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Post by drixel on Oct 27, 2009 23:05:24 GMT -6
Drixel watched his handy work go down almost perfectly. letting out a soft "damn..." drixel returned the beam to the inner parts of the building and moved to the side were shard as imprinted in the next building over.
Drixel could see the dark shards forming to him healing him as they did. Drixel watched as the now healed Shard started his climb back up Drixel looked down and let out a " you son of a bitch."
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Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Oct 28, 2009 18:14:35 GMT -6
Apek had just returned to the officers' club when he heard an alert over the loudspeaker.
"Attention: A Gamma Emergency has been declared. Private Riskan in pursuit. Strike Team 3, report to garage and prepare to rendezvous with private Riskan and neutralize threat."
Apek threw up his hands. "I'm never gonna be able to finish this damn drink," he said, getting up and jogging toward the garage. He now had to lead Strike Team 3 to neutralize the Gamma Emergency, an unidentified direct threat to the Army itself, if not necessarily to the city at large.
Once his team had assembled and armed themselves, Apek climbed into an APC in the motor pool. He recieved word from a guard tower that the threat, as well as private Riskan, were heading west away from the base.
"Air support is go," Apek heard, a helicopter lifting off from the base.
"Okay, guys, let's rock," Apek said, driving the APC out of the motor pool and turning onto the road, following the last known path of the private and what was, according to sargeant Remta, supposed to be a malevolent crystal cloud.
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Oct 28, 2009 18:37:21 GMT -6
Maku's heart jumped as the cloud fell, losing its shape and colliding with the ground. Ignoring the now-constant pain in his shoulder, Maku kept running, finally catching up to the wide spread of crystals the cloud had become as it fell. A spike in the pain dropped him to his knees, which combined with his forward motion to land him face-down in the middle of the crystals.
He struggled for a moment to see through the haze of pain that suddenly clouded his vision, the sound of a helicopter drawing his eyes to the sky. Speeding in his direction, he could see a helicopter coming from the direction of the Vorcan Army's base. The sound of a motor closer to the ground drew his attention to an APC just now coming around the corner. It seemed he'd have some backup.
It didn't reach him in time.
In and instant, just as suddenly as the crystals had fallen, they began to move again. And Maku was not only in the middle of them; he was on top of them. The crystals took flight in a swirl of sparkling black, leaving shallow cuts along his arms and face. Those that he'd been unfortunate enough to land on top of, however, found their way up and out, taking as direct a path as possible.
As they flew up from underneath him, they shredded his jacket, leaving his chest, stomach, neck, and the left side of his face covered in long, mid-depth cuts. More than a few made their way past his shoulder, stoking the fires of pain into an inferno. He barely had time to open his mouth to scream before the pain became too much.
Just before he blacked out, Maku's pain-addled brain barely registered another stirring in the back of his mind. Then he closed his eyes, finally succumbing to the pain as the crystals left him and continued west, now even faster than before.
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Post by Shard on Oct 28, 2009 18:44:58 GMT -6
Shard's hand found the edge of the roof, and he pulled himself up onto it's surface. As he stood, the first of the remaining three clouds reached him, flying to his gauntlets. As they merged with the crystal encasing his arms, his hands grew, the fingers growing long, bestial claws as the foot-long blades grew from his elbows. What remained of the cloud formed into small tendrils of crystal, anchoring the gauntlets to his arms as they wound up his biceps.
He flexed his new hands, testing their strength, and smiled. As he looked up and saw Drixel, his smile turned into another barking laugh. He took a step back, and smashed his claws into a section of the roof, tearing free a 3-foot-wide chunk of concrete. Locking eyes with the crystal-clad angel, Shard gave a little spin before heaving the stone as hard as he could at his sworn enemy.
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Post by drixel on Oct 28, 2009 18:54:59 GMT -6
Drixel's eyes widened as he saw shard return to the roof top and upgraded his gauntlets. he could feel the whole roof shake beneath his feet, almost knocking him down. Drixel watched as shard ripped out a large chunk from the building and started to hurl it toward him.
he flew up and tried to catch the rock. the impact did some damage to his crystal shield sending bits from his chest falling off. Drixel flew backward with the momentum from the rock. Drixel placed the sword on the slab and had it adsorb into the rock, firing off 5 large sized shards toward shard. just as the rock fell out of his hands and to the streets below.
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Post by Shard on Oct 28, 2009 19:23:58 GMT -6
Shard's grin as Drixel spun after catching the slab faltered as he saw the telltale flash of sunlight on crystal. Crossing his arms in front of him to shield himself, he flicked his tail at the shards, hoping to stop them in midair with black shards of his own.
Unfortunately, he'd miscounted. The 3 shards he'd fired struck their mark, but Drixel had sent 5. The remaining two struck his squarely in his forearms, knocking him to the ground and sending him sliding along the roof on his back. He could feel the damage done to his arms, and gave a scream of pain and anger in response.
The second-to-last cloud made its way to the rooftop then, some of it repairing the cracks in his gauntlets, but most of it flying to his legs. He felt his bones shift as the crystal boots changed, forming a pair of 3-clawed saurian feet at the end of his legs. As he stood, he found he'd gained a foot in height, and he could feel that these new legs of his were powerful indeed.
To prove it, he ran towards the edge of the roof, jumping across the street and back onto the building where Drixel had landed after catching the slab. When he landed, each of his feet left an imprint in the roof, each surrounded by a 2-inch-deep crater. His tail stabbed the air above his head, sending a large crystal shard at the angel.
As his tail fell back behind him, he let loose with a wordless scream, the human quality of his voice all but gone.
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Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Oct 28, 2009 19:26:15 GMT -6
"Sir, we have a visual on the target," the helicopter told Apek through the radio.
He looked at Maku, and saw that he was bleeding. He wasn't moving.
"Oh, shit," he muttered. "Maintain visual of the target," he said. "Private Riskan is injured. We'll pick him up and take him to Thoncir General. Keep me apprised of the situation, do not engage until ordered otherwise."
Apek then stopped the APC next to Maku's body. The door swung open. "You alright, Riskan?" one of the soldiers asked.
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Oct 28, 2009 19:39:12 GMT -6
Maku said nothing, his body just managing to continue breathing, and not doing too great a job at that. His mind, for the most part, was shut down. His mind had blacked him out to keep him sane as the pain continued to escalate, and it had done its job well.
Deep in his subconscious, however, something had woken up. The flares of pain had provoked it plenty, but as the pain overwhelmed Maku and forced him to sleep, the thing sleeping in the back of his mind was now very much awake. Unfortunately, it would take a little time for it to find its way to the proverbial driver's seat.
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Post by drixel on Oct 28, 2009 19:42:03 GMT -6
Drixel didn't have time to react he was caught up in the transformation shard had gone threw. all he was able to do was throw up his arms as he was hit with the giant shard. the schock wave knocked him off his feet fell to the ground below. Drixel hit the ground with a thud. he slowly stood up, small bits of crystal falling from his body.
Drixel placed his hands on the building and closed his eyes. he could see in his mind all the different things the building was made up from. he knew the crystal on his body wont stand up much longer to shards attack. Drixel's hands merged into the building followed by his whole body. Drixel moved his way threw the brick work till he got back up to the top of the building were shard was standing. drixel moved to underneath shards legs. Drixel took the remaing crystal from his body into one giant shard and aimed it up right between shards legs
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Post by Shard on Oct 28, 2009 20:11:01 GMT -6
Shard roared triumphantly as Drixel was knocked off the building. His rational mind was fading fast, and the beast that seemed to be taking its place pounded it's chest, letting out a long, loud, high-pitched roar to claim it's victory over it's opponent.
However, the roaring was cut short as Drixel attacked. Just as the beast reared back its head to help the sound carry, the crystal's strike and ensuing shockwave turned the roar of victory into dry heaving and a groan of pain. The pain brought Shard back to himself a little, enough to try and urge the last cloud back to him faster. Then the beast took over agan, dropping forward onto his hands and limping away from where Drixel had struck.
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Post by drixel on Oct 28, 2009 20:14:02 GMT -6
Drixel knew shard was going to heal with the clouds like he had done before. Drixel phased half way out to see the damage he had done. he noticed shard was limping and that a cloud would soo be on his way. Drixel grabbed his leg. "were do you think your going" he said pulling Shard down into the building.
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Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Oct 28, 2009 20:14:57 GMT -6
Apek loaded Maku into the APC, and quickly got back behind the wheel.
"Keep an eye on him!" he said, driving toward the hospital as fast as the armored vehicle was capable of moving.
"Give me a report on the location of the target," Apek barked into the radio.
"Uhh, we still have visual," the chopper pilot said uncertainly. "It's flying toward this...guy," he said. "Some guy in a strange kind of armor."
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Oct 28, 2009 20:33:23 GMT -6
Maku was silent as his body was loaded into the APC, and as the vehicle began to move, he remained unresponsive.
In his mind, however, something was trying very hard to wake him up. His body, at least. Maku's waking mind would do the entity little good, but it needed the body to wake up! It forced itself to the front of his mind, shoving aside the sleeping consciousness that was Maku Riskan. It tried increasing his heartbeat, but it only made him bleed faster. Helping his breathing only deepened his sleep. Finally, exasperated, the entity did the only thing it could, knowing it would hurt like hell as soon as he woke up. It worked its control into Maku's left arm.
It made a fist.
In the back of the APC, Maku's eyes, now solid black, shot open, and his voice burst from his throat in a scream of pain. They'd barely gone a block since loading him up. He released the fist, sitting up quickly and gritting his teeth against the waves of pain the act had caused.
"Damn, that hurt..." Turning towards the driver's seat, he overheard the voice from the chopper. He forced himself to his feet, in spite of the protests voiced by his fellow passengers in the back, and headed towards the driver, poking his head in between Capt. Apek and the man in the passenger seat.
"We need to follow that cloud."
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Darzul
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Post by Darzul on Oct 28, 2009 20:40:02 GMT -6
The soldiers in back jumped as Maku sat up, seemingly unaffected by the wounds inflicted on him. They were shocked by the change in his eye color, and suddenly he leaned forward and told Apek to follow the cloud.
"You're awake?" he said as he turned around, astonished. The APC swerved, and Apek turned and paid attention again.
"Yeah, we're working on following that cloud," he said. "According to the chopper, it's on its way to some big guy on a roof wearing black armor. My guess is he's the one controlling the cloud. Probably some kind of nanotechnology from before the war."
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Maku
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Post by Maku on Oct 28, 2009 20:43:46 GMT -6
Maku listened intently, but was distracted by an itching all along the front of his body. Glancing down at the shredded remains of his shirt, he wasn't entirely surprised to see gravel in many of his cuts.
Absentmindedly, he spoke, even as he rid himself of the stones with a quick flash of black lightning down his front. "Nanotech, sure, whatever. How fast can you get us to that building?"
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