Darwin's Soldiers 2: Survival of the Fittest

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #480 on:** August 28, 2009, 11:14:10 AM

There were two scientists in the lab. They looked up when Shelton entered the room.

"Get out!" yelled Shelton, appearing to be out of breath. "Get as far away from this part of the base as possible!"

The scientists took one look at his disheveled appearance and high-tailed it. Shelton locked the door behind them and checked the computer. Not logged in. They had been playing tetris.

Dammit, he thought to himself. That wouldn't happen if I were still control admin.

Unlike door locks, computers were connected to a main database, and the heads would be notified if a scientist logged in somehwere he wasn't supposed to be. Shelton couldn't use someone else's password because he didn't know who belonged in this section.

All right, no problem, he thought to himself, looking at the side door. Next lab, then.

Serris · **Reply #481 on:** August 30, 2009, 01:13:30 PM

Dr. Yuri Kerzach sighed as he replaced the cooling system on his prototype vehicle mounted laser.

I hope no one recognizes me. He thought as he disassembled the laser cannon. He held up his ID which read Dr. Steven Irving.

He had decided to seal his door and ignore the warning. "Hmm. Maybe it's James's crew breaking in. Nah." he muttered.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #482 on:** August 31, 2009, 01:25:18 AM

Shelton moved through three labs, until he reached the Electrical Engineering section. Good, he thought to himself. Dr. Kyle worked here.

Using Dr. Kyle's password, Shelton activated one of the computers and downloaded a map of the base. He printed it out.

Massive changes had been made to the layout after the base's reconstruction. The first thing he noticed was the blast wall, which curiously come down at an angle to the base, rather than cutting it exactly in half like they use to.

Why would the blast walls be put in like that? he wondered.

He noticed that due to the angle, the walls protect one extra lab. A lab which, he was pretty sure, didn't exist last time.

Looks like a place to check out.

Shelton had a clear shot from here to the new lab, if he took the emergency corridors. He quickly got moving.

Serris · **Reply #483 on:** August 31, 2009, 01:46:13 AM

Dr. Kerzach heard noises outside his lab. "Hmm. I'd better check it out. But what if it's terrorists?" He shook his head. "Bah! I took on terrorists last time and won."

He then grabbed a nearby portable radio and the nearest thing he could wield as a weapon, which happened to be his switchblade-like pocket knife.

Sealing the door behind him, he started wandering the halls. He entered and exited three labs and noticed that there was recent activity in all of them.

He then entered one of the emergency corridors, at the same time, he had his knife out in front of himself.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #484 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:16:37 AM

(OOC: Just read your post about the door lock, and found another way out. Probably some bad science in there, so sue me. I need to get him out of the room.)

Shelton continued on his way. He saw someone coming his way.

He looked both ways. There was nowhere to hide. And they'd definitely seen him by now.

He checked his inventory. An aspirator, a quarter, a propane tank, and a map. Nothing that readily came to mind as a weapon.

Guess it was time to pretend he was an authorized and respectable employee. Putting on his best poker face, he strode towards his opponent. "Hello? Who's there?"

Serris · **Reply #485 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:41:01 AM

"Hmm. That sounds like Shelton." Dr. Kerzach muttered. He was crouching behind a concrete pillar. He peeked out and noticed the man was unarmed.

He then revealed himself. "I am Dr. Steven Irving. What business do you have down here?" he asked. His knife was in plain view.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #486 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:42:56 AM

Steven Irving? Name's not ringing a bell.

"Well, Mr. Irving, not sure if you noticed, but some former Pelvanida employees are attacking the base, and I'm just trying to get to safety." He suddenly realized something. "And I know they're former Pelvanida employees because...uh...er....GET BACK!!!" he yelled, brandishing the propane tank.

Serris · **Reply #487 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:53:32 AM

"A propane tank?" Dr. Kerzach asked with a chuckle. "Wow, Shelton, you haven't changed much. You really need to choose better weapons."

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #488 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:56:15 AM

"Oh, Kerzach, thank god it's you," Shelton wiped his brow. "I haven't really had much to choose from. I just escaped this room after getting tortured by Miss Cujo. What's happened to you?"

Serris · **Reply #489 on:** August 31, 2009, 03:06:31 AM

"I stole someone's identity and got a job here. I got a little curious after finding out about Dragonstorm during the last situation. I plan to find out more. As for Shannon Varma, I heard she assumed a new identity and is working in a Vegas strip club." Dr. Kerzach replied.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #490 on:** August 31, 2009, 03:13:46 AM

"You can come with me if you like," said Shelton, showing him the map. "I'm planning on checking out this new lab. The base seems to have rebuilt just to fit it in, so I'm assuming it's important."

(OOC: I'm planning on having this be the new Dragonstorm embryo hatching/priming site, unless we've established it's somewhere else already. It was going to be guarded by a Dragonstorm experiment, which Shelton plus or minus Kerzach would have to outwit rather than outfight to get past. Is this okay?)

Serris · **Reply #491 on:** August 31, 2009, 01:07:49 PM

"Why not?" Dr. Kerzach said. "It'll give me something to do."

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Meanwhile, Dr. Zanasiu and his group had arrived outside the helicopter crash site.

Alfred and Dr. Zanasiu quickly donned their masks before they entered the ruined lab.

"I don't see any survivors." Alfred said.

"Keep looking." Dr. Zanasiu replied.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #492 on:** August 31, 2009, 01:31:50 PM

"Cool," said Shelton. "At least one of us is armed now." He pointed down the hallway. "It's two corridors in the direction."

While they were hiking, Shelton asked, "Is there anything else you know about Pelvanida that I should be aware of? What's gone on since I was deported?"

Serris · **Reply #493 on:** August 31, 2009, 01:54:22 PM

"Quite a bit actually, They fixed all the damage. They upgraded autoturrets to .50 caliber. I heard they were building some new labs but for an unknown purpose. They upgraded security around the fusion reactor. And one thing that's really trivial but you may want to know, they've hired a bunch of new researchers and guards to replace the dead ones. I met one of them, Dr. Dyson Holmes. Works in the metallurgy department. Nice guy, but he's a bit hard to get to; he's almost never around. And one weird thing, I saw Hicks and Montgomery at the Double Helix. Oh, James and his crew have become somewhat of local legends." Dr. Kerzach replied.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #494 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:04:08 PM

"Really?" Shelton's eyes went wide. "Am I a local legend?"

Serris · **Reply #495 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:16:31 PM

Dr. Kerzach nodded. "Unfortunately, James's crew along with you are well known in the same sense that Bin Laden is." He then dropped his voice to a whisper. "Which I why I had to steal my coworker's identity to get a job here. I had to pay him a decent amount of cash. Hopefully, Rara Terra Smelting won't mind the fact that I just 'vanished' for a few days."

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #496 on:** August 31, 2009, 03:02:49 PM

"Who?" Shelton peered down the corridor. "We're here."

A sign on the corner up ahead pointed to the left reading: Lab 101.

"Hmm. Let's check it--" Shelton turned the corner, and froze.

The hallway suddenly got very, very large, and a hulking Dragonstorm experiment stood in front of the doorway. It was coated in plates of armor, and when it saw Shelton giant claws extended from it's hands.

Shelton dove across the hallway into the adjacent lab, seconds ahead of the charging experiment. Slamming the door locks, he felt the entire lab shake as the experiment started beating the wall down.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit..." he repeated, pulling out drawers frantically. Nothing. All he had was what was in his possession now.

Cracks started appearing in the wall. The foundation was coming apart. Shelton had no chance of defeating it, but maybe he could distract it...

He released the valve on the propane tank and threw it through a hole in the wall, further down the hallway. Then he relit the battery with the steel wool, and threw it after the propane tank. The two ignited to form a momentary fireball.

The experiment lunged at the fireball, slashing the remains of the propane tank. Shelton took the opportunity to barrel in the other direction, into Lab 101.

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #497 on:** August 31, 2009, 06:11:22 PM

Vic had unhooked Snow from the blood transfer and now needled Shade for the blood transfusion. Snow moved to Neku's other side to hold his hand.

Dr Joe read's Shade's full bio and scratches her head. "I don't get it. It says here that you ended up down here because of some 'scientific anomalies' that made you a danger to your doctor's projects. Is that true?"

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Meanwhile, two V-22 Ospreys are making their final approach to the base. Ariol found his way outside to await them...

Serris · **Reply #498 on:** August 31, 2009, 10:01:50 PM

"Who the hell created that?!" Dr. Kerzach shouted as he hastily followed Shelton into the lab. "And how the hell are we supposed to fight it!?"

Dr. Kerzach's pounding heart was overshadowed by the thunderous blows of the experiment that tried to smash its way into the lab.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #499 on:** August 31, 2009, 11:32:34 PM

The experiment continued it's attack on the entrance, but fortunately the walls were well built.

"I think we're safe for now," said Shelton. "We're not going anywhere soon, though."

He looked around the lab. "Oh my god."

Massive growth accelerator pods dotted the walls. Embryo cocoons filled all the tables. The room was dimly lit, and the air was warm and humid.

"This is where they grow the embryos, cultivate them through artificial selection, and accelerate them to fighting status," said Shelton slowly. "This is where they make Dragonstorm experiments."