Book 8. The wild hearts.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Closed to the fellas in this thread. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=16624)

Present Day. Tuesday. July 1st. C.P. 1810
Time. 10:00 P.M.
Place. Concordia Forest.

Concordia Forest was a gigantic tropical rain forest that was riddled with its own secrets. Supporting a vast ecosystem, there was a simplified rule commonplace in Concordia. Survival of the craftiest. Concordia Forest was divided into several sectors including one particularly infamous area where the light never touched. This particular area was located deep within the Concordia Forest and housed many dangerous monsters. It was a place that locals feared going to. Most were only willing to stay on the outskirt areas of Concordia. Trees of every sort decorated the landscape and many were gigantic sized in nature. These were the tallest of ancient red woods, some that survived an ancient fire that broke out in Concordia ages prior. The trees were witnesses to vast events that occurred within the tropical forest and kept their secrets to themselves. Many of the trees were thousands upon thousands of years old dating back to Althanas' antiquity. These trees moved with the wind and struggled with their own war to survive. Theirs was a war for the largest sources of natural sunlight, and thusly, seeds were placed in the areas of highest priority where sunlight sources were the richest indeed.

Thick was the air in Concordia. Heavy and full of humidity. The air itself was a mist like substance that flowed of its own momentum. Constant rain made the mist like cloud appear like a gathered phantasm. In fact, rains were commonplace in the Concordia Forest. This caused the floor to be unnaturally muddy, filled with quick sand pits and other similar natural disasters. One of the areas of Concordia Forest boasted its own liviol sanctum as trees of every sort grew in harmony with its own ecosystem. The outer rim sections of the vast forest was a sanctuary for those fleeing from Corone's Civil War. Going deeper into the vast rain forest meant exposing one's self to the threats that lurked within. Many a brave, or foolhardy adventurer attempted to uncover all of the secrets of the mystical place. Many never returned. Concordia was a land of mystery and as such, it would fight back to keep its secrets. A constant battle was waged within the lush environment, a battle for survival. Many were the individuals who became part of this constant warfare. Whether they wanted to or not. Monsters were constantly on the prowl and thusly, a battle could break out at any moment without the pleasantries of honor.

Survival was a deadly game. The monsters within Concordia did not hesitate to be indiscriminate about who they victimized. It was simply the natural order of survival. And so, this was the climate that a certain mutant found himself in. Currently fleeing from the mercenaries that were after him, the mutant moved through the bottommost layer of the intricate tree canopy. It was dark, and they had items that gave away their position by creating a glowing light to pierce the darkness. It was a rather large party, six heads were located within it. They wore armor with strange symbols that the mutant had never seen before. Lorenor assumed them to be The Knights of Dawn but was wrong in that assumption. They operated with a certain distinctive code. These fellas lacked any such code and were simply just after the price on Lorenor's head. He moved quickly through the tree tops, moving as fast as his frail body would carry him. He held one of his long swords in his hand as he moved across the thick branches. He was carefully avoiding local beasts of the wild lands.

The men that followed him were noisy and loud brutes. They did not know of the distinctive dangers that lurked within the forest. "I see him moving through the trees. Aim for that area over there." Devices were loaded and filled with ammunition. Lorenor kept moving as the mercenary force kept pursuing him. "Double goes to the man who brings me his head! So look alive gentlemen!" Lorenor could hear their loud commands that they gave one another through the constantly moving breeze. He had a four foot sensory array that allowed him to accurate detect anything within his sphere of influence. It functioned almost like a spider's web. Within that sphere of influence he had supernatural senses. Outside of the sphere, the world was a dull gray blur. Several weapons were fired creating further loud noises in the area. Some of the bullets and projectiles whizzed right by Lorenor's position. "Reload gentlemen. Keep at it. Our client is paying us good money for us to slouch in our performance now that we have him. You may as well come out now, beast. We're able to track your movements to a .99% of accuracy. We're only missing because you keep moving." The leader of the group boasted.

Hearing that convinced Lorenor that he wanted to keep on the move. He didn't want the individuals to capture him alive. For whatever the reason they needed him! With that thought in his head, the mutant continued to run forward formulating a plan to allow himself a chance of proper escape. They were noisy and reckless, clearly not known the distinctive threats of the Concordia Forest. He was waiting for an opportunity to get away from them and avoid a direct confrontation. They were still on the outskirts of the Concordia Forest, several miles away from Radasanthia. The mysterious mercenaries started to give chase to Lorenor hours earlier. He'd stumbled upon them as he was attempting to leave Concordia Forest and return to civilization. Lorenor immediately took to the trees knowing that they would be hard pressed to catch up to them. They were clothing and armor he'd never seen before. They were foreign attire. The mutant wondered if they were from some other nation, or if they might be off worlders. The Syndicate wore various types of clothing like the ones that they were, but the fibers were different and the fashion design was foreign in nature. With that in mind, Lorenor continued to run.

[Nautilus]

There was a rare spot of sunlight. Drops of condensation glinted on the exposed bits of her black metal frame like jewels on a beetle's carapace before the grey shadows of Concordia claimed her for their own once again. The humanoid robot sat cross legged and utterly silent among some maidenhair ferns, abdominal and scapular photovoltaic arrays spread among delicate emerald fronds. She had been sitting here for well over an hour but had yet to achieve the desired voltage, due in part to the thickness of the late afternoon mist curling slowly overhead. This shouldn't have been such a problem, but in the two months since the accident in her own universe that had left her stranded on Althanas, the bitroid's body had failed to regain any of it's original efficiency. She lost energy just as quickly as she took it. And taking it was often a struggle, especially in conditions like this.

A small brown rodent approached her left knee. Although her optic sensors were dimmed, Shadow was aware of it's presence through the security scanner she kept running despite the laughable futility of it's meagre three-foot perimeter. The furry creature had been investigating her periodically for the past forty minutes, no doubt curious about this strange, metallic-smelling thing. Shadow kept still more out of a desire to speed along her recharge by eliminating unnecessary functions than a regard for the little mammal's psychological health.

It crept even closer, the fine banded filaments of it's whiskers quivering excitedly, and soon began gingerly exploring the slightly rusted silver casing covering the joint. Shadow let it do as it pleased - after all, the rodent might inadvertently alert her to danger if it sensed anything. In another moment it hopped nimbly onto her thigh, miniscule claws tugging into the soiled brown folds of the cloak she had bundled over her lap. A couple steps had it on her wrist, near the spare compartment where she was keeping the crystal the monk had awarded her after her Citadel battle a few weeks prior.

It was by his word that she was here now, enduring the wet, sunless fathoms of the almost supernaturally green forest. She must have recalled the memory file perhaps dozens of times, hoping to learn something about him that she had failed to learn then, to decipher a clue as to how the crystal had entered his possession, how he knew so much about her, how he had done the impossible and healed her rent and shattered metal body.


The room was comfortably dark. Her fiery battle with the white-haired swordman called Vincent had been a furious one in it's final moments, but all she could focus on was the skinny robed man with hair the colour of the straw the farmers outside of Radasanth dried in their wide pastures.

"...I have somethin' that may help you in your quest to return home," he told her, rummaging in his robes. "More helpful than diggin' around in some musty old library, anyway. Ah, here you go."

Shadow dumbly accepted the small green crystal he handed her, gently turning it over in her fingers. It was smooth and round, it's surface warm, unmarred.

And yet...it was not composed of anything out of the ordinary. Just covalently bonded silica.

"I fail to understand how this can aid me. Why -- "

"Travel to the forest of Concordia. Your answer may be found there," was his cryptic response.


Had he been anyone else, Shadow might have been inclined to forget the entire conversation.

The 'troid was painfully roused from her musing by a tiny zap to her wrist compartment, and her optics flicked on to see the rodent scurrying into the ferns with something shiny and green grasped between it's buck teeth.

"The crystal!" Shadow buzzed in Machina, recalling her arrays, grabbing her cloak and leaping up in a whir of hydraulics and busted gears in dire need of a good cleansing. The modified crossbow she was storing in her renovated cannon chamber emerged, stretched it's arms and loaded a bolt as she stumbled after the thief. Unfortunately Shadow didn't have much of an opportunity for a decent chase, when a sharp, loud POP sent her head over support claws into the dewy foliage. She missed seeing the figure that was frantically vaulting through the boughs above.

"Did ve get him?" came a shout in the region's Common dialect.

"Nah, the lil' bastard's still on the move. Must'a been a local!"

She had been hit through her shoulder with a solid projectile and was leaking tethanol, but the wound appeared minor. Shadow adjusted herself into a crouch behind a giant redwood trunk, cursing the idiot who had shot her for letting the larcenous rodent escape. It would be murder trying to find it now. Rustling footsteps drew nearer and then slowed. She ducked a bit lower, clenching her fists in frustration. Every nanosecond spent waiting for the hunters to disperse was a nanosecond closer to loosing the Ai'brone monk's mysterious gift.

AUGH. Scrap it...!

If she had bothered to train her auditory receivers on the group instead of assuming that they would simply continue on their way, no further harm done, she might have been prepared for what came next. Not that it would have improved her situation any.

"GOTCHA!"

Shadow sprung backward and landed hard on her aft. The barrel of a very familiar weapon had been shoved into her face, so close she could smell the acrid, vaguely citrusy tang of the various reactive chemicals located deep within it's mechanism. Her optics only widened further when she saw what was holding it.

"...Lepidopterax?" she inquired hesitantly in the gunman's tongue.

"Yew bet yer shiny metal bee-hind," the large floating insect replied slickly in Common, flaring the two pairs of dusty grey insect wings that plumed from it's spindly thorax. Six rosy compound eyes, arranged with the smallest centered above it's mandibles and the largest on the sides of it's round fleshy head, glared with the usual feral intensity shared by all it's kind. It bobbed gently a foot or so from the ground, held aloft by humming anti-grav projectors positioned on the special suit protecting a frail, tapering physique designed for low gravity environments.

The rest of the group appeared in short order, each donning a variation of a dull blue and black uniform occasionally supplemented with biomechanical armor. Besides the menacing Lepidopterax, there were four male humans and a six foot-tall mechanical Tripod - aptly named as it used three large triple-jointed legs that ended in smooth, rounded stumps. A comparatively ancient Scouting Class bitroid. The "cranial unit", if it could be called as such, was wedge-shaped and a single, glowing red slit that served as it's visual sensor streaked vertically down the length of it.

"Put that bow away and get your arms in the air," commanded a tanned man with mismatched grey and yellow eyes. A few of his teeth had been replaced with sharpened metal prosthetics, and she fleetingly wondered after their purpose. A hard stench wafted from behind them.

"I won't say it again!" he roared, and Shadow reluctantly recalled her crossbow and put her arms up.

"Who said dese t'ings aim bad," contentedly sighed a shorter man with streaks of grey slicing his charcoal hair and goatee. He was patting an Althanian single-shot firearm with all the affection of a proud master rewarding a profitable tracking hound.

"I'd be more inclined to agree with you Vex if you had actually shot what we're gettin' paid to shoot, and not some stinkin' robot," growled a burly, bald-headed specimen sporting an electronic blue eyepiece. Sweat glossed his pallid brow and he distractedly produced a grungy purple kerchief to sponge it away. Across his shoulder was slung a light automatic-firing Ultraim subtroidal rifle. The Tripod behind him, one of it's thick grey legs sporting a blue stripe to affiliate it with the group, she supposed, honked airily in agreement. The other man, scrawny and sunburnt and easily the youngest present, was standing off to the side and concernedly examining a portable tracking device. His own firearms were small and holstered.

"So," snarled Mismatched Eyes, crossing heavily tattooed arms over his thin chest. The previously neon green ink, spilt purposefully in jagged patterns mimicking what one might see on a circuit board, gradually turned bright orange.

Scrap it. Whatever they were chasing before should be counting it's lucky stars right about now.

"This is rather interesting. Let's start with the basics, hm? Tell me why you're here."

"I ask could ask the same of you," said Shadow coolly, worries over her stolen crystal rapidly paling in lieu of this little encounter.

These people where not from this universe.

They were from hers.

[Mithra Reborn]

"Finally, a freshwater spring!" Darcy exclaimed, wearily letting her pack slump off her shoulder to hit the mossy ground below her. The past two days of searching for this 'armored snake' have been taxing for someone who spent most of her life at sea. There was a small crash of leaves and soon her first mate and longtime friend Deilio was by her side, leaves sticking out of his head of thick brown curls.

The clearing was beautiful, A small stream pooled out into a clear pond out of the mossy floor, the sun filtering through to show them a small array of fish nipping at one another. The flowers surrounding were especially lovely, more extravagantly colored than most ladies of court. Deep it was too, for Darcy couldn't see the bottom.

"Rather mean, those trees," He commented, scratching some leaves free of his hair. "Don't see why you had me climb it. If there was a giant silver snake with armor-like scales, I think we'd see it coming."

"Right, well, that way at least we'd have a five second warning before getting our heads ripped off, right?" She replied dryly, unlacing her black leather cinch, letting the small layer of chain mail fall away from her slim, curved body. Deilio's freckled face reddened. "What are you doing?" He asked as she kicked off her boots, striped pants and over-skirt.

"Taking a bath, what does it look like I'm doing?" she told him airily, unbuckling her rather large belt. She was now down to the under dress(which has a large slit on one side showing one of her legs), her eye patch and her undergarments. Deilio turned away with his back to her, glanced once when she took off the under dress, and turned back, redder than the nearby exotic flower(which was so deep scarlet it may have been purple).

"Let me ask you something, Deilio," She told him as she got in the water stark naked, her hands scrubbing dirt out of her long, wavy black hair and off her heart-shaped face. "I've known you for over a decade now. Fourteen years, actually. And of those years, how many times have you seen me naked?"

"...once-" He started, stammering and still red to the face, not daring to look a second time.

"-Oh please, more than that!" Darcy exclaimed. "Once, when someone had taken me captive about twelve years ago, when Ransieg sent you to get me. Another time, about seven, at the Festival of Fertility when all women are supposed to go naked. And then that time ago not a year passed when-"

"Alright, alright, what's your point?!" Deilio asked, almost turning at her in annoyance, but he kept his modesty.

"My point is, why is it after all of those times, you still have this false sense of modesty?" She took a break to dunk her head underwater to wash her hair, the variety of the underwater life only distracting her for a moment until she came back up, both eerily bright green eyes still square on the blushing maid she saw before her. "If it's fear of Ransieg-"

"It's not," Deilio assured her. He turned around to find her shoulder deep in water. A pair of misty gray eyes struck her green. "You shouldn't be bathing right now anyways! If someone comes, or the snake, then what are you going to do?"

That made Darcy laugh. "And you think that the little layer of chain mail and my clothes are gonna protect me from an arrow shot, or a giant snake's teeth?" She looked him up and down. "You're filthy. Wash up, now, or I drag you in."

He sighed and answered, "Only when you get out."

She was done anyways. She got out of the water and used her thick over skirt to dry off. This time though, Deilio didn't look, nor blush, nor turn around. He was off somewhere else, Darcy knew. It was mean of her to do what she did, she knew. He was just trying to be a good friend and all, but for some reason when ever she made joking advances, he always got so uptight and 'proper'. She dismissed the thoughts and continued dressing.

After Darcy had put on her undergarments and under dress, Deilio stripped down to his undergarments wordlessly and waded in, leaves falling off of him as he dunked under the water.

By the time he was out and dressing, a rustle and voices were heard, when a...well, a something human-esque had burst from the trees, obviously running from something, and was out of the clearing just as quick. There was a small pause where Darcy and Deilio glanced at each other(still partially dressed) when a huge band of men burst forth, so loud that hundreds of colors took flight from the thick trees, blending to one unique shade as they took for the sun.

Darcy drew her scimitar and one of her throwing knives, Deilio his pair of short swords, for soon some were aiming arrows at them.

"What is it you want?" Darcy called, moving one arm up more, for her under dress had slipped some and she had no real desire to flash anyone aiming an arrow at her throat. "We're just travelers passing through that took a break to bathe, no cause for trouble," called Deilio.

"Pretty strange of travelers that mean us no harm to hold up swords against us," The head honcho of the hunters told them. "A mutant passed through here a few seconds ago, we lost track of the direction. Would you mind telling us which way he went?"

She dropped her scimitar, but hid the throwing knife up her sleeve. Deilio had to put down his weapons, but it was obvious to those that knew him well that he was still tense and ready to move at the first arrow shot. Darcy smiled wanly and asked, "Why should I tell you?"

"Because he's an abomination that deserves to die, that's why!" he called hastily. "Now tell us, we're losing the trail!" He already broke up his men, sending most out in all directions in hopes that one would be enough. But something about his expression told her he wouldn't be easy for one alone.

Well...this 'abomination' might know about the snake. And life's been too quiet. Darcy thought to herself quietly. I spose its time to make my bounty higher.

Darcy sauntered slightly closer to four men left, and quickly both archers moved to her, the swordsman of them with a hand casually on the hilt. "And, what has this abomination done exactly?" she asked coyly.

"That's not relevant when you have your life at stake!" he responded.

"You won't kill me. Or my friend," Darcy stated matter-of-factly. No man who did not recognize her from the wanted posters ever did. They were too busy staring elsewhere to lie to her straight-faced about killing her.

"And why is that?" He asked her, looking up to her face finally. She moved closer, now close enough to yank away the bows if she had to.

"You can't kill when you're already dead," She whispered. She yanked away the bows in a quick motion and attempted a slash at the man's big belly. It grazed him, but she was pulled back, by one of the archers, who had a dagger in his hand and was trying to slash at her. The other archer had recuperated enough to grab his bow, but Deilio had picked up his short swords and joined the fray, landing a slice to the bowstring, cutting it easily. But now he had the swordsman drawing his longsword and the swordsman and the head honcho coming at him, though the fatter head honcho had a sword as well. Darcy was by him soon though, the archer laying in a pool of blood that trickled away from the pond, as if it repelled the taint in its clarity. She had his dagger and her knife in her hands, not having enough time to go back to get the scimitar.

This is bad...I don't think we have enough strength to hold all of them at once... Darcy remembered thinking as she let the dagger meet the other archer's dagger before blocking a blow to Deilio by the head honcho.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Something happened. Lorenor realized that the mysterious men were no longer giving him chase. One of the strange aspects of the situation was that there apparently seemed to be two large groups of the mercenaries. The mutant caught wind of that when he realized that there were just way too many people after him. He stopped to catch his breath. Looking around his person, he concentrated on the breeze and saw that he was within a certain section of Concordia Forest that had a large pond within it. A girl and a man were being confronted by several individuals. Lorenor could see that. He could also see, thanks to his vantage point, that a mysterious individual, (Shadow) was also being confronted by a group of individuals. So the road split right before Lorenor's eyes. I have to do something. A third option presented itself as well. Moving nearby, a rodent carried a mysterious shard of some crystal or another in its mouth. The rodent thief squeaked happily as it moved off with its prize passing right by the ghoul. Lorenor decided to intervene on fate's behalf and intercept the rodent.

A quick swipe from Lorenor's weapon decapitated the rat and caused the head to roll towards the ghoul's feet. Lorenor sheathed his weapon and knelt down towards the dead animal. His hands carefully wrapping around the head and removing the crystal shard from the skull. He pocketed the crystal as he recovered it from the corpse and prepared to go on his way. When more voices crossed his sensory array. "There he is!" Someone yelled. Lorenor cursed in silence. Despite the darkness all around him, the mutant knew that he was rapidly running out of cover. "I can't see him." Cried a second individual. They had accents that were thick and Lorenor couldn't recognize any of them despite the fact that they were speaking in the common tongue.
Lorenor prepared his weapons and readied himself for inevitable combat. The mutant needed to give himself some leeway from the individuals that he was currently facing. They gave off distinctly bright blood vibrations as he looked at them with his infra-red vision. The mutant jumped down to the ground level of the jungle floor and crouched, his movement silent and completely controlled.

He landed like a ghost. One of the individuals was a tracker. He was busily looking at a device that was clearly responsible for giving his position away to the group of mercenaries. They were getting closer. Lorenor had a sword in each hand and prepared himself for the battle. His blood was already pumping through his vessel. Lorenor stood up from the rather high fall gracefully and with some degree of ease. The mutant then moved through the underbrush preparing to systematically cut the strangers down one by one. "He's on the move again." A moment later came the response. "Where!?" A third response followed. "Right there!" Shots in the darkness. Weapons of a foreign engineering were shot into the dark and the night was lit up with an eerie glow. There was a strange sound as of energy being launched from a controlled device and this sound burst through the air with crackling ferocity. Trees burst with power when the glowing rounds impacted against them and the battle began. Lorenor moved with a purpose, a distinctive formality that came with the level of training he'd managed to acquire in his career.

His movements were graceful, almost beautiful. The nearest of the men was an individual with many strange markings and tattoo on his arms. The man had a thick build about him and he was busily firing away that bizarre weapon in his hand. Lorenor had to evade what he could when he saw the green bolts of energy cascading through the air. Muffled explosions filled the clearing as he ran towards his target. "I got him right here boys!" The man responded even as Lorenor readied his beautiful damascus swords. Bringing them up to bearing, the mutant swordsman suddenly rushed forward with his right arm, bursting into action. He evaded an incoming blast at the last moment. The man suddenly brought up a weapon system of his own. A sword of some type manifested within microseconds. There was a loud clanging of swords, and the mutant held the man in place. "You're an annoying wee bastard to chase after. But you're gonna be well worth the bounty on your head once we capture you. Dead or alive." Lorenor heard this from the grinning man. "Who sent you?" The mutant asked.

"You're in no position to demand anything." Came another voice from behind him. Some of the mysterious individuals had split off from the main party to hunt Lorenor down. The other squadron was nowhere to be seen. "Surrender now and there won't be any trouble. Well. Anymore trouble than necessary."
The mutant pondered his situation quickly. Tactics, plans, and strategies formulated in his head as he considered his situation when all of the sudden, more individuals manifested from the darkness. He was surrounded! There were six of the strangers all together, all dressed in alien fashion. Lorenor held his weapons tightly in his hands and relaxed his stance a bit. He realized how hopeless his situation was. Stepping backwards a few paces, the mutant let his swords return to their scabbards. "All right. Now what is this about?" The man who was observing the mysterious tracking device whistled to something in the dark. A serious of loud metallic legs burst into the clearing and Lorenor was suddenly staring at a machine. It's one red eye looked the mutant dead in his face. "...zzz...Subject 666 Lorenor V'Halkulus. Wanted. Murder in the First Degree. ...zzzt... Conspiracy to commit murder. Thievery. Theft. Hundreds of counts of First Degree Murder.
The slaughter of an entire village. ...Zzzzt....How do you plead to these charges against you?" The robot said in an uncaring cold voice.

The man who was apparently their superior officer spoke for the rest of the group. "Bare in mind. Everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. We are recording this conversation in its entirety. So don't try to bullshit your way out of this one Lorenor. Cause you can't." Lorenor kept looking at the strangers around him. "What do you want?" The ghoul asked. "Our job is to turn you into the Radasanthian Empire. The Knights of Dawn are eager to get their claws on you." The man said with a deep smirk on his face. Take him." He added and motioned his heads to his fellows. The men around him gathered melee sticks and other such implements of devastation and walked casually towards Lorenor. You win this round bastards. He gritted his teeth and prepared himself for the beat down that was about to happen. If only I was stronger. The first impact connected with his rib cage. It sent him to the floor. They began to hit him over and over with their clubs and melee batons. The sounds of muffled crunching noises filled the clearing. "Incapacitate but don't kill." The man with the tracking device turned something on that was in his right ear and spoke into it.

"Lepidopterax. We have him. Prepare the cage."

[Mithra Reborn]

Finally. The opportunity Darcy was wishing for. "Isn't that your monster there? your abomination?" She asked. "Those are rather queer people, wouldn't you say? they're taking your prize." She dodged the swing of the archer's dagger and embedded the dagger in his belly, taking his other one and tossing down the crude throwing knife to pull the dagger out and keep fighting. she'd had some grazes, as well as Deilio, but nothing major was injured.

"As if I'd turn around in a battle!" He exclaimed. she saw shadows of people returning. Well, shit, she thought angrily. His allies are coming back. But he has see or we're dead... she blocked the blow he tried to deal with his longsword by crossing the two daggers in front of it. Quickly, she used the opening to slide the sword downwards till she could kick it from his grip and bring the two daggers to his throat. she raised her eyebrow for half a moment. Deilio was kind enough to lead the swordsman away from their fight and was no doubt keeping him too busy to turn around and see.

"Now then, my dear old friend, lets have a little pirouette, aye?" Darcy asked the man playfully as she turned him around, keeping the daggers on him. He could now see the abomination.

It was then that all of the men of his came to the clearing, crossbows raised. "Don't worry about me!" he screamed. "That group of bastards there is taking our bounty! Get them, don't let them get away!" The men hesitated for one second before going after the stranger men and the abomination.

Darcy smiled, and shoved him away. "Go join them or you can join your archers," She told him in a fairly neutral tone.

"And your swordsman!" Deilio added, a trail of blood leading to behind the tree next to him shining prominently in the afternoon sun. The head honcho pursed his lips, but followed.

Darcy sighed, and dropped the daggers. "Well, at least we filled our quota of fighting, right?" Deilio shook his head. "Here, let me see your arm. That gash is going to be infected if I don't treat it soon."

She sighed, and sat down next to the pool. He doused it in water, and then took out a skin of wine from his pack. Darcy bit back her scream as the alcohol stung it's way through her cut. after putting a poultice that he made on the ship over the wound, to make the healing process faster, he bandaged it up tight with some strips of wool cloth. "It should take three days at least to full close up. the muscle will take longer to heal. I suggest fighting with your right arm primarily, cause your left is going to be soar as well as hard to fight with," Deilio counseled her. Darcy winced as he tightened the bandages and tied them in a firm knot around her arm. "Now, how bout we finish getting dressed?"

Darcy found it amazing that she, dressed only in her undergarments, under dress and pants and Deilio still shirtless and bootless were able to take on four men who all had more armor then them, though she did not voice it. If we defeated them that easy, they are obviously all talk, no work. The guard that that head honcho man had was the shittiest I've seen since I was showing my deckhand a thing or two.

Though, Darcy could not help but realize something about the abomination as she pulled on her boots, over skirt, and belt. The abomination had something glimmering in his pocket. The light was hitting it just right. It looked green...a gemstone. That was it, a gemstone! Darcy hurriedly put on her black leather cinch and eye patch, throwing back her still damp hair.

"Deilio, we're going to save that abomination!" She called to him from where he was filling up the water skins. He arched an eyebrow. "Are you insane Darcy?! Look at all the men there! You're suggesting suicide!"

It was then she opened her ears and heard it. Hundreds of counts of First Degree Murder. The slaughter of an entire village. ...Zzzzt... "Well, not really. He can fight too!" She told him. "I'm going in, whether you help me or not." She drew her scimitar and walked to the crowd of men. Deilio sighed, looked to the sky with a 'why me?!' expression on his face and trotted off to catch up with her.

As Darcy came up behind the men, she was very quiet. It was only when she stabbed a bowman that they turned to her. swords and crossbows alike were on her. She gave them a sweetly sheepish grin. "I'll be taking that man now," She said casually, as if she were shopping in the market. Deilio was behind her, short swords still bloody from last fight.

[Nautilus]

"It'll be mah long-antiss-ee-pated pleasure, Milo."

Lepidopterax lowered one of it's several flimsy appendages from a metal circlet that had been implanted into the side of it's head, keeping the gun pointed at Shadow. It took at least eight of it's other arms to simply hold the thing, the delicate appendages wrapped firmly in the black grav suit overlapping one another many times over around the handle. Physically, the Risiq species were exceedingly frail with skin like wet paper that showcased every gooey innard, and if it had not been for that impressive psi-reactor bolt gun, Shadow had an inkling that the insectoid might be swiftly dispatched. As it stood, all she could do was kneel.

With another free arm Lepidopterax flicked a red sphere no bigger than a coin into the bruised lichen. A three by four cube composed entirely of pulsating blue energy sprung into existence around an inch above it, levitating in a similar fashion to Lepidopterax's anti-grav units.

"Won't be long now," the insect gurgled happily to itself. Noticing Shadow's disapproving stare, it clicked the translucent mandibles hanging from the equivalent of a Risiqian jaw and tapped her cheek plate with the barrel.

"Lovely planet, yew agree? This'll be our seventh...naw, ninth catch in a single lunar cycle! Primitive lil' bastards! Kin yew believe that, lil' miss iron-shanks? An insect could get migh-tee comfortable here!"

"And just what is your objective, here?" Shadow queried, sticking to the Common tongue the Risiq seemed to favour. "Surely it is not limited to the acquisition of this useless Althanian currency?"

"Why, that ain't none o' yer business, miss," Lepidopterax drawled in it's thin, reedy voice with fake pleasantry, fanning it's wings again. "Though I'm sure Commandah Rocco'll want to figure the same of yew, Bitroid, when 'e gits back with our prize there. Yes indeed-ee!"

=+++=

Rocco stepped neatly over Lorenor's crumpled body, his peculiar bi-coloured eyes flashing aggressively amid the darkness of his lined face. Extensive tattoos were now blackened rouge.

"Lady, this here's our damnable mutant, not yours," he stated gruffly, motioning with his holomatter sword at the bloody competition in their entirety. Behind him Rip dabbed quickly with the kerchief at his profusely sweating scalp before hiking the rifle onto a meaty shoulder. Vex had his Althanian firearm aimed at the woman's companion with one hand and his rapier drawn in the other, grinning like an amateur taxidermist who had just stumbled upon the road-kill find of a lifetime. The Tripod in the meanwhile had positioned itself protectively over Lorenor, the youthful Tracker standing near it with a palm resting against it's metallic armoring. He did not have any weapons out but was eyeing them all guardedly.

"Zzzt...Tri--iip--o-o-oddd-dd Six Three Six Delta does not reccomm-men-mend engagement...zzz...Your opposition is heavily armmmmed with superior weaponry," the machine pointed out tonelessly.

"I agree with Trip over there," said Rocco, baring his grotesque dental work at the scantily-clad woman. His gaze slithered suggestively over her body.

"Hm. Best be getting along now, darling."

[Mithra Reborn]

That's it, Darcy thought, one hand on her slim, curved waist that was accentuated by the black leather cinch. Take a nice, good look Bucktooth - this is probably the most you'll see of a woman outside the brothel. And Ransieg says I have no way to protect myself with just a flimsy layer of mail. If there was anything she thanked the gods for, it was for blessing her with her beauty. It served more to her than her sword did on some occasions. Especially now, as the sun warmed her wet hair dry, the natural black waves flipping out nicely to complement her playful green eyes(or in this case the one that wasn't covered by the eye patch)

"Now now, hear me out," she said, lowering her sword and sauntering closer, a bit or a swing in her hips as she gradually made her way towards them. While Rocco was obviously staring somewhere other than her face, Darcy flashed her eye towards Vex and flashed him a small smile, showing beautifully white and straight teeth complemented with a little wink. Deilio watched the others around her as she moved forward, but did not move himself. "You see, my fellows, this mutant is my indentured servant," She began weaving naturally, making it sound as plausible as possible. "He stole from my father's ship a few months ago. Father was going to lop off his head, but you can imagine that looking like that nobody would have wanted to hire him, or to feed him. The poor man was only hungry."

She came even closer, the tips of her middle and index finger walking up the blunt side of Rocco's blade like legs. "So I took him as my indentured servant. He ran off with one of my mother's gems a few nights ago, and me and my betrothed have been in pursuit. He had another ten months to go, but I suppose I ought to be fair and extend that to fourteen months." She nodded back to Deilio, who nodded in turn. He always wore a simple silver ring on his ring finger, and most mistake it for a betrothal ring, so she knew that one would pass.

Her slender form walked away from Rocco to kneel down to Lorenor, the slit in her skirts parting to show the thin red and white striped pants under. "Either way, this capture is hindering the contract made, and if you take him away before his duties with me are done, you are breaking Althanian law," She reminded them, the tinge of sweetness less audible in her voice. "Until fourteen months from now, he belongs to me, so you can either let him go so we can return to the ship and go home, or I go have a chat with the captain of guard in Corone," she offered them. "My father's a friend of his."

Darcy hoped after all that they'd see it her way. Who said she meant to fight them with swords? The relief on Deilio's face was eminent, but she doubted the others were looking at him that present moment.

She looked through the containment...thing they put the mutant in and looked through it to inconspicuously inspect the other weird thing. The...woman? What was it? It was so shiny when the light hit it...it looked kind of...human, only built of metal. Is that what the snake is...a giant, metal snake? Darcy asked herself. She pulled her mind from that to look at the bruises and breaks in the bone that she could see. "And for what reason did you have a need to beat my indentured servant, even after you had him cornered and he submitted?" she said, this time with a slightly sugared sound of anger somewhere in her tone.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

On the ground, Lorenor bled profusely. The strangers gathered their numbers and wrapped their clutches about his person. Pulling him up and off the ground, several of the individuals began to drag the much lighter mutant across the ground. His body shuffled across the soft earth, dirt and mud beginning to cake his lord's clothing.

When they dragged Lorenor to a certain position, the device panel was ready to transport their prisoner. Several of the men hoisted Lorenor mightily upon the flat silver panel and tossed him upon it. It was a simple seven by seven grid that had cylindrical shapes attached to the corners of each of the squares. These had spinning LCD screens that were colored white, and rotated around the cylinders. Each was positioned in evenly placed pairs. In a moment, the machine came to life and several bars of energy hummed into existence. These bars wrapped themselves around the length of the cage to keep the prisoner trapped within. A mysterious humming sound filled the air as the bars of energy crackled with power. They quickly solidified into metallic shapes that were augmented with the properties of the energy within. The ceiling of the cage was fairly high at approximately eight feet tall in height. The whole thing was closed off. The bottom section had complex machinery attached to it that created an anti-gravity well. This effect caused the entire cage to hover off the ground roughly two feet.

Creating a humming sound virtually eliminated the destroyed the elements of stealth and surprise. The machine was heard for approximately several yards in every direction creating a specific humming frequency that was intended to capture a certain, rather dangerous animal. A bio-mechanical one. The mutant trapped within the cage was merely one ingredient in this sordid state of affairs. Individuals moved around the cage and tapped a panel within one of the many control devices of the cage. It was clear that they were going to call Darcy's bluff. The man with the tattoos on his arms spat on the girl and looked at the girl calmly. "Tough break kid. Your servant here's wanted. I don't care who you know. We're contracted by the Knights of Dawn to bring in all members of the Cult of N'Jal. This fella here's wanted for multiple counts of murder. I'm afraid you loose. Pack it up fellas. We're haulin' ass." Though it was clear that the man with the tattoos was sexually attracted to the pirate named Darcy, he was clearly not an idiot. His men gathered their belongings, including the mechanical robot, and began to walk further into the forest.

It was clear that something else was amiss here. Lorenor's eyes managed to open wide as he stared at the environment around. His sensory array was limited only to the area within the cage, for whatever reason. One of the nearby guards noticed that the mutant was awake. "Hey. Look. The thing's awake now!" A nearby fellow grinned at that and turned his attention to his partner. "Better to have him awake for what's coming. It'll be more fun that way after all." The first man laughed. "You think this will work? I mean, how did it even end up here?" The second man looked at the mutant for a long moment, examining him. "He really doesn't look all that tough." Vex suddenly came by the talking duo's side. "He was smart enough to surrender. Remember that, and keep on your guard at all times." They both nodded, preparing their side arms and training them on the mutant. "Sir Vex, we're not taking him back to the Knights of Dawn are we?" Vex shook his head in the negative. "No. There's been a change of plans. And the man grinned widely as he walked forward to catch up with the man with the tattoo markings.

They left Darcy and entourage behind.

[Nautilus]

Alright, I'm back. Sorry for the longer than expected wait. Also guys, we really need to start paying more attention to each other's posts. There are already several continuity errors...

Shadow marched complacently before the ever-vigilant blaster-toting Risiq, hands clasped behind her cranial unit. There was no use in resisting them, this much was obvious, though her thoughts continually meandered back to the issue of the missing crystal, and she wondered if she'd be able to track the little animal down and reclaim what was rightfully hers should she be able to escape.

The group was entering a more heavily wooded area, and the bounty hunter who called himself Rocco periodically hacked away interfering pine boughs with his blade instead of simply directing his entourage around the trees. They all behaved as if they hadn't been planetside for quite some time, relishing every crackle of forest refuse beneath their boots and every intake of the cool humid air. Shadow still couldn't wrap her processors around why they might possibly want to accomplish by being here, accepting orders and, oddly enough, payment from the indigenous people. Why they bothered to keep her was another matter entirely.

The addition of the Tripod was particularly piquing, the fact that it was openly cooperating with the organics even more so. Those models had been removed from the assembly lines years before her own creation, when biocybernetic engineering was just entering it's prime. Survivors from that long lost era had fallen into dysfunction and since become reclusive and quite dangerous in their demented state. Yet 'Trip', as it's companions had dubbed this particular unit, was fairly functional, possibly thanks in no small part to it's shadow, that twiggy human male.

The others were nothing special. Run-of-the-smelting-plant floaters, she guessed, sporting the recognisable cybernetic implants and technological doodads that were not uncommon in a universe where machines outnumbered sentient organic life three to one.

"Sir, I think you need to have a look at this."

Rocco halted the party with a wave of his knotted hand and appeared at Milo's side immediately. The two were studying the screen of the tracking device with sharp intent. Rocco's face betrayed little identifiable emotion, however the younger man looked pretty nervous.

"Somethin' up?" queried Rip from the rear of the group, fingering his kerchief. Rocco was scratching at the light stubble around his lips.

"Yeah. Yeah, somethin's up alright," he said at last, looking around them, his gaze resting on Lorenor before shifting contemplatively on the bitroid, who matched his stare unblinkingly. "Looks like our girl is on the move again. Caught 'er on the scanner, but she must have got wise and cloaked herself before we could lock her signal. We'll prolly be seeing each other real soon..."

Darkness flashed across his craggy face then, and in the space of only a handful of seconds Rocco spun, drew a handgun of sorts and fired into the deepening dusk behind them, nearly clipping Trip with the virulent green energy bolt. There was a small explosion in the dense underbrush nearby which had Milo on his knees, and a spray of mechanical bits and what looked like glowing blue liquid burst over the foliage. Simultaneously an unearthly shriek, like two ragged steel plates being ground and crushed together, shattered the air and startled birds from their roosts for miles around.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Lorenor had to keep the act up. He was regenerating, quite slowly he would admit to himself, but he was regenerating none the less. The smaller bruises healed much faster than the heavier damage he'd sustained during the rough fight. Lorenor rested in the cage as his injuries healed upon themselves. The mutant realized that as he was healing, he'd gotten quite hungry. That didn't pose a right proposition for the gathered forces at all. Lorenor stirred in the cage and attempted to assess the situation at hand. These people are off worlders. I've heard about them before. Maybe I can steal some of their technology when I get the chance to.

Lorenor sat up and noticed the thick bars of metal surrounding him. He weakly reached out to the bars and touched them. His hand instantly jolted backwards from the impact of raw energy that the cage gave off. One of the nearby mercenaries looked at Lorenor with a grin and motioned towards a second individual that stood by his position. "Hey, it's awake! Check it out." The man called out to his superior officers. They turned towards the merc and exchanged words with him. "Keep and eye on him. Make sure he doesn't try anything funny. The locals fear him."

"Why? He surrendered without even putting up a fight."

"Right. And that shows intelligence, which makes him dangerous. So keep an eye on him and shut the fuck up. Do as you're told. We're all gonna b very wealthy after this operation anyway."

Lorenor heard that part despite the energy bar's influence. He couldn't detect things outside of the energy bar's field, but he could detect things that were close by. They were foolish enough to allow him to keep his possessions. They were obviously either quite brilliant, or quite foolish. Lorenor thought about the situation at hand and pondered how he'd gotten into it. An insect like creature came up to them with another creature that Lorenor had never seen before. This was all too much. This situation got from weird to weirder. He just had to plan his escape.

Those arrogant bastards didn't even bother to try to bind me. I'll teach them for that. Sitting up, he was able to get a better view of the situation. There were quite a few of the mercenaries, but it was still a small tactical force. It was still difficult to ascertain their exact numbers, but they were easily over ten individuals. Their level of technology is what interested Lorenor the most. He observed them casually without looking directly at him. He was waiting for a cue to make his move.

[Mithra Reborn]

Darcy's green eyes stayed cool at that. She gave a curt smile as they left, wiping the spit from her forehead before it could dribble down to sting her eyes. "Remind me, Deilio, If we see them again, to kill the fat bastard," She said quietly after they had passed away some distance. "But what was all that? I mean, that one thing was floating and metal!" she began asking him in the futile hope he knew something. But he merely shook his head. Darcy clicked her tongue in frustration, and began pacing.

What is with all of this bloody metal work? she asked herself impatiently. metal people, metal contraptions, some sort of cage that wasn't metal, but I don't think it was magic either...wait... A thought was churning in her head as she continued pacing, Deilio's insistence that they go in the other direction in search of the snake only faintly in recognition. The snake...'A giant snake of silver with scales that could deflect arrows...was it metal?' Darcy looked to the odd group, noting the metal woman's armor.

"No," Darcy commanded, never moving her eyes from the motley that was marching out of sight. "You can go in that direction to search if you feel that splitting up is a wise decision, but I am going to follow these people - I have a hunch." She looked over to Deilio through her uncovered eye. A tacit vow was exchanged, and Deilio said in a quiet tone, "I'm quieter on foot. I'll tail them on the floor, you get up the trees," He said in his warm, earthy toned voice. Darcy nodded, and climbed up the nearest tree easily. It felt a big like climbing up the rope net to a crow's nest, so many hand holds that can save your life, or let it slip away. She couldn't see Deilio from where she was, but she could still glimpse the motley ahead of her. Please, oh gods, tell me my hunch was for true, Darcy begged, taking a moment to hide behind a thick branch of leaves before continuing, making sure to step in the areas with the most moss to silence her feet on the wood.

[Nautilus]

The serpent that came at them from the bushes had to be at least fifty feet long and was as broad as a redwood trunk, with a large, flat spaded head sporting six illuminated orifices pulsating a cool, dim turquoise. The sharp metal scaling that cloaked the beast undulated in ripples down the length of it's extravagantly chrome hide, propelling it along at an impossible speed. There was a gaping crater in it's midsection that oozed the glowing blue substance of before, and if one were to take a chance and gaze closely in it's depths, they would see an otherworldly conglomeration of scorched pink flesh and machinery working in unison.

There was a strong sulfur smell.

Shadow turned, flabbergasted for the small moment before she realised this could be used to her advantage. With Rocco and his team throwing rapid fire at the behemoth monster, Shadow spun and delivered a heavy kick at Lepidopterax's anti-gravity generators, throwing the insect into an uncontrolled whirl. It clicked and screeched in anger, sending a shot into the boughs above that released embers like fiery blossoms in autumn onto uncaring heads, preoccupied as they were.

The sound of the approaching demon was awesomely deafening. The men were yelling, shooting, never expecting their quarry to be so gods-damned fast. Shadow knew she could be escaping right about now, leaving these riff-raff to deal with whatever else had decided to migrate from her reality on over to Althanas - she recognised the thing's signature, didn't think she'd ever be seeing one of them again - but she was unable to leave the mutant trapped in that holding cube.

She flexed her wrist by one of the control panels; a carpal interface spear emerged and she jammed it through the LCD, splintering plastic, cringing as the delicate structure fractured through the rough attempt - but there was no time, and it was operational enough.

Come on...!

The serpent had grabbed Vex. He was still flailing even as the beast tightened it's jaws with a clean hydraulic whir, causing a loop of intestine to pop from his side like pus from a pressured zit, slithering from underneath his shirt to dangle between serrated metal fangs.

Come on, come on!

It was turning towards the rest of them now, remnants of the gunman still crammed in it's spacious maw. Rocco was roaring something - there was more gunfire. She didn't dare look.

Come ON!

Tick. The energy bars surrounding Lorenor blinked into nonexistence and Shadow wrenched her ruined interfacer from the LCD.

"NOW!" someone shouted.

[Mithra Reborn]

Darcy heard the crashing first. She looked to her right, internally cursing herself for putting her patch over the right eye and not the left today, and was half tempted to stand there and gape and let herself be hit. The scales were more beautiful than imagined, she could tell that much even from the blur of the motion. It empowered her to see it was injured, but its organs were as alien to her as the people below. That stench...it was enough to make her cough, though she fought the urge with all she had in her as not to give away her position.

Finally, the stink snapped her out of her gaze and she hustled out of the snake's path, almost slipping off the burly, smooth fingers of wood. The snake didn't seem to be going after her, more like the foreigners below. She noted how the men were shooting many small things very very fast at the gargantuan serpent. Darcy supposed it was a gun, only their version.

Whatever that is, it wouldn't hurt to have one aboard the ship. She contemplated once she felt she was out of the snake's way for the time being. Imagine the look on Ransieg's face if he saw-

The thought was interrupted, for Darcy heard a screech that was rapidly getting louder. She looked down, and had one second to let her eyes widen in shock before she pulled her head away to keep it from getting incinerated. A small contraption of the foreigners' shot through the trees, burning holes in her cover and plan.

Darcy coughed from the smoke, and clumsily got down from the tree, her entire left side(and the left half of her face) screeching in pain. She knew that it had scorched a few inches of hair, the stink already blending with the smell of the ooze coming from the snake. Her sleeve was burning, which she promptly tore off with her right arm and threw away, losing her balance and tumbling down to the branch below. She screamed when she caught herself on her left arm, though she doubt the others could hear her over the racket of fighting the snake. Deilio saw this happening and had run under her tree. She got down carefully, but when the flames were following, she hurried and jumped off the last fifteen feet, sending another shock of agony down her left side.

"We can't fight this now - the men seem to have it occupied," Deilio told her as he swung her left arm over his shoulder gingerly and pulled her to trees that were away from the ones on fire. She whimpered at his warm touch on her singed skin, but let him carry her out of the way. Her waist and chest were convulsing as well. Black leather didn't help to keep you cool, nor did the ring mail below it.

"That cinch has to be choking you right now," He quipped at her, pulling it off to allow her to breathe. He knew they weren't exactly in the safest of places, but when he found the chain mail contorting, he took it by the cooler right side and flung it off as fast as he could.

"These are not very light burns, Darce," Deilio continued in a hushed tone, taking out his water skin and pouring some on her side and in her mouth.

"We can't go back right now," She said, still biting back the pain. "I won't be able to move away from here easily until I've healed up somewhat anyways. So while we're here, we might as well try to fight..." every few words she paused either to bite her lip, or to sip the water, look over at the fight in front of them, anything that could potentially hide a grimace or such. "I still have some throwing knives, and my dominant arm is still fine-"

Deilio had learned to put up with her daring plans and such, but now he simply pressed his fingers to her mouth gently to shut her up. "I don't care if you are my captain and you order me to do shit like watch you commit suicide," He told her, his voice getting slightly firmer than before. "But I will not let you fight out there. Not like this." He sighed, cupping a water-soaked cloth to her left cheek. "They have the snake pre-occupied. If we stay out of their way, I don't think that-"

Deilio was cut off as a great shout went up. Someone had yelled,"NOW!". Out of pure instinct, he put down Darcy's head from where it was resting in his large, leathery hands and he drew his swords to defend his captain.

Fool of a friend... Darcy caught herself thinking through the pain. A few tears had welled in her eyes from the pain as she reached for her eye patch, but eventually gave up and let the salty tears collect under it. You know the days get bad when a pirate acts more noble than a knight.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

And whilst they were all playing their parts in the scheme of things, a small mutant had finished regenerating his wounds. The more serious wounds would take much more time to heal, but he was recovered enough to function in battle once again. He was able to stand by the time the metallic creature had freed him from the cage. He felt like he was being served up as an offering to some mysterious deity. Strangely enough, that wasn't that far from the truth.

Lorenor drew a sword in his hand, masterwork in status. He looked towards Shadow's person and nodded in gratitude towards the stranger. With the cage fizzled out of existence for the time being, Lorenor leaped out from within the platform like structure and onto the ground. A nearby guard pointed a weapon at the mutant, preparing the object to fire its glowing green energy. Lorenor had seen those tricks already before. He dove to the ground just in the nick of time to avoid the initial onslaught of the snake's attack. A giant presence brushed up against Lorenor's sensory array. Lorenor heard a screeching noise that was sub-sonic in nature. The noise was giving the mutant a piercing headache as the thing ground its teeth at many millions of times per microseconds. The snake's teeth were as sharp as miniature diamonds, and the mutant did not want to test their sharpness. He was more concerned with the creature itself than its giant maw. It snatched up one of the nearby men and consumed him rapidly. Blood spilled in the air adding its unique scent into breeze.

The endless wrapped itself around the mutant quickly, an advantage he didn't have before. Calling his symbiotic armor up, the mutant prepared himself to attack the creature. He felt the plasma discharge gun vibrate with a pang of power across his arm. The vibration felt good and caused his muscles to tighten in his shirt. He moved to defend the metal girl and the survivors despite the fact that they used him as live bait. Lorenor wondered just how often one fought a giant serpent? Feeling complete focus and fearlessness, the mutant kept a damascus masterwork sword in either hand. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the giant snake casually. His muscles were tensed and his body was prepared for the task at hand. The snake caught another of the mercenaries even as it continued to make that low sounding screeching noise. Like a hound dog, the mutant was capable of hearing and sensing everything around him completely unhinged. Looking at the snake with his infra-red vision, the mutant saw a glow of powerful energy. Radiating energy pulsed through the metallic vessel of the creature.

Lorenor saw a hollow outline that contained powerful pulsing organs. These organs beat in tune with the creature's life essence. Lorenor saw the thing had living energy pulsing through it. It was a monster, and it wasn't a monster at the same time. Whatever blood it had pulsing through it, the mutant wanted it. He wanted it bad. And so, Lorenor prepared himself to make the first move against the creature even as his plasma discharge gun was fully prepared and loaded for the next attack. Lorenor aimed his weapon at the snake creature even as blasts of energy and hot lead coursed through the air. Singing it with heat. Lorenor's gun fired off a tremendous blast of energy, focused as a projectile, towards the snake's general direction. The blast had the kinetic explosive force of a plynt sword strike. The blast had a purple color to it and gave off a mysterious bursting sound. It was shot at incredible speeds towards the giant snake. Lorenor hoped his blast would connect even as he prepared to engage the snake in direct combat.

[Nautilus]

Lorenor's hit connected with the metal fiend and it was pushed by the force of it, flailing into the trees, crushing and pulverizing the wood of the ancient organisms. The wound was immense - the earth around the snake was wet with the glowing liquid substance, sizzling as it ate away at the organic refuse lining the forest floor and sending plumes of sickly fuchsia smoke that gagged and seared delicate lung tissue.

Shadow had stepped to a safe distance and was crouching once more amongst the ferns. She was not hiding from the battle - her weapon was useless, anyway, and she doubted any of the surviving hunters would lend her a gun. It was best if she approached this from a slightly different angle. Her optic sensors never left the great serpent, which was recovering from the devastating blow and throwing it's bulk around in a notably less coordinated manner.

It was a Titan, a powerful race of beings hailing from unknown origins. She knew it the moment she sensed it's unique energy signature through the infra-red option of her visual sensory array. Shadow had encountered them only once before, on a mission that took place nearly a decade ago. Their construct was a perfect blend of technology and flesh, and blood; to many they were legends, idols, gods even. They represented a union between machine and organic that a sizeable portion of the population yearned for with all their spirit. Personally, Shadow believed this hope for a union to be incredibly foolish, and had fought these people alongside the Sundered for centuries. She had watched them offline her friends in the name of this so-called 'hope'.

Her well-earned antipathy for the Titans could not quell her curiosity. Rightfully, she should have been quite alarmed - but it was weak, weak even before the blast that should not have harmed it so. Why, she hadn't a clue. Perhaps it's laughable weakness stemmed from her own reasons for operating in such a sorry, deprived state.

The radiating light of her optics dimmed as Shadow turned her thoughts inward. This was one mystery she just might be able to solve.

Threads of code infiltrated the 'troid's vision, streaming like water over a window pane. The code condensed, directed itself in a new direction. She selected and threw a tentative psi-line, a filament of communicative code inherent in most of her kind and associated relatives. The line was deflected. Shadow tried again, a different line this time, plucked from a different channel. Stronger, insistent.

Could a Titan even be hailed in such a manner? Did they even have comm. links?

The serpent had painfully righted itself and was directing it's vicious attention at Lorenor.

Yet then, finally, there was a response.

Who are you?

In the space of seconds, Shadow loaded the line with a brief history and some personal information - she was a Bitroid, experimental type 'Arcangel'. Function: Reconnaissance Specialist, sc. Classified, Aerial Division, three-Aon-eight-six-two-five-five; Military Intelligence Unit two-one-four-zero. Participated in Portal 03xx demonstration; technical difficulties encountered. Possible terrorist action suspected. Stranded in Universe-002, second and most accessible of the Hundred Verses. Forced to fall planetside, populant designation: Althanas.

Waiting for reply...

...

...

A few seconds more, and the frequency undulated.

They dare hunt me. You will all become nothing

-Do you carry a designation?-

...

None that you will know, Specialist Model two-two-one-five-two-one-five-one-six.

+++

There was silence. Rocco gave the signal and the survivors ceased fire. The serpent had stopped some yards from the mutant and seemed to be appraising it, all the while emitting that low, nerve-fraying screech as the conveyor-belt-like contraptions that held it's fangs ground them together over and over and over again.

"Yo, mutant," Rocco called hoarsely. He cleared his throat, then cleared it again. It didn't matter that the Bitroid had freed Lorenor - the plan was basically complete. "We need this thing alive, y'kin? Alive! And if you do this for me, I might jes' let you walk free. Sound like a plan, Stan?"

It couldn't have gone smoother - Vex's death was unfortunate, but that was one of the reasons Rocco seldom let himself get attached to any member of his team. They were always temporary at best. Milo and Trip were the only constant presence in his life. He could almost say he cared for the nerdy boy, and perhaps even his malfunctioning three-legged sidekick, on the good days. The rest...were simply tools, hired to help smooth the operation. Vex's loss just meant one less name on the payroll.

As he had rightfully expected, the Titan had been drawn to the Mutant Lorenor, who was strong enough to incapacitate it in it's drained state, if not kill it outright. Their energy weapons would be slow in accomplishing this, even on this forsaken little planet which drained the power out of every mechanical life force from their own 'verse. Trapping the Titan here had been necessary, else confronting it would have been suicidal.

Ah, but he was painstakingly close to obtaining the creature's Nous, the intelligent essence located within the seemingly innocuous crystal in it's skull.

But it had to be extracted before the body was destroyed. Rocco leveled his blaster at Lorenor's back, prepared to shoot the ghoul for the serpent's sake, if necessary.

I'm on vacation starting Monday and probably ending Thursday or Friday. :]

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Aware of everything around him, despite the fact that he feigned ignorance to such, Lorenor knew that a gun was pointed at his back. The bastard child quickly came up with a plan of action that would be beneficial to his recovery and the recovery of that strange girl that had risked her neck to save his ass.

The mutant looked in Shadow's general direction one moment noticing the strange configuration of the humanoid's body. It reminded him of a Golem, a much more advanced looking Golem, but a Golem nonetheless. He thought that it might have been the equivalent of his son, Number 5325. Lorenor thought back to his home by the mountains and missed it just then. The Golems were waiting for him, and most importantly, so was the rest of the Gol'Bron. He looked at the metallic creature for a long moment, unable to discern any sort of gender from his savior.

Deciding to take advantage of the snake's temporary distraction, Lorenor removed two damascus swords. One for each hand. But what was his real enemy? The snake or the mercenaries that tried to use him as bait? Far as Lorenor could tell, the snake was the real victim in this situation. Lorenor had to prevent the mercenaries from obtaining their true prize. Now that he could take them on more even ground, the mutant decided that he was going to make Rocco his target. The snake had already claimed several of the hunters and greatly diminished the forces of the enemy. There was an entire new group of hunters out trying to claim the prize on Lorenor's head and so far, those individuals hadn't joined the fray yet. Lorenor was more comfortable dealing with hunters from his hometown than ones that he wasn't used to dealing with. Something caught Lorenor's eye that rested on the ground nearby. Looking at the object further, the mutant realized that one of the mercenaries' arms rested on the ground nearby to his position. Attached to the corpses' hand was one of those mysterious weapons that the off worlders used.

Blood cascaded like cataracts off the nearby grass. Lorenor had time to sheathe one of his swords and make a quick dive for the weapon. A single shot was fired off by Rocco's gun the moment Lorenor went on the move. The snake turned his attention towards a nearby mercenary that was firing that same phosphorous green energy. It moved in a straight trajectory towards the mutant's former position. Alas, Lorenor had already dove towards that extra gun. It was attached to the man's arm, but the crafty ghoul was able to quickly remove it. He saw the connectors on the man's arm and removed them with considerably skilled hands. The gun was now his! He placed the sword on the ground, staring at Rocco, as if daring him to do something else. Lorenor attached the gun to his arm feeling the probes penetrate his flesh. The gun was lit up with energy and flowed with the promise of power. Within a moment, the gun had charged up with power. He quickly grabbed the sword and was on the move again when another blast was fired in his general direction. The mutant took a quick glance at the snake as he prepared to aim the weapon at Rocco's position while he kept on moving. Several more blasts passed right by his position.

[Mithra Reborn]

Darcy lifted her head at what she heard. She wanted to see what was happening, Deilio heard her move and scolded her, "Darce, if you move, it will be more painful. You're safe, so rest."

Finally, she gulped and asked, "Can you at least get this eye patch off? I'm glad it didn't catch fire, but I don't want it to melt my eye." Deilio sighed and moved from his post momentarily to remove the patch from her face. "You know, it was a good thing you were wearing that over your left eye today, or you just might have melted your eye out," he pointed out. Though his touch was soft, Darcy could feel how tense his muscles were. His swords were within reach and he could spring to use them at any second if somethign came their way.

The relief Darcy's eye felt in the cool fresh breeze was beyond words, but the rest of her cringed at it. A blast from the nearby battle misfired, and grazed the branches that were overhead. Deilio was up with his swords just like that, but Darcy sighed. "Deilio, I don't think those swords of yours will do much against those blasts."

(will add more later, but feel free to continue the fight scene. I'll add commentary from my perspective later)