[Ic]The Setup, Redux 18+

[(PSN)TheCrimsonTuckr]

"Your sister, Maya is infiltrating the group of Primes led by Queen Analis to find the City Of Veka. Her life signs are fine, adrenaline levels are increased, heartbeat is increased. Normal signs for a stealth mission, she is doing fine Maxi." He said almost instantly. "Why do you ask? Are you afraid of her life?"

[Agent_Maine]

"Your sister, Maya is infiltrating the group of Primes led by Queen Analis to find the City Of Veka. Her life signs are fine, adrenaline levels are increased, heartbeat is increased. Normal signs for a stealth mission, she is doing fine Maxi." He said almost instantly. "Why do you ask? Are you afraid of her life?"

"What do you expect? I'm a Tenno, dare I say, with feelings. My sister, besides dear Omnipotence, is the person I care for the most in my life. I'm not an emotionless hunk of data like yourself." Maxi replied suddenly, resting her elbow on the Liset controls. "So, yes, I fear that she may die, to answer your question."

[(PSN)TheCrimsonTuckr]

"Emotions weaken your strength, Maxi. With emotion you have worries, regret, despair, sadness... Hatred." he said with a slight pause on the word, hatred. "What the perfect warrior needs is concentration, skill, a weapon and armour. Loss is also an emotion that renders the warrior useless. I do have a mind of my own and I'm not a 'hunk of data' as you call me, Maxi, but DO remember that I can easily shatter your existence in seconds with NO hesitations. That's the power of no emotion."

[Agent_Maine]

"Emotions weaken your strength, Maxi. With emotion you have worries, regret, despair, sadness... Hatred." he said with a slight pause on the word, hatred. "What the perfect warrior needs is concentration, skill, a weapon and armour. Loss is also an emotion that renders the warrior useless. I do have a mind of my own and I'm not a 'hunk of data' as you call me, Maxi, but DO remember that I can easily shatter your existence in seconds with NO hesitations. That's the power of no emotion."

"Remember your place, Prestige. We're all ranked the same under Omnipotence. And I have no qualms shattering anyone's existence, like you. If something were to happen to my sister, it would only strengthen my resolve to completely obliterate the person responsible. Remember that. It entirely depends on the emotion you use," Maxi replied. "and I use the correct ones."

[(PSN)TheCrimsonTuckr]

"Let's hope you use the correct ones for the rest of your life Maxi, also remember if the mission is a failure and our locations are revealed. Death is inevitable for you both. Slowly." He replied with a more darker tone of voice.

[Agent_Maine]

"Let's hope you use the correct ones for the rest of your life Maxi, also remember if the mission is a failure and our locations are revealed. Death is inevitable for you both. Slowly." He replied with a more darker tone of voice.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Maxi replied, before pressing a button on the Liset Controls, cutting the connection. "Talk about egotistical." She muttered to herself, before walking out of her Liset.

[(PSN)TheCrimsonTuckr]

Arino sighed and started to wander around the Dojo again. "I wonder how Fina's doing back at the marvellous city." He said to himself as he walked by himself.

[SpaceHelicopters]

The Beginning of Something Dangerous…

Keya smiled wholeheartedly, though the way she did made it seem a little sinister. Regardless, she was finally convinced and satiated with the information she had been given. Reaching forward and taking the General’s hand by force, she gave it a firm shake.

 

“Alright, Hex, I’m in. I’m placing myself in your hands now; I just hope for your sake as much as mine that you can handle me,” she said with a smirk, orange irises flickering like fire. It was almost as if James had just accepted a contract from a demoness, or based on how strong her feminine wile is, a succubus.

 

Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone~

Attacking Blue would prove to be a more challenging endeavor than previously believed. Before Nium’s first strike in his assault, Gemini’s blue-half extended a relaxed palm. The hard-data walls disassembled and surrounded her, forming protective rings that made an impenetrable dome around her form. Not only that, but the rings rotated at dangerous speeds, throwing Nium’s strikes off to the sides wildly and threatening to severely damage his chassis should he draw too near the dome’s surface.

 

Never turn your back on your opponent. - A lesson Nium was sure to know, but failed to exercise in Red’s case. The Cephalon half rushed her charge, placing a firm pommel strike to the center of Nium’s shoulder-blades to return his attention to her. After a quick back-step to avoid an immediate retaliation, Red followed up with a hard forward thrust before dashing to the right, delivering a slash as she moved to take advantage of her momentum.

 

Breaking hard and rotating on her heel, Red’s form began to discorporate, the edges of her body growing fuzzy and glitching erratically. She coiled her hard-data rapier close to her body, and as she rushed forward to thrust, two equally unstable Red Gemini dashed at either side, rotating as they struck in order to put momentum behind their slashes. There were visible gaps in the three Reds, as if though there were three, the matter that formed them remained constant. This wasn’t a trick requiring Nium to locate the correct Gemini in order to damage her, but rather they were all really her. Though it destabilized her form, Red had fragmented her AI in order to create multiple projections of herself, allowing her to increase the pressure on her opponent.

 

Emotionless Emotions

Stepping away from Gaius, Azelie stood on her own as she shook her head, “How can you wear scars such as these with pride?”

 

She outstretched her arms, bearing her full emaciated form before her Warlord. “You say I’m a hero because you know why I’m like this, but others don’t, and they can be cruel, even if it isn’t their intent.” She turned and faced the standing mirror, looking at her figure again as her boney shoulders visibly dropped.

 

“I don’t have the conviction for this,” she stated flatly, and though she was devoid of emotion, the tears running down her gaunt cheeks made her true feelings apparent and clear.

 

An Open Wound…

Harley made no attempt to acknowledge Sebastian’s presence, continuing to strum the invisible chords that only she knew for a fact were there, their tune ringing out from the speakers of her damaged helmet resting under her crossed legs.

 

Excitement barely contained, enthusiasm waning…

Even as the crowd gathered around Souna and Aegis’s dueling ring grew, Nisha remained a dimly glowing beacon among the crowd, her cheers for the “Rhino Lady” (And the occasional one for Souna when she grew guilty) clearly audible among the cries of those around her.

 

However, as the battle stretched on and the little Nova Specter’s short attention-span was tested, Nisha’s echo’s boredom only continued to build. The longer the battle lasted, the more the little Specter considered joining in on the fun. Though she herself hadn’t worked here before, the Operator she was based on had – and she knew how to operate the dueling ring.

 

Unless their duel came to a close soon, they risked the potential meddling of a certain excited party.

[Ghost333]

Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone~

((You saw me standing alone

without a dream in my heart,

without a love of my own

-Trumpet solo-))

 

Hexer returned the handshake, though if anything Keya was shaking his hand about, and the General was just keeping it from flailing about the place.

"I deal with Tenno on a semi-regular basis. I'm fairly certain I can handle everything short of a Fomorian on a good day."

[Aegia-]

 

Souna never had shared many Tenno's nigh-religious admiration of the duel blade against blade. Of course she accepted it as a part of the Tenno ways, and acknowledges its necessity on the battlefield, but that's where the similarities end. Her perception of honor and war differed a lot from what Aegia would have thought. The Zephyr-lady thought it far too risky and unresponsible to trust her aspirations and future onto the result of a duel with equal footing - a fifty-fifty-chance. Sparring sure was fine, but it's just a practice for her that prepares her for the battles that actually served her needs. Fairness was not going to further any of her goals, only victory. 

That also was the reason why her performance on the battlefield differed greatly from her accomplishments in the arena. Most duels are regulated, prohibiting Souna from using her enemies weaknesses like she was used to.

But at least her defense still held up until now. Souna was well aware that she really dodged a bullet with Aegia's last attack, which could have easily finished the duel in the Rhino's favor. Instead of worrying about what could have been, Souna focused on properly placing her blows on the Rhino's soft sides and lower back, only to confront the other's impeccable constitution. Souna was sure that blow could've made any human go mad from pain, but Tenno really are a different deal after all. And so, Souna's leg was still caught, and hanging upside down did not allow many further attacks from this 'special' position. 

 

On the positive side, Aegia helped Souna change her position. On the negative side, she didn't do it intendedly, and with way too much force. Before Souna could grip them, Aegia's legs were out of reach, her back did not provide solid grip, and centrifugal force carried Souna's upper body outward, away from Aegia's head, which was her most promising next target. With one leg and both arms free, Souna at least had some control about her rotation along the axis head-to-toe, but all she could do in a hurry to escape the crushing blow to the ground that proved inevitable at that point was to tuck up her legs, pulling her body in, thus reducing radius and velocity of the impact. 

One arm grabbed her knees to fortify her curled-up position - and not get stretched by the next swing - the other protected her head as the floor closed in at alarming speed. 

 

WHAM

 

Souna felt the skin at her elbow and lower arm split as her body crashed onto the floor, not to mention the bruises she caught at her hip, shoulder, head and knee. When the reflexive tension of her muscles eased, Souna already found herself in the process of being lifted up for the next attack - and at this point, there's no doubt that Aegia would not and needed not change her pattern of attack: Never had she been in a better spot to grasp victory over the cocky bird-lady. 

 

But, Souna had not given up yet. Her mind was still racing, and a glimpse of an escape presented itself to her. If this had been a real fight, no doubt Souna were facing certain doom, but then she would not have engaged like this in the first place. So, why pretend that there were no limits? The rules that brought Souna into this unfortunate positions, she could still use them against Aegia, who hopefully was still aware of the fact that neither of the Tenno should cause each other severe harm in a simple sparring-match. So, would the Rhino continue the flailing too long for Souna's body to take, or rather let go earlier to play it safe, once she had proven her point?

To emphasize Souna's sole intent of gaining distance from Aegia, the bird-lady started kicking towards the center of the arcing motion with her ungrabbed leg. Again, she perfectly uses centrifugal and centripetal force to her advantage: Centripetal force to make her heel home in on Aegia's shoulder and head, dealing moderate impact, and centrifugal force to jump away from her opponent should she let go of the ankle. Not much grace left in her motions, of course. With every impact on the ground, her kicks became less precise, and should she escape her roll and steps would be more shakey. 

 

Back... And forth. And back... And forth. Each time, a resounding thud could be heard as Souna hit the ground. Sure, it had occurred to the woman currently flailing around her comrade like hammer that perhaps she could take things a little too far. Of course, it was really up to her whether or not she had gone a bit over the limit, and currently everything seemed... Well, fine. That was, until the telltale spatter of crimson began to show upon the hard metal floors wherever her opponent was slammed into. Drawing blood certainly wasn't her intention, Aegia had simply wanted to even the score, if only by a bit. It was precisely this hesitation that gave Souna just the opening she needed to connect her rock hard heel with Aegia's temple. Instinctively she reeled back, clenching her jaw and seething through her teeth as she used the hand that was formerly holding onto the Zephyr's leg to hold the side of her head. The wild throbbing only served to send jolts of pain scattering through her head and down her neck like spiderwebs of glass. If there was one thing that the Tenno had to compliment her opponent on, it was that she knew just where to strike to get a decisive blow. Inadvertently, she had been forced down to kneel, lest she fall to the ground from the fact that the whole world seemed to be spinning and out of focus, not to mention that she was seeing triple the image of what she would normally see.

 

It was clear that she couldn't continue, not at the rate that things were going. Sure, it may have seemed to an outside observer that Aegia was simply powering through Souna's strikes at her vital areas, but glancing blows and pinpoint strikes did far more damage than they seemed on the surface. The She-Rhino was just good at hiding the fact that every movement seemed to send fire shooting up her back thanks to that nasty blow from behind. The accumulated damage and fatigue had finally caught up to her, and so there she knelt, one hand on the floor to make sure she didn't topple over, and another gently massaging her temple in some attempt to get the world to stop spinning. It was making her sick.

 

She had no idea what state Souna was in, though she felt compelled to at least check. Above all else, she didn't want to be the one responsible for crippling one of her fellow Tenno, let alone one of her friends. Now only seeing double, Aegia slowly and methodically scanned the dueling circle in front of her, looking for just where her opponent had ended up. She hadn't flung her away, had she? No... She distinctly remembered dropping her out of shock.

[(PSN)SilverHades]

Mythos dropped the guy he was holding, who in turn ran off, frantically mumbling to himself. She sighed, putting her head in her hands. "It..it's okay. I'm fine. Look at me. I'm completely fine. I totally don't need Orion to calm me down. Nope, not at all." She continued mumbling to herself for a few more seconds, before sighing again.

"Goddamnit."

[IceDragonofAmber]

Quickly stepping back from the big blue ball of death Nium returned his attention to the red side of things, stepping aside and initiating a quick parry for the thrust and slash respectively.

Marching forward to get further away from the death dome Nium immediately regretted his decision as he saw three of the same charging at him, allowing one of the hits to early pierce his shields as he struggled to readjust.

“Oh now THAT’s just cheating!”

Being pressured back towards the spinning dome of death Nium officially initiated IgotTricks2.exe.

Standing his ground (and gaining a few hits in the process, dropping the shields and getting a nasty scratch across the chest) Nium opened up his clenched fist to deliver his present. A swarm of nanites, too small to be registered by shields, surging forth and landing right on their faces. There the microscopic constructs (which came in pairs) did one of two things. A. Emit an electric-magnetic pulse to ward of shields and protect their charge or B. Start emitting an inexorbinent amount of radiation for their small sizes which, in such close proximity and in such numbers, wrecked absolute hell on the Gemini’s systems. Their visual systems, to be more precise.

Immediately seizing the opportunity Nium struck with heavy blows and kicks to disorientate Red’s position before grabbing the closest available copy and sweeping the legs before pushing her towards the dome and pressing onto her back, turning the duo’s greatest defense into his greatest offense.

[IrishHades1798]

Emotionless Emotions

Stepping away from Gaius, Azelie stood on her own as she shook her head, “How can you wear scars such as these with pride?”

 

She outstretched her arms, bearing her full emaciated form before her Warlord. “You say I’m a hero because you know why I’m like this, but others don’t, and they can be cruel, even if it isn’t their intent.” She turned and faced the standing mirror, looking at her figure again as her boney shoulders visibly dropped.

 

“I don’t have the conviction for this,” she stated flatly, and though she was devoid of emotion, the tears running down her gaunt cheeks made her true feelings apparent and clear.

 

An Open Wound…

Harley made no attempt to acknowledge Sebastian’s presence, continuing to strum the invisible chords that only she knew for a fact were there, their tune ringing out from the speakers of her damaged helmet resting under her crossed legs.

 

Gaius let out a deep sigh. He gently took Azelie by the hand, grabbing it with both of his hands. in a subtle display, the armor surrounding his hands evaporated into a small cloud of smoke. When it cleared, Azelie could see his hands clearly. They were almost purely infested. His hands were rough, and chitinous with a sinewy appearance, the signs of Technocyte infection. 

 

"I can't help this." He said. "There is nothing I can do to stop this deformity. It can't be stopped, and if cut it simply regrows. However, yours can healed. "Gaius motioned to her emaciated figure. "But the only way to do so is to go and improve. To do what you can now." Gaius let go of her hand and took a step back. "The scars we wear with pride are not the one people can see. They won't care about them, and neither should we. The ones we wear with pride, are the ones we can't see." He lifted his hand and tapped the top of his head lightly. "The ones that cut the deepest. These scars keep us up at night and remind us of the sacrifices we have made, the horrors we have faced. These we were with pride so that we can always remember and move forward."

 

"If you would like, I can go and grab you something from the mess hall. But I encourage you to go and get some for yourself. It will go along way for you, even if it doesn't seem like it." 

 

Sebastian frowned. Harley hadn't even acknowledged him, and the sad tune only served to solidify his hypothesis on Quinn. It would have shattered his old heart, were he not so furious about it. But now was not the time for anger. He approached Harley and placed a hand on her shoulder. crouching down so as to be more on her level. "Harley..." He said. He didn;t feel as though more had to be said. Her name alone seemed to suffice.

[SpaceHelicopters]

Off the Clock

 

"Ah, Fomorians are overrated," Keya dismissed with a grin as she turned back toward the railing and leaned.

 

"Yeah, they're big and have some nasty teeth, but they got a pretty obvious weakness. Seems like everything we build bordering on moon or planet scale has to have some sort of massive Achilles' Heel to compensate."

 

She dismissed her current tangent with a shake of her head and let her gaze return to the docking ring.

 

"Anyway, I'm ready to ship out with you whenever, you just give the word. Until then, you know where I am."

 

And with that, the Grineer woman released the General from his bonds. He could leave her and return to the mess to converse with the remnants of his initial expedition crew, or perhaps remain in the disgraced pilot's company. Besides, he knew so little about his newest recruit; learning more about her couldn't hurt, plus, she was bound to have some interesting stories of her past. However, if Hexer had become weary of her company, he was free to leave. The opportunity to learn more about her would likely come up again in the future.

 

A Wall and a Sharp Place...

 

The Red fragments recoiled from the nanites' disruption, hands instinctively reaching towards their face-plates. The little robotic monstrosities woudln't be able to reach Blue through her dome, however. It wasn't a standard proto-shield so much as it was a series of objects orbiting around her at the speed of sound.

 

The moment one of her sister's fragments was thrust toward her dome, Blue extended her hands; dividing the dome in half as the hard-data diverted itself towards her fore-arms, creating two thick tower-shields that hovered several inches away from her arms.

Think like this, but just blue, opaque, and made out of little letters and numbers.

 

Blue aimed a shield bash with her left arm at Nium's face-plate, which was easily avoidable, but would require him to release the Red fragment. The follow-up lunge using the right shield would be unavoidable, however, expertly concealed behind the initial shield-strike. The pointed end of the shield would plant itself in Nium's midsection, at the very least staggering him and serving as a reminder of how beneficial it was for him to be synthetic. Where he organic, he very likely would have had to stop as his stomach voided itself.

 

Using the momentary distraction, one of Red's two free fragments would flee toward her twin, Blue receiving her with a quick localized EMP to the face. It'd scramble her sensors for a second, but also act like a nano-nuke to the nanites, annihilating their colony on Gemini's face-plate without leaving so much as a trace.

 

The other fragment, borrowing vision from her twin, would employ her most devastating and adorable attack. Managing to move her body using Blue's point of view, she latched herself onto Nium's recoiling form, trapping him in a spine crushing hug to hold him in place.

 

Feeling Feelings without Feeling

 

Azelie looked at her Warlord's disfigured hands as he spoke. She hadn't ever noticed that they were in such a state. Then again, she never really bothered to look. It wasn't because she was uncaring, she'd just never concerned herself with it.

 

She gazed into the mirror once again as she considered Gaius's wisdom. After a few agonizing moments of silence and stillness, she strode over to the locker at the base of her medical bed and withdrew a standard full-body suit and a civilian hooded sweatshirt one of the nurses said she could borrow. Once on, the clothing helped disguise her skeletal form, though it didn't hide her gaunt face. After taking a pill from a bottle resting on her bedside table, she stepped toward the curtain, awaiting Gaius silently and expectantly. 

 

The medication she took was both an appetite stimulant and also assisted her in gaining weight by altering the amount of fats and oils she'd retain from food and slowing down her metabolism. As a side effect, however, she'd probably be a little drowsy in an hour or so.

 

Internal Bleeding

 

The injured and stubborn Mirage continued to ignore the Vauban, not even so much as blinking at her name. At his touch, however, her fingers faltered in their melody as she struck a sour note. She ignored it and continued playing, remaining unresponsive to Sebastian.

[Owlrrex]

Souna has no illusions that that last hit was mostly owed to a big chunk of plain luck. Have the numerous impacts before finally beaten some sense into her swollen ego?

After one last 'thud' of falling to the ground, the redhaired woman needs a moment to catch her breath and spirit again. With it, her thinking returns, and instead of hastily crawling away from her opponent, she's giving an absoutely horrid impression of a few sideways-rolls backwards to gain enough distance to prevent any surprise attacks. Intending to stand up there, she ultimately fails and stays on her knees after all, inspecting her arms and face for injuries, her vision unsteady, but her fingers exploring where it hurts most. 

Unsurprisingly, the dark, hardened skin on the right side of her body is very sturdy and hardly scratched: A numb pain below and a few numb spots will heal soon and are not really worth mentioning, compared to what the other side of her suffered: Multiple lacerations on her elbows, forearms, and, from how it feels, maybe one knee too. Many, many other bruises on her head, shoulders, and basically everywhere else. Her first thought is that it will take a lot of makeup to cover up those that mark her face. Even worse, she can guess that her hair's not only sweaty and chaotic, but also has a little blood in it, caught from the ground of flying drops. Feeling that dirty adds insult to injury.

 

Clenching her blackened right fist, only to wince in pain and release again, she's grasping the last chance to get a slight litte upper hand in this duel. Not in terms of fighting, but in terms of the mindgame that her pride requires. 

"Let's call this even here, shall we? ... There is no point or reason in continuing on for a simple spar. You have proven that you are not all talk, and I have to admit that fighting styles really have changed a lot from what I am used to." Souna takes a look around to think of her next words, and is suprised to notice a part of her audience wandered off. "We appear to be no longer the only attraction, anyways." she states flatly. 

[Ghost333]

Off the Clock

 

"Ah, Fomorians are overrated," Keya dismissed with a grin as she turned back toward the railing and leaned.

 

"Yeah, they're big and have some nasty teeth, but they got a pretty obvious weakness. Seems like everything we build bordering on moon or planet scale has to have some sort of massive Achilles' Heel to compensate."

 

She dismissed her current tangent with a shake of her head and let her gaze return to the docking ring.

 

"Anyway, I'm ready to ship out with you whenever, you just give the word. Until then, you know where I am."

 

And with that, the Grineer woman released the General from his bonds. He could leave her and return to the mess to converse with the remnants of his initial expedition crew, or perhaps remain in the disgraced pilot's company. Besides, he knew so little about his newest recruit; learning more about her couldn't hurt, plus, she was bound to have some interesting stories of her past. However, if Hexer had become weary of her company, he was free to leave. The opportunity to learn more about her would likely come up again in the future.

"I'll probably return to Baseplate if I don't have another option that's more tasteful." Hexer said. "Way too much paperwork. Seriously, my office is full of paperwork, and most of it is redundant. I don't even have a bed anymore, just a pile of papers with a quilt over it."

[IceDragonofAmber]

Nium ducked the initial swipe and took the blow to the mid-section, sliding back a small distance as a result. Another dent in the plate. Void damn it.

Quickly recovering Nium was just able to react to the impending bear hug, spinning a hard kick that connected to the copy’s central processing unit (A.K.A. the noggin). With Red stumbling as a result Nium stepped aside to block the seeing twin’s view of her copy while at the same time delivering a hard stab into the back of her shoulder, hooking in. Quickly spinning he used his momentum to launch the copy free and back to her brethren, wiping his blade before entering a guarded stance. He’d much rather face them all together than risk being surrounded again. Especially since blue has like a 2+ Invuln save. Damn Psykers.

But wait, there’s more! Due to the downright stupid amount of radiation they produced the obscuring nanites would quickly begin to burn themselves out, slowly gifting Red back her sight.

Not everything was guns and roses for however. Those cuts and gashes suffered from their little blind period weren’t just to drive them back, but also as a form of injection. Those times Nium wiped his blade with his hand? Appling hibernating nanites to the surface. Now they were up and active inside her wounds, many thousands and many different working in coherency. Dozers to chew through her, Invaders to attack and disable those counter nanites, Shockers and Hackers to slowly disrupt her systems ad Factories to make sure the party don’t stop.

And as these nanite slowly ate away at her they wouldn’t just disappear, at least not in the real copy. Specialised samples would take those materials lopped off and band them together, reproducing more and more to attack her synthetic tissues. Like an infection. But for computers. Not very pleasing for the crowd but what can you do?

Everything was a shadow.

There was a voice in my head. I didn’t know who it was, what it was, but it told me to get up. There were voices outside too, telling me the same. Everything was hazy though, it was all just a sea. I couldn’t see anything. They pulled me though, I knew the force on my arms. I just let them. I didn’t know why. Why should I?

I stayed near those that were like me, those that were helpful. Not the others. The others hurt. Just hiding behind the crate, moving when they told me ad when the singing stopped. I wasn’t sure what was happening, I didn’t think. It was better this way. When I did I just swam, and it hurt. So I just kept moving, ran from the big men. Stayed with my kind. The first sense of familiarity.

I wasn’tlike them though. They had skin, I was naked. Squishy. So I hid. I held things, things that belonged to the big men. I used them, I knew how they worked. I killed, I killed some of the big men but not… not like my siblings. What they were. They were faster, more… stronger. But this metal, this extension of me. The second familiarity, it helped.

A bigger one, a faster one. One more… brutal came up. Hit one brother, swung at a sister. Both went far, hurt. Then it went to me, but a flash made it many. No longer one. Its extension fell by me, but the brother was hurting. Low, another, more feral, up higher. The singing was much louder now, keeping the others away. But something lurched within me. The extension, it called. Heavy, costly, But it was mine, and brought upon the feral.

No more, singing louder. Brother high, singing with sister. Quieter, quieter. Movement again, the first pattern repeat. Look down, the clutched extension.

The third familiarity.

[IrishHades1798]

Gaius covered his hands once more in his armor, and smiled at the Ember. "So then, shall we see what the menu is?" Gaius said, taking a step to the side and motioning her to go on ahead first. 

 

Sebastian growled under his breath. He didn't like what he was going to do next, but it was all he really had and it usually worked on the soldiers under his command back in the old days. "HARLEY!" He shouted as he grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. He looked intensely at her infuriated eyes. He took a deep breath and said, "Whatever happened to Quinn, get over it. Now is the time to fight and get stronger, not to wallow in self-pity." He was in for rough time of it and he knew it. 

[SpaceHelicopters]

IrishHades1798, on 23 Jan 2016 - 9:59 PM, said:

-snip-

Sebastian growled under his breath. He didn't like what he was going to do next, but it was all he really had and it usually worked on the soldiers under his command back in the old days. "HARLEY!" He shouted as he grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. He looked intensely at her infuriated eyes. He took a deep breath and said, "Whatever happened to Quinn, get over it. Now is the time to fight and get stronger, not to wallow in self-pity." He was in for rough time of it and he knew it.

Sorry everyone else, but I have to do this post before the emotion leaves me. What does that mean? I'll answer that later or something.

Deep Wounds 

If only Sebastian new the vein of pent up rage and aggression he had uncovered with his actions. Harley was never an emotionally strong individual; a chronic 'bottler', infamous for using sugar-glass bottles and tissue-paper corks. To say she was upset was a grave and severe understatement. Though she cared for her teammates and fellow dojo inhabitants, the level of emotion she was currently dealing with was only an nth of the rage she'd express were it anyone other than Quin. Her sister was the only true family she had, and while it was more than most had the pleasure of possessing, it was a bond she valued far more than anything else.

Harley had a lot of demons to deal with on a daily basis; far more than she's ever admitted to anyone. Quin was the only reason she was strong. She was also the only reason she kept herself alive, and when you live for someone, that usually implies you're more than willing to die for them.

This damaged Mirage was not one of Sebastian's soldiers from the old days. Yelling at her was his first mistake, forcefully grabbing her was the second strike, but most importantly, telling her to get over it was the final nail in his coffin. Even if he was a friend, Harley loved her sister more than anyone.

Everyone else was just another shadow in the background.

Her fingers halted, her body tensed, her teeth clenched. Immediately after he finished speaking, Harley rose to her feet, much faster than anyone in her state should have been able to. Her lifeless irises violently sparked to life, the yellow glow in her eyes conveying pure killing-intent.

"Get over it...?" Harley seethed, clenching her fists as the warm updraft from the docking ring began to unravel her bandages. Three unstable mirror clones formed around her, each one conveying the same level of murderous intent as their host.

"Don't. Tell. Me. What. To. Do." And with that statement, Harley charged with speed that should have been impossible for her. She buried her fist in the Vauban's right cheek, carrying with her immense momentum and strength that was only a fraction of the well of rage she housed within her aching heart. Wounds that had just recently set re-opened, blood flowed, her pain intensified. All it did was further cloud her mind, fueling the fire of rage within her. Adrenaline was released, her strength only continued to build, and all she wanted to do was kill until she didn't hurt anymore.

The broken Mirage standing over Sebastian was no longer Harley, he had awoken a monster.

Edited January 24, 2016 by SpaceHelicopters

[Agent_Maine]

Mythos dropped the guy he was holding, who in turn ran off, frantically mumbling to himself. She sighed, putting her head in her hands. "It..it's okay. I'm fine. Look at me. I'm completely fine. I totally don't need Orion to calm me down. Nope, not at all." She continued mumbling to herself for a few more seconds, before sighing again.

"Goddamnit."

Silver sighed. "Mythos, i'll go and get Orion for you. I'm pretty sure that he knows how to handle your current condition, Alright?" He asked the Mesa.

 

"Don't. Tell. Me. What. To. Do." And with that statement, Harley charged with speed that should have been impossible for her. She buried her fist in the Vauban's right cheek, carrying with her immense momentum and strength that was only a fraction of the well of rage she housed within her aching heart. Wounds that had just recently set re-opened, blood flowed, her pain intensified. All it did was further cloud her mind, fueling the fire of rage within her. Adrenaline was released, her strength only continued to build, and all she wanted to do was kill until she didn't hurt anymore.

Near the catwalk, a small security camera watched the scene unfold with an uncanny interest. To the view of the camera operator at the waystation, there was nothing at the catwalk. Omnipotence's eyes sparked when he saw the power of the emotional Mirage. "Well, aren't you interesting," He muttered to himself, unable to be heard by anyone. "The emotional power of Tenno never seizes to amaze me. Further scans of her body indicates extremely increased adrenaline levels, and extreme strength. I wonder if Quin is the same. Too bad the Grineer will waste such a specimen."

 

"And too bad I'll kill you all in the end."

[(PSN)SilverHades]

Silver sighed. "Mythos, i'll go and get Orion for you. I'm pretty sure that he knows how to handle your current condition, Alright?" He asked the Mesa.

"Oh, yeah, because that's really plausible. NOT! I mean, do you actually believe that would work? Are you insane? That erratic little Cephalon makes this SO boring. The tiny little things he does to 'help' me doesn't work at all!" Mythos responded violently, constantly speaking faster and faster, before looking at Silver in a confused way. She turned to the other medical staff in the room, before shouting at the top of her lungs:

"EVERYONE, TAKE FIVE!"

Mythos then collapsed on the floor, falling completely unconscious.

[Exoteran]

The colorful ship opened again. Four limped out of the hatch with Jasmine close behind, crate in hand. "Hehe! I haven't had that much fun in a long time!" Jazz said, mimicing cracking a whip. "You should bring out the baddie more often!" Four kept pushing forward, trying to either get away from the crazy Mirage or just her voice jabbering on about the various, painful punishments or tortures she endured. In detail. By the time they were off the deck and further into the station, Jazz went quiet. "...Aww did I overdo it again?" Which coaxed a grunt from the hurting Trinity.

After around 15 different ways to say sorry (in varying languages) Jazz gave her the crate of medicine. They said their goodbyes and parted ways. As far as they walked, she noticed a familiar face in a...Pub? Bar? Whatever the case there was activity inside. She ventured, weakly, toward Sab and Company.

"Eh...Hello everyone!" She called over to the group of three while closing the distance. "May I Sit?"

[(PSN)batman200087]

"Arino's a strange person, he always sounded like he was the stuff." He said and looked at Kage, smiling at him.

"Conceited."

"A very desirable trait wanted by many."

Belrev deadpanned, stroking Kage between the ears. While Corion was busy keeping an eye on the female assassin, the little sentinel was also collecting any data of interest he can find. So far he found a couple new movies for Bel and him to watch, and a extremely secure radio frequency?

Never mind that it was peace time for Lotus' sake! Even a self aware sentinel doesn't need to worry.

----

"She has no name. No background. I've ran a check at least seven times, and nothing came up."

The black and white Kubrow started to growl, only stopping when a few pats on the nose were placed by Belrev. It even seemed to share feelings with its owner.

True friendship.

"That and the augmented Grineer I fought too. He or IT, said that we will see each other again soon. He was pretty powerful right?"

Edited January 24, 2016 by (PS4)batman200087

[(PSN)TheCrimsonTuckr]

Vandal looked at Belrev. "He was pretty powerful. One of the most feared Grineer around but he has a few... Problems." Vandal replied. "You're talking about the throat shooting Grineer, yes?"

[(PSN)batman200087]

"I was talking about the Lancer who had a red mechanical eye and kicked me into a wall."

"He had cybernetic implants. I wouldn't be surprised if his whole body was cybernetic."

"Oh wait.."

"It is."

Belrev blinked blankly at his friend, before returning to his next thought.

"I'm currently trying to find his whereabouts. And identify. For the Grineer who shot you in the damn throat."

"We'll get him. Soon."