A Not-So-Simple Task, What started as a rescue mission...

[Omnicyde]

"Elevator or stairs?" asked Linx. Omnicyde took half a second to consider both options. "Elevator." he said. "We're three miles underground. It will take too long up those stairs."

He heard an explosion and Icarus' SAWs stopped firing. Damn Crystalis. Omnicyde and Dracona only had about 15 mavericks left under their command. They ran for the elevator, but they could hear it coming down before they got there. "Hunters!" snarled Dracona. Omnicyde nodded. Crystalis would have called for backup.

The Mavericks stepped to either side of the hall and aimed at the door. As soon as it opened, a squad of Hunters did indeed pour out and start firing. Omnicyde and his men returned fire, but the Hunters hadn't spent the last 20 hours fighting infected reploids and Hunters in the Catacombs. Mavericks quickly began to drop.

Tanchu raced into the corridor leading to the elevator and pointed his hands, palm out, down the hall like a character from an ancient anime. Omnicyde couldn't hear the sound, but Tanchu must have been charging his Sound Cannons for a while, because he saw ripples distort the air as the sound traveled and pounded the Hunters into the far wall while the remaining mavericks mowed them down. "Took you long enough." said Omnicyde. Dracona ran to the pile of Hunters. "This one's alive." he growled, kicking one of the still moving Hunters.

Chainer opened one eye and saw Dracona aim his weapon at his head. "For get him." said Tanchu. "The rinse will finish him. But we have to get out." Dracona nodded, but grabbed a piece of steel support beam that had splintered from the wall and drove it into Chainers shoulder, pinning him in place as the Hunter screamed. "Lets make sure he doesn't go anywhere." Dracona snarled. Omnicyde nodded, and the three officers got into the elevator with the few mavericks they had left.

Omnicyde took the time to check his weapon. He only had about 20 rounds left in the clip. He could see some of the other mavericks drawing their last clips, or sharing their second to last, but the rest looked at their empty weapons in disgust and dropped them, drawing sidearms or melee weapons. Tanchu and Dracona were the only ones who had serious ammo.

Tanchu loaded his pistols. "If we're lucky," he said as he racked the slides, "There will only be one or two Hunters waiting for us." "And if we're not?" said Omnicyde. "Then there will be many Hunters." said Tanchu. ((I just saw that movie again last night.))

The doors opened. For once, luck seemed to be on their side. Only one Hunter stood there, apparently waiting for the squad to return. Tanchu took two steps forward and quietly cracked his neck at the base of the skull. Linx peeped around the corner. "Looks clear." he whispered. "Shouldn't there be more guards?" Omnicyde looked and it did indeed seem too empty. He could see the stars past the doors to the interior of the entrance building. "Maybe they're outside." he whispered. "Lets move."

Omnicyde, Dracona, Tanchu, and the remaining Hunters crept to the doors and peered out. With the exception of a few vans bearing the Hunter insignia and a couple of Hunters milling about, there was no one there. Omnicyde turned to Dracona. "You wouldn't happen to have a kilo or so of C-14, would you?" Dracona grinned. "I don't, but he does. Never leave Japan without it." He pointed toward a merc who hurried forward, withdrawing a package of C-14 as he did so. "Prep a timer for 30 seconds," said Omnicyde, "and dump it in the elevator. Maybe we can trap some of them down there for the rinse."

The merc nodded and scurried off. Omnicyde glanced back at the street. "Lets move. Take them as fast as you can, then we'll hijack a car and get the hell out of here."

They all burst through the doors as fast as they could, firing as they went. They quickly cut down the Hunters, losing only one maverick to a lucky burst from a falling Hunters weapon. Omnicyde scrambled up into a truck cab and reached for the keys-and his hand faltered.

No keys.

Linx ran and check the other two trucks. "No keys!" he yelled. "We've got to get-"

A pair of vans schreeched around the corner and pulled up fast to Omnicyde and Dracona. 12 reploids hopped out, including one wearing Lieutenants bars. "Lieutenant McKay, sir." The maverick snapped a salute, which they returned. "Mangetsu contacted the top dogs here in New York before you fellows arrived. We've been waiting for you. Please hop in."

The mavericks didn't waste any time. The doors weren't even closed before the vans burned rubber and peeled away from the Catacombs.

((You didn't want Chainer to die. I didn't want to leave any alive. Fair compromise? ))

[Tamar Roreth]

Things were not looking so well for the fox. His original path was straight through the Hunter barricades and a sweet shot straight to the surface in the mild comfort of a 200+ mph run at a slight incline. But now that the Hunter’s defensive systems had turned against them at certain areas, this wasn’t going to be happening.

Tamar cut the bike to the side and tucked in along a sharp corner, using the very outside edges of the road to pull the perfect apex and keep up his speed. He boosted his comm signal with the electronics on the bike and sent a thin band link to the surface… the only reason it worked was because he knew exactly where to scan.

Cleo, I need another exit, and I need it quick. Anything will do, as long as it gets us out of here very very fast.

There was a pause as the AI scanned it’s systems for the layout of the catacombs, and adjusted it for Tamar’s location. Another pause as she sent down the virtual map with the planned route was uploaded to Tamar’s HUD. The fox nodded to himself, mumbled a quick thanks, and accelerated like mad towards the new exit.

The infected mavericks weren’t a problem at the moment… at least, not at this speed. None of them could react fast enough to do anything other then turn to look at the fox after he had passed. By then, he was already out of sight. Speed is the ultimate defense… armor is secondary.

Dodging rubble was a completely different story. Pieces of buildings and broken rides that leaned and collapsed into the roads made fast driving nigh impossibly without a threat assessment system and lightning fast reflexes. Lightning fast reflexes and sport bikes are a dangerous mix though, and if pushed too far, they’ll wobble and wipeout before the rider can react.

Not a problem for Tamar, two wheels were second nature to him. A groan from the Doctor on the back of the bike alerted him that he needed to step on it… he wasn’t entirely sure how the Doc would deal with such insane speed and hectic driving. His exit was now directly in front of him, and approaching fast. Tamar triggered the grenade launcher, the only weapon left on the bike, and the resulting explosion tore a gaping hole through a heavy steel door blocking off one of the delivery tunnels to the catacombs. The fox threaded the bike through the freshly made hole and laid on the throttle, rocketing the bike down the tunnel to freedom.

The Hunters had set up a barricade at the entrance, and hopefully Enigma’s message had reached the heavily armed blockade. As he reached the end of the tunnel, Tamar let off the gas, letting the Hunters ID him and the Doctor…

[Crystalis Infinity]

Crystalis reached the elevator area soon after an explosive noise came from the surface. The bodies were piled up on top of eachother, Hunter and Repliforce soldier alike. A groan came from a body at his feet. It was Chainer minus a small amount conciousness. "Glad to see you are still alive Chainer."

Chainer laughed in pain while he tried to stand up. Crystalis gave him a shoulder to assist, but he couldn't stand on his own. "Good news, Crystalis, for you and for me. I was able to convince Wraith to buy us and the Hunters another hour to get out. But that was about fifteen minutes ago."

"THAT is GOOD news? You must have been hit harder than I thought. We have to take the stairs while you are wounded." Crystalis looked up at the staircase that looked like it would go on forever. "Think we can make it?"

Chainer smiled reluctantly. "Sure we can. But some of the soldiers will have to meet us halfway to carry me. That should take a total of about fourty-five minutes."

"Fine. Call them and lets go."

[Enigma]

((ATTENTION ZAZI:
I hate to sound bitchy, but you need to post; we're all waiting on you to do something about that zombie. We've been waiting because you've said you have a plan, but we need to finish this thread at some point, so here's the deal:
If you don't post by the 30th, either Ramah, Seph, or I will post for you so the thread can continue to its end. Agreed?))

[Zazi]

((OCC: FINALLY TEH ZAZ MAN HAS COME BACK TO AETAS.))

Zazi caught back up to the ungodly concoction by jumping from rooftop to rooftop. The Beast then caught a glimpse of where this thing was headed: towards the train that the other Hunters were evacuating on. "Kitsen, Where are you?" Zazi asked over the comm unit. "SIR! We are clearing out some of these infected reploids to get to the train. We will be at the train in a few minutes," Kitsen reported back. Zazi prepped his shotgun and decided his best option was to get this failed abortion's attention. He checked his shotgun and noticed he had two slugs and three grenade rounds left. Zazi pocketed one grenade round and loaded the other four in his shotgun.

The Beast fired his first slug into the monster's back to get his opponent's attention. However, it didn't even stop or wince. Zazi circled around and hit the hate child in the face with what every round he had left, except for the one round he pocketed. The creature stopped and the Beast had gotten between it and the train. As the smoke cleared, Zazi watched as the creature repaired its damaged face and began to advance. Zazi slapped his shotgun on his back and drew his sword from its sheath on his left hip. Zazi leapt into the air and stared the creature right in the eyes. It was like he was looking through the windows to an empty soul. The Beast slashed the creature from its left shoulder to its lower right side. The zombie howled in pain as it smacked Zazi in mid-air and through a wall. God damn that hurt! Zazi thought to himself as he stood up. The Beast didn’t even have a chance to recover before a wire tentacle came out of nowhere and wrapped around his neck. Zazi was now right in front of the zombie and he stared right into its face. Its empty eyes returned the stare, and then the monster spoke three simple words: “Me….Crrrrushhh...You”. The creature then let loose a barrage of punches with all four of its grotesque arms. Zazi’s body swung back and forth like a rag doll. The Beast’s sword spun in the air as it stabbed into the ground near the train. The creature reared back and hit Zazi out of the air. He spun and flipped along the ground until he hit the train with a loud thud.

His vision was now blurry and he saw the creature advancing on the train. Zazi heard hunters screaming for him to get up. He heard there weapons fire as they fired on the advancing super zombie. Zazi then felt something inside….a want….a need and it was how he felt when he fought with Scarab, but this time it was to protect all those in the train and all those who fought for him. The Beast’s vision started to return and Zazi felt new energy flowing through him. His reactor output was increasing. It was now at double its normal output and climbing. Zazi turned towards the hunters trying to get to him. “Go! That is my last order.” Zazi said. Zazi heard the disgruntled growls of hunters not wanting to leave him behind. “GO!” Zazi bellowed. The Beast dashed towards his sword and just grabbed it as he dodged a few tentacles coming from the zombie. He then stopped and stared down the zombie as if asking if he was ready for round two.

[Sephiroth X]

What in the blazes is he doing? Gabriel thought to himself. The Watcher groaned as he slowly lifted himself off the ground, and shook the dizzyness off. Fighting the monster right now would be suicide. Suicide for an immortal was never a pretty thing. An idea suddenly struck his mind, and his blue eyes flickered all along the ground, searching...searching...finding! With a deep breath he jumped off from the rooftop, and landed right in front of a fleeing Maverick sergeant. The Reploid squealed like a stuck pig as he gazed up into a pair of merciless blue eyes, and continued to do so when he was lifted into the air by the owner of said eyes.vGabriel grinned widely and wickedly, revealing a pair of elongated and sharpened canine teeth.

"Don't worry...This'll only hurt a lot." With this, he dove his teeth into the Reploid's neck, whose screams slowly died down and whose face turned white as a sheet. Green light could be seen coursing through his veins, and his DNA Soul was glowing brightly in his chest. The Soul grew smaller and smaller, and finally, the last of the green light went up into Gabriel's mouth. Tossing the Reploid aside like a rag doll, the Watcher had a new ferocity in his eyes, a new color in his cheeks. Pulling his cloak up over his face, his eyes flashed momentarily, and he through the garment aside. Putting his feet a little more than shoulder width apart, he pointed his arms at the gigantic zombie.

clickclickclickclickclick! Two gigantic chainguns sprung from Gabriel's wrists, and his right hand retracted into his arm, revealing a Buster barrel. With a loud snap, his chestplate burst open, two gatling guns protruding from his chest. The sides of his legs expanded and almost instantly missle batteries lined them, and last but not least, two gigantic plasma cannons sprouted from his back and rested on his shoulders. Eyes like twin suns, a roar ripped from Gabriel's throat, shaking the room. Before anyone, even the zombie could react, literally thousands of bullets and plasma bursts pounded through its skin, splattering blood and Reploid pieces all over the place.

T-that's the same Reploid from earlier?! Zazi thought to himself, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. Never in his years of seeing creatures point guns at each other had he seen so many bullets fly from one solitary Reploid. Gabriel's war cry was enough to chill even an experienced killer's blood. Shifting his sword's weight a little he leapt back into the fray, a little more hopeful than last time.

((sorry to play your character a bit, Zazi. Glad to have you back.))

[Enigma]

((OOC: Sorry, guys, but this thread is starting to get pretty old. If this isn't over by Monday night, I'm closing this. I hate to do that twice in a row, but we need to move on. With that said, I hope you don't mind me playing your chars a bit, Ramah and Zazi.))

Enigma finally awoke to find himself on a slightly battered train. He looked around and saw Seph and Ramah. He turned to Ramah.

"What's going on?"

Ramah, who was busy messing with a bunch of wires and a nasty-looking gun which seemed just a bit familiar to the battle-weary Colonel, turned to respond.

"Well, we're on a train."

"Why are we on a train that isn't moving?"

"I'm trying to make it move."

"How long have you been trying?"

"I don't know."

Enigma slowly rose to his feet.

"Let the master work."

The Commander of Hunter Research and Development pulled out a screwdriver and spun it around his thumb before applying it to his comrade's Lightning Crusher.

"You're using this as a power source, right?"

Ramah nodded and Enigma began his work.

About five minutes passed; apparently trains weren't meant to be powered by lethal weapons.

Enigma walked over to the train's operator console. He tried turning on the power.

Nothing happened.

Cursing in tongues unknown, Enigma kicked the panel and everything lit up. He turned to his trainmates; they nodded approvingly as he said, "Let's get the hell out of here!"

The train began to move toward the very appealing exit.

As it traveled, the trio spotted Zazi. They called to him:

"Get on! We're leaving!"

"But..."

"No buts! Get on!"

Seph reached out with some of his remaining energy and pulled Zazi onto the train. The party sped toward freedom.

((Remember, everyone, Monday the 7th. Begin posting finales if you haven't already.))

This post has been edited by Enigma on February 04, 2005 01:56 am

[Crystalis Infinity]

Crystalis finally made it to the surface, only to see that the small group still on the surface had been killed. "Damn... I guess we are going to have to walk to the front entrance." After he said that, the Repliforce squad car drove up. The window rolled down and Wraith was in the passenger's seat.

"Hop on. The mission is over."

Crystalis was confused. "Ma'am? What about the Hunters?"

She sat for a moment in thought. "They won't die that easily. You know that. You were a part of them before you joined us." She looked at her watch and turned back to Crystalis and Chainer. "Both of you get on now. That is an order."

Crystalis and Chainer both saluted as best they could and boarded from the rear. I hope they get out ok. Genome and Breifing Boy were already in back of the truck, congragulating Crystalis for killing one of the enemies of the world and prepared to tend Chainer's wounds. The plane at the airport was already prepped and ready to fly when they got there. Back to HQ... Back to another briefing... Hopefully not.

[Zazi]

Zazi was riding out on the train when he heard loud crashes behind the train. "SIRS!" a hunter screamed as he came running into the car and also giving a salute. "That giant thing is coming after us and there is some strange reploid trying to stop it." The hunter quickly added. Zazi and the battered Enigma exchanged glances. "Zazi, Don't even think about it." Enigma said as he appeared to have read Zazi's thoughts. "I have to..." "You don't, we will be out of here in ten minutes anyway." Enigma said as he cut Zazi off. "If we can be out of here in ten minutes it can be too. It has to stopped here and now and it can only be stopped while it's happening." Zazi said. "While what is happening?" Enigma spoke quickly. Zazi looked over at Jetez and nodded. Jetez showed Enigma on Zazi's core output. Enigma had a startled but intrigued look on his face. "Enigma I must live up to my oath I took as a hunter and a hunter officer. I am the most able bodied hunter and I can take him and I will make it out." Zazi said. Enigma just gave Zazi a look and it wasn't the one Zazi wanted to see.

The beast watched the creature as it closed in on the rear of the train. The beast leapt off and colided with the Zombie which made it careen backwards and into a building. Zazi quickly met up with Gabriel and the locked horns with the creature. Zazi slashed and punched the creature inbetween Gabriel's vollies. Zazi was slashing the creatures mid section as it smacked him away with its wire tentacles. Gabriel then let loose the most powerful volley as of yet and Zazi was amazed as he shook the rubble off. It was then he realised that his upper left armor was ripped off. Zazi then realise time was running out. More power flared out of the beast's core.

Zazi attacked the creature after Gabriel's last volley. Zazi leapt in as a creature reborn. A new attack activated for Zazi called Devil's Element. It is a series of powerful slashes and stabs ending with a stab directly through the center of the enemy. Gabriel's last volley had devasted the front of the creature. With Zazi's attack the creature fell and stopped moving. Zazi jumped away from Zombie and immediately fell to one knee. his core was very low and barely had enough to keep Zazi awake. Gabriel then released a very strange attack in a form Zazi had never seen. A massive explosion surrounded the downed creature. Gabrile quickly disappeared afterwards and Zazi was left in the dark.

The timer on Zazi's HUD had ten minutes left before the bomb. He then heard footsep quickly coming towards him. He then heard a voice that was very familiar. "Thank God I didn't stay in Ireland." The voice pierced the darkness and into Zazi's mind. "Captain! How did you find me?" Zazi asked has he let out a weak laugh. "I have my sources, come on lets teleport out of here. Feenix I need two to the outside" The captain spoke.

On the outside Zazi could hear the birds chirping. "The blast shouldn't hit you here and this booster will give you enough power to make it back to hunter lines." With that said the captain disappeared. Zazi then heard the and saw the blast of the bomb sometime later. He had enough energy returned to walk, but he had to use his shotgun as a crutch. Zazi dragged his battered body back towards the hunter line. Many started jumping the barricades and ran to help him as he struggled back. "Get him to Medical." Zazi heard a reploid speak as he blacked out.

((Zazi End))

[Sephiroth X]

Shingetsu Syndicate Headquarters, Underground, Neo-Tokyo

*ba-bump*

Mangetsu hung upside down in a stasis capsule, gallons of bacta rushing through his battle-torn body. Even in this state however, the Maverick overlord was far from powerless. A molecular hologram in the spitting image of the crime lord was projected right in front of the capsule, eyeing Tanchu and Omnicyde with intense dislike.

"Well..." 'Mangetsu' said, a dangerous edge in his voice. "I hope you two are pleased." The two audibly gulped as the hologram, which was as substantial as they were, paced around them, eyes narrowed. The only thing more dangerous than Mangetsu was a Mangetsu that wasn't bound by physical law. The holograms the crime lord projected could take any shape he even halfway thought of. "While we successfully got what we came for, you two lost almost two hundred Mavericks down in that hellhole."

"Can't you get another 200 like, really quickly?" Omni asked meekly.

"Yes..." Mangetsu growled, stopping in front of the sniper. "But wouldn't it be nice if we already HAD two hundred Mavericks?!" Highly unexpectedly, the Maverick lord slapped Omnicyde across the face. "As promised, you have obtained your promotion to Captain, Omnicyde...But I do feel that a dose of...punishment...is in order."

The Maverick lord clapped his hands together, and the room spun around into a blur of color. The room finally stopped, but what once was a room wasn't a room. The three Mavericks were on the edge of a cliff; a roaring whirlpool hundreds of feet below them. The pool was strange looking: a sickly green liquid with sparks of a bright yellow coursing through it. Obviously not water.

"This, comrades, is discarded bacta. Once it has been reduced to the point where it cannot be recycled, it changes. It slowly destroys Reploids on contact rather than slowly healing them." Mangetsu whirled around, arms outstretched to the horror in front of the Mavericks. "This is a veritable Hell on earth for Reploids."

"So you're going to KILL US?!" Tanchu roared. Mangetsu looked over his shoulder and smiled wickedly.

"Oh no, lieutenant...You see, it would take you a matter of decades to fully dissolve. There is no escape from the whirlpool, so trust me when I say that you won't be coming out to greet me any time soon. I'll gladly come down and get you once the need arises..." With a flourish, Mangetsu kicked a screaming Tanchu down into the whirlpool. Omnicyde looked at his master in horror.

"Please my lord...Not this..." He begged. Mangetsu smiled gently at the captain. "Unlike your comrade, you will be down there for only a month or so. You didn't lose a highly valuable weapon, unlike him. He'll be out soon after you, so don't worry. Don't worry one bit." SHOVE

((Mangetsu END)

-------------------------------------
Entrance to the Catacombs, Neo-America
The clock finally struck 00:00:00. Commander Simmons sighed heavily and fell back in his seat. The Hunters, the famous Japanese Maverick Hunters hadn't surfaced yet.

"Alright, lads...Close her up. Fire the rinse on my-"

A sudden rumbling noise came from the entrance. All available Hunters grabbed plasma rifles and aimed at the entrance, hearts racing. A loud screech was heard, and then footsteps. Slowly but surely, four Maverick Hunters limped into daylight, heavily scarred and completely exhausted. Sephiroth X was being held in between Ramah and Zazi, and Enigma was dragging himself across the ground. Rifles still pointed, Simmons called out.

"Are you alright?!" He shouted. In this situation, just because it looked like they were alive didn't mean they were. The four each gave a painful thumbs-up, but the commander didn't move. Sephiroth X raised his head and glared at him, his eyes burning bright green.

"Get your ass over here and heal us, cockbite."

-------------------------------------
Maverick Hunter Outpost 0

Commanders Cyano and Simmons stood in the Main Hall, smiling weakly at all present Maverick Hunters. Clearing his throat, Cyano finally began his debriefing.

"First and foremost, thank you all. The mission may not have gone according to plan, but at least the threat of the virus is over. We did manage to save Dr. Lancaster, but apparently failed to save something else. There was top-secret military data encoded in the form of a DNA Soul hidden in his body; specifically in his pacemaker. Mangetsu, the most dangerous creature alive and powerful crime lord managed to steal the DNA Soul, thus taking something which is unable to be replaced. We must all be on the alert now, for Mangetsu now has in his possession two Ancient Technologies, and Lord knows how much Japanese and United States military data. We can only assume that he has planning some kind of Maverick apocalypse...And we can only hope and pray that we are able to stop it before it begins.

I ask you all...Please be careful in your actions. We lost several good men, women, and Reploids down in the Catacombs. What the Maverick lord has in store for us next, only he knows. All I ask is that you, if you come face to face with him or the horrors at his disposal, remember your comrades who fought against him in the Catacombs. Good night to you all."

((A Not-So-Simple Task, believe it or not, END))

[Enigma]

((

With that post, I believe, we have completed Aetas's third storyline! w00t! This thread is locked. Let's continue coming up with and discussing storyline ideas; hopefully we can get the next one started within a week or so.

STORYLINE END (yes, Seph already said that)

))