Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

[CyberDragon]

The NotJaken decided on discretion being the better part of sensible and stepped aside as he opened a portal into the room. After a few seconds of nobody trying to kill him he poked his fake head through the hole. "Anyone need a quick exit," he asked.

The civilians inside cheered their rescuer and gladly ran through the portal, thanking the NotJaken as they ran for the Albatross. Once they were through, the soldiers left as well. One of them stopped to thank Jaken and ask for his name.

>It might be best to use a codename or alias. Hivemind sent to the NotJaken's head's up display.

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

Sana ran the image of the gun through her systems and it came up with a match in a few moments. "The showed this at a weapons' fair a few months ago," she said, reading it off the screen. "It was a prototype they wanted to sell to the Celican Military, apparently. It says the military turned them down on the expense of the gun and the fact the number of peoples that couldn't be stopped by the guns the military already have were too few to justify the replacement on a general scale.
Their words, not mine."
"Prototype must mean something different here," Seena said. "There are an awful lot of 'prototypes' on show... And what is killing them," she added as a soldier half landed in front of them. With the other half landing several feet away. She took her commlink from her pocket and spoke into it. "Seena to Colorado," she said, just in case, "Be careful, my love,"

The assault from the off-screen enemy continued as the city's resistance was rapidly crushed on screen. Armored vehicles were tossed left and right without anything touching them. Tanks were crushed by something too massive to make out. Blasts of fire, frost, and lightning launched at the Celicans from off camera. Finally the attacker stepped into view. At least, the bottom half of it was in view. Someone apparently had taken control of the camera because it panned up to see a colossal figure nearly fifty feet tall silhouetted against the sun. It's eyes glowed bright white. There was a flash of light, then static.

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

Nodding, despite the fact that it's redundant when answering a voice in your own head, June headed up, carefully cutting into the side of the vehicle and sticking her face in so she could scan he trio of unconscious forms inside.

Mind if i pass control back to you, i want to talk to them, see if i can find out what happened. she asked, once the trio were safely loaded. the virtual environment for them being constructed to resemble a hospital ward so as to be less of a shock when they woke up. (cause where else would a front line casualty expect to wake up?)

>Very well. I will investigate further.

June's vision would fade to white, then the hospital ward materialized in front of her. The tree Celicans were in a couple beds separated by hospital curtains.

>Waking them up now.

The three soldiers gasped simultaneously and shot up into sitting positions as Predator "activated" them. One of them looked around. "Where are we?! Where is that... thing!" he noticed June. "Who are you?!"

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

Kolt gave an appreciatory nod before dropping down into the staton proper. ”I’m going to stick by Jenny then. If they figure out what we’ve done, she’ll be their first target.” He said, putting up a forcefield around the two of them.

Jenny led the way in carefully, her captured blaster by her side and her hands ready. She brought her hands together carefully to produce a low sound that reverberated down the passageway.
------------------------------------------------
Hannabelle readied her knife. The gun wouldn't be much use down here.

intent on not limiting her senses, Kol pulls the muzzlepiece off her helmet before putting the rest of it back on. clipping that part to one of the magnet plates on her belt, not realizing that despite how modular the armor is, that piece isn't supposed to come off and she just severed her translator from it's power supply.

She falls into step beside Kolt as the team heads in. Weapons at the ready, save for one axe since she has the offcer's commandeered rifle in that hand, the barrel sitting atop her shoulder causing her to give off a bit of a Predator vibe.

They didn't encounter anything until they reached the platforms where they were supposed to meet the President in not too long. Two objects started shimmering in response to the sound, but that couldn't be seen otherwise.

"There's two. Usually there are four." Gadgeteer said, quietly. "eyes open for the other two. Keep quiet until we're close, don't engage until we find the other two." He said, walking casually toward the two shimmering spots as if he didn't see them.

(Note: Don't auto-hit the special forces people. They are elite enemies, and are supposed to be more difficult than normal Varanian troops.)

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

Encumbered by his boots, Corp wasn't quite fast enough to avoid the kick entirely and took something of a glancing blow to his side before doing his best to grasp the foot and push it up to unsteady the Shipmaster. "No <uff> insult was intended, I hope," he grunted as he moved and before Liz made her comment. "Although I might have been wrong."

Liz landed on a catwalk with a thud, smirking as the gravity turned back on. ”No, in this fight specifically, you have surprisingly acted with honor.” She said, before aiming a swing at the leg he was trying to kick Corp with. ”The problem is with literally everything else I’ve heard about your empire. Now, I’ll admit, I just arrived in this dimension yesterday, so I don’t know every single detail about how your regime works.” Another swing, this one aimed at his right arm. ”But I’ve read the Beacon’s files and I’ve had Hivemind explain somethings. And if all of that is true, than your people really don’t know what honor means.” She tried kneeing him in the crotch before swinging her axe at his head. ”Because honor isn’t just following a set of rules. It’s about honesty, fairness, and integrity.” Another swing, this one at his shoulder. ”If your government was honest, they’d admit that nothing changed after the Dragon Knight saved your world. They’d drop this whole pretense of “rouge fleets,” and admit that all their talk about respecting strength only applies to them.” A swing at his arms. ”If you were fair, than your invasions would follow similar rules to the fight we’re currently having. You’d contact the planet ahead of time, let them know the rules of engagement, and give them the tools and time they need to prepare themselves.” A swing at his neck. ”And if you had the slightest bit of integrity, you wouldn’t even HAVE this practice of enslaving people in the first place, and you certainly wouldn’t arbitrarily decide that some people don’t get to be people due to circumstances outside of their control. As an old friend would say, face it you knob end. You and your whole empire are the exact opposite of honorable!”
That was when Lewis would make his move. Once the Shipmaster was angry and distracted by Liz’ insults, he made a line between his eye and one of Lewis’ daggers. Even if he tried dodging out of the way, the dagger would just course correct and hit it anyways.

As it turned out, the Shipmaster was neither angry, nor distracted as he danced around the strikes, almost stepping on Corp once or twice by mistake. He was focused completely on Liz and Lewis. Then Lewis threw his dagger.

The Shipmaster caught it midair, and crushed it to dust in his hand.

"The words you speak are those of one who knows little of the matters you speak of. They are misinformed at best, and hypocritical at worst." The Shipmaster spoke, clearly, seriously, and in a low voice. "Your first assertion, that nothing changed after the Dragon shifted Varas with it's bare hands, is wrong. Everything changed, especially on Varan. Especially to me. More and more Varanians find value in virtues aside from strength." He ducked another shot from Liz. "Why do you think none of our ships followed the Beacon when it left our range? Why do you think I did not kill you the moment I had you at gunpoint? It is because my kin are alive because of the courage and... altruism... of the Dragon. I owe him. We all owe him whether we accept that or not. In his absence, I owe his brother. I serve our Warlord, but I respect the Hive." He stepped to the side to dodge another swing. "Second. Warlords operate independently. We are not a part of the Varanian government, thus they have no authority over us." His voice got more serious. "Third, the Celicans are not innocent victims like they pretend to be to get your support. They had more warning than we did. Why do you think we are here? Celica Challenged us. They invited us. They Called us here to fight them. They asked us to fight them. They knew what was involved. If anything, them breaking the rules by calling for help simply makes themselves look weak, cowardly, and unable to live up to their own boasting. Finally, your last statement is as hypocritical as you say I am. You do the exact same thing. You would not consider the respected elephant or rhinoceros people. Nor the horse, or the buffalo. We do. You decide what a person is based on the intelligence it has as a species. Whenever the species fails to live up to your intellectual standards, it becomes exploitable as food or as labor, and no member of that species is spared, nor are they an acception. We define it with strength, and define it individually. That which is weak is potential prey. A bit stronger, and it is labor."

>Gravity's back!
Well that's promising... I'm surprised you haven't sent the packet yet though.
Creating 2381 permutations of the instruction set, without corrupting any of the schematics, so they have to be disabled individually rather than someone just sending a master shutdown command takes time!
We're more than close enough to stay connected though, you can get back on there if you want. If you can either take him down, or buy me five minutes, i can start production. then they'll be the ones racing against time.

Gladly.

Ejecting, It takes Kobor a bit to get back over, not being the most mobile thing out of the water, but soon enough the ship master will find over a dozen tentacles wrapped around his legs and constricting. and this time they're covered in suckers that don't want to let go, not smooth metal since the armor isn't in the way.
"Miss Me?"

"RRARGH!" The Shipmaster roared in frustration and tried to tear Kobor off of him, but he found himself tangled. He started pulling at Kobor, not caring if he had to rip the squid creature's tentacles off. It was starting to look like he was going to, as he was more than strong enough to tear Kobor's limbs off. "Persistant, sticky creature! Release me!"

The Wyvern took advantage of this moment, deciding to push that whole revelation about Celica calling the Varanians to the back of his mind for now. He leaped into the air and swung his club hard at the Shipmaster's jaw. It hit with a sickening CRACK. The Shipmaster grunted and staggered, seeing stars and with his lower right jaw hanging limp. "Liz, punch him! Knock him out!"

[Welsh Halfwit]

'Bout five minutes back, aye, Sarah signed, before looking at Cailean's sleeping face. Involuntarily, her tail slapped the bed a couple of times before she managed to stop it. But ah wouldn' move it fer all th' beer in Newcas'le. 'e needs this. She looked back to Conall. Sure'n y'don't?
-------------------------------------------------------
"Erm, uh..." the NotJaken said, unsure of things for a moment as he remembered his hat. "Call me Thunderbird! Youngest of the Junior Champions! I think... Rescues a speciality," he added, closing the portal after making sure there was no-one else in there and moving along to the next trapped peoples.
------------------------------------------------------
"Oh, great," Sana breathed incredulously. "The Varanians have got a MegaPredazord."
"All the different things in the universes and you have that rubbish on vid too" Seena asked, not quite focussing on what she'd just seen.
------------------------------------------------------
"We don't have much time to waste on stealth and craftiness," Hannabelle reminded them quietly as they advanced.
"Could always send you out front to draw out the others," Jenny remarked, deliberately keeping pace with Kolt and taking strength from his proximity.
"Sounds almost like a plan," Hanny grunted.

[Buster]

"I'm one of the ones who pulled you out of the wreck embedded in the side of a building." June explains, mimicking hr dad's speech mannerisms as best she can since she needs to sound 'in charge'. "As for where your opponent went, I was hoping you could tell me, we're trying to track it."

- - - - -

Having no idea what gadgeteer just said, kol guffs and seems like he's about to charge in...

- - - - -

"Huh. This would probably hurt if i had that kind of nerve ending." Kobor comments offhandedly, sounding more curious than upset, as he unwraps one tentacle to check on a two inch deep laceration he received, only really noticing because that limb had gone numb. As he's staring at it a bunch of tiny blue filaments stitch the wound closed from within, though the surface of it is still ragged and bleeding slowly.

[Legotron123]

Kolt placed his hand on Kol’s shoulder, trying to hold her back while at the same time make it look like just a friendly gesture to their unseen observers. ”He’s saying to act like we don’t know they’re there until we find the rest of their team.” He said on a private line. ”Otherwise the two that are still out there could take us by surprise.”
-
”Actually I do consider those species people. I’ve served under plenty of them, plus a rhino surgeon saved my life when I was fourteen.” Liz said, before knocking him out with a solid punch to the side of the head. As he fell to the ground, she did the standard “stand with one foot up on the body of a fallen enemy” pose and looked at the other Varians. ”Anyone else wanna take on five people at once?”

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Don't forget to duck when you go through the door, Liz," Corp said, still not giving away the Captain's rank aloud. He got ready to move out, picking up his new gun again but looking to keep the duelling swords.

[Hlaoroo]

'Bout five minutes back, aye, Sarah signed, before looking at Cailean's sleeping face. Involuntarily, her tail slapped the bed a couple of times before she managed to stop it. But ah wouldn' move it fer all th' beer in Newcas'le. 'e needs this. She looked back to Conall. Sure'n y'don't?

Conall sees the look on Sarah's face as she watches Cailean and finally understands the depth of her feeling for him. The final traces of jealousy in his heart are replaced with acceptance and happiness for his brother and regret at his own infatuation.
"Ye really love him, dinnae ye?" he signs gently, unsure quite where he's going with this.

[Buster]

Turning kol growls... something, in response. though that's not any language the other's would find useful. she seems to be looking at him like he's an idiot...

(("They're behind us, obviously. Have you never been ambushed in a raid? they always try to surround you before they show themselves."))

[Deske]

Colorado smiled as his beloved wished him safety, "I'm a bit of a ways from the front line so I'm sure I'll be fine. It's not like dropping into the hotzone this time around." He sorted his attention to a female Celicans who had walked up with a large gash in her arm. He reached into his medkit and pulled out a roll of gauze and some antiseptic, looking up at her as she spoke. "I guess you could say that, but it's a little more complicated than being brothers. More like clones, I guess," he answered as he wrapped her arm.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Figure so, Sarah signed back. Possibly near as much as 'e do you. She sighed. Af'er 'e wakes, we'll go look 'round this place, aye?
-------------------------------------------
Hannabelle mostly agreed with the shift in 'Captain Cavewoman', her body language and her instincts, shifting her knife into a tight battle grip, ready for use.

[CyberDragon]

"Erm, uh..." the NotJaken said, unsure of things for a moment as he remembered his hat. "Call me Thunderbird! Youngest of the Junior Champions! I think... Rescues a speciality," he added, closing the portal after making sure there was no-one else in there and moving along to the next trapped peoples.

"Heh. I thought I recognized that hat. Well 'Thunderbird,' thank you for all you have done here. You saved a lot of lives." The soldier said before returning in line with the others and boarding the albatross.

"Lighting up the next destination. We have Varanians holding hostages in there." A different building lit up in the NotJaken's vision. Specifically, the third floor was highlighted. "We'll get closer and I'll see if I can get a swarm droid to scout the floor. We'll see if we can remove the hostages without the Varanians noticing, but I have heavy sniper droids in the area in case they notice what we're doing. Ready to move?"

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

"Oh, great," Sana breathed incredulously. "The Varanians have got a MegaPredazord."
"All the different things in the universes and you have that rubbish on vid too" Seena asked, not quite focussing on what she'd just seen.

"That's no giant robot." Hivemind said. "That's their Warlord. That's a Varanian."

Pretty soon, all visuals were cut off, almost at once as if every camera was simultaneously destroyed.

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

"I'm one of the ones who pulled you out of the wreck embedded in the side of a building." June explains, mimicking hr dad's speech mannerisms as best she can since she needs to sound 'in charge'. "As for where your opponent went, I was hoping you could tell me, we're trying to track it."

The celican eyed her suspiciously. "How can you possibly need my help tracking it? It was taller than most of the buildings in this city. And you haven't answered my question. Where. Are. We?" He started sounding angry and on alert. "I know this isn't the hospital because that... monster... stepped on it. And I KNOW Edward there had his arm broken because the bone was sticking out of his arm." He pointed to one of the other Celicans, who was examining his own clearly not broken arm. "No way he would have healed that fast. So I'll ask again: Where are we and what is going on?"

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

Colorado smiled as his beloved wished him safety, "I'm a bit of a ways from the front line so I'm sure I'll be fine. It's not like dropping into the hotzone this time around." He sorted his attention to a female Celicans who had walked up with a large gash in her arm. He reached into his medkit and pulled out a roll of gauze and some antiseptic, looking up at her as she spoke. "I guess you could say that, but it's a little more complicated than being brothers. More like clones, I guess," he answered as he wrapped her arm.

The woman nodded slowly and looked at Colorado with a curious and puzzled expression as he treated her injury. "Clones...? Okay then..."

Two soldiers walked up to Denver helping a third who had a leg sticking out at an odd angle.

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

"We don't have much time to waste on stealth and craftiness," Hannabelle reminded them quietly as they advanced.
"Could always send you out front to draw out the others," Jenny remarked, deliberately keeping pace with Kolt and taking strength from his proximity.
"Sounds almost like a plan," Hanny grunted.

Having no idea what gadgeteer just said, kol guffs and seems like he's about to charge in...

Kolt placed his hand on Kol’s shoulder, trying to hold her back while at the same time make it look like just a friendly gesture to their unseen observers. ”He’s saying to act like we don’t know they’re there until we find the rest of their team.” He said on a private line. ”Otherwise the two that are still out there could take us by surprise.”

Turning kol growls... something, in response. though that's not any language the other's would find useful. she seems to be looking at him like he's an idiot...

(("They're behind us, obviously. Have you never been ambushed in a raid? they always try to surround you before they show themselves."))

Hannabelle mostly agreed with the shift in 'Captain Cavewoman', her body language and her instincts, shifting her knife into a tight battle grip, ready for use.

Most people couldn't understand what Kol was saying. Luckily, because of the data from the translator, Hivemind could understand. And he could respond. (("Kol, you broke your translator. They can't understand you.")) Hivemind said in her native language before he turned to Jenny. "Think you can send out the sound out behind us to check for the rest of them?" he asked Jenny quietly.

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

”Actually I do consider those species people. I’ve served under plenty of them, plus a rhino surgeon saved my life when I was fourteen.” Liz said, before knocking him out with a solid punch to the side of the head. As he fell to the ground, she did the standard “stand with one foot up on the body of a fallen enemy” pose and looked at the other Varians. ”Anyone else wanna take on five people at once?”

"Wait, wha...?" Both the Wyvern and the Shipmaster were confused by what Liz had said, but it didn't matter as Liz's fist connected with the Shipmaster and sent him to the ground.

The guardsmen didn't budge, nor did they make any attempt to obstruct the team in any way. They simply stood there at alert like they had been throughout the fight. The Shipmaster groaned and shifted on the ground. He reached a hand toward his jaw and popped it into place so he could speak. "nngh... I told you... Their orders are to not obstruct you... if you won. You won. Ow... Go. Do what you came here to do."

The Wyvern quickly ran over and picked up the Hive Relay kit. He ran for the door to the Command ship. "While you guys wait, ask him what he meant when he said Celica invited them."

"Huh. This would probably hurt if i had that kind of nerve ending." Kobor comments offhandedly, sounding more curious than upset, as he unwraps one tentacle to check on a two inch deep laceration he received, only really noticing because that limb had gone numb. As he's staring at it a bunch of tiny blue filaments stitch the wound closed from within, though the surface of it is still ragged and bleeding slowly.

"Before I go, does that need to be cauterized?" he asked Kobor. "Hivemind told me about the... unique properties of your blood. My fire breath would do the trick."

[Buster]

there's an enthusiastic shout of "Got it!" from a nearby alcove.

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- - - - - - -

"And just a few seconds too late!" Kobor shouted back jovially.

Unwrapping himself, kobor held out the wounded appendage. "Probably a good idea. even 'stapled' it's still going to be a day or two before it heals." he comments as he watches a pair of maintenance drones attaching antenna like structures to eachother, before trundling toards the command ship and their boarding craft with two more. By now the scene would be repeating itself all across the ship. Every system getting it's own relay.

"You should probably sterilize the deck plating and his shinguards while you're at it."

as they talked, talya had gotten up and was walking over, looking skeletal due to the number of parts she had shed by this point. armor completely gone, her appearance a mess of exposed bio-circuits pressurization mesh and superstructure ribs. "I don't suppose any of you have the proper tools for disposing of a ruptured LOX tank before it-"
BOOM
pausing and sagging somewhat, Talya continues.
"Nevermind... So much for salvaging the booster kit, Hope hivemind doesn't start billing me for parts..."

- - - - - -

"Predator can we get an external view in here?" june comments, a projected image shimmering into existence behind her, "The trail ended where we found you. It just stopping made no sense, so i brought you in here to get answers. as for where 'here' is, this is a simulated environment that i had hoped would keep you three calm. there is no physical 'here'. the four of us are currently aboard Predator, a champion walking, fighting machine... thingy... uh, sorry, i kinda don't know the proper word..."

As she talks the attempt at a calm facade is starting to break, making her sound less like an authority figure, and more like a kid trying to sound like one.

- - - - - -

Kol makes a vaguely frustrates seeming sound, inadvertently giving kolt a face full of icy mist. making no move to revert from her 'ready' stance.

[Neon Icy Wings]

Tatiana walked alongside her comrades, weapons at a casual ready, plasma shotgun floating near her. While she spoke quietly her voice sounded like normal, like a TV with lowered voice, "Just tell me when. If no one gets in the way I might even give this body a test run in endurance." Her eyeless helmet appeared to look around, passing over the shimmers without a hitch, like she didn't she them.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Well, of course," the NotJaken said, trying his best to sound annoyed at the insinuation. "Ready to rock, rumble and rescue," he boasted, deciding there and then that that wasn't going to be his catchphrase.
---------------------------------------------------------
"Can do," Jenny replied quite quietly. Without turning around, she put her hands behind her back and sent out a similar low pulse as Hannabelle watched from the corner of her eye.
--------------------------------------------------------
The double impact of Colorado replying to Seena's communication and Hives' revelation about the Varanian had Sana reeling for a moment. She shook her head and decided priorities. "Can you 'call' someone for me, Cherry," she asked, "One of yours?"
""Depends if I know him," Seena replied.
"His name's Denver," Sana said, "he said he's a Medic so he's probably down there."
Seena hiccuped. "I, er, think I know him," she admitted, trying not to grin. She tried to think of Denver but wasn't sure if she was getting Colorado or the other. "Go on."
"Helloooo, Denver," Sana said, waggling her hands, "It's Sana talking in your brain! Whooo! Just calling you to tell you to get back here safe! You owe me lunch. Or I do you. One or the other. But you need to get back for that, O.K?" She looked at Seena, who was trying not to laugh. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," Seena replied. "Small universes..."
-------------------------------------- A moment later-----------------------------------
"Supose we'd better," Sana replied. "Stay safe."
"Now, how's about we use this power for something useful," Seena asked. "Ensign Seena to Lieutenant Walker. Can you update us on the situation there please, sir?"
-------------------------------------
"First question I was thinking of, fella," Corp replied. "I'm taking you at your honour that you won't cause any problems so we won't constrain you," he told the Shipmaster, "and we don't have enough bendable titanium to hold you anyway. Now," he added, "How do you mean the Ceelicans challenged you?
By what method?"
------------------------------------
"It's looking fully ready," Keeva said from outside the shuttle. "How do you power this thing," she asked, looking up. "This 'beacon' thing?"

[Deske]

A familiar voice picked up on the other end of the line, "So you are taking me up on that offer. Great! You pick, I'll buy. Should we make it a double-date with Seena and hers since- Ah, gotta run, duty calls. See you tonight!" He opened his medkit and pulled out a splint and some compression bandages. As soon as the soldier was set down in front of him he went to work splinting the leg.

-----------

Ulrich looked around the area, ignoring the shimmers as his field of view passed, "Are we going to split them between us or are we going to try going for one at a time?"

[Legotron123]

Kolt calmly wiped the mist off of his visor before looking back at the others. ”Personally, I was thinking we should wait until we’re certain where the others are, then try to get into a position where we can take them out as quickly as possible. That sound good Jen?”He asked on a private line, while he tried to look as bored as possible to their observers.
-
”Yeah, in my dimension, most of the animals that are apparently non-sapient quadrupeds here are, well, sapient bipeds. I mean, Lewis here isn’t just some dog-like alien, he’s an actual dog. A Shepadoodle to be exact.” Liz said, waiting to relieve some of the confusion there seemed to be about what she said. She shifted to sit on the Shipmaster’s stomach, not really caring about the discomfort she might cause him, as she knew he was tough enough to handle it. ”Also, we’ll be continuing this discussion in your cell on the Beacon. You may be right that I need to do more research on your culture to properly debate its values, but don’t think that excuse how you dodged acknowledging most of the points I was trying to make.”
”Wait wh-, oh right. Weird mental thing.” Lewis said, momentarily surprised by Seena’s voice appearing in his head. ”We just beat the guy in charge, and Wyvern is heading off to set up the relays. Also, big leader dude says the Celicans “challenged,” his words not mine, the Varians to invade them. I’m kinda new to this dimension, so can someone tell if it they’d actually be stupid enough to do that?”

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Sounds smart to me, Kolt," Jenny agreed, sending out another pulse behind her, just in case.

[Buster]

"If you ask me challenging this lot sounds about as smart as shutting down the rift canon satelites around the Ghrakkal Exclusion Zone."

[CyberDragon]

"Predator can we get an external view in here?" june comments, a projected image shimmering into existence behind her, "The trail ended where we found you. It just stopping made no sense, so i brought you in here to get answers. as for where 'here' is, this is a simulated environment that i had hoped would keep you three calm. there is no physical 'here'. the four of us are currently aboard Predator, a champion walking, fighting machine... thingy... uh, sorry, i kinda don't know the proper word..."

As she talks the attempt at a calm facade is starting to break, making her sound less like an authority figure, and more like a kid trying to sound like one.

"I'm sorry... What?" the Celican said.

Predator's voice spoke from all around them. "I am W.A.R. 313, codename Predator. I am a Warrior class Hive drone. I was designed with the ability to convert physical objects and entities into digital objects, and vise versa. In order to safely remove you from your position embedded in the wall, I downloaded all three of you and placed you in this digital environment."

The Celican understandably looked freaked out and all three of them seemed to have a million questions. The first, and most important to them, was "Vise Versa means you can reverse it, right? We aren't trapped here, are we?"

"You are not trapped here. As soon as we are in a secure location, I will upload you back into the real world. While you are here, please answer our questions."

"I didn't see where it went. I just remember it picking the tank up. Then we were flying through the air. Then everything just... went dark."

"We saw damage uncharacteristic of anything seen from Varanians before. Signs of ice, fire, and electricity powers, for starters. Did you see what might have caused that damage specifically?"

"No. It came around the corner and hit us first. I didn't even get a good look at it."

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

"Well, of course," the NotJaken said, trying his best to sound annoyed at the insinuation. "Ready to rock, rumble and rescue," he boasted, deciding there and then that that wasn't going to be his catchphrase.

"Right. Scouting now." As he said that, a large swarm of insect-like droids flew past the building. One discretely stuck itself to the window and peered in. Five Varanians had their backs facing the window, facing ten Celicans kneeling and facing the wall. "Sending everyone's locations to you. I'm going to cause a diversion, then you can pull them out."

The swarm diverted course, then rocketed straight towards the window. The glass shook from the impact and the Varanians all turned in surprise and raised their weapons, pointing them at the window.

"Now!" The glass shattered and the swarm entered the room, enveloping the Varanians in a sea of stinging, biting, robotic insects and confusion.

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

"It's looking fully ready," Keeva said from outside the shuttle. "How do you power this thing," she asked, looking up. "This 'beacon' thing?"

"A variety of methods." Hivemind stated. "Nuclear fusion and antimatter reaction are big ones. Cosmic radiation is another nice source of extra energy. People with the Dynamo power who don't want to be champions can make a good living generating power. Pyros have the option as well. A powerful energy generator can reliably power a whole district. I'm happy to pay them whatever they want for their services."

The Sparrow blasted off toward Celica.

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

The double impact of Colorado replying to Seena's communication and Hives' revelation about the Varanian had Sana reeling for a moment. She shook her head and decided priorities. "Can you 'call' someone for me, Cherry," she asked, "One of yours?"
""Depends if I know him," Seena replied.
"His name's Denver," Sana said, "he said he's a Medic so he's probably down there."
Seena hiccuped. "I, er, think I know him," she admitted, trying not to grin. She tried to think of Denver but wasn't sure if she was getting Colorado or the other. "Go on."
"Helloooo, Denver," Sana said, waggling her hands, "It's Sana talking in your brain! Whooo! Just calling you to tell you to get back here safe! You owe me lunch. Or I do you. One or the other. But you need to get back for that, O.K?" She looked at Seena, who was trying not to laugh. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," Seena replied. "Small universes..."
-------------------------------------- A moment later-----------------------------------
"Supose we'd better," Sana replied. "Stay safe."
"Now, how's about we use this power for something useful," Seena asked. "Ensign Seena to Lieutenant Walker. Can you update us on the situation there please, sir?"

Soon Hivemind got some audio from the Steeles. "Tempest. Can you tell me what you see?"

"Absolutely nothing, hive. Nothing but destruction and bodies." Morgan's voice sounded from the communicator. "No sign of the Warlord. I've picked up signs of survivors trapped under the ruins. We need more assistance down here though. I don't think there's a part of this city that hasn't been razed, so there's a lot of ground that needs covering."

"Right... I'll send some people over as soon as possible. Keep in touch."

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

Kol makes a vaguely frustrates seeming sound, inadvertently giving kolt a face full of icy mist. making no move to revert from her 'ready' stance.

("Kol! Pay attention. Your translator is broken. We're trying to be discrete. Best they don't know we're on to them until we're close enough to strike.") Hivemind spoke out loud, directly to Kol, in her native language. A language he knew the enemy forces wouldn't understand, so he didn't bother being too quiet.

Tatiana walked alongside her comrades, weapons at a casual ready, plasma shotgun floating near her. While she spoke quietly her voice sounded like normal, like a TV with lowered voice, "Just tell me when. If no one gets in the way I might even give this body a test run in endurance." Her eyeless helmet appeared to look around, passing over the shimmers without a hitch, like she didn't she them.

"Can do," Jenny replied quite quietly. Without turning around, she put her hands behind her back and sent out a similar low pulse as Hannabelle watched from the corner of her eye.

Sure enough, when Jenny turned the pulse behind them, two more objects started shimmering. One was mere feet behind Hannabelle. A second seemed to be kneeling close to MT-694's leg.

Kolt calmly wiped the mist off of his visor before looking back at the others. ”Personally, I was thinking we should wait until we’re certain where the others are, then try to get into a position where we can take them out as quickly as possible. That sound good Jen?”He asked on a privilege line, while he tried to look as bored as possible to their observers.

"Sounds smart to me, Kolt," Jenny agreed, sending out another pulse behind her, just in case.

"Too late. They're making their move. Pick a target, engage all at once." Hivemind said noting how close the other two enemies were.

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

there's an enthusiastic shout of "Got it!" from a nearby alcove.

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- - - - - - -

"And just a few seconds too late!" Kobor shouted back jovially.

Unwrapping himself, kobor held out the wounded appendage. "Probably a good idea. even 'stapled' it's still going to be a day or two before it heals." he comments as he watches a pair of maintenance drones attaching antenna like structures to eachother, before trundling toards the command ship and their boarding craft with two more. By now the scene would be repeating itself all across the ship. Every system getting it's own relay.

"You should probably sterilize the deck plating and his shinguards while you're at it."

as they talked, talya had gotten up and was walking over, looking skeletal due to the number of parts she had shed by this point. armor completely gone, her appearance a mess of exposed bio-circuits pressurization mesh and superstructure ribs. "I don't suppose any of you have the proper tools for disposing of a ruptured LOX tank before it-"
BOOM
pausing and sagging somewhat, Talya continues.
"Nevermind... So much for salvaging the booster kit, Hope hivemind doesn't start billing me for parts..."

The Wyvern nodded and spat some of the flaming liquid into his hand. He held it so the flames burned the wound, but the sticky fluid didn't get on Kobor. Wyvern rubbed the flames between his hands so both of them were burning, then he went to sterilize anything he found blood or fluids on.

Once he was done, he went inside the Command ship. He met no resistance from the Varanians inside as he made his way to the communications panel and started installing the relay on it.

Hivemind meanwhile managed to establish a connection to one of the relays Talya printed.
"You have insurance, Talya. Loss of armor or equipment in the line of duty is covered." Hivemind spoke over the intercom in the room.

"First question I was thinking of, fella," Corp replied. "I'm taking you at your honour that you won't cause any problems so we won't constrain you," he told the Shipmaster, "and we don't have enough bendable titanium to hold you anyway. Now," he added, "How do you mean the Ceelicans challenged you?
By what method?"

"It means exactly what it sounded like." The Shipmaster stated. "Our fleet was en route to a planet we had marked for colonization. Plenty of prey there, and none of it 'sentient'. I personally picked it because I did not wish for us to run afoul of the Hive, the one force in existence that poses a legitimate threat to our fleet. On our way we received a direct call from someone claiming to be the acting Celican president. She bragged of her people's combat prowess and military might. Then, she issued the challenge. She wished for us to come and prove our strength against their own." He shook his head. "Our Warlord craves battle more so than most. I have been trying lately to be the more level headed voice of reason so that he isn't targeted by the Champions, but there was no way I could stop him from accepting such an invitation."

”Yeah, in my dimension, most of the animals that are apparently non-sapient quadrupeds here are, well, sapient bipeds. I mean, Lewis here isn’t just some dog-like alien, he’s an actual dog. A Shepadoodle to be exact.” Liz said, waiting to relieve some of the confusion there seemed to be about what she said. She shifted to sit on the Shipmaster’s stomach, not really caring about the discomfort she might cause him, as she knew he was tough enough to handle it. ”Also, we’ll be continuing this discussion in your cell on the Beacon. You may be right that I need to do more research on your culture to properly debate its values, but don’t think that excuse how you dodged acknowledging most of the points I was trying to make.”
”Wait wh-, oh right. Weird mental thing.” Lewis said, momentarily surprised by Seena’s voice appearing in his head. ”We just beat the guy in charge, and Wyvern is heading off to set up the relays. Also, big leader dude says the Celicans “challenged,” his words not mine, the Varians to invade them. I’m kinda new to this dimension, so can someone tell if it they’d actually be stupid enough to do that?”

"rrr... What did I fail to acknowledge?" the Shipmaster growled from beneath Liz.

"Perhaps..." Hivemind interrupted. "If enough money or power were involved." He said, starting to put a few things together. "Like... perhaps if a weapon company was struggling to sell their overpowered weapons. If there were an invasion from a group of aliens who were resistant to conventional weapons and their weapons were the only ones that worked, I imagine it would create a massive demand. Possibly even a monopoly over the Celican weapons industry."

He said this to both the group at the carrier as well as to Sana and Seena.

"If you ask me challenging this lot sounds about as smart as shutting down the rift canon satelites around the Ghrakkal Exclusion Zone."

"Oh, this was definitely a dumb move. It might make shutting those canons down look like a flat out genius plan. In the span of the last ten minutes their Warlord apparently single-handedly crushed the only city on the planet that was effectively pushing the Varanian forces back." Hivemind said.

"That is why we follow him. That is why he is able to hold so many under his command despite his..." He cringed, as if afraid to say the next part. "His lack of honor and disregard for tradition. It's fear that binds us to him. We fear his strength even more than we respect it. Take him down, Champions. And don't tell him what happened here. He will eat me alive, and I mean that literally. Then my men will have no one to protect them from his raging fits and ravenous greed."

[Buster]

("Wait, but you... Your Vori is terrible, it's-") Kol starts, stopping short when the two behind them are 'painted' and hivemind starts barking orders.

("We'll finish this later.") She calls over her shoulder as she sprints at the two ahead trying to close enough distance to get a shot off.

- - - - - -

"So, i'm guessing 'nuke it from orbit' is still off the table? Cause it'd probably have a smaller death toll than the other way from the sounds of things." Talya quips sarcastically when hivemind starts describing what the ship master has gotten up to.

Kobor meanwhile has taken to retrieving their weaponry and returning it to the boarding craft.

[Welsh Halfwit]

The NotJaken (and Jaken) grunted. This was going to be a little more tricky than normal as he had to open the portal in a different direction. Rather than make a hole he needed to put the portal in front of his people so they could see it and have the exit behind them or what would be the point? He focused hard and formed the portal, hearing the sounds of violence as Hive did whatever he did to distract the bad guys. He poked his head through. "This is a rescue," he called, "stop sitting there!"
---------------------------------------------
"For what it's worth, fella," Corp told the shipmaster after hearing Hive, "you don't have the monopoly on mad Generals. Would you be prepared to tell that again at her trial?"
---------------------------------------------
Hannabelle spun down low, her initial arc taking her away from the shimmer before bringing her back around behind it, blade ready to strike at what she presumed to be the leg as Jenny swept her gun up and fired. "Kolt," she said, "you and Ulrich and Tat can take them in front, yeah?"
--------------------------------------------

[Hlaoroo]

Figure so, Sarah signed back. Possibly near as much as 'e do you. She sighed. Af'er 'e wakes, we'll go look 'round this place, aye?

"Ah thought ye said we 'ad tae stay 'ere?" Conall points out.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Place seems safe 'nough, Sarah signed, Plus ah don' wan' yer to see this as a cell, Connal, she added, before smiling slightly. we'd 'ave t' leave the room sometime.

[Legotron123]

Kolt gave a quick nod by grabbing the two stealth troopers, pinning what he hoped were their arms to their sides and slamming them back and forth between the floor and the ceiling.
-
”Well, I have to do some research to confirm my suspicions on your first two points, i.e. that they’re a bunch of malarkey, but I don’t need any research to know your third point was just blatant deflecting.” Liz said, admiring her new axe as she did so. ”Because the point I was trying to make wasn’t “these people are completely innocent and you are evil for invading them.” My point was “if you actually cared about being honorable, your invasions would have similar rules to that “honorable challenge” we just beat you in.” Instead you do the exact opposite of everything that was in that challenge. You give them no warning, you attack when they’re at their most vulnerable, and you’ll often attack planets that can’t stand up to your military power. It’s honestly kinda pathetic that you view these invasions as proof of your strength when you go out of your way to stack the deck so your strength is never actually challenged.”
Lewis facepalmed once he realized what was going on. ”Are you telling me that the reason the Varans are attacking, the reason that dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent people are going to die, is because a weapons company was upset no one wanted their unnecessarily powerful weapons?!?” He groaned with annoyance. ”I hate the military-industrial complex.”

[CyberDragon]

"So, i'm guessing 'nuke it from orbit' is still off the table? Cause it'd probably have a smaller death toll than the other way from the sounds of things." Talya quips sarcastically when hivemind starts describing what the ship master has gotten up to.

Kobor meanwhile has taken to retrieving their weaponry and returning it to the boarding craft.

"It is absolutely off the table." Hivemind stated. "In fact, the Beacon doesn't even have nuclear weaponry. There is nothing a nuke can do that a hyper or world tier Champion can't do with more precision and less collateral damage." he explained. "The problem is that we can't pin down the Warlord's location. One minute he'll be burning down a city, and the next minute he's sited in ocean shallows breaking ships in half on the other side of the planet. Tempest would have him beaten by now if we could figure out where he's going. So, Shipmaster, would you know of how he accomplishes this?" Hivemind asked.

The Shipmaster was silent for a while. He looked at his guardsmen, considering for a moment. Then he responded. "Our Warlord has discovered a way to steal powers from his prey. I don't know how he does it, but... I do remember a few of them. One was a human, barely an adult but consumed with anger. He attacked the command ship directly, all on his own. I respected his courage and bloodlust, but our Warlord..." He went silent for a moment. "The boy got on board our ship because he could generate portals. Now our Warlord can do the same"

"Portals. That explains a lot. Do you know what other powers he may have?"

The Shipmaster closed his eyes and thought. "It is difficult to remember them all." he admitted. "I lost count after a while. I recall..." He thought for a couple of minutes. "There was one I remember. Another human, female, older. She moved by levitating and attacked by throwing things without touching them. Then a small team of his people..." He pointed to the ship where the Wyvern had entered. "Came aboard on what they said was a diplomatic mission. It did not go well for them. I am unaware what our Warlord may have gained from them, but judging by this fight, I am guessing it was likely the ability to breath fire. The only other one I am aware of is that I noticed he became more agile after the excessive consumption of Corytophians. He has hinted to me that there were more who have challenged him, but I am not aware of who they were or what powers he may have gained from them."

"For what it's worth, fella," Corp told the shipmaster after hearing Hive, "you don't have the monopoly on mad Generals. Would you be prepared to tell that again at her trial?"

"He has gone well beyond "mad," mouse person." The Varanian stated, looking at Corp.

”Well, I have to do some research to confirm my suspicions on your first two points, i.e. that they’re a bunch of malarkey, but I don’t need any research to know your third point was just blatant deflecting.” Liz said, admiring her new axe as she did so. ”Because the point I was trying to make wasn’t “these people are completely innocent and you are evil for invading them.” My point was “if you actually cared about being honorable, your invasions would have similar rules to that “honorable challenge” we just beat you in.” Instead you do the exact opposite of everything that was in that challenge. You give them no warning, you attack when they’re at their most vulnerable, and you’ll often attack planets that can’t stand up to your military power. It’s honestly kinda pathetic that you view these invasions as proof of your strength when you go out of your way to stack the deck so your strength is never actually challenged.”

"YOU DARE ACCUSE ME OF DECEPTION!" the Shipmaster raged, finding the strength and shoving Liz off of his stomach. He sat up. "Lies are for cowards and weaklings. I spoke the truth. And were you not paying attention when I said there were rules to this fight with Celica? That there are rules to any challenge-fight? No spies, no 'planet-busters', no preying upon your opponent, no calling for outside help or bringing uninvolved parties into the fight, among other rules. Just a direct fight. Our combat strength against theirs. Should we win, how they fought decides their fate." He looked over at a security camera he knew Hivemind was watching through. "If you care about these creatures, these Celicans, then stop our Warlord. They violated the rules of the challenge, which turned the fight into a hunt. The Challenge is over, and they lost shamefully. Stop our Warlord, or the Celicans will be prey."

Lewis facepalmed once he realized what was going on. ”Are you telling me that the reason the Varans are attacking, the reason that dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent people are going to die, is because a weapons company was upset no one wanted their unnecessarily powerful weapons?!?” He groaned with annoyance. ”I hate the military-industrial complex.”

"That's the theory, and it's unfortunately common in Celican business and politics." Hivemind said to Lewis.

"Got it! The relay has been installed!" The Wyvern poked his head through the door to make the announcement.

"Thank you, Wyvern."

[Establishing connection...]
[Connection with the Hive established]
[Admin-level access granted]

"I'm in." Hivemind said as he started to spread his mind out to every ship under the command vessel's control, capturing dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of ships. He started with the supercarriers, then spread from them to the standard carriers and larger ships, then to the smaller ships and fighters. Soon he had half of the ships under his command.

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

"Sana, Seena, establish connection immediately with the Lappineans, the IOC, and the Canines. Tell them I've made a hole. Tell them not to engage any Varanian ships. They're my ships now."

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

The NotJaken (and Jaken) grunted. This was going to be a little more tricky than normal as he had to open the portal in a different direction. Rather than make a hole he needed to put the portal in front of his people so they could see it and have the exit behind them or what would be the point? He focused hard and formed the portal, hearing the sounds of violence as Hive did whatever he did to distract the bad guys. He poked his head through. "This is a rescue," he called, "stop sitting there!"

The celicans wasted no time running for the portal and to the Albatross. Once the portal was closed, the swarm droids left the confused and badly stunned.

"I'm trying to locate the next group of civilians. How are you holding up, Jaken?"

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

("Wait, but you... Your Vori is terrible, it's-") Kol starts, stopping short when the two behind them are 'painted' and hivemind starts barking orders.

("We'll finish this later.") She calls over her shoulder as she sprints at the two ahead trying to close enough distance to get a shot off.

Hannabelle spun down low, her initial arc taking her away from the shimmer before bringing her back around behind it, blade ready to strike at what she presumed to be the leg as Jenny swept her gun up and fired. "Kolt," she said, "you and Ulrich and Tat can take them in front, yeah?"

Hannabelle's surprise attack caught the enemy off guard, and the blade managed to draw a small amount of blood before the Special Forces unit vanished. The two in front noticed Kol running for them since she's not exactly fast or subtle in her movements. They likewise vanished.

Kolt gave a quick nod by grabbing the two stealth troopers, pinning what he hoped were their arms to their sides and slamming them back and forth between the floor and the ceiling.

Because the Special Forces troops have vanished and are apparently avoiding Jenny's sound, having caught on to what she was doing, Kolt's attempt ended up grabbing nothing.

(I told you not to auto hit.)

"Chris, I have an idea." MT said in Chris's head before scanning the ceiling. Then he found what he was looking for. Sprinklers, and a smoke detector. He aimed just below the smoke detector and fired his flamethrower under it. The alarm triggered and the sprinklers went off, soaking everything in water.

Including the stealth troopers, who's movements were much easier to see now that they were displacing the water they moved through.

Suddenly MT's leg burst into sparks. Apparently one of the troopers had attached a superheated razor wire to his leg and it was trying to cut through. MT simply reached down and cut the wire, unaffected by the heat.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Did he kill the captured Humans," Corp asked, "or is he holding them on his ship?" He looked to the others. "If they're on board that ship we might be able to weaken the Warlord by rescuing them."
-------------------------------------------
"Oh, fine, fine," the NotJaken claimed. He could probably keep this up some time longer. Non linear portals like that tended to take more out of him but he'd been fed these last few days so he'd been building up energy - even if he didn't know he'd been doing that. "I'd rather be fighting the enemy than hiding but I'd just get in the way I think?"
--------------------------------------------
"I'll get on to sending the messages," Sana claimed, sending the messages as she talked about sending the messages.
"Do you often do that," Seena asked.
"Do I often do what?"
"Type two messages at once whilst talking."
"Yeah, saves time." She sent the next message. "I'd have done three with a prehensile tail."
-------------------------------------------
Hannabelle growled and readied a combat stance. "At least they bleed," she admitted, glancing at the blood on her knife before looking for telltale droplets from the wound she'd given her attacker as Jenny pulled her confiscated gun to bear on the situation. "Tell Cavewoman to stay put, Hive," she advised directly. "They'll come in close to take out the range weapons."
"Especially if we make that the 'easier' option," Jenny muttered. "Ulrich, put a shield in front of us, yeah?" She started firing. "Should have a few shots before they twig," she muttered, mostly to herself.

[CyberDragon]

"Did he kill the captured Humans," Corp asked, "or is he holding them on his ship?" He looked to the others. "If they're on board that ship we might be able to weaken the Warlord by rescuing them."

The Shipmaster shook his head. "They are beyond saving." he said. "You will never find them. Nor their bodies. Not even their bones." He looked at Corp, actual regret seemed to show in his eyes. "Perhaps you did not understand when I said he gets his powers from his prey? I did not use that term without reason. I told you he was beyond mad."

----------

"Oh, fine, fine," the NotJaken claimed. He could probably keep this up some time longer. Non linear portals like that tended to take more out of him but he'd been fed these last few days so he'd been building up energy - even if he didn't know he'd been doing that. "I'd rather be fighting the enemy than hiding but I'd just get in the way I think?"

"The evacuation missions are even more important than the combat ones. Especially if the Warlord shows up. We can't have our world-tier supers worried about knocking down buildings with people in them while their trying to stop the invasion." Hivemind said. "Now... That building there." He lit up a building that had a collapsed section. "There are people trapped behind debris. I'll try to get some swarm bots to scout it out, but you might have to open multiple portals."

----------

"I'll get on to sending the messages," Sana claimed, sending the messages as she talked about sending the messages.
"Do you often do that," Seena asked.
"Do I often do what?"
"Type two messages at once whilst talking."
"Yeah, saves time." She sent the next message. "I'd have done three with a prehensile tail."

Hivemind waited for a response from the three.

----------

Hannabelle growled and readied a combat stance. "At least they bleed," she admitted, glancing at the blood on her knife before looking for telltale droplets from the wound she'd given her attacker as Jenny pulled her confiscated gun to bear on the situation. "Tell Cavewoman to stay put, Hive," she advised directly. "They'll come in close to take out the range weapons."
"Especially if we make that the 'easier' option," Jenny muttered. "Ulrich, put a shield in front of us, yeah?" She started firing. "Should have a few shots before they twig," she muttered, mostly to herself.

("Kol, stay with the group. Let them come to us.") Hivemind relayed to their team member.

[Deske]

There was a slight blue shimmer as Ulrich brought up shields around the team. He snapped his fingers and a blue circle of light began expanding from where he was standing, wrapping its way around his teammates and heading towards the Varanian scouts as a sort of sonar wave, if it encountered them it would place a glowing circle around their person, further revealing their location. He glanced over at Tatiana and pulled out his cryo-rifle, "Ready when you are." He picked the weapon up to his eye and zeroed in on one of the hunters as best he could, pulling the trigger when he was sure he had a shot lined up.

---------

We'll have a go at them with the amber shots first, should do a good job of keeping them still, Chris said to MT.

---------

As he finished up, and another Celican came over with what looked like a dislocated arm, Denver called over to one of the other doctors, "Pierce, help me with this one. Hold him still while I reset this."

[Neon Icy Wings]

"Time to multitask." Tatiana began firing two of her guns at the two further away, the shotgun at one and electricity at another, all the while charging her plasma sniper for heavy impact. While her sniper charged she let it float within her telekinetic grip and sent a heavy punch of kinetic energy at the stealth unit her shotgun was covering. "Can't go for my super heavy strikes in here..."

[Hlaoroo]

Place seems safe 'nough, Sarah signed, Plus ah don' wan' yer to see this as a cell, Connal, she added, before smiling slightly. we'd 'ave t' leave the room sometime.

"Hmm. okay. May'aps we shuid find a shootin' range sae ye can teach Cailean haow tae use tha' gun o' his." Conall suggests.

[Legotron123]

Kolt growled as he sent two forcefield tendrils out towards the two soldiers he missed with his first attack, trying to grab them before they got away.
-
Something inside Liz snapped when the Shipmaster pushed her off him, and she tackled him to the ground. ”You can not be this THICK!!!” She said as she started wailing on him. ”You can’t think really think that doing things differently on one or two planets makes up for what you do on all the others!! You eat people!!! You treat them like objects just because they don’t meet your ridiculous standards for strength and power!!! I’ve got one of your soldiers tied up in our ship, who says that he wasn’t even “allowed” a name!!! You can’t act like occasionally adding rules to your slaughter fest makes up for all that!!!” She kept punching him, knocking his head back and forth. ”Or maybe that’s how you justify it. That’s how you’re okay with massacring millions. Because every once in a while, on a whim, if the moods right, if you think it might be fun, you actually treat these things like the “honorable challenges” you say they are.” She raised her arms over her head, about to bring them down in one final blow, when suddenly she stopped. She slowly lowered her arms down, realization and horror crossing her face as she saw the blood on her knuckles. ”I.... what? Why did I........... This isn’t me.” She said before shifting back to her human form, folding her knees up to her chest as she muttered that last sentence over and over.
Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her, as Lewis pulled her into a big hug. He didn’t know what just happened, but his mother was upset and that’s all that mattered. ”It’s okay Mom. I’m here for you.” He said, silently sending a request to Hivemind for any materials he had on the potential mental affects of shapeshifting.

[Buster]

("COWARDS!")
Snarling, angrily, Kol glanced around to no avail as she tries to scent or spot a target. after a moment she turns back to the group...

and noticed a pipe with little doodads on it on the ceiling...

a wet floor will show where someone is standing, even if they can't be seen...

hauling back she's about to throw it when the sprinklers go off, apparently someone else having a similar idea. Spotting s shimmer of rebounding droplets nearby, she takes a potshot at it with the scatergun and moves in.

- - - - - - - -

"So, nobody wants to tell her her entire argument is based on a flawed assumption?" Talya asksCorp and wyvern off to the side, genuinely surprised nobody's stepping in before Liz runs out of steam and reverts, not getting a response, she adds "You know, cause she's mixing up the definitions of 'moral' and 'honorable', and realistically shouldn't be assuming her definition of either to be universal anyway. Nobody? seriously?"

having returned after having stowed their gear, and listening to the whole thing via talya, kobor wiped a tentacle through some of the blood before sticking it in his beak. a moment later he speaks up.
"If he gets upgrades by feeding, Maybe he'd be interested in being able to mutate his anatomy at will? i guarantee he wont like what comes with it." Kobor chimes in, quickly growing what superficially resemble Vanarian scales along his back (they're just for show, an actual mutation would take days, and require food) in demonstration, "Talya has files on a serum we use to terminate rogue colonies. Give him a dose early enough and he'll only have crippling irreparable nerve damage, not be an empty husk."

"You can't be serious."

"Tal, i'm ninteen, physically anyway. You and i both know this host only has a few months left at most. probably shorter given how much abuse it's gotten lately. I'm due for a change. If i leave enough in it to keep it going as bait, and one of them doses the big guy just after the paralysis kicks in but before it goes any further, it'll take the fight out of him for good without technical breaking the boss's or the hiveworld's rules."

"and spiting yourself like that would guarantee your memories would reset."

"Do you have a better idea? cause after that spiel about copied powers i'm starting to doubt the icequeen can actually take him."

- - - - - - - -

"So... what then. it flew?" june sounds confused and is just grasping at straws.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Aye," Sarah agreed, "That's sure'n a belter idea," she mouthed, signing the word 'good" in place of belta. Sure'n yer reet 'wake? {{Right}}
----------------------------------------------
"There's a rule in situations like this, Talya," Corp said quietly as he took the weapons off a Varanian, "Don't argue with the twelve foot tall killing machine unless you have to. You good to finish this, Liz?" he asked bluntly. We need you." He listened as best he could to Kobor and Talya. "At the moment I'd be more open to an orbital strike than encountering him directly. If we DO, we'd better not make it anyone with serious powers." He mused. "I wonder if Hive has a professional Leech type?"
---------------------------------------------
Sana noted and acknowledged the incoming signals from the Canines and the IOC. She had a feeling the Lappineans were already coming and the message came through about a moment before their ships arrived.
--------------------------------------------
Jenny fired again.
-------------------------------------------
"Good thing I got good at running," the NotJaken said before pausing. "That's not a good thing when they're after you," he admitted, "but I'm after them now(!)" He continued apace, his controlling influence still wondering if there was any chance of engaging the enemy. Just one, of course. He wasn't silly.

[Buster]

"Right, you wouldn't know what he's..." Talya comments, focusing on Corp for a moment "Kobor can only do that because he's parasitically inhabiting a host body. He's talking about tricking the warlord into self infection, and then 'curing' him early enough that there's still a host mind left to save. It's been done before, but the infected came out the other side in a state akin to the advanced stages of Multiple Sclerosis or Cerebral Palsy. "

[CyberDragon]

"So... what then. it flew?" june sounds confused and is just grasping at straws.

"Hivemind may know something we do not. I will attempt to contact him."

Pretty soon, Hivemind's voice sounded. "Predator. I'm glad you found June. What are you contacting me about?"

"We were following a trail of destruction. The trail of destruction ended with no sign of what caused it. We were wondering if you could provide some insight into this."

"This has popped up a lot lately. It seems the Warlord has the ability to generate portals. Predator, under absolutely no circumstances whatsoever should June go anywhere near the Warlord. Apparently he has the ability to steal powers."

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

Sana noted and acknowledged the incoming signals from the Canines and the IOC. She had a feeling the Lappineans were already coming and the message came through about a moment before their ships arrived.

Hivemind moved the Varanian ships out of the way as his influence spread even further to even more of the ships.

"Contact the vice president again if you can. We have some new developments to let her know about."

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

"Good thing I got good at running," the NotJaken said before pausing. "That's not a good thing when they're after you," he admitted, "but I'm after them now(!)" He continued apace, his controlling influence still wondering if there was any chance of engaging the enemy. Just one, of course. He wasn't silly.

Hivemind sent some swarm droids into the building to stabilize the structure and scout out the civilian locations. Soon their positions lit up in NotJaken's vision.

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

Something inside Liz snapped when the Shipmaster pushed her off him, and she tackled him to the ground. ”You can not be this THICK!!!” She said as she started wailing on him. ”You can’t think really think that doing things differently on one or two planets makes up for what you do on all the others!! You eat people!!! You treat them like objects just because they don’t meet your ridiculous standards for strength and power!!! I’ve got one of your soldiers tied up in our ship, who says that he wasn’t even “allowed” a name!!! You can’t act like occasionally adding rules to your slaughter fest makes up for all that!!!” She kept punching him, knocking his head back and forth. ”Or maybe that’s how you justify it. That’s how you’re okay with massacring millions. Because every once in a while, on a whim, if the moods right, if you think it might be fun, you actually treat these things like the “honorable challenges” you say they are.” She raised her arms over her head, about to bring them down in one final blow, when suddenly she stopped. She slowly lowered her arms down, realization and horror crossing her face as she saw the blood on her knuckles. ”I.... what? Why did I........... This isn’t me.” She said before shifting back to her human form, folding her knees up to her chest as she muttered that last sentence over and over.
Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her, as Lewis pulled her into a big hug. He didn’t know what just happened, but his mother was upset and that’s all that mattered. ”It’s okay Mom. I’m here for you.” He said, silently sending a request to Hivemind for any materials he had on the potential mental affects of shapeshifting.

The Shipmaster wasn't moving. Wyvern rushed over to check on him.

Hivemind sent a response back to Lewis. E-books on the side effects of different powers were among them. Recorded side effects for shapeshifters including changes of temperment were in chapter 248. Good thing the table of contents had links to the pages.

"So, nobody wants to tell her her entire argument is based on a flawed assumption?" Talya asksCorp and wyvern off to the side, genuinely surprised nobody's stepping in before Liz runs out of steam and reverts, not getting a response, she adds "You know, cause she's mixing up the definitions of 'moral' and 'honorable', and realistically shouldn't be assuming her definition of either to be universal anyway. Nobody? seriously?"

"Not a good time, Talya." Wyvern said as he checked the Shipmaster's vitals.

having returned after having stowed their gear, and listening to the whole thing via talya, kobor wiped a tentacle through some of the blood before sticking it in his beak. a moment later he speaks up.
"If he gets upgrades by feeding, Maybe he'd be interested in being able to mutate his anatomy at will? i guarantee he wont like what comes with it." Kobor chimes in, quickly growing what superficially resemble Vanarian scales along his back (they're just for show, an actual mutation would take days, and require food) in demonstration, "Talya has files on a serum we use to terminate rogue colonies. Give him a dose early enough and he'll only have crippling irreparable nerve damage, not be an empty husk."

"You can't be serious."

"Tal, i'm ninteen, physically anyway. You and i both know this host only has a few months left at most. probably shorter given how much abuse it's gotten lately. I'm due for a change. If i leave enough in it to keep it going as bait, and one of them doses the big guy just after the paralysis kicks in but before it goes any further, it'll take the fight out of him for good without technical breaking the boss's or the hiveworld's rules."

"and spiting yourself like that would guarantee your memories would reset."

"Do you have a better idea? cause after that spiel about copied powers i'm starting to doubt the icequeen can actually take him."

"There's a rule in situations like this, Talya," Corp said quietly as he took the weapons off a Varanian, "Don't argue with the twelve foot tall killing machine unless you have to. You good to finish this, Liz?" he asked bluntly. We need you." He listened as best he could to Kobor and Talya. "At the moment I'd be more open to an orbital strike than encountering him directly. If we DO, we'd better not make it anyone with serious powers." He mused. "I wonder if Hive has a professional Leech type?"

"Tempest might not be able to if the Warlord can resist her blood manipulation. Titan though... Titan is different. If Tempest is a glass cannon, Titan is a steel one. Problem is finding them. Titan's transponder went dark when they were hit with a cruiser beam." Hivemind considered what Kobor said for a moment. "That would either be the best idea or the worst. We don't know if he's developed an immunity to infection, or even if Varanians can be infected by Kaal. If the infection fails, we are left with a walking disaster that can change it's body at will. It's best to let one of our top tier Champions handle it."

Hivemind turned his attention to Wyvern and the Shipmaster. "How is he?"

"His neck is broken, his breathing is dangerously shallow. We need to get him to the Beacon, now." The Wyvern walked over to Liz's broken armor, not looking at the otheres, and pulled her stasis trigger off of it. He hurried over to the Shipmaster and placed the trigger on the Varanian's armor. It went off immediately and the Shipmaster froze in place like a statue. "I need help." Wyvern stated, moving towards the Varanian's head. He lifted his side. "Someone get his legs."

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

There was a slight blue shimmer as Ulrich brought up shields around the team. He snapped his fingers and a blue circle of light began expanding from where he was standing, wrapping its way around his teammates and heading towards the Varanian scouts as a sort of sonar wave, if it encountered them it would place a glowing circle around their person, further revealing their location. He glanced over at Tatiana and pulled out his cryo-rifle, "Ready when you are." He picked the weapon up to his eye and zeroed in on one of the hunters as best he could, pulling the trigger when he was sure he had a shot lined up.

---------

We'll have a go at them with the amber shots first, should do a good job of keeping them still, Chris said to MT.

MT took aim, aided by both the water and by Ulrich's targeting technique. He opened fire with his chain-gun loaded with the amber shots. He managed to glue one of them to the floor, and coat a different one completely in the amber substance. Ulrich's cryo blast hit the glued special forces troop, freezing them in a sort of cryo-hibernation.

"Time to multitask." Tatiana began firing two of her guns at the two further away, the shotgun at one and electricity at another, all the while charging her plasma sniper for heavy impact. While her sniper charged she let it float within her telekinetic grip and sent a heavy punch of kinetic energy at the stealth unit her shotgun was covering. "Can't go for my super heavy strikes in here..."

The Special Forces troop bolted out of the way, dodging the strike. These guys are very fast.

Kolt growled as he sent two forcefield tendrils out towards the two soldiers he missed with his first attack, trying to grab them before they got away.

One of the soldiers slid under the tendril after him, but his partner was grabbed.

("COWARDS!")
Snarling, angrily, Kol glanced around to no avail as she tries to scent or spot a target. after a moment she turns back to the group...

and noticed a pipe with little doodads on it on the ceiling...

a wet floor will show where someone is standing, even if they can't be seen...

hauling back she's about to throw it when the sprinklers go off, apparently someone else having a similar idea. Spotting s shimmer of rebounding droplets nearby, she takes a potshot at it with the scatergun and moves in.

There was a hiss of pain as the soldier fell to the ground, grazed by the shot.

The soldiers were visible now, and Hivemind noticed they weren't quite Varanians. They were taller than humans, but too short to be Varanians. They stood on Digitigrade legs and had very small frills like Corytophians.

"They're hybrids." Gadgeteer said. "Half Varanian, half Corytophian. Somewhat surprised they weren't simply killed the moment they hatched. Then again, putting them in a Special Forces Unit is probably considered a method of execution."

[Buster]

"mutation rate is proportional to body mass. i'm half a ton and it would take me 36 hours and a full meal to fully incorporate vanarian DNA into my anatomy. without her Gift, June should have taken twelve to get the point of being able to walk. How big is he?"

- - - - -

Kol isn't waiting for her opponent to try and get up, positioning the power axe so the blade is milimetres short of his neck while he's still on the ground prone, the end of the handle almost pressing on his throat with a blade to either side. her posture making it clear she'll swing if he tries to get up or go for his weapon. meanwhile she's got the scattergun still balanced on her shoulder blind-firing in the general direction of the second target ahead of the team, and her other back arm reaching down to confiscate another firearm.

it's not a perfect pin, his hands are free, but she's hoping intimidation will be enough to cloud his judgement and make him miss that.

("Yeild.")

- - - - -

"Can i go back to the ship now?" june wimpers, sorry she asked what they were fighting.

[Legotron123]

”Huh. Neat.” Kolt said, before lifting the hybrid he grabbed into the air so he wouldn’t try to grab anything. ”Now where?
-
Liz and Lewis climbed off of the Shipmaster, Lewis grabbing the axe and putting it in his hammerspace pocket before the two of them each grabbed one of the Varanians legs. ”Ready!” He said, trying to inject some cheer into his voice.
Liz was silent, trying to ignore the fact that she may have just murdered someone and focus on the lifting.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Let's get this finished and move on," Corp stated, trying not to feel Liz's mood. "Nothing else you could have done, Captain. And, if you think there was? Stow it. It does you no good."
----------------------------------------
"Hmm," The NotJaken grunted intently as it ran. "Helping more of my people run seems... odd." It vaulted a small wall and made for the entrance that was marked by weapons fire.
---------------------------------------
<<You have something for me,>> the voice of the acting president said as Sana made faces at the radio. She had 'problems' with the government related to the events that got her into the IOC in the first place.
---------------------------------------
As Jenny kept up her guns up for any second wave, , Hannabelle tutted. "Great. None for me... Next time."

[CyberDragon]

"Can i go back to the ship now?" june wimpers, sorry she asked what they were fighting.

"I can upload you to the Beacon for the restoration of your physical form. Are you sure you wish to return?"

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

"Hmm," The NotJaken grunted intently as it ran. "Helping more of my people run seems... odd." It vaulted a small wall and made for the entrance that was marked by weapons fire.

"I think I understand what you mean." Hivemind said as he waited for the NotJaken to free the people from the rubble.

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

<<You have something for me,>> the voice of the acting president said as Sana made faces at the radio. She had 'problems' with the government related to the events that got her into the IOC in the first place.

"Yes Ma'am." Hivemind said. "I have captured the enemy fleet through the use of a Hive Relay. Their ships are now mine. We have defeated their Shipmaster and I had hoped to bring him in for questioning about the reason behind this attack, but unfortunately he sustained a mortal injury before we could interrogate him on such matters." Hivemind lied. He didn't want to tip her off that he knew what she had done, and he wanted her guard down. "Our team is in the location we discussed earlier. They are ready to escort you and anyone with you to safety. I have a private Sparrow ready to take you and your top people wherever you need to be. After you are safe it is simply a matter of finding their Warlord and ending this battle once and for all. Oh, and one more thing. Your soldiers must under no circumstances engage the Warlord. We did discover he has the ability to steal powers, and has done so on multiple occasions. Confirmed powers include portal generation, telepathy, flight, agility, and the ability to breath fire. Other suspected powers include something to do with ice, lightning, and plasma. He is a walking five-story monster packed with powers we don't even know about. He is out of the league of all but the most powerful champions. Anyone who engages with him will die. Do not waste your troops. Let us handle it." Hivemind warned. "Now, like I said, the team is waiting for you at the location we discussed."

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

"mutation rate is proportional to body mass. i'm half a ton and it would take me 36 hours and a full meal to fully incorporate vanarian DNA into my anatomy. without her Gift, June should have taken twelve to get the point of being able to walk. How big is he?"

"Reports range a lot, and it's hard to trust measurements like "big as the world" or "larger than life" screamed from shocked soldiers. More reliable estimates tend to range from forty to fifty feet tall and made of solid muscle." Hivemind answered before using some of the repair drones to help lift the Shipmaster.

Liz and Lewis climbed off of the Shipmaster, Lewis grabbing the axe and putting it in his hammerspace pocket before the two of them each grabbed one of the Varanians legs. ”Ready!” He said, trying to inject some cheer into his voice.
Liz was silent, trying to ignore the fact that she may have just murdered someone and focus on the lifting.

"Let's get this finished and move on," Corp stated, trying not to feel Liz's mood. "Nothing else you could have done, Captain. And, if you think there was? Stow it. It does you no good."

Even with all of those people helping, the Shipmaster was still too heavy to lift. Until...

"Wha... What happen here?!" The Varanian they found in their ship managed to get out and see the group carrying the Shipmaster. "You... YOU KILL HIM?! YOU KILL HIM!! I-I KILL Y-"
"We did NOT KILL HIM, you blithering idiot!" Wyvern shouted, clearly annoyed and straining hard with the bulk of the Shipmaster's weight. "We're trying to save him! If you want to help then by all means HELP us carry him onto the ship. We need to take him to the Beacon to save him."

"...Oh..." The Varanian shut up and pitched in without a second thought. That was all they needed to get the Shipmaster off the ground and into the Command ship. ["The Shipmaster is injured. We need to take him to the Beacon of Hope for treatment. We need everyone's cooperation in this."] Wyvern said to the Varanian crew inside the ship in their native language.

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

Kol isn't waiting for her opponent to try and get up, positioning the power axe so the blade is milimetres short of his neck while he's still on the ground prone, the end of the handle almost pressing on his throat with a blade to either side. her posture making it clear she'll swing if he tries to get up or go for his weapon. meanwhile she's got the scattergun still balanced on her shoulder blind-firing in the general direction of the second target ahead of the team, and her other back arm reaching down to confiscate another firearm.

it's not a perfect pin, his hands are free, but she's hoping intimidation will be enough to cloud his judgement and make him miss that.

("Yeild.")

In a split second, it looked like the Special Forces trooper wasn't going to comply. His hand moved up to knock away the axe when...
Splat!
His entire midsection including arms were glued to the ground by a sudden blast of amber from MT. "He wasn't going to yield." He said simply.

”Huh. Neat.” Kolt said, before lifting the hybrid he grabbed into the air so he wouldn’t try to grab anything. ”Now where?

"This is where we need to be. The President should hopefully be arriving any time. Then you need to escort everyone to the nearest dropship. The President and her top guards are to be escorted to the Sparrow dropship I've got waiting just outside. Everyone else who happens to be there will be escorted to the Albatross dropship." Hivemind responded.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"President, eh," Hannabelle groused. "Probably with the security chief. Good job they won't recognise me in this armour."
"Didn't vote for them," Jenny asked.
"THEY voted ME out,"
-------------------------------------
<<Understood,>> the President said curtly. <<I'll have my team there presently. After the message has gone out, of course.>>
------------------------------------
The NotJaken focused. His power always opened portals to clear areas but, under rubble? Might be trouble. He tried not to giggle at the rhyme he'd just made in his head and pushed to make a small hole, big enough for people to get through without weakening the structure too much. He sighed slightly (as did the real him) and crawled through the portal to pull the wounded free and let the others know the hole was safe to go through. "Go through," he told someone as he began pulling something that, in the dim light, looked like a teenager towards the hole. "Get help from the drone and, uhh, return to fight later." He felt his control on the portal slipping. Small ones were trouble and focusing on a portal through a construct you ALSO had to focus on was draining. "Go," he ordered those who could hear. "now!" He kept pulling the unconscious figure.
------------------------------------
After a moment or so, a carriage with an engine pulled into the station and a squad of armed guards stepped out ahead of a statuesque Vixen with a glare of tempered steel in her eye as she surveyed the situation in front of her and the male escorting her, who now appeared, a scarred relic of former wars. The Vixen spoke to the group. "I am President Zabta," she announced. "I understand you are to be my escort today?"
And Hannabelle seethed quietly over the comms...

[Legotron123]

”Okay. What should I do with this guy in the meantime?” Kolt said, gesturing to the hybrid he had floating in the air. ”Should I knock him out? Take him with us? What should I do?” He asked before the president rolled up, and he turned to address her. ”That would indeed be us ma’am. I’ve been told we have a Sparrow ship waiting outside for you.”
-
With the help of the Varanian soldiers, the group was able to move the Shipmaster onto the ship. Once they placed him down, Liz sat down and placed her head in her hands, one not needing empathy powers to see she’s was feeling a lot of conflicting emotions right now.
Lewis sat down next to her, looking through the files Hivemind gave him to try and figure out what happened.