Deus Ex Mecha IC

[King Weavel]

No matter how advanced technology was, the planet Earth was on the verge of collapse. The over population, the devastation created by wars with mechs, the gradually depleting resources, there seemed to be no way for the planet to recover at this point.

The United World Government thus started Operation New Earth. This project funded a ship capable of finding a new world to inhabit. This project met with much criticism from some who wished the Government would instead try to build more space colonies instead. Others saw it was abandoning the Planet and giving up, running away from humanity's past and the world that gave birth to humans. This bitter debate left many who wanted to stop the launch of Themis through legal ways or not.

However, the launch of Themis was not canceled. It was a successful as it took off into space for it's launch and test drive. Themis is now stationed at the colony called "Prometheus" for further supplies and loading up of other mechs. Such operations can be performed much easier in the zero gravity space port of the colony. Prometheus is the largest and most modern of all the colonies, it is also the most secure supposedly.

The space port was a room filled with oxygen but with zero gravity still intact. IT was here that ships refueled or stocked up on supplies or just parking for those whom were visiting the colony, the space port was very busy as many wanted to see catch a glimpse of Themis. However, the area around Themis was heavily guarded.

Through the ship-wide intercom, Captain Richard spoke, "Attention, all personnel on Themis, we are currently docked in the colony Prometheus to load up the rest of the supplies necessary for our journey. We will leave in exactly three hours from now. You may enter the colony and unwind a bit if you so choose or stay on the ship if your job requires it. Those working in the Security have to stay at their posts right now as we have received several threats, it's a precaution we must take. Lastly, you all must keep in mind this will be the last time we'll get a chance to say goodbye to our families as after this we will be too far to receive any messages from Earth once we depart from Prometheus. The doors of the ship will be opening shortly and you can leave from there but you must be back in time, we will page you to call you back if need be. That is all."

Boris, one of the scientists who created Themis was in the control room with Richard. He was an old man in his late 50s whom also was an old friend of Richard's as he was Richard's former commander until he retired from his combat post and became a mere scientist. He was a friendly old man yet a very serious person whom is focused on doing his job.

Boris turned on a screen in the control room and saw a map of all the UWG bases. He informed Richard, "It seems like the unrest on Earth is growing...Several United World Government bases were attacked all at once. These people are serious about stopping Themis. I suggest you stay on board, Richard. If someone is going to try and sabotage us, they'll do it now. The UWG may control Earth but they can't control all of outer space."

He sighed and said, "But a lock-down wouldn't be wise at this point. People have to get a chance to say goodbye to their families. Right now, the current security is good enough. Anyone who is not registered in Themis's data banks as being a member of the crew is not allowed within 60 feet of the ship. We'll be fine. No one is mad enough to try to start a battle in a busy space port such as this one."

Richard nodded and said, "I agree...But I'm staying here just in case anything happens. This is not a time for me to be taking a break."
Boris then checked up on Themis's performance and on the engine. "All green. It's safe to open the doors now, Richard."

Richard spoke to the AI, "Themis!!! Open the doors!"
"Yes Captain! Opening doors now!" Themis replied, the AI was female and thus had a female voice. Her voice sounded mechanical but she did not speak in a mono-tone.

With that the doors of Themis opened, allowing the crew to exit and head into the colony for a small respite. But as the doors opened, a circular probe like device flew away and into the colony itself. Perhaps it was some sort of electric eye watching the ship. No one had noticed it or had a chance to catch a glimpse of it due to it's speed.

The exit to the space port opened up as well, revealing a beautiful city complete with high-ways, skyscrapers, buildings, markets, several bars and restaurants, a residential area. However, it was a synthetic type of beauty, with colonies it was easy to control temperature, fake sunlight, weather and pollution. The highway seemed to be closed off right now as some sort of parade to celebrate the launch of Themis was about to be held.

 

[Soldato]

"Attention, all personnel on Themis, we are currently docked in the colony Prometheus to load up the rest of the supplies necessary for our journey. We will leave in exactly three hours from now. You may enter the colony and unwind a bit if you so choose or stay on the ship if your job requires it. Those working in the Security have to stay at their posts right now as we have received several threats, it's a precaution we must take. Lastly, you all must keep in mind this will be the last time we'll get a chance to say goodbye to our families as after this we will be too far to receive any messages from Earth once we depart from Prometheus. The doors of the ship will be opening shortly and you can leave from there but you must be back in time, we will page you to call you back if need be. That is all."

Cyrus heard the announcement from his position on the Themis and let out a slight sigh and frowned. One of his men looked to him questioningly before snapping back to attention at a mean look from Cyrus. The head of security was dressed in his tactical armor and had his officers hat folded up and attached to his belt next to one of his pistol holsters. Most of his men were in full combat gear ready to fight to the last man if necessary. He paced the line once again before turning to face his men.

"Listen up!" They snapped to a tigheter position, "For the next 3 hours we shall be the ones who determine if this project will succeed or fail. It is our duty to make sure those who wish to see their families can safely do so but also to make sure that this ship remains uncompromised. I know some of you wish to get out and relax but remember that you all volunteered to give up your rights as members of security. Right now the entire earthsphere is a hell hole that wants nothing more than to see this ship go up in smoke! But let me tell you one thing, I have seen what lies if we do not launch, I have lived it, Therefore for the future of not only the United World Government but also the entire Human race we will succeed and we will find not a new home...but a continuation of earth...a continuation of our race. Dismissed!"


"YES SIR!" the men replied as they made their ways to their positions.

Cyrus watched as his men filtered out of the room before double checking his own equipment. He was about to exit when he stopped at the door and smiled before turning around looking back into one of the corners.

"You can come out now Hanako." Cyrus said with a smirk.

 

[Cosmic Orion]

"Attention, all personnel on Themis, we are currently docked in the colony Prometheus to load up the rest of the supplies necessary for our journey. We will leave in exactly three hours from now. You may enter the colony and unwind a bit if you so choose or stay on the ship if your job requires it. Those working in the Security have to stay at their posts right now as we have received several threats, it's a precaution we must take. Lastly, you all must keep in mind this will be the last time we'll get a chance to say goodbye to our families as after this we will be too far to receive any messages from Earth once we depart from Prometheus. The doors of the ship will be opening shortly and you can leave from there but you must be back in time, we will page you to call you back if need be. That is all."


Right now a group of young men and women which made up the Themis' security force stood at attention with various thoughts heading through their minds. Some gave off the distinct impression of anxiety whilst others appeared pumped up and ready to head off into space. Just to think. . . they would be a part of finding a new home for the human race! Protecting the ship and crew members on board with their very lives were neccesary. Each one had a specific assignment of who or what area they would guard under normal conditions. But today felt as if it were building up to the fever pitch brought on when those who sought out change and those who despised it conflicted.

"Listen up!"

Cyrus, the head of security, had just addressed all of his men through displaying a commanding presence befitting one of his position. All but one of the men present snapped to an even tighter pose. One possible reason came from the fact a rigid body posture was already on display. Yet tension did not seep outward in a viral fashion which would infect the others. But did that really matter? Surely the mission at hand mattered far more than the body language of one individual.

"For the next 3 hours we shall be the ones who determine if this project will succeed or fail. It is our duty to make sure those who wish to see their families can safely do so but also to make sure that this ship remains uncompromised. I know some of you wish to get out and relax but remember that you all volunteered to give up your rights as members of security. Right now the entire earthsphere is a hell hole that wants nothing more than to see this ship go up in smoke! But let me tell you one thing, I have seen what lies if we do not launch, I have lived it, Therefore for the future of not only the United World Government but also the entire Human race we will succeed and we will find not a new home...but a continuation of earth...a continuation of our race. Dismissed!"

"YES SIR!"

Everyone replied with great or at least professionally feigned enthusiasm.

All but one of them anyway.

"Affirmative. Mission objectives updated."

The words were spoken with a firm, mechanical tone to them from one of the young men present. It was the very same one who had stood in a rigid stance without tension. One standing there in a mech pilot jumpsuit rather than a standard security armor suit. A young man with hair longer than what the seasoned Cyrus might have preffered on his men. In fact he also appeared to be completely without any weapons.

But this particular member of the security team was an exception. Everything about him seemed just a touch different than the rest. Not only when compared to the other security personel but humans in general. Strangely enough he did resonate in some way with the colony itself. . . with those buildings and skyscrapers.

Unless called aside by anyone, the youth started on a path to where the mechs were being held on board the Themis. Going there to protect such a vital location were part of his orders, already assigned ahead of time. Attending the meeting with Cyrus and the others just moments ago were also part of those orders. Prevention and reversal of sabotage were the primary directives when functioning as a crew member. These directives took a passenger seat only when piloting one of the mechs on board.

 

[Neko Archy]

To be honest, Hanako was anxious. She had already said her goodbyes; talking to people now would just leave awkward loose ends for years to come. The port seemed cool and all, but there was no way she'd really get to enjoy it in the short amount of time allowed. So instead she had busied herself by crawling around the ship a big. It was..big. Far larger than any other ship with a similar crew would be. And clean. She was going to be oh so familiar with cleaning these floors before this trek ended.

So familiar.

For now, she figured she would go help some people lighten up. And in this case, it was the security crew that needed it. The actual liftoff had been extremely serious, to the point where Hanako had to stay in her cockpit on standby for the duration of the launch. But that was all over now, so they could stand to ease up a bit. Maybe if she snuck up on Cyrus...


And that is how she got to standing in a corner, waiting for him to drop his guard once his speech was done and the men left.
"You can come out now Hanako."
She sighed and walked out from her hiding spot.
"..Aw, man, how do you keep doing that? SOMEDAY, CYRUS WALLIM, I WILL DEFEAT YOU." She smiled at him before breaking into laughter.
"So, what are you planning for tomorrow? By then we should be outta here, so the security team as a whole gets a massive break."

 

[Soldato]

Cyrus simply laughed at Hanako's reaction to his quick spotting of her. Inside however he frowned at the fact that she would probably never be able to sneak up on him. His implants and enhancements allowed him to easily spot things in the shadows. His mind wrapped around the depressive thoughts of not being fully human before he cast them aside.

"One of these days maybe kiddo," Cyrus lied though he showed no signs of it, "maybe if you get a less flashy uniform."

Cyrus loved to pick at Hanako's typical form of clothing. Apart from a few others on the Themis, they made up a very small group of people who did not often wear normal uniforms. Cyrus himself even wore his armor to the officer meetings where dress uniform was required. He felt his secret was safer behind the plates of armor and weaves of ballistic cloth.

"As for tomorrow I plan on taking a slightly more relaxed day, We will still be running typical full shifts but the hours will allow for more relaxation periods. As for me I'll be doing what I always do on my free time, Tuning the Knight or training in the Gym." Cyrus responded checking his time piece on his armors wrist before looking back to Hanako, "I take it you had something in mind?"

Cyrus motioned for Hanako to exit out of the room as he went to close it. He looked down the hall to notice the one member of his security team which he felt if the time came he would not be able to defeat...After all, What good is a quasi machine agaisnt a full one? Cyrus once again brushed the notion aside. It would not come to that, not while he was Head.

 

[TheNeverThere]

"Attention, all personnel on Themis, we are currently docked in the colony Prometheus to load up the rest of the supplies necessary for our journey. We will leave in exactly three hours from now. You may enter the colony and unwind a bit if you so choose or stay on the ship if your job requires it. Those working in the Security have to stay at their posts right now as we have received several threats, it's a precaution we must take. Lastly, you all must keep in mind this will be the last time we'll get a chance to say goodbye to our families as after this we will be too far to receive any messages from Earth once we depart from Prometheus. The doors of the ship will be opening shortly and you can leave from there but you must be back in time, we will page you to call you back if need be. That is all."

The announcement finished and the doors opened. The large gathering of crew members spilled forth from the ship, all to say their good-byes, or have one last drink at their favorite watering hole, or whatnot. Arcum, however, was not among them. He was not one for long good-byes, or short ones, or good-byes of any kind, for that matter. Arcum walked down the corridor towards the mecha bay. He showed his security clearance to the guards on duty, slid his security card, and entered as the doors opened with a 'whoosh'. After the doors had shut with a similar 'whoosh', he thought to himself. "What's the point of me having to show my security clearance to the guards? It's not like there's some other guy walking around on this ship with an exo-suit fused to his body."

Arcum headed down the catwalk, which was suspended between rows and rows of mecha suits, each one a standard, mass produced model. Further down, the catwalk branched off randomly between two of the mecha. At the end of this branch was a se of stairs leading down to the bottom floor. Arcum headed down this path and came to a door marked "Authorized Personel Only". Arcum took out a second and third security card and slid them both simultaneously. There was a pause before a mechanism could be heard disengaging behind the door. The door finally slowly opened, revealing a hanger bay similar to the mecha bay, complete with mecha. However, what set this bay appart was that each and every one of these mecha was a personalized mecha, or an experimental model. The Zeromus Mk III, at the far end of the bay, was the latter of the two, and was the mecha that Arcum was most interested in. Afterall, it was like his child. It was the latest and most advanced model in the UWGs fleet, and highly experimental. Arcum reached up and placed his hand on the mech's pure white frame. "I know you're bored in here, but the other members need to say their good-byes. It's a human thing. But not to worry, for it won't be long until we're out in open space, where there will be plenty of room to stretch your thrusters."

 

[Meza]

That is all.

Zakiel laid on his bed as the announcement was made. There were still three more hours until they would leave behind everything he had known.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Old man Thompson, Altair Industries' head executive and old friend of his father's, had asked when Zakiel had informed them that he was going to embark on such a trek. Now that he thought about it, he realized he had no actual intention on going on such a journey. Neither fame nor greed motivated him, and noble causes were certainly not the case, either.

"I just want to see what's beyond the stars." Zakiel repeated himself as he remembered the time he had discussed this matter with the old men who ran the company. He rose from the bed and put on the ballistic fiber undershirt. He couldn't bring himself to wear the uniform he had been given, but he was not stupid as to walk around defenseless.

"Besides, it would be shameful for a weapon manufacturing company as big as A.I. not to provide some support for this project." He told himself as he finished dressing. After adjusting the knife to the back of his belt and making sure his pistol was secure to the holster on the right side of his waist, he walked to the door, stopping in front of the control panel, attracted by the flickering lights that illuminated the small buttons.

"Aww, man! What have I gotten myself into now?" He shook the thoughts out of his head, "I think I'm just going to stay here until we leave, there is really nothing I have to do for the time being." He told himself as he pushed one of the glowing buttons out of curiousity. The room was suddenly sprayed with a fire extinguishing gas. He quickly pressed the button again to turn it off as he left the room coughing.

"Well... *cough cough* or I could *cough* go take a walk, I guess..." He said as he choked for air. He pressed the intercom button, announcing the "fire" was now under control.

He quickly left the crime scene as he headed to the docking bay.

 

[Neko Archy]

"Hey! I like my uniform. I kinda got used to it after that one five day misson..Besides, it means I don't have to switch out of regular clothes in case we have a sudden deployment. And when we go to a pink jungle, you're going to stick out like a sore thumb while I blend in."

She walked with him. It's not like he was much better, wearing battle armor everywhere. Her uniform wasn't meant to deflect bullets-she had a giant robot for that-just take a load off of the cockpit pressurization systems. It was comfy, and it did a good job of keeping her body tempurature in check.

Of course, she couldn't wear it all the time. So her closet had the standard uniform, along with some casual clothes, and a few other suits. The pink and black one was by far her favorite.

"Ah, nice..I think tomorrow I'm going to swim, run laps, just..do something. I might even go ahead and do a comprehensive analaysis of...stuff...on Minny. Or open a strip club." Right, I'm not supposed to talk about her heritage..

 

[Soldato]

"If you do the latter then please try and keep it tame...It is already gonna be hard enough keeping people in line with their clothes on." Cyrus replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "If you need help with tuning your mecha I can give you a hand, it looks pretty standard. Anyhow, I have a favor to ask of you."

Cyrus stopped at his station just outside of the bridge before reaching to one of his belt pouches and pulling out a small data slate. He checked to make sure it was undamaged. The dataslate was old...probably 10 years given its size and appearance but it was polished and had an orange stripe across it's side. He lifted it up to a lighting fixture to check it for scratches before presenting it to Hanako.

"Usually, I don't ask for such mundane errands but you appeared bored enough to sneak into my security room. I need this to be dropped off into the information center at the dock. It's a few personal good byes to the few I have left on earth." Cyrus said his eyes a bit sad, "If you could do it for me I'll see what strings I can pull to get you some extra free time on the ship."

What he was handing Hanako was not that of goodbyes but the list of names of those he had finally compiled from his time as a slave. It was a collection of personal letters to each of the families and relatives who had a loved one go missing and forced into the hell hole that had claimed his humanity. It also contained a thank you to the doctors who had rebuilt him into a form that could actually function. The last file on the ancient drive however was his own Obituary, so that if he had family out there...a family he never knew, they might learn that he died many years ago and not worry about him now. A clear concious is what he needed inorder to be the Head of Security, he didn't need to be leaving anyone behind.

 

[Neko Archy]

She smiled at him. "Hm, alright. I need to see if I can get some of the other women on board to help out..Ah, that's right, you're allowed to help me out with her. I keep forgetting what people can and can't know about her."

Hanako looked down for a bit. "..To be honest, I find the amount of secrecy rather strange, though I suppose it's only for until we're clear of earth..I have to wonder what's in the restricted sections, and what is being kept in docking bay 13...Ah, well, I guess we'll never know.."She smiled at Cyrus and looked the datasleeve over.

"mm...Let me guess, you didn't get a chance to send it earlier?" She nodded.
"Give me a bit." She took the datasleeve and ran off.


Getting off the ship didn't take to long; the drop-off, though, was quite a ways away. She still had plenty of time before the ship was supposed to take off, but this was important! A boy walking with his motorscooter caught her attention.

"Hey, can I have your scooter for a bit? It's important." He looked her up and down.
"Um..what? No.."
"Sweet, thanks. I'll be right back." With that she hopped on the scooter, revved the engine, and sped off.

⁂⁂⁂​

The boy sighed. Having your best method of transportation stolen by some weird girl in pink was not a good way to start the day. Though day was a loose term here. He missed earth...but his parents were right, it just wasn't safe enough anymore.

This short bout of sadness was interrupted by Hanako, again, this time bending down to kiss him on the forehead and handing him back his keys before walking away and out of his life.

 

[Cosmic Orion]

The hallway toward where all standard issue mechs were held already had visitors showing up before the ship had even launched. Plenty more would have probably taken that walk down the hall if no security guards were on duty. A few minutes behind when the man called Arcum was carded, a young man in a green jumpsuit went down the exact same path of 'whoosh' doors and security card swipes. However, since confirmation the Android was indeed HX368 and not some sabateour robot impersonator. . . it took a little bit more time.

After all, his mechanical parts were inside rather than out. Definately reason for a member of the security team to go through all of the clearance procedures. However someone in an exo-suit could never raise a red flag among security guards. Especially since that unique trait would not be duplicated by a dedicated enemy of the operation. Plus anyone in an exo-suit must have been well known previously by all the security on board. Not a single doubt would rise in the minds of those whose duty it was to watch for potentially dangerous and suspicious people.

By the end of all the regular secut, HX368 would likely be in the standard mech bay after only a few minutes had gone by since the security meeting. Current objectives for him included a diagnostic check on each standard mech before moving on to the much more heavily guarded area containing custom and prototype designs. Scanning each one only took a minute or two considering the proccessing speed of what kept his computer brain joggning along.

Large doors opened and closed behind HX368 with the sounds alone which expressed the obvious amount of technology behind the doors' design. The Android entered the same hanger as Arcum at just the right moment to miss the pilot talking to the Zeromus MkIII. Soon enough HX368 would pass a rather 'interesting' mech which looked incredibly like a horse.

 

[King Weavel]

"What's this?" Boris asked as soon as the control room's door opened.

It was Janet, the second in command on Themis! She was around 28 years old but looked rather young and was quite professional. She had long black hair and was good looking enough to get the fancy of some of the crew. If something ever happened to Richard, she would take control of the ship. But she was by the book and had no intention of taking over. She specialized in intelligence gathering and scouting.

She was holding a probe that had been partially destroyed by her own weapons. She remained calm but looked somewhat angry. She tossed the probe onto one of the tables in the room.

"Commander Morrison, Doctor Boris! We've got a problem....I inspected the space port myself...And found this floating around!! Someone's been watching us! I think it's time that we leave early, I hate to say it but it looks like an attack is coming.....I suggest we call all personnel back into the ship and get ready to leave! If they're going to attack us, we don't want the people of the colony to get caught in the cross-fire! If we have to fight, it's best to do it in open space at least...."

Richard nodded and told her, "Yes...That is the best course of action to take. I'll inform the Security of the situation right now!"

With that, Richard sent a message to the Security area for Cyrus and the Security to receive, "This is an urgent matter, we are leaving early as there is clear and present evidence of a coming attack! You must guard the doors to Themis and insure all the personnel get inside and no one else! We're launching early!"

He then paged the members of Themis who entered the colony, sending a voice message to their head-sets, "Attention, attention! All crew, return back to Themis! We are launching early!!! I repeat, we are launching early!"

Themis spoke suddenly, "WARNING, WARNING!!!! Someone just tried to hack into my systems!!! I will repelled them but they may be trying to go after the mechs's systems next!"

An explosion rocked the space port as one of the ships near Themis suddenly exploded.

"What the hell was that? They've begun already? But how? There's nothing on Themis's radar!!! What's going on?" Boris asked.

Themis determined, "It is logical they could have got into that ship's systems and caused it to explode...Or perhaps it was their ship all along. A sort of warning that their attack begins now..."

Before Richard could say anything, Themis interrupted, "INCOMING MESSAGE!!!!"

A blocked out, shadowy figure appeared on the monitor and spoke in a distorted voice, "Crew of Themis!!! Surrender and stop your operations now or we will destroy the entire colony! What you are intending to do is abandoning our great planet! Our beautiful home world! It will not stand. Failure to surrender within twenty minutes means we will commence our attack! That is all! We have already disabled and rendering some of your mechs useless! Look in the hangar..."

She commented, "I cannot trace the source exactly...And look at this!!"

Themis showed some shots in the hangar, some mechs had been hacked into, their engines were overheated and thus nearly destroyed, crews on the scene were putting out the fires.

The camera panned to show some of the working mechs.

"That's something..They couldn't get into the more advanced mech's systems..We can still fight back, Captain. We can't give up on our mission just because of their threats." Boris commented.

Richard nodded as he thought intensely about his next course of action.

Chaos erupted in the space port as ships crowded to get out. A good deal of them had gotten out but some of the parked ships remained. The flames from the explosion had been put out luckily. Apparently no one was aboard at the time it exploded.

"We have to fight them! We can't just escape.If they can cause this sort of damage, they can't be left alone! They're insane, they shouldn't attack us just because they don't agree with our mission's goal!!! If they want to save the Earth they should do it themselves instead of trying to kill innocent people! I'll have the remaining mechs mobilize! We're going to fight!" Richard declared powerfully.

He made another announcement on the ship-wide intercom, "Attention, all mech pilots! Attention! Prepare to board your mechs! We are entering combat mode as soon as everyone is back on the ship!!!We've been sent a threatening message by the terrorists who blew up that ship that was near us...We're not going to surrender to the likes of them!"

Boris then told Jane and Richard, "You two can lead the forces, I'll stay here and make sure everything goes smoothly, I'm not much of a pilot anymore anyhow! I'll make sure Themis knows what to do if her weapons have to be used..Good luck!!!"

Themis told them "Yes, good luck!! We're counting on you to stop those lunatics!"

Jane and Boris scrambled and made their way to the docking bay to board their mechs while Boris stayed in the control room.

[OOC: All Player mechs have been spared from being hacked and thus, are unharmed.]

 

[Soldato]

Cyrus stood outside the bridge in deep thought and nodded without a second thought as Janet walked in. His thoughts were in the past right now, fleeting memories which he had just sent off to be disperse across the world. It would be a shocking thing to reveal to the families but it had to be done. What finally lifted off his shoulders though was being free of any connection to the planet.

To the planet Earth, He was Cyrus Wallim, Deceased at the age of 14. To the United World Government, He was Cyrus Wallim, A broken human brought to life using archaic technology, an android with no loyalty program, someone smart and expendable, someone who could keep the various rivalries of the members on the Themis without killing them all.

His thoughts were disrupted by the rumble of an explosion and the shaking of the Themis. With 15 years of training and instinct snapped into work as the combat visor of his helmet slammed down, his two pistols were out and deployed as he fell into a crouch. Seconds later another series of explosions racked the Themis from inside as Cyrus began sweeping the area for any hostiles.

He didn't even need the captains orders to know what to do next as they rang in his helmet.

"Code Red 3!" Cyrus said in a steady voice that boomed across the security bands, "This is not a drill! This is a full Code Red 3! I want all personelle back on the ship 15 minutes ago. Security teams Retro desigate are to remain in position. Teams Beta and Gamma Desigate are to send all free persons to the doors and to get people back into the Themis. Keep me updated, I'm going to make sure the Captain and XO get to the hangers in one piece."

Various affirmations rang in through the comms as James and Janet came out of bridge. With a simple nod of affirmation Cyrus lead the way as they downed the corridors clearing each one well ahead of the two behind him. His adrenaline and thoughts were flying as his cybernetic implants enhanced every movement and action he made. He worried about Hanako and felt that it was a death sentence to have her outside the ship right now, but she was resourceful and at least had some training.

The trio arrived at the primary lift as the Themis already had it secured and ready to deposit them right into the Hanger. Cyrus still didn't fully understand the complexity of the AI. Then again he was once again thankful that his own mechanical parts were biolinked and nearly completely EM shielded. The quick drop down to the Hanger took no time as they once agian poured out and into the smoking room.

The other two began to hack as the smoke filled their lungs but Cyrus was already bounding down the hanger, moving at a rate no normal man could hope to catch up to. He as he passed Bay 4 he felt something touch him but brushed it off. In Bay 6 a blue mecha shuttered as it's reactors started and kicked into overdrive to speed up it's starting process. It's knight like head had the visor section glow with a pulse of orange then began to glow the color as it's camera systems turn on.

Cyrus was shocked as he rounded his way into Bay 6 to find the Knight kneeling in a position with the cockpit open. He continued to keep his force moving as he holstered his pistols and with a strong leap bounded up to the Knight's knee. A quick check of balance and another leap landed him in the hand. A quick leap from there and he was inside the Cockpit. The spherical camera panels opened up to reveal the controling interfaces as Cyrus took a pose in the middle.

"CrControl! Interface, Cyrus Wallim." the man yelled as the cockpit came to life.

Confirm, Activating NOVA Interface. Multiple pannels inside the cockpit open as Cyrus remained still. He felt as they connected onto parts of his armor and began to interface with his own cybernetic parts. His helmet was pulled off as another lighter one took it's place. He felt the handgrips come into reach and grabbed them as the interfacing process finished.

The cockpit door sealed shut with a preasurized hiss as Cyrus was forced into a kneeling position by the controls. He quickly adjusted his own body to standing as the mecha's gyros groaned. A quick brush of his load out he quickly removed the CrCannon for this bout...A missed shot would do significant damage to the colony. A thought and slight tingle with his implants as he checked the suits thrusters which wiggled and rotated as usual. With all things checking good Cyrus began to head for the end of the hanger towards the Catapault ahead of the other two.

"Themis, prepare a Space CrFAST to be connected when I reach the launch." Cyrus said as he arrived on the catapault.

A section of the hanger opened up as the Knight arrived on the launch pad. A pack with additional vernier and thrusters of similar material and color was moved to the back of the mecha. There was the sound of gyros and a shutter as Cyrus "felt" the pack being added on to his back. The Knight crouched down and drew it's two primary weapons as Cyrus mimiced the movement.

"Cyrus Wallim, Knight, Heading out."

((OOC: Will let Weavel launch me into whatever.))

 

[Ampoule]

'You are to report daily to the ship's medical staff. Your schedule will not change. You are to maintain it without fail. Be certain to carry your backups with you should you be delayed from reporting to medical for any reason. Failure to follow these orders will result in your immediate demotion and dismissal from the Unit, understood? There are plenty of others just waiting for you to fail…'

[color=#66000]"Understood."[/color] Was the simple, curt reply. The young woman's heels clipped together as she saluted her commander at the Prometheus station. She would be serving as the P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. s sole representative. For now.

'There are plenty of others just waiting for you to fail…'

Chomping at the bit, likely.

She had no intention of failing. Her duties would be executed precisely and timely. As they always were.

'The medical staff has been fully briefed and your treatments have been stocked in surplus, should there be a delay. Please do not take any unnecessary risks, Scorpio.'

She had a name. . .But not now. The girl's gaze drifted to her commander's boots. She should have known better. . .

'Attention.'

[color=#66000]"Sorry, Sir. Just making a mental checklist."[/color]

'Right. Your mission details remain the same. Exactly as we discussed. Should there be any further updates, you will be informed by your new commanding officer.' The man's voice took a slightly quieter and far bitterer note. 'As always, take the priorities of the P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. into consideration first. They aren't used to us. To them, we're nothing more than an extra expense on the budget.' He cleared his throat. 'Right then. We shall expect your safe return. Make us proud, Alexa.'

Alexa's back straightened as she snapped off another perfect salute. She maintained the stance until the officers had turned from her and disappeared into the milling crowds. It was up to her now. . .

[color=#66000]"I will make you proud, Sir."[/color]

Her posture relaxed into something far more casual as she removed a communicator from her uniform pocket and flipped it open to check the time. Most of the three hours had already been used up, but there was still time to mingle if she wanted. . .

The girl looked out at the milling populace, her gaze drifting from the occasional soldier saying his goodbyes or the gawking civilian.

[color=#66000]". . ."[/color]

Her goodbyes had already been taken care of. But still. . .

"ATTENTION ALL MECH PILOTS! ATTENTION! PREPARE TO BOARD YOUR MECHS! WE ARE ENTERING COMBAT MODE AS SOON AS EVERYONE IS BACK ON THE SHIP! WE'VE BEEN SENT THREATENING MESSAGES BY THE TERRORISTS WHO BLEW UP THAT SHIP THAT WAS NEAR US…WE'RE NOT GOING TO SURRENDER TO THE LIKES OF THEM!"

Alexa's body whipped around to the direction of the Themis, the area around the ship instantly becoming a hive of activity. She was on the move almost immediately, jogging and weaving past people to the nearest entrance that would lead her to the hangar. Her peculiar uniform style made her easier to identify to the security crew, but now the place was in severe lockdown. She was lucky to get inside before the major rush hit.

She jogged toward the hangar, the thick, astringent odor of electrical fires assaulting her senses. As she moved her hand reached up to the fasteners of her uniform. Her fingers moved deftly and in only a few seconds her jacket had been removed, revealing a pilot's suit. It was different than the others, veins of thin cable traveling down the contours of her limbs and body rather than being jointed by the lumps of a plug-suit. Holding the uniform jacket to her face she sprinted through the thick smoke and to the specialized bay for custom mechs. There, the smoke suddenly disappeared. Apparently, they had not been affected by whatever ailed the standards.

As she approached the dock for her mecha, she looked upward, anticipating 'the view'…and what a magnificent view it was. Artificial light glinted off the mech's angles, casting shadows and vague glimmers on other angles. The effect multiplying in a most beautiful way…

In moments she was inside the mecha, slipping into the cockpit with practiced ease. With her mere touch the console glimmered to life, the soothing sounds of the mech being given the breath of life surrounding her. She savored the quiet darkness, settling back into her seat. Alexa caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the polished monitor above seconds before it flickered on. Diagnostics ran across the screen in a flurry of data, an ever-so-familiar geometric pattern whirling into view as the final stage was completed.

"Alexa. . ." the unit seemed to breath out. Although whether it said anything at all, no one knew.

[color=#66000]"Punishment shall be exact…Isn't that right, Py-chan?"[/color]

Alexa smiled.

 

[riku]

The day had started out so well for Morgan. That is, as well as a convicted criminal working for a group that was keeping him out of jail could do. He was sitting in his single room bed that was devoid of all but a bed, a dresser, a small mirror, and a small bathroom with some shampoo and soup and towels. So really it wasn't all that bad. He had survived on worse where he'd grown up. Really life was going better for him. He didn't have to hide any of his work and it wasn't only being seen by criminals looking for things go boom.

No, that problem was the lack of trust on his part. Aside from the fact that most of the people he worked with looked at him like a stray dog, that he had not been given leave from the ship since he had started working on this project, and that there were two guards outside of his door making sure he didn't do anything stupid, that one seemed familiar though, it was being stuck in this ship. Yes, it was a thing of beauty and an amazing thing to be part of. But it's like a nice car. You can't drive it all the time. And you can't sit in it forever.

But his door was locked and he couldn't get out. Most of the rest of the crew was out on leave like their captain had allowed them for a few hours. He didn't care. He'd never been on a colony for pleasure. It was always business. And very few business situations took place in a colony. Besides, trying to slip unregistered mechs into one required extra payment on the buyers end. Besides, Morgan enjoyed the silence of his room. It was nice. Not like all the serious talk everyone on this ship used. Go do this, move faster, get beck to work, respect your fellow workers. No matter how good the technology was here, and it was very good, it always made him question whether jail would be better.

He lay on his bed trying to sleep whenever another message came over the speaker. The captain again. This time it was an especially serious voice. It made Morgan groan when he heard the message. They were going into battle. He got up and strapped on his boots, tidying up the orange coveralls he wore for work and then went to the door. It opened and he saw the guards hadn't done it. AI was a great thing.

Acting as if they had done it, the guards told him to move faster. He slowly complied, going to a run for the nearest lift to the hangar. As he slowly descended with a small group of other people, the smell of smoke became clear. That alone made Morgan worry. He never liked seeing things he might have worked on be wrecked pointlessly. It meant more work for him.

The lift door opened and they all rushed out. It was a mass of smoke and fire. Most of the people inside were yelling as everyone tried to get things under control. Morgan let out a sigh and moved through the smoke near the ground. It was a slow process but he managed to get through. He kept going as he tried to find his own mech. He hoped it wasn't damaged.

His mech was put in a secluded part of the hangar, likely because it wasn't like all the pretty mechs up front. He hoped that gave him an advantage of it surviving. To his luck, when he arrived at the corner area for his mech, he found Cid still in tact. He was pretty sure he would be the only one to know that. It stood up tall in its ragtag form and he ran over to it.

Getting the the line that ran up to the cockpit, he put his foot in the line holster and held onto the hand grip. Pressing the button he began to rise up from the ground. It was slow but he finally made it to the top. He slid into the cockpit and and sat down in the comfortable set. Buckling himself in, he closed the door and put his hand on the fingerprint scanner. After a second the entire inside lit up and the mech jolted to life.

Morgan tested the controls for a second before breathing out. "Let's get out of this one alive."

 

[Cosmic Orion]

An explosion of a nearby ship struck their own space vessel moments after HX368 finished a check on the one custom mechs in the hanger. Without hesitation his sensors went into action to try calculating the possible amount of damage done to the ship. The Android rushed toward the enterance of the adavanced mech hanger at an inhuman speed before stopping at a terminal.

Ensuring this location was secure became top priority in case the enemy knew about the existance of these more advanced mechs. HX368 tried the best a machine could to create a virtual 'Cerebus', a guard against potential sabotage. In addition to those actions, a plan on countering the currently unknown enemy should they breaching was pieced together quickly in case comm links were taken out.

Leaving the advanced mech hanger brought the Android into an area which would soon be engulfed in mayhem. Checking one of the mechs in just a few cycles revealed a hacker entity program trying to invade the engine systems. Immediately his directives to act against sabotage kicked in and the Android started to try fighting off the cyber invaders alone. Success came, but at the cost of a couple other mechs who had been compromised by the enemy simultaneously.

Everything was happening so fast. . .

Men were rushing around him to put out engine fires caused by this mysterious attack. Problems were sprouting up all over the standard mech hanger. With what mechs remained, the Android applied what he had learned to try installing a shield against further hacking into their systems. Unbeknownst to him an ultimatum message had been transmitted from the fanatics during this same span of time.

But what became known to all aboard the ship was their Captain's message.

"Attention, all mech pilots! Attention! Prepare to board your mechs! We are entering combat mode as soon as everyone is back on the ship!!!We've been sent a threatening message by the terrorists who blew up that ship that was near us...We're not going to surrender to the likes of them!"

Seconds later came additional orders from Cyrus.

"Code Red 3!"

A young woman fumbling with her jacket ran past when HX368 started to turn around. Suddenly the jacket came off to reveal a jumpsuit much more unique than his own. Likely. . . she was another one of the 'advanced mech' pilots. It was then those three important words from Cyrus released any possible doubt which might occur in a computer brain. No time was wasted in following orders from Richard, with the Android now rushing back to the hanger which contained 'Prince of Space'.

"This is not a drill! This is a full Code Red 3! I want all personelle back on the ship 15 minutes ago. Security teams Retro desigate are to remain in position. Teams Beta and Gamma Desigate are to send all free persons to the doors and to get people back into the Themis. Keep me updated, I'm going to make sure the Captain and XO get to the hangers in one piece."

On the way there he contacted Cyrus with what information he had over a secure frequency. As head of security he needed to know the facts through default protocol. Yet the lips of this crew member did not move an inch. It was not spoken at all, but rather transmitted over a comm link built into the Android. Given the connection speed . . . it would reach the Head of Security without much delay.

"Confirming multiple sabotage attempts through system hacking. Mechs damaged through engine overheat. Attack on remaining systems neutralized through modified 'Cerebus' program. Source of attack remains unknown. Measures against further compromise have been halted to comply with orders of the Captain."

HX368 looked up at the metallic mustang with a blank expression for a split second until a brief flicker went across his eyes. At that moment the Equine-mech came to life with a robotic neigh. The cockpit then opened just long enough to allow the pilot inside before sealing shut again. Now lights flickered while the Android linked up his data monitoring program to the suit's systems. Each glorious or not-so glorious moment of this Prototype would survive within the computer brain.

Unlocking systems out of stand-by mode.

Nanomachines initialized.

Weapon systems online.

Gravity flux activated.

Transformation enabled.

Special caution was taken to ensure a low chance of colliding with any other mechs given the amount of panic spreading around right now. Only a lack of emotions might bring out such consideration at a vital time such as this one. Not a single good thing would come from him causing unintentional damage to an ally. The ship had not even left on the voyage yet!

"Prince of Space awaiting deployment and designation of enemy."

The sound of large hooves filled the air as the Equine Mech took it's place at a launch pad. Whether it launched before or after another mech did not really matter yet. No enemy to engage had been specified just yet. Until then he would await orders.

 

[Meza]

"...So I told the guy: 'That's no banana, that's a pumpkin!'" Zakiel says as the small group of crew members around him laugh outloud. "Ah, if you think it's funny now, you should have been there, it was hil-" His comment is stopped short as the ship itself is shaken.

Had a ship just collided with Themis? No, a ship the size of Themis should not have shaken in such a way. While Zakiel figured out what had just happened, a whirring sound behind him caught his attention; as he turned, some of the mechs behind him caught on fire as their engines gave way.

"A ship such as Themis should have some sort of mechanism to put out the fires." He told the crew members around him. "But we can't just wait for them to kick in, move out and put out those fires, guys." He stated the obviuos as he ran to the nearest fire extinguisher and began working on the nearest mech.

Attention, all mech pilots! Attention! Prepare to board your mechs! We are entering combat mode as soon as everyone is back on the ship!!! We've been sent a threatening message by the terrorists who blew up that ship that was near us... We're not going to surrender to the likes of them!

The order came through his earpiece. Even though there were still more issues at hand, he could not ignore it. The reason wasn't because it was an order, but because the lives of those who were aboard Themis were at risk.

"I guess you were right, old man." He told himself as he threw the almost empty fire extinguisher to the side. "Violence solves violence... right?"

"No time for formalities." He muttered while looking at the guarded gate that lead to the area where the more unique mechs were stored.

"Altair!" He didn't have to yell, but he was caught up on the moment.

First his boots and working its way up, a suit that seemed to appear out of nowhere began to cover his entire body, working its way up. His boots changed form and color, followed by his pants and waist. The white and red armor enveloped his body. Even after all this time, even after all the times he had used the suit, it still hurt. Although his face did not show it, the pain on his body as the nanomachines that had travelled through the empty wormholes and were now attaching to his body, to his nerves, perhaps even to his soul was still there; but he did not care about that.

As his right eye, the last naked part of his body was covered, the process ended. The previous black clothes and skin had been replaced by a suit that made him look like a blend of organic and mechanic parts. A being neither man nor machine.

A wormhole opened up. It only lasted for a split of a second, far too fast to be seen, far too precise to affect anything in its surroundings, but precise enough so that had there been a piece of lint laying next to the pilot, it would have not been affected at all by it. With a loud sound similar to that of two colliding objects, the space that had been occupied by the pilot was suddenly replaced by air as the pilot was transported away.

Darkness.

Total darkness.

And in the midst of it all, a being neither man nor machine seemed to levitate.

"Activate!" The machine's eyes flashed red as the mech known as Altair came to life. Instantly, the dark space within its control room filled with light as a countless amount of monitors displayed the mech's surroundings.

"Altair, ready for deployment!" The pilot, that being surrounded by the monitors, announced through his intercommunication system. He formed a fist on his right hand as he spoke, the mech tracing his movements.

"Let's get going!" The being said, a smile hidden behind the helmet.

 

[Meza]

"...So I told the guy: 'That's no banana, that's a pumpkin!'" Zakiel says as the small group of crew members around him laugh outloud. "Ah, if you think it's funny now, you should have been there, it was hil-" His comment is stopped short as the ship itself is shaken.

Had a ship just collided with Themis? No, a ship the size of Themis should not have shaken in such a way. While Zakiel figured out what had just happened, a whirring sound behind him caught his attention; as he turned, some of the mechs behind him caught on fire as their engines gave way.

"A ship such as Themis should have some sort of mechanism to put out the fires." He told the crew members around him. "But we can't just wait for them to kick in, move out and put out those fires, guys." He stated the obviuos as he ran to the nearest fire extinguisher and began working on the nearest mech.

Attention, all mech pilots! Attention! Prepare to board your mechs! We are entering combat mode as soon as everyone is back on the ship!!! We've been sent a threatening message by the terrorists who blew up that ship that was near us... We're not going to surrender to the likes of them!

The order came through his earpiece. Even though there were still more issues at hand, he could not ignore it. The reason wasn't because it was an order, but because the lives of those who were aboard Themis was at risk.

"I guess you were right, old man." He told himself as he threw the almost empty fire extinguisher to the side. "Violence solves violence... right?"

"No time for formalities." He muttered while looking at the guarded gate that lead to the area where the more unique mechs were stored.

"Altair!" He didn't have to yell, but he was caught up on the moment.

First his boots and working its way up, a suit that seemed to appear out of nowhere began to cover his entire body. His boots changed form and color, followed by his pants and waist. The white and red armor enveloped his body. Even after all this time, even after all the times he had used the suit, it still hurt. Although his face did not show it, the pain on his body as the nanomachines that had travelled through the empty wormholes and were now attaching to his body, to his nerves, perhaps even to his soul was still there; but he did not care about that.

As his right eye, the last naked part of his body was covered, the process ended. The previous black clothes and skin had been replaced by a suit that made him look like a blend of organic and mechanic parts. A being neither man nor machine.

A wormhole opened up. It only lasted for a split of a second, far too fast to be seen, far too precise to affect anything in its surroundings, but precise enough so that had there been a piece of lint laying next to the pilot, it would have not been affected at all by it. With a loud sound similar to that of two colliding objects, the space that had been occupied by the pilot was suddenly replaced by air as the pilot was transported away.

Darkness.

Total darkness.

And in the midst of it all, a being neither man nor machine seemed to levitate.

"Activate!" The machine's eyes flashed red as the mech known as Altair came to life. Instantly, the dark space within its control room filled with light as a countless amount of monitors displayed the mech's surroundings.

"Altair, ready for deployment!" The pilot, that being surrounded by the monitors, announced through his intercommunication system. He formed a fist on his right hand as he spoke, the mech tracing his movements.

"Let's get going!" The being said, a smile hidden behind the helmet.

 

[King Weavel]

Most of the ships had left the space port in order to evacuate, leaving it rather open. The crews had also left and everyone was now back inside Themis.

The lights in the space port began to flicker as the power went out for a few seconds. It was soon restored.

The doors to the space port then opened. A group of mechs invaded and flew through the door to the space port.

The space port door then shut behind them and locked up.

The units were flying ones, meant for air and space combat for the most part. There were Hihawk units which were humanoid hawk like mechs decorated with realistic looking feathers. They were fast but weak armor wise. Such units were common among militia groups as these mechs were fought to be of very little destructive power.

Along with the Hihawk units were a few mechs that resembled flying tanks more than mechs. These were Armor Raptors, they were made to look like vultures but bulky and built for combat, not for speed. Their defense was stronger than the Hihawks. These were somewhat dangerous. The Hihawks and the Armor Raptors were painted blue and had a logo of the Earth with no country flags on them.

These enemy units stood still as if they were waiting for something as soon as they entered the space port.

Themis announced on the ship wide intercom, "WARNING! WARNING! Entering combat mode and lock-down! No one may leave the ship! Enemy units detected! 30 units in total...it seems the ship that deployed them is eluding my radar however...But my camera shows they flew in directly themselves."

Richard boarded his mech, the Dusk Dragoon and turned it on, entering a passcode and having it scan his eyes and fingerprints.

"Approved...Pilot is Captain Morrison. All green. Launch approved!" A computer voice from the mech said.

Jane's mech was the Q-Hydra. It was 50 feet tall and heavily armored. It Resembled a three headed Hydra creature but it's lower body is somewhat bug like and has thrusters. It had three snake heads, a two pairs of bug like wings, two claw like hands and a thorax followed by a stinger like a bug would have. The center head is the main head that holds the cockpit and has a humanoid face inside the snake's mouth. It was a few alien unit, it did not have legs so it could not walk. It had been remodeled for Jane's use.

She turned on the mech's systems. It had no need to scan her like Richard's. She simply had to put a key in to start it, a key only she had and knew of.

"All systems are green. Ready for take off!" The Q-Hydra's computer said.

Themis said, "Enemy units still not moving..They are holding their positions. Waiting for something."

Richard announced from his mech to all the others, "We can't afford to wait for whatever they are planning! All units, launch!!!!!"

With that, Themis launched the Dusk Dragoon and Q-Hydra out first.

Suddenly the space port's door was smashed open. A gigantic mech had destroyed the door. It landed in the space port with it's thrusters and shook the area.

This mech stood 70 feet tall at most. It was Heavily armored and made of advanced and highly durable type of metal. It was rather humanoid except for it's horns and the design of it's face. It was colored a dull gray all over except for it's eyes which were red. One of it's hands was a claw hand, the other was a humanoid hand that can hold other weapons. It also had a back-pack of some sort that stored other weapons.

The mech's pilot sent out a communication signal to Themis. She said in the transmission, "This is your last chance, surrender or we'll smash Themis and the colony into bits! We've got far better machines.. We're freedom fighters and we fight for justice! We won't let you abandon Earth and all it's people! My name is Eliza Wright!!!!And we are the Blue Earth!!!A group dedicated to protecting the people of Earth! Pilot of the Mighty Berserker Orge unit, a unit we built from designs we stole from the government!"

Richard was annoyed and responded to the transmission, "We won't surrender to a twisted militia group like you! You've been brainwashed horribly if you think we're abandoning our own planet! I suggest we take this fight into outer space, there's no reason to involve the people of the colony in this!"

"Oh...But there is. They celebrated the launch of Themis, that parade. They think you're heroes. But all you're doing is running from the problems on our world!!!!!! It's a disgrace!A facade, a farce!So if you won't surrender...We'll kill you AND the wretches on this colony!!!All units, ATTACK! DESTROY THEMIS! Then we'll take over this colony and punish the worms!" Eliza commanded, sending the transmission to both Richard and the other Blue Earth units.

Richard sent out a transmission to all friendly units, "Attention all mech pilots, defend Themis! Shoot down as many as you can and keep them away from the ship! I'll deal with their leader in the mean time! We have no choice but to use lethal force but if some of them surrender, then let them do so. This doesn't have to be a bloodbath."

The Dusk Dragoon began to make it's way to the Berserker Orge. The Q-Hydra on the other hand stayed close to Themis to protect it as her mech was more a defensive one than an offensive.

The Hihawks and the Armor Raptors began to descend on Themis, firing lasers and missiles at Themis while Themis booted her shields up.

 

[Neko Archy]

Hanako was lesuirely walking back to the Themis..then everything went wrong. Alarms sounded, people panicked, things exploded. She ran to the Themis, jumped over the security checkpoint, and to the hangar.

As she ran down a catwalk to the Minerva, Hanako noticed that most of the units had been disabled for the time being. Sucks to be them...

She jumped down a short chute into the Minerva's cockpit. It closed behind her as it booted up. The one massive wraparound screen flashed tactical displays and information over her view of the surrounding area. Now that she thought about it, this would be Minny's maiden fight.

She came into the open Comm conversation as everyone else started finishing up their speeches.
"..Jeez, you people really are loud, aren't you? And what was with that, wrecking this space port? It's full of nice people with motor scooters, you know."

She sighed as Minerva flew out of the hangar and floated in front of the Themis.

"But, ah, well, I suppose it can't really be avoided..." A smile came to her lips as she prepared the sword.

"So, be sure to play nice, mkay? I'll go first!"

She flitted in a zigzag pattern through the crowd of Hawks. The vibroblade cut through them like a hot knife through a metaphor, and teleporting made it easier for Hanako to flank like crazy.

Then the hawks got wise. They flew away from her, and formed up around one of the Raptors.

Cue missile spam.