Darwin's Soldiers: Disruptive Selection

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #4900 on:** April 29, 2012, 03:45:53 AM

Meanwhile...

The surroundings begin to light up, but takes a while for images to clear, later focusing on a familiar face.

"You're awake," the face said, smiling.

"Vic?" Dr Joe started to realize she was lying in a hospital bed, and tried to sit up when a rush of pain hit her head.

Vic stopped her and coaxed her back down. "Hold it. You're not well yet. You took a beating when we crashed."

"Crash...? We... the base... We were..."

"Our convoy was ambushed. Our plane was the only one who went down in one piece...so to speak... The base is completely destroyed..."

Dr Joe's heart began to race. "You and I... Snow... Chase..."

"They're both fine. As are Ice, Erin, and Aiko. No one else..."

"Where are we?"

"Fort Bragg, North Carolina. ."

Dr Joe sat back up, slowly this time. "So what now about Dragonstorm?"

"Our eyes and ears were destroyed at the base, but Aiko managed to remember the codes and brought everything back up on his laptop. The base in Texas is destroyed, and we believe the one in Florida is under siege by the others."

"Then we gotta go there, and help them out."

"Half of us are still in recovery, including you. They won't release us until you're back on your feet. And don't you think you can try right now."

Dr Joe glared at Vic. "Who are you, my mother?"

"No. Right now, I'm your doctor. Now I'll be back with your chicken soup..."

Dr Joe rolled her eyes...

MrDrake · **Reply #4901 on:** April 29, 2012, 04:38:48 AM

Death's eyes just scanned the area for a moment as he simply stood his ground, holding his scythe in his hand still. Yet, something was off with him at the moment, as that same look of concern appeared upon his face once again, and this time, it did not seem to leave. He was indeed, still injured from being attacked earlier on, but it still wasn't enough to take his own life.

Aimee in turn, crashed into Neku before she got back up as quickly as she could, helping Neku to his feet "You alright?" she asked him "Sorry" she added in, eyes turning to what Sharon was doing and shook her head lightly "She's....insane...." she muttered a little.

She glanced at Death whom was still just standing there, then glanced to Neku again "So, what do we do about him? So far, we haven't seemed to have done anything to him as such....so any ideas?" she asked him as she crossed her arms.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #4902 on:** April 29, 2012, 06:56:18 AM

"So, are you suggesting we don't head for the disconnected plug?" asked Shelton. "That's our only way to find the final Dargonstorm base, and certainly our only chance of crippling their systems before we even get there."

<Tell him that when it comes to high-security rooms, the designated entrance is the last spot you should try to break in,> Shelton replied to James. <Pick a spot in the middle of a wall that isn't the front wall, and apply as much pressure as you can to a single spot. If it sounds hollow, have at it. The ceiling or floor is an even better bet, if you can get to an adjacent floor.>

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

Sharon laughed as the flames spewed around her. When the flamethrower started to spark, she slid it towards Death's feet, where it self-detonated into a cloud of flame. "Have fun being on fire!" she whooped.

All her fear, all her anxiety over her coming doom had been translated into adrenaline, and now that she was actually fighting she could put her all into the battle as if, well, her life depended on it.

Nick22 · **Reply #4903 on:** April 29, 2012, 03:05:58 PM

you think you can break through using sheer force Gustave? aisha said as she watched Fustave continue to bang at the door " If so great.. if not well that will teach you that nt every situation needs brute force..
Landon spoke up.. " Is there any other way into the room besides this door? or are they single exebnterance -exit rooms? both he and Aisha had theior weapons drawn ready to open fire when the time came..

Serris · **Reply #4904 on:** April 30, 2012, 12:27:56 AM

Gustave was breathing heavily and kneeling down. A look of pain was on his face. "F---! I think I pulled something!"

"I was going to tell you not to exert yourself so much," Zachary said. He looked at the door and tried the handle. The door had several huge dents in it but the lock and hinges held firm.

Dr. Zanasiu examined the door. The lock was very heavily built and it would take nothing short of explosives or a cutting torch to get through the door. <Gustave tried breaking down the door. It looked like someone tried driving a car through it but it's intact. And Gustave hurt himself,> he thought messaged to Shelton. He then turned to Dr. Landon. "I got a message from Shelton; he says the best way is go through the ceiling, floor or wall. But if they are at the same specs as the security rooms in Pelvanida, all three ways are gonna be tough."

The Mongoose Cobalt soldier leaned against one of the bulletproof glass windows. "So we're back to where we started huh?" he said.

"Roof access is the easiest way of all the three. But again, if going by Pelvanida specs, there's gonna be barbed wire and Teflon protecting the roof."

"Teflon?"

Dr. Zanasiu nodded. "Only material that Geckos cannot stick to. Right now, best bet is to use a pole or something to pull down or cut the barbed wire and then use a ladder to get on the roof."

"So let me guess, you want us to split up and look for supplies?" Sgt. Masters said.

Dr. Zanasiu nodded. He then turned to Dr. Landon. "Hey Dr. Landon, can you check Gustave to make sure he's okay?"

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

Alfred shook his head. "Unfortunately, we have so seeing as there are no other alternatives but I strongly suspect they may be expecting us."

"All right, so let's go," Neville said.

Alfred nodded. "All right, I'm going to be heading down to the basement, who's coming with me?"

"Well, I have to hook up my USB drive so I'll be going with you," Dr. Bailey added.

Spc. Crota leaned against the wall. "I'll come with you so I can get away from Shelton."

Neville coughed. "Crota, be nice!" He then turned to Shelton. "Well, that leaves me to guard you then."

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #4905 on:** April 30, 2012, 04:54:25 AM

"Deal," said Shelton. He had faith in Bailey's ability to get the job done. He sat back at his computer and began attempting to force access to other systems. He quickly found that the problem wasn't gaining access, but finding anything of value.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #4906 on:** April 30, 2012, 11:18:57 AM

Neku smiled at Aimee.
"No. I think it's that she wants to live. And so do I! Hey Death! Over here!"
He taunted, kinetically directing the fire that had missed Death into a focused lance of flames, which he launched at Death, following close behind it, swords flaring to life again...
_________________________________________________________________________

Kagetora smirked under his mask.
"Where do you need me?"
He asked calmly. Hawkeye chuckled.
"Alright. I'll cover Shelton, unless situation changes. In which case..."
Roux giggled and hugged Aisha.
"In which case, they have me."
She said proudly...

Nick22 · **Reply #4907 on:** April 30, 2012, 03:50:24 PM

Fine, taking out the roof it is' Landon said Come here Hustave and let me take a look at you" He said gazing at gustave arms and moved up until he saw a bulge in gustaves left arm. ' you've got a contusion in your arm. probably from the result of trying to punch through the door. and you;ve strainewd your oblique muscles as we;ll./ so in short no heavy fighting for awhile..

MrDrake · **Reply #4908 on:** April 30, 2012, 04:02:58 PM

"Yeah....in other words....they're insane...." Aimee muttered to herself as Neku charged ahead as welll. Though, she then had to sigh a bit to herself and just shrugged to herself lightly as she stepped forward as well before heading into a run, fists clenched already.

Death was already preoccupied with being on fire as he didn't seem to have enough time to stop Neku's assault on himself and in turn, he took on the assault and stumbled backwards, but as he did so, he clenched his scythe and bought it up in order to block the rest of Neku's attacks, swinging his scythe with enough force to at least push Neku backwards.

But as he did so, Aimee approached with her fist pulled backwards before she ducked underneath Death's scythe and in turn, swung upwards in an uppercut fashion, delivering a blow to Death's lower jaw, despite the other being still being on fire. At least Aimee was able to damage him without scorching her own fists in the process.

She swung a second time, and then a third and finally, a fourth time, each punch landing on Death's face before she herself, quickly moved back and looked Death square in the eyes.

Death just stood there, his cloak just burning away. It was as if he had taken on all the attacks that had been thrown at him, yet, he was still standing as if nothing had happened. He just looked at the group for a few moments, as nothing happened before he vanished, having retreated from the battle, leaving Sharon's life alone this time around.

"Huh...wow....I guess that's something, I mean....it's not everyday you get to say that you got Death to pretty much, bugger off.....especially by punching him in the face" Aimee laughed to the others somewhat.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #4909 on:** May 03, 2012, 01:08:39 AM

Shelton nodded. "Glad to have you, Hawkeye." He'd seen Hawkeye kick more than enough ass to feel safe.

Clicking back into the emptied database, Shelton poked around to see if he could find something useful. Sure, they erased all the evidence, but sometimes evidence comes in forms one wouldn't expect.

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

Sharon panted heavily. The makeshift flamethrower clattered out of her hands to the ground.

"We...we...did it," she breahed, hardly believing herself. "We did it! We fought Death...and won!"

Excitedly she rushed over to Aimee and hugged her. Now that the battle was over, things seemed to go in slow motion. She couldn't decide what to do next. she hadn't planned to have a next.

Serris · **Reply #4910 on:** May 03, 2012, 04:00:12 AM

(Basement)

"Kagetora, if you don't mind, could help Hawkeye and myself watch Shelton?" Neville asked as he checked his gun.

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

(Ground Floor)

Gustave sat on the couch. "Define 'heavy'," he growled as he rubbed his sore arms.

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

Sgt. Masters squeezed through an air vent which Zachary had hoisted him into.

He then opened a utility closet from the inside. The closet itself had mostly cleaning supplies but they found what they needed - a ladder long enough to reach the roof.

"All right, I'll take this back to the group while you go look for like a grappling hook or something we can form into one," Zachary said as he picked up the ladder.

Sgt. Masters nodded and looked around. He peered out a nearby window and noticed that there was a concrete dock that was under construction - and appeared to have been abandoned. Nevertheless, he could still see construction materials and some tools laying round.

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

Dr. Zanasiu kicked in an office door and swept the well lit but deserted room with his shotgun.

He quickly cased the room, finding nothing of value except some cash and an unopened granola bar. He unwrapped the granola bar and munched on it to sate his hunger. He looked at the cash; the group was thousands if not tens of thousands or possibly even hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. In the end, he quickly pocketed the money. No one here was going to miss it and besides, he and his group already blew up Pelvanida and most of the Las Vegas Strip; a little theft wasn't going to hurt.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #4911 on:** May 04, 2012, 01:45:30 AM

Neku smirked.
"He ran. Just like he did last time. Heh. Well, whatever. He didn't manage to take anyone else yet. And I think I can call that one a win."
He said, tossing the handles of his swords in the air before catching them on the way down and holstering them...
______________________________________________________________________

Hawkeye nodded.
"Absolutely, Shelton. No need to thank me."
He said calmly, as Kagetora drew one of his katana and twirled it in a circle around his hand.
"Right. I'll cover this area as well."
He said with a soft chuckle...

MrDrake · **Reply #4912 on:** May 05, 2012, 02:33:22 AM

"Heh yeah" Aimee replied back to Neku as she hugged Sharon back "So, what now? I mean, I'm not sure what the other teams are up to right now, but my best guess is that we head inside and try and meet up with them again and then, go from there? Cause I still have no idea as to what the actual plan is suppose to be. All I understand is that we're trying to find some sort of AI around here, but how we stop it...." she then gave off a small shrug "Not a clue really"

Her eyes glanced to Sharon as she broke away from the hug by that point "So, you guys want to head inside and find the others?"

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #4913 on:** May 05, 2012, 04:36:04 AM

Sharon wiped a final tear from her eye. "Agreed." She quickly snatched her shotgun back up. "Let's go help the others."

She glanced at the main door. "Should we go through the main entrance or find an alternate entrance?"

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

As Bailey's team penetrated deeper into the maintenance levels, a thin sensor, almost invisible against the ceiling, activated silently and pointed towards Dr. Bailey. An invisible burst of protons shot into Bailey's thought chip.

Though it gave no sort of alert or sign, the thought chip was instantly corrupted. It will never be able to send messages again.

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

About fifteen minutes after Bailey's team had left, Shelton finished touring the base virtually. Something didn't seem the same as he remembered...

He finally put his finger on it.

"Nothing's actually hooked up to the actual control room any more," he murmured to himself, not bothering to keep his voice down. "Everything's been routed elsewhere to a new command motherboard."

"Where exactly?" asked Neville.

Shelton checked a few more pathways. "Everything leads to...the basement..." he paled. "...right where Bailey and the others are headed!"

<Bailey, come in, this is Shelton. Stop what you're doing immediately! Please respond!>

No answer. "Something's blocking thought chip communication," reported Shelton.

Neville sprang to his feet. "We have to warn them of what they're approaching." He drew his pistol and combat knife and prepared to dash out of the room.

"Not so fast!" snapped Shelton. "If we charge blindly in, we'll be in the exact same situation they are." He grabbed Aimee's mechanical eye and also printed out a map of the basement and lower floors. "We can be more helpful by flanking them. This has a satellite connection and Dragonstorm priority, so in New Peenemunde systems it will outrank commands from the parasitic source."

Neville nodded. "Hawkeye, Kagetora, we'll form a triangle with Shelton in the middle. Stay alert, we're moving into a guaranteed danger zone."

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #4914 on:** May 07, 2012, 08:00:49 AM

Hawkeye nodded.
"Alright. I'll take point, since I'm the best suited for defense here."
He said calmly. Roux chuckled.
"Hey, didya forget about me? I'll go check on them!"
She laughed, flickering out. only to reappear on the floor a second later.
"Ooor...maybe not. Something's blocking me from teleporting to them. We should probably hurry..."
She said, sounding worried...

Serris · **Reply #4915 on:** May 08, 2012, 04:00:42 AM

(OOC - Nick, your turn.)

The trio was now inside a room that held the cooling system for the vast banks of computers that the base had. A low rumble of fans and pumps permeated the area.

Dr. Bailey tried to send a thought message to Shelton. He was going to ask what was the fastest way to the central processing core. A prickling sensation crawled up his spine as he realized he couldn't transmit.

"Something wrong?" Spc. Crota asked.

Dr. Bailey nodded. "I can't reach Shelton via thought chip!"

Spc. Crota pulled out his radio from a pocket. "Always have a back up." He turned on the radio and spoke. "Shelton This is Spc. Crota. Please respond." He released the transmit button and waited for a reply. He got none. He cycled through all the frequencies - all were dead. His tail buzzed in irritation. "We're on our own for this."

Alfred shrugged and leaned against a large cooling unit for the.

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

Neville suddenly realized that he forgot about his radio. He grabbed it from his belt and tried to call Spc. Crota. All he got in reply was static. "Something's interfering with my radio. Shelton! Hawkeye! See if you can get through to Spc. Crota."

(OOC - Neville's main weapon is a 9 mm submachine gun. A 9 mm pistol is his backup.)

MrDrake · **Reply #4916 on:** May 08, 2012, 04:38:43 AM

Aimee thought for a moment, arms folded as she did so "Well, if the others have already broken in and are dealing with whatever is inside, that might be keeping them all busy and in turn, the front door could be left unguarded, besides, it's not like they'd all just expect us to just waltz in through the front door" she shrugged and stepped forward, unfolding her arms as she did so.

"So, why not do the unexpected, hmm?" Aimee added in as she approached the front door, flexing her fists as she did so.

Serris · **Reply #4917 on:** May 09, 2012, 07:05:06 PM

Sharon looked at the front door. A concrete parking chock was inside the reception area and broken glass littered the area. "Well, we can say that Alfred or Gustave came this way." She then stepped aside. "After you Aimee," she said.

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

Outside the first floor control room, the group had gathered all their supplies.

"All right so what do we have?" Dr. Zanasiu said.

Sgt. Masters was leaning against a wall. He looked utterly spent. "Two three foot pieces of rebar, a ladder, a set of insulated bolt cutters, a small reciprocating saw, a canvas tool bag and some rope."

Dr. Zanasiu cracked his knuckles. "All right, that'll do." He then picked up the long straight piece of rebar. "Or maybe not. We need to bend this into a hook or something."

Gustave stretched out his massive arms. "Bunch of wimps," he rumbled. "Let me show you how a real man deals with rebar."

He snatched the piece of one inch rebar and bent it into a "U" shape like it was a paper clip. He grabbed the second piece and bent that into a U shape. He then took the two pieces of metal and twisted them together.

A few seconds later, the crude grappling hook was tossed on the ground. It looked more like a giant jack than anything else. "There's your grappling hook. Now let's get moving!"

"Right," Zachary said. He slung the canvas tool bag containing the saw over his shoulder.

The Mongoose Cobalt soldier nodded and picked up the set of bolt cutters. "There's an emergency exit right there," he said pointing to a door that was clearly marked.

Dr. Zanasiu picked up the ladder. "Aisha! Dr. Landon, mind giving me a hand?"

Gustave opened the door and pushed it so far back that he broke the lock; it would no longer close.

The smell of the sea wafted through the open door. "Get a move on!" Gustave ordered. The Mongoose Cobalt soldier, not wanting to arouse the Nile Crocodile's wrath was the first to exit. He looked up and saw the barbed wire ringing the roof of the complex along with the white Teflon strip that prevented Geckos from climbing the wall.

Nick22 · **Reply #4918 on:** May 09, 2012, 08:04:13 PM

Coming " Landon said going over and helping pick up the ladder " We'll need to put it against something that is stable. And someone will need too holkd it in place while the others climb up preferably, someone strong.." aisha said.. The first one to climb it will clear away the barbed wire so the others can get up thyere without cutting themselves into ribbons..

MrDrake · **Reply #4919 on:** May 09, 2012, 11:50:53 PM

"Well, at least they know how to make an entrance" Aimee joked as she stepped inside first and glanced around. She glanced left, then right before turning to Sharon and Neku "So...any ideas on where they actually ran off to? Cause right now, we're got two options, head down the left corridor, or the right corridor" she groaned at that pont.