Project Genesis - Episode Six: Peregrinus Laurifer

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There are times when all things come together, when all rivers flow as one. It is something more than chance and less than intent, but it is real all the same. In the tectonic shifts of history and the roll of sleeping giants we see these things, these charmed moments. And they whisper to us and tell us that coincidences can... and will... always... happen.



HIGH PRIORITY SKYLANE...

Half a mile from the Cathedral of St Meno, Dayne snatched angrily at the phone ringing in his pocket. Opening it up, he continued staring through the window of his hover-car as he answered. "Tell me, Jerek, is constant interruption a trait of the Homo Eximus or is this a particular talent?"

"Apologies, Minister," said the voice of Jerek Aldaire on the other end of the line, "But I have just been informed of Executive Order 20091 being issued. I am not familiar with this protocol and I thought I should--"

"Well you are about to become very familiar with it, as is one of your brothers." Dayne interrupted. His gaze was fixed on the streets of the Cathedral District, where 02 was being hounded by a barrage of fire from the Merkabahs and HKs. "And if I were you, Jerek, I would stay away from the Cathedral District for the next few hours. The Solomon Bots do not take kindly to your sort."

"Solomon Bots? What do you me--"

Dayne hung up the phone and continued watching the streets. The hover-car was moving lower and lower, trying to get the best view, and it was making Gustave edgy. "We're too close to the combat zone. We need to pull up."

Dayne waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine, Colonel. The Gun-Platforms will protect us."

On nearby rooftops, the giant gun batteries kept track on the high-priority lane, ready to react to any intrusion.

"And besides," added Dayne, "It's only one Zero."




CATHEDRAL DISTRICT...

Down below, 02 sprinted between the buildings, vaulting parked cars and rolling between plumes of fire. A trio of HK's were stalking him and tearing the street apart with high-velocity fire, and every 10 seconds a Merkabah tank in the distance fired its heavy artillery and sent a shockwave down the street. Mechs and Nephilim soldiers were giving chase as best they could, but 02 was moving at superhuman speed, leaving behind only the copious trails of his own blood.

His adrenaline pumped on and on, fuelling his every motion and helping him ignore the pain. Mid-stride, he lurched to the right and triple-kicked a Throne Mech, bringing it crashing to the ground. Then he rolled over it and twisted the head from a cyborg, tossing its decapitated body into the side of an APC. More explosions, more carnage, and on he sprinted...

... through the cloud of smoke that hung over an alleyway. He ran and ran and... grew tired. He started to feel his heart pounding as he exited the alleyway, turning and sprinting, running... jogging towards the silhouette of St Meno Cathedral. He dodged another volley of fire from a side street then... winced at the pain in his thighs and shoulders. Then he carried on, his breathing getting heavier, his speed slowing. The HKs swooped overhead trying to lock onto him again and he... stumbled...

Something was wrong. The cloud of smoke around him seemed to grow thicker. And it... tasted sour... bitter, it made his airways burn. There was something wrong about--

SLAM!

02 was knocked off his feet and smashed through the wall encircling the courtyard of St Meno's Cathedral. He slid through the rubble and agony rippled through his body. In an instant the adrenaline vanished from his system and he screamed horribly as every wound and exertion was felt at full-sensation.

And through the haze of pain, his blurring vision only just managed to focus on the thing that had attacked him.

The Solomon Bot looked low-tech and antiquated, but appearances were deceiving. The eight foot machine stalked towards him, belching streams of chemical smoke. 02 felt light-headed, tired, dizzy. It could only have been insulin... an airborne synthetic that was neutralizing his adrenaline with every breath. The machine was churning it out in abundance. The urge to curl up and sleep was overpowering, joining with the endorphins to wash away the pain. But his conscious mind fought, even as his muscles failed.

Turning over, the Zero began crawling even as pain and lethargy flooded through him. But the Solomon Bot caught up and its metal hand clamped his back and hauled him upwards. 02 was flung towards the stainglass window of the cathedral.




ST MENO CATHEDRAL...

CRASH!

Setem froze as the window nearest him shattered and a bloody pulp of a man toppled through and landed in a crumpled heap. His senses triggered all at once as he felt the familiar presence of a fellow Zero. Stepping towards the half-conscious body, Setem peered through the dust and insulin-laden smoke. "Who are y--"

He spun as he heard a crescendo of metallic sounds. In the corridor behind him the second Solomon Bot stood, directing a lazer into the pool of water that filled the hallway. As the lazer struck, the water cystallised and leapt upwards, undergoing cold-fusion in the blink of an eye. The metallic compounds came in a fragment-shower, ripping tiny cuts in Setem's body, and then the purified hydrogen ignited and scorched him with fire. Setem topped backwards, burnt and bleeding, and landed next to 02.

The first Solomon Bot was coming through the window now, joining its comrade to hunt the Zeros to oblivion.




HIGH PRIORITY SKYLANE...

"Impressive," grunted Colonel Gustave as he watched the first two Solomon Bots storm the Cathedral. The hover-car was descending towards the building, hovering so it could get the perfect view of Setem and 02's destruction. "How did they locate the targets so quickly?"

"The machines are gene-coded," answered Dayne as he watched his new creations. "Like antibodies designed to attack specific bacterial cells. The Solomon Bots are nano-coded to locate the Eximus gene. Think of them as bloodhounds, my friend."

Behind the two men, Eros stayed very quiet.

"And where are the other Bots?" asked Gustave, "You said there were f..."

Eros screamed.

The third Solomon Bot rose up in front of the side-window, half-man and half-machine floating with eerie grace. Eros shuddered visibly, going pale at the sight, feeling the utter deadness of its mind and soul. There was nothing - no emotion, no feeling, not even the gentle buzz of the machine-kind. This thing was utterly dead... a null... a void... an abyss that stared into her and caused her to scramble back across the seats as it reached out towards the window.

Then the gun batteries on the rooftops fired.

Sensing the unscheduled intrusion to the high-priority lane, the nearest battery opened up and a pair of surface-to-air missiles launched.

"What the fuck!" yelled Dayne, trying to get up but colliding with Eros.

"Evasive manou--" started Gustave, but by then it was too late. The Solomon Bot sensed the missiles and turned, levitating to one side. One of the missiles was slapped away by its insidious tendrils, but the second flew wide and struck the top of the hover-car. The explosion blasted the eardrums of the three in the car and fried the circuits of the cyborg driver. Warning klaxons and emergency lights screamed as the hover-car went into a spin, free-falling between the rooftops. Smoke and shouts became the world and Dayne, Gustave and Eros were pummelled by the gut-wrenching force.

They were going down... hard... straight towards the belltower of the cathedral.




COASTAL WASTES, SOUTH OF SEMILE...

As Dayne's hover-car spiralled into the cathedral, twenty miles away the fourth Solomon Bot touched down outside the city.

She raised her head, internal circuitry processing the unyielding vista of the desert. She could sense her target, the Eximus gene-sequence drawing closer. Her photo-scales shimmered in the desert sun as she readied her weapons and prepared for flight.



These moments whisper to us... and in these moments we cannot deny... that some things happen for a reason... and sometimes all at once.







[SUMMARY: The Solomon Bots make their first strike, targetting the Homo Eximus genes throughout the city. Two of them find their targets, injuring Setem and 02. Another leaves the city to intercept Rhiannon. The fourth Bot, however, is drawn towards Eros, which inadvertenly causes Dayne's hover-car to be damaged. Dayne, Gustave and Eros are now crash-landing into the Cathedral.]
 
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Setem breathed heavily through clenched teeth. The burns and cuts had created an extraordinary amount of pain. Instead of trying to flee, Setem went ahead and tried to control the frozen over pool. A look of shock came over him. “What? Why can’t I-“ He was stopped mid-sentence as the bot punched him in the face. He was now hurled half way down the corridor abandoning the other 00. The carpet that was left rubbed against his bare arm and rug burn quickly stung his arm. He grabbed hold of it out of reflex and winced in even more anguish as the cuts and previous burn marks meshed. “God damn it.” There was no other option, except for one, the voices in the main hall. Even if they were hostile, they might take notice of the machine more than him. The first Solomon bot had now grabbed hold of 02. “No don’t hurt him!” In a quick rush of emotion Setem managed to burst another pipe out of the wall beside him. Fresh water shot out toward the one holding his old sparring buddy from the tunnels. The liquid washed up against the bot sending it back a few feet and releasing his prey. Almost immediately after a bright shining light came from the other and froze the water in the same manner. Once again Setem had no weapon to use as a defense. Rushing forward, the well trained body guard carried out his duty, even if he wasn’t getting paid. Grabbing 02, or what was left of him, he dashed past the Solomon bot and went for the main hallway. It was now up to fate to decide what would happen next as he crossed paths with the circle of armed rebels.

[SUMMARY: The Solomon bot's assault continues as Setem realizes what he is up against. With no weapon he now carries out his duties as body guard and puts his strength toward running away with 02 on his back straight into the main hall.]
 
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Eros could feel the unsettling pressure of emptiness from... whatever it was that had just attacked them. It had to be because of something, because she was different, it had to be what she was that drew it. Eros, struggled as the craft plummeted, trying to figure out what she was going to do. Deciding in an instant, she tugged Dayne to the floor, trying to meld him wordlessly into a position to brace for impact. Finally, with his slight reluctance in motion, she pulled him more forcefully to the ground, attempting to cover him with herself.

Everything was a blur, a haze, something was after her and now Dayne would know, he would know she was prey, a creature to be poached. A small cry welled in the back of her throat as Eros tried to ensure his safety, part of her thinking that she would somehow die, to ease her problems. It was never that simple, her hopes were never so easily answered.

Eros winced in pain, unable to see anything around her through plumes of acrid smoke. Her body ached in protest, demanding she lay still and not move. Her mind, however, was firing rapidly, screaming messages to her nerves. She had to flee, she had to move, she had to go. If she did not flee, Dayne would kill her with his own hands. She knew now her blind eye had been turned to those like her. Regret, strangely, did not dawn. She wished it were again morning, that she could be nestled in those arms..

Dayne. Leave him, he is no friend to you. He will be your undoing, your end, your death. These were lucid enough, logical, but Eros could not obey. With the simple acceptance of a prisoner on death row, she urged her body to work through the pain that enveloped every inch of it. With searching hands, Eros grasped Dayne to her, curling an arm around his still body as she felt the throbbing, searing sense of being broken wash over her.

When darkness began to overtake her sight, Eros gratefully accepting the asylum it offered, letting her head recline limply. It's all over now. This chapter, it's finished. No matter what happens, a new one starts. But not now. For now, there is only blissful oblivion for the body in shock.

[/size]
 
The ambulance pulled up as close as could be to the cathedral. Lonestar, Steiner, and Willis assessed the situation.

"Well, I'm open for suggestions." Willis said. Lonestar pointed at a building that had a direct line of sight for the front of the cathedral.

"We set up shop up there."

"Works for me. I'll see about getting the front door open and-" Steiner was cut off as an explosion rocked the cathedral and surrounding area.

"Jesus titty-fucking Christ!" Willis shouted as the windshield shattered, car alarms going off.

"Ah think we oughta move or our cover's gonna git blown." the sniper said as he collected himself from the back of the ambulance. The three SEALs were in motion, running to the building Lonestar had indicated as a group of vans pulled up to the church.

"Guys, company..." Willis said as Steiner kicked the door in. The 'sixty gunner looked out at the vans as armed men jumped down.

"They aren't Custodians... Gotta be rebels..." he said, Lonestar muscling past with their weapons and ammo.

"No time, let's move!" the Texan shouted, running down the hall and into a stairwell. The SEALs moved up, Lonestar kicking the last door at the top in. They ran to the far side of the roof, the sniper setting up his MacMillan.

"Ah need a spotter..." Lonestar said as he set his magazines up for easy access.

"On it." Willis replied, Lonestar handing him a spotter's scope. Steiner set his M-60 up facing the door. If any one wanted to crash their party from the stairwell they'd have to contend with the 'pig.' Lonestar licked his finger and put it up in the air.

"Windspeed is ten miles, comin' from the Northeast..." he said, adjusting his scope.

"That's a good eighteen hundred meters between here and there, Lonestar. Can you hit anything in that range?" Willis asked.

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" the sniper asked back. Willis turned the radio up a little.

"Hey, any of you guys know the signifigance os 20091?" the spotter asked.

"Nothing at all." Steiner replied.

"Same here." Lonestar added.

"They're saying something about it on the radio. Hang on..." Willis changed frequencies on the radio, hearing more traffic about casualties and a terrorist attack on St. Meno's Cathedral.

Nothing else about 20091.

"Senior, what do you think?" he then asked Steiner.

"Stay the course..."

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

(OOC)
-Lonestar, Steiner, and Willis take up a sniper perch overlooking St. Meno's Cathedral. They witness the bombing, the arrival of the rebels, and overhear more Yankee radio traffic.
(/OOC)
 
Location: ST MENO CATHEDRAL…

Everything has a place under the sun and for a brief moment in time Dante and his men had seemingly achieved a resounding victory. The Crusader’s holy site of Saint Meno had been bombed and their rude messiah was now buried under five feet of rubble. He had stolen this scene and had reason to be proud. That is until they came.

Just as Yuri and his comrades were about to fire on Zion two lumbering giants came smashing their way through the ancient walls of the church following behind Setem and his wounded comrade.

Much like how natives in the Golden Age of Colonialism feared the sites of modern war machines the partisans got caught up in a frenzy of respect and fear. Never before had they encounter robots of this size and power.

The machines then drew the partisans’ attention away from Zion, who was now busy trying to unbury the young woman he had become friends with.

“Open fire, on whatever the fuck those things are! I don’t give a shit who sent them but they are in our way!”

One of the bolder rebels tried opening fire on the first Solombot that had been pursing 02. While the M16 would have been powerful enough to slaughter several human soldiers, the heavy armor of the golem-like beast proved to do nothing.

“Fall back!” Dante then growled. He pretended that he had no fear. However, if any of his allies took a close look at his face, a cold sweat was flowing down his tan skin.
 
Location:Semile, 14th District

Dr. Sherriden was now sitting in the hovercar owned by the High Priest. Sitting next to her was a member of his guards, Jeffory Portret, wearing the colors of the High Priest, blue and red, on his cap.

Sitting across from her was Tobias. He wasn’t really sure what to expect when he would approach Dayne about the fact he had Sahar‘s mother with him. Did this mean, he was against his brother? He wasn’t sure what to believe any more, but he knew he had to do something about finding Sahar while the rest of his government was off playing war.

“Alright,” Tobias said, “Since we have no idea what the drugs did to Sahar, we can have to assume what?”

“She’ll most likely be in a deep sleep. Sahar has a type of nanobot within them that kicks into a failsafe mode in case any kind of bodily trauma comes into play. Think of it along the lines of putting the brain into suspend mode.” Dr. Sherriden said, “Unlike the earlier attempts with the 00 codenamed 02, her nanobots have been stabilized for many years since she aged at slower developmental rate, physically at least.”

“Well, that’s good right?” Tobias asked.

“Again…I must apologize Celebrant. While, I am the Head of the Project most of the information pertaining to the birth of Sahar is only known to one person and that’s Mr. Talbot, Sr.”

“We can’t go on another wild goose case.” Portret said.

“I am inclined to agree with my guard, Doctor. Do you have any way of directly contacting him?”

“There is only one person that’d know something like that and I don’t exactly have the best terms with her.” Amy said.

“And, whom might that be?”

“Her name is Adeline. Talbot Sr. had brought her to the labs many times when she was younger.. He always called her by a petname…Ada, I believe. She’s the closest person to him.”
 
The golden hover-car smashed through the belltower, shattering the structure before piercing the vaulted ceiling. Like an angel wreathed in dust and fire it spun through the shafts of stainglass light and struck the brass pipes of the church organ. Wreckage showered the nave below, cutting off the Solomon Bots from Dante's men. The sound of crushing stone and screeching metal filled the cathedral, an infernal choir that preceded silence. Then a plume of smoke rose from the west chapel.

"Gustave..."

In his darkest hour, twisted amongst the wreckage, this was the name upon Dayne's lips. Gustave: his strength, his protection - the only man who chose to believe in him, in the days before he was powerful. Now as always, when lost in events he could not control, Dayne called out for his bodyguard and friend.

But as he awoke it was another's arms that were wrapped around him. He was sat against Eros, who was curled awkwardly against the crumpled side of the hover-car. Blood dripped from the torn edges of metal, but it could have belonged to any of them.

Only Gustave was moving. It seemed the years away from the frontline had nothing to dull the old man's instincts. He was alredy up and had wedged the upper door open, climbing out and dragging an emergency pulse rifle with him. He clambered onto the upturned side of the vehicle then reached back. "Thaddeus, come on."

Though weak, Dayne's arms exacted a mechanical grip on Gustave's and in a few seconds he was pulled up and out through the opening, into the smoke and stainlight air of the west chapel. The two men slid from the vehicle and landed on the cracked flagstones.

"They malfunctioned!" muttered Dayne, spitting a mouthful of blood as he clutched bruised ribs. "Fucking machines! We acted too soon."

Gustave readied his rifle and checked his arcs of fire. "Patience, Minister. The car has an emergency beacon - a recovery team will be here in five minutes."

Dayne staggered up and started pressing the side of the car, trying to find another way in. "Eros..."

"Leave her," Gustave grunted as he moved to better cover, but Dayne simply shot him a glare and continued. His metal fingers got inside one of the breaches in the roof and started peeling back the plates. As sweat poured down his face, every wound Dayne suffered in the crash opened up again, gashes bleeding, bones bruising deeper. There was pain in his lungs as he gasped and dizzyiness threatened with every breath.

And as the metal came apart, he forgot himself. "LAURA!"

The name slipped out, and had Dayne to stop, blinking sweat from his eyes. He took a breath then reached through the opening and got his arms around Eros's waist, dragging her clumsily from the wreckage.





[With his hover-car crashed into the west side of the Cathedral, Dayne shows how uncomfortable he is in the line of fire. He becomes dependent on Gustave's protection and blurts out a strange name while trying to rescue Eros. It is clear he is not handling the situation well.]
 
Yuri had been in the brotherhood for longer than most and in those year it had gone from gorilla attack or military target, to insurgency, to full blown and bloody rebellion. There was very little that they hadn't seen, from the wrong end of an HK to the fury of the 00s. This was something new entirely, whatever it took to scare Dante's best veterans, these new warmachines had it. It was not a retreat, it was a rout.

With little regard for anyone but themselves the partisans ran for the exit, only two figures remained. Carlson and Yuri.

"We need to get out of here... whatever that thing it we can't fight it here." Carson yelled as the machine's thunderous footsteps filled the cavernous room, but Yuri's eyes were not on the approaching solomon, they were on the man digging in the rubble recognition slowly sinking in.

"SAHAR!" he called realizing what we must be digging for.

"YURI WE'RE MOVING WITH OR WITHOUT YOU!" Carson grabbed Yuri's shoulder and pulled the rebel around to face him.

"It's Genesis, she's over th......"

"Dante said retreat now retreat.." with that Carlson began running for the exit Yuri begrudgingly following as they exited Yuri though he saw movement opposite the cathedral.. but there was no time, the rebels and their leader were already in the vans... but Yuri hesitated.. could he really leave Sahar to that machine?
 
It was a testimony to Zion's one-tracked mind that, despite everything that was going on, he kept on task. There were those brief moments of hesitation when his mind went through the "save your ass" urge kicked into gear, sometime when Dante's thugs arrived. But once the frontal lobe of his brain asserted its influence, he overcame that and started digging.

Now with a crashed hover car, two wounded 00's, and two war machines, Zion wasn't about to quit until he'd accomplished his task. He was grinning as he pulled away rocks and rubble. "I gotta hand it to you, Sahar. Never a dull moment with you."

There was a croak as something jumped out of one of his pockets and landed on the floor beside him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know ... This is what happens when you ditch church and decide to pop in all of a sudden. I know the Old Man said if I ever went back to church, hell would happen but ... man, was he accurate!" He paused. "Do you think his prediction about me wearing a pink tutu and singing 'I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts' is going to come true, too?"

The toad croaked and started to hop away.

Zion blinked. "Right. Back to work." Then he went back to digging.

[Summary: Zion digs for Sahar ... and finds time to talk with the runaway toad that was in his pocket.]
 
The city of Semile was coming in to Rhiannon's field of vision. Tall buildings of glass and steal. But something seemed to be wrong. Faint smoke rising here and there up to the sky above. Were the riots in Semile spreading that large? Cracks of sound carried on the wind. Faint and near impossible to hear, yet Rhiannon caught it. Gunfire and explosions. Semile was still in the throes of chaos.

Rhiannon tilted, about to mention it to Joseph, but something else caught her attention! Dark and fast. It was speeding towards them. At first it could have been a hoverbike or even a small ship. But the speed was impossibly quick! In the blink of an eye it reached them, skimming the underside of the stolen hoverbike with a SCREEEEEECH of metal against metal. It hit so hard the impact nearly sent them reeling out of control. Rhiannon stood quickly, gaining her balance and pulling up her talent with a wave of her arm. Countering the air around them, she balanced the bike with air alone until Joseph had control over it again.

"What the hell was that?!" Joseph shouted over the wind.

"I don't know!" Rhiannon spun around to see. Whatever it was, it was already making a sharp turn to come at them again. "Keep us moving!"

Rhiannon adjusted her footing, facing behind them and moving her hands. As the speeding object came at them again, this time Rhiannon was prepared, applying the wind and air around them to dislodge the thing from it's course. This didn't deter it at all. Splicing through the wind like there was no turbulence at all, it came swinging down a long metal bladed staff, nearly cleaving Rhiannon in half. As she stumbled backwards to avoid it, Rhiannon got a full view of the thing. Human in shape, it looked almost like a woman wearing some sort of body armor! Rhiannon drew the oxygen out of the air around the woman, a defense that had never failed... but nothing happened! With no straining nor hint of struggle, the thing landed hard on the hoverbike. The weight made the hoverbike tilt backwards suddenly, throwing Rhiannon towards that figure. Long fingers found their way in to the fabric of Rhiannon's shirt, and a jerk sent her flying off the back of the hoverbike!

Hitting the ground hard, she rolled several times before coming to a stop. A loud THWUMP nearby suggested she didn't drop alone! The metal staff came down towards her head and she rolled again. It hitting the ground and slicing away a good chunk of her hair along with it! Again Rhiannon was trying to drain the oxygen from the air, dodging to the side, backwards, or rolling out of the way with every swing of the staff.

A swing came so close, the blade caught her across the neck leaving a long thin cut. Rhiannon went crashing to the ground again when a kick connected with her ribs and rushed the air out of her own lungs. This thing was not human at all! Rhiannon was strong, but nothing that she threw at this thing seemed to have any sort of effect!

Hearing the hoverbike circling back around, Rhiannon changed her tactics. She had no desire to be killed, nor did she want to see Joseph try to help her and die as well! He couldn't fight this thing and he had a family to save! Her power had no affect on the inhuman woman, but it certainly had affect on everything else. Rhiannon put as much distance between herself and the woman as possible. All the while summoning up as much of her power as she could. When she finally stopped, she released it all at once, targeted towards the ground. The wind came so strong it soil and rock with it! Like a tidal wave of earth rushing forward. The idea seemed to work, as it buried the beast under rubble!

Joseph stopped nearby and Rhiannon wasted no time in hopping back inside the hoverbike. "Go! Fast!" she shouted quickly, always looked back over her shoulder.

They were nearing the Cathedral District when that familiar shape appeared behind them again. The mountain of dirt didn't hold her for long. This time it was Joseph trying to weave through and between buildings trying to dodge their pursuer. Still, it caught up with them, zooming above and landing on the frontside of the hoverbike. The metal staff stabbed clean through the front end.

They went crashing down.


Summary: Solomon Bot LOTIS catches up with Rhiannon and Joseph. Rhiannon realizes that she seems to have no effect in fighting it. She tries to buy some time for their escape by burying it. They make it to the Cathedral District of Semile before LOTIS catches up to them again. CRASH BOOM!
 
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The chatter of automatic weapons reached Lonestar, Willis, and Steiner. The sniper saw the first of the rebels backing out of what was left of the front door, the anarchists firing M-16s at something inside.

"Somethin's got 'em spooked real bad." Lonestar commented watching one of the rebels trying to crawl away from something, shooting frantically.

"Probably a damn cyborg. Seriously, take your fucking lumps like a man." Willis snarled. "Wait, I see... Holy shit..." Lonestar looked away from his scope then back again.

LocomoBot_by_JJasso.jpg


The machine reached down and grabbed the rebel by his head, squeezing until the man's grey matter oozed out of the ears and mouth.

"Fuckin' shit! We gotta take that thing out!" Lonestar exclaimed, getting a bead on the Solomon bot.

"What is it? What are you talking about?" Steiner shouted at his compatriots, still looking at the door leading from within the building.

"Yer better off not knowin' Senior." Lonestar replied, adjusting his grip on his weapon.

"Take the shot..." Willis said to the Texan, the Solomon killing another rebel. Lonestar fired, the .50 BMG screaming from the barrel. It slammed into the masonry of the Cathedral behind the Solomon.

"Miss..." Willis snarled, Lonestar adjusting his scope and aim.

"Fuckin' shit..." the Texan snarled, cycling his bolt, the spent shell landing on the rooftop. The Solomon picked up another rebel by the throat.

"Take the shot..." Lonestar fired, the round taking the rebel's arm off.

"Fuckin' sumbitch..." he snarled, cycling another round into the chamber. "Ya'll gonna git it now..."

"Take the shot..." Lonestar fired a third time.

As with the old adage, the third time's always a charm. The full metal jacket drilling into the forehead of the Solomon. The Solomon reached up with both hands, Lonestar cycling another round.

"Take the shot..." Another round joined the first, this one drilling into the eyepiece of the cyborg. It kept walking forward. "That had t put it down..."

"Naw, this one oughta..." Lonestar replied as he cycled another round. He adjusted him aim and fired a fifth time. The final round drilled the borg in the chest, causing it to step back then fall over. "Here's mah conundrum... Ah've never scalped a cyborg before."

"Seriously? Do you scalp all of your kills?" Willis asked.

"Not all of 'em. If they were blown up Ah don't bother, although there was this one time where a head landed right next ta me." the sniper replied, packing up his ammunition.

"Please tell me you didn't..."

"Oh, he did..." Steiner said, getting up to one knee, M-60 shouldered. "Carried the head for three klicks before he scalped it." Willis turned green.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you people..." the grenadier mused. He recieved no answer as the sniper and 'sixty gunner prepared to move on.

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

EM Shop
USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55)...


Most people would call what Jerry went through a blackout. These are usually brought upon by drinking binges, something many Norfolkians are familiar with. They remember going to a bar with friends and having that first drink then nothing else. When they come to they are often in a different place then they started out in.

Such was the case with Jerry as he came back online. He recalled being on the Tesla when the first missiles struck then nothing after that. He did not recognize where he was nor could he get a signal out.

Compounding that was the error message he had on his HUD and the lack of response from his legs.

They were on the other side of the compartment on a workbench, an oscillator hooked up to one. Without warning a man walked past the android.

"I'm telling you, this is some serious shit." EM3 Parsons said to his shipmate, EMFN Davis.

"Nothing like the cyborgs we've seen. Definitely high end." Davis replied, taking a sip from a can of soda. "We'll really get big bucks from the Scrapyard* for it."

"Oh yeah... Hell yeah..." Parsons replied, opening a tool box and extracting a cutting torch.

They were going to strip Jerry for parts.

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

Cheasapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel...

mdc-bae-av8b-harrierii.jpg


"Farmhouse, this is Mojo One. Requesting a landing to refuel." the Harrier II+ pilot said into the radio as he flew over the Cheasapeake Bay. The Norfolkian Harriers were the closest fixed wing answer to the Yankees' H/Ks, capable of taking off and landing like a plane, hovering like a helicopter, and taking off and landing like a helo as well. It could carry Mk 82 unguided bombs, AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles, AGM-65 Maverick missiles, rocket pods, and had a GAU-25 Equalizer 25mm Vulcan cannon. They were going to be used to tangle directly with the H/Ks and, upon their eliminiation, to supplement the AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter gunships.

At least until the Confederate Air Force* arrived.

"Mojo One, this is Farmhouse. We have visual sighting of you." the operator replied to the VTOL pilot.

"Vector me in. I'm almost Bingo fuel." the Harrier pilot replied. He saw the flashing light before he saw the bridge section. "Alright, I see you guys... Comin' in..." A pirate in a red vest and flight helmet waved batons at the Harrier, the jumpjet descending. It touched down on the old bridge, a starter cart and fuel truck rolling out of the tunnel potrion of the bay bridge. They began refueling the jumpjet, two pirates checking the weapons on the VTOL's hardpoints.

"You're all set!" one of the Aviation Boatswains Mates said over the radio. The refueling personnel disconnected the fuel hose and sealed the receptacle on the jumpjet then reeled the hose back in. They drove the fuel truck away from the VTOL and the crewmen scrambled away. The Harrier took off from the bridge and returned to its patrol.

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

(OOC)
-Lonestar takes out a Solomon bot. It takes five shots, though...
-Jerry wakes up in the Leyte Gulf's EM shop just in time to see an Electricians Mate preparing a cutting torch.
-VTOL refueling and rearming stations on the Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
(/OOC)

*Confederate Air Force: The Green Beret Tribe's air force. This is an allusion to the Texas based airshow group that flies WWII aircraft.
 
EM Shop: USS Leyte Gulf (CG55)...

Jerry's sensors picked up the threat of Parsons' cutting torch. The advanced systems Ada had set up inside of him sensed a combination of oxygen and acetylene. He knew that this type of tool was only used for cutting steel to size and shape. A cutting torch is a very dangerous cutting system and very few craftsmen in Semile would have even been tempted to use such an archaic tool.

It then dawned him. He was on a warship and the only peoples that still depended on the usage of the seas were the Norfolkians.



As Parsons approached him, Jerry's right index finger then arose every so slightly. Hidden underneath it was a Cutting laser. Within a matter of seconds the Norfolkian became blinded. Jerry had extremely fast reflexes, even by droid standards. He already focused his laser on Davis.

During a raid on a rouge NOVA Corps scientist's labs, the droid managed to kill the rouge technician by calmly and methodically calculating the trajectory of an incoming laser bolt, deciding to deflect the bolt instead of dodging it, and furthermore making sure that his deflected beam reflected at just the right angle to kill the fleeing foe fired upon him -all in the microseconds that it took the laser bolt to travel from the gun to his position.

Now two men were groaning on the ground in pain, blinded. Jerry now just had to find his legs and could cause a whole lot of pain for the crew of this vessel.
 
The machine was on their heels, one of them anyway. The big fucker tore through them as if the men were skittles. Yuri watched in horror as it tore the arm off of his comrade and throw body and arm aside like rags. They all opened fire their bullets bouncing off uselessly as it bull rushed them. Yuri dove sideways rolling as the squads scattered. He circled round his scoped M16A Firing into the back of the Solomon back to had no effect. No matter where to aimed the bullets failed to penetrate the armor.

Swarts had fallen backwards and was scrambling away as fast as he could the juggernaut closing the gap oblivious to their fire. It picked Swarts up by the head and what followed almost cause Yuri to throw up As Yuri followed the Solomon out mortar exploded on the outside of the cathedral. Carlson was next in the Solomon's rampage picked up by the throat with a terrible snapping sound, the remaining rebels stopped firing all together and taking to their heels.

Carson's arm exploded ribbon of blood flying is every direction, and Yuri knew enough. now only were they under attack from an unstoppable cyborg, but also snipers! He dodged behind the van they had come in even as the other rebels ran past them. The Solomon's forehead sparked and a hole appeared, or was it a dent, it was hard to tell, either way the sniper was not after the rebels, rather whey has a guardian angel.

Yuri saw the Bot's chest spark and slowly the Juggernaut begin to tip backwards, then with metallic bang and a cloud of rising dust it hit the stairs in front of the cathedral. Whoever had saved their lives was worthy of a medal, and behind his the remaining Brothers cheered.

"Forward, back into the church." Dante ordered his voice once again a mask of fearless authority, though he was the last to re-enter the shattered front door. Rather than storm in they fanned out taking cover. Zion was still there still digging. Wreckage littered the massive chamber, cutting off east access past the wrecked organ, but they advanced, slowly and carefully, two of three to a row of pews, every angle covered. There would be no more surprises.
 
Still oblivious to any danger to himself, Zion was on his knees, still pulling away rubble. He first uncovered Sahar's hand and, desperate to know if the hand was still attached to the rest of her, he moved even faster. "Come on, See. Let's go. You can't leave me yet. The real fun hasn't even started yet."

It took a few more minutes and then not only did he answer the question of whether the uncovered hand was still attached to the rest of her, but he'd dug every last inch of her out. He pulled Sahar to his chest and checked her vital signs. She was still alive. He breathed a sigh of relief and gave her a tight hug!

"See, you scared the hell out of me." She muttered something under her breath but Zion was distracted, finally taking note of what was going on around him. He spotted a gap in the wall just several feet away, moved her over his shoulder and started running for the gap. It looked big enough for him to fit through while carrying Sahar. They just had to get there!

[Summary: Zion finally manages to dig Sahar out ... and bolts for the nearest exit!]
 
His Torso felt like there was a fire inside it, the muscles in his legs throbbed with a dull aching that went from the surface all the way down into his bones, his vision was still slightly blurred, and as he accepted the handset he cleared hs throat before depressing the speak button

"Enemy intelligence and sabotage elementdiscovered within the arms dealers, specifically one Reza Deane, fucker's been playing both sides, Eveidence found at Tesla wreckage that confirms this" Heydrich managed, before another coughing fit had him doubling over once again.
 
The events just happened one right after the other. Fleeing “men,” crashed hover cars, and Solomon Bot wreaking havoc over it all. Lucky for him, Setem’s plan worked and now these mechanical goliaths were after people with guns rather than an unconscious, bludgeoning weapon. He worked his way over to the wall and set 02 up against it, “You’ll be alright.” He said making sure never to leave his sight. The crash zone was his next focus, the rubble had left almost a slope leading up to where the cathedral tower was. He noticed Gustav, Dayne, and Eros get out as well as another bot. Before it had time to lock onto its target again, Setem was already rushing over. He put himself directly between the crash group as well as this new enemy. “Gustav, you should get going, no need for more bloodshed.” Setem said with a slight smirk from his slightly burnt face. From the looks of things he was actually re-moisturizing himself with his own abilities, at least enough so he could move his limbs without them stinging. He gave his full attention to the opponent who seemed rather annoyed at his interference. Popping some more water pipes from the wall, and probably the last of it, Setem gathered as much water as possible to fight this one.
 
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbO2Eh_SJj4"]YouTube- Arcade Fire - Windowsill[/nomedia]
Lobby of Saint Meno's, 5:30 PM
Sahar coughed. Her nostrils were becoming overcome by the stench of burning flesh still lingering from Dante's terrorist act.

More death. More suffering. Semile was now become desensitized to bad news and good news. Citizens would hear about murders and rape and people dying every day and they hardly blink about it.

Someone's birthday? Baby born? Not a big deal, anymore, right?

She then groaned while Zion tried to flee out of the burning Church. His heart was pacing because in the background he saw two machines that were not friendly robots he saw on the ancient audio devices his old man had studied called DVDs.

"Zion..." Sahar then said, "What's going on?"

"Well, Miss Sahar...There's a lot of people shooting at each other and then there was a crash of some sorts. And I think that one guy I smacked down in the sewers to back up here...And you had the whole roof on top of you!"

Zion then didn't focus on where he was going and stumbled upon the bloodied 02.

Sahar's heart started to race. This was the weird young man that had been trailing her for the past few days. Now she was face to face to half the figure of a once powerful warrior. She then asked Zion to put her down.

"Who did this to you?" Sahar asked.

02 looked at her and smiled. He didn't answer at first, his breathing was labored at best.

"Hey, sis..."

"Sister?" Zion asked, not seeing any kind of family resemblance between him or Sahar. He then peered back knowing that one of the robots was bound to ignore Setem and focus on them.

Sahar then knelt down. Her slender hand then touched 02's face.

"There, there. You'll be okay." Sahar said, giving him a forced smile.

"Well sis..." He coughed, "Looks like I failed you...I just...I just, wanted to see you before I became a monster..." 02 confessed, "I am so sorry...For everything I've done to you...My...Ada."

With these words 02 closed his eyes.
 
Zion watched Sahar and 02 exchanging words but he was more concerned about the bots behind them. He preferred not fighting, especially when fleeing was an open option. Coupled with the fact he'd never faced these bots before, it was easy to understand why he was so intent on going.

"Sahar, we gotta go," he said from behind her. He wanted to pull her away but he knew what it was like to need to stay beside someone for as long as possible. Hell, when the Old Man had croaked, he had stayed beside him for days ... until he finally had to bury him.

[Summary: After witnessing the exchange between Sahar and 02, Zion tries to get Sahar to leave before the bots come after them.]
 
Linette sat quietly, her eyes closed. This was quite the predicament. An old Norfolkian warship. A relic of wars long gone past. Chances are this place wouldn't have any EMP shielding. It would be a risky move to preform without Jason or whoever might be around. The guard turned and snorted amused.

"Sayin' yer prayers, Missy?"

Linette looked up, her red eyes glowing.

"Nos es rabies licens. Qua nos ingredior, justicia insisto. Vos quisnam es caecus per vox quod bellum es peior ut quis populus dico nos. Si nos es everto, tunc vos es obscurum incarnate. Ego votum. Ego causa. Vos es constructum super totus illorum. Vobis, nemo est sanctus. Vos take factum vacuus reputo of eventus. Quis vos have wrought per nostrum excipio ero vestri laxo. Nostrum mucro of justicia mos nunquam solvo insquequo vos es mortuus es Infinitio, quod vos have brought Aquila rabies super vos."

It was a warning. Its not like anyone would know what she said. It was in Latin. Her words, when summarized, spoke of who they were. That where they walked, justice followed. That the fury of the Eagle, the literal translation of the name "Altair" has been brought to them by doing this. That in the end, they would all be murdered. And it would hold true, of this she was sure. To this day, the anger that Altair could call from within himself terrified even the remnants of Infinity. Once he had the means, Altair would do everything in his power to torture the Norfolkians as a whole. To make them suffer. A little smile crept across her face. They had no idea whatsoever that they had angered a 00 with knowledge of a groups structure. In a way the Norfolkians and Infinity weren't very different. She spoke one final time before shutting her eyes again and resuming her meditations.

"Vos causa nos poena. Ita ferinus talio mos insisto nos."

You cause us pain. And so brutal retribution will follow us.

Elsewhere

The moment Altair heard Ada's rambling he stopped. He had heard this before. When he had peered into the thoughts of 02. He immediately jumped to his feet and put distance between the two of them.

"Ada...wake up. Snap out of it..."

He had to get this ship on the ground, fast.

[Summary: Linette recites a cryptic warning in an even more cryptic language. Altair recognizes Ada's behavior and puts distance between themselves. He decides that he needs to get this ship on the ground as fast as he can.]
 
Gustave had his rifle levelled at Setem, but his eyes were moving - bewteen the renegade, the Solomon Bot overhead, and his leader Thaddeus Dayne.

"Sir?"

Dayne had only just dragged the unconscious Eros from the hover-car and was gathering her up in his arms. He glanced at Setem, a grudging respect. "Do what he says, Gustave. Go for backup."

The Colonel nodded and moved past Setem, a fierce glare exchanged before he set off into the main chamber. Meanwhile, Dayne carried Eros away from the hover-car, watched all along by the unnerving gaze of the third Solomon Bot overhead.

Techno_Samurai_by_ValentinaKallias.jpg

The creature descended like a ghost, black tendrils probing the air. It was clearly after Eros, but as Dayne carried her away and Setem moved between them, its abyssal gaze finally consented to the distraction. It turned to stare at Setem and its body bristled as is detected the Eximus genetics.

"RUN!" shouted Setem and immediately Dayne turned and hurried away with Eros in his arms.

The Bot levitated forwards and arcs of lightning formed arounds its tendrils. Setem barely had time to dodge before a single bolt skimmed his face and turning the blood cold and the flesh numb. The skin sagged as the cheek was paralysed and then it spasmed as all synaptic functions were scrambled. Stumbling into cover, Setem clutched his cheek and made a mental note not to get hit full-on by one of those blasts.




* * * * * * *



Colonel Gustave skirted the edge of the main chamber, ducking and lunging between cover. He could see Yuri and the rebels returning, silhouetted by the smoke of the downed Solomon Bot, but this didn't slow him. Snapping off a few volleys of fire, he kept the rebels's heads down till he reached another door leading to the courtyard.

Here he crouched and gripped his radio. " Colonel Gustave, Authorisation Zophiel-five-delta-nine-four-epsilon-two."

"This is Ithuriel-Nine-Omega," replied a voice, barely heard above the roar of a Merkabah engine, "We are entering combat zone, Colonel."

Gustave ducked lower as the Rebels took potshots at the doorway. "I want an Aether-strike on the west courtyard."

"Say again, Colonel?"

"JUST DO IT!" Gustave yelled, before dropping the radio and curling up. He shielded his eyes and ears, bracing as best he could.

Three seconds passed, and then there was a series of dull thuds in the courtyard outside. Across the street, Steiner and Lonestar had no way of recognising the oval-shaped projectiles that dropped from the sky and latched onto strategic points on the road and cathedral wall. Being trained in open-terrain warfare, they had never encountered the Aether-Bombs till now...

But Yuri and the rebels had... and they only had a few seconds to yell a warning before the detonation came. And then a wall of sound and pulsing light blossomed in the courtyard, flooding the area with white noise and white glare.

"Shit!" hissed Lonestar as he was dazzled, dropping from the window and shutting his eyes and ears against the onslaught. Willis was similarly disorientated, while Steiner just had time to shield his eyes. On the opposite side of the street, any rebels not through the doorway dropped like dead weights, writhing under the barrage of noise and light.

It was like a hundred flashbangs on a loop, each bomb emitting the sensory attack from various parts of the courtyard.

Another two seconds passed... and then the sun was blotted out. The Merkabah tank arrived over the courtyard, unseen by those below due to the Aether strike. Rappel lines dropped and then the Custodian Soldiers began their descent through the cloud of light. They were fully suited and wearing helmets with auditory and visor filters compensating for the Aether. It wasn't the ideal combat situation, but their thermal vision would give them more than enough advantage over their dazzled enemy.

Future_Armada__Aries___Vulture_by_K.jpg

As the soldiers hit the ground, a single squad tracked Gustave's radio and found the Colonel huddled over in the smaller doorway. They slipped a spare helmet onto his head and helped him to his feet.

"This whole place crawls!" he shouted, having to make himself heard over the Merkabah tank and his own perforated eardrums. "Kill anything that comes at you!"

The Custodians stormed the main doors, picking up the traces of the Brotherhood soldiers and opening fire. Those who had been caught by the Aether were picked off with ease, while Yuri, Dante and the others who had got behind the pews could only do their best to see and hear through the chaos.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Gustave watched a line of Cyborgs move towards the opposite building. They had detected Steiner's team and were already launching rockets into the upper rooms, blasting apart rock and glass.

"You," the Colonel shouted, gesturing to another team as it rappelled to the ground. "You're with me. We're getting Dayne out of here!"




* * * * * *



"Come on kid, we gotta move!" Zion shook Sahar gently by the shoulders, trying to break the girl's trance as she stared at the now lifeless 02. "If we don't get moving, then...AAAAGH!!"

Zion contorted, dodging away as a lazer beam punched into his arm and shoulder from behind. He stumbled against the wall and turned to fix his sight on the second Solomon Bot, even as his exquisite agony lanced through his body.

Evacuate_this_area_immediatly_by_Ex.jpg

Where the lazer had hit Zion the blood was undergoing cold fusion, soldifying into ice and carbon. The second lazer cut the air between him and the wall, almost bonding the two together. Some of Zion's blood touched the stone and then solidified, fusing him to the wall so he had to pull away and rip his wound open further.

"Run Sahar!" he yelled as he drew Solomon Bot off and ducked behind a pillar.

The shout and the blood was enough to break Sahar from her trance. With a last look at 02, Sahar ducked through the opening, leaving Zion to face down the Solomon Bot. She emerged into the side passage where gaping breaches in the wall showed where the Solomon Bots had come in. The floor was flooded by Setem's earlier antics. With gunfire and screams at her heels, the Messiah continued running. The Aether strike produced an eerie glow behind the stainglass windows, and rather than go out into the side yard she chanced the next internal door and barged through into a private chapel.

There was a sleek sound of steam and metal and then something sliced through the air and materialised inches from her throat. It was a blade, the edge almost touching her skin. Staying perfectly still in the chapel doorway, Sahar's gaze ran along the blade and saw the prosthetic limb that it had extended from. A series of metal struts and pistons gleamed in the darkness, and then she saw the sleeve of a robe and the shoulder beyond it.

Sahar's eyes focussed and lifted, settling on the face of Thaddeus Dayne.

The Minister was gasping for breath, sweat pouring down his face as his mechanical arms formed the blade. On the chapel floor behind him Eros was lain like a sleeping beauty, her serenity undisturbed by the carnage around her.

The two were hiding, and Sahar had discovered them...

The silence lingered like a held note, punctuated only by the ragged breaths of the Minister as he kept the blade against Sahar's throat. But slowly, with a dawning realisation that cut away the terror and the violence and all the trivial concerns of the flesh, Dayne's eyes narrowed.

Sahar sensed the shift in energy.

The blade lowered, folding back into Dayne's hands, and with a whisper, barely daring to give sound to the word, the Minister spoke.

"Genesis...?"







[The Custodian troops arrive, laying down a barrage of sensory disruption to get the upper hand on the Rebels and Norfolkians. Meanwhile, Setem and Zion dual with the robots. In the confusion, Sahar takes cover in a private chapel and bumps into Dayne]
 
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