Crimson Wing

E

Excesmyr

Guest
Original poster
OC:http://www.iwakuroleplay.com/showthread.php?t=20597


All of the top scientists and countless amounts of funding had gone into this project, and now they would finally see it completed. It had taken them years to even create just a quick glimpse into the world. It took them dozens more to make the portal, but they would finally complete the world's first interdimensional portal. Included in the preparation was the assembly of a small, but effective team to make first contact and perform general research of the surrounding area. That's how it was planned to go anyway, and they were hoping that things would go off without a hitch.

The portal had gone through severe testing and required heavy precision and the smallest miscalculation could lead to an unstable field that would have unpredictable effects. It was something they would rather avoid that. The structure that housed the portal was a lot bigger than the portal itself. It consisted of a large platform with two robotic spires on it's side. On those spires were spikes that pointed inwardly that shot sparks with a purple hue to it that eventually massed to form a circular blob that opened a window to the other world. In it, was the edge of a lush, but dense forests. The trees were nothing like that of Earth. It had oddly shaped branches, and the leaves had a subtle purple coloration to it.

More to the right was a vast plain where they had spotted some figures moving out in the distance, but never came close enough to see closely. The scientists had concluded that the world was inhabited, but whether they were docile, primitive, advanced, or hostile was another question entirely. It would all rely on these crimson wings to bring back information about it.

The Crimson Wings however, were being held in a sort of break room, where they were given plenty of food and water in hopes that they would be ready to ship out. They had two hours until they are ready to enter the portal.

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It was a time to be celebrating. Everyone should be happy around this time of year, but recent occurences have kept them from what usually is their most memorable time of year. Strange weather patterns, increased agitation in animal behavior, even interferance with their magic. The Elders have assured that it was all just a passing moment, but there's that small fear in most of the denizens.

Most people had believed what the elder council had said, but there are some, those who felt that there was more to the council's words, that feel as if there are some larger forces at work. Unfortunately, there is no way of telling the truth. For now, the people would have to be content with festival that the capitol, Krenh, has put on.

The festival was an annual festival called the Pyre Festival. This was the day that they would not only honor the dead, but sacrifice animal offerings to their gods that have bestowed the power of their Mana to them. It began as a ritualistic ceremony, but later developed into a country wide festival. Krenh holds some of the biggest festivals attracting travelers and party goers. This year, they've began to make it bigger and better as if trying to make up for the out of the ordinary occurrences lately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Issac began to mill around the large, but occupied room. They had decided to put the entirety of the Crimson Wings into the room and have them "rest" until the time comes for them to go. They've laid out food and drinks that were very extravagant. It seems they've spared no expense to accommodate the explorers, considering that this is a dangerous mission into the unknown. Issac, as the leader and pseudo-founder of the Crimson Wings, he had access to some of the more privileged information, but this was still a surprise to him. Must've been decided by some of the more higher-ups.

He had approached the table with plates upon plates of food that you'd find in a five-star restaurant. They must've thought that they could get them to socialize and develop some sort of group dynamic before they're sent off. He couldn't blame them, but looking around the room and scanning the members, he could see that a couple of them would rather not get to know each other.

All together, the team was made up of a mechanic, a sniper, a mutant, some kind of robot that would be hooked up to the mech outside, and himself. The mechanic seemed a bit ditzy for the team, but he's been hard to track and is amazing at what he does. The sniper has almost no history and finding her was a challenge in itself. They found her rotting in a high security prison. She was silent, but a professional. The other two, the mutant and the CHARLOTTE driver were easier to find. They were in government records, heavily classified government experiments. This was quite the team, but hopefully they'd hold up under pressure.
 
Mech walked over to Madelyn and leaned up against the wall. "Hay their pretty lady." he said with a smirk on his mug that showed just how confident... well arrogant, he really was "I hear your a hot shot." It was a bad joke... she seemed to not get it, "Your a sniper arent you? Hot shot... shot... never mind." he said shaking his head. Quickly he got ahold of himself again "How about me and you hook up? I'm a real catch." he said expecting her to fall head over heals for him. She more or less smacked him and he decided to try the other girl.

He walked over to the food table and scowled, it was all fancy crap that rich ideots ate... well other rich idiots, "Where's a guy supposed to get some grub around here? No burgers, hotdogs, or anything decent." he complained then grumbled after "Look, even the steak is cooked with seasons and spice... why can't they just leave a good slice of meat as a good slice of meat?" with that he left the table with a cold beer, at least they had beer.

"Hay, bit shot." he said referring to Issac "Did they say if the vans, car, truck, whatever is going to get threw that fancy whatever." Just as he finished talking he oppened his beer and took a quick sip. Not the best idea to let the driver drink before they drive but he was a professional, right? A small can of beer wasn't going to get him drunk. "Without the vehicle were up a creek without a paddle. What else are we supposed to load with supplies?" Not to mention he would be useless. He could do a lot, but all of it required supplies that would be found on the vehicle.
 
A young man came down from his small room in a INN and walked up to the paperboy.
He took a seat and began reading.
(So they still try to cover it as a small incident? Pathetic and smart at the same time.)
He looks at another page and finds news about the Pyre Festival.
(Looks like they are trying to cover it. ... Wait a moment. If i have luck i can make some money there. There sure is some work i can do.)
The owner of the INN comes to him
Hey... uh... Nova, right? If you stay longer you'll have to pay for another day.
Nova turns to him and folds his newspaper to throw it in the next garbage bin.
No need to worry. I just found something interesting. Tell your guests that another room is free.
After packing his things into a bag, he teleported himself away with his ability.
he finds himself on the main route that leads straight to Krenh, which he starts to follow until he arrives at his destination.
 
A duty to fulfill. Comrades to assist. Contact to be made. She was only concerned for the well-being of her comrades. If they failed the mission, it would be on her to prevent any deaths. She was a mech pilot, after all. Charlotte would've rather brought a Walker-4 mech, as it's a better defensive mech, but not only would it have heavily destabilized the portal, but it would also severely slow down the group. In the Dasher-2 she was taking instead, they might be able to travel at full speed. The Dasher was a mobile capable mech with mostly anti-personnel equipment, so they'd be able to take out any hostile inhabitants. She wondered how advanced they'd be. Would they be tribals? Civils? Spacers? She hoped to find a friendly culture, at the least. Less work for her. Less work, less worries. Still, however, there were inevitably going to be predators. Things to kill for the safety of the group.

She glanced over at her new best friend, the mechanic of the group. Undoubtedly, her mech would possibly break down or take damage, so this man was going to be her best friend. He was a somewhat handsome man. She had to admit that. He seemed a bit of a womanizer, however. She didn't like that too much, but he otherwise seemed like a good person. Well, when he wasn't hitting on the sniper. He seemed to do that a lot. Oh well, maybe he'd eventually make her feel pretty. Whatever, really, it didn't matter. But still, she would need to make friends with this man, so she figured she needed to introduce herself. So she approached him with a straight face and offered him her hand. "Hello, ser. You are the team's mechanic, yes? Me and you are going to become good friends, partially out of necessity. I am a Charged Hardline And Riot Land Over Terrain Technical Escort volunteer, designation number fourty-two. You may call me Charlotte, or C42. To answer your question, I assure you I would be useless to this mission if they were unsure of the ability of mechanical mass to cross the portal. My very presence should assure you." Her voice was cold and her tone was factual, almost a constant matter-of-factness. She spoke very consistently, and when she finished, she nodded and gave him a chance to take her hand and introduce herself.

The sniper may either become another friend of hers, or a rival, considering she had to bring the sniper mech with her. Her military training for the Dasher-2 mech gave her high proficiency with the Sniper Cannon and shot calculator. We would see how they interacted. Maybe she respected accuracy, even if it is somewhat mechanically augmented. It was easier for her to pick off a static target than the average sniper, but just as hard for her to hit a moving target. There was no sway on a mech, however, so she wasn't detrimented by any necessity to hold her breath. Still, however, she'd prefer to bring the Walker-4, but there was still the problem with the mass capacity. She had to think about supporting the team. She could possibly bring it on her own, but she wasn't a fan of lone wolf missions.

The others were simply charges for her. Nothing but people to protect. They had her loyalty, but not quite her trust. She had the right to refuse an order if she felt it would sacrifice her humanity or her livelihood, but otherwise was under charge of whoever was leading this mission. She had asked that if the portal could be reopened when or if ever they established a permanent base and/or headquarters, and her Walker-4 be delivered, but she didn't rely too heavily on military delivery. She found it wasn't very reliable, and was ready to never receive her Walker-4 mech. Oh well, as was established, it would likely slow them down.
 
Ryan Chorven strode casualty down the street, weaving in and out of the crowd that packed the streets of Krenh. It was the time of year for the Pyre Festival and folk form all around had gathered to the capital for the celebration. Market stalls lines the roads where craftsmen and woman hocked their wears; and those with any ability in the kitchen sold food freshly made; all in hope from drawing a large income form the throng of visitors.

Ryan himself was from a village a good 80 miles east of here called Krentha, residing on the edge of the indomitable Kren Forest it was largely a lumber town producing a good portion of the regions lumber. Ryan, as the town's blacksmith, maintained all the tools of the woods men and produced a steady stream of construction supplies like nails, hinges, joist braces and the like. Ryan slipped his way through the crowd with ease despite his large and stocky blacksmith frame, broad shoulders and broader biceps spoke of countless hours swinging a hammer and pumping bellows. Indeed any guess at his occupation what with the close cropped brown hair and well muscled body defaulted to either solderer or craftsmen.

But unlike most of the throng here to day Ryan wasn't here solely for the festivities, for this was also the only time Of year the smith guild would accept applications for Master titles with the presentation of a Master Work piece and five gold marks. Ryan was on his way to the guild, the sword he'd made for his masterwork slug over his shoulder sheathed in nondescript leather and the hilt wrapped in rags to deter thieves. It was his greatest work, he knew the guild would accept it.
 
"Get in there Bobby boy!" A voice jeeringly said as a tall man was shoved into a galley of sort, a muscular man in a prison-eque version of military fatigues, camo shirt, camo pants, no shoes, and in place of a name, was the number '28930123-31' his charged inmate name. He was shackled at the wrists, clear signs that he had been on the wrong side of the law, and if one were to look at him they wouldn't think his crimes would be fighting crime bosses and taking money from atm's to feed his sister. Another guard walked in and went up to Issac, handed him a key and said, "He's your problem now, unshackle 'im if you want. Here's his file too." He said handing him a chip for a datapad, before the guard joined his partner and left the building.

Silent Bob, as he'd been called both on the streets and in prison, sat at a table in the back, pulled out a pack of regular flavor cigarettes from his shirt pocket, took one out and lit it, exhaling a cloud of light gray as he took the first drag, which was difficult given that he was cuffed. He didn't bother looking at the other people, though his peripheral vision had caught glimpses, he only wondered why these people were here, an assortment of people not given a reason for their presence to be needed, in fact he was only here because he wasn't given a choice.

Taking another puff off of his cigarette, he thought about his sister, how disappointed she looked seeing him through the bars and glass of a holding cube. He worried about her arrangements, something the government was going to provide now that he was officially incarcerated, but given their track record anything could've happened to her, to him they were the reason he was breaking the law anyway, since the government wouldn't lend a hand to poor like they promise so much on their campaign ads. Thinking about being forced to a serve a group of leaders who can't even lend help getting food made him so angry he even muttered, "This is insulting...." which escaped his lips with a cloud of smoke.
 
Raven sighed, sitting rather boredly in a plastic chair. She watched the others with slight interest, already picking out their strengths and weaknesses. It was a force of habit. Their mechanic seemed awfully interested on hitting on the sniper. She wasn't interested, it seemed. She smiled slightly, leaning back in her chair and grabbing a beer from the table next to her. She'd never been one for alcohol, but she needed to get something into her system besides water and sparkling soda.

She glanced at Charlotte, racking her brain in an attempt to remember her purpose here. Ah yes, she was charged with the task of protecting them all with her nice little mechs. She didn't feel she needed protection, but then again, most of the people here probably felt the same way. She twirled her throwing knife in her fingers as she took a long sip of the beer. She was glad to be here instead of on the battlefield. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to go back without just injuring herself again. Nearly every bone in her body, the worst being in her right ankle, was shattered from the explosion. She still remembered finding out that her best friend, her comrade, had not survived when she had lived.

With a small sigh, she took another sip of the beer.
 
Issac was already addressed by members of his crew. Mech had approached him with concerns about the portal. He said that we needed more vehicles, but the portal was too unstable. Configuring the portal to fit in the mech was tough already. The portal was just too unstable for much more.

"Mech, it looks like we wont be able to take much. That Mech is pretty much all we'll be able to take, maybe even one small rover, but that's about it. Her mech is hard enough to transport as it is anyway. Besides, we're a first response team. We're supposed to make contact and survey the surroundings. What could go wrong?" As the words left him he hoped he hadn't jinxed it. He wasn't one for superstitions, but he had a bad feeling about it.

"In any case, I'm sure we won't be there long enough for us to even use the mech."

He turned tail back to the center of the room when suddenly prison guards came in to deliver the Crimson Wings' mutant officially. He had heard stories of his combat prowess and genetic mutations. He worried about how he would hold up psychologically though. He felt uneasy working with the criminals. Both for him and the sniper.

"Silent Bob. That's what they call you right? Have you been briefed on what to do? We only have a couple hours before we head out, so don't get comfortable." He leaned against the wall and watched as the fledgling team milled about the room doing their own thing. They seemed like such a rag tag team, but he was sure he needed all of them, for they were good at what they do. He just wondered what they would find beyond that window.
 
Bob looked up at the man whose voice addressed him, his own voice though quiet, was raspy and at a median tonewise. "No, they don't tell incarcerated slumdwellers much, especially Meta-Humans.....we're treated like worms cause we're born different. Doesn't matter.... overheard what you said to that mechanic, we're going somewhere new, some sort of first contact mission....." He stated indignation and irritation clear in his voice. As he took the final drag off of his cigarette he threw the butt on the floor and was intending to let it burnout on it's own.

It was uncharacteristic of him to talk to anybody this much, anybody except his sister, but he held up his wrists to the Captain and rattled the shackles a bit denoting that he would appreciate said bindings to be removed, "Not gonna hurt you, it'd only add to my sentence and I'm already sick of serving time.......speaking of which......Need something, files, anything concerning an Ayasuke Fujimori.......need it soon, probably won't have much communication wherever we're going......." His speech was stilted had a shortage of personal pronouns, this would probably be all anybody would hear from him speech-wise for a while, but his vocalization was cut short both by him and one of the guards who came back in with a metal crate meanwhile, Bob smirked slightly knowing it was everything he'd gotten arrested with besides his hacking equipment. His old rifle, his reverb knife his gauss pistol, his old clothes, it'd feel good to step back into his Old digs like the triumphant return of Silent Bob.
 
Nova arrived at the gates of Krenh. It was quite a sight. Even outside of Krenh are some booths and merchants that began to spread good mood around themselves and the visitors.
As he saw the sight a smile came to his face.
(I gotta admit, it does lift my spirits somehow. But it will not distract me.
Okay then. First i have to get inside. There is probably a crowd at the other side so i guess i can't just teleport behind the gate.)

Nova took a look around. In order for his teleport to work, he needed a exact path from him to his destination, and it worked even better with something in his sight.
(The windows? No. Someone could see me there and getting out will be even more troublesome.
Maybe the... Right!)

Nova uses his teleportation and vanishes with a flash of light. He appeared at the castle walls and teleported from there into the town.

A while later he found a job as courier and delivers messages from person to person.

((I'm all set for the story to continue. Thanks to the job i can move around freely and jump to any location if it should become necessary))
 
Mech scowled and figured he needed another beer after that. No car, what was he supposed to do? Carry all his bombs?... maybe he could have the mech do it... He turned to get another beer before finding. The girl that drove the mech herself, she came up to greet him and he turned his scowl into a smile.
'Hello, ser. You are the team's mechanic, yes? Me and you are going to become good friends, partially out of necessity. I am a Charged Hardline And Riot Land Over Terrain Technical Escort volunteer, designation number fourty-two. You may call me Charlotte, or C42. To answer your question, I assure you I would be useless to this mission if they were unsure of the ability of mechanical mass to cross the portal. My very presence should assure you.'
"Hold up with all the fancy talk, I'm just another man on the mission not your supervisor or whatever." He said finding the greeting a bit... formal. He wrapped his arm around her "So Charlotte," He started with a bit of a growing smile and clear overconfidence "How about me an you grab a beer or two and head somewhere else." He was already walking her over to the food table. "I mean, we have to be friends don't we? We should talk in private. Nothing is more friendly than a couple beers and some 'talking', right? We should get to 'know' each other."
 
He was already making a move. It was transparent, but it flattered her. Her cheeks reddened slightly, but she shook her head. "I'm afraid not, ser. I see what you are doing, and while I'm flattered, and my biological persuasions entice me to go with it, we cannot drink, for the mission shall begin soon, and were we to be caught up in coitus during the mission's inception, it would likely be unpleasant for us both." She spoke frankly and without boundaries. The fact that she openly referred to it as 'coitus' sent an air of awkwardness through the room, which she was oblivious to. "But maybe later, if we have the time," she whispered, this time with sensual tone and a faint smile.

"You never gave me your name, nor a designation, ser. Unless you tell me how I am supposed to acknowledge you, I must refer to you as 'ser'. So may I ask your name?" She asked his name, returning to her toneless voice, but keeping her smile, her cheeks still red from his proposition.
 
Raven smirked when Charlotte was flattered by Mech's overconfident, and in her opinion pathetic, attempt to flirt with her. What did he plan on talking about over a drink? She doubted it had anything to do with Charlotte's mechs. She took a large swig of beer, an overwhelming sense of calm washing over her. She didn't know if it was the alcohol or just her natural relaxation before a mission or operation. She'd been the same way when in the army, so she guessed the latter.

Sighing, she tipped the can back again, disappointed to find it empty. She crushed it in her hand, throwing it lazily into the trash bin.
 
Issac shook his head as the team slowly unraveled itself. Mech moving from one girl to the other and CHARLOTTE responding to his rather pathetic attempts so bluntly. Most of the other parts of the team remained anti-social and refused to speak up. He couldn't blame them though. They haven't even known any of the other Crimson Wing members, especially since all of them were "unique." It was still his job to keep them all together and get them through the mission intact.

"Alright Bob. I'm gonna let you out now. And who is this person you speak of? Ayasuke?" He pronounced the name in an accent that was a near-perfect pronunciation. He looked at him inquisitively before opening up his file provided to him by his escorts. Flipping and skimming through the file, he looked for his key skills that may not have been mentioned his initial dossier. Not much was in it. Basic information about him and information about his life that he hasn't already seen. He closed the dossier and tucked it under his arm.


~~~~~~~~An hour later~~~~~~~

His ear piece began to beep a for a second and a voice began to speak to him. "All clear up here. Send 'em up." He nodded as if they could see him and he gave a quick affirmation before returning his eyes back to the crew.

"Alright team. Now is the time! We're going to be heading into the other world in a little bit. What we're going to experience there could be unpredictable, so we need to be ready for anything. Our main goal is to make first contact within the world, determine if they are friend or foe, and chart the initial region. Now, this shouldn't be too hard, but right outside those doors is your preferred equipment Each bag is labeled with each of your names on it and in addition, have enough supplies for you to survive about a week. It shouldn't come to that, but it was just in case. Any more questions before we head out?"

He cast a look throughout the room expecting a couple hands to shoot up.
 
Now free, he stood up and stretched his arms, and gave a small grin. "Ayasuke is my sister....." He said, taking a small walk around the room before grabbing a 2 liter bottle of citrus soda. He quietly moved back over the Captain, continuing his statement from moments earlier, "Need to know if your uppers are giving her what they promised me during the sentencing....a home....schooling....food clothes.....need to know she's okay...."

He'd taken notice of the mechanic getting shot down by the women in the room, even the woman who most likely needed a mechanic on hand. Watching him fail so much made Bob smile and let out a nearly inaudible chuckle. 'Tact like that, it's a wonder he's not on a crummy sitcom....' he thought. The cyborg intrigued him, simply because he'd never seen one up close, only clips on tv where other models were tearing through cities to quell riots, he supposed that she was there simply to be the pack mule or the big gun whichever became more necessary. He'd seen the sniper before, saw her arrest on the television, also had seen her being transferred to a more secure prison when he was being processed into the system, but he'd never seen the other woman before.

-An Hour Later-

He listened silently to the orders, he had no questions, to him it was spelled out clearly by what he said, but that bag probably didn't have cigarettes in it, and he'd need to change that. His prisoner account had money on it, and from a vending machine he'd moved over to, he purchased 3 cartons of his preferred brand, exhausting the last of his prisoner account's funds. He was ready to go, ready to get this mission over with. He'd managed to change into his old clothes in the last hour, though his other gear was already packed in the bag Issac had mentioned was outside the doors.
 
Charlotte heard the order relayed to her and nodded. "Copy that, ser." She looked around the room to see the others' faces. "I do have two questions, however. My first question is, how shall I address you? And second, will we be receiving a formal briefing?" Her questions were straight to the point and, to her, seemed critical to the mission. She was comfortable calling people 'ser' and 'madame', but prefered to have some sort of casual feeling between her and her squadmates. Especially those she needed to speak with most.
 
She basically told him no in the most blunt manor but left a little room for him to ask again without her having to call the cops... "Just call me Mech." She was too formal. He walked over and got another can of beer before looking over at Raven. He liked her style, drinking beer, seemingly calm... when she crushed the can and casually threw it away he was defiantly going to try going after her. Maybe he would talk to her differently... She seemed militaristic... which could make him loose his chances fast.

Just as Mech was walking over to Raven Issac spoke up. 'Alright team. Now is the time! We're going to be heading into the other world in a little bit. What we're going to experience there could be unpredictable, so we need to be ready for anything. Our main goal is to make first contact within the world, determine if they are friend or foe, and chart the initial region. Now, this shouldn't be too hard, but right outside those doors is your preferred equipment Each bag is labeled with each of your names on it and in addition, have enough supplies for you to survive about a week. It shouldn't come to that, but it was just in case. Any more questions before we head out?' Mech just crushed his third can in his hand and threw it in the trash can on the other side. It went in... he had a lot of practice. When he was in the garage, his favorite place to be, he and his friends would make a game out of it. See who can make in the most times. The catch was they had to drink the full can before throwing it in so all of them had a high alcohol tolerance. He wasn't even close to being drunk yet. "Is their beer in the bags?" He asked already walking out not really caring about the answer. If not the magic whatevers would have to have some form of alcohol...
 
Raven glanced at Mech, smiling slightly. If she had asked such a question to her commanding officer, she would have been put on probation. She still remembered the time some newbie while she was in the Academy asking a question of similarity. He was expelled and stripped of his chances of ever making it into the Army. It had been quite hilarious, really. Poor guy had been dared to do it, having been convinced that their commanding officer would only laugh and give a hearty reply of yes or no.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts, standing onto her feet. She shook her head, as if shaking off the small amount of alcohol. She'd always had a good tolerance for it, luckily. She sighed, popping her neck and back. Jolts of pain shot through with each pop, but then stopped as the stiffness in her bones and muscles ceased.

She thought about her pack. They had better have her weapons in it or she'd be pissed off.
 
Nova finished some deliveries and managed to work fast enough to get a break.
He noticed a small Café while doing his job and headed there to get something to eat.
It did not take him long to get there since he was close to it as he was done. There was just one free table left with 3 chairs around it. Without hesitating he walked up to it and took a seat.
After a while he ordered a coffee, a piece of cake and a Newspaper.

((If i may say so: Walk through the gate already. I'm sure that not only i am running out of options by now))
 
Before being sent to the facility, Nicky was briefed on the project. Since Isaac was the expedition leader, he was told to follow his orders. By the time he got there, though, he was rather late. Nicky ran to the break room. On the way, he couldn't help but think 'Was accepting really a good idea?' Then he heard Isaac.
"Alright team. Now is the time! We're going to be heading into the other world in a little bit. What we're going to experience there could be unpredictable, so we need to be ready for anything. Our main goal is to make first contact within the world, determine if they are friend or foe, and chart the initial region. Now, this shouldn't be too hard, but right outside those doors is your preferred equipment Each bag is labeled with each of your names on it and in addition, have enough supplies for you to survive about a week. It shouldn't come to that, but it was just in case. Any more questions before we head out?"
'I'd better hurry!' The sniper sprinted to the location of the room. He wasn't late often in the army and he wasn't planning on being late any more than he already is now. By the time he got to the room, he was exhausted, gasping for breath. Nicky looked at Isaac and saluted. "Sorry for being late, uh, Sir." It seemed as if he had almost forgotten to say the last part and said it, as if it was really important.