The Liberated Kingdom of the Seven Sphere's [Neighboring Nation, Nexus, Open to all]

[Fan]

The sun rises on the horizion, darkened shops light up with digital displays, each showing various delicacies, and some not so delicacies for sale that day. In the individual homes, automated lights gives the appearance of the sun coming in via the automated lights built into the windows to give the appearance of day, and night to those within their homes.

Cars buzzed along monorails, automated traffic lanes taking people to their various tasks, and occupations whether they be work, or merely taking Jimmy to his little friends birthday party.

In other places, virtual parks brimmed with life, people in virtual reality suits dueling with the ancients beasts of yore, and experiencing the thrill of adventure without ever entering the dangerous wilds where if they became injured.. it could really be it.

Higher in the sphere, sat the prestigous hospitals of the Sphere, renowned for it's developments in cybernetics, and anti aging drugs that were pushing the standard living age ever higher as they continued to find new ways to continue the telomerase chains continual replenishment. People who would be hobbled are now shown that they can indeed walk again, spinal vertebrae are replaced as they wear down making the eventual grinding to dust of bones a worry of the past.

Yet, at the highest end of the sphere, rails wizzing by as politicians, and security whirred about at their business. There sat a lone man, the sovereign ruler of the Seven Sphere's, and who's estate lay at the center sphere that all other sphere's "orbited" each placed as if to mimic a planet in this very solar system. The man himself seemed continuously worried, always fretting over the next paper.. always looking eternally, and seeming to see beyond the typical mans sight...However, this is but one man among millions in the sphere's, and as powerful as anyone man may be.. He is but a drop in the water that is the ocean of a nation.

This is the sphere, and in the deepest bowels, to it's highest peaks... Darkness has long been breeding, shackled by the bonds of peace.. and now, the bonds are a hairs breadth from breaking.

Rules:


All forum rules apply here, in addition to any stated in the freeform community thread.

Play nice, fights can happen, but be sure to talk it over first.

No God Modding, I don't know how else to say this.. so there.

Have fun! The most important rule of the FFRP boards. Have a good time, and enjoy the thread.




Various Locations:


The Holo Arena: A massive, tiered, building that houses the sphere's famed Holo Arena's, in these arena's you be anything, and do anything. These rooms are always highly reserved, and you need some significant pull to get in without a reservation, but when you do get in, they are sure to give you as much time as your willing to work / pay for.

The Rest: Well, I'm hoping interest will be high enough for everyone to make your own, and I highly encourage this with hugs ( a fan hug is a rare commodity you know.), and incentives of various natures.

[McBish]

[Private Residence]

Herbert "Razor" Goldberg sits in his basement with his computer system, which is fairly impressive. He has cobbled together a series of computers and combined their processing power.

He spends most of his time designing and building computer programs and simulations for others to enjoy despite never being a fan of the Holo's himself.

"Jane are you there?" He says speaking to his computer

Where else could I be. Responds a female voice from the speaker system in the computer

"Right, bring up the newest flight simulation I want to do some tweaking on that."

And on his screen comes up his work, which he sits down to do.

[Beans]

[The Outskirts]
A limping, struggling, weaving figure staggers toward the Liberated Kingdom.
Blood pours down its face; its arm glints oddly, as does its eye.
It mumbles nonsense to itself, reaching with an uncoordinated hand at nothing and grasping less.

[Fan]

[The outskirts]

A passing patrol, consisting of average soldiers, sees the man from their watch post, and move out a small squad to go see what exactly is wrong with the man..

The first to approach him is a man with ridiculously long red hair, and a golden badge on his chest, he keeps his distance, but attempts a friendly gesture.

"Excuse me sir, are you injured?"

[Beans]

[Outskirts]
The man... hold on, it's not a man after all.
From a shorter distance, once can see that this bloodied person is a woman---aye, a woman with a mechanical left arm and right eye.
I... think so...
Is that an accent? Might be...

Her black hair, long enough to reach a bit past her shoulders, has dried blood on it.

[ApeofLight]

[Holo Arena]

Daniel Skies steps out of the Holo arena with a sigh. " Man, to easy. " He says and starts walking away. The holo arenas where getting to easy for him.

[Fan]

[Outskirts]
The man... hold on, it's not a man after all.
From a shorter distance, once can see that this bloodied person is a woman---aye, a woman with a mechanical left arm and right eye.
I... think so...
Is that an accent? Might be...
[outskirts, Sphere 3]
Her black hair, long enough to reach a bit past her shoulders, has dried blood on it.

"Someone get her a medic!"

The man yells to his comrades, a man with shorter blue hair, a rising trend in the area, running back to base to retrieve a medic while the man with longer red hair moves forward saying.

"Do you have a name ma'm? How severe do you think your injuries are?"


[Holo Arena 5, Sphere 3]

A operator gives a soft, low whistle as Daniel steps free of the holo chamber, twisting his fancy hat back as he toys with some more knobs, and says.

"That was impressive, I've never seen anyone go unmodded into a holo, and simply dominate like that!"

[Beans]

The woman stumbles. Heh, blood loss.
I... think... is ser... serious...

Name... is... Zh... Zhelezo Set... S-Setka...
She will fall to the ground unless stopped.

[Fan]

[outskirts]

The red haired soldier will do his best to catch her, and in the nick of time the medic arrives, the red haired soldier who we will now name Terry, sets her down on the ground while the professionals do their work, and attempt to patch her up.

"I really hope she ends up okay.."


[/ dead time]

[Beans]

Luckily for this strange young lady, her injuries are not very hard to tend to. She is patched up!

[ApeofLight]

[Holo Arena 5, Sphere 3]

A operator gives a soft, low whistle as Daniel steps free of the holo chamber, twisting his fancy hat back as he toys with some more knobs, and says.

"That was impressive, I've never seen anyone go unmodded into a holo, and simply dominate like that!"

Dan smirks a bit and shrugs. " It's all about the system. The A.I was lagging by about a second along with it being repetitive meant if you move from the high to low ground and then back gave you a huge advantage. " He says and sighs again.

[Murska]

[Military Complex]

Room after room with electronic displays and viewscreens, numbers, pictures maps and marks. And in the middle of it all, a larger room with... a table.

Sitting on one end in a comfortable chair was a rather old man whose black hair had mostly already turned grey. Unlike all the officers and assistants walking around busily, he was smoking a pipe in a relaxed posture and dressed in casual wear. The sight of someone who could be directly picked from a traditional picture of a grandfather watching his children play sit in the middle of the ultramodern and extremely busy facility was so out of place as to appear almost surreal. However, nobody seemed to pay much attention to it anymore around here.

He motioned one of the assistants to him, and the man dropped his stack of papers immediately. "Hey. Could you go ask Tech about how they're proceeding with that project I suggested?"

The soldier saluted. "Yes sir." Then he turned and headed out. The man was left sitting in his chair, surveying the situation casually and muttering something about formality and sonic shockwaves.

[Fan]

Luckily for this strange young lady, her injuries are not very hard to tend to. She is patched up!

The lady will awake then, being carried on a stretcher on the way back to base camp. Will be better to handle any internal bleeding in a safe, stable envrionment, and you can't do a full diagnosis in the field.

When she awakens, a man with mechanical legs, and startlingly blue eyes looks down and says.

"It's okay Ma'm, we're taking you to the base camp's hospital. The field medic didn't have the equipment to give you a full check up, but we think your going to be fine ma'm."


[Holo Arena]

"Hell if I could tell any of that, you just seemed to be kicking it's ass up, and down the street from here."

He said, continuing to dial the knobs as the setting changed from an encounter to a comforting beach setting, waves cresting majestically upon the sands of a simply stunning beach.. a giggling teenage girl, and her apparent boy friend walking in to the room.

[Beans]

She blinks, crusted blood at the corners of her eyes crumbling.
Th... thank you...

[Fan]

[Outskirts]

The stretcher is set down, and two doctors, and a team of nurses surround her with various sensors, and proddy thingies that I as someone who is not a Doctor can't remember the proper names for, and thus will not butcher them with my poorly written words.

Assuming everything checks out, she'll be hoisted up, told to avoid strenuous activity for awhile, and she'll be allowed on her way.

[Beans]

[Outskirts]
She thanks them all and sets off toward the city.

[McBish]

[Private Residence]

Herbert I have found another tester candidate. Should I contact him?

"Yes I think so send him the mail we'll see if he bites."

[Holo Arena]

Daniel Skies might get a e-mail at some point.

"Tired of the same old Holo's want something new? Become a tester of Razor's Holo Experience. If interested please respond."

[Earl of Purple]

Border

Two figures are walking to here from elsewhere. They are both wearing large coats and dark, bulky clothing that hides most of their bodies. The one on the left is holding a home-made, crude device that looks suspiciously like a shotgun in his gloved hands, and the one on the right's left sleeve flaps emptily in the wind, yet just inside his open coat is a small, one-handed firearm of some description. Both are wearing filter-masks designed to remove toxins and purify air. On their backs are bulky rucksacks filled with what appears to be survival equipment and ammuniton for various firearms. In fact, no part of their skin can be seen, and nor can their eyes.

[ApeofLight]

[Holo Arena]

"Hell if I could tell any of that, you just seemed to be kicking it's ass up, and down the street from here."

He said, continuing to dial the knobs as the setting changed from an encounter to a comforting beach setting, waves cresting majestically upon the sands of a simply stunning beach.. a giggling teenage girl, and her apparent boy friend walking in to the room.

Dan shrugs and then leaves the Holo arena. He eventually makes his way to his private residence and does a quick check of his mail. Most of it's junk but one catches his eye.

He sends a response back to Razor. " If he can bring something worth trying then sure. When and where? "

[McBish]

A few seconds after he responds he gets another e-mail, containing directions to a warehouse with a time in the near future. Seems Razor has his own private holo arena to test his simulations.

[ApeofLight]

Daniel makes note of it. Actually several notes just in case. In the mean time he busies himself with some work he's parents want him to do for some reason or another.

[McBish]

Meanwhile at "Razor's" place of work he continues to teak and build several different simulations. He hopes that his new tester shows up.

Jane keeps assisting him silently.

[ApeofLight]

And then at the specified time Dan gets up and heads out to the warehouse. How does he get there? He takes a red sports car that he got from his parents' money.

[McBish]

It is a fairly large warehouse with one door, unlocked. The invitation said to let himself in.

[ApeofLight]

Dan does just as told opening the door and going on in.

[McBish]

The room he enters is dark, for a few seconds before lighting up showing large grid layed out across the apparently perfect square room. A split second later a man appears wearing a finely cut suit and unreally handsome.

He smiles at Dan. "Greetings and welcome to Razor's private Holo Arena. Thank you for coming, we ask you to turn off all personal electronic equipment at this time."

[ApeofLight]

Dan rolls his eyes and takes out his personal media device and cell phone combo tapping a few buttons and turning it off. " Alright, there you go. "

[McBish]

The man nods and disappears and is replaced by a young woman short and young. She smiles at him. Thank you for coming. It is a pleasure to meet you please call me Jane. While here you will be testing several new simulations that we have developed. Do you have any sort of preference in type of simulations that you wish to test?

[ApeofLight]

" Well I certainty didn't come for anything comfy or cozy. Let's just see what you got alright? " Dan says and starts to stretch a bit.

[McBish]

Alright then I can do that. The room dissolves away leaving him standing in a passage way. Seems that the simulation is a maze. In front of him is a table with a variety of weapons for him to choose from, ranging from guns off all sorts to knives and swords.

[ApeofLight]

Daniel goes up to the table and quickly sorts through all of the weapons. He takes a small and large knife along with a handgun which he quickly sites and loads it before walking past the table.

[McBish]

After Dan picks up his weapons the table disappears. As he makes his way through the maze he might notice that the quality of this Holo is of the highest degree, sights and sounds are pretty much as realistic as real life.

He might hear footprints running down a passageway to his left.

[ApeofLight]

Dan does notice and is slightly impressed. Whoever this Razor guy was he was good at making scenes at the least.

He hears the foot steps and smiles as he heads down the passageway.

[McBish]

As Dan turns the corner he sees a man dressed in military fatigues holding a handgun just like the one Dan has. He seems a bit surprised to run into his opponent and points his gun and opens fire.

[ApeofLight]

Dan quickly dives behind the corner for cover and starts to return fire. Looks like he got himself into a shoot out here.

[McBish]

The virtual man doesn't just stand there but dives for cover himself. Dan might notice he doesn't have unlimited ammo. But neither does his opponent. It will probably end up being a standoff where both of them are trying to save the little bit of ammo they have.

[ApeofLight]

Dan notices this and starts to not fire as much. He pulls out the smaller of the two knifes he got earlier and peaks around the corner ready to pull back at the first signs of a shot being fired.

[McBish]

Hey there, I'm guessing you have a knife as well. Any good with it? Calls the voice of the man apparently. He seems to be hidden around one of the corners.

[ApeofLight]

" Good enough, why? " He says trying to figure out where the man is.

[McBish]

He seems to be just up around the corner. Because I hate being shot, and I'm guessing that you have very little ammo, just like me. Want to settle this with knives?

[ApeofLight]

" Alright sounds good. " Dan says still looking around the corner.

[McBish]

Right then. Coming out if you shoot me I'll be very disappointing. The man slowly starts to come around the corner still holding his gun and pointing it at Dan though not shooting, since Dan probably hasn't dropped his gun yet.

He might notice that the virtual man seems to be pretty good at conversation, better then most virtual people.

[ApeofLight]

Dan comes out pointing his gun at him as well. " Alright, so let's just both put the guns down slowly. " He says slowly putting the gun down and keeping a hand on his smaller "sheathed" knife. As soon as the two of them have put down there guns, right when both are down, he throws the knife at the virtual man and gets the other out and charges him.

[McBish]

The man seems honest and puts his gun away when Dan does as well.

The knife fight doesn't probably need to be described blow by blow. The man is a decent knife fighter and reacts quickly and improvises his fighting style to try and match Dan's. Though eventually he will probably fall to Dan.

[ApeofLight]

And eventually Dan comes out victorious sweating and panting. " Whew, that was exciting. Now to take his ammo and get my knife back. " He says and goes to do just that. He takes the clip out of the gun and checks to make sure he can use it in his and also checks the guy for anything else useful.

[McBish]

Dan finds that the man has equipment exactly matching his own. So he can pick up a few extra rounds and another couple of knives. As he makes his way through maze he will find some stairs leading him up to the thick walls that make the maze. There he will find what looks like a fancy sort of suit.

Thank you for you help so far, to continue to enhance your experience please put on the suit.

[ApeofLight]

He blinks but shrugs and sees if the suit goes on above his normal clothes. He also takes off his weapons to make room for it.

[McBish]

In front of him appears a screen that gives him interactive instructions on how to make the suit fly. Seems like this is a flight suit, in the most literal sense.

[ApeofLight]

Dan raises an eyebrow but reads the instructions and then does them too. He'll probably have it down in a minute.

[McBish]

At the end of the instructions when he seems to understand it a series of rings appear above him. It seems like it is an obstacle course for him to fly through.

[ApeofLight]

Dan rolls his eyes. " Typical. " He says and then off he goes to fly through the rings as fast and as accurately as he can. He messes up a few times but probably does very well.

((Deadtime))

[McBish]

The flying actually gives him a physical sensation of movement with his flight. The G forces should make it so that he can't just do anything he wants while flying. Soon in front of him appears more directions to use a weapon system that apparently comes with the suit.

[ApeofLight]

Dan smiles a bit. See, this is what he was looking for, something more realistic. Soon he has the weapons up and firing. Soon after that he starts trying to fly and shoot at the same time.

[McBish]

It seems that the controls are made for flying and shooting at the same time.

And soon enough what looks like another man drops down from behind him and starts to open fire on him.

[ApeofLight]

Dan quickly barrel rolls and drops in altitude before starting to shoot and try and get behind the guy.

[McBish]

And soon there is an aerobatic dogfight in progress with rolls and dips. Both getting close to hitting the other, and the fight seems to be tailored to challenge Dan, push him to his limits and maybe beyond.

[ApeofLight]

Dan decides to do something stupid that might allow him to win. He starts to go faster, much faster, like near to black out speeds fast. Hopefully this will give him the slight upper hand that he needs to finally finish this fight.

[McBish]

Well if Dan's body holds up to stress he will win, if not he will find himself waking up on the ground of the grid in the room.

[ApeofLight]

Well it does but he ends up having to (crash)land and take a few minute breather.

[McBish]

The young woman appears again as the simulation disappears around him.

That was impressive, and very useful. How are you doing?

[ApeofLight]

" Fine, fine, just... I think I blacked out for a second there. " He says rubbing his head a bit but then stands up on sure legs.

[McBish]

Yeah that was great. Gave me a good baseline for how much a human can take. Of course I'll need to take in account age, size, enhancements. But still it was very good.

You are really competitive. She says somewhere between stating a fact and asking a question.

[ApeofLight]

Daniel lets out a short laugh. " More like something can actually challenge me because the programmer is trying to make something actually challenging and not something 'fun' " He says and brushes his clothes back into normal order.

[McBish]

The woman nods. Of course, though it seems to me, that to be truely fun, at least for these activities, they need to be challenging. Hence the testing we are doing here.

[ApeofLight]

" Yeah, but most people now just want something that doesn't take any effort or anything. " He says shaking his head.

[McBish]

Well we think that we can find a market for what we have set up here.

What did you think about your opponents, did they challenge you, adapt to your fighting?

[ApeofLight]

" Yeah, they where pretty good. I would have liked to do something more than just a demo test or whatever. You might also want to look at something other than just people as opponents. " He says with a shrug. It's just his two cents in this situation.

[McBish]

We shall take that into consideration. And we will contact you when we are ready to run more tests. Thank you for your help. If you would e-mail us an account you want credited we will do so as soon as possible.

[Earl of Purple]

Country Borders

Two figures are walking in this area, headed inwards to the nearest settlement. They are wrapped in thick, bulky clothing from head to toe, with large, long, bulky coats on top. The figure standing on the right has nothing in his left sleeve, and the other figure is rather rotund, and it's holding a home-made shotgun. Both are wearing gasmasks that conceal their faces. The clothing is rather dark shades of brown, grey or black; although the shotgun-armed figure's coat is dark red. The apparently one-armed figure has a pistol in a gunbelt at its waist, but otherwise appears unnarmed. No part of either figure's skin can be seen, and the concealing mass of their clothes effectively hide their gender.

[ApeofLight]

Dan shrugs. " Yeah, sure. I'll get that account to you by tomorrow. " He says and then heads for the door and for his car.

[McBish]

The holographic woman watches him go before fading away.

[ApeofLight]

Dan goes to his private residence and sends them the account he wants the money wired to. He then goes and falls asleep.

[McBish]

The next day he should find a decent amount of money has been transferred to his account. Not a huge amount but decent for a few hours work.

[Fan]

[Inner City]

A congregation forms around a massive building, clean, and official looking building. A golden ribbon runs the length of an ornate double door way, a man with oddly green mechanical eyes stares coldly into the crowd, a neon glow coming out of his eyes, seeming to bathe the glass before him in multipattern green dots, the technicolor display illuminating the martini glass in his hand dancing with the reflected, and refracted light.

As the ribbon was cut outside, and the people roared in celebratory glee, pouring in after a short spiel by the female spokesperson.. each of them hungry for the newest, and latest in updates the company had to offer to their persons. People with artificial stomachs that allowed them to stay thin forever browsed through model's newest, cleanest, and sleekest methods of controlling the digestive tract, and allowing them to eat whatever they want without any consequences. Alcoholics looked through the latest livers replacements, the alkaline, and acidic liquids wearing away their last model's already, and people with high blood pressure looked into heart reinforcements so they could keep on living their life style the way they wanted to with no consequences.

Such was the nature of the 6th sphere, the hard and fast Sphere of the Liberated Kingdoms, with few laws, and fewer regulations relating to cybernetics in any of the spheres, a business like this, the business of cybernetics, or providing people with replacements for what they destroy on a "affordable" policy, constant destruction followed by an all too mechanical rebirth in gleaming steel. A brutal cycle that had become the lifestyle of the upper, and middle classes of the Spheres. After all, why take care of a body that simply wears down too fast when you can replace it with more ease than it takes to exercise?

The man above scowled, crushing the martini glass in his hand, red blood trickling down the palm of his hand as blood stained glass tinkled to the floor, a soft clatter filling the empty room as he turned to go meet his public.

He walked through the pristine halls, passing nurses, and doctors all too eager to begin working, and earning their way towards their next "upgrade", gossiping obsessively over the next development, and among the men, what new holo's they'll be able to partake in, and with what impressive handicaps, with their new artificial muscle fiber, or enhanced synapses.

Then, he arrived at the stage, taking notice of make up artists, and people styling their hair needlessly, he simply ran a comb through his hair, making sure that the style would hold, before walking up to the podium, his hand wrapped in a bandage of synth flesh as he said, a plastic smile on his face.

"Welcome, to Archwright Works."

[Jayngfet]

George Davis doesn't hear the sounds of the racetrack. He doesn't hear the crowd as the race nears it's end. He doesn't hear the announcer, going on about whatever he goes on about. All he can register is the race, the wind against his helmet, his hands on the wheels of the extreme formula one car, the track ahead of him and the cars around him. His vision is clear, the glass of his helmet clean save for an unlucky mosquito. In this particular offshoot of racing, the cars go much, much faster due to rear mounted jets and slightly larger wheels.

Low to the ground, hazards seemed that much closer. His keen blue eyes spot an opportunity at the next turn, with the inertia of the lead car at the next turn, the inside would have a gap barely large enough. He doesn't hesitate, going for it with everything he has.

Barely making it, from the inside he pulls the lead and lets his own inertia guide him to the next corner, using the lead there to beat the previous racer in first place. From there it's a longer stretch, one last turn, another stretch, and the finish line.

Pulling through successfully to the last corner, a slight miscalculation of space, just a few millimeters too short a gap. His back wheel hits the front of the second place driver, himself just passing the former first he'd beaten.

Tires rip and a small tilt on the jet controls is all that keeps him moving forward with speed. He rockets upwards down the last stretch, accidentally barrel rolling and losing his gap. The man he'd just beat seems like he's about to overcome the crash when he touches down left side first. One chance, gotta take it or he'll fail. He doesn't like to fail.

He tilts the jets with his controls as one side comes down first. He swerves and turns in front of the would be leader. His back end hits the front end in a colission, not head on but with enough force that when he kills the jets for forward motion the others jets send them both flying past the finish line.

The hit isn't dead on, hence why neither of them are either. As they cross the first car's crumple zone folds partway, as does his on the opposite side. After that it breaks free and continues, too late to win the race.

Breathing heavy, as smoke pours out of the engine he slowly realises just how reckless that was, his cockpit bent slightly inwards despite not being hit there directly. There were at least a dozen ways to die or be crippled from that, and he was only vaguely aware of them. After every car has finished both he and the other crash victims are confirmed to be unharmed or have minor injuries.

Thats when the cheering really starts. Given his mental calculations, he should have crossed the finish line backwards just a few centimeters ahead of the collided car, his rear wing tilted and at an angle from the first crash and the angle of second collision.

[Fan]

George Davis, likely enjoying a refreshing beverage, and dodging the paparazzi that would SWARM him for his epic, and amazing finish that he had just put on that race, will find a mechanical hand on his shoulder, the grip, literally, like iron.

If he turns, he will see a man with one cybernetic arm grasping his shoulder in a all black suit, no white undershirt, and brandishing the badge of the Monarch, a simple look of disdain on his face as he says simply.

"Come with us."



[Else where]

In an alley way, in the darkest, dirties, and most crime infested area of the Sphere's, stood Dante. His face, and knuckles, drenched in the blood of people who society would consider.. ne'er-do-wells, at his feet, a man in his twenties begged him not to kill him, his teeth half gone from an earlier punch, and fear in his eyes. Dante didn't intend in killing the man, after all, if he killed everyone there wouldn't be anyone to come and seek revenge on him later..

What he did notice, however, was the taser that just fired into his back.. he convulsed for a few seconds before passing out. Apparently, people had wised up, and finally gotten the cops to come help the Jayngs, or some elderly lady had thought he was the criminal... He was right in some sense, someone HAD called the cops, but it wasn't the police who picked up... A similarly outfitted man from before hoisted the unconscious pyschopath up on his shoulder... taking him to god knows where.


[Outskirts]

The two men may find a red dot focused on their chest, and if they have particularly adept hearing they may notice a shout of "STOP! IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" from the near by virtual brush.

[ApeofLight]

[Sphere 3, Holo Arena 4]

Bam! Bam! Bam! Skies jumped behind cover after that last volley of shots. It looked like he was in an old, abandoned, war torn town but in actuality he was just at a Holo tournament for charity for his parents.

The whole thing was a big spiel about how we need to help the unfortunate and how we can have fun doing it. We have a right to help these people and blah blah blah. Dan didn't really care about that, what he did care about was he was down by two kills and there where only two players besides himself left.

Dan knew where one was and was getting ready to take him down but he didn't know where the other one was. He'd deal with that one later but for now...

Dan dives from his cover and lets off a barrage of shots as he gets up and charges his enemy. One, two, yes, the three required hits landed on his opponent making him freeze up and then disappear from the area.

Now only one left.

[atomic_bear]

[Industrial Hanger Complex]
"You must be joking me, we still don't have a pilot candidate?"
"Sammie" Cartwright scowled into the telephone reciever, as if burning a hole into it with her eyes would somehow pass onto Cleavland Stazikar from the personnel department on the other end. Giving up, she returned the receiver to her ear, plugging her other ear with a gloved pinky finger against the noise of the hanger.
"Just tell me you've got the list down to less than thirty applicants... No I don't care what division they're from... You take that back, I know eight people in Accounting with more spine than Morrison... You do know you're a terrible liar don't you?.. Hell, I'd do it myself if we can't a replacement, you know I can... I'm covered, you can check the policies yourself... Fine, but they'll be ready before the pilots are unless you can get someone fast... Right, I'll talk to you later."
Hanging up, Sammie turned back to the project at hand. The colossal shapes in front of her held no awe or fear for her, as she knew them well. She had helped build them, designed some of the parts herself, and now she would be the one to lead the final assembly. The three Resonance Cores were in position and finishing alignment checks, the technicians guiding the huge cylindrical components into their final positions before the connection test.
When finished, they promised to change the face of mobile power generation.

If they worked.

Sammie dismissed the nagging thought. Each of the Cores had been activated on the test rigs. They would work in the Driver Frames.

[Jayngfet]

George does as told, following behind. When out of the mans sight he takes out a few slips of paper with his cell number therein, and quickly sets the ring to vibrate. If anything happens or he dissapears, it should be easy to find him.

At the command for identification George looks to the person who seems to want to drag him somewhere for an unknown reason. He may as well start explaining what the hell is going on now.

[Fan]

"You've been.. chosen, I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty that speak of this at time.. Everything will be explained when we reach the compound. You are not in danger, and we are not going to kill you. However, if you resist, we have been given authorization to harm you."

He indicates a taser at his waist before he rounds a corner, and a black limousine looms into view, completely black tinted windows, and no visibility inside... The door opens from the inside, and the two agents gesture for him to get in.


[At the Base]

Dante is thrown in front of Sammy, groggily shaking his head as the impact shocks him to alertness before leaping to his feet, and taking up a defensive stance.. When he realizes he's alone with a woman he lowers his guard.. chauvinistic pig. A single moment of awkward silence later, he speaks up a disobedient tone to his voice as he says.

"Who the hell are you?"

[Earl of Purple]

Outskirts

The one-armed figure is the first to respond, or so it appears. With those masks and the hidden bodies, it is really hard to tell to be sure. "My name is Drazzer, and the man with the shotgun is Graz. We are refugees from another world, one that was irrerpairably damaged by magic which altered the animals into strange, hideous beasts. We mean no harm." One-arm, Drazzer, draws his pistol and dumps it on the floor in front of him, and Graz drops his home-made shotgun and takes another pistol and a knife from his pockets and places those upon his home-made firearm.

[Fan]

Outskirts

The one-armed figure is the first to respond, or so it appears. With those masks and the hidden bodies, it is really hard to tell to be sure. "My name is Drazzer, and the man with the shotgun is Graz. We are refugees from another world, one that was irrerpairably damaged by magic which altered the animals into strange, hideous beasts. We mean no harm." One-arm, Drazzer, draws his pistol and dumps it on the floor in front of him, and Graz drops his home-made shotgun and takes another pistol and a knife from his pockets and places those upon his home-made firearm.

The red dot is lowered, and a man in grey white combat armor emerges from the environment, the man still holds his gun at the ready, but he seems slightly more at ease.

"Good, well, at least your not hostile. I'll escort you to base camp, and let Sarge decide what to do with you."

[Jayngfet]

George follows silently. In general a famous racer dissapearing right after a big win, with his cell phone number distributed for reference, would cause trouble. If they tried anything even if they beat him, they wouldn't exactly relish the experience. However he's still alert, taking in his surroundings and gauging all possible threats.

[atomic_bear]

"Who the hell are you?"

"I should ask you the same question. I asked for pilots and they bring me some street hood."
Sammie is not happy with the personnel department if this is the best they could do; hauling in some bastard off the street who looks like he's got into a fist fight with a red paint can. She had enough worries on her plate to babysit some punk who couldn't take orders, no matter how good in a cockpit he might be.

[Fan]

George is taken, and deposited near Sammie as well, the agents leaving the room.. confident in Sammie's ability to at least get to them if anything DOES decide to happen.

Dante looks quizzically at the famous race car driver, he had never been much for the races, but at least they had added loops to their circular tracks with the addition of rockets to the cars.

"So they grabbed you too eh'? Well, I'd like to know why I was interrupted, I wasn't even beating them to death."

Then.. she calls him a street hood, ooh, someone just hit a nerve.

"The hell did you just call me you greasy brood?! I'll have you know I'm a fighter pilot, and the best one the air force has ever seen to boot! The only reason I'm even covered in blood is because I was handling some punks down on 4th, and West Main."

He says, almost shaking with anger, this one has a rather short fuse.

[atomic_bear]

"You've done **** all as far as I'm concerned," she shoots back, taking a quick glance at the files spread out on the desk in front of her. "Your file makes you sound like someone who knows what he's doing but to look at you I'd tell you to squat back in the dumpster you crawled out of."

She turns her attention to the other "candidate". She knows him from the sports channels and privately wonders if he was also dragged into her office.
"The two of you are on the top of the list for a special, international project. You've been selected for your abilities, but not it seems, your willingness to cooperate. For the next three weeks your capabilities will be tested, challenged, and broken, all to see if you deserve to be involved at all." Beneath her desktop, Sammie flicks the call switch for the guards outside. Trust the Organization to hire people under duress like a cheap spy movie.
"These gentlemen will take you to your rooms. The fun begins tomorrow."

[Fan]

Dante sighs, bringing up a rather large hand to his face.. this was a military project, and he hadn't even been told...

"Okay, okay.. I see what's going on here. All I know is that I have a mission again, and that's all I need."

He simply shrugs then, rotating his shoulders to stretch them before placing his hands in his pockets.. fresh blood staining the white insides.. The man must go through several pairs of pants a week. I weep for his clothing budget.

He then looks at the oddly silent George Davis.

"The hell's wrong with you?"

[ApeofLight]

[Sphere 3, Holo arena 4]

Top of the building to the left Dan thinks to himself just as another bullet whizzes by his cover. He had a plan and he hoped it worked.

Dan throws out a flash grenade (his last one) towards the building his opponent is in and as soon as it goes off he rushes out at a dead sprint towards the building. Luckily he makes it there with only a few bullets fired at him and they where way off the mark. This is the part where he has to move fast and quietly.

He quickly runs up the several flights off stairs all the way up to the top floor, then after figuring out which of the rooms are the most likely for his opponent to be in he gets his gun ready. Dan had three bullets left so he had to make this count. He took a deep breath and then fired his last three bullets all into the room at the same spot.

He stood there waiting five seconds, ten, and then the holo arena started to turn off. Dan breathed a sigh of relief and realized that that was just pure luck. But hey, he won. Now it was time for him to leave because he didn't want to have to deal with any of the other players or the spectators congratulating him or giving him pointers or blah blah blah blah. He made the quickest way to the exit and left.

[Jayngfet]

"Well can you honestly think of a good thing to say in this situation? If it weren't for the fact that I have a pre prepared plan in case of being kidnapped I'd sort of make a bigger deal about this. It's not like there's much I CAN do since you'll tase me otherwise."

[Fan]

"Oi, don't whine. You've been chosen by your nation for great things! If it's a secret project, and I'm here. There's no way they could dream of doing some form of horrible torture on the legendary fighting ace Dante Hiyama!"

He says doing a few fist jabs in the air, apparently already back in the mood for some ass kicking a few moments after being tased, and waking up again... he really must be crazy.

[Fan]

[Helo Pad at the Research Base]

A few hours before sundown, the Helicopter lands down on the pad, it's blades making the tell tale noises of a chopper landing, and a earlier radio signal having been sent.. and unfortunately for the researchers it was on the Royal signal. People inside could be seen scrambling to clean up coffee spills, and various messes as they passed the rows of clear windows.

Once the helicopter had landed, outsteps Layiar the ruler of The Liberated Kingdom of the Seven Sphere's, his two ever present body guards flanking him as he waits for Dee Cee to get out of the chopper. When he does so, he will escort the younger man through various research rooms, displaying new gizmo's, lightning guns shooting bolts of plasma.. only to be reduced to slag, and in other rooms men test out powerful Walkers, and smash concrete blocks with their mechanized fists.

Eventually, they come to an open room, the head developer, and the two pilots. Dante Hiyama, a man who looked for all his part, an extremely manly man, his blue, glacier like, eyes piercing into the leader of his country whom he gave a prompt salute. Layiar gives a curt nod, before turning to the other pilot, and the head researcher.. everyone assembled as he said.

"Thank you for coming, I would like you all to meet Mr. Haley, he's the man who will be helping you finish the rocket. We have found a power source, and he has been kind enough to provide the fuel we need to run the machine, and the insulator we'll need to contain the energy in a single substance.. However, I am getting ahead of myself. Mr.Haley. If you would."

He says gesturing again with his incredibly lithe hands towards the group.

[Earl of Purple]

Outskirts to Main Camp

The two heavily shrouded individuals are escorted and accompany the soldiers without fighting. They either carry their own guns or ensure that they are carried, depending on how much they are trusted. The one-armed chap, Drazzer, has a slight limp.

[atomic_bear]

Sammie kept her face impassive as the politicos and dignitaries droned on about about cooperation and unity and future endeavors between disparate peoples and blah blah blah blah. She hoped she didn't look bored because in truth she was twitching to get her hands on the promised Resonance Substrate, the key to the Resonance Reaction Engines she had sunk her time and energy into for the better part of a decade.
Finally, after all the handshakes, all the speeches, all the posturing and droning the moment came. The group filed down a hallway to the loading zone, where the Substrate fuel, locked in great sealed containers like oil tanks was being unloaded from the secure underground train it had arrived on. Within forty-eight hours, the fuel assemblies would be loaded into the reactors and the final power tests would begin.

[Darkcomet]

((*reminds those around that this guy's alias' surname has two l's. Yes, there's a reason for that. <.<*))

[Research Base - Helipad]

'Mr. Halley', for future reference, is a man of average height and thin build, with short black hair. He's currently wearing a business suit, and is carrying something under his right arm. "Greetings. I'll be providing tech support for the project in addition to supplying what's needed to solve power problems." He indicates the device he's carrying, which looks rather similar to this (http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090103072940/stargate/images/thumb/d/d2/ZPM.JPG/250px-ZPM.JPG), except it is colored and glows silver rather than the normal color. "This is only the basic version, of course-the ones needed for this project will be custom-made. They provide power near-indefinitely, so long as the drain isn't too rapid, which is why we'll need versions specifically geared for this. I will be needing to meet with the designer of a...Nuclear Harmonics Engine, I believe, in order to engineer the custom versions to function with it."

[atomic_bear]

Sammie was watching the unloading of the fuel containers, letting the experienced and skillful crew do their job when she became aware of someone approaching. It was Mr. Halley incidentally, looking a little out of place outside of his lab.
"Mr. Halley, I presume? I'm starting to wonder how you managed to generate this much substrate in so short a time. Our own generator could only create enough for scale tests on your prototype rig."

[Darkcomet]

Oh dear. Someone asking this guy about his work. Wall of text incoming."It's basically a fancy energy converter, honestly. The modifications I made to the base technology vastly lowered the maximum energy capacity, but allowed it to recharge at an extremely fast rate. Due to how that works, I imagine it could also be used as a countermeasure against anything that relies on ambient background energies. It originally sucked energy out of an artificial pocket dimension, so to speak, and I honestly don't fully understand how that works yet. Base tech's some kind of alien super-battery. I simply modified it to draw energy from this one, keeping the whole 'nexus of realities' issue in mind. Works like a charm. As I said earlier, it tends to slightly weaken those that rely on ambient energies. Wizards, mostly. It could probably be adapted to work more specifically against them. Given this nation's...practices, I'm sure you approve." Apparently he's heard about that. Hm.

It may be noticed that Mr. Halley seems oddly annoyed about...something. He seems to enjoy talking about his own invention, though, so it seems to be apart from this.

Lousy multitasking guy-who-isn't-going-to-tell-you-he's-actually-a-psychic.

[Jayngfet]

George Davis remains silent going through the motions and taking in what he needs to do. There had to be a reason for this, didn't there? Wait, why would they need a racecar driver to fly a rocket? Don't they have astronauts trained for this kind of thing? Come to think of it, if it was so important to get him here couldn't they have told him before the actual start for additional training? Actually, how the hell are they even picking people since apparently they need to taze their pilots?

This seems like it'll get complicated, fast. Well, moreso.

[atomic_bear]

For a long, uncomfortable moment, Sammie is completely speechless. "Wait, you did what? That's completely the opposite of what we needed! The Resonance Engine is just supposed to be a super-high energy battery using resonance harmonics to store captured energy for controlled release!" Abruptly, her tone changes from frantic disbelief to doubtful curiosity. "How'd you manage to contain a micro-reality loop without energy loss, anyway? Barsoonian Physics matrices demand that simply generating one requires energy states equal to stellar collapse events."

[Jayngfet]

George stares blankly, not understanding technobabble. Something about stellar water, or was it something else? His hands are in his pocket, the left between the fold of his flip phone, set to vibrate. He still didn't trust anyone here, and with obvious reason.

[Darkcomet]

((excuse me, I believe there's an issue I need cleared up with Fan...'cause he said that'd work...<.<))

[Darkcomet]

"What I described was the technology I usually use. Naturally, we're using depleted versions, with the energy-drain and converter removed, which match what you need nicely. However, I still suspect what I described might prove useful in some sense. As for how that works..." 'Mr. Halley' proceeds to go into more technobabble, because DC-the-player can't keep up with Bear's. :smalltongue:

[atomic_bear]

Sammie listened intently to the doctor's explanation, the nagging feeling of catastrophic failure ebbing away as she began to understand his reasoning.

"Okay, I can see where you're coming from now. I think we can wrap that into a future weapons system in future. Let's get the generators installed for the time being, shall we? We can finally grade the pilot candidates in the simulators once we've calibrated the feedback systems."

[Darkcomet]

"If I may offer a recommendation, you may wish to include something to dump excess energy buildup quickly. The technology can become...highly unstable if it ever overloads. Explosively so, in fact. You wouldn't want to be on the same planet as this thing if that happened, though I suppose that won't be an issue, given the...situation. Theoretically, however, that shouldn't be a problem, as the tech is on record as powering cities for thousands of years, but no plan survives contact with the enemy. You could always use a discharge cannon if you decide you want some extra firepower to go along with it." He shrugs.

It might be noted that he seems to be a bit too comfortable talking about weaponry for a corporate executive-slash-inventor of a fancy power generator.

He's probably aware of all the potential weaponry based around said power generator.

[atomic_bear]

"We anticipated the need for such a system when we received the unit specifications from your office. Accounting for such high maximum output figures was a challenge, but the Photon Emission system had been very successful in tests"

Sam cues up a video for the doctor of the Photon Emission test rig during testing. The device resembles nothing more than a large radiator or solar panel as lab coated technicians begin the test.

"The system is designed to be layered between the main armor layers and a transparent outer layer. At low power loads the material remains its default coloration, which can be made in any color we wish I might add, and radiates excess power as low-band electromagnetic radiation from the infrared range and lower. This has the side effect of jamming local radar and wireless communications systems, but the review panel considered this to be a benefit to operations."

On screen, the test material begins glowing a dull red color, slowly brightening through orange into a shining golden display.

"As the power load increases, the volume and frequency of the radiation produced also rises, moving the emission spectrum higher into the visible wavelengths. At maximum output here, the system is emitting across a significant portion of the EM spectrum, effectively appearing as an artificial star to long-range observation. The power capabilities of your generators required us to coat the entire superstructure of the field units with this material, but it's a very robust material and does not impede the effectiveness of the armor system."

The video ends as the installation of the power generators finishes in the giant hanger. As the armored doors to the generator emplacements close, there is no sign of life from the units, no indication that they have power save for the systems diagnostic displays arrayed around the gallery the two scientists are standing in, which light up green as the technicians in the hanger begin testing the connections between the giant machines and their new, unfathomably powerful new power sources.

[Fan]

Dante smiles as he overhears the two scientists talking, none of that mattered so long as one thing as kept stable! That thing was, the pilots heart! A true ace could turn a pile of scrap into a magnificent machine of death! Technological Specs, fire power! None of it mattered!

"Hahaha! The Legendary Fighting Ace Dante Hiyama is here! You could put me in an old subsonic jet, and I would still get the job done!"

He then boarded the jet, the cockpit's canopy closing without anytime for a reply to be made. His hands felt around the jet.. this thing was massively beyond anything they had let him TOUCH when he was in the Air Force, but now.. Hahahaha! He could understand it all! Such things were bond to come naturally to a Fighting Ace such as him!

"DEFENSAR 1. READY FOR LAUNCH!"

[Jayngfet]

George Davis follows what little he understands. Not a lot but he knows to get into the cockpit ...probably. He buckles in, looks over the controls and says over the comlink.

"Ok, lets get the done so I can get back to work. I've got a race next week and my mechanics are going to be pissed if they have to rebuild the fastest legal subsonic vehicle for no reason within a week."

[atomic_bear]

Honestly, Sam had forgotten completely about the two pilot candidates following her and the Doctor around as they talked shop about the power systems. The sudden scamper for the simulator by Dante, Davis in tow, brought her back to the next task at hand.

"Okay guys, this first test is a simple obstacle course and timed run. Use it to familiarize yourself with the controls of your units. We'll run the course multiple times so take it easy on your first couple of runs so you become comfortable with the controls. After that you can let loose. Try not to embarrass yourself by digitally cratering yourself into the Earth."

Sam keyed up the planned simulator runs on the computer and gave the duty officer the go ahead. The runs were separate for each pilot, as each mobile unit handled differently, and provided a wide open simulation area for them to explore the capabilities of their units.

Now was the time to see if the agency's questionably legal hiring practices actually produced results.

[Fan]

"DEFENSAR LAUNCH! FULL THROTTLE!"

As he has been famed, so he delivers, the jet component of the Rocket screaming out of the runway as scram jets ignited, launching him full force into the sky above. Inside the cockpit, Dante had just finished clasping the last bit of his assisted breathing apparatus, tanks inside the craft delivering cool, clean oxygen to his lungs. He didn't care about that though.

He dodged and weaved through the most difficult obstacles, he even stalled his own engine a few times just to see how much time it would take this thing to sink like a stone before he pulled up. Weapons hit holographic targets. Dante may be Bat**** Insane, however, here it didn't matter. His gatlings tore through armored carapace, and tiny robot drones fell from the sky. This wasn't easy though. He wasn't quite used to the back and forth sliding controls that adorned the walls, and a few times he fell into a non intentional dead spin.. however, each time he recovered in time.

His Jet continued to scream forward as he took it into a spin, the wings bluring together as he hit himself into a dead dive, pulling out at the absolute last possible moment. There was nothing he could not do with this! His insane laughter filled the communication channel, giving an eerie disquiet to Layiar... but the man's skill was unquestionable.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS AMAZING. I've never felt speed like this. It's like my body is being pushed back into the seat, every part of my body feels like it's being crushed! Well, Nature; let's see if you've got what it takes to put down Dante Hiyama. George! Launch! It's time to see what this baby can do with the components assembled!"

[Jayngfet]

George Davis turned the key, putting his hands on the steering wheel, and launched.

"Defensar 2, LAUNCH!"

He takes it fairly easy, but rather quickly pushes the speed. While not at his top speed, he's going pretty fast, in the mentality of a racer. Try to keep ahead quickly, but leave room to build in later laps when you know where you're going.

[atomic_bear]

Sam watched the monitors with interest as the two pilots worked with the simulator. Remarkably, neither had rammed their unit into the dirt like the tech staff used to in mock runs. Apparently the 'snatch and grab' recruitment actually worked, much to Sam's surprise.

"Well, I guess we've got our two pilots. Now we just need someone for the third unit."

[Jayngfet]

Over the communications, George Sighs and pulls back a moment.

"Wait, I got pulled from my victory party, my team when they need me to test my vehicle now more than ever, and the interview for my own special on SPEED that was supposed to get me more sponsors to afford repairs in the first place? What the hell people, you know what'll happen if I can't get the mechanics to rebuild engines better than most aircraft within eight days? My career is over! I'm DONE! I did NOT spend my entire life working for you people to strike me down with a damn recruitment error!"

[atomic_bear]

With the simulations a success, Sam forwarded the results to the project leaders, making a note that the third pilot slot was still vacant. She half expected some body to be dumped into her office the next morning like the other two were.

She did not expect a phone call.

"Yes sir, we've got the two pilots tested and approved for service, but the issue of the third position is still open.
"...
"...
"...wat.
"Yes, yes sir, I heard you. Yes, I did do the initial performance tests on the units while they were still in development, but I'm not... No sir, it's not a matter of ability, it's... Yes sir... Yes sir...
"If I might ask, if I'm in the third unit, who's going to be in charge of the support staff?... All right, I can trust him with that... No sir, there won't be any issues... Thank you sir."

The phone had a good ten seconds of peace after she hung up the receiver before the entire unit had a close encounter with the wall opposite the desk.

[Fan]

Dante walks in, grinning in his own little feral mind as he thought of the dozens of things he could kill with this machine, early some Mob Goons had attempted to break in, apparently they had found him. Good, good. A shame that the automated turrets saw through their fake ID's, and tore them to ribbons. Today just couldn't get better for him!

He chuckles when he sees Sammie throw the phone against the wall, and walks over to the destroyed unit, poking at the electrical wiring.

"Seems someone is testy about being given access to the greatest machine ever made. What's to despair about? Excitement. A break away from all your technobabble tedium, and an experience that no one else will have for months if not years! First woman in space, Sammie, unfortunately for George there, since my jet makes up the front of the rocket. I'll be the first man in space."

He leaves off then, chuckling to himself about it all, whistling a jaunty tune as he kicked a wall, a dent forming in the once seamless steel.. Dante was a dangerous one.. best to keep your eyes on him.

[Hours Later]

The Sky in the sphere blackens.. though this was odd.. wasn't it supposed to to be Sphere 5's turn to be at the top of defensive rotation? Then it happened, a choking force gripping the more sickly researchers, the Cadaver's sprung to life, automated turrets springing to life as the entire med teams research cadaver stock came back to life.. roaring into the halls, and shredding into the automated defenses... it seems as though the dread moon had come to pay them a visit, and the Dead themselves rose to greet it.

[Jayngfet]

"Well, this can't get any worse. I think we're going to need an emergency launch here..." George scans the area, looking around for the best route to the ships.

[Mr. Moon]

{The Slums}

Even in this sphere's depths, there is still natural light. And when this light fades, it does not go unnoticed.

Up above the streets, from the top of a run-down pre-fab, once white, one-bedroom house that no one had lived in for weeks, a sound stopped. Ace (http://mooncalled-whiterose.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2qzrt7)'s hands stood still, a deck of cards half-shuffled in his hands, as bright green eyes turned up to observe the light, or lack of.
"Well. Isn't this odd." He observes to himself, pressing the deck of cards back into shape with a snap as he sits forward. Was it their shift on Defensive already? Couldn't be.
"Very odd." The pony-tailed young man seems to agree with himself. This had piqued his interest. Naturally, he was going to investigate it.
But who did you ask then the light disappeared? Most of the people Ace could think of would rather arrest him than tell him. So when you couldn't ask, you found out for yourself.

Unfortunately, before any investigation could be done, Ace's attention was forcibly altered as a terrified scream filled the air.
Well then.
Whatever was going on, it was Ace's job to find out what and keep it from getting out of the slums and into the eye of the wealthy public. They tended to complain and interfere when things got too loud around the slums.
Now then, where had it come from... Ah yes, the graveyard.
Ace does not hop down from the rooftop, so much as vanish from it and appear again down on the ground, soundlessly. And off he goes, taking off at a run.
Something inside was telling Ace it was going to be a looooooong day.

[Fan]

[Research Facility: Project Defensar]

And lo, Dante did stand against the storm of undeath, man. Woman. Child. Cadaver's of every race, social class, and age came roaring into the halls, their scelera dyed a deep black, and their iris's glazed over, and grey'd by the negative energy. A swing. A Zombie's head was crushed like a ripe melon underneath Dante's fists. A toss. The body was used as a meele weapon by the man, beating women to death with their former husbands body.

Through it all, he carved his way towards the Rocket. Now, more than ever, was a perfect time to launch. So perfect, they would be renowned as HEROES for what was about to happen, and he got to rip and tear all he liked.

Eventually, his and George's paths came together, meeting in the congested hallways, George having commander'd an assault rifle, spending his bullets carefully with headshots at the largest, most dangerous targets.

Dante, however, was an entirely different force, head butts, kicks, neck snaps, and skull crushing punches. He was a wolf among lambs with these weak, unthinking undead around him, and he bared his teeth in a feral grin when they finally reached the launch pad, the newly outfitted rocket fully fulled, and ready for their launch. Sammie making the final last minute prep actions now.

"GEORGE! CONNECT THE MIDDLE DRIVER TO THE OTHER TWO COMPONENTS. SAMMIE. IT'S TIME!"

[Slums]

This.. was bad... a woman, neck gouged out, with flesh rotting throughout her body, and a leg bone broken to the point of protrusion trudged slowly below.. her pink dress tattered, and her blonde hair gone in clumps, and matted with clotted blood where it wasn't. The sickly slums had been hit worse, a lot of the ill had fallen, only to rise and kill those around them... Ace's focus then zoomed out displaying the cramped streets filled almost end to end with the slow shambling monsters.. each a former person... killed, and then brought back to life by... The Moon then turned, exposing it's malformed, writhing surface... this new unnatural development...

[Mr. Moon]

{The Slums}

Rocks skid beneath his booted feet as Ace skids to a stop, nearly falling over from shock. He takes a few careful steps back, green eyes widening as he takes in the shambling, grey-skinned... people? No, not people. Not anymore.

Zombies.

This was the worst possible scenario for the slums. Ace had dealt with all manner of crazed murderers and gang wars and more than his fair shair of diseases - diseases always spread fast here. But that was all child's play.

It was already out of hand. Just one or two, or even a handful, that Ace could handle. It'd be easy. Take them out at the start, they couldn't spread far.
But this was a fullblown infestation. This was beyond the state of "contain, cure, destroy, reclaim", which was Ace's usual approach to rampant disease. Right now, the only logical thing to do was evacuate. Save who he could, get out, find someplace safe.
Except, there probably wasn't anywhere safe. Not anymore.
And gods be damned if Ace was going to let a bunch of corpses muscle in on his territory.

Looking around, Ace pulls a deck of cards out of his pocket. No police, no one who looked like they didn't belong here. Good. With a snap, he pulls the first card off the deck, holding it between his middle and forefinger.

He was going to need some help...



The card hit the gravely ground with a very loud silence. Landing face up, the Queen of Clubs stared blankly into the sky. Around it, green lines of light flared, etching a thin series of too-straight lines and too-perfect circles. The process takes less than a minute and all of a decade, before a blinding flash floods the aged ghetto, and when it fades, a black-furred, very large cat-like creature is standing there, fangs glinting above a white-patched chest, yellow eyes seeming to glow.
"Well, Basta," Ace says, cracking his knuckles. "Looks like you and me have a gig tonight."

[Jayngfet]

No expert marksman George ran as he shot. He had little experience with a gun, so it didn't exactly hamper his nonexistent aim. Not knowing or having time to think about the ammo capacity he fires the entire assault rifle flip down the hall.

His form is terrible, he's a racer, not a soldier. He inhales when he shoots, his hands don't have a tight enough grip, he nearly closes his eyes.

A good half the full assault rifles slugs miss, even in these conditions. However, the particular make of rifle and bullets saves him. The modified sonic rounds are keyed to the frequency of a human body, busting anything it hits and keeps going. Anything touched is destroyed, and even twenty out of forty is enough.

He runs down the hall, and keeps running, only hitting anything in the way with the rifle butt as he runs if he can.

Speed is his advantage, it's what he knows, it's ALL he knows.

Up the stairs and into the rocket, cockpit closed. Time to do something he's

...actually barely more familiar with. He's going from one insane stupid thing he knows nothing at all about to another one.

Great

"Defensar 2, LAUNCH!"

[atomic_bear]

Reports continued to file in through the security networks and unsecure comm. channels. Through the chaos and confusion patterns were emerging, becoming clearer over time even as the situation outside grew worse.

Sam was already in the spacesuit, a padded one-piece suit that looked like a set of heavy overalls, far less bulky than the complex and cumbersome suits of the past. The Defensar units were built around entirely sealed and self-contained life support units so you could go into space naked without worry, but Sam wasn't going into vacuum without some kind of backup. Heaving the corpse of a coworker off the desk, she keyed in the start codes for disembarking the Defensar units. Dante and George were already on their way to their respective units, clearing a swath of clear space out of the ravening horde of mind-wiped technicians, scientists and common civilians that had broken into the section. Getting to her own Defensar was going to be easy; the walkway was closest and free of obstacles, but that could change in a hurry so speed was crucial.

Keying in the last commands, Sam snatched up her helmet and ran for the door. The launch bay was already filling with alarms and steam as power cables and cooling lines disconnected from the massive forms of the Defensars. Sam sprinted for the largest and bulkiest of the vehicles, a hulking brute of metal that resembled some cross between a building and a tank.

"Hang onto your asses gentlemen, this is where the fun begins."