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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 7:27:19 GMT -5
Here it is, the new home for the L.T. Series, hopefully now we can finally get this one crackin' without any further problems. Unless of course the bastard of an Administrator for this board cracks the shits and leaves again I will for continuity purposes repost every part of the story thus far, exept of course for the missing posts. Jim DoeIC: Nack the Weasel sighed as he stepped off his hoverbike and shook the dust from his coat. Another job, another batch of supplies . . . another escort set on him from people who didn't trust him. The fox that had been riding with him all the way from Knothole Village stepped from the back end of the vehicle and looked around. "Doesn't look like much, does it?" Nack said by way of conversation, not really expecting an answer nor getting one. "Right . . . well, I wonder where the local FF have gotten themselves off to . . . " ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KaotixFrom the top of a nearby hidden sentry tower, a red claw lowered a pair of binoculars. "Control, the bounty hunter has arrived," a deep gruff voice proclaimed irritably into a comlink. "Understood, Kaige. He's right on time. Does he have his escort with him? A few seconds went by as Kaige gazed through the binoculars to spot the fox that was to escort the bounty hunter. "Affirmative, Control." A snort followed that statment. "Tell me again why the Princess chose to send this bag of purple fuzz to us?" The voice on the comlink spoke with patience, "Kaige, I know you don't don't like bounty hunters," Hmph... You don't know the half of it. "but remember he is on our side. The Princess wouldn't send someone to us she didn't trust." "I know, I know. That doesn't mean I have to like it." "Good. Now be a good dragon and bring them into base." "Yeah... yeah..." Kaige closed the link and placed it in one of the pouches on his belt before heading down the ladder to 'greet' the bounty hunter and his fox escort. "I just hope we all don't regret this..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim DoeMax got off of the hoverbike. He had no love for bounty hunters, they work only for themselves. That's why he volunteered for this escort mission.* "Looks like we're here." "Finally, he talks. After that whole ride, that's all you got to say?" "Would you have liked me to tell you what I really thought of you?" "Let's see you open that mouth of yours. You'd do well to keep your comments to yourself. Remember what the princess said, you wouldn't want to disappoint her after all." *Max thought back, it was only a few days ago that Project Lieutenant had been uncovered. And of course, Sally had to send in for reinforcements. He could remember well what it was she said... "Now listen Max, this is important. I want you to work together with Nack. He may be a bounty hunter, but he's the absolute best. We need to need to know what this project is all about and we can't have this mission compromised because you won't work with him." "I understand the severity of the situation princess. But how can you be sure that he's even going to help at all?" "That's what you'll be going to do." "Wha???" "I want you to make sure Nack completes his objective. I'd hate to invest all this time and energy into something that may end up not being worth the effort. I want whatever's out there found. And I want you to do it." "Uh, you gonna move or what Mr. Escort?" *Max snapped back to the present, his thoughts disrupted by the weasel's bickering.* "Whatever you waste of fluff. I'd keep your eyes to the sky though, as we have company." "What are you talking about? Speak english and not riddles if you could be so kind." "Look up. There's a dragon up there watching us." "Dragon? I thought Robotnik took them all out." "It appears he missed a few..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ChiefThe old bus comes to a painfully loud stop near a old office building that anyone could see as being abanded. A group of people step off the bus before it drives off. The bus started its drive from Quilrabe but picked up people along the way in Merin, Lang. That’s where Ryan got on at, Lang. "Well looks like I'll be here for a while" Ryan mutters to himself while looking around "It can't be." Ryan's attention was taking by a weasel standing next to a fox "What is Nack doing here" Ryan mutters and starts walking over to the weasel Nack. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KaotixAfter a few seconds of walking, Kaige now stood before the bounty hunter and the one Control identified as Max Wildfire who was the purple fuzzball's escort. He ignored the bounty hunter for now and addressed the escort. "Welcome to Centerpoint Village, home of the Centropolis Freedom Fighters." "What kind of stupid name is that?" The bounty hunter sneered derisively at the dragon. "Couldn't you have have come up with something a little more original, Scale Belly?" "Nack..." Max spoke up but was cut off by an irate Kaige stepped infront on the weasel and looked down at him with a glare that could melt steel. "Listen, Bounty Hunter! For starters, my name is Kaige not "Scale Belly" And Second, this village is all that is left of the sister city of Mobotropolis before Robotnik turned it into Centropolis! It's original name was Centerpoint City. We have kept that name for this village to remind us for what we are fighting for! Not to entertain you and allow you to make sarcastic comments." A huff followed the outburst as Kaige calmed himself down. "Now if you would be so kind to follow me, I will lead you to base." "Thank you, Kaige." Max offered as he took up the rear to do his escort duties as assigned to him. They stepped onto a make shift elevator that lowered them into a well hidden meadow surrounded on every side by protective rocks and overhead a huge canopy of trees. "Hmmm... Your village is well hidden from the outside it seems," Max offered up as Kaige led them toward the Control Hut. Even Nack, although he would deny it to the day he died, seemed to be quite impressed with the village's location. "Yes, we have been her for little under a year. For the longest time we've had to be on the move constantly to avoid patrols of stealth and SWATbots. You will notice that the huts are highly modular. We can break down and move the village in under half an hour if our scouts spot any patrols heading our way. But since the time we located this place we have had few problems being spotted by air or ground patrols. We have basic technology and it is highly movable also and well guarded against would be thieves." The last statement was directed at the bounty hunter as they made it to where Nack and Max would be sleeping while they were here. Nack didn't respond but just grinned toothily at the dragon who fumed at him and pondered the pro's and con's of gutting the purple weasel right then and there. Kaige continued on while glaring at the bounty hunter, "This will be your hut for the duration of your hopefully short stay here. You will meet the others in a few hours. Here is your chance to get the purple fuzzball's fleabitten hide clean and try to get him somewhat presentable to the others." Max Wildfire smirked in response to the dragon's statement but otherwise didn't say anything. If Nack was insulted by the remark, he didn't show it but instead anwered,"I hope it is a short stay as well. I don't want to stay in this poor excuse for a barnyard anymore than I have to." Nack grinned as he entered the hut to put away some of his gear. Max followed him sighing heavily. Oddly enough, Max and Kaige's next thoughts were the same, "This is gonna be a looooong mission." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 7:31:57 GMT -5
OOC: Sorry for the double posting but I can't fit it all in one post.
Wildfire
"Well, you heard the man." "Dragon, Escort Boy, the prick's a Dragon." "You never know if he might be listening. I'm not going to tell you if I notice him again. I wonder where this groups leader might be." "Why in the Hell would you want to know that?" "Because it's a big part of my mission you idiot. I need to meet with this groups leader in order to recieve my breifing on this village's situation." *Max looked around the simple hut the two were staying in. In it he found only the bare essentials, two straw mats, a table and two chairs. He assumed the showers were located around the back.* "You better go get in the shower if these guys are gonna go look you over. I'm going to go try to find a console." "I thought you weren't supposed to leave me alone." "I'm to inform the princess of our safe arrival." "Whatever." *Nack removed his jacket and looked around the room.* "Not much is there?" "Not when you need to move. I lived with nothing for most of my life. That's the kind of thing that happens when your city's hit by a tyrant. Not that you'd know much about that kind of life or anything." "Don't get started with me fox boy. My life hasn't been all fun and games for the past ten years either." "Whatever you say Nack. It would seem to me that all your bounty jobs would rail in the money for anything you needed." "Exactly how many uses do you think creds have right now. All they do is take up space. Can't buy shit with em'." *Wildfire walks out in search of the afforementioned console. He soon locates one near a mobile hut.* "Lesse, the frequency on this thing is a little off. Let's hope Sally picks up."
In Knothole... *The mobile communications console in Princess Sally's hut shows an incoming message. Sally sees the incoming message light and recieves the video feed.* "Princess? Are you there?" "Max? Is that you?" "Yes Sally, i'm awfully sorry about the feed. This village is very mobile and picks up at a moments notice. I called to notify you of our arrival." "Our? So you managed to get all the way there without killing him and stealing his hoverbike?" "Don't get me started. I don't see why I couldn't take my own bike." "We needed it at the moment he arrived. Besides, Rotor decided to make it up to you by modifying it for you." "Rotor's going to die if he breaks my bike." "Don't worry, we're going to have Sonic test it for us first." "YOU KEEP HIM AWAY FROM MY BIKE!!!" *Sally laughed at that remark* "I was kidding Max, just keep an eye on Nack till he gets the job done. Have you met anyone in charge yet?" "Just a rather take charge Dragon. Not anything like Dulcy." "They're not all as young as her and they can accurateky remember what happened. Dragon's are a very proud race. We had just struck an alliance with them at the time of the takeover. Needless to say, they weren't too happy with the situation." "That's understandable. I wouldn't like it too much myself." "You better get back to Nack, call me when you get more information." "Of course, Wildfire out." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Doe
Nack grinned as the water from the shower ran through his fur, carrying away all the grime and sweat from several weeks of hard travel. It had been a shame he couldn't have stayed in Knothole long enough for a quick bath, but this well made up for it, even with the shit-all water pressure.
What can ya expect, really? he thought to himself. I should count myself lucky they even have basic running water at all . . .
The grin turned into a momentary frown. Even as rustic as these villages all were, often they seemed much more promising than the wandering life he led. Occaisionally thoughts of settling down somewhere would pop into his head, but he knew well enough to shake them out before they took hold. He didn't belong in a village . . . just the fact that he was annoying people here in Centerpoint within the first few minutes of his visit told him that much.
Thoughts of the looks Kaige had been giving him brought the smile back to Nack's face. It was good to know that long stretches without talking to anyone while out in the wilderness hadn't dulled his Trash Talk any. The Talk was a basic bounty hunter tool, one that had been passed around for centuries among his kind . . . it was used primarily to put skips and marks off center during a scuffle, or to make non-talkative contacts accidentally let slip remarks and informations they shouldn't have let slip. Nack tended to use it all the time, however . . . he liked to keep everyone on their toes at all times, even if it meant every hated him for it.
Not that he really cared what they thought, anyway. All he cared about was having a roof over his head for a few nights and enough food to fill his belly for the next week or two.
Finally clean, Nack reached up and turned the valve to stop the flow of water. He was going to be damp for hours, but there was really no helping that . . . sonic showers had unfortunately gone out of style when Robotnik confinscated them all along with the cities that held them. After hastily drying off as well as he could with a towel and smoothing his fur down, he stepped into the hut's main area.
Sir Escort was still hunched over his communicator, probably still talking with that sweetcheeks princess of his. Nack was about to lay the Talk on him to see about getting a little entertainment before the main meeting when there was a knock at the door.
"Are you gonna answer that?" Sir Escort said without looking up.
Nack arced an eyebrow and grinned lopsidedly . . . the only way he could grin really. "Jawhol, mein commandant!" he yelled out with a mock salute. "And would you like me to go get you some tea and cookies while I'm at it?"
"Just answer the door," the fox said through clenched teeth, obviously failing to keep Nack out from under his skin.
With an inward chuckle, the weasel stepped forward and pulled the door open. "Welcome to Casa de la Tightass!" he said with a flourish towards Sir Escort. "May I interest you in-" He stopped short and gaped in amazement when he realized who the visitor was . . .
"Ryan?!" -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chief
"Good day Nack" said Ryan "You seem a little surprized at seeing me.." Ryan says with a sly voice "Its been what? Two years--- 8 months. Yes.. We were at Marin staying at the local hotel. You left for a job and I stayed behind. You said it would only take you a week or a bit more.. I waited for 2 months." Ryan takes out a cigar and lights it " Then I left for Lang thinking you were dead..-" Ryan takes a drag of the cigar "But.. Its nice to see our paths crose again..- What are you doing here anyway? -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaotix
Inside the Control Hut, Kaige stood looking out the window toward the bounty hunter's hut. Behind him stood the leader of the village, a lovely female calico cat named Tamara de Claws who the Centropolis Freedom Fighters affectionately called "Patches." She was the brains behind the group and planned their missions flawlessly. Currently, she was reviewing SWATbot deployments in Centropolis.
Kaige huffed as he saw Ryan walk up to the Nack and Max's door. "I don't like this, Patches. What if the Bounty Hunter decides to sell us out to Robotnik?"
Tamara just sighed as she walked up beside him and looked out the window as well. She stood at 3' 4" but was dwarfed by her second in command's massive size. "It's in his best interest that Robotnik ultimately falls. Think about it, he won't have many clients if Robotnik continues his reign. Besides, Robotnik would more likely send him to the roboticizer instead of paying him. He may be a little rough around the edges but I don't think he will cause us any problems. I told you earlier that the Princess wouldn't send someone to us she didn't trust."
"Trust is funny that way, Patches. Trust can take years to build between two people but only a moment can rip it away."
Patches looked up at the big red dragon who had a far away look in his eye. "You had someone betray your trust once, Kaige?"
"Not just mine, Patches, but the whole clan's..." Kaige said no more and Tamara knew he wouldn't. Kaige didn't talk much of his past before joining their group. Although she had been able to draw a few things out of him, she still missed large pieces of the puzzle.
Kaige, she thought,why do you distrust Nack so much? -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 7:41:55 GMT -5
Wildfire
In the hut...
"He's here on orders from Princess Sally. What does it matter to you?" "Hey, back off!!! This guy happens to be a friend of mine." "I trust I can leave the two of you to yourselves without any trouble?" "Yeah yeah, whatever. Get lost already." *Max walked out of the hut in search of Kaige. He looked across the patch of dirt that served as a main plaza for the mobile village. He saw a medic hut, supply huts, and other commodities that are necessary for a place to be secure these days.* "It's a sad world we live in now. What I wouldn't give to just walk down the streets again without having to worry about being spotted by an incoming patrol." "Excuse me, can I help you?" *Max spun, slightly startled at the remark. Upon turning, he found Kaige, and, to his suprise, a smaller feline Mobian.* "I asked you a question, you could at least stop standing there with your jaw hanging out and grace me with an answer." *Max read the remark and instantly straightened.* "NO NO!!! It's nothing like that. I was just caught off guard that's all." "So what exactly are you trying to say? You got a problem with thinking i'm pretty or something?" "No, not at all, I'm spoken for. I meant no offense... Um Kaige?" *The large red Dragon just stood there, smirking at the fox's dimbfounded expression.* "Allow me to introduce, the leader of the Centerpoint Freedom Fighters, Tamara de Claws." *Max shook the feline's hand.* "I am sorry about that. I am Sir Maxamillian Starlite of the house of Acorn. And I have come here on official busniess from Princess Sally as an occompniment to the bounty hunter Nack the Weasel." "And how might I help you Sir Knight?" "As I said, I have come with Nack regarding the information you obtained on Project Lieutenant." "I'll be happy to present you with that information as soon as we find Nack himself. I'd like for the both of you to start on the same footing." "Nack isn't going to be too hard to find. I left him with an old friend of his back in the hut." *Kaige looked down at the tiny vulpine* "It would seem that he stepped out for a moment, for when we arrived he was nowhere to be found." "Where the Hell could he have gone?" -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Doe
With Escort Boy out of the way, Nack and Ryan had sat down at the hut's small fold-out table to talk.
"Hell, man," Nack said, "you oughta know what I'm doing here . . . trying to get by any way I can. I'm gonna be hanging around for the next few days helping out the locals in exchange for some food, folks, and fun. Or at least the food, anyway," he added with a grin. "But what about you, Chief? You haven't gone native on everyone, have ya?"
Ryan raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Hardly," he said. "I'm just passing through, but you have to admit . . . these people are pretty tight. The Freedom Fighting thing isn't the greatest deal around, but this wouldn't be a bad place to settle down, after all that."
Nack shrugged expansively at this. "Yah, well . . . anyway, you said, what, that you thought I was dead?"
"You never came back," Ryan replied, "and I know how dangerous your business can be."
"The thing is," Nack said, shaking his head, "that I had thought you were dead. Just a few days after I left Marin, I got news that it had finally fallen to Robotnik's forces and the entire populace had been roboticized."
"Really? As far as I know, the place is still standing," Ryan said. "Surrounded on all sides by SWATbots and just barely functioning, but still there. If Robotnik's ever going to do anything to it, he'll simply bomb it into the ground and be done with it."
"That's probably true," Nack said with a nod. "Well, hell, either way we're both here now, so maybe these backwoods bumpkins actually stand a chance on this mission they're going on about!"
Ryan laughed and said, "Is that a request for help coming from the great Nack the Weasel?"
"Now, now," Nack mock-admonished, "you know better than that. I'm not asking for help, I'm just giving you the high honor of joining me on this venture!" The two of them chuckled as they shook hands over the table. "Alrighty then, Chief," Nack said, "let's step out and see if we can find where everyone got off to, shall we?" -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chief
Ryan looks around "Yeah.. Lets go find the rest of them" he says in a calm tone "Before they get their selfs killed" They both laugh
"We have a small team already made" Nack says while walking outside with Ryan just behind.
"How many?" Ryan says in a concerning voice
Nack looks at a small fox walking down the road playing with a plane "We have four..- Trying to get five, but it looks like it'll just be four. It would have just been three if you did'nt pop up"
Ryan lights a cigeret "Whats the main plan here anyways? You can't get alot done with just four of us and whoever from the village" Ryan looks at a old car driving down the road " We might beable to get some small raides in.. But nothing big, and Robotnic has better security now.. And we'll need someone with some computer skills and I don't have those, and if things havent changed alot I know your not much better than me" Ryan says with a smark on his face. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaotix
Kaige calmly grabbed the fox's shoulder. His talons dug into the fox's hide. Not enough to hurt him but to let Max know that they were there.
"So let me get this straight... Your job was to always keep an eye on the Bounty Hunter. Yet you left him alone with an old buddy of his and now you don't know where they are?!" Kaige glared at the fox who felt really small standing in the shadow of the dragon. The only sound Max made was a small gulp.
"Kaige, you're scaring the poor dear," Tamara sighed as she grabbed Kaige's arm to try to calm him down. "Where can Nack go anyway? He knows he won't get paid until the job is done. Look, here he and Ryan come now. They didn't go very far. Now let him go."
Kaige just let out deep breath and released the fox who rubbed his shoulder vigorously.
"Kaige...." Tamara looked up at him with only a look a female can give. "I believe you owe Max here an apology."
"Yeah, I know. Look, Max, I'm sorry for grabbing you like that and yelling at you. You know what your job is and you don't need me to beat you over the skull with it."
Tamara looked at Max with sympathetic eyes. "You'll have to excuse Kaige. He has some issues with Nack it seems." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wildfire
*Max looked back at the feline leader.* "I'm definately in agreement there. Believe me, i'm not too happy that Nack was chosen myself" "And yet you chose to allow him time away from your eyes? For what reason did you temporarily lose your sanity?" "Back off Big Fella, I may not look it, but if you keep it up, you're gonna be a set of aligator luggage." "I'd like to see you try it little man." "Boys, boys, honestly, you ought to be working together on this. You're not enimies, we're all allies here." *Kaige looked down at his leader, and then back at the escort sent to prevent Nack from getting out of hand.* "I agree, just make sure to do your job from now on." "Definately not a problem there, did you think I was ignorant or something? I need the information you have, and we don't have a lot of time. We must attend to this matter as soon as possible." "Then let's find Nack and perhaps we can get started."
*The group looked across the length of the village, and soon found the two sitting in a mobile drink shack enjoying conversation. Upon their arrival, Nack chanced to look up from his drink.* "Oh goody, look who decided to come looking for us Ryan." "What the hell possesed you to leave the hut without notifying me of your intentions?" "I think that i'm still a free Mobian here. What I do is still my busniess." "Not so long as you're under my watch." "And what a dilligent watch it is my friend. You've managed to not only not do your job, but to not do it in record time! We haven't even left yet and you already lose me." "That wouldn't happen if you told me where you were going." *Ryan looked over at the bickering twosome.* "It's all good Escort man, he was with me." "Shut your hole. As if I trust you enough to leave you both to your own devices." "Hey man, you better watch what you say to me." "All three of you shut up." *Kaige looked down at the group.* "We have work to do. If you would all accompany me to the Command Hut, we can begin the breifing." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chief Ryan looks around and takes the final drag from the cigiret before he flicks it on the ground "Well.. What are we going to do anyways?"
Kaige looked up "We'll get everything sorted out at the breifing And its nice to have you with us Ryan, I've heard quite a bit about you.. Although I thought you were dead..
Ryan looks up then back at Kaige " Yeah.. Well Marin is still standing too, nothing happened to it" Ryan takes out another cigiret and lights it " Well, we better get going to the hut if we want to be done before dark, something tells me it will be a long time to get everything said" -----------------------------------------------------------------------
MISSING POSTS!!
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 7:46:20 GMT -5
Kaotix
Knowing that each mission could be his last, Kaige made a point to spend some time with each of the members of his "clan." He had already spoke with Patches after the breifing and now he was heading to the medical hut to see Carmen and a little friend of his.
As he stepped into the hut, he saw Carmen putting together her medical gear for the mission. She looked up at him with a warm smile which he returned. "Hello, Kaige. Can I help you with something?"
Before Kaige could open his mouth to respond, an excited yell came from one of the small rooms. "Big Red!?" Barren hobbled as fast as he could on his crutches to greet the big dragon who was his idle.
With a huge grin, Kaige picked up the young kit, who let the crutches fall forgotten onto the floor, and set him on his shoulder. Barren immediately wrapped his small arms around Kaige's neck and gave him a tight hug. "I missed you to, little guy. Miss Carmen tells me that you had a little accident today."
"Yeah... I twisted my ankle on a stupid branch. I was out hunting SWATbots just like you do, Kaige!" Kaige grinned and ruffled the young cub's head fur. Barren would often go on little "adventures" in the forest around Centerpoint Village hunting down SWATbots. More often than not he would come back with a bruise or a bump from a trip or fall which Carmen would always kiss and make better.
Carmen looked at the two with a warm smile on her muzzle. Little Barren had idolized Kaige ever since the dragon had found and rescued him from a squadron of SWATbots. The two have been inseparatable ever since. Barren even fancied himself a dragon just like Kaige and has wanted to grow up to be just like Big Red. They're the best of friends, she thought, Kaige has been there for Barren ever since he brought the cub to the village. Kaige always seems the happiest when he is with Barren.
"So, Kaige," Barren finally spoke up again. "Can I go on the mission with you?! Can I?! Can I?! Can I?!"
Kaige laughed heartily as he put the cub back on the floor and helped him get his crutches. "Not yet, Barren. Remember that even a dragon must grow in mind and body before he can take on the enemy. You still got a lot of growing to do."
"I know...," Barren replied glumly lightly kicking at the floor with his good foot.
"But tell you what. How about after the mission, I take yuo for a flight? Just you and me and nothing but sky and clouds?"
That brought an even more excited squeal from the kit. "You promise?!"
"You know a dragon never lies, Barren. My word is as best as they come. Now you go back to bed and let theat ankle heal. You'll be tracking SWATbots again soon." He gave the fox's head fur another good ruffle and chuckled as Barren headed back to his room giggling with excitement about the chance to fly with Kaige.
Carmen shook her head and smiled as she addressed Kaige, "I don't know who the bigger kid is, you or Barren."
He gave her a small wink. "You only as old as you feel, Carmen." His voice then went low so that Barren wouldn't be able to hear him. "You ready for the mission tonight?"
"Yeah. I almost have my gear ready."
"I'll let you finish then. I still need to get my gear ready and make sure everything is in working order. Everyone will meet infront of the Control Hut when it is time to go." Kaige turned and headed for the door. Before exited he turned his head and spoke again. "See you there, Carmen." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
John Roberts
"I'll be there Kaige." Carmen called out as the dragon made his exit, her expression darkened.
I wouldn't miss it for the world, she thought.
She wasn't afraid to admit to herself that she was worried about this mission, any mission that involved going back into Centropolis worried her a great deal. After all, they were going on this mission with three other companions that she didn't even know or trust, especially that weasel, she heard he was a bounty hunter.
A bounty hunter? she thought, how could we fully trust someone who would easily stab us in the back for a small profit?
Carmen didn't trust him, at least not yet anyway but she would give him the benefit of the doubt, she would at least give him a chance. After all, she was not one to judge someone merely on their appearance.
She returned her attention towards her medical pack, double checking that everything is there, making sure that she was well prepared for any possible scenario. The pack mainly consisted of make-shift bandages and band-aids and a small batch of Aqueous antiseptic fluid that she managed to salvage from previous missions, it wasn't much to look at but it could very well save someone's life if need be.
Satisfied, she zipped the back pack up and flung it over her left shoulder and stood up. She was about ready to leave when two figures entered the hut.
"Hello boys," she greeted, feeling uneasy when she realized who they were, "what can I do for you?"
Nack smiled at her, his large toothed grin making her feel even more uneasy. His companion, Ryan, disgustedly sucked on a cigaret while looking her slim body up and down, a sly grin on his face.
"We have come for our check up, miss, before the big mission." Nack replied, "Well, that's what my friend here said."
Carmen frowned at the two of them, "You both look fine to me," she started, looking at Ryan, his gaze was now fixated below her neck, a puff of smoke escaping his lips, "but you tell your friend here that if he doesn't get rid of that cigaret he won't be feeling very fine." she scolded.
Nack elbowed Ryan, taking him from his steadied gaze.
"What?" Ryan asked now looking at his pal.
"The lady wants you to stump that out." Nack replied, grinning.
"Oh," Ryan continued, turning his attention to Carmen's irate expression, "my apologies ma'am."
She easily detected the sarcasm in his voice and watched in horror as he flicked the cigaret from his mouth and onto the floor, his large boot coming down on top of it. Feeling proud of himself, he looked up at Carmen with a smug expression only to be shot down by the furious gaze she was giving him.
"Woo," Ryan crackled, "if looks could kill."
"If looks could kill?!" she growled, stepping directly in front of him, "When I get done with you, you'll wish they HAD!"
Ryan licked his lips and again looked her body up and down, slowly this time. "Is that a promise, sweety?" he smirked.
Before Carmen could respond, Nack stepped in-between the two, facing Ryan. He put his hand firmly against Ryan's chest, almost pushing him. "Cut the crap, we haven't got time for your bull," Nack snapped, "we're all going to be working together on this mission and it's not going to be jeopardized by the likes of YOU. Now get out and wait for me outside."
Ryan looked at his pal with disbelieve in his eyes. "You're kidding me, right?" he asked, shacking his head.
"Just wait for me outside." Nack replied, sounding irritated.
Ryan continued to stare at his pal but soon gave in and threw his arms in the air. "What ever." he murmured. He turned around and walked towards the exit, grumbling to himself.
Nack continued to watch Ryan until he had finally exited and was out of sight, he then turned to face Carmen, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry about that, he gets carried away sometimes."
Carmen slightly cocked her head and looked at Nack carefully, studying his expression. An apology? She thought, more surprised than shocked.
"Now if you will excuse me, I will get out of your face and leave you to what ever you were doing." he politely gestured as he turned to leave and slowly walked out the hut.
Carmen kneeled down and picked up the squashed cigarette from the floor, squeezing it into her fist. Well, he seemed sincere enough...it's just...
She shook the thoughts away, not understanding why she feels mistrust towards the weasel. He had giving her no reason not to like him. She stood up still uncurtained what to think about him,
she would give him a chance but she was going to keep a close eye on him. Him and that revolting friend of his.
And with that thought she too walked out. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 7:52:51 GMT -5
Jim Doe
"Dammit, Chief . . . now I remember why I wasn't all that sorry when I heard you were dead!"
Ryan scowled. He had already lit up another cigar and was chomping on the tip harder than usual "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" he yelled back. "And just what the hell was all that nonsense back there? Since when were you ever against having a little fun with the natives, huh?"
Nack the Weasel stretched up to his full height and glared at Ryan out from under his bent-brimmed hat. "There is a fine line between jerking their chains around a little and yanking them around hard enough to hurt," he said, his voice becoming a cold whisper, "and you crossed that line. Smoking in front of the doc? Sure, fine, I was thinking of doing that myself . . . but you should have stepped outside to smash out that cigarette and you know it. Might I remind you that she is going to be the doctor on this mission and that in this day and age, the doctor's oath isn't worth much anymore? If you piss her off enough, she'll forget all about that oath and just let you bleed to death when some loser shithouse SWATbot puts a laser straight through your empty head! Got it?
Ryan stepped back from Nack. Anger still smoldered in his eyes, but he seemed to have calmed down enough to listen to what Nack was saying.
"Fine, fine," he said with a shrug. "Leave the doc alone. Got it. No point in getting into arguments before we even start the mission, anyway."
Nack's demeaner changed almost instantly. He grinned and slapped Ryan on the shoulder as they headed back towards their huts.
"Good man," the bounty hunter said. "And don't worry . . . I'm sure we'll get a laugh or two out of her before this is all over with. Ya just gotta pick the right way to do it . . . " -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chief
"My empty head? Well atleast it would'nt make a mess like yours, all full of shit" Ryan said while scratching his neck "Where we off to now?"
Nack looked up at Ryan "Well-- I suppose we should go back to the hut and find Wildfire. Then we should try and get a bit of rest before leaving--"
"Well before we do that lets find the local store-- I need to buy some more cigirets. I'm on my last one right now" The red fox says while taking out his wallit and seeing how much money he had.
Nack looked at him with a serious expresion on his face "You never use to smoke this much-- Maybe you should try and quit. Or atleast cut back."
"It calms me down and I like it" Ryan says while taking the final drag from his cigiret and flicking it onto the dirt ground
"But still-- Try and cut back" The weasel says while looking through the store window
"Whatever" Ryan says while walking into the store and over to the counter "I'll think about it.. I've been thinking of cutting back but--"
"Can I help you?" The store clirk asked
"Yeah get me 2 packs of those" Ryan says while pointing at some cigirets and putting the money on the counter "Thanks" Ryan mutters while putting the packs in his coat.
"You ready?" Nack asked with a sarcastic tone in his voice
"Yes mummy" Ryan grins "Alright now to the hut" Ryan takes a deap breath "How hard do you think this will be Nack.-- I havent been on a big mission like this since-- I have no idea"
"It'll be easy, a sintch" Nack said in a happy voice -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaotix
Kaige was finishing putting his gear into the pouches of his belt. I think 10 charges should be enough to take out whatever Fatboy has in the works. He checked each one carefuly to make sure it would function properly before he slipped them into the pouches. With that done he picked up the belt and fastened it about his waist. He then reached down and picked up one of the comlinks that were on table. He tested each one and made sure that they were set on the correct frequency. He then clipped one onto his belt and put the others into a bag for the rest of the team.
He saw the two riff raff exit the medical hut. The Bounty Hunter seemed to be having a few harsh words with his old buddy.
"I don't know which one is worse the Bounty Hunter or his little sidekick." With a small snort, the red dragon picked up the rest of the gear and headed for the Control Hut. When he arrived, he saw Carmen was already there.
"Hello, Kaige," Carmen spoke as she saw him head toward her. She was still fiddling with her medical gear even though she had already checked over it about five times.
"Hey, you sure you don't want a weapon? Those bots aren't going to overlook you just because you are a nurse."
"I know that, but I can't bring myself to carry a weapon. I refuse to destroy anything even a robot. I'll be careful. Besides, I'll have a big dragon by my side who can take out a whole squad of SWATbots by himself," she grinned up at him repeating the words that little Barren spoke not too long ago. She then switched gears and spoke about the mission. "You have a plan for sneaking into the city?"
"Yeah. The city's defenses have been on high alert since the Princess contacted us about the Lieutenant Project. We're going to have to go in stealthily. I know that the Bounty Hunter won't have any problems with that but I don't know about his little sidekick. I was able to do a little scouting last night and I believe I have a way for us to get in. It's going to be a bit tight but we can make it. The patrols follow a predictable pattern and I found a spot that will be open long enough between patrols for our group to get in unseen. We will just have to be quick about it. The closer we get to our goal the rougher it will be and the harder, if not almost impossible, to avoid guards and patrols."
Carmen then spoke up, "We still don't even know what this Project is. I hope we can figure out what Robotnik was doing there before we blow it up."
"Knowing Lard Butt, it probably isn't anything that will be good for us. We will try to access what it is but we will destroy it. That is our main objective. Everything else is secondary."
"Agreed." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wildfire
Wildfire sat in the center of the room, eyes closed, and in a serene state of mind. His thoughts were totally focused on the task that lay before him. Find this project, figure out what it does, and destroy it and all data so that it might never be reproduced.
*In order to achieve my goals I must push my body to it's absolute limits. I must finally beat Sonic in that footrace, even though he's not alongside me. I must remain focused in the most dire of circumstances. And I must not allow Nack the Weasel to falter.* A mental impluse disrupted his concentration. His eye shot open to see Nack and his friend sitting in the doorway, staring down on him as though he was a total freak.
"What the hell are you doing?" Nack asked.
"I was readying my mental state for the upcoming mission. I find that it improves my performance. I thought it necessary since i'll most likely carry you out of there on my back."
"If you fall, i'm leaving you where you lie."
"Glad to know the feelings mutual. Are you two even remotely prepared?"
Kaige poked his head into the hut. "Fifteen minutes gentlemen, and I use the term loosely." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 7:59:55 GMT -5
John Roberts
Carmen casually walked through the small village making her way towards Tamars's Hut, her thoughts were with the mission ahead. She was curious about this project that they were assigned to find out about, curious and worried. Worried about what it could mean for her self and those that she cared for,
This lieutenant project could very well mean the end of us all
Carmen shook her head, astonished at how she can easily overeact about something she knows nothing about, for all she knew this project could be harmless.
But then why would the princess order us into a full scale mission to seek it out?
She hated not knowing the full story but she knew that she was in the same boat as everyone else involved, assuming the weasel isn't holding back any information.
She was hoping Tamara could tell her more, she doubted it but still...she wanted too see her anyway. She enjoyed her company and the fact that Tamara wasn't coming along on the mission was bothering her.
Carmen was now standing outside of Tamara's hut. She took a deep breathe as she gently tapped the door.
"Just a minute." a voice called from inside.
Carmen instantly smiled upon recognizing the female voice, butterflies filled her stomach as she heard light footsteps approach the door. The wooden door opened inwards and Tamara stood before it, her features brightened up into a large smile, "Carmen, I wasn't expecting to see you here, everyone should be at the meeting room ready to leave very shortly."
Tamara gestured for Carmen to come in.
"I just wanted to talk to you about this mission," Carmen explained
Tamara raised an eyebrow, a slight smile on her face, "I already know what you're going to say," she started, "and I'm afraid I've told you all I know about the Lieutenant project at the meeting. Everything I've been told from the princess and Nack, you know about it."
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Carmen spoke.
"But that's not the real reason why you came here....is it?" Tamara softly said as she gently stroked her paw through Carmen's head fur.
Carmen closed her eyes to slits, "You got me." she purred. She took Tamara's hand away from her head and held it tightly to her chest, a serious look on her face, "Tell me why you're not coming along on this mission."
"I've already told you why," Tamara replied, "I must remain here incase the village is attacked. Someone needs to look after things here."
They pulled themselves closer together, holding each other's hands.
"I...I understand that, Tam, it's just that....I worry about you." Carmen conveyed, her expression full of concern.
"Hey," Tamara said, reassured, "You're the one going into enemy territory, I should be worrying about you."
Carmen laughed half heartedly, "I guess you're right, I'm just overeacting again."
They both smiled at each other, Carmen slightly blushing, neither of them breaking eye contact, neither wanting to. "Carmen?" Tamara asked softly, their nuzzles slightly brushing together.
"Yeah?" she gently replied, a hopeful look her eyes.
"We should really be meeting up with the...." Tamara started whispering but was was cut off by Carmen's lips pressing against hers -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Doe
The characteristic whine and squeal of a hoverbike's anti-gravity plates broke the silence settled over the plains seperating the edge of the Great Forest and Centropolis' city limits. It was quickly joined by the sound of another hoverbike . . . not quite as in tune as the first, but still managing to keep up.
Nack spared a glance behind him to make sure that the Chief wasn't trying to pull any tricks on that clunker of his. Why he hadn't managed to keep it up better than he had over the years, Nack couldn't figure . . . maybe he spent more time looking for tobacco and tail than bike parts.
Turning his attention back to the landscape ahead of him, Nack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Sir Escort was back on his ass again, arms wrapped loosely around his midsection. Just one more night, Nack thought sourly, and I'll have my bike back all to myself again. Just keep telling yourself that. One more night . . .
High in the air above them, but not so high that Centropolis radar could detect them, Scaley was playing airplane for Sawbones and Chatterbox. Nack could just barely make out the dragon's form against the evening clouds when he looked up.
The fact that there were now so many of them on this mission grated on Nack's nerves a bit. He had expected only he and maybe two of the Centerpoint FF would be going into the city . . . he had grudgingly accepted Sir Escort's precense, and had willingly accepting Chief's help, but this was starting to look pretty ridiculous to him. The dragon was as big as a hut, Sawbones was going to be worthless in a fight, and Chatterbox . . . well, who knew? The guy had said even less to Nack in Centerpoint than anyone else there. This would have all gone so much smoother if they had just let Nack go in on his own, he was sure of it.
Nack's thoughts were interrupted by Scaley's voice crackling over his headset commlink. "There she is," the dragon said as the city slowly came into view through the thick cloud of pollution surrounding it. "Time to set down your vehicles, gentlemen . . . we go in on foot from here."
The whine of the engines abated as the bikes drifted to a stop before a large sinkhole that the Centerpoint FF had scouted out a short while before the mission had gotten underway. It had once been the entrance to a cave system until Robotnik had begun moving heavy machinary into and around Centropolis . . . the massive rumbling caused by the huge machines had caused a cave-in long ago that had left only a ten foot deep, eight foot wide hole in the ground. Carefully maneuvering the bikes, Nack and the Chief settled them into the hole and then crawled out as Scaley set down to let his passengers disembark.
Scaley pulled a pair of dragon-sized electronic binoculars from one of his pouches and scanned the horizon for a moment.
"The break in SWATbot routine should happen in approximately seven minutes," he said. "We should be able to make it to the city limits just in time if we hurry."
"This break of yours better be on the money," Nack said with a scowl. "I'd rather not have to fight my way in and out of this place."
"We wouldn't be taking this chance if it wasn't," the dragon growled. He put the binoculars back and motioned everyone forward. "Alright," he said, "let's go." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaotix
Kaige moved out first using the shadows to hide his large form. He would find a spot for them to hide before motioning the rest to follow him. So far so good. They were now just inside the perimeter of the city and wasn't a patrol to be seen but how long would that last?
He took out his binoculars and scanned the area. He motioned everyone to take cover as a patrol wandered nearby. Ryan obviously thought they were going to get caught but the patrol didn't even look down the alley in which they hid.
Ryan whispered quietly to the Bounty Hunter, "He's going to get us killed!"
Nack turned and made a hush gesture by putting a finger to his lips. "Shh... oddly enough, everything is happening as he said it would. That may change though so keep quiet and keep your eyes peeled."
"Alright, team, our objective is in the main command center of the city." Kaige pointed to the large power facility in the middle of Centropolis. "That place and the area surrounding it are going to be heavily gaurded. So everyone is going to need to watch each other's back. Everyone is gonna make it back home from this mission. And I mean everyone." He made a purposeful glance to the Bounty Hunter and his sidekick. He would make sure that even they would make it back alive. No matter how much he disliked them.
"Time to move again. Let's go." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chief
"I still think we're going to get killed" Ryan wispered to Nack "And if the shot does'nt kill me I'm sure our sexy medic over there will" Ryan starts to laugh
"Shut up" Nack hissis "This is one of the hardest parts trying to get into the city" Nack points at the spot lights scanning the grounds "Get in sight of one of those and we're screwed"
"Will you two shut it" Sir Escort mutters "We'll get cought if your seen or heard"
"Thats just what I was saying" Nack says while poking his head out from behind a log and looking around.
"What the hell was so important to start talking about anyways" Sir Escort glances at Ryan
"Getting killed" Ryan says with a smile "Want to join our conversation?"
"Shut up" the bounty hunter hissis "Its over just shut up"
"Will you boys shut up" Carmen wispers "What's so important to talk about right now"
Ryan grins "We're talking about what you'd look like naked" Ryan faces the city and starts crawling towards it again while getting a 'You are fucked if your hurt' look from Nack. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 8:04:05 GMT -5
Reese
The ride to Centropolis had been a bit unpleasant for Ed. It wasn't that he was nervous about the mission; far from it actually. He was prepared to do his part, no matter what was in store. It was the people he was with. He liked them well enough (except for Nack and his little buddy), but he had been to nervous to speak with any of them, particularly the Doc. He had known her for quite a while, having lived near Centerpoint Village since the war began, but she still made him squirm. Maybe it was because he had a slight crush on her, maybe not. He always had trouble around women anyway; consequently, he nearly fell off of the dragon's back twice from fidgetting so badly. After they had dismounted and stowed the bikes, Ed felt a little better. He repositioned his backpack to avoid damaging the sensitive equipement inside, then followed the others. They crept along, remaining out of sight of the patrols, and he soon felt his worries alleviate as he concentrated on the mission. His mind was so focused on it that when Carmen laid a hand on his shoulder, he started. The others turned and looked at him; his blush could be seen even under his facial fur. "Sorry," he muttered as Nack gestured for him to shut up. "Hey, you okay?" The doc asked. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Ed whispered back. "Just a little nervous." She knew him well enough to see that he wasn't worrying about the mission. "Well, ease up. These people are our friends; you can trust them." He took a deep breath, then nodded before continuing on. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wildfire
*Wildfire stood, crouched, behind Nack & Ryan. His disdain for the duo magnified because of the ignorant comments that seemed to imenate from the two of them. His thoughts were scattered when Kaige looked back and handed him a headset communicator* "Try not to seperate from the group if you can help it." The dragon said. "But just in case we end up scattered, you'll have no trouble getting ahold of the other members." "Thanks" Wildfire whispered. His mind returned to his mission objective. Find out everything he could about the project, and keep Nack from getting everyone killed. Slowly, instinctively, he reached back to the leather strapped handle of his sword. A final gift from his father, the sword was his best defence against the odds that lay before him. He looked forward to Kaige as he drew his sword. "Whenever you're ready." -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Doe
Deep within the Centropolis Command Center, something stirred. It felt minor vibrations moving across its web; vibrations that required its personal attention . . .
Something was moving just on the edge of the sensor-logs the SWATbot patrols were sending in. It wasn't enough to but the 'bots on alert, a fault that should have been corrected long ago. Centropolis' master would see to it that it was corrected . . . SWATbot sensors would be retuned tomorrow, but for now the anomolous readings needed to be tended to . . .
A plan had formed in the mind of the city's master within seconds. It started to withdraw itself from the command center, leaving behind only bits and pieces here and there to keep an eye on what the intruders were doing.
They would come looking, but they would find nothing that could possibly help them . . . nothing at all . . . -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 8:06:37 GMT -5
John Roberts
The building was ahead on their left, dark and silent, a closed door facing them. There was no way of telling if it was empty, though barely ten meters away, the distance was open and flat, not even a pebble to block them from view.
Carmen could hear the clatter of metal approaching them, another squad of Swat-bots were nearing their location and Carmen knew that they would have no choice but to run for cover, even if it meant running out in the open.
Kaige outstretched his wings, his hands clutched into fists, he looked at the others with a commanding look in his eyes. "Nack, lead the others into that building, I'll cover you all from above if need be."
Without waiting for a response, Kaige launched himself in to the air, the strength of his wings easily pushing him higher into the nights sky,
"Okay, you mugs ready?" Nack asked looking at the others.
They all nodded their heads except for Ryan, who was clutching his handgun tightly in his hands, a rebellious look on his face. "You gotta be kiddin' me," Ryan started, "we're gonna hide from those 'bots? C'mon, we can take 'em."
Carmen looked at him, not believing his arrogance. Here they were on a stealth mission trying to infiltrate Centropolis, silently, without being noticed and Ryan was ready to run out in the open for a showdown.
He's going to get us all killed Carmen's mind screamed.
She was about to say something to him when she heard the clatter of Swat-bots getting closer, much closer. She scanned the area, looking if she could see the approaching Bots but the darkness of the city concealed their presence. The clanger of metal grew louder and in a matter of seconds they would be swamped by them, they had to move...and they had to move NOW.
Nack was glaring at Ryan, the urgency in his eyes was enough for Ryan to understand their situation.
"Stay low," Nack whispered, and then they were crouching their way towards the structure. Nack leading followed by Ryan, Carmen and Ed, Wildfire at the rear.
They were half way there and the sound of the fast forthcoming robots were nearly on top of them. Nack reached the door, pushing it open. No light spilled out, no alarm sounded, he went in. Ryan and Ed piled in after him, Carmen glanced over her shoulder, she could make out the silhouette of at least a dozen of the Swat-bots. Before she could say anything, Wildfire urgently pushed her in side. They all stumbled into the dark room, closing the wooden door behind them.
Carmen leaned against the door, holding her breathe, not wanting to make even the slightests of sounds. The Swat-bots were now directly on the other side, the clanging sound of metal had stopped.
Oh no, they saw us. They're coming in here, they're going to find us.
Carmen shot a glance at Ed who was leaning against the wall next to her. He shared the same look of worry and concern as she did.
Without any hesitation, the Swat-bots resumed their marching, the sound of their heavy boots leaving the building. Carmen let out a sigh of relief, she smiled at Ed who was also breathing normally again, he smiled back.
"No body move." Nack said sofly, fumbling for his halogen torch on his belt. Besides the gulping breath of the others, the room was silent. The thin beam of Nack's torch cut through the darkness revealing a large and mostly empty, windowless room. A stair case to the left of them going up seemed to be the only other rout they could take, besides the door they just came through.
"Now what?" Carmen asked, her voice low and steady, her attention towards Nack.
"Maybe we should look for another way out of here," Ed spoke up, his voice full of uneasiness, "because I do NOT think we should be going back out that way."
Carmen gently squeezed his shoulder, attempting to show him some comfort. Carmen had known him for a long time and she knows all to well how unsettled he feels in tight situations as this. She smiled warmly at him, he nodded and smiled back, silently thanking her.
Again Carmen turned her attention to Nack, "What about Kaige, he's still out there. We should try and radio him before-" her soft voice broke off suddenly as she tilted her head to one side, listening intently. Carmen heard it in the same instant and felt her heart freeze in her chest. A low humming sound could be heard on the other side of the wall, along with the sound of moving circuits.
Swat-bots?
The humming stopped but was replaced with a computerized voice, "Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"
Carmen looked at Ed, her eyes wide open, her mouth twisted into a silent scream as she heard the distinctive sound of something powering up. "GET DOWN!" she shouted, rolling off the ground, pulling Ed with her as a large part of the wall exploded inwards, ripped apart by laser fire.
They all dove for the ground, Nack and Wildfire already grabbing for their weapons as a smoking trail of holes tore through the wall, plaster and wood flying across the room. There was a split-second break in the onslaught, just long enough for the others to hear Nack yell out, "Up stairs, now!"
Nack once again took lead in the charge as they all ran towards the stairs, laser fire was shooting randomly through the wall as Swat-bots continued their assault. Carmen was holding firmly onto Ed's hand, practically dragging him across the room, she knew the others could take care of them selves but Ed, just like herself didn't carry any weapons and could not defend himself, she had to keep him safe.
As Nack reached the foot of the stairs he turned around, aiming his pistol towards the back wall, a single Swat-bot had broken through, it's large metallic arm was outstretched looking for a target. It aimed for Ryan. Nack fired two shots into it's headset, knocking it off balance, preventing it from firing.
Nack, still aiming towards the wall, looked at Carmen, "Sawbones, you and Chatterbox get your butts upstairs, we'll keep ya covered."
Before Carmen could respond, another wave of laser fire filled the room as more Swat-bots broke through the wall. She watched in horror as Nack, Wildfire and Ryan returned fire, all three running to different sides of the vast, empty room.
Carmen lunged for the stairs, her hand still firmly coupled to Ed's as she raced up the flight of stairs, the booming sound of gunfire rocked through the background sending chills up her spine.
A door was visible at the top.
Please don't let it be locked she prayed while she and Ed continued sprinting towards the top, her heart was pounding almost as loud as the heavy, metallic pounding she heard behind her. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and to her terror she saw two Swat-bots also charging up the stairs behind them. She tossed herself at the door, a wave of relief washed over her as the door easily swung open, she and Ed quickly ran through it. Carmen's shoulder connected with the heavy wood and she threw herself into it, slamming it closed.
Carmen surveyed the room they now occupied searching for another doorway. Empty crates were stacked against the walls, large boxes filled with paper were scattered across the floor, there was no other door.
We're trapped, there's no way out, we're trap- her thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly noticed a large open window to the left of her. "Yes!" she yelled, already running for it, still dragging Ed along with her.
They both stood before the window looking down outside into the darkness, there was no ladder to climb down, no railing to hang from, just a straight drop into what looked like a narrow alleyway with large piles of garbage leaned against the building. There were no Swat-bots but it looked impossibly low.
Ed's warm hand was squeezing hers, she looked at him. His face was full of anxiety as he nodded his head, fully understanding what they had to do. They both crawled onto the window sill, ready to jump when suddenly the door that they came through exploded open, splinters of wood crashing through the air as the two swat-bots tore through. Their metallic arms were targeting them, ready to fire.
"JUMP!" Carmen screamed. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 8:10:07 GMT -5
Jim Doe
Nack swore as a laster blast tore a chunk away from the crate he was crouched behind. He quickly leaned out from one side of the crate and shot a stream of ionized particles at the invading SWATbots. The shot hit one of the bots in the shoulder, causing every other steel molecule in it to become oppositely charged from each other. Within a second of being hit, the SWATbot's shoulder had violently torn itself apart, sending sparks everywhere as the wiring within snapped and tangled.
With barely enough time to take note of the hit, Nack pulled his head and arm back behind the crate as another volley of blaster shots tore by him. He may have gotten one of the bastards, but there were still plenty of others to take its place.
When the barrage had paused as the SWATbots' laser rifles cooled for the next round, Nack snapped a shot over the top of the crate. Another one down, but this time the bounty hunter noticed something odd . . . one of the SWATbots had looked straight at him and tho' Nack had only seen it for a second before he ducked back down, he could've sworn that its optic lens had flashed momentarily, as if it had taken a flash photo of him.
As he pondered this, he suddenly noticed something else very strange . . .
He frowned and jumped out from behind the crate and pulled off six unerring shots, taking out the last of the attacking robots. He quickly holstered his ion pistol and turned to Chief and Sir Escort, both of which were running across the room from where they had been shooting at the 'bots during the firefight.
Sir Escort had a look on his face that would've probably been enough to kill Nack outright by itself had he been a lesser man. The Freedom Fighter had holstered his own pistol and had unseathed his sword, holding it out at Nack threateningly.
"What the hell was that?!" he bellowed. He stormed up and placed the sword's tip right by Nack's neck.
Nack's gaze leveled on Escort's. "I don't know," he said evenly. If he had any fear of the blade, he didn't show it.
"Those 'bot's got a good look at you," Ryan said incredulously, "and just ignored you after that! How did ya do it?"
"I didn't," the bounty hunter replied. "I don't know what happened. I know what it looks like, but if I really was in leauge with Robotnik, would I really have destroyed those 'bots? Why didn't I just take the two of you down as soon as the others seperated from us?"
Escort bared his teeth. He either didn't believe Nack or didn't want to believe him, but it was obvious that he knew quite well that there was no concrete proof yet that the 'bots had stopped shooting at Nack because Nack was a traitor. He slowly lowered the sword but didn't put it back in it's sheath.
"Fine," he growled. "But don't think I'm going to forget this. "I've got my eye on you, scum. You will not stop this mission, either through malicious intent or through inept bungling." He threw Ryan a scornful glance and added, "And that goes for both of you. Now, let's find the others."
As Sir Escort started for the stairway that Sawbones and Chatterbox had run up, Ryan put his hand on Nack's shoulder. The weasel pulled his arm away and turned to follow the Freedom Fighter before his friend could say anything . . -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaotix
"JUMP!" Carmen screamed.
The two leaped out into space as lasers spliced through the air that they were once occupying. Carmen cluched Ed's arm tightly as they began to fall. Ed covered his eyes with his free paw so he would not see the ground rush up at him.
Ten feet above the ground, the two felt strong arms wrap around them stopping their fall. Carmen slowly opend her eyes to see them soaring a few feet above the ground. She finally let out a sigh of relief as she saw the red scales on the arm that held him.
"Kaige!" She whispered in joy and relief just loud enough for him to hear.
"Good to see you to, Carmen," Kaige said as he grinned. "I was in the neighborhood and saw that you two needed a lift." He looked over at the wolf who was still silient and chuckled a bit. "Ed, you can open your eyes now. I'm not gonna drop you."
After Kaige landed in a dark alley, he set the others down before making sure they hadn't been followed. He then took on a bit more serious of a tone. "Where are the others, Carmen?"
"We got split up in the building. The SWATbots saw us gon in adn attacked. Nack told us to get to the roof but several of the bots got behind us before they could follow."
Kaige sighed heavily as he scanned the skies for any sign of hover-units. There were none, for now. That would change soon. "Well, our element of suprise has become pretty much moot. That squadron of SWATbots moved in a different pattern than they have been for the past month. Someone or something knew we were here."
Ed finally spoke up as he fiddled nervously with one of his devices, "But how? We made almost no noise and didn't set off any alarms before that bunch of 'bots found us."
The sound of approaching metal footsteps broke up their conversation. Kaige looked to the others and gave them an order, "Get moving. We're about to have company. I'll hold them off and join you later."
Carmen spoke up again in protest, "But, Kaige!"
"No but's, Carmen, get moving. I'll be right behind you."
Carmen looked at him for another moment before Ed grabbed her arm and pulled her further down to the other end of the alley.
Kaige spun back to face the front of the alley as he heard the one sound that would chill even the most hardened of Freedom Fighters, "SURRENDER, FREEDOM FIGHTER, UNDER ORDER OF ROBOTNIK."
Kaige snarled loudly as he lept toward the lead SWATbot and tore his claws into its torsoplate. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chief
"Well that was easy" Ryan said to Nack as he lit a cigiret " You ugly face was probably what made them stare at you, they were just laughing" "Shut up" Nack said in a friendly tone "Both of you shut up" said Wildfire "Its not over yet, we still have lots to do" "Ya ya" Ryan said as he took a drag " Lets find the others" -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 8:13:08 GMT -5
Reese
Carmen grabbed Ed's hand and pulled him along as the two turned and dashed away from the battle Kaige had just initiated. They weren't quite sure where they were at, but they knew they couldn't be too far from Nack and the others.
"Carmen," Ed called out as loud as he dared over the pounding of their feet. She slowed and swiveled her head back.
"Yeah?"
"Listen, I've been thinking about something. W-we need to stop and find cover for a minute." She acknowledged with a nod, and shortly they were hidden under the fallen canopy of what was once a drugstore. There was enough room for Ed to take off his backpack. He withdrew a small cylindrical device and punched a few keys on the side. Suddenly, the outer shell split into two equal pieces and fell away. From inside, a dish about eight inches in diameter popped up and began turning lazily. He moved back to give the device more room.
"What-" Carmen started, but Ed was already explaining the miniscule device's function.
"Its a comm scanner. It's designed to interecept the electronic pulses that the SWATbots use to recieve instructions," he said as he plugged a datapad into the base of the antanea dish. "If I can get a lock on the origin of the signal, we may know where we need to go."
Carmen raised an eyebrow. "Nice. Can it detect 'bots so we don't have to keep running into problems?"
"No, its too fragile to be used on the run. That's why we had to stop," he explained, still searching for the signal. At last, numbers and words began flashing across the pad. "Okay, I've got it.... what the-?"
"What is it?" Carmen asked, leaning forward to read the pad.
"I've got the signal, but there's no point of origin. I can't tell where the city's control center is."
"Why not?"
"There are too many different carrier bands. They're confusing the scanner." Ed deactivated the equipement and packed it away. "I have no clue why, but there are almost three hundred thousand different carrier bands. It's like whoever is relaying instructions is doing it on an individual level."
Carmen squinted. "You mean the person in charge of this city is telling each SWATbot what to do one by one? That's impossible, unless the city controler is some kind of supercomputer or something."
Ed nodded. "I don't know what it is, but I do know that these SWATbots are responding faster and with more lethal force than usual."
"So we stay even more alert than before. C'mon," Carmen said, dragging Ed to his feet. He seemed reluctant to put his electronic toys away and follow, but did without an argument. They cautiously worked their way down the street, searching for their team mates. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wildfire
Wildfire stood with a doubtful look on his face. They had since walked into the room he had swore he saw Ed and Carmen walk into, but neither of them could be found. His mind however, remained focused on Nack and that SWATbot's behavior. *It was as though they were expecting them. Could this whole thing be a coverup for something he's in on? Was he on Robotnik's payroll brforehand? I'd better keep a closer watch on him.* Ryan looked around the room, taking a long drag on his cigerette. "Wonder where they dissapeared to?" Max scoffed, "Must I do everything?" he reached into a vest poket and retrieved the radio Kaige had given him eariler. "Big Red, this is Wildfire. Do you copy? Over." Within moments, the static died away to reveal the dragon's gruff voice. "Big Red here. Any news? Over." "We ran into a SWAT problem here, nothing we couldn't handle. But we lost Ed and Carmen. Can you get a handle on them? Over." "I caught them not too long ago when they took a breif flying lesson. We ran into a passing patrol here and things got rough. I told them to take off down a nearby alley, they should be fine for the time being. But it appears that the whole city has been expecting us. Over." Wildfire looked at Nack. "Yeah, that IS a little strange. Let us know when you find them. What's your twenty? Over." "We managed to make it a few hundred yards before we were overtaken. It seems we made it somewhere into one of Centerpoint's old Residential districts. Over." "Call back as soon as you find Carmen and Ed. We need to re-consolidate. Over and Out." Wildfire placed the radio back in his vest poket. "We know the situation, now let's move. I'll bring up the rear, Ryan, you're in front, Nack, you stay in front of me." "Who the hell put you in charge?" "I believe I just did. NOW LET'S MOVE!!!" -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 8:16:13 GMT -5
John Roberts
Carmen and Ed ran through the vast city of Centropolis, carefully hiding behind every shadow, trying desperately to remain unseen. They hadn't come across any more resistance since the last attack and even then they only just made it out alive, if Kaige hadn't been there things could've turned out a lot different.
Oh Kaige, her thoughts full of worry, please be safe.
They came across another street which was well lit and offered no real places to hide, they would easily be sitting targets out there.
"We can't go this way." She whispered, not looking at Ed but instead looking down the long empty street, her eyes were searching over the empty buildings. This use to be a place where others could call home but now it was nothing, a no-place. Just empty building filled with lost souls. Carmen shuddered thinking back at how many lost their lives all those years back, how many families were ripped apart.
I miss you Mum.
"Carmen?" the urgency in Ed's voice startled her, bringing her back to reality. "I think I can hear someone coming. Maybe it's the oth-" his voice froze upon hearing the all too familiar sound of heavy footsteps approaching them from behind.
Carmen looked down the way they had just come from hoping to see something other than what she feared but as she glanced down the dark, enveloped street her face twisted into a silent scream when a large group of Swat-bots came into view. The menacing robots stopped dead in their tracks and simultaneously turned their head visors at the direction of Carmen and Ed, their metallic arms raising.
Carmen watched in absolute horror as each arm formed an eerie blue glow. Running on pure instinct, she jumped to her feet and grabbed Ed by the arm, "Run!" she screamed, sprinting out into the open street. A barrage of laser fire erupted through the air and exploded into the wall where Carmen and Ed where leaning against.
They both ran together as hard as they could, Ed almost tripping over but Carmen who was still gripping his arm, helped him keep his balance before he could fully fall.
"Come on...." she urged, "we have to keep our distance."
More laser fire flared through the air blasting into the ground only inches behind them, Carmen could feel the heat on the back of her legs.
Carmen knew they couldn't just run like this forever but it was all she could think of doing. There was no immediate place for them to hide and standing their ground and fighting was definitely not an option. All the buildings they ran past were heavily boarded up offering no offer route of escape except for the street they were now running down.
Carmen could feel her chest slightly aching form the constant sprinting they had be doing since they came here but she continued breathing heavily in time with her running, she could stay at this pace for quite a while yet. But as she glanced at Ed's bright red face and his wobbly legs losing traction from underneath him, she knew he couldn't.
In one fluid motion, Carmen swept her arms around Ed's body and lifted him up to her chest, holding him securely. Her pace was drastically slower with Ed's added weight but it was better than not moving at all. The continuous laser fire ripping into the ground behind her was a constant reminder to not stop.
Move, Carmen, MOVE! Her thoughts were screaming, her legs pumping harder.
Up ahead of them, she could see that this street turned off to the right. There was no indication that there was anywhere to hide once they reached that corner nor did she know it was safe but she was hoping for something. Anything. She kept telling herself that once they reached that corner, they would be safe, there would be some kind of escape. Deep in her heart though, Carmen feared the worse on what could really be around that corner but it was this single hope of self assurance that kept her running.
Forty meters away from the corner and she could feel herself already losing momentum. Her slightly aching chest had become more drastic now, her heart was pounding ferociously, causing a stab of pain with every beat it made. Her legs were also starting to tire, her feet feeling heavier than usual. Almost as if she was running through water, imaginary water up to her waist.
She pressed on, pushing her body to continue.
Now only fifteen meters away and she started to feel unsure of this false hope. What if there was more Swat-bots just waiting for them to come tearing around that corner, there would be no way to defend themselves from the onslaught they would most definitely receive. Carmen realized that she could very well be leading them both to their deaths.
She fastened her arms around Ed, holding him closer to her chest. She didn't want him to die, not from a course of action that she had chosen. It didn't seem fair to her see his life end because of her. She was well prepared to throw her own body in the line of fire to protect him, it was the very least she could do.
As she rounded the corner she desperately wanted to shut her eyes, she didn't want to see what could be waiting for them. There was no hope left inside of her for a safe passage, she was that sure of her death that when they were fully around the corner she was shocked to see nothing.
She stopped running and observe yet another long street. There were no enormous armies of Swat-bots waiting for them, no traps were set, just a long empty street.
Just another classic case of overacting by Carmen Rosemary. She thought to herself, One of these days girl, one of these days...
She was broken from her train of thought as a massive volley of laser fire spewed through the air from the perusing Swat-bots behind them. They were still around the other side of the corner but they were close, too close.
She started running again, her aching legs not wanting to respond but with the realization of not wanting to die laboured them on.
Out of the corner of her eye, Carmen saw something that made her heart flutter. An alleyway. A dark and narrow alleyway that could take them off the street and keep them from sight.
She was once again faced with a life threatening situation. If she could get Ed and herself into that alleyway before the Swat-bots came charging around the corner, they would be safe. But if the fast advancing robots saw them running in there, there's a good chance that that alleyway leads to a dead end and then they would be trapped.
"Nooooo!" she yelled out loud, forcing her legs into a faster pace. She was determined to make it in time. She had too.
With Ed safely in her arms she dove for the alley, plunging her body into the darkness. Before her body could succumb to rest, she quickly jumped back to her feet and continued running further into the darkness, her arms still firmly around Ed's body.
All she could think of was were they safe, did their pursuing attackers see them disappear in here?
She looked over her shoulder expecting to be chased but instead she sighed in relief as she watched each Swat-bot, one by one, run straight past the alleyway, completely ignoring the open entrance.
Carmen stopped running, she wanted to just allow her body to fall to the ground and rest but she constrained herself to remain standing. She was too afraid to let her guard fully drop.
"I think......I think we're safe." Carmen puffed, her breathing erratic.
She closed her eyes and listened to her heart beat hammering like crazy. They were safe. Once she has had a chance to catch her breath they could think of their next move. Waiting for the others seemed like a good idea but for now at least they were safe.
Her eyes would of remained closed if she didn't hear the sudden whimper of Ed.
Carmen jerked her eyes open and looked into the darkness of the alleyway, she saw an unearthly red glow appear directly in front of them. The heavy clanging of metal shook her to her very core as she watched in horror as the red glow from a single Swat-bot visor approach them. The dark alleyway was illuminated by the eerie blue glow of the Swat-bot's now visible extended arm pointing directly at them. "Nooooooooo!!" Carmen screamed, throwing Ed safely to the ground as a massive bolt of energy burst into her chest, the force of the blow sending her slender body hard into the solid alley wall. A soft cry escaped her lips as her limp body fell face first to the ground.
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 8:22:07 GMT -5
John Roberts continued
"Carmen!" Ed shouted, ignoring the Swat-bot and ran to his fallen friend. He dropped to his knees beside her and gently placed his hands over her slump shoulders. "Carmen, get up.....you have to get up.....please." Ed desperately pleaded, tears forming in his eyes. "You can't be dead.....you just can't be." Carmen made no response, her still body remained unmoving.
With trembling hands, Ed slid them underneath her and carefully rolled her onto her back, Carmen's limp body easily flipped over.
Upon seeing the gaping hole imbedded in her abdomen, the full extent of Carmen's situation started to hit him.
She wasn't talking, she wasn't moving and she wasn't breathing.
Reality hit him hard as he dropped himself over her, his arms hugging tightly around her body. He rested his face against hers, tears were freely flowing down his cheeks and onto Carmen's fury face.
"No..." he wailed, "not like this....not you."
He slowly raised his head to look over Carmen's face. He would never hear her beautiful voice again, never will he see her loving features express life and never will he be able tell her the feelings he had for her that he kept inside of him.
He lowered his face to hers, his lips slightly brushing against her still warm lips. The desire to kiss her has been in his heart for so long, so badly has he longed for this, but not like this, not this way. He rested his head against her shoulder and pressed his lips to her soft cheek, he then whispered into her ear, words that he had held secretly to his heart.
"I love you."
It was at this instant that Ed heard something that he did not expect to hear again, an exhale of breathe escaping Carmen's mouth.
He instantly sat up and watched in amazement as Carmen's chest slowly rise and fall....rise and fall. Fresh tears streamed down his face at the witness of his friend breathing again.
"Oh Carmen," he happily sobbed. He pressed himself against her, hugging her like crazy, "you're alive....alive!"
His excitement was quickly destroyed as the Swat-bot roughly grabbed hold of his arms and pulling him away from Carmen. To his horror, he saw that more Swat-bots had flooded into the alleyway and were surrounding him, each one grabbing for his body.
"No!" he shrilled, his face panic stricken. He tried to squirm around to break free but he couldn't move, they had him firmly held.
"Carmen!" he shrieked, "Carmen!!"
He continued to cry out for her as the large group of Swat-bots carried him away from her and out of the alley. His cries fell onto deaf ears as Carmen's body remained unconscious, lying hidden away in the darkness. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 8:28:59 GMT -5
Jim Doe
Every single hair from the base of Nack's neck to the tip of his tail bristled. He couldn't believe what was happening. He'd known that things would probably go bad, but this bad?
And that fucking prick, he thought angrily, imagining himself stomping Escort Boy's face into the ground under his heel, going around, telling me what to do?
He snarled, he fumed, he ground his teeth together, but he didn't make a sound as he dodged in and out of the shadows lining the deserted street. Somewhere a fair distance behind him, Chief and Escort Boy were depending on him to make sure the way was clear of SWATbots.
Yah, depending on me, even though he doesn't even trust me . . . how idiotic is that?
And thinking of SWATbots, the squad of them acting so oddly in the warehouse . . . Nack had a good suspicion why they had done so, but it was no use trying to talk sense to Sir Anal Cranium about it. He wouldn't believe Nack no matter what the bounty hunter tried to tell him.
This whole mission was a wash, as far as Nack was concerned. They were split up, most of them mistrusted Chief and himself even if they were together, the robots of the city were doing their damnedest to kill them and/or turn them against each other, and whoever was running the show obviously knew who they were and why they were there.
Nack stopped short before he leapt from his current hiding spot to find another. Continuing on in this fashion wasn't going to get him anywhere . . . he had to make a decision for the good of . . . himself.
With a heavy sigh, Nack made his decision. Reaching under his hat, he slipped the commlink headset off, deactivated it, and set it on the ground. With a quick, decisive heel-thrust, he crushed the device into the plascrete sidewalk.
"Good luck, guys," he whispered. "You're gonna need it."
-----
Centropolis' master felt a bit of grim satisfaction. This was tearing the hell out of its SWATbot and vehicle resources, but if it all came to fruition it would be well worth the price paid. The Freedom Fighters would lose four of their core members - one of which was a dragon, a special catch to be sure - and two other thorns in Robotnik's side would be eliminated as well . . . one way or another.
The satisfaction spread as it switched rapidly between the different video feeds it was recieving from around the city.
The doctor was dead, the victim of a laser bolt to the belly . . . which was just as well, as she would have made a weak workerbot, anyway.
The mechanic was in transit to a stasis pod. Normally, the city's master would have simply roboticized him straight away, but it wanted to gather all of the annoyances together and present them to it's own master, Dr. Robotnik, so that he could oversee their conversion personally. Meanwhile, they would all be frozen in stasis fields . . . the city's master didn't take very well to Dr. Robotnik's facination with old-style dungeons.
The dragon was being kept busy until a dragon-sized stasis pod could be built and all his smaller friends could be either captured or killed. Finally taking him down on his own would be hard enough, let alone if he still had his teammates to depend on.
And the other three . . . the knight, the bounty hunter, and the mercenary . . . the three of them hadn't really trusted each other any farther than they could have thrown the central command tower, and now they would be at each other's throats. While they were arguing, they would be easy to find, easy to fight, and easy to crush.
Except . . . except perhaps the bounty hunter. The city's master had heard of Nack the Weasel before, of course. Dr. Robotnik had already had a few dealings with him and considered him to be a grave threat if he ever fully joined on with the Freedom Fighters . . . but had also noted that he might be a great asset if he could be turned to Robotnik's side.
And if the others distrusted Nack enough, he may do just that . . .
-----
"Dammit."
Laying in the middle of the dirty alleyway was something that Nack had not expected . . . the Sawbones surrounded by a puddle of her own blood. At first he had thought she was dead, but the subtle rise and fall of her chest told him otherwise.
She would be dead soon, though. Her stomach looked as if it were torn open and burnt badly, she'd lost a good bit of blood, and her breathing was getting shallower by the second. Nack deliberated on the situation for a moment, then knelt down next to her still form.
Gently checking around the wound, Nack found that the damage wasn't quite a bad as it had looked from a distance. An untrained observer would have thought that the shot had gone clean through, but he could see now that it had only just broken the skin. The SWATbots must have had their lasers set on low-power mode . . . even though the guy in charge didn't seem to really care if they were dead or not, he did want to capture them if possible, it seemed.
Nack reached underneath the doctor, pulled out her medical bag, and opened it up. "Sorry, Doc," he said, "but I'm gonna need this for a second."
The Doc just let out a low moan at the sound of Nack's voice. The bounty hunter couldn't tell if it meant she was actually awake or not, but it didn't really matter as long as she sat still while he did what he had to do.
Having lived pretty much on his own for the past decade or two had forced Nack to learn a thing or two about first aid and basic surgery techniques. There weren't many hospitals out in the Great Forest or the Great Unknown, after all. With practiced efficiency, he began to empty the medpack of all the items he was going to need . . .
Ten minutes later, he sat back and inspected his handywork. The middle of the alleyway hadn't been the best of operating tables, but he thought he had done a pretty good job on patching up the Doc's wounds under the circumstances. She'd probably have a scar on her belly for the rest of her life, and it would take a few weeks for the fur to grow back in, but at least the wound was clean, closed, and bandaged.
Ever so carefully, so as not to accidentally pop her stitches, Nack lifted her up and carried her to the doorway of one of the nearby buildings. He kicked the service door open and dodged inside as quickly as he dared. He looked around to find that they were inside a large janitor's supply room. Even though it hadn't been used in ten years, it smelled strongly of disinfectant.
"It's not much, Doc," Nack said as he set her down on the floor, "but it's gonna be home for just a little while. 'Scuse me a moment while I find you something better than plascrete to lay down on, huh?"
A quick search of the building turned up several jackets, old rags, and other soft materials which Nack brought back to the supply room and spread out on the floor.
"Why . . . are you doing this?"
Nack was carrying the Doc over to the pallette when she her eyes had fluttered open. He hesitated for a moment before setting her down.
"Ya got me, Doc," he said. "People do funny things sometimes."
She smiled for a second, then coughed violently. After it passed, she looked up at him with bleary eyes and asked, "'Doc', huh? Whatever happened to 'Sawbones'?"
Nack smiled back at her and adjusted the cloth underneath her so that she could lay more or less flat.
"Look, Doc," he said softly. "I want to apologize again about what happened back in the village. And, uh, I just want you to remember . . . no matter what happens in the next few hours . . . I saved your life. I may have to call in the favor here soon, especially since I'm about to do something really stupid, and I think that you're the only one I can trust to help me out of it in the end. Can you do that for me?"
The only reply he got was a soft snore. He nodded slowly, stood up, and adjusted his gun belt. He couldn't be sure if she had heard everything he'd said, but he'd just have to hope she had. His life depended on it.
With one last look to make sure the Doc was situated right, Nack turned on his heel and left.
------ Wildfire looked down at the broken communicator.
"He wouldn't," he said incredulously.
"Oh, yah," Ryan huffed. "He would."
-----
Deep within the city's network, the Lieutenant recieved an urgent communication from the command center's alarm system. It flipped open the video feed that was being transfered to it.
Standing outside the main entryway, Nack T. Weasel was knocking on the door and looking straight into the security camera with a smug look on his face.
The Lieutenant was nearly overjoyed. It was master of the city of Centropolis, and soon it would be the master of the greatest bounty hunter alive as well . . . -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 8:31:44 GMT -5
Kaotix
This was so not one of Kaige's better days. The team had been split up into three or more groups, SWATBots were appearing around every corner, and further more whoever or whatever in charge of the city knew they were there from the beginning and now had probably had all sorts of fun traps waiting for the rag tag team of Freedom Fighters. The whole mission had gone to the pit.
The last SWATbot finally fell. The place where its head had been was now sparking and sputtering. Kaige spun as he looked around to make sure there wouldn't be any more surprises at least for a little while. No time to rest, He thought. I must catch back up to the others.
He turned and headed down the same alley that Ed and Carmen had disappeared down before Kaige got upclose and personal with the squadron of walking slag heaps. He rounded a corner and came to a stop when he saw the scorch marks on the buildings and the street. There had been a fight here... but who was in it? He dared to search for clues even though he knew that he could be maw deep in SWATbots at any time.
His blood chilled even more as he saw a familiar bag that looked like it had been tossed against the wall. Picking it up and looking through it he discovered that it was Ed's.
"Ed would never leave this stuff behind..." Kaige whispered. He sighed as he realized what must have happened and tried to put together a plan to retrieve him. As he slung the bag over his shoulder, he saw the blood on the street and against a wall. He gasped and knelt down. The dragon then took a deep sniff trying to figure out who's blood this was.
"Carmen... No...."
If anyone saw the look on Kaige's face at that moment, they would have seen of unadulterated anger, hatred, and rage. He turned toward the evil castlelike structure and snarled his defiance. "NO! I will not let you!"
He activated his comlink and spoke into it. The anger in his voice was evident. "Is anyone there?! Please respond."
"Wildfire here, Kaige."
"We have a problem. Ed and Carmen are missing. I believe that they may have been captured.
On the other side of the comm, Wildfire and Ryan looked at each other.
"Are you sure?"
"Very... Also, Carmen may be badly hurt if not worse. Who is with you right now? We need to get moving before they have the chance to roboticize them."
"Ryan is the only one with me."
"Where's the Bounty Hunter?"
"He disappeared not long after we got split up. His commlink has been smashed to bits. It looks like he did it himself."
"Great..." Kaiged huffed as he tried to calm himself. Too bad it wasn't working. "Meet me at the entrance to Sector 3. We're going in with or without that no good ball of fuzz."
"We understand. See you there."
Kaige closed the link and looked at the brooding tower once again. A snarl rose again from his throat as he glared at the offending building. "You can't have them!" Then with claws and teeth bared, Kaige made his way toward the command tower and anything that got in his way was going to get a one way ticket straight to the pit. Nobody is being left behind!
If he had stayed a moment longer, he might have heard a weak voice call out to him from one of the buildings.
"Kaige?" -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post by John Roberts on Sept 23, 2003 8:38:51 GMT -5
Reese
Ed fell to the ground, Carmen clasped in his arms. After so long, he'd finally told her his feelings, only to have her ripped out of his life. He gave into sobs that racked his body, when he felt the strong, metallic hands clench down on his shoulders and drag him to his feet. Sudden anger exploded in him and he struggled with more strength than he'd ever known, but to no avail. The SWATbot still held him in a vicegrip, pulling him out of the alley towards a waiting hovercraft. He tried again to free himself and return to Carmen's side, again to be held fast. As the SWATbot dragged him up the hovercraft's ramp, he tried desparetly to catch a glimpse of Carmen. She was out of his range of vision, blocked by the corner of the building.
"No," he whispered.
Slowly, all strength seemed to be drained from him, leaving only an empty, hopeless feeling in his heart. He ceased his futile resistance, giving into the despair.
Inside the hovercraft, several indivual stasis pods sat open. The SWATbot shoved him into one of the vaguely coffin-shaped devices, and closed the door; Ed was left in a dim bluish glow from the pod's interior lights. He could hear the robot activating the stasis chamber's neural inhibitor. Slowing his bodily functions with an inhibitor would effectively putting him to sleep until the inhibiter was deactivated. The temperature would also lower to -5 Celsius, to prevent the victim's metabolism from slowly reactivating.
The SWATbot finished the activation sequence and stepped away. Inside, Ed felt a numbingly cold breeze across his back and sides as the temperature inside his minuture prison dropped sharply. He sat in silence for a few moments, resigned to his fate. A moment later, he sat up in surprise: the pod's inhibitor had not been activated.
Or, was not functioning. More likely the later, as much of Robotnik's technology was fraught with design error and flaws. Either way, the absence of a 'bot hovering over the controls told Ed that they were unaware that he was actually awake inside. He shivered, but not from the cold inside the pod. He had had to do this once before, to get inside one of Centerpolis' underground storage facilities. The chamber hadn't been activated, but to ensure that he wasn't detected, he'd had to have his comrad's lock him inside. Once he'd been delivered to the warehouse and deposited, he'd had to open the door from the inside.
This time, however, he was without the benifit of tools to aid his escape. He felt sudden anger flame in him, from the deepest depths of his soul; he could no longer force down the absolute black hatred forming inside. Curse the tyrant who dared enslave his home and murder his loved ones!
"I'm getting out of this fucking thing!" Ed swore savagely. The emotion rushing through his body fought off the biting wind around him, warming him. He leaned up to the inside of the door, feeling for the plate that covered the basic locking mechanism. He found it, but without a screwdriver, he couldn't open it. His anger momentarily turned to frustration as he clenched his fist, about to beat on the panel. He paused as something on his wrist glinted.
His watch...
He pulled his hand back, looking closely at it. The clasp was small and flat, with a metal prong that slid into the holes in the strap. He studied it, then turned to look closely at the screws. The entire panel was small, about the size of his open palm, but all he would need to do was reach a finger in the mechanism and press down. The door would be unlocked, and he'd push the lid open. But first he had to remove the panel; he took of the watch and held the tip of the clasp to the first screw. It fit, but getting it out would be a long process. Most likely, the pod would be dropped off at a short-term storage building before he was robotisized. He estimated about ten hours at most.
Ed worked in the dark pod for an indeterminable amount of time. After what could have been an hour, he felt the pod tilt as a SWATbot wheeled it down the ramp on a cart and onto a smooth concrete floor. A few minutes later it was level again as the bot set it down. The SWATbot moved off, the familiar metalic clang of it's feet becoming more and more distant. Ed heard a dim thud, and then complete silence.
"Good," he muttered to himself. "Probably in a warehouse. Just like last time."
He hesitated, then continued to turn. He was down to one screw now, and almost finished with that one; the plate was poorly fashioned, the designer absolutely confident that the victim would be soundly asleep.
Finally the last screw fell out and Ed grabbed the panel. Digging his nails into the crack and pulling with all his might, he felt the plate slowly give. Suddenly it popped out, smacking against his chest. He held his breath, but there didn't seem to be anyone around to hear him. He reached up and pressed the metal bar down inside, flinching slightly as it clicked.
He pushed the lid open and stuck his head out cautiously. No bots within sight, but he was still edgy about the whole deal. He would have to escape from the warehouse now, but that would be nearly impossible without his security by-passer. He would definitely be detected.
Unless he managed to sneak by a SWATbot entering the building.
"Its the only way," Ed murmered to himself. Pulling it off was going to be tricky, but if he was quick and quiet, it was possible. He slid out of the pod and closed it behind him.
Sneaking by bot quickly turned into his only option. The large loading bay door began slidding open, revealing three worker bots standing in the opening. Ed dashed behind the nearest crate he could find as they entered the building. He sighed as they started loading boxes onto an anti-grav cart; they were only moving equipement out, and hadn't detected him.
He wormed his way between the crates stacked in the room, gradually working towards the door. He was within ten feet when the bots turned to exit, guiding the cart in front of them. Ed couldn't wait for another opportunity to get past; he had to leave now, before anyone discovered that he was missing from the pod.
Luck was with him again. Two of the workers took the anti-grav skid out of the building, while the third returned to the aisles of boxes. He waited until the bot was out of sight, then listened to make sure no one was outside the warehouse. He decided it was safe and crept out.
He immediately knew his location. Before the coup, this had been the street he worked on. In fact, he could see the crumbling walls of his old factory. He'd lived in Centropolis for all his life before Robotnik took over; he knew this part of the city like the back of his hand. He darted into the alley beside the warehouse and searched until he found a sewer grate.
Once in the sewer, he stopped and let the adrenalin in his body simmer down. Until that point, his goal was so intense in his mind that he was determined not to let anything stop him. Now that he stood in the dark, dank tunnel, the fear began to creep back up on him. The fear, and the unbareable sadness in his heart. Even if Carmen had been alive when he was pulled away, there was no chance that she would be now. Centerpoint SWATbots didn't take the injured, but rather killed them or left them to die.
Even so, he knew that he had to return to her.... -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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