Inglai here, so don’t fret about them, and we aren’t even enemies. So, how about you take a seat and we get started.”
Anna looked and saw Mack approaching, she then watched as he addressed Raven and listened to him. The commander and queen bee were on their way, that was good. Looks human? Armour was tough. That definitely didn’t sound good. The main question, was why did they attack or what did they want? Was it because the best soldiers were in this training, excluding herself because she wasn’t? It would make sense. She just stood there glancing around, keeping an eye open for any sign of the commander and queen bee but, also incase any tried to attack. So far, coast was clear but, for how long?
She frowned at his words. “But there’s something new….looks Human..They wear customized armor…tough as shit too. I iced 10 Inglai and an Inglai Commander, but this Guy gave me the fight of my life before I finally finished him.”
Her eyes widened “How did they even get here?” She knew it was a question that would be unanswered so she continued “What in gods name do they want with us?….” Her eyes widened further “You think they are after Spartacus and Queen Bee?” She was looking to Mack mostly then caught Anna’s worried look “Don’t worry China Doll, as long as we stick together we will make it through this alright?” She offered a comforting smile to her before returning her gaze to Mack
Seeing Leon again, and in this crazy simulation gone horribly wrong, Clarissa wanted to rip off her helmet, and kiss her Commander, blood splatter and all. She let out like a half laugh of relief, and could see him in the HUD screen the look on his face saying it all. He started to speak to her..
“Rissa, are you alright? I can s-” but he cut off what he was about to say, as he could hear the sound of something approaching, from behind. Instantly figuring out that they were not alone, Clarissa released her energy swords, and clicked them to power, only to be shocked to see the uncloaking image of an Inglai High Overlord.
“Mother..fu..” Clarissa only got out part of what she wanted to say, half shocked that there was still more of these Inglai roaming around trying to kill them. Clarissa instantly went on the defensive, banged up and all. The fight broke out between Leon and the Inglai High Overlord, with Leon attempting a punch to the Inglai’s abdomen, but the Inglai had other plans. Reaching his gloved hand around Leon’s throat, in an attempt to squeeze the life out of him. “Let him go!” Clarissa screamed, ready to charge the Inglai, even though it was difficult to get into the fight, without hurting her Commander. She twirled her energy blades in a show of defiance, that she wasn’t going to go down with a fight. Leon and the Inglai got into a struggle, and this made it difficult for Clarissa to intervene without hurting Leon in the process. But no sooner had it started, it was stopped and suddenly, which had Clarissa look up and see what was truly behind the sabotage of the simulation exercise.
“Drop him, Thel. He’s more use to us alive for now, remember?” The voice, it didn’t sound like it was a different race like the Inglai, but whoever the owner of it was, had the authority over the Inglai, who released Leon, much to Clarissa’s relief. Her gut instinct was to go on the attack, but Leon shook his helm at her, and she grit her teeth, as another entered the fray and pointed her strange looking gun at Leon. Three more inglai came in from behind, and Clarissa knew they were outnumbered and surrounded. “I wouldn’t if I was you bub.”, the female of the group said, as the moment became even more tense in this mexican like stand off.
But as the seconds ticked away and the female changed her weapon’s aim over the top of Rissa’s head, two shots were fired, and Rissa had waited for the bullets or ammo to blast through her suit wounding her. A held breath was all there was and she realized that neither of them had been shot, and it was the inglai who had fallen.
The older man spoke again, only this times in terms of negotiations.
“There are no more Inglai here, so don’t fret about them, and we aren’t even enemies. So, how about you take a seat and we get started.”
They were in the middle of the jungle, just where were they supposed to sit? Clarissa’s eyes went up to the image of Leon in her HUD screen and waited for him to make the call on how to proceed.
<3>
*Leon began to blink, using this as a form of Morse Code. They were trained in it when they were trained after their Genetic Modifications. Simulating holds by holding his eyes shut, clicks by blinking, and spaces by holding his eyes open, he gave an entire message in the length of four seconds. This message would be understood as: ‘Jet pack. Ready when I wink. Due East’ Ideally, she should have no problem with understanding the message. However, Leon could never be too sure what exactly she kept with her from advanced training. She could have found it useless and just dropped the whole thing.*
*He said East because, from looking at his radar last, that’s where Mack’s signal was hailing from.* “Then you’ll stand. Alright. So, turns out you need somethin’ we’ve got, and you’ve got somethin’ we want. I figure a trade can be brokered here.” *The old man stood there all smug as if he held the higher ground. Leon didn’t take a second to think about it before winking up at Rissa’s camera picture and activating his Jetpack. The immediate thrust launched him powerfully into the air, and thanks to it’s extended flight capabilities, Leon and Rissa would be able to fly above the trees and towards Mack’s position.*
*Had Rissa understood his morse coded message, and obeyed, they’d fly above Mack’s position in no time. Leon would deactivate his pack and fall to the floor from about 45 feet in the air on one knee. His bone density was able to handle this thanks to his specific Gene mods. He landed directly beside Mack, and in a manner that was incredibly bad ass. Standing, his eyes fell to the dead, armor covered body on the floor.* “Three left.” *Leon looked up to Mack.* “Led by a human Male, consisting of a Male, High Overlord Inglai and another Female human.” *Leong looked to Roger and Casey, then to Raven, smiling and nodding in her direction. He then did what all good commanders did and spoke his speach.* “You all aren’t dead yet. But this isn’t any kind of game. Now it’s real. There are three bad guys left. Our current mission, deactivate this fucking machine at it’s base and getting the fuck out with the three of those hostiles ALIVE. If any of them turn up dead by one of you, you will receive a dishonorable discharge and sent the fuck home. Am I understood?”
Rissa was not liking the tone in which the older male addressed them, and when Leon refused to sit, she stayed stead fast by his side, waiting for some kind of communication to alert her on how to proceed. She wanted to take them both on, but her eyes darted up to the small video link with Leon, at the top corner of her HUD and that was when she noticed that he was blinking. At first she thought he had something in his eyes, but then, she noticed a pattern to the blinks and the length of time that his eyes stayed open. IT WAS A CODE. Trust Leon to come up with this, when she herself was already exhausted from having to have killed a large number of Inglai and had her suit caked with their purplish blood. Clarissa understood the message, and she refrained from nodding, since this would give away that there was actually communication being carried out between them. Clarissa used the same blinking technique back which said. “Copy that, due east it is.” Then on his mark, with the tell tale wink he activated his jet pack, and Clarissa grinned and followed suit, both rocketing up into the sky in tandem, far from the clutches of the two human assassins.
Clearing the trees, Clarissa kept sight of Leon, only to see him deactivate at a height of 45 feet, so the freefall was going to be a bit bumpy on landing. Sure, their bone structure was built to take it, but still, the landing wasn’t exactly perfect, with Clarissa rolling on the ground and coming up with her helmet even more dented than before. Seeing the group had gathered under Mack’s guidance, she was happy to see that they were all still alive in this simulation gone wrong. Leon gave the kind of speech to the group, that was one to enforce that the three that were inside the simulator with them, were wanted alive, not to end up like the inglai that they had fought. At the ending question of “Am I understood?” Clarissa switched on her outside speaker and said;
“Yes, Spartacus.”
<3>
Anna snapped out of it upon hearing Raven’s voice address her, “Thanks Widow Maker and I know. Just hope Spartacus and Queen Bee are both alright,” she said, giving a small smile in return. She looked to Roger hoping he was alright since he was rather quiet.
Before she knew it, Leon had landed beside Mack. She heard there were three left and listened intently to what he said. Anna heard him say this isn’t any kind of game, damn right about that. Hearing his orders, she nodded, “Yes, Spartacus,” she said in acknowledgement. Now, she was worried. If this trio were just as powerful a fighters as Mack’s human like fighter, then it was going to be a really hard task of knocking them out/capturing them. Anna wondered where abouts the generator was for this machine. With the sim being on who knows where the hell it was. So long as they all stuck together, they’d be fine, right? Though, this trio would probably try to separate them as it would be easier that way. Of all the days to crash the sim, why the hell did it have to be the one where I got dragged into it? Just my bloody luck, she thought. After all, she knew she was the weakest there. She shook it off.
And then, Queen Bee arrived. That made her smile, to see both of them were alright, safe and sound, and finally they were all reunited and ready for when the trio arrived.
Melissa had been pleased when her father had told her they were going on a special mission. She had been itching to get out and do *something* to alleviate the boredom she was beginning to feel, stuck at their homebase and surrounded by idiots she’d rather kill than even look twice at.
And things had been going relatively well. Infilitrating Echo base hadn’t been a problem for them. It was their target that was proving elusive. She remained silent and alert next to her father, weapon armed and at the ready as she followed him through the underbrush. They heard a roar nearby, signaling that their main target had been aquired and turned in that direction. They came upon Thel, the Inglai High Overlord, who had a grip around the throat of a man wearing some kind of body armor.
“Drop him, Thel. He’s more use to us alive for now, remember?” her father stated. The armored man, “Leon Petrelli” she recalled from reading the intel reports, was released. Melissa noticed that this Leon looked poised to fight and raised her weapon toward him, speaking for the first time since they arrived. “I wouldn’t if I was you bub.” she stated, blanking all emotion from her face. She sensed rather than saw the other three Inglai as they came in behind her. She turned her attention back to her father as he began to speak.
“So, you’re the famous Leon Petrelli, commander of Echo Base and one of two survivors of the Eternium project.” Canderous stated as he walked toward Leon. “I thought you’d be taller, but you were certainly as hard to capture as they said you’d be.” Melissa kept her silence, watching the two Inglai who stood behind the female on the other side of Leon. This was the risky part of her father’s plan, one she hoped wouldn’t have dire consequences. Canderous and Leon began to speak more as Melissa silently counted down in her head. She turned her weapon on the female, slightly above her head. When her father spoke his final phrase, that was the signal Melissa had been waiting for, and without hesitation, fired her weapon into the heads of the two behind Leon and the unnamed female. She watched as Leon and the female looked at one another, determining with a look that neither had been injured. “There, now we can negotiate the terms.” *the old man spoke calmly.* There are no more Inglai here, so don’t fret about them, and we aren’t even enemies. So, how about you take a seat and we get started.”
Melissa wanted to laugh. Her father certainly had a way with words. As the two men continued their banter, Melissa kept her eyes on the female, making her own observations. The girl is as tough as any warrior, she would have possibly done well in the pits. she thought to herself, taking in the bloodsplattered armor. She came back to alertness when with a speed she didn’t realize either of them possessed, they activated some sort of rocket system on their armor and took off into the skies over their heads. They were gone in only a matter of seconds.
She looked at her father and summed up the situation in 3 short words: “That went well.”
Snarling under his breath, as the two suited Dire Wolves make their escape using the jet packs, and some silent means of communication, Canderous Ordo slowly turned his head towards his daughter, Melissa and with a slight head tilt, he said;
“Haar’chak! (Damn it!) I was polite wasn’t I?…I mean, I offered them a seat….shot the Inglai…and *he gestures with his hand at where the smoke trail from their jet packs wafted up into the sky*…they pull this shit.” He ran his left hand over the top of his bald head and then with a ferocious look, he growled. “and we wonder why they survived the Eternium project. Hmm?”
Lowering his weapon, he strode over to Thel, who being an overlord was much taller than Canderous, and the Durathi leader said as he patted his chest plate. “Maybe letting Leon go, was not the best idea in the world. Then again, that jet pack would have blown your legs off….SO…right, we need to get Phantom’s co-ordinates, and round up this band. Fun time at the shooting gallery is over. And Thel…Ke barjurir gar’ade, jagyc’ade kot’la a dalyc’ade kotla’shya.” ( “Train your sons to be strong but your daughters to be stronger.”) he said, looking back at Melissa, then gripping his weapon in front of him, and starting his way through the scrub, in the direction that the pair had rocketed too.
<3>
*As soon as the first shot was fired, Thel had his energy Blade deep within the gut of the Inglai he had been speaking with. Once the body had fallen limp, he threw it to the side, seemingly without putting forth much effort at all, as the body flew away about 20 feet, then slid across the ground. He knew that his fellow squad mates would keep an appropriate eye on the two humans, and so he watched their back. Inglai were natural predators. Their ancestry dates back to a civilization of hunter warriors, who used stealth as a prime tool to capture prey. They have come a long way, but their bodies have only further evolved to embrace such a hard way of life. His eye sight, even without his Genetic mods, was enough to nearly illuminate the darkness with as much clarity as a dimly lit room. with his Gene Mods, it was enough to illuminate it almost clear as a late afternoon day.*
*As his eyes held the outer laying area, ever watching and on guard, he heard the crackle of the Jet Packs come to life, and instantly turned with a roar of unmatched proportions to face the two humans, only reaching in time to barely grace the male’s boot. He watched them fly off, though the scent of his Inglai brothers was still powerful on his nose from the female’s armor, and would be easily detectable. Not all blood spells the same after all, and he picked up the specific mixed scent she offered.*
*Canderous approached him, and rested a hand on his chest. He heard his words, and if he could form his mouth into a smile the way these humans could, he’d do just that. However, all he managed was a nod.* “Bal sa kyr’am nau tracyn kad, Vode an.”(“And forged like the saber in the fires of death, Brothers all.”) *His head lifted back to the sky, and he spoke once more, resting a hand on Canderous’ shoulder.* “Motir ca’tra nau tracinya”(“Those who stand before us light the night sky in flame.”) *He brought his eyes back down, then his sight moved to Melissa.* “Should not one of us keep eye on enemy until Phantom arrives? While the scent of my Inglai brothers blood is still there?”
Mack gave the signal for everyone to drop as he heard boosters overhead. He took a knee and readied a plasma blade. Shut it…..something’s coming. He didn’t have on his helmet so it couldn’t i.d. the signal for him. He looked over the tre line and then he spotted the two figures flying over. He recognized them even at this distance; they were Dire Wolves, Rissa and Leon more specifically. All clear. It’s the Commander and Queen Bee. Stay on your toes anyways…
Canderous answered for Melissa, as his cool was slowly evaporating. He assumed that Phantom might not even be close to their location, and the priority now, was to get the Dire Wolves, even if that meant that not all would be sitting in on the negotiations as first planned.
“Enough with the games. Melissa will come with me, Thel. I want you to scout since I know if anything you will be able to smell the blood of your brothers on the Female’s Armour. Soon as you have them in your sights, you alert us at once. Use whatever force necessary. No mistakes. Enough of the Inglai have died at their hands.”
His face appeared grim, but the force of his voice was direct. Slinging his weapon over his shoulder, Canderous motioned to Melissa silently for her to follow him. Stealth was the best way to catch this band of Dire Wolves off guard, and with Thel leading the charge, it was going to make for the ultimate showdown. Canderous knew that they were weakened, and some had signs of damage to their armour. It was the perfect time to strike. When they least expected it.
<3>
She nodded to Mack at his comment, looking to China Doll, speaking quietly so mack wouldn’t hear “You okay? You look a bit worried…” Raven tilted her head slightly, trying to comfort her rather than concentrate on her own pain.
She turned to look at Leon and Clarissa as they landed, noticing the blood and damage to Clarissa’s suit, it was obvious they had seen a fight. Listening to Leon’s speech she nodded to say she understood.
