Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

[CyberDragon]

Nodding his head, Tobias began playing 'Touched By The Gentle Whispers Of A Summer Breeze'; a song that, while not a full heal, would help with easing the pain and healing some of the injuries.

Eira could feel her own body relaxing at the sound of the music. She felt more energized and less tense. She caught herself humming along to the song as she worked on her patient, noticing the injured person was also starting to relax more. It was easier to keep his blood inside of his body, and he seemed to be healing at least some of his more superficial wounds and internal damage.

"Thanks, Tobias. That should keep him stable for now. Where'd you learn to play like that?"

“Where did you procure such as this?” Asks Silas as he gripped the drink handed previously. “You foreigners, you’re freedom fighters, heroes, like… him-” He pauses, thinking of a better way to say it, “No not that fellow, just ignore that last- take me with you.” He finally manages

"We're mercenaries. Not heroes. Not today." Eira said, finishing up administering medicine to Silas's fallen friend. "We were never here. That means you were never here. You'll need to come with us back to our LZ."

"It's from out there," Jenny explained, indicating the store. "One've the few things left. And figure we've got room for a little'un. fair enough." She tried a grin towards Silas, hoping it might be infectious.

"I can always carry them." Kolt volunteered, making a mini forcefield gurney to show what he had in mind. "Might be less strenuous on them than having them walk."

Eira nods, then turns to Jenny. "Mind finding some kind of sheet or blanket we can get this guy on so we can lift him onto the gurney? Think I saw some tarps covering crates outside."

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

Corp spun down low, turning back towards the pair and releasing one of his knives from the spring loaded rig. He hoped it would look like chance that it impacted the toy weapon and dug in hard enough to, potentially, knock it from the Vulture's hands before he stepped up with the other knife ready to strike, slashing with an attempt to 'cut the buttons off' the enemy's trousers and, maybe, draw a little blood.

The vulture yelped and moved the toy gun to intercept the knife, causing it to embed into the plastic water tank. The kidnapper stumbled back, then yelped again and dropped the gun when Corp swiped at his belt level. He quickly drew a knife of his own...

Sarah rolled her eyes and, heading for the Coyote, extended her fighting pole to bring it across the side of his head.

The vulture ducked just in time to avoid being clobbered in the face by the weapon. He raised his knife in preparation for a close quarters fight, but didn't look too enthusiastic about his odds.

As the fighting begins, Cailean draws and readies his energy pistol. With Corp engaging the vulture, Cailean decides that he'd rather face Insignia again than the mouse's wrath if he shoots him by mistake. Instead he takes aim at the hyena-like kidnapper and snaps off a bolt of energy big enough to stun most creatures. He hopes that his afternoon of training with Sarah will be enough that the shot will land somewhere close to the kidnapper, and soon fires off a second shot, just to be safe.

Conall remains away from the fight for now. His weight is on the balls of his feet and he stays in a ready stance, his sgian-dubh in his right paw and his dominant left paw ready to strike with a lightning-fast jujitsu move if necessary. He keeps his head moving, alert in case anything tries to sneak up on him that he won't hear coming.

The vulture's enthusiasm wasn't helped when his partner, who had been in the process of raising his weapon, was hit by a stun round and dropped to his knee. The second shot sent him sprawling out onto the ground in a daze.

The vulture, now alone with only a knife against six armored opponents, decides the odds of him winning this fight are very slim. He turns tail and leaps into the air, taking off. Evidently, his wing-like arms were not just for show. As he flies, he shouts into some kind of communication headset.

"We've been engaged by unknown mercenaries! Tor is down and our vehicle is destroyed! Send backup to 443rd and Orichalcum!" the vulture called out.

"Well. That ain't good. I think we just generated some heat..." Recon grabbed one of her shock batons, pulled it back, and hurled it at the vulture. It struck him right in his right wing, sending a shock through his muscles.

"AAGH!" the avian shouted, then fell from the sky and land with a thud in a pile of trash.

"We're probably going to get some company soon. What's the call, Corp?" Recon asked.

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

"I am NOT shooting people in the feet or hands," Hannabelle complained, tongue in cheek. "It's so cliché." She glanced at the captives. "We gonna do 'good merc, bad merc'?"

"Ain't got time for that. We can drag their ugly mugs back to the LZ. Gadgeteer'll keep 'em in line until we get back, but we've got to follow that truck as soon as we can. Them eggs are fertile, taken by force. We're treatin' it like an abduction, so it takes priority." Gear explained, slinging his gun back over his shoulder and offering a hand to Hannabelle. "Ready for a jump?"

- - - - -

Liz shifted back to her original form, taking one of her gloves off and tapping some of the mercs to acquire their forms for later, starting with the tentacle faced one she slammed into the ground, before moving onto the blue skinned humanoid with the broken arm. While she did that, her son walked over to the house's door and used a mid-power line on it, trying to force it open without ripping it off the hinges.

Each of the mercs slumps over at Liz's touch as her power stuns them and stores their form for later. The last merc starts drooling on the stoop just as the door bursts open, breaking through the wooden planks nailing it shut. The moment it is open, the frilled reptilian woman bursts out from the door, recklessly running past Liz and Lewis towards the street. Desperately, she turns her head up and down the street, trying to somehow figure out where the truck went.

Without saying anything, she looks down at the skid marks on the road where the vehicle took off from, then bolted down the street. Once she reached the end, however, she collapsed onto her knees. She couldn't tell which way it had gone from there, and she buried her face in her hands. The woman started to sob in despair.

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

Cherry took a seat and the headphones and listened to the transmission and the frequency and the general location it had come from on the planet and sighed. This was going to be trouble. She was going to have to send without the comm system so the planet sensors didn't pick it up. She closed her eyes and thought hard. "This is Cherry Seena. Your call was heard. If you asked for help don't speak. Just think 'Yes' as hard as you can. I'll hear you."

There was silence on the radio for a while. It was to the point where Hivemind thought nobody was responding. He thought something might have happened to the person who made the call.

Then, the radio broke silence, and a voice spoke in a low hiss. "Yes."

[Welsh Halfwit]

Corp almost appreciated the irony the Recon was now looking to him for leadership, having decided to take the initiative when it suited her. He glanced around as the knives retracted.. "Take him," he said, pointing to the Coyote. "Check him for bugs and comms. Scout out..." he pointed. "those buildings over there. We'll head for them." He pulled the headset off the Vulture and pulled the bird over his shoulder before heading that way, Sarah signing the instructions for Connal.
----------------------
"Absolutely," Jenny said, before turning to Silas. "Want to come with? Get out of this room at least?"
----------------------
"Always ready for a jump with you, Gear," Hannabelle said cheekily, taking his hand after securing her own weapon.
---------------------
Jaken wastched from the window of the car as things passed by outside. He wondered if they were there yet.
--------------------
Up on the Beacon, Golten and Corvis played chase around the corridors, the youngest accidentally running into a Hivemind. "Sorry, Mister Hivemind," Corvis said, his tie rumpled by the collision.
"Um," Golten asked hesitantly. "How's gran doin'? Now that I can't, um, see her..?"
"He's not going to mention you shutting off his power," Corvis 'whispered' in an aside.
----------------------
Keeva continued her 'tinkering' on the vehicles she'd been allotted, humming it's a long way to Tipperary to herself.
---------------------
Cherry concentrated still as she knew Hive was trying to lock on to the signal. "Can you tell me anything about where you are? We're trying to lock on. And you're not going mad. I promise."

[Hlaoroo]

Corp almost appreciated the irony the Recon was now looking to him for leadership, having decided to take the initiative when it suited her. He glanced around as the knives retracted.. "Take him," he said, pointing to the Coyote. "Check him for bugs and comms. Scout out..." he pointed. "those buildings over there. We'll head for them." He pulled the headset off the Vulture and pulled the bird over his shoulder before heading that way, Sarah signing the instructions for Connal.

"Ah got 'im!" Cailean grins, tail wagging, but speaking in a low voice to avoid attracting any more attention.
"Did ye see tha', Sarah? Ah got 'im! Yer teachin' paid off!" He lowers the gun but keeps it ready and in his gloved paw just in case.

Conall sheaths his knife, makes sure his tactical gloves are on securely and pulls some plastic zip ties from his pocket which he uses to secure the coyote's paws behind him before beginning the search. He first removes and deactivates the comms unit from the mercenary's ear and then removes a hand gun and knife from his belt.

He offers the weapons to Sarah, signing to her to make sure the gun is safe, before returning to his search. He finds a wallet stuffed with a wad of unfamiliar cash, a credit card and an ID card, a set of keys, a half-eaten packet of gum, spare ammo, a few loose coins, a lighter and half a pack of cheap cigarettes and a list containing names, addresses, species and various amounts of currency. Clearly a hit list.

Conall packs most of the items into a ziplock bag and shoves them into his pack but keeps out the ID and the list. He heaves the coyote onto his shoulders in an awkward version of a fireman's carry, then picks up the documents and hurries to catch up with the mouse.

Coming up beside the Mican, he taps Corp on the forearm to get his attention and offers him the documents.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Sarah grinned at her beau, before licking his cheek. "Tha's what trainin's fer, hen," she told him affectionately. "Keep y'r guard up thou'," she added, doing a cursory check of the weapons.
--------------------------
Corp was thankful he had his helmet on and he could ask it how to sign 'thanks,' with one hand as he put the notes and information in a safe place.

[furrygamer793]

Silas looks down, new doubt flowing in after Eira's response. His concerned complexion fades to a stoic determination.
"First... I'll ask with every deep well of my soul, and every credit to my name; while you walk on this forsaken land, find and show me what they've done to my mother, Sanya Scel."

[Welsh Halfwit]

Jenny looked at Silas with a little sternness. "You are hardly in a position to make demands," she said, before breaking into a smile, "but I love the fact that you are. Proves we should stand together, Silas." She put a hand on one of his shoulders. "Look, I can't promise we'll succeed but I CAN promise we'll do all we can to find out, yeah?" She glanced down to the stricken form on the floor. "Now, let's help him, eh? Let's go get some tarp or covering."

[SeanWolf]

To keep their cover (and *ahem* for no other reason) Sana gave Hawk a chaste kiss when he was leaning over before complaining about 'Such displays of affection in public.' and followed him. "Is now when we find out if you're worth the bounty," she whispered back.

Hawk was taken back a bit from the kiss; he had never been kissed before and yet? It felt...nice. Nice enough to have a small smirk cross his face as he and Sana, with Kaleb in his arms, and picked up the pace to the bridge in such a way to not bring any more attention to themselves. Hawk's eyes darted from side to side as they made their way down the busy marketplace, looking for anything out of the ordinary, no matter how minute it was. Everything looked fine, as fine as it could be for New Rome, but Hawk couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. He didn't want to explain it to his team mates, however, as he didn't know how to, especially after the whole situation with the reploid. Would they even believe him? Heck, would they trust him if he told them? He daren't risk it and just focused on the path ahead; a path that seemed to be getting cloudier.

As they approached the bridge, which looked beautiful and was well-maintained, the crowds that once permeated the area? The vendors that were peddling there wares? They were gone. It was like a massive party had taken place and, once it was over, everyone just cleared out with no hesitation. Even though he had been through worst, Hawk felt his heart beginning to race, as if something bad was going to happen.
"Stay calm and stick close." Hawk whispered to Sana while giving Kaleb a reassuring look as they began to cross the bridge. Each step felt like they were walking in a minefield, with one bad step meaning trouble for the three of them. Just then, in the middle of the bridge, Hawk stopped, placing his paw on Sana to stop her, shushing her as he looked around slowly. The area was quiet, save for the rushing waters beneath the bridge and the birds in the skies above...too quiet to Hawk's liking as he slowly adjusted his stance, moving Sana in front of him as he continued to scan the area before suddenly shouting as he grabbed Sana. "GET DOWN!" From behind them, a missile came screaming towards them before like a bat out of the underworld, soon engulfing the area in a fireball.

From a nearby building, a New Rome Security Droid stood there, holding the now smoking rocket launcher as it gazed at the now-smoking area of the bridge. But, as the smoke cleared, the droid noticed something rather odd. Instead of a smoldering ruin and three victims, there was what appeared to be a massive shield of some type, with a odd looking symbol in the middle. A shield, to it's surprise, that was covering three perfectly in-tact targets, one being Hawk Redsky. Quickly loading up another rocket without hesitation, the droid took aim and readied itself, before noticing another peculiar thing: Hawk's eyes were glowing? Before it could react, Hawk stood up and spotted the droid, much to it's surprise. Even more of a surprise was that the shield began to change shape, almost like a transforming mech, into a massive cannon. A cannon that, to the droid's horror, was pointed right at it. The droid tried to fire a second rocket but only fumbled as Hawk squeezed the trigger on the cannon.
'KRACK!"
The cannon sounded like thunder from Valhalla as it fired, creating a massive fireball that could be seen from outside of New Rome. Pieces of rubble and the New Rome Security Droid rained onto the bridge where they stood as the cannon began to dissipate into thin air and Hawk's eyes returned to normal. He looked at Sana and Kaleb and opened his mouth to speak before...."FREEZE!"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wira could feel her own body relaxing at the sound of the music. She felt more energized and less tense. She caught herself humming along to the song as she worked on her patient, noticing the injured person was also starting to relax more. It was easier to keep his blood inside of his body, and he seemed to be healing at least some of his more superficial wounds and internal damage.

"Thanks, Tobias. That should keep him stable for now. Where'd you learn to play like that?"

'Mi familia on Mydroza taught me." Tobias smiled gently as he ended his song and began playing another, entitled 'The Sun Always Rises To Vanquish The Night' (which is another song to bring peace to troubled souls). "I owe everything I am to them. They taught me how to not only play, but how to speak, heal, and empower through the power of music." He looked over at Eira. "You know, I heard you humming. You have a beautiful voice."

[Welsh Halfwit]

Sana felt she should be terrified. She should be, being that people were shooting at her but, somehow, Kaleb and Hawk gave off enough confidence and positivity that she could still, mostly, think straight. She got to work on her wrist computer to see if there was anything open around here that she could manipulate for their benefit...

[Krytus The Dreamer]

Kaleb felt overwhelmed. Even if he were still human, the loud explosions would've been overwhelming, but now that he was a dog, the effect was more than doubled. Still, Kaleb tried to remain calm and study his surroundings.

"Are you okay, Sana?" Kaleb asked, trying to calm his nerves, "Wh-What happened? Why were we suddenly shot at?"

[SeanWolf]

Kaleb felt overwhelmed. Even if he were still human, the loud explosions would've been overwhelming, but now that he was a dog, the effect was more than doubled. Still, Kaleb tried to remain calm and study his surroundings.

"Are you okay, Sana?" Kaleb asked, trying to calm his nerves, "Wh-What happened? Why were we suddenly shot at?"

Sana felt she should be terrified. She should be, being that people were shooting at her but, somehow, Kaleb and Hawk gave off enough confidence and positivity that she could still, mostly, think straight. She got to work on her wrist computer to see if there was anything open around here that she could manipulate for their benefit...

"Don't do anything, I got this." Hawk whispered to Sana as he handed Kaleb off to her, then turning to face the assembled New Rome Security Force. Dropping the faux accent, thankfully, Hawk smirked and waved at the officers. "There a problem, officers? I mean, other then your turret up there having a serious malfunction; seriously, I think you guys need to look into your tech here." Though a few officers chuckled at Hawk's little quip, the main one, a rather gruff looking human who had a face that smiles died upon, remained cold as he growled at Hawk. "What in the name of the Aspects are you doing here?" He began rather sternly. "You were told you were banished from ever coming to New Rome ever again."

Hawk chuckled. "Well, I mean, yeah, but, the thing is...you didn't really banished me, per say, but a reploid of me!" The head officer scoffed. "Really? A reploid lit up downtown? A reploid led that wild chase down the roads here, causing an ungodly amount of damages? A REPLOID shot up that bar...?"

"OK, the bar was actually me, but in my defense, those guys did start it and I didn't kill anyone." Hawk said, trying his best to prove his innocence, all the while gently nudging Sana and Kaleb to the side of the bridge. Little did the everyone know that he was formulating a very risky plan in his head; a plan that he knew was going to get him a talking to but he didn't really have any choice here.

"I don't care if The Champions started the fight!" The head snapped at Hawk, hovering his hand over his sidearm. "You were told to never return to our city as failure to comply would result in your detainment and what did you decide to do?!" Hawk shrugged. "Would it help my case to say I'm actually looking for an exit? You let us go and we'll be out of your hair in no time!" The Head Officer was not having any of it, yelling and cursing at Hawk every word he knew. While the head was yelling his head off, Hawk leaned down to Sana's and Kaleb's level and whispered cryptically to them, "I need you to trust me. When I give the word, just swim. Droid's not too far from here. Don't worry about me." Soon as he finished, he stood back up and looked at the Head Officer. "You quite done yelling?" He asked rather politely. "Tell you what: Why don't you let us go, me and my two friends here will head back to me ship, fly off, and we can all forget that this whole ordeal even happened. What do you say?" The Head Officer shook his head, signaling the others to raise their rifles towards them, causing Hawk to feigned surprise. "Would a bribe work? I got plenty of cash and credits. How about a parley? Oh, how about you just let these two go? I mean, it's really me - even though I told you the truth - you want anyway."

"No, we're taking all three of you in." The Head grunted. "You for failing to comply with a ban and those two for aiding you." He then drew his sidearm and racked it. "We'll give you two options: You can come peacefully or not. Your choice." Now, most people in this situation would make some sort of grand exit, cause some sort of distraction, or let their inner animal loose and try to take on the New Rome Officers in a blaze of glory. Not Hawk, though his reploid would've most definitely did so. In this case, Hawk, to his friends surprise, just shrugged and nodded his head. He looked down at Sana and Kaleb, seeing the frightened look in Kaleb's eyes and the 'ready to fight' look in Sana's eyes. "Well, if that's the way it's to be?" Hawk bluntly said while placing his paw on Sana's outfit. "Guess Option A will work." The Head Officer nodded and began to motion for two guards to place the cuffs on them before all heck broke loose. Hawk, gripping Sana's outfit and making sure she had Kaleb in her arms, lifted them off the ground, whispered to remember what he said, and, to the New Rome Officers shock, tossed the two over the bridge and into the water.

"WHAT THE?!" The Head shouted as Hawk shouted back. "I told you: It's ME you want! Not them!" Frustrated and swearing, the Head Officer gave the signal and a nearby officer tackled Hawk to the ground, cuffing him as another frisked him for any weapons or items, pulling a communicator from his shirt pocket. "Let me see that." The officer handed it to the Head who took one look and smashed it to the ground, ordering them to lift Hawk up while also shouting if they see the two he tossed in the water. Two officers who were looking shook their heads, leading to the Head to, after swearing again, order to forget those two as they got Hawk, then ordering his men to follow him back to HQ, Hawk following behind as two officers kept their weapons trained on him.



Meanwhile, down the river, a rather shoddy looking droid was fishing to people out of the water; a female and a dog. "I was told to expect three here. Where is Hawk?" the droid inquired politely as it retrieved their gear from it's inner compartment.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"I'm more or less fi..." Sana said, before being forced to stop typing by having a Kaleb put into her arms. "Oh, hi. Well, you can feel my heart from there, eh?" She listened as Hawk manoeuvred things closer to the river. She had a feeling she new what was going to happen and was happy the computer was supposed to be waterproof to 20 metres. But, then again, what was a metre? Did that mean vertical or horizontal? She heard him whisper and whispered back. "You better come back. Not wanting to lose a guy like you on my first mission! Plus I meet someone who'll watch THAT sitcom!"

Then he hoisted the pair of them into the river. She spat water and helped Kaleb in case he couldn't swim. "Strong, isn't he?" She waded ashore with droid help and shook herself dry as she sadly looked at her little computer. "I need to complain about this. Hardly waterproof... Uh, he got a bit detained," she told the droid. "After the plan, we need another plan..."

[Krytus The Dreamer]

"Wait What!?" Was all Kaleb could muster before he was airborne.

The moment he hit the water Kaleb struggled to keep his head above the water. He had just re-learned how to walk and run but swimming was something else entirely. Kaleb couldn't kick his legs like he used to or paddle his arms like he did when he was human and that wasn't taking into account how his body was trying to interpret his commands. It was like forcing two people who didn't share a common language to work together everything just kept getting lost in translation. As the outer edges of his vision began to blur due to lack of oxygen something instinctive reacted within Kaleb and suddenly he could breathe despite his head remaining submerged. It didn't take long for Kaleb to deduce he had gills but again he was still fighting his own body somehow. When he wanted to kick his now much larger tail would move with his legs and Kaleb was stuck helpless. Luckily Sana grabbed onto him before they could be separated and guided them towards the shore.

Meanwhile, down the river, a rather shoddy looking droid was fishing to people out of the water; a female and a dog. "I was told to expect three here. Where is Hawk?" the droid inquired politely as it retrieved their gear from it's inner compartment.

Then he hoisted the pair of them into the river. She spat water and helped Kaleb in case he couldn't swim. "Strong, isn't he?" She waded ashore with droid help and shook herself dry as she sadly looked at her little computer. "I need to complain about this. Hardly waterproof... Uh, he got a bit detained," she told the droid. "After the plan, we need another plan..."

Kaleb opened his mouth to speak but could form no words and instead began gasping for air despite its abundance around him. Thankfully Kaleb had enough sense to realize it was his gills, and activated his powers to return to normal.

"S-Sorry about that." Kaleb coughed, "Still getting used to my powers. As for Hawk yeah he's strong but, will he be alright? He's immortal I know but we can't just leave him behind. Can we? Do we just try and meet up with the other champions and tell hivemind what become of Hawk?"

[Legotron123]

Kolt constructed a larger version of the gurney, putting it in the middle of the room where it'd hopefully be easy to put Silas' friend on it. "Yeah as far as you or anyone else are concerned, we're just a bunch of hired guns who decided to do something nice." He said, a smile on his face suggesting he found lying his butt off about this funny.
--
Liz put her glove back on and walked over to the lizard woman. She didn't say anything at first, letting the woman get some of it out before speaking up. "We have a tracker on their vehicle, so we can follow them." The captain stated bluntly. "We'll get your eggs back, or at the very least deal out some karma to whoever's behind this."

[CyberDragon]

Corp almost appreciated the irony the Recon was now looking to him for leadership, having decided to take the initiative when it suited her. He glanced around as the knives retracted.. "Take him," he said, pointing to the Coyote. "Check him for bugs and comms. Scout out..." he pointed. "those buildings over there. We'll head for them." He pulled the headset off the Vulture and pulled the bird over his shoulder before heading that way, Sarah signing the instructions for Connal.

Recon nodded. There was a short rush of wind, and recon was gone. Only a few seconds passed before another burst of wind to announce Recon's return. "Building's clear of enemies, and as an added bonus the guy we saved is holed up in the one at the end of the street, just before it hits the collapsed bridge. Should be able to hold off the reinforcements there." she said.

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

Silas looks down, new doubt flowing in after Eira's response. His concerned complexion fades to a stoic determination.
"First... I'll ask with every deep well of my soul, and every credit to my name; while you walk on this forsaken land, find and show me what they've done to my mother, Sanya Scel."

Jenny looked at Silas with a little sternness. "You are hardly in a position to make demands," she said, before breaking into a smile, "but I love the fact that you are. Proves we should stand together, Silas." She put a hand on one of his shoulders. "Look, I can't promise we'll succeed but I CAN promise we'll do all we can to find out, yeah?" She glanced down to the stricken form on the floor. "Now, let's help him, eh? Let's go get some tarp or covering."

Kolt constructed a larger version of the gurney, putting it in the middle of the room where it'd hopefully be easy to put Silas' friend on it. "Yeah as far as you or anyone else are concerned, we're just a bunch of hired guns who decided to do something nice." He said, a smile on his face suggesting he found lying his butt off about this funny.

Eira looked up, closing her eyes. She sighed, but smiled in spite of herself. "You're all really suck at acting. We're Big Bad Mercenaries, remember? Remind me to ask Dad to give you lessons." She shook her head, then gently lifted the injured civilian onto the telekinetic gurney and signaling for Kolt that he was ready to move.

The massive white wolf turned to Silas. "We're a humanitarian group. Our name and details about our group are classified. We're armed and armored because humanitarians tend to get shot at around here. We look like thugs because that draws less attention on this God forsaken planet. Come with us, we'll get any injuries treated, and then we can try to find your mother."

'Mi familia on Mydroza taught me." Tobias smiled gently as he ended his song and began playing another, entitled 'The Sun Always Rises To Vanquish The Night' (which is another song to bring peace to troubled souls). "I owe everything I am to them. They taught me how to not only play, but how to speak, heal, and empower through the power of music." He looked over at Eira. "You know, I heard you humming. You have a beautiful voice."

"Oh! Uh... Thanks." Eira said, scratching her ear nervously. "I don't really sing. I dance, sometimes, but I learned that more when I was studying martial arts." she said as she led the way out of the shop, gesturing for the others to follow once she was sure it was clear.

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

"Always ready for a jump with you, Gear," Hannabelle said cheekily, taking his hand after securing her own weapon.

Gear stowed his gun away, then picked up Hannabelle in another bridal carry before jumping from the top of the water tower. He used his mobility jets to slow his descent, before touching down on the street and setting Hannabelle down.

Liz put her glove back on and walked over to the lizard woman. She didn't say anything at first, letting the woman get some of it out before speaking up. "We have a tracker on their vehicle, so we can follow them." The captain stated bluntly. "We'll get your eggs back, or at the very least deal out some karma to whoever's behind this."

The woman didn't say anything. She seemed either not to hear, or not to understand. She looked almost in shock, unable to process all that had happened and was happening.

"We need to hurry and get these idiots back to the FOB." Gear said, pulling out a couple cables from a launcher on his wrist and using them to help tie the mercenaries up for transport. "Gadgeteer will interrogate them, then we get back those eggs. Liz, you can use one of your bigger forms to carry them. I'll take her back inside and try an' calm her down." Gear said, indicating the reptilian woman.

Gear turned to Hannabelle. "You should stick with me. Might be able to figure something out about what's going on around here if we take a look around."

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

Jaken wastched from the window of the car as things passed by outside. He wondered if they were there yet.

The droid tried to fire a second rocket but only fumbled as Hawk squeezed the trigger on the cannon.
'KRACK!"
The cannon sounded like thunder from Valhalla as it fired, creating a massive fireball that could be seen from outside of New Rome. Pieces of rubble and the New Rome Security Droid rained onto the bridge where they stood"

Hivemind, Jaken, and Rika were on their way down the private highway when the road was rocked by a nearby explosion. The fireball erupted from the top of a nearby tower, and Hivemind only had enough time to see Hawk on the bridge before their driver stepped on the gas and accelerated away. The droid was mentally rubbing the bridge of its non-existent nose.

"What the-!" the driver shouted. "Sorry sir, but this may get rough. I need to get you out of here and to the Penthouse!"

The driver took the next exit, driving up a ramp higher into the air. The new road wound between buildings like some kind of roller coaster, and the driver looked scared. "I'm sorry, sir! I know this isn't the best road! I hope you understand!"

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

Up on the Beacon, Golten and Corvis played chase around the corridors, the youngest accidentally running into a Hivemind. "Sorry, Mister Hivemind," Corvis said, his tie rumpled by the collision.
"Um," Golten asked hesitantly. "How's gran doin'? Now that I can't, um, see her..?"
"He's not going to mention you shutting off his power," Corvis 'whispered' in an aside.

"Your gran is doing just fine. She is with Gear on the surface, and they're working very hard to help people down there." Hivemind answered simply, not divulging too much information but still answering the question.

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

Keeva continued her 'tinkering' on the vehicles she'd been allotted, humming it's a long way to Tipperary to herself.

Predator was nearby in the hanger, having just had a rather interesting experience earlier. He noticed Keeva working, and decided to say hello.

"Hello, Keeva. What are you working on?"

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

Cherry concentrated still as she knew Hive was trying to lock on to the signal. "Can you tell me anything about where you are? We're trying to lock on. And you're not going mad. I promise."

The voice was silent for a minute again before speaking. "In Hell. And I am going to break the devil's fingers."

"Well then. That's..." Hivemind started, then he paused. "...More helpful than you'd think..."

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Best we go," Jenny said, clearing things out of the way for the gurney and carriers. "Want to keep an eye out, Silas," she asked.
--------------------------
Corp led the way across the wasteland, towards the exact building he'd pointed out. He didn't trust any part of this. The terrain, the people, the buildings but they had to go somewhere and Recon had just checked this place out so he could be reasonably sure that it was safe. Inside, at least.

Sarah helped Conall with the Coyote and made sure no weapon was in grabbable range for the Canid. "This 'un smells," she told Cailean happily. "'ope they can't track by nose."
--------------------------
Hannabelle listened. Something about the quiet of the scene after the squabble was pricking her attention. An ear twisted slightly. "We need to do it fast," she told Gear. "After any raid, the locals re-emerge. And they're usually wary of strangers. And that's if they're not hostile." She slung her gun onto her back and offered her hand to the woman in what she recalled as the local expression of friendship.
------------------------
"Good, good," Golten said, taking the chance to give his brother a playful clip around the ear before running back.
Corvis rubbed his head. "You know how they say 'words hurt', Mr Hive?" He pulled a small Atraxi - Darvanian translation book from his pocket and darted after his brother, clearly meaning to hit him with it.
------------------------
Keeva almost hit her head on the bonnet of the car but just about stopped with her ears touching the metal. Oh, hi, Pred," she told her giant friend. "Just doing some tuning work on these Land skimmer things." She pulled her head back and shut the cover on the pod vehicle. "They're a few years old and superceded but Hive identified that they're more like the stuff we had on the 'HAVEN than what they were replaced by. Ergo, if anyone from the HAVEN needed to use a skimmer..?" She laughed. "Plus, it seems even Hiveminds don't like motor maintenance." She cleaned off the grease on her hands with a rag but missed the bits she didn't know were on her face. "How've you been, handsome?"
-----------------------
"We are coming to assist," Cherry sent/said. "Anything you tell us would be useful."

[Hlaoroo]

"Aye, well, if'n they could they'd've smelled yer English stink before we even landed." Cailean teases.
"Good thing Ah like English stink." he adds after a moment, hoping he hasn't gone too far with that joke.

Conall, unable to communicate with his paws full of coyote, just sticks close to the group.

[SeanWolf]

Then he hoisted the pair of them into the river. She spat water and helped Kaleb in case he couldn't swim. "Strong, isn't he?" She waded ashore with droid help and shook herself dry as she sadly looked at her little computer. "I need to complain about this. Hardly waterproof... Uh, he got a bit detained," she told the droid. "After the plan, we need another plan..."

Kaleb opened his mouth to speak but could form no words and instead began gasping for air despite its abundance around him. Thankfully Kaleb had enough sense to realize it was his gills, and activated his powers to return to normal.

"S-Sorry about that." Kaleb coughed, "Still getting used to my powers. As for Hawk yeah he's strong but, will he be alright? He's immortal I know but we can't just leave him behind. Can we? Do we just try and meet up with the other champions and tell hivemind what become of Hawk?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about Master Hawk, young sir." The droid said while opening the grate. "He's probably already on his way to meet up with the other CHampions as we speak. In any case, I do suggest to you make haste through the sewers here; Just stay on the main path and turn right at the third intersection and that'll take you straight to where you need to be."

~~~MEANWHILE~~~

"Look, I'm running out of ways to explain that those incidents here were not me but a reploid." Hawk said exasperated, trying his best to get through to the interrogator, but it seemed like his words were falling on deaf ears.

"Yes, this "reploid" you keep mentioning that did all these violent acts." The interrogator, a greying man in his early 50's with a face that seen everything, said while looking over Hawk's gun, a small and easily concealable handgun with a 15 round magazine, and other gear. "The same reploid that lit up downtown. The same that wild chase down the roads where we caught you, causing an ungodly amount of damage. The same that shot one of our illustrious billionaires..." Hawk raised his eyebrow at the mention of the billionaire. Did his reploid actually take out one of the higher people here? Even with his code, Hawk had that little urge to do that very same thing, given how they treat the lower class here, but he never acted upon it as that would make him no worst then them. "...plus, our reploid detectors are some of the best in the galaxy and if you were telling the truth, our scanners would've picked up the reploid the millisecond it entered out city." The interrogator, whose name on his badge was Lt. James Redfield, said while walking around the table. "But it didn't and, seeing as the only proof you have is that you dress differently than this supposed reploid..."

"Maybe your scanners were busted or the reploid..." Hawk spoke but was cut off as the interrogator slammed his head into the table. *WHAM* Even though he was immortal and pain meant nothing to him now, Hawk played up the hit by acting like the slam did hurt. "Ugh what the frag, man? Why would you slam my head?" Hawk blinked his eyes, acting like his sight was all fuzzy.
"To get you to stop lyin' to my face, scum bag." Lt. Redfield said, his tone now more serious than before. "That was you who was here, not this supposed reploid you keep blaming." However, before Redfield could continue, the door whooshed open and another New Rome Officer, flanked by two drones, stepped in. Clearly his superior, by the way Redfield reacted, the officer motioned Redfield to come with him as he wanted to speak with him in private. "I'll deal with you later." He told Hawk, elbowing him in the face and signaling for the two drones to keep an eye on Hawk before leaving. It was now just Hawk and the drones in the room; two drones armed with high-caliber automatic rifles, for some reason, and were sporting some well-made armor for a drone, much to his confusion. 'New Rome Security Drones aren't this well equipped', Hawk thought while looking the two over. 'Either they got a bigger budget or...these aren't your typical drones.' That last thought gnawed at Hawk's mind for a bit. What would New Rome need with these military-looking drones? Clearly, if crime was really bad here then it would make some sense, but crime wasn't an issue in this city, not to the point of needing something like these drones. Even the rifles were not typical ones you'd see on security personal; with it's boxed magazine and heavier-looking build quality, these were no doubt military weapons. Something about this situation wasn't sitting right with Hawk, yet he couldn't explain why. All he knew was that he needed to get out and link back up with the other Champions as he was gone far too long. As he thought of ways to get free, one idea soon popped back into his head that he only used once and, though it did work, he was alone when he did it. Now, however, he was in a room with two drones; two drones that he had no idea how they'd react to what he was going to do, but it was worth the shot.

The drones watched Hawk carefully, their programming ready to kick in if Hawk did anything to trigger it. However, that wasn't to be the case here as Hawk would suddenly begin to sway slowly before keeling over onto the floor with a thud. The drones, sensing a problem, rushed over to Hawk, one standing by as the other activated its 'Medical' programming and began checking over the seemingly lifeless body of Hawk. To the Drone, it seemed as if Hawk was dead as there was no sign of breathing or a pulse. But then, as the drone turned its head, Hawk sprung his trap; Using his handcuffs, he caught the drone in a chokehold and, with a crack, popped the drone's head clear off as sparks flew and circuitry crackled. The second drone's 'Combat Mode' sprung into action as it aimed it's rife at Hawk and opened fire, sending round after round towards the prisoner. Hawk, however, was too quick as he used the headless drone as a makeshift shield from the rifle fire before pushing the drone at the other, disorienting it for a bit, before standing up and body slamming into both, destroying both against the wall.
"Second time that worked." Hawk smirked as he effortlessly snapped his cuffs and grabbed the rifle and extra ammo from the drones while the alarm began to sound and more New Rome Security Drones began to activate. It was going to be rough but Hawk was ready for a fight.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Right ho, Mister Droid," Sana said glibly, engaging the repair function on her computer to try to dry it out. "Might get this up and running in about half an hour... Thanks. C'mon, Kaleb," she continued, heading in. "Did I bring a light," she asked rhetorically, checking herself over with several splats as she patted herself. "Do you know exactly 'where we need to be'?"

[Legotron123]

Kolt followed Eira, moving the gurney carrying the wounded outside. "I get the feeling you could be a good popstar. Could probably do some real pretty stuff on stage with your water powers, even if you just stuck to ice." He said, complimenting the Lycan.
--
"Can do." Liz said, shifting back to her Varanian form and picking up the tied up thugs. "Might have to put them down once or twice so I can turn human and back again."

[CyberDragon]

"Best we go," Jenny said, clearing things out of the way for the gurney and carriers. "Want to keep an eye out, Silas," she asked.

Kolt followed Eira, moving the gurney carrying the wounded outside. "I get the feeling you could be a good popstar. Could probably do some real pretty stuff on stage with your water powers, even if you just stuck to ice." He said, complimenting the Lycan.

"Thanks, Kolt!" Eira smiled as they continued on. "But that kind of thing never really interested me. I originally wanted to go to medical school. Even started off as an EMT for a while. But, I found my skills and interests were better suited for our current line of work. The ability to lift a truck with one hand, the ability to paralyze things with venom, my love of martial arts and fighting, my hunting instinct... Wouldn't be able to do much with all of that as a physician or surgeon. So I followed in my parents' footsteps, and now I help save people every day."

It wasn't long before the group got back to the landing zone. Gadgeteer had already set up a Forward Operating Base complete with deployable structures. So far, the medical shelter, communication station, and a decontamination chamber had been set up. The enormous reptilian, Gadgeteer, was still setting up a food hall from a list of deployable programmable matter prefab structures when the others arrived.

"Gadgeteer, we've got a wounded civilian." Eira announced, moving aside so the Varanian could see Silas's friend.

The enormous reptilian walked up, getting closer to Silas and his friend. His eyes narrowed as he leaned over, looking closer at the two.
"...Get the injured one to the medical bay. It's the one with the red cross on it." Gadgeteer said, before turning to Silas himself. "And get this one to the decontamination chamber. Air around here is moderately toxic. Exposure for long enough will cut years off your life unless you regularly decontaminate."

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

Corp led the way across the wasteland, towards the exact building he'd pointed out. He didn't trust any part of this. The terrain, the people, the buildings but they had to go somewhere and Recon had just checked this place out so he could be reasonably sure that it was safe. Inside, at least.

Sarah helped Conall with the Coyote and made sure no weapon was in grabbable range for the Canid. "This 'un smells," she told Cailean happily. "'ope they can't track by nose."

"Aye, well, if'n they could they'd've smelled yer English stink before we even landed." Cailean teases.
"Good thing Ah like English stink." he adds after a moment, hoping he hasn't gone too far with that joke.

Conall, unable to communicate with his paws full of coyote, just sticks close to the group.

The group continued to the house at the end of the street, entering it and taking positions inside. Titan covered the door while Recon found her way up to the attic. The area was filled with dust and sickly yellowish stains from exposure to the poisoned air over time. The Corytophian the group had saved earlier was holed up in the attic, trying to hide behind some broken crates. Recon blinked through a window, and found herself on the roof where she kept an eye out for reinforcements.

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

Hannabelle listened. Something about the quiet of the scene after the squabble was pricking her attention. An ear twisted slightly. "We need to do it fast," she told Gear. "After any raid, the locals re-emerge. And they're usually wary of strangers. And that's if they're not hostile." She slung her gun onto her back and offered her hand to the woman in what she recalled as the local expression of friendship.

"We're armed, look like mercs, an' just fought with a bunch of kidnappers. Far as the locals are concerned, the threat's still here." Gear reminded.

The reptilian woman doesn't move or look at Hannabelle. She is still in shock.

"Can do." Liz said, shifting back to her Varanian form and picking up the tied up thugs. "Might have to put them down once or twice so I can turn human and back again."

Gear could feel what was about to happen and positioned himself to block Liz from the woman's view. "Don't let 'er see you like that. It might snap her out of this despair, but it ain't gonna be in a good way." Gear warned Liz. "Get going. Do what you have to, get these thugs to the FOB, and then get back quick as you can."

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

"Good, good," Golten said, taking the chance to give his brother a playful clip around the ear before running back.
Corvis rubbed his head. "You know how they say 'words hurt', Mr Hive?" He pulled a small Atraxi - Darvanian translation book from his pocket and darted after his brother, clearly meaning to hit him with it.

Hivemind found himself amused by the kids' antics, but still keeping an eye on them to make sure the words didn't hurt too much.

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

Keeva almost hit her head on the bonnet of the car but just about stopped with her ears touching the metal. Oh, hi, Pred," she told her giant friend. "Just doing some tuning work on these Land skimmer things." She pulled her head back and shut the cover on the pod vehicle. "They're a few years old and superceded but Hive identified that they're more like the stuff we had on the 'HAVEN than what they were replaced by. Ergo, if anyone from the HAVEN needed to use a skimmer..?" She laughed. "Plus, it seems even Hiveminds don't like motor maintenance." She cleaned off the grease on her hands with a rag but missed the bits she didn't know were on her face. "How've you been, handsome?"

"I have been well." Predator stated with a nod. "There have been a few strings on the Hive network mentioning new arrivals. Guests are not unusual, however these guests have been given full clearance to use Champion facilities. That is quite unusual. Have you heard anything of this, I wonder?" the droid asked.

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

"We are coming to assist," Cherry sent/said. "Anything you tell us would be useful."

"You will not find me." the voice said. "Help my people. Then we will meet. Until then... Stay out of my way."

[Welsh Halfwit]

"So, we're going for subtle," Jenny muttered to herself as she saw the setup. "Big guy's ok," she told Silas, indicating Gadgeteer. She set herself up in an observation position, looking out for other 'newcomers.
--------------------------------
"Keep an eye on the outside," Corp said, taking the prisoner up to the attic room and using whatever he could to restrain the Coyote to a chair before slapping him awake. "Time to answer some questions," Corp told him angrily. "You tell us all we need and you'll be treated well. Lie to us?" Corp indicated the Corytophian. "I give him a blade and let him ask the questions."
------------------------------
"Y'want me to stay upwind of ya," Sarah remarked cheekily, ruffling Cailean's headfur as they protected the downstairs.
-----------------------------
Hannabelle flicked her brushtail, kicking up a little dust reaching down to pick the woman up. "We can't leave her here in the open."
-----------------------------
Corvis took to whacking his brother on the back with the book.
-----------------------------
Without real reason, Keeva wiped her hands on the rag. "No," she stated, "I've not really got that much clearance myself, eh?" A wry grin up at her friend. "But I was thinking of having a break. Shall we go find out the answer?"
----------------------------
"I believe our distress call came <Achoo! Snff> from someone who doesn't like outsiders," Cherry said wryly.
--------------------------
Jaken looked around to assess his surroundings and what he could see outside.

[Hlaoroo]

"Y'want me to stay upwind of ya," Sarah remarked cheekily, ruffling Cailean's headfur as they protected the downstairs.

"Ah'd say yes but Ah need tae be able tae smell if'n anythin' or anyone comes." Cailean answers, trying to stay professional. He can't stop his tail wagging behind him though.

In the attic, Cailean keeps a watchful eye on the Corytophian while the others are distracted by the coyote. In a show of goodwill, he places a small spare bottle of water on one of the crates near the Corytophian before retreating to a safe distance to watch and see if the gift will be accepted. Not knowing the creature's diet he decides not to offer food for now.

[Legotron123]

"Fair enough. Though I can't say I had the same issue." He said as walked with Eira towards the medbay. "There's a great deal of opportunities for people with Concertia. Someone with similar strength to you could have a fast track to a good job in construction, demolition, event rigging, even special effects depending on the specifics of how that strength works. Guess that's just a result of .1% of the population having powers." He moved the injured person over to a proper gurney and dematerialized his own, before he heard some stomping outside. Looking out to check on it, he saw Liz and Lewis arriving back with what seemed to be captives in tow, who she placed on the ground before shifting back to her human form.

[SeanWolf]

The New Rome Security Building quickly evolved into a war zone as Hawk fought his way through the seemingly endless supply of NRSDrones, taking care to not harm any of the non-drone officers. Lasers lit up the corridors and offices like a rave party gone berserk as the NRSDrones fired upon their escaping prisoner. "Frag!" Hawk yelped as lasers hit him, either singeing his outfit or hitting him dead-on. "These drones are no joke!" Diving behind a nearby desk and knocking it over for cover, Hawk returned fire, scoring direct hits on a few drones and turning them into scrap-heap. But, for every four he destroyed, five more would take its place, resulting in an endless sea of drones, much to his annoyance. He knew he could stay there forever and, theoretically, take out all the drones, but that was not in the cards for him. Right now, he had two goals in mind: Reconnect with the Champions and apologize to the two he tossed over the bridge. Two jobs easier said than done, at the moment, and, at the moment, Hawk needed a way to throw security off just enough to make an escape. His first idea he voted against as he didn't want to cause more issues but the second? It was simple and risky, but it was honestly the only thing that made sense. With no other viable option, he grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and, with all his might, tossed it at the encroaching drones, then shot it. The extinguisher erupted into white substance, disorienting the drones as the computer in them attempted to adapt to the situation. However, as they did, the drones saw that Hawk was gone. Switching over to 'Locate Mode', they began spreading out to find the escaped prisoner.


Outside the New Rome Security Building, Hawk slid out from a nearby vent onto the pavement below with a grunt. Not one of his finer escapes but, hey, it worked. He didn't have time to relax, though, as he quickly took cover behind some crates when he saw some NRS Drones...though these didn't look like the drones he fought. Peeking out from behind cover, he saw these groups of drones were more militaristic in their designs: Heavy armor, what looked like shields and LMGs, and were blacker than space itself, with the only color being their red visors. They looked almost like robotic demons. 'Why would they need drones like them?' Hawk wondered while continuing to look at the drones. Something was gnawing him about the situation and he needed to figure this out. Making sure the coast was clear, Hawk snuck his way to the control tower and peaked in; there was no one there, save for one lone tower worker. Perfect, Hawk thought as he crept up from behind and knocked him out with the butt of his rifle. "Sorry, mate." He said while dragging the unconcious worker to a nearby corner and laying him there gently, before returning to the console. The console had holo-touchpads and no actual buttons to fondle, much to his annoyance, but Hawk soon, after some brief swearing, figured out how to work the danged thing and began looking for any info on the new Drones. After some searching, he found the info he needed on them, along with mission parameters for them. Mission parameters that caused Hawk to swear under his breath. These drones weren't a new breed of riot control, as he thought, but something much worse. Quickly, looking through the console, he found the communications section and got a channel open to the Champions. "This is Hawk Redsky to any Champion on this channel, please respond, over." He then waited for a response, which he hoped was soon as the day was going to heck in a handbasket faster then ever.

[CyberDragon]

"So, we're going for subtle," Jenny muttered to herself as she saw the setup. "Big guy's ok," she told Silas, indicating Gadgeteer. She set herself up in an observation position, looking out for other 'newcomers.

Gadgeteer gave her a shrug. "This is going to be a bit of a long operation. Never seen a planet this far gone, and I grew up on Varan. Subtle or not, we need a base. Planet's broken, and we're here until we fix it."

"Fair enough. Though I can't say I had the same issue." He said as walked with Eira towards the medbay. "There's a great deal of opportunities for people with Concertia. Someone with similar strength to you could have a fast track to a good job in construction, demolition, event rigging, even special effects depending on the specifics of how that strength works. Guess that's just a result of .1% of the population having powers." He moved the injured person over to a proper gurney and dematerialized his own, before he heard some stomping outside. Looking out to check on it, he saw Liz and Lewis arriving back with what seemed to be captives in tow, who she placed on the ground before shifting back to her human form.

"Yeah, I could have gone into all of those things myself. Dad actually did go into special effects, though with him it was more about illusions. Smoke and mirrors, traps and triggers, that sort of thing. Stuff he'd also use in crime fighting." Eira said as she moved to the other side of the gurney to an autodoc and started setting it up. "But I want to help people. That's all I've wanted to do. Fighting's fun and all, but I wanted to help people who weren't getting any help. I saw a lot of hopelessness. Felt it too. I can feel, smell, and taste fear around me wherever I go. So I want to give hope back to people who lost it."

Eira tapped a few things on the touch screen, and the autodoc came to life. It hovered over the injured civilian and started it's initial scans.

"That's all I can do for now." Eira said, indicating the autodoc. "We'd best get moving. I get the feeling we're going to find a lot more people who need help."

- - - - -

Meanwhile, outside, Gadgeteer looked up at Liz and Lewis as they approached with the incapacitated enemies. Gadgeteer gestured for them to put the captives down next to one of the tents. Once the prisoners were situated, Gadgeteer approached them. He stood in front of them, casting a shadow in the polluted yellow light.

The prisoners came to and looked up at him. They appeared confused, frightened at the sight of the Varanian looming over them.

"What... What's going on?! What are you doing?!" one of the prisoners asked.

"What's the meaning of this, lizard? Decide you'd rather get those eggs for free?" the second one accused. Gadgeteer glared at them both. Ideas rushed through his head as he considered this unusual reaction to his presence on this planet. They weren't surprised to see him, he noticed. Instead, they seemed more surprised at his hostility. He had a theory in mind, and knew how to test it.

<"More meat for the ration supply."> Gadgeteer growled in his native tongue. <"Looks tough. Gamey. No matter.">

The prisoners looked at each other, one looking confused while the other looked alarmed. The one with the broken arm continued to cringe and brace from the pain, while the tentacle faced alien just glared with malice.

<"W-we not targets! Your leaders are hiring us!"> he tried explaining in somewhat broken Varanian. <"We gather egg! We gather prey! We sell! That agreement!">

Gadgeteer raised his brows at this. His suspicions partially confirmed. <"Prey that speaks our language is rare. My people do not need help hunting. Why would we pay for what we can take ourselves?">

<"Good deal. Subtle. Something about avoid risk. Avoid galaxy authorities."> the mercenary explained. <"Avoid Hive. Avoid costly fight with New Rome private military. You get prey, New Rome gets rich, thin the herd. People get scared. Pay for protection. They don't pay, they free for hunting.">

Gadgeteer had heard enough. It was exactly what he expected. The Varanian scowled down at the captured mercenaries. Then, looking them dead in the eye, he raised a hand to his helmet and pressed his comm device before speaking into it in clear, fluent common. "All units, keep an eye out for Varanian slavers and Varanian ships. Got some captives who admit to a protection racket involving a Varanian fleet."

The mercenaries looked at him stunned, though none of them looked as alarmed as the one who had just been speaking Varanian. Gadgeteer grinned, flashing sharp teeth at the people below him. He reached behind him, then pulled out a bunch of zip ties and got to work binding the mercenaries' arms and legs. He grabbed them and hauled the injured ones off to the infirmary, tying them to some of the cots and setting them up with autodocs. The others, he tied to an old light pole outside while he worked on erecting a Server Access Point to contain them.

"Why is it always Varanians..." Gadgeteer grumbled as he worked.

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

"Ah'd say yes but Ah need tae be able tae smell if'n anythin' or anyone comes." Cailean answers, trying to stay professional. He can't stop his tail wagging behind him though.

In the attic, Cailean keeps a watchful eye on the Corytophian while the others are distracted by the coyote. In a show of goodwill, he places a small spare bottle of water on one of the crates near the Corytophian before retreating to a safe distance to watch and see if the gift will be accepted. Not knowing the creature's diet he decides not to offer food for now.

The Corytophian looks at the bottle nervously. Once Cailean was far enough away, he reached forward and picked it up, sniffed it and, finding no poison or anything amiss, quickly downed the water in the bottle.

"Keep an eye on the outside," Corp said, taking the prisoner up to the attic room and using whatever he could to restrain the Coyote to a chair before slapping him awake. "Time to answer some questions," Corp told him angrily. "You tell us all we need and you'll be treated well. Lie to us?" Corp indicated the Corytophian. "I give him a blade and let him ask the questions."

The kidnapper looked up furiously at Corp, and did not answer. He glanced over to the Corytophian who looked at him with fear. The vulture smirked. "He doesn't have the guts to do anything to me. And you won't get anything out of me before the reinforcements get here." he said with confidence.

Recon, who had heard Gadgeteer's message, looked out down the street just as a heavily modified VTOL transport covered in guns flew overhead and landed near the sight of the wrecked technical. A number of mercenaries climbed out, including one beast-like reptilian in heavy armor, carrying a greataxe in his hands. The Varanian stood nearly 12 feet tall, and looked like the leader of the band from how he was barking orders at the smaller mercs.

"Enemies inbound, including a big guy. Looks like the squad leader." Recon said.

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

Hannabelle flicked her brushtail, kicking up a little dust reaching down to pick the woman up. "We can't leave her here in the open."

"'ere. Let me give it a shot." Gear said, walking over to Hannabelle and the Corytophian mother. He knelt down next to the reptilian woman, then started speaking. It wasn't English, or any human language. It was instead a series of clicks and complex chittering, fluctuating in pitch and tone.

Whatever he was saying, it seemed to be doing the trick. The woman turned her eyes to him, and there was a glimmer of what looked like hope in them. He reached out a hand and helped her to her feet. He then started to usher the reptilian back to the run down house. "C'mon, love. Let's get her secured inside." he said to Hannabelle.

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

Without real reason, Keeva wiped her hands on the rag. "No," she stated, "I've not really got that much clearance myself, eh?" A wry grin up at her friend. "But I was thinking of having a break. Shall we go find out the answer?"

"I know I am curious. The individual I encountered matched no known species, but resembled some artistic depictions of the mythical creature known as an enfield." Predator said, gesturing for Keeva to lead the way.

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

"I believe our distress call came <Achoo! Snff> from someone who doesn't like outsiders," Cherry said wryly.

"Alternatively..." Hivemind started, "it could be someone intending to take certain matters into their own hands. Given their line about 'breaking the devil's fingers' it sounds like they're about to launch a major attack, likely on New Rome's military forces or some essential supply those forces need. In which case, they would not want us to find their location in case we tried to stop them."

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

Jaken looked around to assess his surroundings and what he could see outside.

The car eventually slowed down near their destination. Outside, the car was approaching an enormous, magnificent tower, stretching to the sky. It was ornately decorated on the outside, and the lower three stories seemed more like a pedestal the rest of the tower stood upon. There were no entrances on those lower floors, and the main entrance was accessible only through the skyline road.

"We're here. I apologize for the rough drive, sir. We have recently been dealing with a series of attacks lately. Rest assured, this is one of the most secure buildings in the city."

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

"This is Hawk Redsky to any Champion on this channel, please respond, over." He then waited for a response, which he hoped was soon as the day was going to heck in a handbasket faster then ever.

Once Eira was done with her injured civilians, and once she had helped secure the captured mercs, she responded to Hawk's call. "Eira Steele here. Hope you secured this channel, Hawk. What's the problem?" she asked.

[SeanWolf]

Once Eira was done with her injured civilians, and once she had helped secure the captured mercs, she responded to Hawk's call. "Eira Steele here. Hope you secured this channel, Hawk. What's the problem?" she asked.

Hawk sighed in relief before responding. "First, sorry for not being there right now as I'm held up in the New Rome Security Building - Long story but I got arrested by them for what my reploid did, which is *another* long story for later - and currently hiding in the Control Tower. I'll explain more when I meet up with you and the others but, right now, we got a situation here." He went silent for a bit before continuing. "While I was making my way out of the building, I got to the courtyard and saw this massive group of drones, all lined up and such. They're not security drones as these guys were heavily armored and packing heavy weapons, shields, and who knows what else...definitely not riot control, I could tell that. So, I snuck into the control tower here and..." His voice soon turned dower. "...and I saw something called Operation: Extermination and the main goal to remove all 'vagrants, filth, trash, and unwanted vermin from our world'. Eira, they're planning a full-assault on your location within the hour, under the guise of it being a 'Trash Removal' service: The "trash" being the people out there."

As Eira listened to Hawk over the comms, Tobias, meanwhile, played 'To Dance Among The Stars' (another peace filled song) to help everyone be calm and relax.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Great," Jenny muttered to herself after Gadgeteers warning came in, "I'm gonna need a bigger boat... gun," she said, correcting herself and regretting the film reference. It made her think of things in the past and she needed to be in the now for now. Watching. Which she did. She loaded up the mini telescopic sight onto one of her pistols in case of need.
---------------------------
"Then you'd better tell all you can now," Corp advised, shucking a blade into his hand from the rig and turning his comm off. He closed in slightly, so the creature could hear him. "Because I'm only here on probation and not 'au fait' with the no killing rule. I will kill you before they can rescue you." He glanced at the window. "Mind you, the lead guy's a Varanian. He'll probably kill you AFTER he rescues you. And eat you." Just for effect, he ran the blade tip down the captive's leg. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to get the point across. He turned his comm back on. "Unless they have scenters they'll take a few to find us but we could do with an escape route. Confirm the Varanian, base camp. Our location." He knew Recon had reported in but confirmation never hurt.
-------------------------
"My, as me mam would say, tha' is a biggun..." Sarah ventured, before looking to see if there was any sort of trapdoor or cellar to this place they were in.
------------------------
Hannabelle opened the door with hurried caution and examined the insides for ambushes as Gear brought her in. She examined the outside for ambushes now, staying close to the doorframe.
-------------------------
"An Enfield," Keeva replied, leading the way. She grinned. "Guessing you don't mean the ancient rifle, eh? Oh, the heraldic thing. Um..." She put a clawtip to her teeth in thought. "Head of a Fox... or Celcian or whatever you call them. Canine chest, big Feline butt," she added, wiggling her own, "and tail of a Wolven or summat? Or have I got the bits wrong?" A playful smile. "Shall we ask a Hivebot for directions?"
-------------------------
"So we work...choo! Snf. We work to distract them," Cherry guessed. "I wonder if we could get their main frequency? <Choo> Me talking into their heads could be very <CHOO!> distracting, eh?"
------------------------
Jaken kepts his thoughts about 'literally being a hole in security to himself'...
-----------------------
Down in the sewers, Sana and Kaleb headed for where they were supposed to be as the computer worked to make itself usable again.

[Hlaoroo]

"Mah Ma would hae said th' same but in less polite language." Cailean grins. He draws his weapon, keeping an eye on the Varanians while Sarah checks for shelter or escape routes. He's not sure if it will have any effect on the giant creatures but he feels better having it in his paw.

~~~~~~~~
Cailean smiles at the Corytophian and pulls out a digital pad.
Ah'm deaf but can lip read. Are you hurt? We're here tae help. Why were they chasin' ye? he writes, turning the pad afterwards so the creature can read it.

[TheRook259]

Hivemind, Jaken, and Rika were on their way down the private highway when the road was rocked by a nearby explosion. The fireball erupted from the top of a nearby tower, and Hivemind only had enough time to see Hawk on the bridge before their driver stepped on the gas and accelerated away. The droid was mentally rubbing the bridge of its non-existent nose.

"What the-!" the driver shouted. "Sorry sir, but this may get rough. I need to get you out of here and to the Penthouse!"

The driver took the next exit, driving up a ramp higher into the air. The new road wound between buildings like some kind of roller coaster, and the driver looked scared. "I'm sorry, sir! I know this isn't the best road! I hope you understand!"

Rika held on tightly as the vehicle sped up. "Goodness, that was rather close!" She exclaimed, yet kept her composure.

Jaken looked around to assess his surroundings and what he could see outside.

Rika took a look out over his shoulder, placing a hand upon it for both stability and as a sign of comfort.

The car eventually slowed down near their destination. Outside, the car was approaching an enormous, magnificent tower, stretching to the sky. It was ornately decorated on the outside, and the lower three stories seemed more like a pedestal the rest of the tower stood upon. There were no entrances on those lower floors, and the main entrance was accessible only through the skyline road.

"We're here. I apologize for the rough drive, sir. We have recently been dealing with a series of attacks lately. Rest assured, this is one of the most secure buildings in the city."

The doctor calmly stepped out the car and looked up at the tower. "Well, it's certainly tall.." She idly commented, then looked to Jaken. "..And much more extravagant than Champion Tower, is it not?" She added with a rather unimpressed inflection, like she meant to say 'ostentatious' instead..

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Never liked 'unbreachable," Jaken muttered to Rika - although he figured Hive could probably hear him too. "Too much like unsinkable. As the Ice cube said to the Tritanic, Gloop, gloop."

[Krytus The Dreamer]

Kaleb steeled himself and took a whiff at the ground as his antennae prodded the floor. Almost immediately, Kaleb held back the urge to retch on the spot. A canine's nose was several times stronger than his previous human body, and even with his weakened sense of smell, Kaleb would've thrown up. It was a miracle he didn't add to the odor. Regardless, Kaleb could pick out his pheromones from the path he was staring down, which meant he and Sana had already been down this path.

"No good," Kaleb shook his head, "We've been down this way before. How's getting your computer back online going?"

Kaleb's animal registry
Therian Shift: Bullet Ant
Thinking capacity: 8/8

[Welsh Halfwit]

Sana looked a little dismayed at the revelation. "You're sure," she asked. "The repair system says it'll be dried out shortly. But," she grinned hopefully, in the manner of one making a joke in the face of the gallows, "the repair system might have water in it?" She was trying not to let on that she was feeling slightly miserable, what with having been, seemingly, useless so far.

[Legotron123]

Kolt seemed a little amused by the revelation of Varanian interference. "That's the second time this week we'll be dealing with them. If it happens again I'm going to think they're doing it deliberately." He said, before going back to watching over the prisoners.
Lewis and Liz meanwhile, seemed a bit more contemplative. "Are they operating here because they can deal with any consequences they might face, or because they don't think they WILL face any consequences? Because I doubt a planet like this doesn't have a strong military industrial complex." Liz wonder aloud.
Her son frowned. "Whatever the case, I doubt it bodes well for the rest of our visit here."

[CyberDragon]

Hawk sighed in relief before responding. "First, sorry for not being there right now as I'm held up in the New Rome Security Building - Long story but I got arrested by them for what my reploid did, which is *another* long story for later - and currently hiding in the Control Tower. I'll explain more when I meet up with you and the others but, right now, we got a situation here." He went silent for a bit before continuing. "While I was making my way out of the building, I got to the courtyard and saw this massive group of drones, all lined up and such. They're not security drones as these guys were heavily armored and packing heavy weapons, shields, and who knows what else...definitely not riot control, I could tell that. So, I snuck into the control tower here and..." His voice soon turned dower. "...and I saw something called Operation: Extermination and the main goal to remove all 'vagrants, filth, trash, and unwanted vermin from our world'. Eira, they're planning a full-assault on your location within the hour, under the guise of it being a 'Trash Removal' service: The "trash" being the people out there."

As Eira listened to Hawk over the comms, Tobias, meanwhile, played 'To Dance Among The Stars' (another peace filled song) to help everyone be calm and relax.

"Subtle name..." Eira said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Right... Do what you can on your end to keep them from being deployed. We'll keep an eye out on our side for any robots that get through."

Kolt seemed a little amused by the revelation of Varanian interference. "That's the second time this week we'll be dealing with them. If it happens again I'm going to think they're doing it deliberately." He said, before going back to watching over the prisoners.
Lewis and Liz meanwhile, seemed a bit more contemplative. "Are they operating here because they can deal with any consequences they might face, or because they don't think they WILL face any consequences? Because I doubt a planet like this doesn't have a strong military industrial complex." Liz wonder aloud.
Her son frowned. "Whatever the case, I doubt it bodes well for the rest of our visit here."

"From the sound of it..." Gadgeteer started, "It seems like the latter. This planet has a private military. Protection goes to whoever can afford it. Whoever can't, is out of luck. Even worse, it seems the military, or these mercenaries, actively aid the Varanians in abducting people who can't or won't pay for protection. The Varanians aren't just safe from consequences, they're actively being assisted."

Eira turned to Gadgeteer and the others and considered everything she had heard. "We don't have proof these guys are actually military, or if they're just a bunch of bottom feeders, trying to make a buck off of the abundant misery around here. Unless one of those guys we captured can confirm it, that is. In the meantime, we need to keep our eyes peeled. Hawk called in, said there are some kind of robotic infantry about to be deployed."

"Mechanized infantry, huh?" Gadgeteer nodded. "If you manage to take any down relatively intact, bring 'em here and I'll reprogram them. We could use them to strengthen our position here, and maybe operate a bit more discretely."

"Either way, Kolt, we should move out. Recon and Gear messaged me, we've got enemies in the area. We should go out and do a little street sweeping to clear them out. You up for kicking some slaver butt?" Eira said, grinning toothily and punching the palm of her ice hand.

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

"Then you'd better tell all you can now," Corp advised, shucking a blade into his hand from the rig and turning his comm off. He closed in slightly, so the creature could hear him. "Because I'm only here on probation and not 'au fait' with the no killing rule. I will kill you before they can rescue you." He glanced at the window. "Mind you, the lead guy's a Varanian. He'll probably kill you AFTER he rescues you. And eat you." Just for effect, he ran the blade tip down the captive's leg. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to get the point across. He turned his comm back on. "Unless they have scenters they'll take a few to find us but we could do with an escape route. Confirm the Varanian, base camp. Our location." He knew Recon had reported in but confirmation never hurt.

The kidnapper suddenly looked alarmed at the mention of a Varanian leading the team. He looked around the attic, as though trying to see if there was a window he could see out of. He swore loudly. "Frickin' figures! That ain't reinforcements, they sent a ******* clean-up crew to get rid of any mistakes. I got beat and captured, so that'll include me, I'm betting." He glared at Corp. "Ever fight a Varanian, rat? Bullets and blades bounce off of 'em and they can crush you so hard with one hand your guts come out of your eyes like a tube of toothpaste. Get rid of those fixers and I'll tell you whatever you want to know, but only after they're gone!"

"My, as me mam would say, tha' is a biggun..." Sarah ventured, before looking to see if there was any sort of trapdoor or cellar to this place they were in.

"Mah Ma would hae said th' same but in less polite language." Cailean grins. He draws his weapon, keeping an eye on the Varanians while Sarah checks for shelter or escape routes. He's not sure if it will have any effect on the giant creatures but he feels better having it in his paw.

Titan kept watch from the lower level window of the house while Recon triggered a cloaking device on her suit and hopped onto the roof to watch from above. "Six enemies, one Varanian and five a mix of species. The Varanian is carrying some kind of heavy energy autocannon. The rest have a mix of Plasma-based Assault weapons and military-style body armor. Whoever these guys are, they're heavily funded." Recon said as the group of enemies got closer. "They're almost on top of us. We need to get ready for a fight, it looks like that Varanian has some kind of scanner on his eyepiece."

- - - - -

Cailean smiles at the Corytophian and pulls out a digital pad.
Ah'm deaf but can lip read. Are you hurt? We're here tae help. Why were they chasin' ye? he writes, turning the pad afterwards so the creature can read it.

The Corytophian looked at the screen nervously, then squinted at it. His eyes ran over the text multiple times as though trying to figure out what it all said. Clearly, he wasn't too familiar with the language. Finally, however, he seemed to get the idea of the message.

"Cut leg... not bad. Um..." He hummed, trying to think of the right words to say. "Town had... not good year. Many sick. Many die. Choke on air. Rest spend all money on medicine. Then not money for power, so power turn off. Then people get sicker. Then not enough for medicine. So no more medicine. Hospital close. People get sicker. Can't work. Can't make money for water, so water turn off. People get sicker. Then Army comes. No work. No money. Can't pay for Army. So Army leaves, and bad people come to take what we have left. People."

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

Hannabelle opened the door with hurried caution and examined the insides for ambushes as Gear brought her in. She examined the outside for ambushes now, staying close to the doorframe.

Gear led the Corytophian woman into the house where he managed to communicate to her to stay there and stay as hidden as possible, and that he was there to help. Once she was secure, he checked the building with Hannabelle and determined it to be otherwise abandoned. The Corytophian woman was likely a squatter, as the house looked like it hadn't been maintained in years.

"Clear." Gear said, walking outside to join Hannabelle. "So. Got a Corytophian squatter, confirmed Varanians in New Rome orbital space, raiders runnin' rampent, an' no military in sight. Whaddaya think's goin' on?"

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

"An Enfield," Keeva replied, leading the way. She grinned. "Guessing you don't mean the ancient rifle, eh? Oh, the heraldic thing. Um..." She put a clawtip to her teeth in thought. "Head of a Fox... or Celcian or whatever you call them. Canine chest, big Feline butt," she added, wiggling her own, "and tail of a Wolven or summat? Or have I got the bits wrong?" A playful smile. "Shall we ask a Hivebot for directions?"

"I believe that would be a natural first course of action when one has a question about happenings on the Beacon." Predator said, looking around. Sure enough, a Civilian Assistance Droid had taken notice of the two and was currently approaching them.

"Hello, Predator. Hello Keeva. Did you have a question?"

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

"So we work...choo! Snf. We work to distract them," Cherry guessed. "I wonder if we could get their main frequency? <Choo> Me talking into their heads could be very <CHOO!> distracting, eh?"

"No..." Hivemind said, thoughtfully. "No, we don't know what exactly he has planned. And one thing worse than someone about to do something dangerous is someone about to do something dangerous while distracted. Our best bet is to try and figure out where he is, and that means figuring out who specifically the devil is in this scenario, and what would qualify as his 'fingers'."

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

Jaken kepts his thoughts about 'literally being a hole in security to himself'...

The doctor calmly stepped out the car and looked up at the tower. "Well, it's certainly tall.." She idly commented, then looked to Jaken. "..And much more extravagant than Champion Tower, is it not?" She added with a rather unimpressed inflection, like she meant to say 'ostentatious' instead..

Hivemind likewise stepped out of the limo once it came to a full stop. He turned his robotic head skyward to observe the building and consider the implications of it's design.

"I'm afraid I am not permitted to show you inside, sir. I cannot enter. VIP only." the driver said. "Should you need to travel anywhere, please don't hesitate to ask the front desk. They will call me, and I will be over in only moments. I apologize again for the rough ride, but rest assured, you are quite safe here."

"Is there a way to contact you directly?" Hivemind asked.

"I... am afraid that is not permitted. I'm sorry, but even you will have to go through the proper channels." the driver responded.

"Very well. Thank you for taking care of us." Hivemind nodded. Once everyone had their things, the driver got back into the car and pulled away.

Hivemind walked toward the entrance of the tower and opened the door. The inside of the building was even more grand than the outside. The front lobby looked almost like a treasure room, with gold and silver and gemstones glinting off of decorations from lamps to tables to chairs and coat hangers. Tapestries and portraits lined the walls, and a large mural had been painted on the domed ceiling detailing the rise of the city from the middle of a wild, 'savage', yet lush wilderness. Hivemind approached the front desk and, after stating his name, the attendant bowed and gave him two keys.

"Your room is on the top floor, sir! Please, make yourselves comfortable, and be sure to reach out to us if you need anything."

[Welsh Halfwit]

"It seems to be following a tracer," Corp told the captive tightly. "It will lead them right to us wherever we go." He readied one of his blades. "Do you have a tracker on you or IN you that can be quickly removed? Without killing you." He tapped his comm. "Recon, stay back. You and Titan are our high cards. He's quite unhidable. You're not. Once you're in play we have nothing left to surprise them with. Do what you can to sabotage and steal from their craft. You may find useful information. Someone get Cailean to ask if the other guy knows a way out. Everyone else, get ready to engage."
--------------------------
Sarah pulled at the edge of a piece of wall that her finger claws had caught on to see if it opened. It certainly FELT like a door. When under threat, these sort of hidden exits were often installed.
-------------------------
"There's two possibilities," Hannabelle opined, "Neither palatable. One. They know they can't fight the Varanians so they're working with them, diverting them onto the people they don't want. Two. They've allowed the Varaniums to establish a base here." She scowled. "Either way it leads to mass slavery and cannibalism. And, as strange as it sounds for a retired Celican assassin, I have no intention of letting it continue!" She glanced at Gear. "Any armour piercing or high explosive ammunition?"
-----------------------
Jenny's eyes looked like steel right now as she responded to Eira's question. "I note you didn't ask me," she said in a voice that many might take for frosty. "For SO many reasons this isn't standing today if I'm able to stop it." She readied her pistols and rubbed her hands.
----------------------
"Good morning, sir," Keeva said, bowing slightly before recalling it was ridiculous. "Pred here is saying there's a newcomer of the Enfield type? Is this, possibly, true?"
-----------------------
"Would you... snff... like me to contact one of the, um, teams? Get a sitrep without using, uh, standard channels?" Cherry dabbed her nose.
----------------------
"Are we checking in," Jaken muttered, more to himself than anything as his ears folded back. He wasn't fond of this place. It was blaring the need to impress too loudly, considering what they knew of the other surroundings. The ones that were out of sight. He had a little experience of such things, with the work his father had used to do. He'd never been impressed by it then, considering it was mostly to correct impressions of imperfection that only existed in their minds and egos. 'They want to make you feel less than them, his father had said once. 'That's how you know you're better than them.' He WAS better than them. So were Miss Rika and Mr Hivemind. He gathered his courage. THEY were in charge.

[Hlaoroo]

Conall pulls out his small field first aid kit and places it on the crate between himself and the Corytophian before stepping back again to keep the creature feeling non-threatened.
"Are we in danger of getting sick? Are the bad people the government or someone else?" he asks through the pad, trying to keep the questions simple.
"Ah'm Conall. What's your name?" he adds after a moment.

~~~~~~~~
Cailean keeps one eye on Sarah, ready for any instructions she may give, and keeps his other eye on the approaching threat.
"What've ye found, Sarah?"

[Legotron123]

"You also didn't ask us." Liz noted, adjusting one of her gloves. "If you don't need us elsewhere, we would like to help show these slavers the many, many errors of their ways."
Kolt looked over at Liz and Lewis, seeming to realize something. "You know, we sat next to each other on the flight down, but I never got your name!" He did a fancy little bow before looking back up at her. "Kolt Lasser, otherwise known as Kitsune, at your service."
Liz smirked at his bow. "Elizabeth Walker, former Captain of the Steelhaven, at your service."
"Lewis Walker, former Lieutenant of the Steelhaven, at your service. Lewis said, giving the fox a bit of a lookover.
Kolt stood back up and smiled. "Pleasure to meet both of you! It'd be great to have you along for the ride if you're not needed elsewhere."

[SeanWolf]

"Subtle name..." Eira said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Right... Do what you can on your end to keep them from being deployed. We'll keep an eye out on our side for any robots that get through."

“I’ll do what I can from here.” Hawk replied, looking back out the viewport at the assembled army of heavily armed drones, but just before he could continue, the proverbial gunk hit the fan like a warhead. Outside, two massive transports began lifting off, their engines roaring like a thunderous dragon as they took off. Hawk swore up a hurricane. “Eira, steel yourselves! You got two transports headed your way right now! I’m gonna try to keep the other two from leaving. Hawk out!” He soon heard the third ship’s engines starting up as the droids marched into the flying apocalypses. Swearing more words than a sailor during a incursion at sea, Hawk looked over the console to see if there was any way to stop or, at the very least, divert their headings, but despite looking through seemingly everything, it seemed the easy option was not going to be on the table today. Ugh, this day keeps getting better and better, Hawk grumbled while looking for something, anything, to stop the other two from taking off. Soon, the other transport’s engine began roaring, adding more stress to an already stressful situation. With no other option left, Hawk checked the ammo on the rifle he had ‘borrowed’ from a drone then looked at the drones outside once more. “Screw it.” He rolled his eyes before, like he did on Fargarias, dove and crashed through the window, landing a few feet away from the drones.

The drones, sensing the danger, stopped in their marching and turned to face Hawk. Silence covered the air for a few seconds before the drones opened fire upon the intruder. Hawk, using every move he knew, quickly evaded the thousands of rounds and fired back with his rifle, skillfully destroying each drone with well placed shots. When his rifle ran dry, he used it as a club and whacked the remaining like a deranged madman with a sports mask. When the makeshift club broke, before the final droid, ironically enough, Hawk grabbed the droid by the legs and, with a mighty heave, launched the droid up into the transport’s engine, destroying both it and preventing it from lifting off and the droid in the process. Hawk breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed for a bit. But, that relaxation lasted only a few seconds as he quickly remembered that there were two transports left and the one was already shutting it’s doors and lifting off. “Ah frag!” He shouted, sprinting like a bat out of hell and, using some of the crates on the landing zone as a makeshift ramp, jumped for the closing door. With a grunt, he landed on the ledge and pulled himself into the ship just as the door finished closing.

He took a bit to catch his breath then looked up at the innards. Rows upon rows of drones stood still, waiting to be activated once this ship landed. A frightful sight, for many, but for Hawk? This was just another simple problem to solve. Once he was able to determine the ships were automated and the only passengers were the droids and, on this one, himself, he knew crashing it would be no issue. The only real issue was the ‘how’ as, seeing as this was automated, he couldn’t just re-program coordinates (Mostly because this was tech he was unfamiliar with). He couldn’t also blow up the engines as he was inside the ship itself…”Wait a second” he soon had an idea. It was risky but, hey, he loved risk. Finding the armory on board, he looked at the available weapons the drones would be using; Heavy LMGs, high-caliber automatic rifles, grenades, and flamethrowers. Plenty of good weapons, he thought, but nothing powerful enough for his idea. That is, however, when he spotted a rocket launcher hanging up; a four-barrled rocket launcher, to be precise. Normally, stuff like this wouldn’t get him excited, but Hawk couldn’t help but clap his hands and hop as he saw the beauty. “Now, this is what I’m talking about!” he exclaimed as he picked it up from the wall, along with its ammo which was loaded from the back. With the launcher loaded, Hawk stepped back out into the ship’s bay and faced toward the front of the ship. Here goes nothing, He thought as, taking the launcher off of safety, aimed and squeezed the trigger, sending all four rockets screaming down the bay. With a mighty impact, the four hit, destroying the cockpit and sending the transport careening down towards the city below. Then, with a loud, deafening boom, the transport crashed into the city streets, exploding in a shower of steel, drone parts, and fire. Various New Rome citizens carefully cautiously approached the burning wreckage, each one wondering if anyone even survived such a wreck, Just then, from out of the fire, a wolf, in a torn outfit he got from Big Dog and looking no worse for wear, stepped out from the wreckage. Brushing his shoulders off, Hawk looked up at the crowd, then at the ship behind him, then, with a smirk and shrug, he looked at the crowd and said “Myrocka”. The crowd, understanding completely what he meant, nodded and went about their business, some saying they’re surprised the company is still in business as Hawk, spotting the two transports from earlier, ran off and scurried up the wall, all the while hoping and praying he makes it in time…

[CyberDragon]

"It seems to be following a tracer," Corp told the captive tightly. "It will lead them right to us wherever we go." He readied one of his blades. "Do you have a tracker on you or IN you that can be quickly removed? Without killing you." He tapped his comm. "Recon, stay back. You and Titan are our high cards. He's quite unhidable. You're not. Once you're in play we have nothing left to surprise them with. Do what you can to sabotage and steal from their craft. You may find useful information. Someone get Cailean to ask if the other guy knows a way out. Everyone else, get ready to engage."
--------------------------
Sarah pulled at the edge of a piece of wall that her finger claws had caught on to see if it opened. It certainly FELT like a door. When under threat, these sort of hidden exits were often installed.

Sarah would find the wall was simply a wall, and pulling at it only succeeded in tearing a bit of wallpaper down from the seam and sending a bit of drywall dust into the air. The houses here were run down, in an impoverished area. They appeared to be cookie cutter houses, made cheaply and in bulk. Whoever lived here, they would not have had the money or space to build in secret passages.

"Nothin' that I know of." the mercenary answered Corp. "There was a transponder in the truck. Might be usin' an environment scanner. It'll pick up footprints, heat signatures, that kind of thing. Don't think it can see through walls though." he added, sounding hopeful.

Whether it could see through walls or not, it was leading the enemy right towards the house the Champions were hiding in.

Conall pulls out his small field first aid kit and places it on the crate between himself and the Corytophian before stepping back again to keep the creature feeling non-threatened.
"Are we in danger of getting sick? Are the bad people the government or someone else?" he asks through the pad, trying to keep the questions simple.
"Ah'm Conall. What's your name?" he adds after a moment.

"...Et'wan." the Corytophian said as his name. "And yes. Need sealed mask. But no. These people not government. Government not exist. Was dismantled. Purchased. Privatized."

The squad outside approached the house, turning to face it. The Varanian put his device away and pulled out a large rifle, nearly as big as a rocket launcher. He growled orders at the other mercenaries, who gathered in front of him and made their way towards the house. There were four of them, not including the Varanian, and they each piled on the door to prepare for breaching.

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

"There's two possibilities," Hannabelle opined, "Neither palatable. One. They know they can't fight the Varanians so they're working with them, diverting them onto the people they don't want. Two. They've allowed the Varaniums to establish a base here." She scowled. "Either way it leads to mass slavery and cannibalism. And, as strange as it sounds for a retired Celican assassin, I have no intention of letting it continue!" She glanced at Gear. "Any armour piercing or high explosive ammunition?"

"Yeah, but we shouldn't use 'em for this. Can't risk a bullet goin' through the truck an' hittin' an egg. Definitely don't wanna blow 'em up either." Gear said. He then activated his comms.

"Ey, Liz? Lewis? You there? We've got to get that truck or we ain't gonna get to them eggs in time."

- - - - -

Jenny's eyes looked like steel right now as she responded to Eira's question. "I note you didn't ask me," she said in a voice that many might take for frosty. "For SO many reasons this isn't standing today if I'm able to stop it." She readied her pistols and rubbed her hands.

Eira grinned and nodded to Jenny. "Alright! The more the better!"

"You also didn't ask us." Liz noted, adjusting one of her gloves. "If you don't need us elsewhere, we would like to help show these slavers the many, many errors of their ways."
Kolt looked over at Liz and Lewis, seeming to realize something. "You know, we sat next to each other on the flight down, but I never got your name!" He did a fancy little bow before looking back up at her. "Kolt Lasser, otherwise known as Kitsune, at your service."
Liz smirked at his bow. "Elizabeth Walker, former Captain of the Steelhaven, at your service."
"Lewis Walker, former Lieutenant of the Steelhaven, at your service. Lewis said, giving the fox a bit of a lookover.
Kolt stood back up and smiled. "Pleasure to meet both of you! It'd be great to have you along for the ride if you're not needed elsewhere."

Liz and Lewis's introduction came just as Eira heard Gear over comms. "I'm Eira. I don't think we've met either!" Eira stepped over to the two of them and offered her hand to shake theirs. It would be difficult for them to not notice that her arm from the elbow down was completely made of ice.

"Good to meet you two, but it sounds like you're already with a group, and that sounds pretty important. You all can join up with us once you stop that truck."

“Eira, steel yourselves! You got two transports headed your way right now! I’m gonna try to keep the other two from leaving. Hawk out!”

Eira rubbed her brow, looking irritated. "...And best hurry up, it sounds like we've got incoming."

Eira called out to Gadgeteer. "How long will it take you to set up a perimeter?"

"Too long. But they can't know about this place yet. They'll likely try to hit the general area. If I can get a cloaking system up, it'll buy time to set up the rest of the defenses." Gadgeteer said as he got to work.

"Right. Jenny, Kolt, let's go cause some noise. Get their attention and draw it away from our little setup here. I'll see if Archangel is in the area. We could use more heavy hitters." Eira said.

She turned to Liz and Lewis. "Stop that truck, return the eggs, then join us in the streets."

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

"Good morning, sir," Keeva said, bowing slightly before recalling it was ridiculous. "Pred here is saying there's a newcomer of the Enfield type? Is this, possibly, true?"

The droid nodded. "You're referring to Vex. Yes, he was helping me test a theory regarding the Server and it's uses. He takes the form of a somewhat anthropomorphic Enfield. We were recently offered aid from another group known as the 'Guardians'. Vex isn't one of their number, and he's technically a civilian, but he's from the same... 'Neighborhood' as they are, has a considerable amount of power, and is willing to help out on occasion."

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

"Would you... snff... like me to contact one of the, um, teams? Get a sitrep without using, uh, standard channels?" Cherry dabbed her nose.

Hivemind was considering when he noted the explosion in the middle of the outer city of New Rome. He let out a synthetic sound similar to a sigh and rubbed his forehead. "Get me in contact with Hawk..."

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

"Are we checking in," Jaken muttered, more to himself than anything as his ears folded back. He wasn't fond of this place. It was blaring the need to impress too loudly, considering what they knew of the other surroundings. The ones that were out of sight. He had a little experience of such things, with the work his father had used to do. He'd never been impressed by it then, considering it was mostly to correct impressions of imperfection that only existed in their minds and egos. 'They want to make you feel less than them, his father had said once. 'That's how you know you're better than them.' He WAS better than them. So were Miss Rika and Mr Hivemind. He gathered his courage. THEY were in charge.

"It appears as though somebody already checked us in." Hivemind commented. He led the way to the elevators and up to the suite on the top floor.

When they got there, it was every bit as extravagant as the lobby. Gold lined rosewood furniture with red velvet cushions, marble statues, jeweled portraits on the walls, even the toilet seat was made of what appeared to be ivory. Hivemind felt like even he was going to get a headache from it all.

"Right... Alright, Jaken, Rika, best get settled if you can. Jaken, when you're ready, do you think you'll be able to portal to the ship?"

[Hlaoroo]

Conall looks alarmed at this revelation. He raises a finger in the universally-recognised "wait one moment" gesture and hurries over to Corp, having no idea the mouse had just mentioned him. He makes sure to give the captive a wide berth, his pad converting his scribbles into clear print as he walks. He waves urgently to get the Mican's attention and shows him the pad.
"Danger! Et'wan say deadly disease in air! We all exposed, need masks! Government gone, privatised. No help coming for people." The pad says, keeping the message as succinct as possible.