Racing the Storm

[bushwacked]

Axel looked down at Tony and nodded. "Alright. Well... just take it easy, okay?" He tried to give a small smile. "If you need a band-aid, you know who to ask. First one's free." Scratching his ear, he turned and made his way over to Lily. "You okay, honey? I think they're all dead." Sitting next to to her, he sighed and rubbed her shoulder. "Hey, you know what I was saying before? About taking a vacation here?" Axel frowned. "I, ah.... I think I've changed my mind. I want to stay at home, where the only thing that could kill us is my cooking."

A short distance away, Triste leaned down and gently pulled Vergil up to his feet. "I'm alright... just disappointed I can't get my hands on whoever built these things." She tilted her head. "How about you? Your psionics are useful, but... I know how exhausting using them can be..." Triste said quietly, her face looking concerned as she saw how worn out Vergil appeared.

The voice coming from the console interrupted her before she could say anything else. She looked around to see the globe spring into existence and start rotating slowly. Her eyes flicking between the three remaining waypoints highlighted on the hologram, Triste shrugged. "I'll go with what the majority vote for. The waypoint in the Atlantic's as good as any."

"I, ah, vote for somewhere that doesn't have killer robots trying to blow our asses off," Axel called out.

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

"Hell yeah, we are!" Rio agreed vehemently with Flora. He reached the small water pool just by the waterfall and started hurriedly kicking off his trainers. "This is gonna be -" he started, hopping around on one leg as he pulled his shorts off. He glanced  over one shoulder and froze mid-hop when he saw she'd taken her top off. "Fucking awesome..." Rio finished, staring with wide eyes. His foot skidded on the wet rock, and he tumbled backwards into the water pool with a splash, the cold hitting him like a brick wall.

With a splutter, his head cleared the top of the water and he shook his wet hair out of his eyes. "C... come on, hurry up! It's not cold!" Rio lied, trying to stop his teeth chattering as he reached down and pulled his shorts all the way off, then threw the wet clothing next to his discarded T-shirt.

[Pterano]

Vergil sighed as Triste helped him up to his feet. "Yes... I... I just exerted myself too much, that's all. I can't remember the last time I had do something like that." he stated, shaking his head. "But how would you know...?" he trailed off here, flashing back to her battle with Rex on the bridge of his ship. "Wait... wait you... you have those abilities too... don't you?" he asked, remembering specifically her combat against Rex now. "I just... remember seeing it... but you never mentioned it before." he stated, being interrupted by Axel chiming in about where they should go next, as well as Marita.

Looking over to the globe, Vergil watched it spin pensively. "I don't care!" Tony piped up now. "I just... we gotta do this after all."

Vergil considered this a moment. "Yes... yes we do. If I recall... the ones who made these robots are long dead so... no chance of vengeance there, I'm afraid." he chuckled now. "Anyway... let's go to the Atlantic." Vergil concluded, nodding here. He approached the waypoint now, gazing at it as it spun around, but taking no action. He only stared, as if entranced by all the lights. Finally, he reached out, and touched the one over the Atlantic. Coordinates sprang up on the screen now, but oddly, it didn't look as if the waypoint was on an island... or any landmass for that matter. Pulling out his phone, Vergil snapped a picture, and the map, after completing one rotation, disintegrated and faded from view.

"That's strange..." the gecko commented here, looking down at his phone. "It didn't look to be on land..." Pushing the coordinates into a finder on his phone, the finder quickly sent back the relevant information. "Huh... you know it's funny but... I don't remember anything about this waypoint. It says the coordinates are the location of a deep sea mining platform run by Judaken Industries called Voltaic Station, but a floating resort has also sprung up around it, also run by Judaken. It's capable of submerging itself to give visitors 'a view of the ocean they won't forget.'" Vergil read from the wikipedia article. "Apparently, in 2009, Air France Flight 447 crashed in the vicinity, and the discovery of the wreckage during the investigation also unearthed an incredibly rare substance buried on the sea floor: koltonium. Koltonium is extremely rare but extremely useful in the production of high-powered lasers, so Judaken naturally filed a claim and now owns exclusive mining rights to the site. Well... if it's a resort, it at least gives us cover for being there, but I also read that Judaken takes security there very seriously, so we'll have to tread carefully." The gecko chewed his lower lip now, glancing up from his phone.

"Really? It's the site of the Air France crash? I remember watching a special about that. Scary shit... but still... the waypoint... is what? On the bottom of the ocean? How in the hell...?" the ferret trailed off here.

"I'm not sure... perhaps a straightforward approach would be best here. Talk to the Judaken executives directly when we get there to avoid tension. I don't remember anything about this waypoint... it's possible Rex accessed it without me." Vergil commented. "Is everyone ready to head back to the SUVs? At least we can simply ride the ropes down, this time." he commented on a lighter note.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"She was here a minute ago..." Muttered Foley, suddenly realizing he had been all alone in camp.

"Well, go find her then!" Snapped Emilena. "They could be back any minute!"

_______________________

As Flora's excitement grew, her skirt slowly stopped hiding the one last surprising part of her bizzare body.

Hungrily she tore her skirt off and combat-rolled into the water. Springing up and looming over Rio, she gave him an all-too-good look at her fully-functioning male genitalia.

"All right, little boy..." She panted with expectation, her every muscle quivering with lust, "bend over!"

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

"Yeah," I don't see much reason to hang around here," agreed Lily.

She had been particularly useless on this trip. She began to wonder whether it was worth the group even having her around.

[bushwacked]

"It's underwater?" Axel shook his head. "Well... that's something. At least this time, we're gonna have the choice of getting ripped to pieces or drowned if everything goes wrong." His tail flicked nervously. "Alright. I'm good to head back when you all are." Axel started to rise up when he noticed Lily's despondent expression. "Hey... are you okay? You know, I was only kidding about the 'getting ripped to pieces or drowned' thing. We'll probably get shot way before then." The rat started to grin, then realised it probably wasn't the best kind of comment to make. "Uh, I... I mean, you only live once, right?" He paused. "Actually, that's not really much better..."

As Axel comforted - or, at least tried to comfort - Lily, Triste glanced over at the couple, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully as she watched the human woman. After a second, she rubbed a hand over her still aching jaw, and turned her attention back to Vergil. "So, we'll be going in blind for this waypoint. Let's hope our luck'll hold out." All things considered, they had been extremely lucky - after all this combat, none of them had lost so much as a digit.

We've decided on our next destination - the Atlantic, near a deep sea mining rig called Voltaic Station.

Good. Anything else, Agent Acyle?

No. He still can't remember, and... I'm keeping it that way.

"You're right... about my psionics," she said out loud to Vergil, nodding. "I do have some ability, although it's not really anything to write home about." She shrugged. "And I never mentioned it because... well, I'd only ever use it as a last resort. Using them takes a... toll on my body. Besides," Triste said, pulling out her hooked knife so it glinted in the moonlight. "This works for me. And it's more personal... just how I like it."

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

As Flora rose up from the water, Rio's grin broadened as his eyes moved down, over her shoulders, her chest, and then lower, to her... His grin suddenly froze. "What." He stared at Flora's decidedly non-female body part for a moment, before finally his brain registered that yes - it was, in fact, a penis. Rio's expression transformed into one of horror. "What the fuck that's a fucking are you kidding me you've... what?!" he spluttered, his words a dumbstruck ramble.

Rio's stomach churned at her command, and he took a nauseated step back. "No! What the hell is this? You're packing heat?!" Stumbling, he floundered in the water for a second before managing to start splashing his way towards the side of the pool. "How is that even... even a thing?! You were meant to be the one bending over!" Rio wailed sorrowfully over his shoulder as he tried to scramble up the rock to dry land.

[Pterano]

"Let's get going, then." Vergil stated, beginning to head off now towards the exit of these ruins and back towards the cliff. It was pretty damn cold up here, that was for sure. He wanted to get back into the car and off this mountain; back to a hotel in La Paz for a long night's sleep.

"Yeah... ugh..." Tony groaned, standing up now, and beginning to slowly follow.

"Hmmm, well... it certainly tires me out if I use it excessively, as you saw." the white gecko commented as he walked next to Triste. "But still... good to know you're one too. Varanus was one as well... Kalis must be collecting them or something." he mused aloud bitterly. "Makes sense though... Rex was one of the best out there." he stated. "At least of what I remember of him. Still... glad to know I'm not alone in this. I guess I just feel... a bit isolated sometimes." he confessed.

"You guys hear... shouting?" Tony asked, hearing distant voices off down on the Yungas Road. "Sounds familiar actually..." He clutched his side as he quickened his pace a bit here.

"Hmmm... not to me." Vergil responded, moving ahead a bit here towards the edge of the cliff. Stopping near the drop, he crouched at the edge and looked down. "We got some company it seems." he informed the others.

"What? Lemme see!" Tony moved over to the edge as well, looking over. "The fuck? Isn't that Emilena and... that brat that was in your house a few weeks ago?" Tony asked, motioning for Axel to join him. "The hell is she doing... messing around near our vehicles... and... why are all my clothes on the ground?" he demanded, angrily, eyes flashing a bit as he stood up here.

[Serris]

Soren scrambled up through the entrance to the hole. "What's all theóHey! That's my stuff!" He exclaimed as he saw the group rooting through their vehicles.

Sure enough, Soren's spare ammunition and his various personal goods were strewn all over the rocky ground. What's worse was that his wallet appeared to be missing too.

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

Marion was perched above the group and listening in with her directional microphone. The conversation she recorded was transmitted straight to Mace.

"Mace, Marion here. It looks like the group's heading to Judaken's Voltaic Platform out in the Atlantic. I have transmitted the whole conversation to you. Marion out."

Unfortunately, just as she ended the transmission, the weathered rock face that her diamond tipped grappling claws had dug into finally gave way. Swearing profusely as her flying frame automatically deployed its wings and ignited its wngines, she quickly veered behind the rock face to avoid being seen or having the moon cast a shadow.

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

Soren scowled as he heard the distinct whine of a flying frame engine. "Do you hear that?" He looked skywards. All he saw were stars and the moon.

[Nick22]

'Lets just get down there and grab our things and get going' Marie said ' I dont know why they are here, but its obvious our little quest isnt exactly a secret. I wager we're being marked, if not by them, then by others. I just want to get back on the road ' She finished. " Havent seen Emilena in a long time ' Marita said. ' as I recall we were not exactly on good terms the last time I saw her. so its not as if we can count her as an ally." Marita began working her way down the cliff, going doing was easier than climbing up, the trick was not to descend too fast.

[Pterano]

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." Vergil said, shooting the piton into the cliff for anchorage as he clipped on the harness. Marita was sure jumping the gun here, but whatever. They'd need to crash this party at some point. Activating the descent, Vergil began to drop down the cliff face. In regards Soren's comment about the flying frame, he looked up as he dropped down, noticed Marion with his keen orange eyes, and pointed her out to Soren. "Might be her again!" he called up to the human. "Doesn't look like she's attacking yet so..." he trailed off as Tony got ready.

Tony did the same as Vergil, setting up the piton and strapping on his harness as well. "Forget her for now, let's deal with these clowns first!" Descending, he drew his laser and leveled it down at the group below them. "Hey! The hell you doing with our stuff?" he demanded angrily, snarling a bit as he dropped down at a controlled rate, not wanting to go too fast. "And the fuck are you doing here in the first place? You can just back away nice and slow, you got that?" And if you go over the edge, not my problem, he didn't add.

[Serris]

Soren saw the faint outline of the frame. "Ehh, she's flying off."

He fired his piton, anchored himself to the rope and slid down. When he reached the ground, he had his rifle out and leveled at the group. "Drop whatever you've got and step away from our vehicles!" he ordered.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Not you too!" screeched Flora, eyes bulging. "First Emi, now you! I can't take it any more!"

She darted forward, snarling, cornering Rio so he couldn't escape the lake.

"Flora!" Foley, who had just arrived on the scene, quickly gauged the situation and darted forward. "Flora, you get the hell away from him!"

Flora ignored him until he drew his sidearm and fired it in the air. "Flora, I'm not fucking around!"

Flora growled threateningly, but Foley splashed into the lake and, defending himself with his sidearm, wrenched Rio away. "Go jerk off or something!" he snapped angrily at the seething folf.

Just then Emilena appeared behind him. "I have a better solution," she responded grimly. "Run."

"What's going on?" asked Foley, confused, as the others followed Emilena's lead and booked it.

"The group returned with inhuman speed," Emilena responded. "I literally don't think anything but light particles were capable of moving at that velocity. Regardless, our cover is blown."

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

Nairda waved his arms excitedly at the people pointing guns at him. "Oh, hello! Hello my friends!"

He started jumping excitedly. "Soren! How I've missed you! I haven't seen you in ages! Marie, my darling damsel! Shame you and Zula didn't work out!"

[Serris]

Soren's eye twitched; Nairda was no less annoying than he was at Lanthae. "Shut the fuck up, drop our stuff and get the fuck away from our cars!" The rifle was trained on Nairda's chest.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Soren, Soren, Soren...don't be that way..." Nairda smiled and approached him. "You know...I never told you......but I kinda...have a crush on you..." he squealed and blushed. "I never...had the courage to tell you. You're still single, right?"

Lily groaned. "The, uh, others are getting away," she pointed out. Maybe if they were captured she'd have an opportunity to debrief with them. She hoped Nairda (and Axel, for that matter) was smart enough not to reveal her association with them.

[bushwacked]

Axel blinked at Nairda, then watched with a frown as Emilena and the rest of her gang tried to make their escape. "What..." He glanced at Lily out of the corner of his eye. I know they're working with her, but... did they need to go through our cars?

Stepping to the front of the group, Triste shifted her position. "We can still catch them... Did they take anything important?" she said, looking around at the others, not asking how they knew these individuals for the moment.

Axel paled and ran over to the car he'd been riding in. He quickly rifled through the compartment he'd stored his wallet in. Of course, it was gone. "Oh godammit, Rio! Not again!" he called after the boy as he sprinted away with the others.

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

As he ran, awkwardly pulling on his clothes while moving, the weight of all the wallets he'd snatched making it even more difficult, Rio shuddered. "What the hell Foley?! You could've told me I was going to a fucking sausage party!"

[Pterano]

Tony quickened his pace down the mountain, trying his best to rappel and not hit anything. The terrain wasn't always even, but it wasn't a gradual slope either, and mostly just straight down.

Vergil seemed to be doing it much easier, but he was a nimble little bugger, Tony would give him that. Vergil reached the ground before the ferret, and unclipped himself quickly. "Hmmm... Rio... is that the... 'brat'"? the gecko asked, referring to Tony's term for the kid.

"Yeah! That's him!" Tony said as he hit the ground a bit harder than he wanted to. He was in no position to chase after the fleeing group, so he lined up a shot on Emilena, who was already a good ways down the road. He dialed back the power level on the laser, leaving it just enough to stun her if it hit her, but not kill her; it was rather a low setting. Firing off, he unclipped himself and headed for the Rover, stopping to look down at all his stuff scattered about. "What the hell?" he exclaimed with exasperation. "What the fuck were they looking for?"

"One way to find out!" Vergil responded. "They're fleeing on foot... and we have cars. May as launch an effective pursuit!" He threw his hand out, and effortlessly tripped Rio with a single thought, causing the kid to go sprawling out face first. "Axel, you want to do the honors of retrieving your wallet?" he asked the rat, turning to him.

"Well I can't just..." Tony was bending down now, starting to collect his stuff.

"Forget it! Get to the other Rover! The one that hasn't been searched!" Vergil insisted, looking behind him.

"Right!" Tony dropped a pair of his pants, and started to make his way over to the Rover Marita had been driving before.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Emilena skipped through a fern, accidentally bushwacking Flora in the process. "Head for the trees," she commanded. "It'll be tougher for their vehicles to navigate there!"

Foley sighed at Rio's statement. "You really need to stay away from her," he cautioned, "she's absolutely insane. Psychotic."

As if to drive the point home, Flora was pleasuring herself as she ran, tongue lolling happily. Then, in a sudden whirlwind of leaves, a noose tightened around her ankle and dragged her into the boughs of a tree, dangling from one leg.

"What the...?" Emilena gasped, before ducking away from automatic fire. As she hit the dirt, she got a glimpse of heavily armed men hiding in the bushes, reloading for another salvo. "Oh goddammit. We stumbled across poachers..."

[bushwacked]

Axel winced as he saw Rio go sprawling, just as he reached the treeline. He glanced back at Vergil. "You bet. This is the second goddamn time he's taken it!" Shaking his head, he ran towards Marita's Rover and slid into the passenger seat. Just as the car door slammed, the rattle of automatic gunfire drifted towards them, from the direction Emilena and her group had run in. Axel froze and looked around at the others.

Tilting her head at the sound, Triste sighed and jogged up to the car. "I'll back you up," she muttered, sliding her knife out.

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

Skidding face-first along the dirt, Rio rolled over and looked down at his knee, where the rough ground had scraped the skin. "Son of a bitch -" he started to yell. Then two things happened almost simultaneously. Flora flew up into the air with a crashing of leaves, and gunfire exploded from nearby, kicking up clouds of dust from the floor all around him.

Swearing, he scuttled crab-like along the ground until he bumped into Foley, who was taking cover behind a thick tree trunk. "What the fuck?!" Rio yelped, pressing himself into Foley's bulk as the bullets started to tear apart their cover.

[Serris]

Gunfire erupted as Soren grabbed his ammunition and threw them into a suitcase. "Not this shit again!"

He looked around. He didn't see anything. Nevertheless, he took his positikn in the backseat and clicked off the safety of his rifle.

[Pterano]

Tony winced as he heard the sound of gunfire. But the road really had no trees except shrubbery growing on the side of the cliff, and he could see that this was a terrible place to run into... well who were they? Freedom fighters? Why anyone would lie in wait on a road only about seven feet wide with a sheer cliff on one side and a sheer drop on the other was beyond him. It made zero sense, but he supposed it was in line with what they were encountering so far. Was this Varanus returning? He couldn't tell at the moment.

"What?" Vergil asked, noting the newcomers. They were coming around the bend in the road that the party had parked behind, though they'd apparently set traps along the cliff as well. He flipped backwards, towards the Rover.

"Well shit! What do you want me to do?" Tony asked now as Triste stood by his window. "I can't exactly turn around on this road!" the ferret pointed out.

"Just back up! Run 'em over! We'll sort 'em out later! But watch the kid!" Vergil cautioned.

"Run 'em over?" Tony asked, gulping, but Vergil was right. His vehicle could be used as a deadly weapon against people on foot on this road. They had seven feet maximum on either side of them. They'd either have to climb the mountain or drop to their deaths down the cliff. With such choices, it made vehicles all powerful on this road. Turning the Rover on, he threw it into reverse and began backing up, creating a wall that would force everyone behind him to start running down the road or else jump to their deaths. Looking behind him, the ferret began "plowing" the road, backing up towards where Flora hung from the tree.

He hit the brakes before he ran over Rio however, and nodded at Axel to open his door and pull  him inside. "Grab him!" Tony ordered.

Vergil was following after the Rover, but saw there wasn't much he could do. He couldn't really walk around the Rover while it was moving without getting crushed against the mountain, since Tony was playing it safe and sticking to the wall (nor would he want to walk into the fire of the gunmen either). "Why don't we let these assholes kill Emilena and her group?" Tony shouted out to Vergil as he popped his head out the window and began returning fire to cover Axel.

"Up to you! I barely know her, after all!" Vergil pointed out, considering briefly leaping over the Rover to cut Flora down... but he'd wait for this firefight to die a bit first before taking part. Why lend Emilena any assistance after all? She was now sandwiched between the Rover and the gunmen. It was an ideal situation for his group at this point. There was literally nowhere she could go. To her left was the sheer sides of the mountain they had just climbed down, to her right was the cliff that dropped hundreds of feet to the jungle below, ahead of her were the gunmen, and behind her was the Rover, completely blocking the road.

"I suggest you come towards us... without your weapons!" Vergil called over the Rover to her. "You've got nowhere to go, and we're you're only way out!" he pointed out the obvious. "Or you take your chances with whoever's shooting at you!" As he spoke, Tony managed to score a hit on one of the gun toting poachers and watched as he fell off the road and down towards the jungle.

"Score!" he shouted, grinning here as he kept it up.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Emilena sent a combat knife twirling towards the rope binding Flora, who fell to the ground with a crash.

"What are...?" asked Flora, dazed.

"You sprung a poacher's trap," Emilena said crossly, "And now we're trapped."

Foley took one look at his options and decided, "Screw that!" He made a run for Vergil's group.

Emilena dragged Flora behind a tree. "Where the hell are your clothes anyway?" She opened fire with her pistol. Flora didn't respond, busy watching Emilena's beast heave with barely-hidden excitement.

The poachers, realizing that they weren't fighting for a successfully captured victim, began retreating.

[bushwacked]

Axel reached out and dragged Rio inside the car as Tony covered him. "Got you, you little douchebag! Where the hell's my wallet this time?!" he demanded as he dumped the kid in the back next to Triste.

Rio blinked as he saw who it was, then swore loudly. "Aw, fucking hell. Alright, here - take it back," he muttered, fishing it from his pocket and holding it out. "I left your credit cards in the other car though! I'm not a total dick!"

Outside, the gunfire had started to die down as the poachers retreated. Snatching the wallet from Rio's fingers, Axel saw an overweight human dashing towards the car, and from his appearance, guessed he must be the 'Foley' that Lily had told him about. He was about to yell for the human to hurry up when he heard Triste speak up behind him.

"Why don't we just kill them? They know you... they could be a threat."

Axel turned, and saw Triste pressing the edge of her knife painfully against Rio's throat. His eyes widened - without Emilena and her team, the chances of finding Ejlert were slim to none. "What the hell are you doing?! No! We can't kill them!"

Triste squinted at him, not lowering the blade, the hooked edge curving neatly around the boy's throat.

"This is the worst day ever!" Rio wailed.

Axel swallowed. "Look... Emilena helped me and Lily before... back in Lanthae. We can't just kill her. Or her team. We owe her that much."

After a moment Triste sighed and lowered the knife, and Rio scrambled to get away from her. "Fine. But if we're bringing them back, let's get on with it."