Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

[CyberDragon]

"Aye, he seems tae hae everythin'." Cailean agrees before noticing the tears running down Conall's face. He touches his brother's arm and the bigger dog opens his eyes.
"Conall? What's th' matter? Are ye okay?" he signs.
"Aye... Ask Hivemind. He'll explain." Conall signs back, at a loss for words to describe his emotions.
"Mister Hivemind?" Cailean asks aloud, "What's goin' on?"

Hivemind sighed, then signed to Conall. "I don't know what you said to him, or what he said to you. That much, you will have to explain."

He turned to the other two. "Short version is I told Conall how to contact an entity. The embodiment and personification of love. From Conall's reaction, clearly he contacted the entity, Diligitis, successfully and got some sort of response. I don't know what the question or the response was, but knowing Diligitis, he probably lifted some huge weight off of Conall's shoulders. Metaphorically speaking."

------------------------

Corvis tried the meat as soon as he sat down, ignoring the cutlery and just ripping a chunk out. He made several faces, screwing his eyes shut and poking his tongue out as he chewed before deciding "it's not... totally disgusting" and trying another bite.
Genevive, not wanting to get barbecue sauce all over her handpaws, used the cutlery inexpertly as Golten looked nosily at other peoples plates and wondered what the strange little lumps (new potatoes) were.

as they ate, a hive droid decided to take a seat with them at the table so the conversation could continue. "I'm glad my cooking isn't horrible." He says with a lightly sarcastic tone. "So, Genevive, Corvis, Golten, I've contacted the Lycan and he's agreed to visit and speak with you."

------------------------

"Well, if you ever feel like it," Messalca offered, "I don't imagine the folks here would mind if you ever came to just sit in the park for a time. Feed the Ducks* or something."

"That sounds nice, actually. I might take you up on that assuming the government lets me keep a relay here." Hivemind said as the last autograph hunter left him to go get autographs from Seena and Sana. "Now, where were we before this not unpleasant interruption?"

------------------------

Collins grinned for a second before replying, "I'd hope he's bleeding internally. Generally that's where the blood belongs." Norwood groaned as he undid the bandaging, "Who's idea was it to perform second echelon medical care at a first echelon level..." He swapped places with Collins, heading off to the dropship at an almost uninterested looking pace. Collins watched him leave before turning back to Eira from his position next to the Celican, "Sorry about him. I think he misses home..." A couple minutes later Norwood returned with the biogel, and began filling the hole left by the pipe.

With the internal bleeding stopped for now by the biogel, Eira released her telekinetic grip on the Celican's blood, letting it flow naturally. She then encased him in a full body cast of room-temperature ice. "Thank you, Doctors. Could you please take him to the rest of the injured?"

"I've met June, yeah," the NotJaken grinned, wondering how his friend was today. "There many more buildings to check," he asked, trying not to think too much about energy drinks.

"You look tired, Jaken." Eira said. She pulled a phone out of her pocket and checked it for the time. "I think we're going to get some relief soon. Then we can take a break."

------------------------

"We're not from here, quite," Corp mentioned quietly, feeling no need to keep it secret from Sal-Hleel or June. "Our ship hit an anomaly. A... hole in space. We sent out a help signal and the Beacon picked it up."

"Well, i don't know how things work here, but from what she was going on about, over there they like to drop terraformers full of the stuff so that they can optimize the entire planet for human colonists from the core up. which apparently leads to incredibly boring planets."

Liz winced a little at the type of terraforming technology June mentioned. ”We tried technology like that in our universe once, a few hundred years ago. It didn’t exactly go well. The Earth nearly blew itself up. Not really humanity’s proudest moment.” She said, likely raising a few questions about why they were trying to terraform the Earth.

Sal-Hleel is looking more and more lost as they kept talking. It doesn't help that he's having to translate the entire conversation into Varanian in his head. English and Varanian are very different languages...

------------------------

Tatiana giggled at MT's sarcasm. "You! I like you!" She turned to the guard with a tilt of the head. "So, you know anything that might come in handy for us? Like, say, anything else like those genetic freak shows we run into a few floors up? The more intel we have the the better we can avoid fatalities and better secure the facility from all the shenanigans that's been going on."

"I am glad I am amusing. Clearly when they built me and gave me missile launchers and a flamethrower, comedy was the first thing on their mind." MT deadpans, clearly in a mood and a little salty that he hasn't done much fighting today despite being a war mech in the middle of an actual war.

"Go for it, MaTe," Jenny mentioned to MT. "Just to be fair though," she added, "if you can connect to their comm system, warn them you're coming through, eh?" She turned back to their 'friend'. "Or you can do it." She smiled slightly. " You're right about the door, lthough Kol did do a lot of damage to it, hmm? What is your name, by the way?"
Behind them, Hannabelle took aim, keeping low so her fire would be past MT's legs when he opened the door. "If you're not a big lump of metal," she growled, "get back from the door!" She spared a glance for the Colonel. She wasn't sure but she thought she might have dealt with him before, procurement being a division she'd had to work with from time to time.
"She probably has a point," Jenny agreed, taking the guard away slightly. "C'mon, Kol, Quint."

The guard nodded and made the call. "Sir, they're coming in. Everyone needs to get away from the door. ...Disarmed, sir. ...Stabbed in the arm. Sir, they.... I... I understand." He hung up, looking upset. He sighed. "And I've been fired. As if the day couldn't have gotten worse. Oh well. I suppose I'd be out of the job soon anyway if my boss is going to be arrested."

"Nothin' like good ol' destruction to really bring a day together," he said, pulling back a claw to slam into the door. He paused at the apex, "Though I feel like there's something more to this..."

"Fair warning:" the guard said. "They'll probably shoot you on sight the moment that door is open. I hope you have some good armor."

"Another skill: My thermosteel armor plating is immune to damage from heat up to 14 million K and thus am resistant to plasma damage."

"That... should do it, yeah."

"Nothin' like good ol' destruction to really bring a day together," he said, pulling back a claw to slam into the door. He paused at the apex, "Though I feel like there's something more to this..."

"Well, we already know it's an ambush." MT said, returning his arm to it's previous position and switching the railgun out for the Minigun loaded with Amber shot. "It seems unlikely that there will be more. Against most threats, more wouldn't be needed." He reared his claw back and slammed it into the crack of the door. Then he took his other claw and did the same. He started prying the two doors in opposite directions. The metal of the bunker door creaked and groaned from the strain. The many, many deadbolts holding the door shut started to bend and deform from the force of the draconic mech pulling them apart. Suddenly, the bolts and locks gave way, shattering and breaking with a series of bangs and sounds of ripping metal. The doors flew open, which was followed by a lot of shouting and flashes of light as bolts of plasma hit MT head on to no effect whatsoever. MT locked on to the guards inside and spun up the minigun. "Care to do the honors, Chris?"

------------------------

"Excellent, Mr Hive, sir," Keeva said, irrationally wondering if she should salute. "I suppose we'd better go watch the film in the meantime, yeah? It any good?"

Dan went quiet as Keeva explained the Silverwolf incident. "Mmm, Yeah.." He replied before Hive spoke. "..How are you so sure his data will not corrupt, or anything like that? He became sentient due to some kind of error, correct? How can you be sure that it's not going to corrupt or glitch?" He added after he spoke. "I would think intricate code such as AI is very suceptable to errors and corruption unless it is well controlled.."

"Simple. He developed his sentience fully while under the influence of a probability manipulating power. In other words, he had no issues with errors during the development of his sentience because he got lucky. Only, he didn't get lucky. He manipulated luck so that he would be lucky... I'll stop now. Point is, he got a power that gave him a 100% probability of success, and used that power to develop his sentient mind. So... really it isn't simple and we should just go with the explanation of 'a wizard did it.'"

(Rook, for Dan, you can pick up where we left off here.)

------------------------

"I've just received word that the team we sent in to capture Monta experienced trouble. They need backup. Rika, apparently they have injuries, so they need your help. Traci, Tempest, apparently they are up against a formidable opponent, and they need more heavy-hitters." A sparrow dropped in, landing in the street. "I need the three of you to go assist. I will have hive droid reinforcements in as soon as possible."

The Sparrow carrying Rika, Traci, and Tempest flew over the ruins of the Monta Weapontech headquarters. The Sparrow hovered over the elevator shaft the Predator drone had dug an access hole into earlier. The Sparrow landed on what was left of the roof of the building close to the open elevator shaft, and Tempest climbed out first.

"Alright. Everyone follow me. The rest of the team could use out help." She lifted herself into the air, manipulating water in her suit to do so. "Grab on to me or hold my hand, and I'll carry you down."

[~\Rook/~]

Rika stepped down from the dropship and simply took hold of one of Tempest's hands. "Ready."

Traci followed suit but held on tightly to Tempest's free arm with both of her own, unsure about how this will work. "I'm ready too.."

"You don't sound so sure, Traci.."
"I'm sure! I trust Tempest not to drop us!"
"..I see, so why are you clinging to her arm like that?"
"B-Because I.. Erm.. I just feel safer if I hold on like this, okay!?"
"Riiight.."

Rika just rolls her eyes before looking down the open elevator shaft. Traci braces herself.

-----

Dan shifts back a little, trying to take all the information in. "Hmm.. So; wizards, super-powers, sentience-achieving robots and androids all actually exist in this universe. What is this? Some crazy-person's idea for a.. I don't know, silly D&D campaign? It's all pretty hard to believe.." He says finally, shaking his head. "Although, our universe has faster than light travel for the masses which wasn't possible around a thousand years ago our time.. So, yeah, maybe not completely crazy but still.."

[Welsh Halfwit]

Dan shifts back a little, trying to take all the information in. "Hmm.. So; wizards, super-powers, sentience-achieving robots and androids all actually exist in this universe. What is this? Some crazy-person's idea for a.. I don't know, silly D&D campaign? It's all pretty hard to believe.." He says finally, shaking his head. "Although, our universe has faster than light travel for the masses which wasn't possible around a thousand years ago our time.. So, yeah, maybe not completely crazy but still.."

"Don't forget personal teleporters, Dan," Keeva advised. "I remember some telling me that Captain Walker never walks over a few hundred meters if she can teleport." She frowned. "Haven't seen those here. Yet."
--------------------
Corvis went a little wide-eyed at that and the meat - which he'd been in the process of pulling apart with his teeth, hung limply for a moment as Golten overbalanced in his chair and fell off. He dusted himself down and got back up again as his mother laughed. "Well, that's something to look forward to, eh, boys?"
Corvis nodded slowly, still dangling the meat as his little brother sat back down.
"Why does he want to talk with us," Golten asked, pretty sure the answer had to do with him.
------------------
"I think we were talking about dentists and things," Messalca queried as she saw Seena sneaking into the station to hide from kids who wanted her to talk in THEIR heads like she'd done for their friend. "And that's why you don't show off, I take it?"
-----------------
"You never know," Jenny said optimistically, "we might be able to help you with a job or something. When we get out of here? Ready a resume and be aware we can check." She readied her pistols for the upcoming fight and had a thought. Someone else she needed to check in on. "Pistols to Predator," she said into her comm. "You OK up there, pal? How's things going?"
---------------
"Yay," The NotJaken yawned. "I like breaks. But, the last time I took a break? Three hundred ghosts stole my body."
--------------
Sarah watched Conall with concern. She wanted to sign the question and had to stop her paws moving to do it. It was Cailean needed to ask, not her.

[Legotron123]

Quint looked at the HK drone with an perplexed look on his face. ”No I am not, what are you talking ab-oh!” He stopped, having realized something. ”That is right, you were not there yet when he told the others. Well, I must inform you that you are not currently speaking to Kolt. You are speaking to the symbiote that lives inside his head, and occasionally takes over his body when the situation arises. You may call me Quint.”
-
”Anyways, now that we’ve all finished eating, we should probably pay for our meals.” Liz said to the table, clasping her hands together as she spoke. ”Given that I have recently come into more money than I know what to do with, I am willing to pay for everyone’s food.”

[Buster]

"We're not from here, quite," Corp mentioned quietly, feeling no need to keep it secret from Sal-Hleel or June. "Our ship hit an anomaly. A... hole in space. We sent out a help signal and the Beacon picked it up."

"Well, i don't know how things work here, but from what she was going on about, over there they like to drop terraformers full of the stuff so that they can optimize the entire planet for human colonists from the core up. which apparently leads to incredibly boring planets."

Liz winced a little at the type of terraforming technology June mentioned. ”We tried technology like that in our universe once, a few hundred years ago. It didn’t exactly go well. The Earth nearly blew itself up. Not really humanity’s proudest moment.” She said, likely raising a few questions about why they were trying to terraform the Earth.

Sal-Hleel is looking more and more lost as they kept talking. It doesn't help that he's having to translate the entire conversation into Varanian in his head. English and Varanian are very different languages...

"Huh, Your earth sounds neat. I want to see it, Father's version too. it would be neat to compare how the three different versions are. So far I've only seen the local one." she says thinking aloud, her tone a wistful mixture of wonder and curiosity. she pauses once again finishing off the last of her ribs. before turning and noticing their lizardly company's state.

"i think you broke him."

- - - - -

"Huh. Thats... far more mundane a twist than this place usually produces."

[Hlaoroo]

Conall nods in agreement with Hivemind.
"He said they ken it isnae oor fault. They're okay an' happy an' nae mad wi' us." He doesn't need to explain who "they" are but he sees Cailean's sceptical expression.
"It's th' truth tae, nae just empty reassurance. He has power an' he kens. Ye'd ken if ye felt him talk."
Cailean looks down at his paws, hesitating as he tries to formulate a response.

[Deske]

"Ah, it's like Christmas morning," Chris said with a grin as he swept the minigun from one side of the room to the other, then back again, just for good measure. He stepped inside and sprayed down a straggler or two who'd managed to avoid the initial sweep. "Almost too easy. You sure you don't have a hard mode or something," he said with a quiet chuckle.

------

"Nah, we we're thinking of just leaving 'em here," Collins joked as he lifted the feet of the Celican up to his sides with Norwood grabbing the shoulders.

[CyberDragon]

Conall nods in agreement with Hivemind.
"He said they ken it isnae oor fault. They're okay an' happy an' nae mad wi' us." He doesn't need to explain who "they" are but he sees Cailean's sceptical expression.
"It's th' truth tae, nae just empty reassurance. He has power an' he kens. Ye'd ken if ye felt him talk."
Cailean looks down at his paws, hesitating as he tries to formulate a response.

"If you're having trouble believing, it's easy enough to verify." Hivemind said to Cailean. "Think about someone you love or care about, focus on the feeling you get when you think about them, and then try asking that feeling a question."

Then to both, Hivemind said and signed "If you really want to verify, you might ask Diligitis if he will let you talk to them. I can't promise anything though. I'm not him. Still, won't hurt to ask."

------------------------------------

Dan shifts back a little, trying to take all the information in. "Hmm.. So; wizards, super-powers, sentience-achieving robots and androids all actually exist in this universe. What is this? Some crazy-person's idea for a.. I don't know, silly D&D campaign? It's all pretty hard to believe.." He says finally, shaking his head. "Although, our universe has faster than light travel for the masses which wasn't possible around a thousand years ago our time.. So, yeah, maybe not completely crazy but still.."

"I sometimes wonder that exact same thing. And yes, it is completely crazy. I'm just used to it." Hivemind said.

"Don't forget personal teleporters, Dan," Keeva advised. "I remember some telling me that Captain Walker never walks over a few hundred meters if she can teleport." She frowned. "Haven't seen those here. Yet."

"Teleporters exist here in concept." Hivemind said. "But there are a ton of risks and ethical problems with them. For one, no one can answer the question as to whether they actually transport the person, or if they kill the person violently and create an identical clone in a different location. That's why it's just a lot simpler to use portals. Though some people can teleport on their own, but that's more like... positive displacement with zero distance traveled."

------------------------------------

Rika stepped down from the dropship and simply took hold of one of Tempest's hands. "Ready."

Traci followed suit but held on tightly to Tempest's free arm with both of her own, unsure about how this will work. "I'm ready too.."

"You don't sound so sure, Traci.."
"I'm sure! I trust Tempest not to drop us!"
"..I see, so why are you clinging to her arm like that?"
"B-Because I.. Erm.. I just feel safer if I hold on like this, okay!?"
"Riiight.."

Rika just rolls her eyes before looking down the open elevator shaft. Traci braces herself.

"Don't worry." Tempest said. Water leaked out of a few points on her armored gauntlet and encased their arms, before freezing them together. "I can't drop you." Then, she lifted them into the air with her, and started to descend down the elevator shaft.

While she was moving slower than normal to ensure her passengers weren't shaken from this, she was still faster than an average elevator. As a result, they reached the bottom floor relatively quickly. Tempest melted the ice around their arms and drew the water back into her armor. "The team is down the hall, this way." Tempest said, running left out of the elevator. "Apparently Kol and Kolt are both injured, Rika. Traci, I can feel multiple hostiles in a room up ahead. Maybe you can help MT-694 and Chris with them?"

------------------------------------

Corvis went a little wide-eyed at that and the meat - which he'd been in the process of pulling apart with his teeth, hung limply for a moment as Golten overbalanced in his chair and fell off. He dusted himself down and got back up again as his mother laughed. "Well, that's something to look forward to, eh, boys?"
Corvis nodded slowly, still dangling the meat as his little brother sat back down.
"Why does he want to talk with us," Golten asked, pretty sure the answer had to do with him.

"Well, a big part of it is you are new to this ship and you didn't really have the time to learn how things are done around here." Hivemind said, not quite lying, but he didn't want to say "because Golten has powers and The Lycan wants to talk to him about how to live with them" in case Corvis got jealous or something. "He wants to give you advice, and show you some of the cool places that are on the ship."

------------------------------------

"I think we were talking about dentists and things," Messalca queried as she saw Seena sneaking into the station to hide from kids who wanted her to talk in THEIR heads like she'd done for their friend. "And that's why you don't show off, I take it?"

"It's more because me showing off consists of me having multiple of myself in one place. Not super exciting." Hivemind said. "I believe I have everything that I need. Once Sana and Seena are done, we'll figure out what to do next. Now that the invasion is over, it's a little less All-Hands-On-Deck. Still have a lot to do, but most of that's being handled by the Champion ground units."

------------------------------------

"Nah, we we're thinking of just leaving 'em here," Collins joked as he lifted the feet of the Celican up to his sides with Norwood grabbing the shoulders.

The Lycan entered the room and helped the doctors carry the Celican teen out. "We're also getting some more doctors and healers down here to provide relief for you. There's only so much of this a person can take at once."

"Yay," The NotJaken yawned. "I like breaks. But, the last time I took a break? Three hundred ghosts stole my body."

"Right." Eira stopped, just now processing what the Celican had said and stared at the NotJaken with a really weird expression on her face. Her mouth kept opening and closing as she tried to find words to say. Then, she put a hand on her chin, as if thinking about what NotJaken said, concern on her face. "What?"

------------------------------------

”Anyways, now that we’ve all finished eating, we should probably pay for our meals.” Liz said to the table, clasping her hands together as she spoke. ”Given that I have recently come into more money than I know what to do with, I am willing to pay for everyone’s food.”

"That good, because I realize just now my money is probably no good here. What little I had." Sal-Hleel said.

"Huh, Your earth sounds neat. I want to see it, Father's version too. it would be neat to compare how the three different versions are. So far I've only seen the local one." she says thinking aloud, her tone a wistful mixture of wonder and curiosity. she pauses once again finishing off the last of her ribs. before turning and noticing their lizardly company's state.

"i think you broke him."

"Not broke." he said. "Just human language is difficult. Much more complicated than Varanian language. Spoken much faster, and Lots words with no translation."

------------------------------------

"You never know," Jenny said optimistically, "we might be able to help you with a job or something. When we get out of here? Ready a resume and be aware we can check." She readied her pistols for the upcoming fight and had a thought. Someone else she needed to check in on. "Pistols to Predator," she said into her comm. "You OK up there, pal? How's things going?"

"I'm doing just fine, Jenny. Thanks for checking." The HK droid standing behind Jenny spoke up. "But I'm down here too. Though I can say Rika and Traci are almost here."

- - - - -

"Ah, it's like Christmas morning," Chris said with a grin as he swept the minigun from one side of the room to the other, then back again, just for good measure. He stepped inside and sprayed down a straggler or two who'd managed to avoid the initial sweep. "Almost too easy. You sure you don't have a hard mode or something," he said with a quiet chuckle.

MT laughed maniacally as the stream of amber shot encased everything and everyone in sight, trapping the fleeing and panicking guards in globs of the hardened golden yellow substance. A few were smart and dove behind the globs of amber that were left from the initial sweep where the second wave of non-lethal rounds couldn't reach.

(They're all yours, Rook (Traci))

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Yeah," the NotJaken said, sitting down and putting his back feet around his hands as they were placed directly on the ground, "I'm, er, wearing one of those robot control, um, things?" He lifted one hand and waved it toward his face to emphasise it. "We freed lots of victims from the, um, Warmaster thing? The ghosts hung around and, when the, um, Hobo wizard asked someone called Digital is for help I... um, got hungry and went for a sandwich on the beacon." He sighed. "\Then I had to use a new construct as hundreds of them chose to stay and took the robot I was controlling over." He frowned. "Does this sound like a bad vid show idea?"
-----------------
Jenny almost laughed as Predator spoke up behind her. She did give him something of a grin. "Been waiting long to play that gag, Pred?" She indicated the guard. "Meet our new friend. Dunno his name yet. I'll ask soon. New friend, this is Predator. Don't annoy him, his other car's a 60ft tall war droid."
-----------------
"Y'know," Hannabelle said, turning to watch behind the group and readying her weapon in case, "sooner or later we're going to be useful, I hope."
----------------
"I think I speak for the kids when I say you can stay as long as you need," Messalca said, "we're far enough removed from everywhere that no-one's exactly needing us for back up."
----------------
"How do you keep teleporters out of bank vaults," Keeva asked with a slight grin.
----------------
Corvis looked down at the Lycan patches on his jeans. The Lycan wanted to talk with them? Gran was on his team too? His mind whirled, added two and two and came up with twenty-seven. "Is this because Gran's on the team," he asked.
---------------
"Think I'll stay out've it," Sarah said quietly, deliberately trying not to think of anyone, "no-one I need 't hear from."

[Buster]

Under the cover of her new shield, Kol comes up next to MT. Firing a warning shot at one of the remaining guards, aiming to blast a chunk about half a foot above him out of the column he's behind.

"Throw down your weapons and come out, NOW." the felinoid roars.

Kobor likewise is in the room now as well, turret deployed and charging a spread of low-power shots as he stalks cautiously towards a half-wall with a heat signature behind it. his slow movement might seem odd, since it's not like the other side can counter attack while chris is providing suppressing fire, but that doesn't mean he should be getting cocky, every step he's making sure no one has a clear shot on him without leaving cover.

- - - - -

”Anyways, now that we’ve all finished eating, we should probably pay for our meals.” Liz said to the table, clasping her hands together as she spoke. ”Given that I have recently come into more money than I know what to do with, I am willing to pay for everyone’s food.”

((Sorry... only noticed the first part for some reason... 0.o eh, it works better in this order anyway.))

"You're my new favorite." June states cheerily deciding to give Liz an impromptu bearhug.

"Not broke." he said. "Just human language is difficult. Much more complicated than Varanian language. Spoken much faster, and Lots words with no translation."

"How would you have said that in yours?" she asks curiously, turning to look at him, though having not let go.

[SeanWolf]

Sitting at one of the tables in the food court and wearing a long leather jacket and sporting a black hat, a wolf can be seen munching away on a burger while watching the throngs of citizens go about their daily lives. While he's been on the Beacon of Hope for a day now, this has been his first time actually exploring the ship and he was impressed with everything he saw."This place would give even the largest of cities a run for it's money" he thinks to himself as he continues to eat his meal, which was just a burger with side order of fries and a drink, "It will make locating the Champions fun...but honestly I always loved the harder to find ones." As he continued to eat and watch, another voice popped in his head saying "Take it you won't require my assistance with them?" to which, in his mind, replies "No, we're not hunting them. I have a reason for searching for them and I told you a thousand times already." which gave the other voice a chuckle before dissipating and letting the wolf continue his meal.

[~\Rook/~]

"I sometimes wonder that exact same thing. And yes, it is completely crazy. I'm just used to it." Hivemind said.

"Don't forget personal teleporters, Dan," Keeva advised. "I remember some telling me that Captain Walker never walks over a few hundred meters if she can teleport." She frowned. "Haven't seen those here. Yet."

"Teleporters exist here in concept." Hivemind said. "But there are a ton of risks and ethical problems with them. For one, no one can answer the question as to whether they actually transport the person, or if they kill the person violently and create an identical clone in a different location. That's why it's just a lot simpler to use portals. Though some people can teleport on their own, but that's more like... positive displacement with zero distance traveled."

Dan dejectedly sighs. "Thanks for clarifying.." He replies, his words dripping with sarcasm. "..But anyway, what were we going to do now? I kind of forgot." He adds, turning to his feline partner.

-----

"Don't worry." Tempest said. Water leaked out of a few points on her armored gauntlet and encased their arms, before freezing them together. "I can't drop you." Then, she lifted them into the air with her, and started to descend down the elevator shaft.

While she was moving slower than normal to ensure her passengers weren't shaken from this, she was still faster than an average elevator. As a result, they reached the bottom floor relatively quickly. Tempest melted the ice around their arms and drew the water back into her armor. "The team is down the hall, this way." Tempest said, running left out of the elevator. "Apparently Kol and Kolt are both injured, Rika. Traci, I can feel multiple hostiles in a room up ahead. Maybe you can help MT-694 and Chris with them?"

Rika calmly let go of Tempest once they were down and followed her where she ran. "Understood."

Traci, after realising she was actually fine halfway down the "elevator", Was following at first before speeding past and stopping just behind the group at the blast doors.

You OK up there, pal? How's things going?"

"I'm doing just fine, Jenny. Thanks for checking." The HK droid standing behind Jenny spoke up. "But I'm down here too. Though I can say Rika and Traci are almost here."

"I'm here right now, actually." Traci says casually, stepping in front of the HK droid. "Heya!" She adds as she turns to the droid and waves.

"Ah, it's like Christmas morning," Chris said with a grin as he swept the minigun from one side of the room to the other, then back again, just for good measure. He stepped inside and sprayed down a straggler or two who'd managed to avoid the initial sweep. "Almost too easy. You sure you don't have a hard mode or something," he said with a quiet chuckle.

MT laughed maniacally as the stream of amber shot encased everything and everyone in sight, trapping the fleeing and panicking guards in globs of the hardened golden yellow substance. A few were smart and dove behind the globs of amber that were left from the initial sweep where the second wave of non-lethal rounds couldn't reach.

Under the cover of her new shield, Kol comes up next to MT. Firing a warning shot at one of the remaining guards, aiming to blast a chunk about half a foot above him out of the column he's behind.

"Throw down your weapons and come out, NOW." the felinoid roars.

Kobor likewise is in the room now as well, turret deployed and charging a spread of low-power shots as he stalks cautiously towards a half-wall with a heat signature behind it. his slow movement might seem odd, since it's not like the other side can counter attack while chris is providing suppressing fire, but that doesn't mean he should be getting cocky, every step he's making sure no one has a clear shot on him without leaving cover.

"Aw, looks like you got things covered anyway.. I was hoping to help.." She says as she leaned over to look through the blast doors. "No fair.."

"Kol, Kolt! Your medical assistance has arrived.." Rika called as she reached the group. "..And hello to everyone else!" She adds as she walks through the group over to Kolt. "Right, shall we start with you? Also, who's.. Erm, 'at the helm' right now? I remember that there's two of you in there, right?" She asks hesitantly, unsure if she was remembering correctly.

[Hlaoroo]

Both dogs stare at Hivemind in shock.
"Tha's possible?"
"He can dae tha'?" they blurt simultaneously, one aloud and one via sign.

[Legotron123]

Quint waved back at Traci before turning to face Rika. ”It is currently Quint at the moment. Kolt suffered a head injury during our descent, and I took control in order to make sure he did not accidentally get himself killed.” He said, pulling off his helmet to show her where they got hit.
-
Liz softly chuckled at June’s declaration of favoritism. ”Thanks, but it’s not that big a deal. If you were helping fight down on the planet like you said, you probably got paid for your work too.”

[SeanWolf]

"Hey, look over there to your left" the wolf turned his head towards said direction and is spots a group sitting at a table and is about to question why the voice told him...until he spots the one in particular "Whoa..." he thinks "I don't think ever seen a mouse that big before," which is when the other voice tells him "I think they are the ones who we are looking for."
"You never been wrong before, so I'm trusting you on this." he thinks as he finishes his meal, "Though, to be safe, let me do the talking. We don't need another Halestorm incident" before making his way over to the table in question.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Yes," Corp asked the newcomer simply, noting the pistols and preparing his hidden knives accordingly.

[SeanWolf]

"Yes," Corp asked the newcomer simply, noting the pistols and preparing his hidden knives accordingly.

The wolf tips his hat towards the mouse, "I was informed you could help me..." he states while eyeing the mouse, taking note of his attire and gestures, "Looking for an outfit calling themselves The Champions, heard of them?"

[Welsh Halfwit]

"They're around," Corp said simply, getting in position to intervene if he needed to. "What is it you want with them?"

[SeanWolf]

"They're around," Corp said simply, getting in position to intervene if he needed to. "What is it you want with them?"

With a smile, the wolf answers: "I'm looking to join them."

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Generally speaking it's best to ask a Hivebot," Corp remarked. "They're around a lot."

[SeanWolf]

"Generally speaking it's best to ask a Hivebot," Corp remarked. "They're around a lot."

"Alright", the wolf nods, "Know where I can find one?"

[Neon Icy Wings]

Tatiana gave a light wave to Traci and Rika. "Good ta see ya! And yeah, this place has been weird. If it ain't pushover mercs it's honestly creepy biological experiments. So, don't be too disappointed, we're bound to run into something crazier at this rate."

[Deske]

"Honestly," Norwood began as he carried the Celican out, "There was a point where there was one of us. It's been what, 3 hours? With all this tech I barely consider this work. BioGel that allows blood flow and routes it correctly? I'm glad my job's easy now." He set his end of the Celican down and took a breath, "For a warzone, it doesn't smell as bloody as one usually does."

Collins grinned at the Lycan as he placed the Celican's feet on the ground, shifting him over next to the others, "Glad to hear you say something like that. But if we're being honest here, he's not wrong. This is like a training day or something."

------

Chris continued firing, perhaps even a bit after he didn't need to. But he justified it as covering fire, for whoever was going in and taken down the ones that were hiding.

[CyberDragon]

"Yeah," the NotJaken said, sitting down and putting his back feet around his hands as they were placed directly on the ground, "I'm, er, wearing one of those robot control, um, things?" He lifted one hand and waved it toward his face to emphasise it. "We freed lots of victims from the, um, Warmaster thing? The ghosts hung around and, when the, um, Hobo wizard asked someone called Digital is for help I... um, got hungry and went for a sandwich on the beacon." He sighed. "\Then I had to use a new construct as hundreds of them chose to stay and took the robot I was controlling over." He frowned. "Does this sound like a bad vid show idea?"

"Oh." Eira said, actually sounding a little relieved, though she had a bit of trouble understanding some of it. "Honestly that just sounds like my typical Thursday to me."

- - - - -

"Honestly," Norwood began as he carried the Celican out, "There was a point where there was one of us. It's been what, 3 hours? With all this tech I barely consider this work. BioGel that allows blood flow and routes it correctly? I'm glad my job's easy now." He set his end of the Celican down and took a breath, "For a warzone, it doesn't smell as bloody as one usually does."

Collins grinned at the Lycan as he placed the Celican's feet on the ground, shifting him over next to the others, "Glad to hear you say something like that. But if we're being honest here, he's not wrong. This is like a training day or something."

"A training day where you're surrounded by death. When the other healers get here, consider your work here done. This kind of thing tears at the mind without even being noticed sometimes." The Lycan stated with a tone of authority.

------------------------------------

Jenny almost laughed as Predator spoke up behind her. She did give him something of a grin. "Been waiting long to play that gag, Pred?" She indicated the guard. "Meet our new friend. Dunno his name yet. I'll ask soon. New friend, this is Predator. Don't annoy him, his other car's a 60ft tall war droid."

"My name is John." The guard stated. "They call you Predator?" he addressed the HK droid. "May I ask why?"

"It's because my primary function is to hunt people down and eat them." The droid stated flatly, leaving out some fairly important details such as the digital converter and the fact that he's a transport vehicle. "And guess who's going to be keeping you in line until you leave the city?"

The guard froze, staring forward with a weird expression of fear etched on his face. He had gone so pale that his fur seemed to be turning white.

"Oops. I think I broke him. Hmm." Predator said, though there was a definite hint of amusement in his voice.

------------------------------------

"Y'know," Hannabelle said, turning to watch behind the group and readying her weapon in case, "sooner or later we're going to be useful, I hope."

"We got one guy to arrest, and over a dozen supers to do it. It's possible there won't be much for us to do here." Gear said. "Still, keep that weird pink bullet I gave ya handy. Just in case."

------------------------------------

"I think I speak for the kids when I say you can stay as long as you need," Messalca said, "we're far enough removed from everywhere that no-one's exactly needing us for back up."

Hivemind laughed. "I'd love to spend more time around here. But again, it depends on if the government will let me keep a small relay on Celica." He said while they walked over to where Seena and Sana were. "So, I suppose the next thing we need to do is contact the canines. Seena, Sana, it's almost time to get back to work."

------------------------------------

"How do you keep teleporters out of bank vaults," Keeva asked with a slight grin.

"By maximizing the limiters around them when a spacial displacement is detected between the vault and the teleporter." Hivemind said. "Shuts down the teleportation immediately."

Dan dejectedly sighs. "Thanks for clarifying.." He replies, his words dripping with sarcasm. "..But anyway, what were we going to do now? I kind of forgot." He adds, turning to his feline partner.

"Well, if you were looking for suggestions, I might be able to help." Hivemind said. "What kind of thing were you thinking of? A quiet place to walk? Someplace entertaining? Somewhere you could learn about this universe?"

------------------------------------

Corvis looked down at the Lycan patches on his jeans. The Lycan wanted to talk with them? Gran was on his team too? His mind whirled, added two and two and came up with twenty-seven. "Is this because Gran's on the team," he asked.

"Well, that might have a little to do with it." Hivemind said. Technically it was true. The Lycan knows the family because of Hannabelle's cooperation with the Champions. "Honestly I think a part of it is also because he likes his fans. He doesn't get many of them on other planets. Also, he does want to check up on you and see how you are doing since yesterday."

------------------------------------

"Think I'll stay out've it," Sarah said quietly, deliberately trying not to think of anyone, "no-one I need 't hear from."

Both dogs stare at Hivemind in shock.
"Tha's possible?"
"He can dae tha'?" they blurt simultaneously, one aloud and one via sign.

Hivemind threw his hands up into the air in an exaggerated shrug. "That's something you'll need to ask Diligitis! I'm not the all-powerful entity in charge of an afterlife here, he is! It's not unheard of, and the worst that will happen is he says no in the nicest way a demigod of love can. Best case scenario? You get to talk to your family again. I'd say it's worth a try, wouldn't you?"

------------------------------------

Under the cover of her new shield, Kol comes up next to MT. Firing a warning shot at one of the remaining guards, aiming to blast a chunk about half a foot above him out of the column he's behind.

"Throw down your weapons and come out, NOW." the felinoid roars.

Kobor likewise is in the room now as well, turret deployed and charging a spread of low-power shots as he stalks cautiously towards a half-wall with a heat signature behind it. his slow movement might seem odd, since it's not like the other side can counter attack while chris is providing suppressing fire, but that doesn't mean he should be getting cocky, every step he's making sure no one has a clear shot on him without leaving cover.

Chris continued firing, perhaps even a bit after he didn't need to. But he justified it as covering fire, for whoever was going in and taken down the ones that were hiding.

With the continued onslaught from all sides and from immensely superior firepower, the guards soon found themselves with no choice but to surrender. What few guards were left dropped their weapons and followed the direction of the large, threatening, four-armed alien berserker and stepped out with their arms in the air.

------------------------------------

"How would you have said that in yours?" she asks curiously, turning to look at him, though having not let go.

Sal-Hleel replied with a hiss that might have been misunderstood as him angrily refusing to say. The hissing was drawn out and mixed with other sounds like growls in sounds that were starting to sound more like syllables in a spoken sentence.

"Hey, look over there to your left" the wolf turned his head towards said direction and is spots a group sitting at a table and is about to question why the voice told him...until he spots the one in particular "Whoa..." he thinks "I don't think ever seen a mouse that big before," which is when the other voice tells him "I think they are the ones who we are looking for."
"You never been wrong before, so I'm trusting you on this." he thinks as he finishes his meal, "Though, to be safe, let me do the talking. We don't need another Halestorm incident" before making his way over to the table in question.

"Yes," Corp asked the newcomer simply, noting the pistols and preparing his hidden knives accordingly.

Sal-Hleel listened to the conversation, curious about the strange wolf creature. He secretly wondered why the wolf focused on Corp and not the 10ft tall komodo dragon-like monstrosity that he was. Then again, part of him was also glad to not be the subject of judgmental eyes.

The wolf tips his hat towards the mouse, "I was informed you could help me..." he states while eyeing the mouse, taking note of his attire and gestures, "Looking for an outfit calling themselves The Champions, heard of them?"

"They're around," Corp said simply, getting in position to intervene if he needed to. "What is it you want with them?"

With a smile, the wolf answers: "I'm looking to join them."

"Generally speaking it's best to ask a Hivebot," Corp remarked. "They're around a lot."

"Alright", the wolf nods, "Know where I can find one?"

(OOC: if you're going to do conversations like this in rapid fire, please refrain from using the quotes for posts that just happened. It makes it a bit of a pain to edit in my own posts. Not saying you did anything wrong, it just saves me some time. These posts take a long time to write. This time was about 3 hours.)

"Literally everywhere." a hive droid spoke up from behind the wolf. "All you have to do really is say you need my help. So, what is it you needed?"

Liz softly chuckled at June’s declaration of favoritism. ”Thanks, but it’s not that big a deal. If you were helping fight down on the planet like you said, you probably got paid for your work too.”

"Oh, that reminds me. June, you did get paid, even though you weren't technically supposed to be down there..." he scolded lightly. "I don't believe I gave you your card yet. I will retrieve it now."

He turned back to the wolf. "So, did you need something?"

[~\Rook/~]

Quint waved back at Traci before turning to face Rika. ”It is currently Quint at the moment. Kolt suffered a head injury during our descent, and I took control in order to make sure he did not accidentally get himself killed.” He said, pulling off his helmet to show her where they got hit.

Rika quickly examined the injury. "Yeah, that's a pretty hard epidural hematoma.. Doesn't look too bad though. Here.." She reached behind herself at her bag and pulled out a green capsule, opened it, then handed Quint a small pill. "..You know the drill. Take this and it should feel better rather quickly. If anything persists, let me know." She said, smiling lightly.

-----

Tatiana gave a light wave to Traci and Rika. "Good ta see ya! And yeah, this place has been weird. If it ain't pushover mercs it's honestly creepy biological experiments. So, don't be too disappointed, we're bound to run into something crazier at this rate."

"Crazier? I think the big lizzard guy we fought together took top-spot on the crazy list, you think there is something that could beat that?" Traci asked, looking worried. "Honestly though, If there is something crazier, I'll buy the whole team dinner! ..Wait, scratch that. I Know there is crazier.. If any of the champion reports in the CID are anything to go by.."

-----

"How do you keep teleporters out of bank vaults," Keeva asked with a slight grin.

"By maximizing the limiters around them when a spacial displacement is detected between the vault and the teleporter." Hivemind said. "Shuts down the teleportation immediately."

Dan dejectedly sighs. "Thanks for clarifying.." He replies, his words dripping with sarcasm. "..But anyway, what were we going to do now? I kind of forgot." He adds, turning to his feline partner.

"Well, if you were looking for suggestions, I might be able to help." Hivemind said. "What kind of thing were you thinking of? A quiet place to walk? Someplace entertaining? Somewhere you could learn about this universe?"

"Oh, erm.. I'm not sure, anything you want to do Keeva?" Dan asked, looking expectantly to his companion.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Think I'm going to like being a Champion," The NotJaken replied before sighing. "No day is ever quiet." He opened another portal to his left for a medical and search team to get into one more building.
--------------
"And people say you don't have a sense of humour, Pred," Jenny said before giving John a little shake. "C'mon, John, we need to head on. MT, I don't need to say 'take point', do I? Pred, Tat? Keep an eye on our six, yeah?
Make sure we're not being followed. Ulrich, can you keep a shield up behind in case we're being tracked by unscannable things? Let's move on, guys." So saying, she headed onwards (behind MT)
--------------
Hannabelle said nothing but nodded to Gear and made sure she used her nose, despite the unusual scent of Kol and whatever Tatiana was. She'd gotten slightly used to those now so could work around them a bit.
-------------
"Yay," Seena said as several of the children groaned because she'd not talked into their heads yet. She quickly took turns, just pointing at each cub and saying the words You. Hello," to each of them. "Duty calls."
"Duty's already here, boss," Sana said, taking a knife from her pouches and slapping it into the ground. She unclipped the top of the hilt to reveal a miniature satellite dish. "Chief Golta got it for me off some spy film he worked on once," she explained, "We can link to the beacon comm system from here if you want," she added, connecting up a couple of wires. "What did you think I was doing," she asked innocently.
"You sure I can't arrest her," Messalca asked, trying not to look amused.
-------------
"Hard to credit it was just yesterday," Genevive mused, letting a little bit of sauce drop from her fork as Corvis watched a six legged thing with a trunk and rocky skin walked by.
Golten gave a small wave to a young looking something over in the corner and his brother looked at him. "You might have just told that to attack you," he accused.
"And you might have insulted that guy by watching like that," Golten counter-accused. "How do we know? That's something the Lycan can tell us, yes, Mr Hivebot, sir," he finished, turning and looking up at Hive innocently, with his handpaws together in his 'purity'.
"He's gonna be an actor," Genevive muttered, "I just know he is."

[SeanWolf]

He turned back to the wolf. "So, did you need something?"

(OOC: Got it)
Turning to face the Hivedroid in question, the wolf answers "Yeah, I'm looking join the Champions...know where I can find them?"
"Not very friendly, isn't it?" the voice utters in his head which he mentally responds with a chuckle.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"You're talking to their C.O.," Corp remarked idly.
---------------------
"Learning about the universe seems a good idea," Keeva admitted, scritching the back of her neck. "Especially how to work the tech. Is there a guided tour Hivebot lurking around? Little cap on the head?"

[SeanWolf]

"Oh, I am?" The wolf seemed a bit surprised at the fact that said bot was the Champion's C.O, "Well, seeing as you're the one I needed to chat with, I like to join up if you guys would want an ex-bounty hunter on the squad."
"I miss those days..." the voice in his head laments.

[Legotron123]

Quint gave a small nod as he took the pill, plopping it in his mouth without a second thought. ”Thank you. This should help speed up the healing process.” He said, before walking off without waiting for a response. It seems Quint was much more blunt than his partner.
-
Liz looked at the wolf with suspicion, finding his story rather fishy. Pulling out her tablet and placing on her lap so that table would block it from view, she sent a message to Hivemind. ”Something about this guy doesn’t seem quite right. It’s odd that his first instinct when looking for help was a group of strangers having dinner rather than any of the Hivedroids that, as you put it, are literally everywhere, he’s a bit too eager to join a group he clearly knows little to nothing about, and it’s peculiar that he didn’t know you’re in charge of the Champions, given that even the tiniest bit of digging tells me that’s the thing you’re kinda famous for. There’s too much about the way he’s acting that doesn’t make sense.”

[Deske]

"Don't have to tell us twice. We've got some experience with the whole tearing at the mind part of war. As fun as it is, I don't really see a need to try and add to it. All things considered though, this was definitely less gruesome, which I'm thankful for." Norwood said, a practiced straight face masking an feelings he might have on the situation.

Collins simply rolled his eyes at Norwood and gave a friendly shrug to the Lycan.

------

"Is it as fun for you as it is for me even when you aren't in control? Don't wanna hog everything," Chris asked the dragon mech.

[Hlaoroo]

The dogs don't even dignify that with an answer. Conall preempts Cailean's question with a quick explanation of how he contacted Digilitis and then the two dogs shut their eyes, both thinking the same thing, and wait for a response.
"Can we talk tae them?"
"Can we talk tae them?"

[CyberDragon]

Rika quickly examined the injury. "Yeah, that's a pretty hard epidural hematoma.. Doesn't look too bad though. Here.." She reached behind herself at her bag and pulled out a green capsule, opened it, then handed Quint a small pill. "..You know the drill. Take this and it should feel better rather quickly. If anything persists, let me know." She said, smiling lightly.

Quint gave a small nod as he took the pill, plopping it in his mouth without a second thought. ”Thank you. This should help speed up the healing process.” He said, before walking off without waiting for a response. It seems Quint was much more blunt than his partner.

"Kol needs your help to, Rika. Boxer's fracture. She broke it when the elevator fell." Archangel said.

----------------------------------

"Crazier? I think the big lizzard guy we fought together took top-spot on the crazy list, you think there is something that could beat that?" Traci asked, looking worried. "Honestly though, If there is something crazier, I'll buy the whole team dinner! ..Wait, scratch that. I Know there is crazier.. If any of the champion reports in the CID are anything to go by.."

"Don't know about weirder or more dangerous..." Gadgeteer said. "But a few floors up we ran into these mutant abominations. Unkillable Celican-Varanian hybrids that adapt to whatever hits them. We couldn't even finish them. Quint had to trap them in that hammerspace pocket of his. Best not to forget they're there, Quint!" he added the last bit, directed at Kolt/Quint

----------------------------------

"Oh, erm.. I'm not sure, anything you want to do Keeva?" Dan asked, looking expectantly to his companion.

"Learning about the universe seems a good idea," Keeva admitted, scritching the back of her neck. "Especially how to work the tech. Is there a guided tour Hivebot lurking around? Little cap on the head?"

"Any Hive android you find can give you a tour unless I'm doing something else with that body. Most of the actual tours are going to be given by employees at the establishments themselves." Hivemind said, not really getting the joke. "You might want to start by learning more about Earth, and how it's different from the Earth you know. We can start with the Terran museum. There's a park near it as well that has a focus on plants and animals from Earth, though you might want to hold off on the park until after you've learned a few things about this universe."

----------------------------------

"Think I'm going to like being a Champion," The NotJaken replied before sighing. "No day is ever quiet." He opened another portal to his left for a medical and search team to get into one more building.

"Don't worry." A voice came from inside the building the NotJaken portaled into. It turned out to be Old Jaken. He was already inside the building and giving medical treatment to the people inside. "I'm sure you will love being a Champion. Call it a funny feeling."

Eira stepped through the NotJaken's portal. On seeing Old Jaken, she tilted her head. "How did... Nevermind. Are they well enough to move?"

"The ones over there are. I'm still treating this one." He pointed to a group of bandaged and rough-looking Celicans before gesturing to the woman he was treating.

"Right..." Eira said, eyeing him suspiciously. "Jaken... the younger Jaken... Could you lead everyone who can walk out of the portal? I'll get those who can't."

----------------------------------

"Yay," Seena said as several of the children groaned because she'd not talked into their heads yet. She quickly took turns, just pointing at each cub and saying the words You. Hello," to each of them. "Duty calls."
"Duty's already here, boss," Sana said, taking a knife from her pouches and slapping it into the ground. She unclipped the top of the hilt to reveal a miniature satellite dish. "Chief Golta got it for me off some spy film he worked on once," she explained, "We can link to the beacon comm system from here if you want," she added, connecting up a couple of wires. "What did you think I was doing," she asked innocently.
"You sure I can't arrest her," Messalca asked, trying not to look amused.

"I'm sure." Hivemind said. "Sana, we shouldn't do this here. My communications with the Canines are confidential. Not something we should do out in the open and surrounded by kids."

----------------------------------

"Hard to credit it was just yesterday," Genevive mused, letting a little bit of sauce drop from her fork as Corvis watched a six legged thing with a trunk and rocky skin walked by.
Golten gave a small wave to a young looking something over in the corner and his brother looked at him. "You might have just told that to attack you," he accused.
"And you might have insulted that guy by watching like that," Golten counter-accused. "How do we know? That's something the Lycan can tell us, yes, Mr Hivebot, sir," he finished, turning and looking up at Hive innocently, with his handpaws together in his 'purity'.
"He's gonna be an actor," Genevive muttered, "I just know he is."

"You know, the Lycan was an actor before he became a Champion. He took special effects classes in collage and made a few independent horror movies. They got pretty popular on Earth. I'm not sure if they made it to Celica though." Hivemind said.

----------------------------------

Turning to face the Hivedroid in question, the wolf answers "Yeah, I'm looking join the Champions...know where I can find them?"
"Not very friendly, isn't it?" the voice utters in his head which he mentally responds with a chuckle.

"You're talking to their C.O.," Corp remarked idly.

"Oh, I am?" The wolf seemed a bit surprised at the fact that said bot was the Champion's C.O, "Well, seeing as you're the one I needed to chat with, I like to join up if you guys would want an ex-bounty hunter on the squad."
"I miss those days..." the voice in his head laments.

Liz looked at the wolf with suspicion, finding his story rather fishy. Pulling out her tablet and placing on her lap so that table would block it from view, she sent a message to Hivemind. ”Something about this guy doesn’t seem quite right. It’s odd that his first instinct when looking for help was a group of strangers having dinner rather than any of the Hivedroids that, as you put it, are literally everywhere, he’s a bit too eager to join a group he clearly knows little to nothing about, and it’s peculiar that he didn’t know you’re in charge of the Champions, given that even the tiniest bit of digging tells me that’s the thing you’re kinda famous for. There’s too much about the way he’s acting that doesn’t make sense.”

Thank you for the concern. I will keep what you said in mind. Hivemind sent the response back to Liz. It wasn't much of a response, but it was all he could give at the moment.

"I am the Commanding Officer and first founder of the Champions. I am also the sovereign leader of the free people of the Beacon of Hope. I am also the Beacon of Hope itself." Hivemind said to the wolf. "Not everyone can join the Champions. It takes skill and discipline than most people are able to demonstrate, and Champions are held to a much higher standard than any other law enforcement or paramilitary group in existence. Anyway, if you wish to join, please follow me to Champion Tower and we will discuss things there." The droid took a step back and gestured for the wolf to follow along.

----------------------------------

"Don't have to tell us twice. We've got some experience with the whole tearing at the mind part of war. As fun as it is, I don't really see a need to try and add to it. All things considered though, this was definitely less gruesome, which I'm thankful for." Norwood said, a practiced straight face masking an feelings he might have on the situation.

Collins simply rolled his eyes at Norwood and gave a friendly shrug to the Lycan.

The Lycan took a look over to Jaken's new portal to see the people walking out of it in casts and bandages. He tilted his head in confusion. "Looks like someone already treated them..." he said before hearing something that caused him to look up to the sky. Flying overhead was an Ibis Dropship, and it was slowing down. "That must be our relief." the Lycan said.

The ship landed, and a number of champions walked out of it. Notable among them were Tyratea and Fades-In-Shadows, the two reptilian healers who assisted on the Steelhaven, and the Good Doctor. "Lycan, we can handle things for now." Tyratea said. "Best for you and the others to take a break."

----------------------------------

The dogs don't even dignify that with an answer. Conall preempts Cailean's question with a quick explanation of how he contacted Digilitis and then the two dogs shut their eyes, both thinking the same thing, and wait for a response.
"Can we talk tae them?"
"Can we talk tae them?"

The same response spoke in both of their minds. "Of course you may." Diligitis said, responding to both of them. "However, perhaps we should do this somewhere else where there are fewer chances for excitable sports fans playing a 'high spirits' game of darts - you might want to move your head a little to the left, Conall - to interrupt your reunion?"

----------------------------------

"And people say you don't have a sense of humour, Pred," Jenny said before giving John a little shake. "C'mon, John, we need to head on. MT, I don't need to say 'take point', do I? Pred, Tat? Keep an eye on our six, yeah?
Make sure we're not being followed. Ulrich, can you keep a shield up behind in case we're being tracked by unscannable things? Let's move on, guys." So saying, she headed onwards (behind MT)

"I was literally born this morning." Predator deadpanned. "Who on Celica or the planets beyond has had the time to say I have no sense of humor?"

"Understood, Jenny." MT stated as he and Chris took point and walked to another large door in the back of the bunker room.

"Is it as fun for you as it is for me even when you aren't in control? Don't wanna hog everything," Chris asked the dragon mech.

"We are neurally linked. If you are having fun, I am having fun." MT stated. "Besides, you are not the only one doing things. For example:" MT grabbed the door and pulled. The metal crunched and bent. The door started to buckle and bend, before being ripped clean out of the wall.

The room behind the door looked something like an armor forge lab. Inside, Monta stood facing the door, shocked at the Dragon Mech that just tore it's way through hundreds of thousands of dollars of fortified blast-door. With him were a number of annoyed looking scientists and researchers, but it appeared as if all of his guards were in the other room, currently surrendering. "All of you guards are fired!" he shouted into the room.

Monta ran for the armor forge and stood against an indentation in the wall. One of the scientists shouted out. "Wha- Wait! Sir! That's just the prototype-" He was too late though. Mechanical arms descended from the forge and attached various pieces of highly advanced armor to Monta's work suit. It didn't take too long before he was encased in a very advanced looking armor.

"Right! Bring it on! With my company's latest armor, I'm untouchable!" Monta called out to the champions.

"But... But...!"
Sparks started shooting from Monta's armor as it powered up. The entire suit was encased in a field of energy. Energy shields surrounded him, and more energy shields surrounded those. Monta struck his metal fists together, sending bolts of electricity between them. "Yes! I can feel the power! I can feel the energy! Come at me, Champions! I know what you want, but I will crush you before you get the chance!"

meanwhile, the scientists looked at Monta in fear and dove behind cover.

[Legotron123]

Quint sighed as he walked nonchalantly to the front of the group. ”I would tell you to stand down before you embarrass yourself any further, but you are clearly not smart enough to do that.” He said, before suddenly rushing forward, firing a few EMP shots from his left arm cannon and aiming a kick at Montas chest.
-
Liz continued to keep an eye on the wolf until he left, then turned to face the rest of the group. ”Well then. Now that that’s done with, I’m going to try to find our waiter. I’ve been trying to wave him down in order to pay for the past few minutes and he hasn’t noticed.” She said, before standing up and walking away, looking around to try and see where the nervous man from before had gone.

[SeanWolf]

The wolf nodded and followed the bot to the tower, all the while saying "Sounds good and, in regards to your one statement, if the Champions are like any thing we read, then we are a perfect fit for your team", his voice suddenly shifting to one not of his, but of a more robotic sound, before shifting back to his normal voice as he asks the bot "Judging by how those folks acted, I take it bounty hunters are frowned upon here?"

[Buster]

Hearing her name called an turning to notice the healer present, Kol rises from her position and walks over, keeping her pace slow so she can keep he weapons trained on the soon to be former guards being escorted out.

when the shouting from further inside starts, kobor swears and is already sprinting back toards MT, nearly there when the HK he's operating starts twitching and face plants mid stride. it's running lights going black, and sparks spraying from the junction on the back of it's neck.

>>SERIOUSLY?! Using an EM-disrupting weapon around remote-controlled hardware? FRIENDLY FIRE MUCH??

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Well, I'm sure the Varanians have been thinking it, Pred," Jenny replied before the action started. "OK, Traci, get those scientists out and ask that one about the weakness he was going to say aloud. Everyone else? Do what you do best. Time to applaud the villain so John? Colonel? Cover your ears." So saying she dropped her gun and sent a short series of sonic pulses straight at Montas' head to try and deafen him.
----------------
"Well, at least I have a me for back up," the NotJaken yawned before heading through and picking up an entourage, his headgear changing to that of a tour guide. "This way to freedom and shops, people," he said, pointing to the gap. "It's quite safe," he added, pushing a nervous Vixen through. "It's just a small breach of natural law after all," he finished, holding his nose theatrically before hopping through with a small cub in hand.
--------------
"I mean from the computer I was on in the station, boss," Sana explained, shrugging. "You can link from there. Just chuck the deputies out and it's private. Although it would be good to check on how the Doctors are doing."
--------------
"Sounds ominous," Keeva admitted, looking at Dan with a small grimace. "Can't be THAT different, surely?" She brightened. "Suppose we'd better see, hadn't we?"
-------------
"I think he's behind the counter, Captain," Corp said after watching the Wolf leave. "At least I THINK that's where the fear's coming from. Might be better for you to go to him. Or send Lewis."
-------------
"Gives us something to look for on the film channels," Genevive grinned, "provided he lets you show them, of course."
"Who wouldn't want them shown?" Corvis said, slightly excited by the prospect.
Golten chewed his meat.
------------
"Did it say anythin' ta ye," Sarah asked gently, a little curious, despite herself.

[Deske]

"Woo, relief," Norwood said, wholly unamused that his relief was here.

Collins gave a smile to the two reptiles and The Good Doctor, "Good to see you," he said as he launched into a quick explanation of what had happened and what had been done to remedy the various ailments sustained by the Celicans.

------

"You're lucky MT's rated against EMI or I'd have some words with you." Had he been in control of his own body he would have cracked a couple of joints, "Alright, you've got... Now, to disarm yourself or we will gladly do it for you." Chris grinned, arming a number of not-so-nonlethal weapons.

[Buster]

"<Like this?>" June asks back in a very similar if slightly accented way, eyes flickering faintly, but without the intensity they had earlier, and seemingly without hurting herself the way she'd been doing, since most of the work had been done by her colony comparing the different sounds and structures to the linguistic knowledge she'd inherited.

[Hlaoroo]

Conall immediately jerks reflexively to the left, his eyes snapping open as he looks for the implied danger. Sensing the movement, Cailean also opens his eyes.
"Ah think he's right." Conall signs to his brother who agrees and says as much both to the Laird and to the entity.
"Aye, Sarah. He said we shuid wait an' do it when there aren't darts flyin' everywhere an' rowdy sports fans tae interrupt th' reunion."