Re: [Pre-Phase: Mission 2] Elevator Capacity
RESUME
"The youth of this generation are pleasantly surprising. I wouldn't have expect that kind of response." The 'pop idol' grinned and made a curiously 'hmph', before tugging on the sleeves of one of her guardians. “Check out to see if that transport is here, okay?” She said quietly, in a slightly worried tone. The slight face with bright pink eyes glanced back at the frame runners, and put on a clearly forced smile. “Call me Ninlil, since that other name doesn't quite fit this body. Not that it matters, since as an NI that was created without the need for an operator, I don't really have any imprinted characteristics or conceptions of gender like you natural types.”
“Well...” Serhan nodded along dourly, seemingly having trouble to quite make sense of all this. Although all of the facts made perfect sense, and fit together in a manner, none of it was really necessary and seemed like an enormous waste of his time to hear about. It seemed like 'she' had more to say, else he'd just leave with his wing and get back into their VANDR without another delay. “... as an original model, I imagine that your importance does not teeter on the pecularities of your body . Could you, perhaps, you could expand on the information relevant to this mission?”
“No fun. The ones that aren't young or old are always no fun. Enlil/Ninlil/MiSHARA stuck out her tongue and bit it, letting out a small sigh. She mimicked his blank expression in a comical, exagerated manner, seemingly unable to hold the face for more than a few seconds. A hand went up to her face as another pressed against her stomach, and she began to supress a strong urge to laugh at the strange sensation of forcing her face into such an unusually inert shape. “Haa haa, fufufufu. I suppose, it wouldn't hurt to tell you.”
Noticing what they interpreted as discomfort, the remaining two guardians stirred again, stretching out their cloaked arms, the shiny tips of mechanical fingers peeking out from underneath, but relented at the last moment. It seemed she had communicated with them and told them to do stop.
“Well, really. It's just an issue of the NI core in my body, that a lot of people want to get their hands on. A few terrorist groups already know, and this threat from the VKRL or whoever it is this time was serious enough for Solan force me to request a military escort.” Ninlil blinked and seemed genuinely bothered by this. “I'm still property, even though I'm free range. Digital cattle of theirs.”
"And why is your NI core so sought after... Ninlil" Zus asked, seeming interested and possibly entranced by what she could learn from the construct standing before her.
'Ismat smiled. She liked this NI! He... she... it... Ninlil was funny, and could do what other people couldn't, at least without some worry of getting in trouble, and that was poke fun at the stoic CO. The VIA operative stayed quiet, the point of this conversation seemingly obvious at this point.
Reovan walked in from where the VANDRs were. She had seemed preoccupied with something the whole mission thus far. Walking over to Zus, she whispered at the taller girl, "How're things going so far?"
Zus was mildly startled by Reovan's sudden presence, but didn't show it. The girl turned toward her friend, very quickly to try not to be rude to Ninlil, saying "it seems to be going well, how are the other runners?"
"Oh my, and quite a harem. Nightmares for a boring guy like you, being such a cad!" Ninlil said half-jokingly, placing her hands onto her hips. She seemed deeply amused, and rather fearless as she said something entirely ridiculous and somewhat offensive. "I'm a warehouse full of ancient treasures. I don't have absolute memory, as my data capacitance is similar to those of humanoids, but old OMNI like me are skeleton keys. Even if my permissions were revoked, there wouldn't be much that they couldn't access if they just used some of the secret access keys buried in my lower subroutines."
The Sund Wakir girl ran her fingers through her hair and took out the elastic holding it back in a ponytail. "They're doing well enough," she answered her roommate. "The VANDR are doing fine and such and such." She crossed her arms and looked at the Freespacer, a very confused look on her face. Looking up at Zus, Reovan asked, "Everything okay with her?"
'Ismat nodded, figuring that was the case with the Organoid NI. She turned to Reovan and gave a small wave in greeting. "Nice of you to join us, Reovan."
Ding ding! Chimed an elevator down the way, one of the four on the floor that the group was on.
"You are now on Floor One Hundred Ten." chimed a calm electronic voice as the door opened. Then, out stepped five figures who seemed to be wearing what seemed to be Guard Robes, typical of Temple Guardsmen. It was evident they were each carrying some sort of package or weapon under them by the way their arms were. Though, one peculiar asset of the robes they wore, was the lack of a metal mantle.
All five approached, lined, seemingly to look as professional as they could. The man in the middle stood forward. He laid a darkened gaze on Ninlil, her guards, and then the present members of Bahram Wing.
"By order of the Guard Hall here on Mazerin, we're taking MiSHARA into private custody." said the forward one, his gaze a little dark for a holy man.
Serhan glanced over at the five of them curiously, using the digital eyes of his suit instead of his own blunted senses, and shrugged."Well, that would certainly place you at odds with myself and my wing." He said in a blank tone, attempting to feign an extreme degree of ignorance to the things that felt a little off. "We are to escort her to the Urenbeck Gate, so that the cultural exchange there goes according to plan. My orders come from Solan and the planetary governor." He grinned, and wrapped his hand around the grips of his carbine. "I'll gladly kowtow to rank, of course."
Noting Serhan's readiness, Reovan placed her own hand on her faelrig, easing the elastic off of her fingers and down onto the handle of the weapon. Looking from the Guards to her Commander, the dark skinned girl tried to assess the situation. What's going on? she thought to herself.
The leader's face hardened, the men behind him carrying equally straight faces, except one man, who was eyeing Reovan lustfully. "The High Guardian himself has issued these orders, is that rank enough for you?"
I don't like the look of these guys Zus thought, her hand shifting closer to the pistol on her belt. She seemed to be getting a sort of dark feeling from them, very different from the presence of Mu'tasim, which had always been a light, warming presence. Something was wrong, very wrong.
'Ismat didn't make any aggressive moves, as her comrades had done. It would only make things more tense whit it was seemingly on the brink of a conflict already. She stayed calm and looked about the room. At the very least, the 'good' guys outnumbered the suspicious temple guards.
"Of course it isn't." Serhan said calmly, as he clicked the safety of his weapon off. It came alive with a small electrical ring, small power conduits lining the sides lighting up a light blue. His expression became a little stern, but blanked of any feeling as he gave them an appraising, yet dismissive glance. "I don't care where the orders came from. You simply... have no authority over me, as civilians."
"Oh god dammit." said one of the Guard behind the Leader. The Leader heaved a sigh for a moment, knowing that their cover was trully blown thanks to their bumbling comerade. "Fine, you got us," The Leader began to pull out his SMG along with the other members, "But we're taking her with us!"
Clicking on her own weapon, Reovan drew the blade and let it light up. It occered to her at this point to notice that these guard had guns with them, but she hoped that in the small space they had there, that the sword would be good enough for now. Gripping it tightly in both hands, she assumed a combat stance. Well, what she considered a combat stance. To a train soldier, it looked more like she was fit to dance.
The squabble between the unidentified would-be kidnappers and the present members of Bahram Wing was interupted by a single large white canister crashing in the distance followed by a dispersion of some kind of particle, causing sensors and electronics to register unusual activity. Using the electronic fog caused by their decoy, a group of three long tubular frames with spindly arms and smooth triangular shoulders, swooped overhead, those who were at the front of this formation coming down on the the platform loudly and without warning.
These units were Soono, painted black with a monochromatic red banner of some unknown type painted across the back, chest and shoulders. The black-clad trio lunged at the red VANDR, Famasir, and tackled the frame into the abyss between the platform and the surrounding buildings, a series of perceptible blasts and flashes going off bellow soon afterwards. Mu'Tasim's communications, as well as those of the entire wing were seemingly disabled, inhibited by the field generated by the canister.
Another eleven Soono began to approach some tens of kilometers from the opposite direction, only detectable because of the immense speeds they were moving at, the strong energy disgnatures at the spearhead.
"Saints Dammit." The leader said looking out the window, unwittingly putting his back to the group behind him. The other members of the small task force sent to take MiSHARA also seemed a little lost in the confusion, and the sudden bit of action. "They're going bring the top of the terminal down on us!" panicked one of the Iroma.
'Ismat, with her VIA training, drew her weapon, activated, and pointed it at the temple guard nearest to her, aiming for the arm; it was somewhere to cripple and not kill, and hopefully prevent any shooting. Then, with the chaos of the canister, she took the opportunity to attempt to sweep the leader of the guards to the ground, using the pistol as a deterrent, should it work, from attempting to get back up
Zus did what she thought was Pertinent. They wanted Nenlin, so the young Eyr Ranr grabbed the NI construct, simultaneously pulling her pistol out, pointing it at the fake Temple Guards and Pulling Nenlil towards the doors saying "I'm sorry but I think it's best if we move you out of the way" to the NI turned Pop star. She hoped the NI's own guards would not try to kill her as she attempted to save the ancient computer.
Reovan took the opportunity with the explosions and all the confusion to follow her rommate's lead and cover the NI's escape wither her own body. At the very least, it would make the computer less of an easy target to hit, and hopefully their enemies would have more conpunction before shooting another Iromakuanhe.
The top of the Marranr's carbine pointed up at a series of planters that hung across small metal pots that ran across the vast expanse of the slanted ceiling, and delivered a rapid burst of laser fire, aiming up to break the ceramic and glass pots through heat shift, or weaken the beams enough to cause them to collapse. He hadn't aimed nearly enough for it to be either of those actions, specifically. He barely glanced at 'Ismat before he took her by the shoulder and began to move, loosely firing his carbine in front of the kidnappers to keep them back. "...run!" Serhan immediately willed his helmet to shut so that he would be able to see more effectively, causing it to slide out of its collapsed state at the base of his neck, slide over, and made a dash for the door.
"Argh!" One of the men grabbed his arm, then fell to the ground, the shot piercing through and cutting through one of the ports in his back, causing him extreme pain. The unsuspecting lead man fell to the floor from the swipe to his feet and was stunned for second, only to regain himself with 'Ismat's gun in his face. The Marranr's quick movement got that gun out of his face.
However, as he was looking up, he noticed the falling planters, and tried to scurry to save himself. The other three men, recently tuning in, spread out everywhich way to avoid the planters, leaving their shot man on the ground.
With the others leaving, 'Ismat took that cue as a time to get out. She still kept an eye on the guards as she followed the others out, her pistol still raised and waiting. This mission had certainly gone to hell pretty quickly.
Security protocols in the terminal initiated a lockdown, causing the door to lock permanently, placing a bulwark of starship-grade window material between them and the hostile group of men. Inside, the sounds of combat could be heard, as the infantrymen and statuesque giants they had left behind now proceeded to take the four remaining kidnappers down. A hail of laser fire was punctuated by large 'fwoosh' sounds, and heavy crashes as the gunfight began and ended rather quickly.
Regardless of the outcome, the doors remained locked.
What awaited them outside, was not, however the VANDR of their wing nor the spacecraft that served as their auxilary vessel, but the glowing red lens and monoeye array of a Soono, and the rotation of its three-pronged manipulator set.
END
