Racing the Storm

Pterano · **Reply #160 on:** May 29, 2014, 12:13:17 AM

"All right... let's go with it." Vergil stated, and pushed down on the three choices. The options disappeared, and the words on the screen appearing now read "Congratulations. The worthy may proceed." The console shut off, and while there was a tense moment before when Axel's phone went off, it didn't seem to disturb the mechs above them, fortunately.

On the other side of the room, opposite Axel, Vergil and Triste, the trio's answer was also correct, and the console deactivated. The middle doors began to grind open now, a deep rumbling sounding as they parted and started to slide away from each other. "Hey! I think that did it!" Vergil exclaimed, moving out of the side room and towards the center now. "Good work!" he called over to the girls, and began walking towards the center doors. Inside, he could see what looked like a holographic projector which matched the one from his memory, and the white gecko couldn't help but to smile widely at it. "Excellent! I think this is it!" he declared, growing excited as he quickened his pace.

The projector suddenly sprang to life, and a decent sized projection of the planet Earth was suspended above then now, blinking to life slowly as various continents were mapped with thousands of dots to create images. As the map came into being, it started to rotate, much like the Earth. Vergil narrowed his eyes, and noted the emergence of four red dots, bright and prominent upon four separate locations of the globe.

One was in the deserts of Egypt, but not near the famed Great Pyramids. Instead, it was further south, in Upper Egypt, and might even possibly be in the Nubian Desert. The second appeared in the jungles of South America, and Vergil had to guess it was around Bolivia or Peru; he wasn't great on geography of that region of the planet. The third was located in a remote region of the Atlantic, about midway between Brazil and Africa. Finally, the fourth one was over in southern China, and if Vergil had to guess, he'd say Hong Kong.

"OK... yes... I remember this now... we got the first one... all five will reveal the location of Torment's Cataract... now... I remember we get to select one at each waypoint... but only one. The coordinates will be revealed, and then the map shuts off. So... the question is... where do you guys want to go next? We can select any one of these... but only one. We'll need to go to all four eventually, but we need to start somewhere. Now if I recall... I've been to the ones in Egypt, South America, and the Atlantic. I can't recall anything about the Chinese one, so I'm unsure if I've been out there or not. It's possible that's the one Rex didn't locate before he was killed. So yeah... what's it gonna be, guys? Any preferences?"

The globe continued to slowly spin in front of them, doing nothing until it was interacted with. "By the way, who sent the text message?" Vergil asked Axel here, raising his brow.

Up above, Tony received Soren's text, and knew he'd have to start wrapping this up. Machines? Damn... it must be serious down there. "Ahem..." he nodded as Soren reentered. "Well, Mace. I think we're getting down to the final details. I'd be willing to go at a rate of 35% of the expected cargo value, plus you cover tolls and fees. In return, you get clean shipments, no questions asked, and of course, the added bonus of having the mob come down on anyone who screws with your shipments. Wouldn't be anyone alive out there who'd be willing to touch your stuff after that, what with your power and our power joined. What do you say?"

Mace frowned here thoughtfully, and tapped a finger on the glass table. "Well..." he said, trailing off.

"I'll throw in a 5% discount for the first three months as a sign-up bonus to give you an idea if you like it or not! How's that?" Tony quickly put in, seeing Mace was hedging.

The gecko continued to hesitate, and then finally nodded. "Deal!" He reached across the table, and Tony shook his hand firmly.

"Excellent! You won't regret it! My aide will present you with the necessary documents to sign. Thanks for the consideration! It'll be a real pleasure doing business with you!" Tony looked over at Soren here. "Let the others know the deal was a 'success.'" Tony stated, giving the human a look the ferret hoped he would catch. The others being everyone down below, as Tony would of course be breaking the news to his family himself.

Aboard the Red Castle, Kalis stood on the bridge of his mighty flagship with narrowed eyes, gazing out into the sky as he plotted his next moves. He needed to get his hands on two things: the warship at Torment's Cataract, and Agent Triste Acyle. These two things would ensure his total victory over the Federation's forces, but so far, both had eluded his grasp.

Suddenly, Admiral Carrack was beside him. "Lord Kalis." Carrack began. "The tracking device we installed on the waypoint under Zaloga has activated. Someone's accessing the waypoint as we speak."

Kalis's interest suddenly rose, and he looked over at his fleet admiral now. "Really? It's been years... any information on who is doing the accessing?" Kalis inquired, his eyes alight with fire now.

"Mostly unknown neural signatures, but one in particular has a 95% chance of being Agent Triste Acyle." Carrack responded, glancing down at his datapad.

Kalis's breath came out in a wheezing exhale of satisfaction, and he nodded. "Gooooood!" He clasped his hands together in front of his chest. "Find out where she's going next... I'll dispatch one of my newest and brightest to hunt her down."

"And the others?" Carrack asked.

"They'll be killed. They're of no use to me." Kalis said dismissively, waving his hand. "This is perfect... I can kill two birds with one stone. Summon Varanus. I want him here within a day." Kalis ordered.

"Yes, my lord." Carrack bowed his head respectfully, and headed off to complete the order. Kalis shifted his gaze back out the front viewports. If his mouth wasn't concealed by that metallic lower jaw, he'd be grinning right now. But as it was, he settled for an intense look forward, towards what he knew was his destiny.

Nick22 · **Reply #161 on:** May 29, 2014, 12:41:40 AM

Which one is the closest?' Marita asked " we'll go to that one.. ' she looked at the map ' the South American one is in Peru near the Bolivian border, which means its in very thick jungle.. i prpose we go there.. how long would it take for us to reach South America?" she asked vetrgil " south america sounds fine to me.. one step at a time i say" marie said.'vergil' why dont you press the location, and get the coordinates?

Serris · **Reply #162 on:** May 29, 2014, 01:30:20 AM

(Zaloga Cybernetics company HQ)

Soren opened the briefcase and presented the papers to Mace. He glanced at Tony.

As he watched Mace look over the papers. He hoped that things hadn't gone horribly wrong down there.

----------

(Corona streets near Zaloga Cybernetics Manufacturing Plant #21)

A klaxon wailed as Marion and a Baseline Cheetah sprinted after a saboteur. While Mace was negotiating a deal with Tony, a few Bak Long 49'ers had managed to bypass the factory's defenses by having frame-flyers fly underneath the elevated platform the factory was on and using plasma cutters to cut through the concrete floor. Once they were in, they proceed to plant explosives.

Marion looked around. She raised her rifle and fired a few shots at the 49er who was flying above them, using the elevated walkways and highways for cover. The bullets sliced one of the flying frame's control lines, causing him to careen into the side of a building ó with messy and fatal results.

Marion slung her rifle across her back and sighed as she activated the throat mike in he uniform. "We killed one suspect."

Her prosthetic feet began to reconfigure themselves from a metallic "hoof" into something that resembled a a Human foot clad in a combat boot.

She sighed and began to lope back to the factory, the actuators on her robotic feet morphing them back into a hoof as she picked up speed.

bushwacked · **Reply #163 on:** May 29, 2014, 12:26:49 PM

"It was Soren," Axel answered Vergil as he stared at the globe spinning in front of them. "Sounds like the meeting's going okay." He rubbed his chin then shook his head. "I have no idea where we should go first, but... maybe for now it'd be safer to go somewhere you remember. Save the one in China for when we're more... I dunno, prepared." He shrugged his shoulders. "South America sounds as good as any to me."

"Makes no difference to me. We'll need to visit each in any case." Triste dropped her gaze from the globe to Vergil. "I'll go with the majority." Mission is a success so far. We've found four more locations which are going to help us locate the Cataract.

Excellent. And his memories?

Still fragmented. Don't worry - I'll keep it that way. Triste cocked her head at Vergil. "So, South America then?"

Pterano · **Reply #164 on:** May 29, 2014, 11:12:25 PM

"What the hell! South America it is!" Vergil declared, noting the decision seemed to be unanimous. He selected the dot, and immediately, coordinates appeared on the screen, blooming up like flowers as Vergil quickly snapped a photo with his phone. "That's it... all right..." he said softly, watching as the map faded and shrank back down into the projector. "One down... four to go!" he exclaimed. "Guess we can bounce our way around to the others, and find out where the final resting place of the ship lies."

"All right... let's get the hell out of here." Vergil suggested, and turned to begin making his way back to the elevator. "I don't know about you guys, but this is one creepy place. If I recall... I don't think the one in the jungle is like this. I think it was something different. We'll find out when we get there, though. I'll let Tony know we're good to go down here."

Mace looked the documents over, and began signing after showing them to an attorney that suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Tony affixed his own signature to the papers, and it was a done deal. "Great! Well then, on behalf of my father, it was a pleasure, Mr. Sardolemuel. We'll start shipments in one week's time! Thank you so much for your hospitality; it was overwhelming!" the ferret stated, heartily shaking Mace's hand.

"Well it was the least I could do for the Straccis." Mace responded, smiling warmly. Tony's phone began ringing, and he politely excused himself as he let Soren collect the papers. "Excuse me for a moment..." he said, holding up a claw. He saw it was Vergil. "Yeah?" he asked, being vague.

"We're done down here. Got the coordinates for the next waypoint. Meet you out front." The gecko's deeper voice sounded in his ear, and Tony smiled for effect.

"Great! See you see soon! Everything went smooth here! Looking forward to catching up!" The ferret hung up, and nodded at Soren. "Well Mr. Sardolemuel, I'm afraid I have a previous engagement, but we'll be in touch!"

Several minutes later, all concerned were once more out in the parking lot. Tony's Daimler had been replaced by a gorgeous silver 1937 Delage D8-120. The weapons were now gone, just in case Zaloga monitored its lot. Vergil brought Tony and Soren up to speed on what had happened below the building, and Tony listened in almost disbelief at the story. "Jeez... glad I wasn't down there." the ferret commented. "Not of course to say you guys couldn't take care of yourselves... but still. So... South America?"

"Uh-huh. I'm gonna plug in the coordinates and find out exactly where we need to go." Vergil informed the ferret.

"Well I can arrange transportation, no problem on that end. Speaking of which..." Tony grinned here and motioned to the Delage. "Anyone need a ride home?"

"Heh, I'll think about it." Vergil replied, wanting to give some others priority if they really wanted to ride in the fancy car. "Hey Axel... what's Lily gonna do?" the gecko asked, turning to the rat now.

Up in his penthouse, Mace Sardolemuel received a security call from his chief coordinator. "Sir... it seems someone accessed the lower level."

"What?" Mace gasped, surprised at this revelation. "Who?"

"We're not sure, but looking at the records, we think it may have been a team masquerading as a security check on our systems... which we haven't authorized for today, by the way. Whoever they were... they were good. Their badges checked out and everything."

"Goddamn government pukes!" Mace replied acidly, gnashing his teeth. "They'd be the only ones capable of pulling something like that off! Get me their faces on the security feed!" he ordered, and in seconds, the team's faces sprang up before him on a ceiling mounted HUD. Three dogs, a spider gecko, an augmented rat, and a white gecko with... wait were those feathers? Squinting, Mace narrowed his eyes at that last picture. "What the hell?" Mace asked. This was only the second time in his life he'd seen feathers on a gecko. And eerily enough, this gecko seemed... familiar to him somehow, but Mace couldn't place him. He was positive he'd never seen this particular gecko before recently. But there was something else Mace found disconcerting about his face, and he wanted to rule his suspicions out. "OK..." Mace replied into his headset. "I think I've got a new project for you to work on..."

Nick22 · **Reply #165 on:** May 29, 2014, 11:41:42 PM

We'll take you up on the offer tony' Rose said " we need to get packing for the trip. When are we leaving?" she asked ' cause Marie Has the card tournament tomorrow.' that usually goes for 3 days. although only the really well scored dealers stay past day 2' Marie said, ' so hopefully by friday, i'll be free and clear..

Pterano · **Reply #166 on:** May 29, 2014, 11:49:58 PM

Tony tried hard to suppress a smile here. "And what about the car you came in?" he asked, motioning to the car Marita had driven the trio here today with. "Surely you don't intend to just leave that here. I know my wheels are nice but, hopefully not so nice you'd sacrifice your own ride." he joked. "I meant more for those who didn't have transportation coming here. However... if one of you would like to ride with me that's fine." he offered.

Nick22 · **Reply #167 on:** May 30, 2014, 12:12:58 AM

Oops right" Rose said, slightly embarrassed. " thank you tony, some other time" She said with a smile. The Girls climbed into their car and drove off, heading back to their apartment to get ready for the trip to South America. marie practiced her card dealing in the back, while marita drove .

Serris · **Reply #168 on:** May 30, 2014, 12:37:03 AM

(Zaloga Cybernetics HQ parking lot)

"You're fucking kidding me," Soren said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You fought battle droids a few thousand feet below where Tony and I were negotiating business deals?"

He then let out a whistle at the mention of a trip to South America. "Well, if that's what it takes." Inwardly, he knew that most of South America was de facto owned by a few large mining conglomerates. And these conglomerates were not above literal hostile takeovers ó and civilians were often caught in the middle.

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

(Zaloga Cybernetics Manufacturing Plant #21)

Marion fumed as she undid the latches of the suitcase containing her company issued flying frame.

Soon a blinking green light appeared on the suitcase and two footprints were projected on the hard tile floor of the armory.

The Human Augment stepped into the footprint and the frame began to unpack itself, matte grey struts and tubes emerged from the suitcase and began to encase her in a metallic shell.

After a minute, Marion was inside a skeletal framework of metallic struts. Folded against her back were two metallic wings with engines and manuevering thrusters at the tips. Two more engines were at foot level. Her flight helmet was already on.

She casually loped out of the entrance and onto the sidewalk. Her wings unfolded and with a roar and a whoosh, she shot into the sky, leaving behind a small section of scorched concrete. And in total defiance of a nearby sign that read: "No takeoff zone".

bushwacked · **Reply #169 on:** May 30, 2014, 06:41:55 AM

Axel frowned, rubbing a hand through his hair as Tony mentioned Lily. "Ah... that's going to be complicated. I mean, I guess she's going to stay..." He knew now wasn't the time to go through the problem in detail, but he felt the group deserved at least some explanation. He looked at Soren. "Remember that time, back in Lanthae, when we saw someone claiming to be her husband on the TV? Well, it... turns out that was true, and now one of her kids is missing. And to top it off, her husband is a complete freaking psycho." He bit his lip. "And there's that other kid who was staying with us... Shit. I need to talk to her." Axel looked at the ferret and nodded. "A ride would be good."

Triste shrugged and turned away, apparently not too interested in the rat's problem. Starting to walk away, she pulled out a small, torn piece of paper with a number on it and placed it on the Delage's bonnet as she passed, tapping it with a claw. "Here's my details. I'll be preparing. See you all soon," she called over her shoulder as she made her way over to her motorbike and hopped on. Gunning the engine, she looked back at the group. "If any of you need anything, you can contact me. If it's important enough, I'll see what I can do." It was directed as if to the group as a whole, but her eyes flickered over to Vergil as she said it. Raising a hand in a lazy wave, she pulled away, shooting out of the parking lot and speeding away out of sight.

Pterano · **Reply #170 on:** May 30, 2014, 08:22:43 PM

"Yeah, believe it or not. Battle droids came to life and attacked us. Pretty sophisticated security for an ancient civilization." Vergil chuckled here. He nodded as Triste caught his gaze for a moment, and gave her a small wave as well, watching her speed off. "Uh... hate to ask then, but I guess I could use a ride too." Vergil confessed. "I'll take backseat though... I'm smaller and Axel can stretch out in the front."

"Not a problem." Tony replied, shaking his head.

Walking over to the Delage, Vergil picked up Triste's contact information and stowed it away in his pocket. He opened the driver's side door and folded down the seat so he could slide into the back. "Right, well you're getting shotgun then, Axel." Tony stated, and slid behind the wheel of the luxury French car. Sliding the key into the ignition, the ferret listened with satisfaction as the straight-eight came to life. "All right... let's get outta here before they catch on. Soren, we'll see you soon I think for South America!" the ferret suggested, and threw the car into gear to exit the parking lot as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, they weren't stopped, and the Delage was able to exit the parking lot and head for the highway, though not completely unobserved. Mace Sardolemuel was interested to learn that his new shipping partner had some strange bedfellows, what with his offering to transport government agents away from his headquarters. It was information he'd have to file away for later, as he never figured the Straccis were government sellouts, and he'd have to dig further into this to get to the bottom of it and find out if any coercion had been used or not, or if Tony Stracci had been in on the whole infiltration. He hadn't given any indication of it during the meeting, but that didn't mean anything necessarily.

The sun was beginning to set by the time Tony pulled the Delage around to Axel's street and idled in front of his house. "Well... here we are. Stay in touch, and we'll let you know where in South America we'll be heading to. Let me know what's going to be happening with Lily." Tony told the rat. "And hey... it was good to have you along today. From what Vergil told me, sounds like you guys were in a real scrape, but it was you who figured out that weak spot after all." the ferret pointed out with a nod.

bushwacked · **Reply #171 on:** May 30, 2014, 09:13:01 PM

"Well, I, ah... I guess it was about time I did something useful," Axel grinned, fiddling with his ear awkwardly. "But hey... we all worked well together. None of us even lost a limb! Here's hoping it'll go this well every time, huh?" He smiled again, then turned to look out the window at the house. "Alright, well.. I'm going to go explain things to Lily." He glanced back at Tony and Vergil and nodded. "When I know what's happening, I'll get in touch. See you both soon and... you know, be careful until then."

With a final nod, he got out of the Delage and shut the door behind him. Waving goodbye, Axel turned and started making his way up towards the house. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering how he was going to explain the upcoming trips. He knew it was for an important cause, but leaving her to deal with her own, huge problem by herself really put him on edge. Taking a deep breath, Axel opened the front door and stepped through. "Hey, I'm back! Anyone home?" he called into the corridor.

Nick22 · **Reply #172 on:** May 31, 2014, 12:03:55 AM

Marita and the girls made it home to their apartment safely. marita began packing for thier trip,, with things Rose And Marie might like.Rose put in a pizza in the oven and set it to bake for 15 minutes.. ' you think they suspected anything? Marie asked Marita as she folded clothes ' well, they go over each guests with a fine tooth comb.. so its likely they noticed something when we didnt come back for awhile ' fortunately we wont be headed back there anytime soon' Marita said "but i would not be surprised if Mace sends people after us ' when you take security as serious as the Big Four do, any hackings or break-ins are dealt with , shall we say, in house ' they wont turn us over to the cops, they'll deal with us personally if they catch us. which in this case, means a bullet to the base of the skull.' 'Marie shuddered " you dont make billions in revenue each quarter by being nice, you do it by crushing the competition." marita said.

Serris · **Reply #173 on:** May 31, 2014, 12:33:32 AM

(Zaloga Cybernetics HQ)

Marion landed on a platform several hundred feet off the ground. The transponder in her suit caused the bulletproof dome to retract and allow her to land.

Upon landing, the wings on her flying frame retracted and folded up against her back. she took off her helmet,letting it dangle from its strap and exposing her short cropped black hair and the face of a woman in her mid-fifties...despite being only in her late 30s. The Human casually strode through a door that opened in response to the transponder in her uniform. Despite the fact that the flying frame weighed over sixty pounds, it fit so well and supported its own weight that Marion moved as if it weren't present at all.

She passed by several office workers and guards on her way to Mace's office. When she arrived, she knocked on the ornately decorated wooden door.

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

(Mott Place)

Soren took off his suit and pants and hung them up. He was now clad in the STF inpregnated long-sleeved shirt and track pants that kept him from injuries when working with augments and now served as impromptu armor.

"I hope that Mace didn't find out that Tony and I had other motives that weren't related to a business deal."

At Marita's words, he glanced to the rifle, armor and combat helmet in the bookcase, ready in case things went to shit. He swallowed.

"Okay, I have something very important to say. While you were visting Anne, four corporate security troopers from Serami Heavy Industries came in here and took an augment I was working with. They claimed that it had been stolen from them."

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #174 on:** May 31, 2014, 03:22:48 AM

"I'm in the kitchen," called Lily. She had just finished a large bowl of pasta with sauce and stuck it in the middle of the table; not her greatest dinner she'd ever prepared for the two of them, but she'd had a rather long day. "How has your day been?" she smiled.

bushwacked · **Reply #175 on:** May 31, 2014, 06:08:50 AM

Axel smiled and hugged her, kissing the top of her head. "Hey." He looked down at the table and saw the pasta she'd prepared. "Aw, you didn't have to. We could have ordered something in." He paused. "As long as it wasn't from that Italian place up the road. That didn't... go down so well last time." Shuddering, Axel sat down at the table and sighed. "Eh, today was... different..." Haltingly, he started to explain what had happened. About how they were trying to find the location of the Cataract, and how today they'd managed to determine the first clue of its location. He left out the part that included killer machines trying to rip him apart, deciding that probably wasn't something that would calm her down.

"So... I'm going to need to go away for a bit. The coordinates pointed us to somewhere in South America so, ah..." Axel reached across the table and touched her hand, then swallowed. "But how did it go for you? Did you find anything to go on? Where's Rio? Is Emilena still as, ah..." The rat tried to pick the right word. "...Intense?"

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #176 on:** May 31, 2014, 08:16:29 AM

"She is her same insane self..." Lily shook her head. "Drugged up and psychotic, and her gang is some of the most eclectic people I've ever met. Rio stayed with them, he wants to join, and somehow everyone seems warm to the idea."

She grabbed another serving of pasta. "I will give Emilena one thing; she's got this gang of hers wrapped around her finger. She had this stupidly convoluted plan to break into the army recruitment center to get information on Ejlert, and the whole thing somehow worked like a charm. We found out he was rejected by the Air Force for flat feet, but his cockpit evaluation demonstrated extensive prior flight training. Emilena only knows one other place where someone could get flight training for free. Kalis..."

She took a deep breath. "I think you and I might be searching for the same thing. Is there room for one more person on that flight to South America?"

Pterano · **Reply #177 on:** May 31, 2014, 08:31:51 AM

((Sorry for briefness, but not much time!))

Mace heard the knock on his door, and an augment in his brain allowed the door to open seamlessly. "Come in." he ordered warmly. "May I offer you a drink of something?" he asked Marion, motioning with his hand to a table of refreshments, including alcohol.

Vergil was doing research back at his flat. He'd plugged in the coordinates, the blue of the monitor bathing his white face in eerie light, and his expression was twisting into confusion as he saw where exactly the waypoint was located. "Ohhhhh man." he murmured, studying the exact position of the waypoint on the map. Well... this would make things... interesting.

Serris · **Reply #178 on:** May 31, 2014, 08:58:23 AM

"No thank you, sir," Marion replied. She sat down in a chair and looked at Mace. "I had recieved reports of an infiltrator in the headquarters. What are my orders with regards to them?"

bushwacked · **Reply #179 on:** May 31, 2014, 07:28:41 PM

"You... you're going to come with us?" Axel asked, taken aback. He knew where they were going could, or more likely would be dangerous... but then again, since her son was linked to Kalis somehow, the chances were that her own mission wouldn't be without its own dangers. And if that was the case, he was glad he'd be there for her. Axel grinned. "Well, sure! Of course there's room for you! I mean, I'm not sure where exactly in South America we're heading yet... still need to wait for word from Vergil... but I'm happy you're coming. And you know I'll do whatever I can to help you."

"Oh!" Axel blinked. "I just need to let Tony know..." He pulled out his phone and dialed the ferret's number, leaving a message. "Hey Tony, it's Axel. Turns out that Lily... ah, she's actually going to be coming with us. It looks like Kalis messed with the wrong mother... anyway, let me know if Vergil finds anything more on where we'll be heading."

He hung up, then reached across for a second helping of the pasta, feeling a lot better. "So, Rio's staying with Emilena's gang?" he said, chewing. "Doesn't seem like the most, ah... child-friendly place to be..."