Paisely May Jet's Story

Oberon was resting in the bunkhouse, having arrived at the base of the resistance quite recently, he had much to do, people to meet, sights to explore around therein. He was resting quite contentedly, as it surely beat wandering around the vast expanses of barren wasteland. Just then he felt a distinct rumbling along with a noise of loud proportions.

"What in the name of the creator was that?!" He shouted in surprise as he woke and gripped Wolf's Sorrow, his beloved family blade which is the only evidence of his Clan's existence along with him in this lonely time locked world. Those words silently echoed in his mind a lot. Elves live a long time, however, this time lock stopped his aging process. He half wondered what'd happen when it resumed again. Would he continue to age normally or will the missed years catch up with him?

He shook his head as he walked outside where he slept, wondering where the noise came from and why it occurred.

The sand looked as though it was beginning to stir up in a chaotic manner, wavering between a slowly churning cloud and a coalescing storm. For a normal traveler, these conditions might've proved harsh, arid, and difficult to navigate through, but these were exactly the kinds of climates that the HT Reaver Drone was designed to be protected against.

"No signs of life within one hundred meters," Reaver assessed aloud, speaking in Emily's voice.

That's because you killed everything, she thought from deep inside her own conscience, buried under the influence of the artificial intelligence that was commandeering her body. Hey, Reaver, when are we going to find a place to settle? We can't wander out here forever.

"On the contrary, we have an excellent chance of survival in the Barrens," Reaver answered promptly. "Food, water, and shelter are not necessities for us and we are sufficiently equipped to combat most lifeforms we come into contact with."

If Emily could've smiled, she would've done so. Before, Reaver would only use 'I,' but at some point, that changed strictly into 'we,' acknowledging her to an extent as a result of prolonged cooperation. At times, she wondered if Reaver was really more 'human' than it was letting on.

"However, you should learn to have better control of my weapons systems," Reaver continued. "You are the sole liability to this solidified partnership and endanger our chances of survival."

Well, sorry for being a young girl with no sort of military training or experience whatsoever, Emily thought. It isn't that common for me to take over in the first place, so we should be fine. Probably.

"If my backup systems had kicked in a second later, we would've been sitting inside the stomachs of multiple sand demons," Reaver said flatly. "Perhaps it would not hurt to give some thought to a contingency plan in case another error occurs and you are placed in control of this vessel?"

Could you please not call my body a vessel? It's just really...off-putting, and-

Before she could finish the thought, Emily's head snapped toward the opposite direction and she was facing, a faint hint of scanner analysis running behind her scarlet eyes. A second later, she took off in a full sprint, leaping over the remains of the slain sand demons.

Hey, where are we going? Emily thought. Reaver?

"I detected a large tremor," Reaver answered, picking up speed.

What kind of a tremor? A warbeast? A colossus? She begin to slightly panic as uncertainties began to fill her mind.

"An explosion," it corrected, coming to a stop at the epicenter of the source. "Right under here."

Don't tell me you're going to...oh no...

Seconds later, there was a massive crash and Emily found herself standing in the midst of several figures that she did not recognize at all - the first trace of civilization that she'd seen in ages. She slowly rose from her kneeling landing pose, a hostile glare in her eyes with an unmistakable killing intent behind it directed toward everyone in the room as the dust settled.

People...? Out here? No way! Emily thought. How are there people here?

I'm going to kill them, Reaver sent back as a response, the red glow in her eyes starting to glare even brighter.

No, no, no, stop! Stop it! No Killing!, she protested. We need to talk to them!

Fine. However, if negotiations fail, I will destroy them.

It should be fine, I think..., Emily thought nervously. I hope they're nice people...

Emily casually dusted herself off, taking a brief look around the room to scan her surroundings. Her eyes flashed light red a few times to signify that information was being processed and analyzed in real-time. Her attention was then directed to the small hybrid girl that had aimed her weapon at her.

"Who are you and how did you find this place?" the girl asked, keeping her weapon trained on her. Reaver's weaponized tendrils aimed directly back at her in response, a pair of red lights flashing to signal that the warheads were engaged for an immediate launch at ground zero.

I believe the most efficient course of action would be to annihilate everyone in this room and-

Cut it out! Emily thought with frustration. Why would you do that?

After a long stare and brief contemplation of her words, Reaver disengaged its weapon systems and raised her hands in the air to show that she did not mean any harm, though at this point it seemed like a sarcastic gesture more than anything else considering the fact that she was still covered head to toe in them.

"You're in luck," Reaver said. "My host would like to call for a more peaceful resolution to this matter so I will answer your questions. I am a HyperionTech Type-77 Reaver Drone - you may call me Reaver. The host I have attached to is Emily White, who is currently unable to speak at the moment, so I shall be representing her in her place."

I have a bad feeling about the way this is going to end, Emily thought dryly.

"Additionally, if you were worried about the secrecy of this location," Reaver continued, "perhaps you should not be utilizing high explosive weapons that can send detectable seismic waves."

These guys are probably with the resistance, so it might help to tell them we don't mean any harm, Emily urged. We might be able to nail a peaceful resolution if we suggest to join up with them.

Unlikely, Reaver responded. I am an imperial war drone so they will likely view us as spies if nothing else. A peaceful resolution is not feasible under these circumstances.

Then let me talk, Emily suggested.

Very well, I will temporarily transfer command to you. If negotiations fail, I will launch a full barrage of Hellstorm missiles and blow this place to kingdom come, Reaver warned.

I figured as much... she thought.

The red glow faded from Emily's eyes and was replaced by a more natural dark brown hue. She blinked a few times and took in a few small breaths to get used to taking control of her own body again. Reaver was still live and active, which was clear from the fact that the weaponized tendrils were moving of their own accord, observing the others within the room to make sure they didn't try anything funny.

"S-Sorry about that," she stammered, clasping her hands together and performing a deep bow in apology. "Reaver likes to act on his own a lot so the moment he sensed this place, he came down the check out what it was, he really didn't mean any harm!" She recovered from her bow and stood up straight, putting her hands nervously in front of her. "I know what you might be thinking, b-but we're not spies or anything - Reaver was divided from its imperial duties years ago so there's no need to be suspicious of-"

Detecting movement from behind the walls, Reaver instinctively charged its particle beam and fired, a thin, intense laser piercing through the blast glass toward the target, who just so happened to be a lanky elf with silver hair. Emily pushed the tendril down and the laser system shut off in response to her intervention.

"Reaver, cut that out!" Emily shouted with panic in her voice, looking between each person with a nerve-wracked expression on her face. She got down on her knees, put her hands on the floor, and bowed again. "I'm really, really sorry, he really gets out of hand in the worst situations, I'm so sorry!" Sweating nervously, Emily held her position with her eyes squeezed shut and simply waited for a response from them.

Please don't kill us, please don't kill us, please don't kill us, please don't kill us...

Oberon was close to heading to the epicenter of the explosion when he heard another noise as if something crashed down into the base. He slowly walked over and he heard something mention that if anyone was worried about the location of the base to not cause seismic activity.

"Pfft, no one has even reached this far into the Barrens and lived." He muttered to himself. He was sure no one would hear him. He was behind thick glass for gosh sake, designed to withstand blasts. However he seems to be proven wrong when something was aimed towards him and was about to fire. Lucky thing he decided to duck when he did when the particle beam fired.

"Oy! Next time your machine does that I'll make sure it gets shut down!" He shouted slightly miffed. "No offense to the seemingly mighty intellect of your machine. Emphasis on seemingly."

Good, looks like they're not a bunch of bloodthirsty psychopaths, Emily thought, though that doesn't mean much when I've got something like you stuck on me.

My offer still stands, Reaver reminded her unhelpfully.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

"I'm...I'm from neither," Emily slowly sat up straight answered the question with some hesitation. "I've never been to the Empire, but I've never met anyone from the Resistance, either, I've only heard stories about them. I was with a group for a long time, but we got separated and I kind of..." What should I say here? That I died? Would they even believe me? "...got rescued by Reaver here," she finally said, deciding that would be the best choice of words in this situation. "Reaver is sort of trigger happy, b-but he's really not that bad! He just takes some getting used to. With all that said, I was kind of hoping that maybe I can settle down here with everyone and lend a helping hand." She briefly turned toward the irritated man on the other side of the glass. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen, I'm glad you were unhurt by that. I know it might be a hard request to take in and maybe a little hard to believe, but please, try not to do anything that might power Reaver down since if that happened, I would...sort of...die..."

"I'm just a lost kid," Emily shrugged, her gaze directed toward the floor. "I'd like to tell you more, but I can hardly remember anything, to be honest. We'll join the resistance."

"So you're the one in command," Reaver said in a clearly synthesized, artificial voice. Emily nearly jumped out of her skin, hearing Reaver speak aloud for the first time without using her voice.

"Y-You can talk?" she stammered.

"There was no reason to speak if I could simply convey messages directly to your brain," Reaver answered. The tendrils stretched out and curled around, observing Chase. "You think you can fight the Empire? You are a silly, deluded little creature. I could wipe out half of your pathetic base on my own, not to mention the fact that there are many other imperial combat drones such as myself, many of which are even stronger than I am. You serfs are fortunate that my host has volunteered assistance - I have the entire layout of the Empire bound to memory - their supply depots, weapon manufacturing facilities, underground hideouts and the like."

"As I've said before, I apologize for his behavior," she added anxiously, using her hand to push the probing tendril down in a comical kind of forced bow. "Really, no common decency at all." Her eyes shifted toward Reaver. "Please stop insulting them," she whispered. "We already agreed to help them out."

"Emily, I appreciate your cooperation in this partnership," Reaver said, "but I am not growing fond of this farce. I am the one who issues orders, not you."

"Wait-!"

Emily's brown eyes began to glow its brilliant crimson sheen as they were when she had first entered the base.

I didn't mean it that way-

I will only transfer command to you when necessary, Reaver interrupted. Remember this. Until then, you are to sit back and continue to serve as my vessel.

"Hello, Chase," Emily said with a narrowed stare. "Quite the circumstances, don't you think? Face-to-face with the leader of the Resistance after more than a century of service to the Empire - but surely, we can put these facts behind us." She put her hand out for a shake and stared him dead in the eyes in all seriousness. "I look forward to working with you, leader."

Oberon peeked out over the window to assess the situation, his hand firmly gripping his sword as his eyes silently observed the whole situation. He noted how the girl tried to ensure that her drone did no harm but silently noticed how the drone suddenly took charge of her as her eye color changed.

"A Child of the race of Men, Shackled onto a dark murderous machine as if a demon possessing a Vessel." Oberon thought as he shook his head in pity as he let go of his sword. He got up and turned to leave that area and half decided it was time for him to look around to see where the food was being kept. He was starving faster then a herd of cattle with a shallow pond.

Oberon was humming a small tune to himself as he tried to find where the food was.nit was a calm, elvish tune in the hope of not being killed by the most recent discovery. That would be a tragedy, an incredibly large one. He then heard someone following him, calling for him to wait as he slowly walked to a halt.

It was one of the women of the base, other then the Leader's sister. He simply nodded his head as he obeyed the order to wait and listened to the slight question and offer of help. "Well, I'm pretty hungry, do you know where the food is being kept??"