Setting
Photo Credit: Laggyzaki, DeviantArt
- 46 posts here • Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
Mr Niac was a business man first and despite his rather foreign appearance, that of some unknown Middle Eastern country, combined with his sauve charismatic and educated accent gave way to a man who knew what he wanted. Of course that would be true, but there was more his eyes appeared older than his facial look gave off, he seemed to have managed to create sizable amount of wealth although any sourcing of this was difficult, records seemed to not fit what was expected, and even gave the implication he was far older than he truly looked, of course that was ridiculous, surely?
"Let's get this over with, so I can get to more important business." he said to no one in particular before stepping through the city limits and entering into Flora scum-haven of crime, corruption and needing what amounted to a clean-up, although anyone who saw him as an easy target would find themselves bawking in horror when they got closer, he exuded utter malice, so conniving and dark.
The eerie jester approached Mr Niac slowly, waving his arms from side to side while juggling a few oranges and sour apples. The closer he came to Mr Niac, the more creepy his smile began to look. There was no color in his eyes, no emotion on his face, just a very strange blank smile painted on to an otherwise ordinary facemask. As the wind blew through the empty corridors and swept orange dust and beige sand down the streets, Obake perched himself against the corner of an old cracked stone building, tilting his head awkwardly like a vulture or some other scavenging bird while blatantly eyeballing the strange businessman walking down the street passed him. There was something unsoothing about Mr Niac that inspired Obake's curiosity. As the flies buzzed around Obake's head, he continued to juggle the fruit in silence, smiling all the while.
"Boss, there he is, should we introduce ourselves? Or do you think that maybe we need to stay back and allow you to...." A rather sluggish looking man spoke while Clockwork simply continued to marvel at his little trinket. "No, Moxy, No I am afraid that neither of those ideas suit me as of right now." Clockwork smirked and stood from his seat just to now get a better look upon his mark and the sudden appearance of what appeared to be a Jester of some kind. "You see Moxy. Mr. Niac arrived approximately 5 minutes and 28 seconds late to the arrival he needed in order to do business with me. The true pleasure of business is arriving on time with a bit of curtesy to be expected.
Setting
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"Boss, there he is, should we introduce ourselves? Or do you think that maybe we need to stay back and allow you to...." A rather sluggish looking man spoke while Clockwork simply continued to marvel at his little trinket. "No, Moxy, No I am afraid that neither of those ideas suit me as of right now." Clockwork smirked and stood from his seat just to now get a better look upon his mark and the sudden appearance of what appeared to be a Jester of some kind. "You see Moxy. Mr. Niac arrived approximately 5 minutes and 28 seconds late to the arrival he needed in order to do business with me. The true pleasure of business is arriving on time with a bit of curtesy to be expected.
Fortunately for him travelling through here should be dangerous, but people who approached him as easy target were suddenly hit with sense of pure disquiet that stung and made them unable to act. Malice rang off him and his aura exuded twisted unnerving hate, most junkies knew not to continue their idea of trying to rob him. Still he occasionally saw and merely scoffed, one time even speaking, "Go back to the depths from whence you came whelp... I have business here..."
"How cliché." Clockwork spoke up as he looked at the frozen mug of his associate only to then waltz on over to the slowed and almost incomprehensible tune of The Devil's Trill. The Englishman simply looked over the briefcase and smiled. If he had more time than what was granted then maybe the contents would be more enthralling than what was simply hushed away.
Instead the devious master of time simply left a business card in the appropriate pocket while things remained smooth and slow and even tipped the courtier with the violin a good twenty. It was only when he took up his seat once more that time began to flow normally and Clockwork remained smiling as he pocketed his watch.
"Moxy. Offer that musician a twenty."
Of course it would be only limited to the upper class and those with lots of money, after all money talks and they don't destroy good work. He already had plans drawn up, because Mr Niac had a way of persauding people to give them what he wanted, he had been compared to another Real-Estate Mogul, although he had found such comparison utterly unflattering. Besides he had far more class than that cunt, oh yes.
Nonetheless he kept walking gripping his briefcase, just moving slowly through the streets, each person who saw him an opportunity waiting to happen, learning quickly this was not the case, not at all.
Suddenly, everything went back to normal and time moved at regular pace again. The man with the briefcase kept walking, while Obake continued to play The Devil's Trill Sonata on his violin. From behind the mask, Obake looked down and noticed a small blinker on his wristband. It was a tiny light which informed him that there had been a slight disturbance in the forces of nature. As he continued to play his violin, he finished the song and bowed out to his audience. Placing the violin down, Obake reached for his hat, only to notice that someone had snuck him a twenty dollar bill. He retrieved the money and placed the turban back on his head before disappearing into the shadows of the alley way. There was more he had to do now. His invention had worked, but it was still in need of some minor adjustments. Just then, a voice came through his ear piece. It was a mysteriously unknown figure who nobody had ever seen before. Obake was being watched from up above via satellite by his trusted companions, who sat aboard a space vessel, ready to deploy at any moment.
"Shall I send my band to assist you?" Someone asked Obake through the telecommunicator. "No, I don't think so," Obake replied as he walked down the dark alley way. "I think I just found the missing piece to my puzzle," Obake said as he played with the blinker on his wristband. What strange force was this? Who had caused it? Obake immediately suspected it may have been the man with the clock, but without much to go on, he brushed the thought aside and instead focussed on his next assignment. Obake needed to design a suit that would enable him to counter any sort of time flux that might interfere with his future operations. In this line of work, the jester needed vast amounts of patience and observation skills. Wars were based on 99% strategy and only 1% action, so he needed to plan his victories carefully before going into battle. The flies continued to buzz around him swiftly, each one inspecting different areas on his bodysuit. They were looking for weaknesses and tracking devices in his costume. Obake did not seem to notice their scanning him as he turned the corner and made his way up a flight of stairs to the top of one of the old sandy colored stone structured buildings in Flora.
"Out of all the tiny ticks you seem to be the most interesting. A timely performance on your behalf." Clockwork glanced over the edge and looked down at his men as they continued to follow his orders. "Tell me what you were doing in the alleyway?"
- 24 mobile cloaking modules for use on droids, drones, and power armor
- 2 cloaking devices, one for the capital-sized ship the Hallowed Dagger, and a standard cloaking device for the Lupine Adversary
- 1 arm module capable of transforming itself into a long-ranged rail gun
- 1 central control nexus connected to Ascendant, that allows him to take control of droids and drones in the network, without taxing his command and control processor (a very rare commodity)
- 12 automated UCAVs
- 3 Ascendant bodies, connected to the central nexus on the Hallowed Dagger that extends Ascendant's control to command these bodies without taxing his command and control processor
- On-board long & short ranged teleportation systems for the Hallowed Dagger, and the Lupine Adversary
- 1.2k tons of pyramite
Ascendant allowed his vocal modulator to come online, "I will go seek out this Obake. Are you sure he will provide technology of an adequate quality, my friend?" Ascendant placed a hand on Isaiah's shoulder, and the boy bit his bottom lip, tilting his head to the side, and humming as he connected two processors together. Ascendant wasn't sure what he was making, but the individual in front of him was completely confident that it would create an intelligent debugging protocol, with hardware included, for both the Hallowed Dagger, and Lupine Adversary.
"Of course, 'Cen! Go, go, go! I need that pyramite for the experiments." Isaiah rose up, and went to push Ascendant on the shoulder, his frame, surprisingly, having the ability to exert enough force to push the nearly 1-ton machination backwards, and out of the personal work space of the Hallowed Dagger that Isaiah had set aside for himself. Ascendant looked around the busy area of the ship, with the massive laboratory/engineering bay being left behind. Ascendant made way to the intelligent integrated docking port through the hallways of the ship. He was impatient in the fact that he had yet to acquire the teleportation systems for the ships. Those, and the rest of the order, would go towards greatly improving the Crew's equipment. Hopefully, all would go well, and he would be able to recruit this Obake into some sort of alliance as well.
About fifteen minutes later, Ascendant approached Obake, and waited patiently for him to finish up what he was doing, before, finally, he spoke with a mechanical voice.
"Hello. My name is Ascendant." He used his identification subprocessor to make sure the man he was speaking to was truly Obake, before choosing his next course of action. "You are Obake. I am here to acquire a list of the following items," a data unit ejected from his wrist, and he handed it to Obake. It was capable of projecting the list onto a surface to allow one to view whatever information was within the data unit.
"After that, we must speak, regarding something else of import."
No this would not take long at all, this time next month he could have the workers come in and start blowing up these buildings or flattening them, to make room for his plans, his plans of revitalising the area.
Clockwork would walk from the stairway to the edge of the rooftop, glancing over the side of the building to look at Mr. Niac and the group of men who were following him. "Tell me what you were doing in the alleyway," Clockwork demanded, while making sure that his men were carrying out his orders on the street below. But as he looked back up, Obake was gone. He had silently made a quick escape in just the split second that it took for Clockwork to look away. The masked figure was dressed like a fool, but there was much more to him than just his appearances. Not only did he disappear, but he also had one of his insect-drones fly into one of Clockwork's pockets. By the time Clockwork noticed or had tried to freeze time again, Obake would already be inside his vehicle. He had jumped down off the rooftop into the open cockpit of his hovercraft and closed the windshield. Although his bodysuit did not protect him from time manipulation, his hovercraft did. The utonium-based vehicle had a force-field around it that protected him against not only time manipulation, but other things as well. Not only that, but it was fast. Within only a few seconds, Obake was flying across the flat landscape out of the main city of Flora and into the desert, kicking up dust behind him as he headed towards the very dusty outskirts of Flora, about to leave the area completely.
As he made his way to the border, Obake suddenly slowed his hovercraft to a gradual stop. His monitor showed that he was being followed. Assuming it was Clockwork at first, he immediately spun his vehicle around and headed back towards one of the empty buildings on the other side of the city, miles away from where he had been before. He parked the hovercraft in an abandoned garage and sat inside the cockpit for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Bird's Nest, do you copy?" Obake was calling to his unknown companion in outer space. "White Eagle, this is Bird's Nest, standing by." Obake looked down at the display on his hovercraft's computer monitor. Hitting a few keys on the typing pad, he soon realized that it wasn't Clockwork like he had presumed. There was someone else following him, a totally different blip on his screen. "White Eagle to Bird's Nest, what can you tell me?" Within seconds, he received a response signal from outer space. "I'm not picking up any signs of life. Hold on..." Obake was confused, but waited patiently. "Bird's Nest to White Eagle, we have a lock on the target." That's what he was waiting for. Obake listened to see what his companions would say next.
"It's appears to be a droid..." A droid? Obake thought for a moment, wondering why a droid would be following him. "How long will it take to update my suit?" Obake asked the unknown figure on the other end of his tele-communicator. "I'm already on it, should only take a few more minutes," the mysterious voice answered. "I don't have a few more minutes," Obake replied back before turning his attention on the enviroment around him. He checked all of his weapons and gear before opening the windshield on his hovercraft. As the window opened, the tiny robotic flies began to spread out over the area, scanning everything in the immediate vicinity. Obake pulled out the twenty dollar bill that had been slipped into his turban earlier and scanned it with his wristband. Soon, a bunch of information appeared on his screen. "Benjamin Crocker, clockmaker and criminal, well that's interesting." Just then, Ascendant approached Obake, waiting patiently for him to finish up what he was doing before finally speaking out to him in a mechanical voice. "Hello. My name is Ascendant." He used his identification subprocessor to make sure the man he was speaking to was truly Obake, before choosing his next course of action. "You are Obake. I am here to acquire a list of the following items," a data unit ejected from his wrist, and he handed it to Obake.
The masked magician looked up at the droid as the list was projected on to the hood of his vehicle from Ascendant's data unit. Stupid droids, they have no emotion or consideration apart from what is programmed into them. At least that's how Obake felt, but he also knew the value of having droids which kept him from neglecting such technology. "After that, we must speak, regarding something else of import," Ascendant said while Obake was reading over the list. "Well," Obake thought for a second before continuing his response. "I hope you brought some currency," Obake said as he climbed out of his vehicle and shut the windshield. As soon as the cockpit was shut, the force-field was activated on his hovercraft. "This kind of stuff doesn't come cheap, who sent you?" Obake looked up at the droid who stood almost a whole foot taller than himself. By now, his drones had already inspected the area and were now examining the droid, studying its every detail. He was more than capable of helping the droid, but he wanted more information first. He was sure Clockwork was probably already on his way to find him, but Obake was hoping that the update on his bodysuit would prevent any further distractions. "How's it coming?" Obake said through his telecom, speaking to the mysterious voice on the other end. "Two more minutes," the voice responded into his earpiece. Obake looked back down at the list that was projected on the hood of his vehicle, thinking about his next move.
"I am Ascendant. I send myself. If you are speaking of my creator, well, he and I are business partners... and friends." The droid replied, but remained motionless. Most droids would be looking everything over curiously, as their sensors were limited. Ascendant's, however, were not. Droids also didn't normally have other droids acting as servants.
"I have the currency with me now." Ascendant saw two droids exit his escort freighter from behind him, two IG-series assassin droids, but he kept focused on Obake. Shortly after those two exited the ship, his astromech droid followed behind them, and stood by Ascendant. Ascendant began to pet the astromech droid, as if it were a cat of some sort.
Complete and utter chaos dominated the streets of Flora daily; from the constant shootings to the 'excessive force' exorcised by what little law enforcement was to be had in this realm, it was like a Hell on Earth. And all of the destruction and death was fueled by the laughing tyrant who conducted and orchestrated most of the violence among the people all on his own.
Banadar reclined within his seat in his own building within Flora, a large grin upon his face as he watched through the security feeds of various city streets. There he witnessed the events unfold of various public crimes, and their eventual pursuit from what little police existed around the area. It was wonderful...like a constantly repeating cycle of destruction, it perpetuated. Of course, he could always send the Corrupted Knights out to cause more trouble or quash any trouble getting out of hand. After all, to keep the cycle of death and chaos repeating, one must stop it from growing too out of hand if it ever gets to that point.
The time villain eventually found the man with the briefcase and his henchmen who seemed to follow behind in a rather sloppy manner. He would be sure to deal with them later.
"I am Ascendant. I send myself. If you are speaking of my creator, well, he and I are business partners... and friends," Ascendant responded in a robotic voice while remaining perfectly motionless. Obake listened carefully as his insectoid drones buzzed around above them, scanning Ascendant, Obake and everything else in the immediate vicinity. One of the tiny winged bots would even land on Ascendant's shoulder, prodding him with its own little sensory devices like a common housefly searching for food. Obake's fly-bots were non-threatening, small and nearly unnoticeable to anyone unless they were paying close attention. Other droids could probably sense them and Obake often wondered how AI-programs interacted with each other, but it was a small matter and after many years the masked human grew accustomed to such strange technology.
While all of this was going on, a few of Obake's bug-bots would detect two hidden cameras in the corner of the abandoned warehouse which appeared to still be active. The red lights on the cameras signified that perhaps Obake and Ascendant were being watched through the security feeds by someone else. However, Obake did not seem to notice or care as he kept his attention focused on the giant 7-foot-tall android in front of him. "I have the currency with me now," Ascendant stated as two assassin droids exited his escort freighter. Shortly afterwards, Ascendant's astromech droid followed behind them and approached Ascendant, who began petting it like a cat. Quickly studying the situation, Obake determined that perhaps all of them shared a mental connection of some kind. Most droids did, just like his miniature bug-bot drones that were flying around. Ironically, however, Obake did not appear to feel endangered at all. His heart beat remained calm and relatively normal, as if he had already been dealing with this kind of technology for several years.
"Well in that case, I might be able to help you out a little bit." Obake was never willing to hand over anything without being paid first, but for the right price, there was also nothing he couldn't get done. Even if there was something he couldn't get his hands on, Obake would be able to find the person who could get it. "Unfortunately, I don't have any of this stuff with me right now. I can get you a good amount of pyramite, but it's very rare. I don't know about one-thousand-tons of pyramite, but I can definitely have a shipment sent to you." Obake waited impatiently for his armor upgrade to finish downloading as he continued to speak. "I can probably also get you a central control nexus and an arm module capable of long-range activity. I can't get the other things on that list right now, but I can arrange a meeting for you with the one who can." Obake was referring to his unknown companion, the mysterious voice who had spoken into his earpiece.
"A single uncharged pyramite crystal runs for about $1-million. That's without etherine capabilities. It takes centuries for these crystals to grow, I don't think your creator understands the value of it. It only grows in one specific cave on one specific planet, inhabited by a race of beings that I would not dare to cross. But luckily, I am friends with their commander. I can get you 500 pounds of uncharged pyramite without etherine properties within 3 days and have it sent directly to your ship. I'll give you a good deal on it. I'll throw in the arm module and the central control nexus and give you a 20% discount on everything." Obake raised his arm in front of him, pulling up his own wristband module and calculator. He would input the numbers into his computer and calculate the cost of everything right there on the spot. "Let's see, 10 crystals is equal to 1 pound. Multiply that by 500 pounds, that's five-thousand pyramite crystals. An arm module that turns into a long-range rail gun and 1 central control nexus. I'll just go ahead and throw those in and we'll round off and say it's going to be..." A small blinker on his wristband informed Obake that the upgrade on his body armor was now fully complete. "$5-billion, cash."
As he said this, Obake's bug-bots suddenly attacked the security cameras in the corner of the warehouse, using miniature welding devices on their labellums to disable the monitoring feeds of whoever might be watching them. Obake and Ascendant were now unsupervised, at least by any local law enforcement agencies. "That's a lot of money, but I can take payments. It doesn't have to be all at once. What I can do for you is break up the shipments into smaller packages. I'll send out 5 shipments, that way you only owe me 5 payments of $1-billion each." Obake looked up at Ascendant, assuming that the droid was processing everything he was saying. By now, Obake's bodysuit had changed properties and there was no way for Ascendant to monitor his heart-rate. "If you have $1-billion on you right now, I can have the first shipment sent to you in 3 days." Obake waited for Ascendant to react, as his tiny winged drones buzzed curiously around the assassin droids.
Setting
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Please be mindful of typos, sentence fillers and autoing. Also be mindful of netiquette and OOC tone in future posts.
by Obake -
Refrain from posting out of turn
by Obake -
Please learn the rules of turn-based RPG and practice RPing with multiple players
by Obake -
Overall structure looks pretty good
by Obake
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"How amusing. Buzzing over." Ascendant's assassin droids stepped back, going outside to the Lupine Adversary since they weren't needed right then, right there. Ascendant didn't see Obake as an immediate threat, and the assassin droids were simply completely unnecessary. Another droid, however, would return shortly with several suitcases filled with minted precious metals, and actual monetary currency.
"A single uncharged pyramite crystal runs for about $1-million. That's without etherine capabilities. It takes centuries for these crystals to grow, I don't think your creator understands the value of it. It only grows in one specific cave on one specific planet, inhabited by a race of beings that I would not dare to cross. But luckily, I am friends with their commander. I can get you 500 pounds of uncharged pyramite without etherine properties within 3 days and have it sent directly to your ship. I'll give you a good deal on it. I'll throw in the arm module and the central control nexus and give you a 20% discount on everything." Ascendant listened to the man's voice, and took note of the fact that he could make use of a voice modulator so that he could change it to whatever he wanted with a mere push of a button, or a neural impulse, if he really wanted something effective. That could mask his voice, as the droid knew stealth and keeping hidden, and untracked, was immensely important to the individual before him. Ascendant gave a nod, handling the data unit, and went into thought about what else he needed, as he knew now that he would need to reiterate his wants, and needs. A&I Technologies had what was referred to as "unlimited funding" by lawyers, and finance workers, which allowed the company and its high ranking officials (with approval), to make purchases with a very high amount of resources.
"$5-billion, cash." Obake had said, and Ascendant handed him the modified data unit. It would project onto the ground the list of items that Ascendant required, now modified as he thought of several things wanted.
- 24 mobile cloaking modules for use on droids, drones, and power armor
- 2 cloaking devices, one for the capital-sized ship the Hallowed Dagger, and a standard cloaking device for the Lupine Adversary
- 1 arm module capable of transforming itself into a long-ranged rail gun
- 1 central control nexus connected to Ascendant, that allows him to take control of droids and drones in the network, without taxing his command and control processor (a very rare commodity)
- 12 automated UCAVs
- 3 Ascendant bodies, connected to the central nexus on the Hallowed Dagger that extends Ascendant's control to command these bodies without taxing his command and control processor
On-board long & short ranged teleportation systems for the Hallowed Dagger, and the Lupine Adversary - 500 pounds of pyramite (without etherine capabilities)
- 150 pounds of pyramite (with etherine capabilities)
- Stealth technology (for Ascendant, his droids, the Lupine Adversary, and the Hallowed Dagger)
- Complete Propulsion System Overhaul (for Ascendant), capable of allowing Ascendant to function underwater, as well
- 12 Automated Droid Workstations (an automated workstation where a droid can be upgraded, created, et cetera)
((OOC: Sorry for the OOC Obake, but I would like a PM with the detailed tech descriptions of everything I purchased, and a detailed description of the pyramite crystals. Both with, and without, etherine capabilities. If you need help writing the crystals, I will aid you, but I expect high quality tech descriptions from you to be completely original :P However, it's not necessary for the tech descriptions. I would take a detailed list of features, as well, so that I could write it myself))
The thundering of the truck engines, the protesting moan of the Tylium-Diesel engines in each of the precision crafted Aschen machines, echoed through the run down buildings of Flora, with the dust cloud hovered above the convoy. Fifteen white trucks, eight of them resembling the Toyota HiLux, with various implements of war mounted upon them, and six large white washed Armored personnel carriers made their way towards Flora. Each of these armed vehicles were guarding a large white Tech Con eighteen-wheeler truck, inside the trailer was a Thunderbolt missile, a long range Interstellar Missile employed by the Aschen Empire, and mounted on the missile was a Tricobalt warhead that amounted to a high-yield upwards of 20,000 teracochranes, which was capable of rending space-time itself, and tearing a short-lived hole directly into subspace.
The narrow dusty streets afforded a poor engagement zone for the mercenaries of Convoy Alpha-fifteen, but the multitude of cover, and the general array of the city afforded it's own advantages; advantages that Security Chief Callandra Henderson, the young Security captain of the entire Tech Con RDA Detatchment had to consider as her eyes glossed over the map of Flora.
"This place is a dump." She commented off hand to her second in command, and her right-hand-man Arren Valaj, the muscular Korkea Kallio tribesman, a native of the planet Langara that was not part of the Colonial Aschen settlers. Arren offered a curt nod, as his eyes wandered outside the window of the Technical.
His calm meditation was interrupted abruptly by the sound of a mercenary's voice, the voice cut through the dull roar of the Technical like a knife through butter.
"I got something on the DRADIS." He commented, and both Arren and Callandra turned to face the man, as he held up a portable tablet.
Bishop merely let out an audible grunt, as he turned to go back to his own datapad.
Callandra turned to the Disruptor rifle housed on a secure rack between the front and rear seats, the truck shifted only slightly as it went over a bump, and she grasped the radio.
"All units cease advance, we've got something on DRADIS." She called out, and the entire convoy of vehicles ground to a halt, engines protested and brakes squealed.
The denizens of Flora gave the Tech Con convoy a wide berth, given the Aschen's reputation here on Terra, it seemed fairly wise to simply avoid them. And so the various miscreants hid within the buildings, as the Tech Con security captain opened the driver door to her truck, and stepped out, flanked by a squad of Tech Con mercs that disembarked from the APC Directly behind them.
Callandra grabbed the Disruptor rifle from within the truck, while the Mercenary on the mounted gun swiveled the rotary plasma cannon to bear forward. Arren was directly behind the Captain, with Bishop stepping out third.
The Alteran mercenary looked up, his mind wandering into the surrounding buildings, his lips pursed from behind his skull mask, and he held out his hand. It was gestured towards a large warehouse before them.
"I sense something, we'll need to clear that warehouse before we proceed." Bishop said calmly, as Callandra nodded. "Tairns, Katrine, you're with me, Valaj, Bishop, take point. Everyone else. Guard that warhead with your lives." Callandra ordered, as she checked her disruptor rifle.
"Bounding overwatch, make use of cover. Let's roll!"
"Did you hear that?" The masked joker asked...
Just then, the shield opened up on Obake's hovercraft. He had pushed a little button on his wristband which caused the windshield to slide open into the rearside roof of the vehicle. "I hope you have life insurance," the jester said jokingly with a bit of mild sarcasm as he climbed over the side of the hovercraft and slid into the cockpit. He was speaking to an android, after all, and wondering if Ascendant could even compute laughter or what it meant to be sarcastic. Not that it mattered, since all of Obake's u-flies were soon buzzing around Ascendant in a small swarm with more concentration on the droid's sensory mechanisms. They seemed to attack all at once, as a simultaneous unit. The bugbots approached Ascendant from many different angles and directions, specifically targeting the droid's vision, hearing, vocals, sensors and any mechanical joints that might effect the droid's movement. They were alerted to these areas by one of the bugbots that had previously landed on Ascendant's shoulder and began secretly probing for weaknesses. The hive-mind of the bugbots allowed all of them to act as a single swarm, which sometimes gave Obake the element of surprise. In either case, the bugbots were soon prodding at Ascendant with tiny etherine lasers in an attempt to disable the android just like they had disabled the security cameras.
As if that wasn't enough, Obake suddenly raised a rather large hand cannon and pointed it at the other droid which brought out the briefcases, firing a beam of bright blue etherine which blasted a fist-sized hole into the center of its chest-plate. Watching the droid fall over, now disabled lifelessly, Obake then turned and pointed the hand cannon at Ascendant while his white painted face-mask grinned motionlessly. It was a cheap shot and he knew it. He pulled the trigger, firing a blast of blue energy at Ascendant before activating the force-field on his hovercraft. Obake laughed menacingly as the windshield came sliding down over the dashboard in front of him. Dropping the hand cannon into the seat beside him, he grabbed the joystick and hit the thrusters, ramming his hovercraft straight through the garage door into the front parking lot just as the Tech Con team was approaching the back of the warehouse. Obake wasn't about to stick around. Within seconds, he was back on his way to flying across the landscape at incredible speeds. Looking down at his computer screen, Obake suddenly became curiously interested in Clockwork again. The bugbot he had placed into Clockwork's pocket appeared to show exactly where he was located. Soon, Obake was heading back towards the way he came from, to the vicinity of Clockwork and Mr. Niac.
Prince Sin had watched Clockwork freeze time, an event which caused Prince Sin to contact Obake through his earpiece. Sin had also watched the android Ascendant and informed Obake of the droid's status. Sin had watched the Tech Con trucks pull up to the building where Obake was located. He was also aware of the man in the camera station who had been watching the building from a distance when his cameras were suddenly destroyed by Obake's bugbots. Prince Sin was watching everything on his holographic display interface, making sure that his friend Obake was never alone, even if he appeared to be in danger. Sin zoomed in on Obake's hovercraft as the masked jester glided swiftly across the landscape. Obake had said the magic word, a code signal which informed Sin Asphodel that it was time to act.
Within seconds, Sin hit a button which launched a drone from Soulburst's hull around the moon's surface and down into the planet's cloudy atmosphere. The drone had a tracking device on it which narrowed in on Obake's hovercraft in Flora, causing it to descend like a frisby upon his location. The coordinates had been set to a destination not too far from Clockwork and Mr. Niac, in a place that had been preset and arranged by Obake and Sin in case things went wrong. As the disk-like drone struck the planet's surface and hit the ground, it opened up and transformed into a small platform. As Obake's hovercraft made its way over the platform, Obake's entire vehicle would be teleported into the docking bay on Sin's space station. As this happened, the platform itself would close back up again and it too would be teleported back to the space station along with Obake's hovercraft so that nothing foreign could aboard Soulburst.
Prince Sin would not go down to the docks to greet him right away. Instead, he watched his displays to make sure that everything on Soulburst was in working condition. Seeing that the cloaking apparatus was in effect to disguise his ship and ensure invisibility in space, Sin made sure that there was enough power and energy to guide the station back to his sister's planet, where they would stop at the lab to take another sample of Obake's blood for their experiments. Sin knew that Obake did not particularly enjoy the Asphodelian's experiments, but such tests were necessary and vital for the advancement of Sin's species. When it was established for sure that Obake was on-board the battle carrier, the Asphodelians took to their stations and soon, Soulburst was warping through the galaxy at light-speed, heading for another galaxy in an entirely different realm altogether. They were heading for the Bluestar Galaxy, to a most dangerous solar system.
Fine. Consider it all melodramatics seeings as, realistically, he managed to find his way home; to his bed, every eve. And yet, it still felt as a knife to the side every morn; tasked with the responsibility, nay...the duty of taking seat in that chair every day merely to repeat the same monotonous, dull, tasks. Comb through paperwork, monitor the stooges that he employed, comb through more documents, and gather information on countless relics that could pose useful in his cosmic conquest; likely a ridiculous dream destined for fruitlessness. A failure, no matter the time and effort sunk into it.
Conquest, you say? Subjugation of the masses? An iron-grasped oppression set to flood the stars and planets?
Indeed. A crackpot idea engineered by nothing more than a crazed lunatic: A madman in every methodical, logical, sense. Faced with a life of tragedy after tragedy, or so his own mind concocted, the delusions of grandeur spun intricate webbing into his head that would always remain an artistic masterpiece never realized.
But he could never fathom such a thing impossible. He was Kazura Kanahashi, after all. A titan in his own right; unchallenged. Undaunted.
Irregardless, the man finally found himself a snippet of freedom, liberating himself from the confines of his corporate empire and seeking refuge countless star-systems over from where he currently made his bed. Not only had it been many a moons passing since he'd had an opportunity so prime to savor the sounds of something different; it had been some time since he'd had an opportunity to bathe in the sweet, bitter, sanguine he'd so come to enjoy in his earlier years.
Hence the reason, at this moment, he'd found himself drenched in the viscous liquid.
Pan into the district of Flora; a place he'd never actually found himself before. Apparently the seedy locale proved a haven, and breeding ground, for criminals and those of similar mindsets. All the better, he found little difference in whether his victims were pure, or tainted. They were all blessed fodder for his occasional urges. Locked away within the confines of that pathetic modern, self-designed, prison gave him little time to enjoy the finer things in life.
Such as the delicious, climactic, and picturesque view of a face once full of life draining pallid as their very life essence fled their pathetic mortal vessel. Rivers, and torrents, of sanguine spewing from their very carcasses as they, one by one, teetered and slumped to the earth beneath their feet. Surprisingly swiftly, at that.
A single nail, filed to a point, etched through the air and but a few paces away, without any physical contact, a sudden laceration opened itself upon the throat of an unsuspecting victim. Ichor spilled from the wound, painting the nearby surface of a building, as well as spattering upon the surface of the street below. The female gurgled upon her words, stumbling with eyes wide, like those of prey having fallen into the teeth of a predator; desperation and hopelessness all mingled into one fleeting idea. They were going to die.
He'd gone on like this for some time, now, littering streets and the like with corpses. He'd been less than physical this outing, simply relying on his Kiai techniques to perform the killing actions for him. Manipulation of Ki had been his calling since youth, and yet he's still found time to hone the skill, nearly mastering it at this time. Nigh perfect Ki control opened countless doors and windows into varying degrees of opportunistic art, or so he liked to figure it as. He held no conscience, nor any pity or sympathy for those he'd struck down. This was a shit-hole, but of course. Not one soul would miss those who had departed for the afterlife in this desolate, rat infested, cesspool.
And yet, he found a longing welling in his chest. He enjoyed all of this, yes...but something felt off; missing even. He longed, craved, something more personal. Something physical. Something he could really get behind and enjoy. Many a time before he'd snuffed out the flames of his victims with his own bare hands, and in one instance a manifested, hellish, tail appearing to be of sanguine. Again, Ki based in construct, but that mattered little in the eyes of his victim who could have only saw, and interpreted, him to be a Godless angel of malefic, nefarious, proportions. Bringer of death, and harbinger of all that is evil.
Clad in onyx tatters, face well hidden, only a few vermilion locks managed to lick at his cheeks. Occasionally, they could be seen, but did little to offer identification as to whom he happened to be. He did well to hide his face; shrouding himself, and his identity, from any who so could possibly recognize him. He never took well to the public around these parts, even if Wing City lay several stone throws away. Many knew him from days of yonder past.
After countless more footfalls, he came upon an odd locale. A shop, of all things. Stepping into the shadow of an awning, he brushed at the dust laden grit that clung to the window and peered in. By this time, the sun had dipped just below the horizon and darkness had begun clinging to all things, making visibility difficult. Still, he managed to ascertain the idea of what this shop happened to sport; likely an antiques parlor. Filled to the brim with trinkets and other oddities, a curious sensation flooded him.
Relics. Despite his loathsome detest of searching day after day for various objects of power, the idea of actually stumbling onto one tickled his fancy evermore; never a missed beat.
"And what do we have here? Considering the proximity to that putrid excuse of a city, I'm sure this place has something interesting to offer up..." He murmured to himself. He couldn't lose much by stepping in, realistically. If the place carried something of rarity and potential, he'd snag it. If it didn't?
He'd raze the place. He'd planned on setting the urban sprawl ablaze upon his departure anyway...
Jo-Jo shook her head of the hideous images that suddenly bombarded her mind. She looked around the Antique shop she was standing in to make sure she hadn't drawn too much attention to herself, in case she had began convulsing or screaming during her premonition. Which had been known to happen from time to time with the young Stargazer.
Thankfully, she seemed to have kept this episode contained in her own mind. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Being Psychic was not what everyone thought it was. It was taking and stressful to glimpse the future, or move something with your mind. It often left Jo-Jo with excruciating headaches and more questions than answers. She could never tell when or where the things she saw would happen, or if they would even happen to her.
One thing was for certain about this particular vision however. Never before had she been so scared by something she saw, even if she didn't understand what it was. It was like a deep rooted fear that struck her to the core, sending more than shivers up her spine. She looked around once again at the shop. There were two others in there with her, the shop keep and another customer. A shady man who wore damp, dirty, torn clothes and a paranoid look upon his face.
She wagered a thief, and the shop keep a Fence. That was upsetting in ways, but it wasn't her business. She was really only in the shop while she was waiting for the next Transport off this planet. She didn't much care for traveling through space, too much could go wrong in her mind. However, seeing as how her portal device was a complete failure, she needed to find her way home the old fashioned way. However long that may take.
Her long tail swayed behind her as she browsed the questionable relics and antiquities, her tall ears flitted every so often at the slightest sounds made. Nothing of interest, a few odd looking knickknacks maybe, but nothing of real value.
Still, she couldn't shake off the feeling the premonition had given her. It clung to her like a parasite feeding off of the chilling feeling it gave her. It was enough to make her tremble and cause her heart to pick up it's pace. Then, she felt as though someone was looking at her.
She turned her head quickly to see the other customer staring at her backside. She shot him a nasty look, which he returned with a wink and a few flicks of his tongue. 'Disgusting' She thought to herself as she shook her head and looked back to the shelf of trinkets she was examining.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure brushing the dirt off the window and peering inside the store.
As she turned to look at him, all of the fur on her back stood on end and a sickening feeling hit her stomach like a gut check.She held her breath as she looked directly into the hood of the figure. She couldn't see their face, but she knew something terrible was about to happen. Yet she couldn't move, immobilized by a creeping fear that seemed to grab hold of her very soul and rooted her body in place.
All she could do was stand there and stare at the figure with fear filled eyes. She hoped desperately that they would not enter the shop.
Now, amidst all this, it still bode unwell for a man such as he to have wandered in from the coming night swaddled in a tattered onyx cloak mildly soaked in sanguine. How could he ever explain his way out of such an inconvenience? Would there be any sort of explanation found plausible, if even believable?
Actually, the question truly posed: Did it even matter? Did he even intend to try and talk his way out of such a thing?
Not likely.
Instead, he'd find something of interest, were he lucky, and then murder those within before taking his leave. This ramshackle pisspot of a shop existed for one thing, truly, and one thing only. A cover to avoid sight, with an added benefit being the trinkets.
But, beyond all that, there lay little qualms. All in all, this outing merely proved a means to let off a bit of steam. In the mind of a madman such as he, making victims of innocents fell left of his moral compass. He, instead, found it a moral obligation to rub out the myriad lives of those he deemed unfit.
His gaze never met that of the shop keeper, nor the on edge thug more apt to shoot his foot off than get away with anything of real value. Even the anthromorphic being managed to dodge his cunning senses, merely due in part to the fact he'd seen an innumerable plethora of strange creatures in his time.
Moments of browsing brought him an expected disdain as he found nothing of interest. If anything truly of value would have been here, it had likely already long been plucked ripe for the taking some time ago. Instead, all that remained? Dust laden junk. An audible sigh of disappointment left him as he finished scouring a final isle with glass cases.
Only in that instance, with the drones of sirens fading into obscurity, did he begin to make his exit. He'd changed his mind on ending the lives of the putrid whelps inside the building. They'd perish later once he sought to raze the district; or so he had anticipated. Instead, he found himself caught up in discord as the man finally worked up the courage to draw a firearm.
"Alright, old man! I want cash! Whatever's in the drawer! And anything of value! Something, anything, that'll bring in a good chunk of change!" He spat out, a shakey hand holding a very unsteady gun wobbling in the mans direction. It didn't take him but a second later to wheel around and point it haphazardly at Kazura, who'd still maintained his steady pace toward the door.
"And you! Don't take another step. Can't have you flagging down any goddamned pigs." He continued.
And yet Kazura proceeded.
"Are you fuckin' deaf? I told you to stop!" He barked, thumbing the hammer back. "I'll shoot, you piece of trash! I swear I'll shoot, man. Don't make me shoot..." He warned, though a sudden warble in the final words brought a deliciously sadistic sneer of glee to the cloaked individuals lips.
Coward.
Another step and two audible pops filled the shop. Two shots rang out, shattering the store window and the pane glass in the door. Neither shot struck Kazura, though, as his movements managed to deceive eyes. As if a black ink blur moving erratically, he whirled on the spot and began a blinding dash at the man. A single hand of his outstretched as he closed the gap and the man, strangely enough, lurched forward...but not of his own volition. A strange pressure seemed to pull at the man from that very outstretched hand.
They both met in the middle; Kazura standing tall still very well hidden by his cloak whilst the man found himself silenced by a palm. He'd been captured by his very face in that palm which squeezed at his jaw and bowed the bridge of his nose. For all intents and purposes, his very face seemed, in simple terms, squished within that unrelenting grasp and slowly, so very slowly, did Kazura raise him from the floor into the air above.
"I made you shoot. You've a very poor aim, though. Even had I not dipped and dodged, you'd have missed." The words were laced with venom; every bit as malefic and terrifying as his appearance. "I'd say you were terrified before you even drew that weapon. You seem young, and green, for something as simple as a robbery. Your first?" He continued, ridiculing the man with glee behind the toxic verbatim. "You've even gone and pissed yourself..." He continued, nose scrunched with a grimace resting upon his visage. The noxious smell of it overwhelming as it ran the length of his pantleg and pooled on the floor beneath him.
His grip only tightened whilst the man tried to wail out in pain, but could not.
"You made poor judgement today. You could have simply shot the man and took the money, and his belongings. I'd have done nothing. I've already slaughtered a great many on my way here; the authorities are already, and likely will be, tied up for some time." He explained. His gaze then fell to the young, rather tiny, female creature of sorts. "Probably could have shot her too. But that would have been a larger gamble. She's likely far from mundane." He speculated. "Regardless, you made a grave mistake in shooting at me. And now, in these fleeting final moments, you'll learn what it means to experience..." He prattled on, grip growing ever the more fierce.
"True..."
And suddenly the resounding sounds of bones collapsing, and grating across one another, as he pulverized the mans jaw within his grasp.
"Fear..."
Followed by what could only be likened to an apple, or an orange, or any other fruit having a portion of itself crushed; pulp and viscera spattering the immediate area. A lone tooth falling to the wayside.
His limp body fell to the floor with not much more than an idle thud, eyes having rolled back into their sockets moments before the horrific exhibition. Truly, it could not be discerned whether he'd died from pain, and shock, or if his heart had stopped in the moments before out of absolute terror.
Regardless, Kazura plucked a few pieces of bodily grit from his fingers before following up with a swift few shakes of his hand. As if the very act of having such on his hand struck him as disgusting.
Throughout all of this...the store manager had fallen faint, much to Kazura's delight, albeit perhaps chagrin as well. Weak stomaches always displeased him. Still, it could only be a blessing in disguise not to have authorities swarming the location. All that remained, now, though? The girl.
"As for you." He slowly murmured, turning his attention her way. From beneath the cowl of that very cloak, to gleaming gems of madness lingered; peering upon her...bleeding through her.
"What to do with you..."
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