| abstract | - Currently it is only available in ebook format.
- Arizona The Grand Canyon state consists of terrain from the high desert plateau in the northern and eastern sections to the desert basins and jagged mountain ranges in the southern and western parts, broken only by the high, forested mountains in central Arizona. The spectacular Grand Canyon, for which the state is best known, displays its timeless beauty close to the border between Arizona and its northern neighbor, Utah. To the south are the major cities of Phoenix and Tucson, irrigation from the Colorado and Salt Rivers making them green oases in the southern desert. Contents: Avalanche Anubis Kup Arizona State University Grand Canyon Obvious exits: Fly leads to Skies above the Western United States. South leads to Mexico. Out leads to Southwestern States. Nevada California Grimlock has arrived. Ah, yes, Arizona. Dusty. Sunny. Though not quite as hot this time of year. Kup's trail leads to a jagged mountain range in the middle of nowhere. Finding the crazy old man may be harder than that, though... Porsche 959 is a master tracker, when he actually has time to do his job and isn't stuck balancing Blaster's chequebook or filling out forms in quadruplicate for Red Alert or stabbing himself with a prop sword by accident. Kup was last seen in Arizona near an EDC airbase, so there Nightbeat will look first. Kup can't fly, so there'll probably be tracks if he wasn't kidnapped. Airzona doesn't get much rain to wash away evidence. "Me Grimlock 'member where stuff happened!" Grimlock says, soaring through the air- though some distance behind Nightbeat. "Over there!" he points at one (slightly irradiated) mesa. "Me Grimlock and him Kup fight him Shockwave! Me punched that guy i the head!" There is indeed a trail of disturbed rocks leading off in a certain direction. It leads to a blackened patch of ground, which had been irradiated by Shockwave, then off into the distance. At this point, a little bit of oil joins the trail. Seems Kup was injured. Eventually, the clues lead to the top of a crag, whereupon a figure appears to be sitting down, rifle cradled in his lap. Porsche 959 transforms and glances around, taking in everything with his advanced sensors. His listens along to the witness, Grimlock, and Nightbeat rubs his chin. The detective muses, "Could be that Shockwave's radiation fried his circuits and has him acting wonky." He starts to follow the trail of disturbed rocks and oil, and once the figure comes into sight, Nightbeat pauses cautiously. Grimlock follows Nightbeat! He lands on the ground with a *boom!* and stomps along. "Hnn. Me Grimlock never get crazy from radiations before." he notes. Upon spying the figure in the distance, Grimlock hmms. "Hey! That look like him Kup! HEY! HEY KUP! IS ME GRIMLOCK!" he even waves- too hard, like an excited kid. "OVER HERE!" The figure on the crag doesn't respond to Grimlock's shouting and waving. It just sits there, motionless. At the base of the crag, Nightbeat might notice that the area looks like it had been disturbed and then "wiped" of any tracks, except for the trail leading up to the crag. The puzzle pieces of Porsche 959 rearrange into the hard-boiled Autobot detective, Nightbeat! Nightbeat frowns. This area looks disturbed to him, and his detective sense is warning him to hang back. He looks over to Grimlock and comments uneasily, "I don't like this, Grimlock. It just... doesn't seem right." Then, Nightbeat hollers at the figure, "Kup! The turbopunk kids are on your lawn again." If that doesn't get a reaction... "Him Kup just sleeping!" Grimlock says, "Me go wake him up!" and with that, Grimlock starts stomping up the path. "YOU KUP NEED WAKE UP NOW! WAKE UP AND TELL ME GRIMLOCK NEAT STORY!" As Grimlock approaches the crag, Nightbeat might hear the sound of a rope being drawn tight, the sound of something being dragged out from under a rock, then some running, with a hop thrown in for good measure. Grimlock's audials aren't as good, but surely even he will notice the giant boulder rolling towards him from a nearby rocky outcropping. Nightbeat does hear some things, and he raises a hand and calls out, "Grimlock, get out of the way!" Granted, Grimlock could probably survive a bomb going off in his head, but it's the thought that count. He transforms back to car mode and tries to drive away from the boulder, around the crag the long way. He's just asking to get hit with caltrops, isn't he? Nightbeat slouches down into Porsche 959 form. Time to roll. "Uh oh!" Grimlock says, facing down the oncoming boulder- and while not fast enough to dodge much of anything, he is, however, strong enough to smash anything, too! So, as the rock rolls towards him, Grimlock just rears back with one fist, and puts his whole body into a forward-stepping *PUNCH!* Rock dust billows around Grimlock, and the boulder shatters to crumbling bits! The dinocommander dusts his hands off, and hmms. "Him Kup need wake up, or rock fall on HIM too!" A lovely color will it be, - My second's formed of earth, stones, sand, - Almost all things except the sea. My whole's a country dark and wild, The people honest, poor, and free, Who from reflection gain much light, Yet seldom trees or flowers see. The strangest thing about this land, Where snows are deep and stars are bright, Is - in a year as long as ours, They only have one day - one night!" There's a transforming noise that the Detective might hear, then the sound of a truck's engine roaring and tires peeling out, which he will definitely hear. The noise seems to go deeper in the rocky countryside. Wait, isn't Kup up on that crag? Speaking of him, "Kup," sitting up there on the crag, still does not acknowledge Grimlock in any way. "Hey! Hey! Kup!" Grimlock stompstompstomps up towards 'Kup' "How come you no talk to me Grimlock? Me being EXTRA LOUD!" he waves his hands around "Am you brokened?" Porsche 959 is mildly relieved that Grimlock is okay. He starts to warn Grimlock that 'Kup' is probably a trap, but... it's Grimlock. Sometimes, Dinobots need to learn the hard way. Maybe it's the only way for them. He, instead, peels off, trying to follow the sound of that engine. "Kup" is... a *cleverly arranged pile of rocks.* That's right. Kup set up a pile of rocks that would sorta look like him from a distance. Also, Grimlock may have stepped on a bear trap crudely fashioned from scrap metal. As for Nightbeat, well, you know what they say, fools rush in, which is probably what the real Kup was counting on once he transformed and raced off. Remember when Kup was running off, and he "hopped?" Kup was hopping to avoid the pit trap he had setup with a tarp and a bit of sand. If Nightbeat doesn't spot the trap in time, he might fall right into a pit full of rebar, arranged like spikes! Kup succeeds in grasping Grimlock, throwing him off-balance.
* snap* Kup succeeds in grasping Porsche 959 , throwing him off-balance. Neither I nor you: But when the leaves hang trembling The wind is passing thro'. Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I: But when the trees bow down their heads The wind is passing by. So this begs one question: How do you catch what you cannot see? You'll have to be faster than that, if you want to catch me... -H" *CHONK!* Kup's trap closes around Grimlock's leg! It bites in just a bit- enough to make Grimlock take notice as he waggles his leg, trying to shake it free. He pauses, and looks to the Kup-pile, and hnfs. "Is trick! SOMEONE TRYING TO GET ME GRIMLOCK!" he snarls, and stomps his foot down to shatter the trap on his leg! He fumes for a few moments- then glances about. "-Hey. Where him Nightbeat go?" Porsche 959 screams in pain as the rather fragile Porsche falls into a pit full of rebar spikes. They easily skewer through his rather fragile armour. Panting heavily, he transforms, wrenching out some of the spikes. He calls out to Grimlock, "Help!" The puzzle pieces of Porsche 959 rearrange into the hard-boiled Autobot detective, Nightbeat! "Huh, whut?" Grimlock says, and stomps over towards Nightbeat. "How come you in hole?" he asks- reaching down to roughly pull the poor detective out. "You never find him Kup like that!" Krinch krinch krinch! Someone runs up from behind Grimlock and tries to shove him into the pit, too! Who would do such an awful thing to the lovable Dino?! Kup succeeds in grasping Grimlock, throwing him off-balance. Foxfire has arrived. Grimlock flails! He falls! ...on Nightbeat. Uh oh. The good news is, Grimlock's armor is strong enough to turn the rebar aside, and he manages to catch himself with his arms. "Ooof! What happen!" he growls, and rolls off of the semi-smashed Nightbeat Fireflight has arrived. Nightbeat is bleeding rather badly and stuck in a pit full of rebar spikes. Then Grimlock falls on him, nearly breaking the detective's back. He does not look like a happy person at all. The Sixchanger's engines' urgent scream rattles the earth sky as he appears in jet form, toward the approximate location Nightbeat, searching for him. Fireflight swoops in alongside Quickswitch, carrying Foxfire in his cockpit. He was still a little sluggish, but kept up as best he could, scanners on full as he flew slightly higher than the other autobot "I'll stay in the skies and keep an optic out for anything." he notes privately to his passenger and Quicks. "You help them out... "C'mon Fireflight!" Quickswitch calls, lowering altitude as he searches the general area for this pit. "Got it," Quickswitch descends. Accelerated, Quickswitch transforms into a sub-orbital jet. "Foxfire, I'll slow down as much as I can and low as I can and you can hop out ok?" Fireflight then states to his cassette passenger. At last, Kup appears at the edge of the pit, his rifle pointed down at the two Autobots stuck inside. His optics gleam brightly, and it seems Kup has done some rather crude looking repairs to himself. Patches of scrap metal are welded onto his body, and even on the top of his head and the side of his face, like he's some sort of post-apocalyptic Autobot. "Heh. Well, look who I got here. Grimlock and the GREATEST Detective ever. I dunno who's side you're on, Grim.. but Nightbeat there... I know for a fact he's a lying piece of slag. So how about it, Nightbeat? Why'd you lie to me?" "My thoughts exactly." Foxfire braces himself. "My anti-gravs will keep me from crashing. Okay...let's do this." To the Sixchanger, he transmits, "You'll have a better chance of helping the others. I'll be doing what I can, though." Nightbeat draws his weapon - screw it, if he's bleeding and stuck in a pit of spikes, he wants his gun for protection. He looks up at Kup, clearly and honestly bewildered. Nightbeat sputters, "Wha... what? What are you even talking about, Kup?" Grimlock shoves his way off of Nightbeat- and then peers up at Kup, scratching at his head. "...Why you Kup push me Grimlock in hole and point gun?" he asks, sounding bewildered, almost hurt. "You look like Junkion!" Fireflight waits until he was as slow as possible, murmuring "Kup! Kup is doing something... not kuppish." he notes to him, and then suddenly flips right over, his cockpit opening so she could drop out easily, the jet quite close to the ground and nearly overhead. What?! Shock sends static cracking beneath the assault unit's armor. ...The elder is accusing the detective of lying. The crust of fury hardens its central processes. A second thought joins the first. Kup has finally flipflopped. A short sigh, "He doesn't even /look/ right.." The ground is coming up on the pondering assault unit, and in a suicidal move, it transforms just before it meets the ground, the impact crater leaving a dusty cloud and spray of debris. The ground around Quickswitch shudders and there's no outward sign of the sixchanger at impact. Just a big hole. Quickswitch rapidly transforms into a hulking drill tank. Kup yells, "You know damn well what I'm talking about! When I was fightin' Shockwave, I asked him why he framed you for sabotaging the space bridge, and told him we knew it was a Decepticon that did it. Shockwave didn't even know which one it was. He didn't even know it was one of his own guys in the first place! Which means that this nonsense about Fleet doing that at the behest of Galvatron is a buncha turboslag. And how about that missing security footage? What were you and Fleet doin', arranging the props!? ANSWER ME!" Kup glances at Grimlock, and sighs sadly. "I'm... I'm real sorry Grim, but I just don't know who I can trust anymore. Please. Just... just stay down there til I figure this out." Foxfire promptly extends his wings, giving him a rather batlike appearance, and activates his anti-gravs. He jumps out and swoops toward the others. He circles a few times, then descends and lands, retracting his wings. "KUP! What are you *doing*?!" He darts over to the pit and reaches out to Grimlock and Nightbeat with a forepaw. Not that it will do much good, of course, but he's trying. "C'mon...!" Fireflight rolls upright again and accelerates, pulling up into a circling pattern overhead, remaining quiet now in concern Nightbeat stares up at Kup in clear disbelief. He exclaims, "What? No! Kup, you're being crazy here. Don't you think a Decepticon would lie to you sooner than one of your own boys in blue? The missing footage is from when he chased me to XXX - there ain't no security cameras there. C'mon, boss, don't play like this." We should wait.. Quickswitch thinks to himself in the tunnelled darkness, doubt and confusion and thoughts clouding him, "I can't hear them anymore, and that stuff about the spacebridge," the drill tank gives a shudder, "I'm glad I'm just a warrior, not intel," he murmurs to himself earnestly, "I'd never know who to trust." Who my enemies are.. and it is joined by uncertainty as his drill angles a tunnel downward and in the direction of the pit. +re He's guessing that Fleet was lying on those security tapes. Foxfire blinks, withdrawing his paw. "Kup...why would you listen to *Shockwave*? Fleet was the one who sabotaged the spacebridge--not Nightbeat. We have *proof*. I could smell that Seeker all over..." He shakes his head. "Sorry, Kup..." His hip compartments open, revealing the rockets inside, while a few small flames flicker in his jaws. "Now just cooperate..." Kup tries to boot Foxfire away from the pit. "Stay outta this! And shut your mouth! I don't trust you, either! And YOU!" He snarls at Nightbeat, and kicks some rocks into the pit at Nightbeat. "You think I'm stupid? Shockwave didn't have any reason to lie to me anymore. The only way he'd know that this revelation would make me suspect you is if he knew everything I do, and I'm damn sure he doesn't! Oh, and it's damn convenient you and Fleet took your playfight somewhere with no cameras, ain't it? Grimlock." Kup looks at the Dinobot with a serious, sober expression on his face. "Nightbeat is a traitor to the Autobots. I'm ordering you to kill him. Prove you're one of us." Kup succeeds in grasping Foxfire, throwing him off-balance. Grimlock glances over at Nightbeat, shrugs, and looks back at Kup. "Huh." he says, and stands up- his head's poking out of the hole now, at about Kup's ankle-level. He pauses, and looks down at Nightbeat for a few moments, that blank optic band of his showing absolutely no expression. "Hn." Nightbeat has to think fast, and he says quickly, "Grimlock, if you're a *real* Autobot, you won't kill me - you'll take me in for a proper trial. That's the Autobot way. Kup's the one glitching here, not me! Take *Kup* in for trial." Foxfire yelps as he's kicked away. "*Listen* to yourself, Kup! Nightbeat is no traitor, and even if he was, killing him wouldn't be the Autobot way to handle it!" He glances to Grimlock apprehensively, trying to slip closer to Kup, the rockets extending slightly, ready to launch. "KUP. I hate to do this, but none of us have a choice. Surrender and we won't have to fight you." Kup growls, "Don't listen to him, Grimlock. The Autobots have been compromised. His pals will get him out of any trial. There can be no mercy!" He scowls down at the tape. "And as for you, I just dare you to shoot." Fireflight swoops lower "Kup! Please, stop doing this!" The aerialbot banks sharply "What do you mean no mercy?? That's not the Autobot way no matter IF they are compromised or not!" he tries himself now, coming dangerously close to clipping the gorund with a wing "We just want to HELP Kup. Can't you see you're hurting other Autobots?" Foxfire snarls in irritation, retracting the missiles, but a few more flames can be seen in his mouth. "As much as I'd like to at this point...I just can't fire on another Autobot. You're one of us, Kup, even if you aren't yourself right now. Please just give yourself up." He approaches the old mech. "ME GRIMLOCK SAY EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" The Dinocommander can be very, very loud when he wants to be. When one's got to push Sludge & Slag around on a daily basis, it's a good talent. "Me Grimlock FIX THIS!" he says, and points at Kup. "Just you see!" And with that, he reaches forward towards Nightbeat- aiming to grab the detective's gun-wrist with one hand, and his throat by the other! Grimlock succeeds in grasping Nightbeat, throwing him off-balance. Kup smiles, nodding as Grimlock apparently prepares to deliver a horrendous beatdown to the detective. "Quiet, you," he mutters to Foxfire. "I ain't turnin' myself in. The traitors will just kill me while I'm offline and say it was because of my injuries. I AIN'T GIVIN' MYSELF UP!" This he yells at Fireflight. Hmmm, the reverberations are changing, Quickswitch notes to himself as his armor piercing drill rips through ground. Must be getting close to the pit now. The pit and spikes are vibrating, then the crimson drill tip pierces through the earth and assembled spikes. Oh no.. the scene comes into view overhead. Quickswitch revs into the pit itself, and transforms, "Hey guys, I made an incline for you so you can get outta here," Quickswitch's fragmented attention then diverts upwards. A mururing and flurry of thoughts descend upon it--the furious flood twisting its form into a snarling beast, optics wild with wrath and stark confusion. Faster than the eye can follow, Quickswitch transforms into an assault beast. Nightbeat gurgles as Grimlock grabs his hand and his throat. He hisses, "Grimlock! Kup's renounced the Autobot code! We don't do lynchings! We seek *justice*! Lemme go, you big lunk!" He glares balefully at Kup. C'mon, old guy solidarity! Why's Kup gotta play this way? "Grimlock," the beast howls, "What are you doing?!" and the assault unit scans upward toward Kup. "NO ONE'S A TRAITOR!" Foxfire all but screams at Kup, quickening his approach. "This goes against Autobot code! Let us help you! You're not in you're right mind! Have...have First Aid take a look at you!" He now darts toward Kup, apparently intent on knocking him down...but there's this issue of whether Kup will even let the little fox touch him. "You shut up!" Grimlock says, and gives Nightbeat a little shake- he soon activates his antigravs and flies out of the hole, landing beside Kup. "Me Grimlock helping!" he says, edging closer to the old timer, using Nightbeat as an impromptu shield, should the need arise. Kup's optics go wide as an escape route suddenly opens up under the pit. "What the--you're not getting away from me, Nightbeat!" He swings his rifle up, aiming to blow off Nightbeat's head, then suddenly Foxfire knocks his aim to the side. PZOW! A laser bolt harmlessly disintegrates a rock, instead of its intended target. "Why you little--" Kup is about to punt the fox into the stratosphere, when he notices Grimlock walking towards him, with Nightbeat as a living shield. "Grimlock!? What the frag are you doing!?" Cautiously, the old man backs away carefully. From within the pit, the assault unit transforms to laser pistol mode and aims, keeping its thunderous emotions clamped down. Quickswitch shrinks down into his utilitarian laser pistol mode. Nightbeat attempts to kick Grimlock in the knee, hard, to convince the Dinobot to let him go. Hey, he's being throttled by an angry thunder lizard. Can his life really get much worse? If can end up over, sure. But at this rate, over would be an improvement, really. Nightbeat succeeds in grasping Grimlock, throwing him off-balance. Fireflight whirls around in midair suddenly, turning to fly right above the heads of those present, his engines rumbling and sending hot air all about, before pulling up. Then he comes back once more, this time his belly SCRAPING the ground, his nosecone aimed right at Kup "Sorry, Kup!"
* FWOOOSH* Fireflight misses Kup with his grasp attack. Kup apparently has eyes in the back of his head, as he simply hops over Fireflight as he flies at him. "Look out, Grimlock!" he yells. Foxfire crouches down. "Now I'm getting ticked..." He blinks. "Uh...Fireflight?" Ignoring the Aerialbot for now, he lunges at Kup, snapping his jaws at the mech's leg. He's not aiming to *hurt* Kup, just to pull him off-balanace. Foxfire misses Kup with his grasp attack. "OW!" Grimlock does indeed drop Nightbeat. In fact, it'd seem the detective knows JUST how to fight dirty, as the dinocommander is soon hopping up and down on one foot, clutching at his knee. "OW!" And then a jet zips by! Grimlock hops backwards a bit- but his balance is precarious! And he falls! ...towards Kup. Grimlock succeeds in grasping Kup, throwing him off-balance. Fireflight misses Kup! and everyone else! And he wobbles a little, his belly banging into the far side of the pit before he goes bounding and sliding along the desert on the far side, yelping as he loses some paint. "Ow! Ow owow ow... Kup manages to shake Foxfire off of his leg without too much trouble, but big, huge Grimlock presents a bigger problem as he lands on the old mech and flattens him against the ground. "If I had an energon chip for every time a Dinobot fell on me..." he grumbles. "Grimlock, get off, I'm serious, here! They're gonna kill us if we don't move!" The assault unit's sights are clouded--the menacing sting of irritation as Fireflight passes by, clouding where it's aiming. As soon as Fireflight passes right overhead, it is decided in the Six Changer's multitudinous thoughts, "Someone has to end this madness.." The assault unit swivels in the air, aiming for each Autobot and firing precisely, "Now, let it be sorted out." Nightbeat fights as dirty as they come. He gets dropped - out of the pit, conveniently, and he immediately tries to put some distance between himself and the Dinobot, transforming to car mode and driving away over ground he knows to be safe. He reviews the situation: 1) Kup wants him dead for some reason. 2) Grimlock is a pain. 3) Quickswitch wants everyone dead. Well, SLAG. Nightbeat slouches down into Porsche 959 form. Time to roll. Quickswitch strikes you with Photon Cannon for 15 points of damage. Quickswitch unleashes its Photon Cannon attack on Kup, Nightbeat, Grimlock and Foxfire, striking Grimlock, Nightbeat and Foxfire. Quickswitch succeeds in grasping Fireflight, throwing him off-balance. Fireflight yelps as his backside is fried by Quickswitch, and the belly-sliding Aeriabot hits a Mesa. Probably the same one Shockwave used yesterday. CRUNCH You send a radio message to Noah Wolfe: Corporal, I know you can hear this. Kup wants to murder me. And that ain't jivving. Warn the EDC that Kup's gone mad, please. Grimlock is a good shield! He falls atop Kup, and...stays there. "OKAY." he grunts, enduring the blast from Quickswitch. "Hnnnf!" He shifts about a little bit, to the point where he's...sitting. On Kup. "Everybody stop shooting! Me Grimlock am fixing things!" he says- and almost as an afterthought, he reaches forward, attempting to grab Kup's gun and toss it aside! Grimlock succeeds in grasping Kup, throwing him off-balance. You receive a radio message from Noah Wolfe: Oh smeg, I knew the old junk heap was off his floppy but he went senile too? Right, I'll pass the word on mate. Thanks. Foxfire is knocked right off his paws. "Ungh...ow..." He shakes his head, climbing back to his feet, albeit a little wobbly. His ears are lowered. "The things I go through to help my friends..." You send a radio message to Noah Wolfe: I dunno if he's under mind control or what, but he wants me *dead*. Don't let him near any humans, you hear? He's dangerous. Quickswitch transforms almost reflexatively, landing on his knees. He trembles, vocalizer unsteady too, and an unsettled murmur through clouded optics, "..I just wanted all of you to stop. Each of you accusing the other. No one is prepared to listen, and I had to do something.." Quickswitch springs up into his massive robot mode. You receive a radio message from Noah Wolfe: Understood, do you need any help? Alameda might be a safe place for you. You send a radio message to Noah Wolfe: Y'know, I'll take you up on that generous offer, if you don't mind. Fireflight transforms, standing and rubbing his chest and stomach where the paint was scraped clean off "Bitbucket is going to KILL me." he groans a little, turning back to watch the others. He takes a few steps, then stops, looking down at the ground nervously Kup coughs out, "Dammit, Grimlock, yer heavy!" He tries to push the Dinobot off, but he's very, very heavy. "Come on, get offa me! If ya don't, they're gonna kill me!" Kup begins to look a bit wild-eyed. "Grimlock... I'm the last... hope... for stopping... the conspiracy...." Grimlock hnfs. "Me Grimlock am RANKING OFFICER HERE." he pauses. "'cept him Kup. But that mean you ALL DO WHAT ME GRIMLOCK SAY! And me Grimlock say you all go home!" he grunts, and looks down at Kup, idly tapping him on the head. "You Kup no worry. Me Grimlock make sure nobody kill you!" You receive a radio message from Noah Wolfe: It's all good Nightbeat. When you can, come on over. You send a radio message to Noah Wolfe: I'll be booking it there post haste. Thanks, Corporal. Porsche 959 has an offer that he, frankly, cannot refuse, so he thinks that he's going to have to take it. Also, as far as Grimlock's orders go? Forget those. There's no way he's obeying the reptile that just tried to strangle him. The Porsche pours on the speed, kicking up a cloud of dust, and tries to make himself not here anymore. +retreat Nightbeat begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Fireflight. Kup coughs a bit. "*kaff* Yeah, I bet you will, Grimlock. If you don't kill me first, that is." He makes an angry face as Grimlock pats him on the head, feeling like the world's biggest idiot. "Ennnnnnnnhhhh." "The Autobots may embrace utterly ridiculous ideas and not know when to use lethal force when they must, but this, every last one of you, is glitching, makes no sense," Quickswitch spits, "I'll shoot you a second time if any of you so much as lifts a--" SLAG IT!! The expression twists to wrath as does his form, "...All of you will STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!" he shrieks, systems brought to their limits in this. Foxfire is very angry by now. Beware the infuriated fox. "All of you...just SHUT UP. Kup, I'm DONE trying to be nice. You're going to let yourself get checked out even if I have to DRAG YOU BY THE NECK back to Autobot City. And Quickswitch, STAND DOWN. You're not helping!" Quickswitch shrinks down into his utilitarian laser pistol mode. "Me Grimlock no kill you Kup! Who tell me Grimlock stories then?" he hmms, and glances curiously off as Nightbeat peels out. "Huh. Me wonder if him Nightbeat have handcuffs." He says- and then peers curiously at Quickswitch and Foxfire. "HEY." he snarls "YOU NO BE CRAZY TOO!" Fireflight jumps at all the shouting and shakes his head. He looks after Nightbeat "Nightbeat! Wait up!" he transforms, taking to the skies wobbily again to follow the car. Grimlock siiiiighs, and reaches forward, attempting to grab Quickswitch's laser-pistol mode. At least he's more manageable that way! "Me Grimlock say this stuff never happen long time 'go." he mutters. Will he be yelling at the kids on his lawn, next? Kup thinks for a moment. Stories? Ah, yes, he has just a story for this sort of occasion. "I ever... tell you about this time I was captured by this group of Autobots that went traitor, Grimlock? There was this one guy in the unit that hadn't gone rogue and had no idea what was going on, and the traitors just told him that it was ME who turned his back on the faction. They even had him guard my cell. I tried to warn him something was up, Grimlock, and, well, he didn't listen." He looks meaningfully at the Dinobot that's sitting on him. "You know what happened to that guy, Grimlock?" Porsche 959 does totally have handcuffs. He tries to outrun a jet, which may well be stupid, but he's going to try to go it anyway. If only he had that new engine in - he might have a fighting chance! But oh, the first tunnel on the googlemaps route? Nightbeat's taking it. He'd like to see Fireflight follow him underground! Foxfire pins his ears back. "This is insane...I should be looking for Red Alert, not dealing with mechs who have gone crazy!" Grimlock hmms? "What happen?" he asks, neatly pointing Quickswitch AWAY from anything important. Unless he wants to vaporize that big pile of rocks. A large metal hand closes over Quickswitch, obscuring his sights and visual receptors, "LEMME GO!!" he roars, and he does, fires off wrathfully at a pile of rocks that explodes in smoke. Kup frowns. "Eventually this guy, Landscape was his name, stumbled upon the leader of this rogue group while he was having a radio chat with Soundwave of all people. So, the rogue Autobots killed him. But they didn't do it slow." Kup looks bitter for a moment. This isn't one of his favorite stories. "Four of the rogue bots switched to vehicle mode, and they had their pals tie each of Landscape's limbs to their back ends by a steel cable. Then they hit the gas, and started rippin him apart. Heard him screamin' just as I was pickin' the lock to my cell." A dramatic pause, then, Kup continues. "Grimlock... don't be that guy." Grimlock hmmms, and glances down at Kup for a few moments. "Huh." he says. "Me Grimlock stronger than that, though. Me no come 'part." he notes- and then peers down at Quickswitch, *taptaptap*-ing at the blaster pistol. "You calm down too!" he says, and heaves another sigh. Really, it's easier to deal with Slag, sometimes. Kup sighs, and just lies on his back, then. "Tried to... warn you," he coughs. "You need to lose some weight, too, lad. Yer fraggin' crushin' me." The frantic cog twitches inside Quickswitch as the Dinobot Commander taptaptaps at him, as the old mech's story filters through. Skepticism, horror, indifference, all mingle and more, and the Six Changer's thoughts on the ancient tale, it is finally decided; "Drawn and quartered," Quickswitch murmurs indifferently, "Not the most brutal way of doing it, but effective," What, he wonders, caused these traitors to turn their backs like that? "Don't expect me to trust you--let me go!" Quickswitch complains, "Any of you. My function is assault, of my enemies--you will let me go..." Kup growls, "Wasn't supposed to be effective, they were just having fun, Quickswitch. Like every fraggin' Decepticon psycho who shot someone just to watch him squirm." He squints at the temperamental Six-changer, and gets an idea. "Yeah. Well, too bad Grimlock's got such a firm grip on ya. Ya know, he's way more powerful than you, you know that, right? You ain't NEVER gonna break that grip. And even if you did? He'd just smack you into another galaxy. Pink-painted sissy." Grimlock facepalms with his other hand. Jeez. "Okay. Here what happen." Grimlock says. "Me Grimlock say we all go back to Autobot city! And nobody shoot ANYBODY when we get there!" he says, and wriggles his dino-butt around a little bit- and peers at Kup. "Haw haw haw! You talk right for once! Me Grimlock STRONGEST!" Kup HURRRGS as Grimlock grinds him into the dusty terrain. "Pain... excruciating... agh.." Pink-painted sissy--WEAK?! Affronted anger rips the Six Changer's form into a crackling, struggling mess of electricity as he struggles to transform, grips trying to twist, chamber turning and even the head of the assault beast rearing up to snarl and snap as it struggles to lock into place and form, "Just you fraggin WAIT!!" he roars, trying to break the titan grip, "--I ain't no dim-witted Dinobot--I COUNTER SIXSHOT!" the wrathful, wounded roar. Quickswitch succeeds in grasping Grimlock, throwing him off-balance. Kup smirks, even through the pain of having a careless Dinobot sit on him. "Heh, sure you do. You know what I think? I think Sixshot doesn't even know you exist. Ha. Ha ha! Ha--*KAFF KAFF*--ah, geeze..." "Bwah!" Grimlock's grip is not enough to counter mass-shiftiness! He tosses Quickswitch to the side, and grunts. "You Quickswitch need calm down! There portant stuffs to do!" and with that said, he attempts to stand up- though not without getting a firm grip on Kup, first. "C'mon! Is time go to Metroplex!" Kup coughs loudly as Grimlock pulls him up. Sure, it's nice not to be crushed under him anymore, but it seems to only help remind him just how much pain he's in right now. He's in no condition to fight back against Grimlock anymore, and is led along by the back of his neck like a crook just captured by Batman, or somebody like that. "If ya say, so, Grim." Quickswitch finds himself free, form unfolding into assault beast mode. Electricity crackles through the effort and the stress of this whole situation. A sickening aura of pained and rolling anger assaults the multi-faceted mind. Sixshot--not know he exists?! He doesn't come seeking to fight.. SHUT UP OLD MAN. The beast worries its head, "...You are incorrect," the words, tainted with doubt, are quiet, as the beast, energy still arcing, regards Kup through slitted eyes, claws curled and clutched at the earth. It roars. Faster than the eye can follow, Quickswitch transforms into an assault beast. Grimlock just shakes his head at Quickswitch. "It not matter what happens now!" and he looks to Kup. "Everything be fine, Kup! Me Grimlock MAKE SURE!" and with that, he takes off into the skies, one hand still firmly gripped on the old veteran! Assault Beast follows after, "Rarrrrr!!" You move west to California. [travel spam] You hop on the ferry to Alameda. Isn't mass transit great? Alameda Alameda, formerly the site of the Naval Air Station and the associated Marine base, is now home to the newly formed EDC and its massive launching, recovery and repair facilities. The city seems to have adapted to the change rather well. The carriers, cruisers and destroyers formerly tied up alongside the piers have been replaced with hyper-sonic fighter craft, interplanetary interceptors and shuttles of all varieties, but the servicemen never change. The towers and hangars of the EDC shine brightly in the sun. Contents: Exo-Armor Warthog Tank Jayson Redfield Chase Technologies lab Underground Parking Garage Terran Standard Troops #5328 Terran Standard Troops #5329 Terran Standard Troops #4172 Alameda Base Defenses Main Complex Obvious exits: Fly leads to Sky over San Francisco. Ferry leads to Uptown San Francisco. West leads to San Francisco Harbor. Fireflight has arrived. Exo-Armor Warthog unfolds each pod under itself forming arms and legs, the nose folds down revealing a head which flashes its lone optic. Exo-Armor Talon has arrived. You send a radio message to Noah Wolfe: Fireflight's dogging me. I've tried to lose him in tunnels, but I dunno how well it worked. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe pulls back on his controls as the armor lifts up. It transforms and pulls out its laser rifle resting it on his shoulder. Noah waits for his contact to arrive and hopefully, EDC reinforcements. He's got security feeds coming into his armor so he can keep tabs on any of the other gates than the main one. The defenses of Alameda are not active at the moment and the base doesn't seem very active. You receive a radio message from Noah Wolfe: Gotcha, any reason why he's following you and is he welcome? Sam enters from the Main Complex to the south. Sam has arrived. Ventress Exo-Suit enters from the Main Complex to the south. Ventress Exo-Suit has arrived. You send a radio message to Noah Wolfe: Unwelcome. He's following either Kup or Grimlock's order - I didn't invite him along. Porsche 959 has been skewered through with rebar and shot up. He's leaking rather badly. He drives erratically, zigging and zagging as if he expects to be shot at any point. When he finally approaches Alameda, he skids to a halt. The Porcshe transforms, and he looks around, wide-opticed. He just has to pray that the humans haven't gone nuts like Kup has. Nightbeat hates living on a prayer. The puzzle pieces of Porsche 959 rearrange into the hard-boiled Autobot detective, Nightbeat! Fireflight follows Nightbeat as best he can, from a distance up in the sky. He had managed to keep the Porsche in view and remained quiet this time, his red and white body circling overhead. Sam pokes his head out of the gates. You receive a radio message from Fireflight: N... Nightbeat? Its Fireflight. I'm not gonna shoot you or anything. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe watches Nightbeat stop and the armor waves him over. With the laser rifle still against his shoulder, Noah looks up in the sky, trying to pick out the tag along. He speaks over the channels and then flips over to his loudspeaker, "Nightbeat, you look like scrap. Common in before anyone else comes along to make trouble. We'll sort things out then." From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield is standing by with his arms folding, giving his exo a rather smug-looking appearance. Kind of like if Soundwave was smug. It's kind of weird, really. "Did anyone follow you?" he emits to Nightbeat. You send a radio message to Fireflight: Fireflight? Kup is pretty clearly glitching, Grimlock's way too personally fond of Kup to be objective here, and Quickswitch tends to go mental, now and then. So you're going to go back and tell them that you lost me in the tunnels. Do you understand? You receive a radio message from Fireflight: But you need repairs! You send a radio message to Fireflight: Yeah. But if I go back to Autobot Ctty, Kup's gonna kill me. You let me handle myself, y'hear? Ventress Exo-Suit Robot is also outside of the gates except the dark blue talon seems to be searching the skies. However, the speaker crackles to life. "I'd put money that someone did. It's just a matter of spotting him." Nightbeat staggers toward the entrance of Alameda, leaving a trail of pink energon and black gasoline behind him. He clutches one of his wounds, groaning. Nightbeat murmurs lowly, "Fireflight followed me. Couldn't shake him." He looks rather upset at himself, and he twitches, still expecting this all to be a trap. You receive a radio message from Fireflight: Uhm... You receive a radio message from Fireflight: If he finds out I lied to him, he's going to flatten me. Fireflight continues circling overhead slowly. Making wide circles, but never approaching or moving away From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe pushes his armor forward to help Nightbeat. The warthog lifts up Nightbeat's arm not holding a wound and helps him, in case he falls over from the injuries. The Warthog shakes his head, "He's still looking for you, let's get inside before he finds you." He looks over at the two Talons, "Head up and see if you can intercept Fireflight if you please." You send a radio message to Fireflight: But if he knows I'm here, he might hurt humans trying to get to me. Could you live with that, Fireflight? Could you go to the door of a grieving family and explain why their son is dead? You receive a radio message from Fireflight: N... no... But I did tell him I lost you in the tunnels, but I'm still looking. That's what I told him. So it's not QUITE a lie, cause I did lose you for a bit... But I won't tell him I found you again. From Exo-Armor Talon , Jayson Redfield nods at Noah and activates the thrusters. "Don't worry, Nightbeat, we got yer back." He ascends into the air, bracing himself for potential combat, although he hopes it doesn't come to that. You send a radio message to Fireflight: Such a clever Aerialbot. Thanks. You receive a radio message from Fireflight: Heh. Thanks. It was all so confusing back there. I do hope they get a hold of Kup... Ventress Exo-Suit Robot is already hovering above the ground. "you got it, Noah." The pilot says before lifting into the air....transforming in the meantime. Twisting and shifting, the exo-suit transforms into the Talon exo-jet. You receive a radio message from Fireflight: anyways, isnt the better part of valour discretion? You send a radio message to Fireflight: You said it. Nightbeat murmurs gratefully, a little woozy from the loss of fluids, "I really 'preciate this, you guys. If'n you ever need a detective, just gimme a call." He accepts Corporal Wolfe's help without complaint. Then, he moves to go inside, still staggering. Fireflight continues circling overhead, knowing exactly where Beat was as he murmers into his radio. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe nods and mumbles into his own radio. "Don't mention it, when this is all over, I might need your help with something. Since you're offering." he says thinking he might be able to get Nightbeat to track down his parents or any family members for that matter. You receive a radio message from Fireflight: Oh yeah! If uh, Rodimus or someone else asks, can I tell them? Once we get Kup back to base and stuff we can sort this out. You send a radio message to Fireflight: Better to just let that lie. I'll come out when it's safe. You receive a radio message from Fireflight: ... if Rodimus orders, I can't disobey even for him. But I'm sure he'd understand too... I'll try my best okay? Main Complex This is the main complex of the Earth Defense Corps's HeadQuarters. Based here in the beautiful city of San Fransciso it rises above the tranquil park below. To the north is the multi-level EDC Command Tower, beautifully designed in blue glass it shines brilliantly in the sun. A large EDC crest is subtly blended into the building. Over to the west, you can see star fighters taking off and landing. Behind you is the gates leading back down to the peaceful park below. Contents: Talazia Keldahoff Terran Standard Troops #2844 EDC Roster Obvious exits: Southwest leads to Barracks Hall . East leads to Prisoner Confinement Area. North leads to Alameda. South leads to Hangar Bay . West leads to EDC Command Tower. You send a radio message to Fireflight: I ain't sayin' lie. Just... don't pipe up unless directly asked. You receive a radio message from Fireflight: Ohh! okay. Armor Warthog comes into the main complex through the gates to the north. Exo-Armor Warthog has arrived. Sam comes into the main complex through the gates to the north. Sam has arrived. Sam slips along, just to see what's going on. Just a little human on the ground, don't mind him. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe walks in with Nightbeat and says, "We do not have much for repairs for transformers, but what we have is at your disposal. That and if we're lucky, Andi can help fix you up. How badly hurt are you?" Nightbeat staggers into Alameda, making a mess on the floor. He looks around, rather wobbly, and he comments, "...nice place you got here." Then his attention wanders over to Sam. Wait, is that...? Nightbeat's optic band cycles a few disbelieving blinks. "Uh, I got skewered through by a rebar spike pit-trap, choked and manhandled by Grimlock, and shot by Quickswitch. I've had worse, but it's enough to ruin my day, Corporal. I'm really more worried about Kup, though." From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe smiles and nods, "It's got it's small charms. So about the autobots. They probably know you're here so we should make it official that you're under our protection..." he chuckles, "...this is all kinda new to me. But I think that's probably a good idea. It'll keep them from storming in here right away." The armor's head motions towards the large hangar, "This way and we can maybe patch you up." Maybe Sam knows how, because Noah's in the dark with something as complex as a transformer. Nightbeat isn't sure he'd let Sam touch him. He knows that face, and the fellow who was last wearing it... is one of the worst Decepticons in the history of Cybertron. It could be a coincidence, sure, but Nightbeat doesn't believe in coincidence, only conspiracy unexplained. He replies to Corporal Wolfe, "Eh... the Autobots don't know I'm here. If you gotta announce I'm here, I ain't gonna argue with your protocals, given the hospitality you've shown, but if it's all the same to you, Corporal, I'd just as soon lie low." Sam ducks his head a little bit and moves forward. His left arm is in a sling. "Er.." he poses a question, "what has happened..?" From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe nods, "I understand, you know better than I would. No announcement then." He looks between Nightbeat and Sam wondering why Sam got the look that he did, then dismisses it. It's probably not important. He looks over at Sam and says, "Kup went nuts and ordered the other bots to hunt down Nightbeat for some reason. He needs a place to cool down for the time being...maybe some repairs if you're up to it." He notices the sling as they reach the hangar. ================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/82 Posted Author HIM KUP! Fri Nov 21 Grimlock ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Hey look, it's Grimlock! And Kup's right by him!* "Me Grimlock go with him Nightbeat to find him Kup! Him Kup go crazy and push us in hole, though. Then bunch of other Autobots show up and start yelling crazy- ME LOOKING AT YOU QUICKSWITCH." "Him Nightbeat run off somewhere, but me not sure why. So me Grimlock sit on Kup, and talk to him bunch! Him Kup 'fraid somebody gon' kill him, so me Grimlock follow him around and make sure he not die! Is great! Him Kup gon' tell me LOTS OF STORIES." "So, uuuuh. Yeah. Nobody kill him Kup! Also, someone get medic fix him Kup, too. Him all crazy lookin' like Junkion or something." *BLIP!* ============================================================================== Exo-Armor Warthog leaves to the Hangar Bay to the south. Exo-Armor Warthog has left. Sam leaves to the Hangar Bay to the south. Sam has left. You move south to the Hangar Bay ... Hangar Bay A large hangar, dark, but full of people working on various types of craft, all trying to make them ready in the least amount of time, should the threat siren go off. About a dozen craft, in various states of repair, but all bearing the symbol of the EDC are here. The main doors of the hangar stand open to let the fumes of damaged coolant lines, leaky fuel pumps and broken exhaust systems bleed out into the open air. Armed guards also stand near the door, but they seem to be more window dressing than anything else, their weapons held loosely, only snapping to attention when they see an officer coming across the tarmac. The bay is alive with sounds: techs yelling at each other, tools being dropped, the whine of protesting engines, the shrill shriek of the elevators as craft are raised or lowered from the underground storage bay, the roar as one of them passes by. The EDC is not all glitz and glamour, and this place proves it. Contents: Sam Exo-Armor Warthog Robot Tank Depot EDC Refueling Station Scanner Obvious exits: North leads to Main Complex . West leads to Landing Fields . East leads to EDC Training Room. South leads to EDC Medical Facility. Down leads to Aircraft Storage Bay . Nightbeat stumbles into the hangar, still looking rather wide-opticed and bleary. Okay, so Not-Soundwave has his arm in a sling. He's still suspicious! Nightbeat clarifies, "Actually, Kup rolled a boulder at Grimlock, set a pit trap for Grimlock and I, and then ordered Grimlock to execute me, and see, Autobots don't do that. We have trials first and juries of our peers. We also don't dump other Autobots into slagging pit traps. Or roll boulders at them." Sam follows them along, having to jog pretty quickly to keep up with the fast-moving mechs. When they slow, he catches up and then scratches his head with his right hand. "Not acceptable for Cybertronian repairs. Could perhaps apply temporary patch to fluid leaks.." he shrugs his right shoulder. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe grumbles, "I never did like Kup. Called me a coward and warned everyone about me. A person can't help who he is..." but he's still a coward in battle. Then looks down at Sam and says, "Help out if you can. I'll give Andi a call and see if she can come help too." Nightbeat sits down on the floor of the hangar, taking a moment to rest his weary and aching struts. "Don't worry about fixing me if you're damaged, ah..." Nightbeat doesn't really know Sam's name, and calling him Not-Soundwave would be even more tactless than Nightbeat usually is. He arches an optical ridge and comments, "Kup did that, huh?" He thinks back and remembers that report. "Maybe he's been glitching for longer than we suspected. See, this kinda behaviour ain't like him. Either he's gone bonkers, or there's mind control involved. In any case, I don't feel safe with him in command." Sam tilts his head at Nightbeat, listening curiously. "Oh.. er.. called Sam." He moves closer to Nightbeat to peer at the Bot's injuries. Then he looks at Noah. "Yes, this would be very helpful," he agrees, about calling Andi. Noah Wolfe leaves the Exo-Armor Warthog . Noah Wolfe has arrived. Exo-Armor Warthog has left. Noah Wolfe takes Exo-Armor Warthog . Noah Wolfe opens the hatch and uses a wench and hook to lower himself to the ground. "Andi should be coming in a bit to look at your injuries." he says, but at this point he really isn't sure what to do but just asks, "So Kup went nuts and set a trap for Grimlock and you, then ordered your capture which forced you into hiding, is that about it?" He shakes his head, "Just trying to get this straight." Andi Lassiter enters from the Main Complex to the north. Andi Lassiter has arrived. Nightbeat is sitting on the floor, a puddle of gasoline and energon slowly forming around - only slowly because his wounds have started to self seal. It looks like he got into a fight with a box full of sharp rebar, lost, and then he got into a barfight with Grimlock and Quickswitch. That's not actually how it happened, of course, but the truth is actually stranger than fiction. He corrects, "Not my capture. My *execution*. Otherwise, that's about right." Andi Lassiter arrives hastily, thanks to a motor pool jeep and the skillful driving of an MP. She's got a duffel bag on her lap, and her hair looks like it was very recently washed -- as in practically still dripping wet. Sam is standing near Nightbeat, looking over the Bot's injuries and frowning a lot. Talazia Keldahoff enters from the Main Complex to the north. Talazia Keldahoff has arrived. Noah Wolfe has disconnected. Nightbeat sitting on the floor, looking like a wreck. He is a bit baffled why Andi would have wet hair. It wasn't raining. Oh... perhaps it was some strange human custom! Maybe the mysterious 'shower' rite. He has to admit he's suspicious of her, but he's suspicious of Sam, too, and he's also suspicious of small rocks at this point. His commanding officer did just order him executed, after all. He has a right to be twitchy. He drawls, "I gotta thank you for makin' a special call, Doc, but I got reasons why I can't just haul back to Autobot City." Andi Lassiter clambers out of the jeep the moment it stops. "Thank you Vanessa." "No problem, ma'am." And with that the jeep and its driver leaves again and Andi hurries over toward Nightbeat. She takes one quick appraising glance at the puddling liquids and is all business. "Sam, bring four sets of protective gloves, non-permeable, as well as all the duct tape you can find." She looks up at Nightbeat now. "Nightbeat. You and I didn't meet on the best of terms, but I'm willing to ignore that to help you. I'm warning you, though. We don't have the parts and facilities that Metroplex does, so this is going to at best be a patch job." Nightbeat is starting to slump over, and he props himself up with an arm. He confides lowly, "Well, see... Kup went AWOL, trapped and injured two Autobots, and ordered my execution, which just ain't in our code. I think he's glitched, personally. So I'll gladly accept your roughest ministrations, sugar, because whatever you do to me, it's better than bein' dead." Or so Nightbeat hopes. Sam nods several times and hurries off to one of the workstations. He begins emptying out gloves and duct tape, as well as most of a tool chest, onto a cart. He starts wheeling the cart back over to Andi and Nightbeat. James Bailey enters from the Main Complex to the north. James Bailey has arrived. Andi Lassiter says, "Lie down, Nightbeat, before you fall down." Andi Lassiter takes a small hand-held medical scanner out of her duffel bag and starts to scan the injured Autobot to assess his injuries. Jayson Redfield enters from the Main Complex to the north. Jayson Redfield has arrived. James Bailey hurries in, muttering something, one hand on his small EDC radio earpiece. He slows to a stop when he sees Nightbeat. "...what's the problem, Andi?" He's not the expert on Cybertronian physiology that Andi is, but James is pretty sure it takes more than turning a wrench to help one... Nightbeat has a dame telling him to lie down! Of course, the context is that she's a human mechanic, and he suspects her of being up to something ill-defined, but oh well. Nightbeat more or less just flops over onto the floor, for once not protesting what the doctor orders. Sam helpfully holds out a set of gloves to Andi. Jayson Redfield darts into the hangar shortly after James. He's not sure what's happening, but far be it from him to ignore a request for help. "James!" he calls upon seeing his teammate. "D'you what's going on?" Marissa Faireborn has arrived. Andi Lassiter turns as James and Jayson arrive. "Jayson, I need to you go to my house and bring back the sealed container in the garden shed." She throws her house keys at him. "Get someone from the motor pool to take you, it's going to be heavy. James, do we have any energon stores around here anywhere? What I've got at home is barely a swallow's worth for Nightbeat, and I know he's already lost more than that." Marissa Faireborn arrives in the hangar shortly after J&J. She's wearing jeans, a T-shirt with the EDC logo on it, and a light Giants jacket, having returned from an evening jog around the base. After a shower and change of clothes, she headed down to see what help Andi needs. She is completely unaware of any wackiness involving Kup and Nightbeat. James Bailey says, "Sure, we've got energon...we need it to charge some of our own Exos and weapons systems." He goes over to some of the machinery in the hangar bay and prepares the charging functions. During this process he looks at Nightbeat with undisguised curiosity. "He's lost energon? Is that dangerous by itself? Or does he just need a recharge to funtion normally...?" Nightbeat is sprawled out on the hangar floor, looking like a mess. His optic bands brightens slightly. A skirt saying that he needs more energon? Yes please! Well, actually, he really does - rebar spikes through his undercarriage while he's a car will tend to make an Autobot bleed out. He rambles, a bit incoherently. "See, Rodimus Prime had told me to track down Kup after he went missing. Guess Kup didn't like that, and... yeah. All that went down. So I tried to tell Kup and Grimlock that Autobot don't do executions, that we do fair and just trials, but they wouldn't listen..." Jayson Redfield comes to a stop and approaches the others. He studies Nightbeat for a moment, gently biting his lip. "That doesn't look good..." To Andi, he nods. "Sure thing. Back in a flash." He sprints off to proceed with his assigned task. Sam frowns rather deeply. "Very strange. Kup spoke on EDC network ah.. earlier. Said 'do not trust Autobots.' Seemed very er... paranoid." Andi Lassiter takes two sets of gloves from Sam and puts them on double-layered to protect her hands, then takes a few tools out of her duffel and tucks them into her jeans pockets where they'll fit. "Marissa, Sam. Protect your hands with those gloves and start patching any leaks you see with the duct tape." For her part, she starts to climb up onto Nightbeat's arm then his chest to get at the most critical injuries right away. James Bailey stops what he's doing for a moment. "Nightbeat...are you saying that Kup and Grimlock did this to you? -Autobots- did this? The 3rd in command of the Autobot forces and the commander of your military division?" The machinery beeps gently at him, making him jerk a bit. "Uh...recharge is ready." Andi Lassiter says, "James, losing energon is the Cybertronian equivalent of losing blood. We've got to make sure he doesn't bleed out too much or he'll go into stasis lock -- like a coma -- and that's something I can't fix without facilities like those in Metroplex." Marissa Faireborn jogs over upon seeing Nightbeat in the sorry state that he's in. She resists her natural instinct to ask what the heck happened and instead obeys Andi's orders. "Right," she says, putting on thet gloves. She grasps the duct tape and looks the Autobot over. He is in bad shape, and Marissa only hopes that plugging those leaks is as easy as Andi makes it sound like it is. Moving down to the detective's right leg, Marissa stretches out a long strip of silver tape and begins her work. Sam carefully unstraps the sling on his arm, and then pulls on his own double pair of gloves. He's not very quick about it, but he methodically starts to go around patching minor leaks about the extremities while Andi works on the main damage. True to his word, it's not long before Jayson returns. He hurries back into the hangar and over to the others. "Okay..." He hands the keys back to Andi. "I got someone who'll bring it in." And speak of the Devil, here comes a pickup with the requested container in tow. "You were right about it being heavy...what's in it, anyway?" He pauses. "And what happened to Nightbeat, exactly?" Since he was off on an errand, he missed *that* part. Andi Lassiter starts to carefully open an access panel near the side of Nightbeat's chest. "Nightbeat, I'm going to put you into recharge while we patch you up, so you don't have to feel the worst of it. All right?" Nightbeat is losing his ability to focus his optics. That's bad, right? He really doesn't want to pass out in a room full of humans, but he doesn't see himself having too many options here. Sighing, he repeats for Marissa's benefit. "Uh huh, Commander Faireborn. Kup ordered my execution without trial, and I got kinda roughed up escaping. Corporal Wolfe graciously offered to let me crash here, and... ugh... really not feeling too hot right now. Go for it, Doc." Passing out in a room full of humans it is! +ooc Thank you for the RP and the hospitality, everyone! I really appreciate it. Jayson Redfield frowns a bit. "Definitely not Kup...I always liked him. I was under mind control recently--don't remember anything about it, of course--but it sounds like the same thing might've happened to him...ugh. Don't wanna think about that." ================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/83 Posted Author Nightbeat Fri Nov 21 Marissa Faireborn ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** TEXT ONLY *** *** CC'd to the EDC Messaging System *** Earlier Friday evening there was an incident involving Kup, Grimlock, and Nightbeat that left Nightbeat badly wounded and near death at Alameda. I am unclear on the details, but there have been reports given involving Kup and Grimlock attempting to kill Nightbeat. Due to the seriousness of these reports, I have placed Nightbeat in our medical care and protection until Rodimus lets us know what he wants done. Autobot visitors must be cleared with either EDC Security, Rodimus Prime, or Ultra Magnus. I'm sure everyone recognizes the need for these security measures, and I appreciate in advance everyone's understanding. - Colonel Marissa Faireborn ============================================================================== ================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/84 Posted Author Autobot Code Breach Sat Nov 22 Nightbeat ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nightbeat is somewhere generic in Alameda. He's had some repairs, but he still looks rather banged up. This unhappy detective reports, "Rodimus Prime told me to, "Get on it," with regards to tracking down Kup, who went AWOL after a recent fight with Shockwave. With Grimlock along, we went out to Arizona to investigate where Kup was last seen. Kup rolled a boulder at Grimlock, but Grimlock being Grimlock, it was the boulder that broke." He smirks a little, but really, he doesn't seem all that amused. "It got worse, though. He lured me into a pit full of rebar spikes and then shoved Grimlock in on top of me." Nightbeat grimaces in remembered pain. "So then Kup orders Grimlock to execute me. I plead with Grimlock, telling him that's not how the Autobot Code works, that we seek a fair and just trial first - and yeah, I know I ain't exactly the best guy to talk about following finer points of the Code, but I know it insides out and backwards," mainly so that he knows just how many subsections he's rampantly breaking in his investigations. "So Grimlock grabs me by the hand and neck." Not a happy memory, either. "Foxfire, Fireflight, and Quickswitch tried to control the situation, but Kup goaded Quickswitch on channel, daring him to just kill everyone. So, uh, Quickswitch shot a bunch of us." Nightbeat facepalms. "I kicked Grimlock in the knee and ran away." Knee-kicks: the solution to everything. "Anyway, in booby-trapping Arizona, injuring fellow Autobots, and ordering my execution without trial, Kup has committed major breaches of the Autobot Code and has shown that he cannot be trusted. Maybe Shockwave's radiation fried his circuits or those slag-sucking Decepticons got a cerebro-shell into him. A lot of people have been commenting that Kup hasn't been acting like himself lately. Either way, I have to suggest that he be relieved of command until he can be properly medically examined and have his glitch repaired. I think we all know that Grimlock is too personally fond of Kup to make an objective decision. The EDC has kindly offered to take me in for the time being, and if any Autobot makes trouble for them, I'll personally see that he or she regrets it. So just don't. Nightbeat, out." ==============================================================================
- "On the Run" is the second single released by The Baylatrix.
- On the Run is the 137th level in Chip's Challenge 2. It was created by Darren Loney.
- On The Run is a fanfic made by Foxfur. #yeet yeah can this be deleted? this got cancelled :P -foxo
- On the Run is the third stage of Chapter 1 in Fable: The Journey, and introduces Theresa to the story. Gabriel must get Theresa away from the Corruption before it overtakes them.
- Friends. Ross, Chandler and Rachel are forced to go on the run when they kill the evil prime minister. His whole army is hunting for them, but can they stop the prime minister's wife, who has an nasty plan to kill the trio.
- Deliver Aya to Nolaan without getting hurt. First manuver through Graad Woods with Sigmund, Eugene, Balbagan and Edward, allowing them to move ahead of you and take damage for you. Second, avoid being hit by Saruleus' fireballs by pausing for a count of three behind the pillars in Luce Plains. You will be given a chance to save your game before attempting this achievement.
- Stan sat on his comfortable rocking chair, quietly sipping a cup of milky tea and considering the past day's events. What had Xenocrates come for? What bounty other than gold would she find in the Exchange? What secrets lay behind her veil? All of these questions ran through Stan's head as he stared into the depths of his marble fire. He knew one thing - if Xenocrates could escape, he would be on her bounty list. But would she know where to look? She may ask for an elderly bank teller. Would that poor, poor person know him? Was Stan safe in his squalid little town? He looked out of his window at Lumbridge's daily ramblings. New adventurers came blinking into existence, and the souls of the dead culminated in Lumbridge courtyard. Stan dismissed these worries and went over to the stove to make himself another cuppa. Before he could do this however, there was a sharp knock on the door. Stan sauntered over and opened it half-way to check who it was. Standing on the door-step was a rather plump Varrockian Guard. He was humming to himself with his eyes closed, and was tapping his foot on the ground. "Yes?" said Stan in a voice that was louder than he would have normally used. The guard stood bolt upright, clearly embarrassed. "I have a message from a politician in Varrock." He then handed over a scroll tied in a frilly blue ribbon over to Stan. He then casually marched over the river Lum, beginning to skip as he did so. Stan closed the door and sat down. Carefully he unfurled the scroll, placing the ribbon in his pocket. The first thing he noticed was the hand-writing. It was, in a way, perfect. It was not too posh, yet not too illegible. There were no serifs, no curls and not a hint of a joint letter. He was more interested, however, in the contents of the letter itself. Stan read through the note with disbelief. Was this the clinically insane woman that had attacked his place of work? Why were some of the words underlined? What did she mean by "I am sure that my message is clear."? Then he had a brain-storm - he put the words together. The game was up. Xenocrates (or "Xenocritus") was at large and there was only one thing Stan could do to avoid certain death. Run. Quickly Stan ran upstairs and ripped open the doors of his carved wardobe and threw a leather back-pack onto his bed. He took out some swordfish, a horde of runes and several pieces of weaponry. Then, sighing, he opened his small chest and fitted himself with full Steel (minus the helmet). Stan tied up his pack, fitted it on his armour and ran downstairs. He sighed. Has his life really gone so wrong in the course of an hour? Why was he running from a Stranger he could easily kill? Was it fear, pride, his morals or simply a wish for a new life, a changed life? He took his Camelot Tele-tab and cracked it, falling down to his destination. Dammit, he thought. He was lost in the tele-portation matrix. Only, for some strange reason, there were no appendages on the walls. Stan was stuck in a deep, pink pit. The walls were lined with encrusted gems and pink vines. Above Stan was pitch black, an empty void. Beyond that void lay something as obscure as Stan's fate, and as he settled down in the deep pit, he felt that once again he was trapped. At least, he thought, he was safe from Xenocrates. A noise broke the silence. It was a knocking, the knocking of steel against wood. A bright light erupted from the bottom of the pit, and Stan shuffled back. Another portal opened up in the base of the pit, and despite his struggling to grasp onto the murky pink of the walls he was sucked into it. When he opened his eyes he found himself knocked to the ground in the middle of a stone floor, his bad back aching from the strain. With great effort, he managed to sit up. He grasped at his armour, undoing the thick leather straps and discarding the metal plates that bound him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he felt a chilled breeze flow over him. He was inside a windmill, and the doors were open, allowing a curtain of sunlight to penetrate Stan's defences. He stood up and wandered over to the doors, looking out upon an expansive sea view. The windmill, despite its relative size, was perched on the edge of a large cliff-face in a place that Stan only knew as the south shores of Isafdar. Footsteps arrived from upstairs. As Stan turned to meet his possible savior, he noticed something rather odd. The feet were skeletal and thick, with sharpened toes. The legs and the torso seemed to be made of solid stone, as did the bulky hands and the thick, tormented wings. The figure's face was like that of a bat with half the charm. The stranger stretched out a stony limb in welcome. "Pyrogom," he said, "I can see you're a stranger round here." "Yes, I am. I was struck in the Teleportation Matrix for a few hours." "Hate it when that happens," he said, walking over to the doors and looking out at the sea. His gaze suggested to Stan that he was waiting for something. Pyrogom stood back in anticipation, and from the chalky cliff-side a fountain of water erupted and then formed into a beautiful woman much like those Stan knew in his youth. "This is my lover, Aquacept. We were the ones who helped you out of the Matrix," he said, throwing an arm around the watery woman. "We see you needed help." she said, in what sounded like a permanently seductive tone. "It was our pleasure to help." Stan shifted uncomfortably. "Well, you were heading for Falador. That's rather a long way away; you might as well stay the night here with us," Pyrogom said. Stan agreed, and that night he slept on a small bunk on the second floor. Just before he went to sleep, he felt safe that he was at last far from the terror and paranoia of Xenocrates. Later that night, Stan awoke to the sickly smell of smoke. He opened his eyes to find the entire windmill up in blazes, the stench of the resin filling his nostrils as the smoke blinded his pursuit of the truth. On hands and knees he crawled over to the ladder, which had so far escaped the flames, and made his way down them, then moving as fast as his legs would carry him out to the cliff-side. It dawned on him. His saviors were still inside. He took a quick look around the shoreline, and then ran back into the flames. As he climbed the ladder the base was consumed by the heat. Never mind, he thought. Stan climbed the next ladder up to the top floor. Pyrogom and Aquacept weren't there. Over the flames he heard shouts from outside. The flames on one side of the building began to hiss as a torrent of water hit them. Stan remained curled up in the corner, and as Aquacept arrived up the ladder she had a stiff ambivalence on her face. She looked down the ladder and frowned, before looking back at him. "You need to come with us." she said, in a tone that Stan really didn't like.
- This is the sequel to The Sign of the Shooting Star. Ironflame U R soooo hoss 17:50, January 22, 2012 (UTC)
- Bun-Bun chases the gang all over, seeking revenge.
* On The Run: The Caribbean
* On The Run: Bun-bun's Black Ops Elves
* On The Run: Dr. Crabtree
* On The Run: Finale
- On The Run is a 4-part Knuckles the Echidna story, beginning in Issue 121. The first full Knuckles adventure since his World Tour of Mobius, the story sees Knuckles return to the Special Zone.
- ...*WHIRR* With that, the Kaburagi household teleported into the clear patch of green. From as far as they could see, there was nothing but a mixture of azure and emerald. Gai honestly couldn't understand what was going on- though Gottin had done something similar last time he saw her. "...Huh." He clicked his tongue in exasperation. "...Where the hell are we?" They heard a click, and a door opened. A familiar face topped with silver hair wrapped in a turban appeared, his only showing eye on them all. "You're with me." Kaito Karui had saved them all. "Should we feel safe?" Megami raised an eyebrow. "You aren't exactly the most trustworthy, Kaito." "It's me or Nika." Kaito pointed out. "You." Megami hastily amended her former statement. Gai's eyes seemed to widen- as did Kachihi's. Almost in unison, they exclaimed in unison in a baffled tone, "...It's that science guy!" Despite all that they attempted to distance from each other, Gaillardia Nagareboshi and Kachihi Amagase really were similar. Rikuri scratched her head in disbelief, feigning ignorance. "...Well, that was a bit of a shocker. She just...turned into darkness. We couldn't use her spiritual powers around her- no nothing." She waltzed up to Kaito, pressing her face in close proximity to his, while grasping a diary. "...And here you go. It's everything you needed to know about the Dragon Tenjougekido, just like I promised." She gave him a flirtatious wink. Kaito took the diary, not so much oblivious to her advances as disregarding them completely. "Thank you Rikuri. I was quite certain you could get the job done." He sifted through some of the pages. "This is very interesting." "What's interesting?" Hiyori had just entered the room, laden down with packaging. "Kaede's cup size is F." It took about five seconds for Hiyori to throw the packaging at Kaito's head. "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF BULLSHIT IS THAT!?" Kaito stood up, rubbing his head. "Sorry, sorry." He chuckled, picking up the book again. Rikuri smirked, teasing Hiyori lightly, "...You're just jealous cause she's more stacked than you? For shame." She mockingly pressed her breasts against Hiyori's face, before hopping back. Glancing around, she sighed, "...Ah, well. Fun's over...I guess." Gai raised his eyebrow, questioning, "...Huh. Where're you going?" Rikuri stuttered for a moment. "...I need to...go iron my dog." Without any further interruption, Rikuri Nagareboshi dissapeared. "...Damn woman. She's always so elusive." Gai sighed, before turning to the group. "...Well, this is where I leave. He, almost nonchalantly, turned to leave without saying goodbye. Flicking Kachihi a certain core, he made a gesture, before vanishing. Kachihi gazed down at the ground, dissapointed that he couldn't talk to Gai at all during that whole time. "...I..." "Don't be too let down." Rika approached Kachihi, smiling. "I can always find Gai again should I need to. Anything you want to say to your mother can be resolved when this is all over." His smile was about as kind as anyone could make a smile. Pity Gai could never wear one like his "younger brother". "Grandma ignored us..." Aoi was sitting in a corner with Momoiro, starting longingly at the exit Gai had taken. Kachihi sighed. "...Yeah...I guess you're right." Though...he would always want to talk to Gai in a normal conversation, at least once. He turned to his children, sitting down next to them, confiding, "...Eh, don't worry about it. He's just...a guy. Nobody special." Kagirinai glanced at the clock. "...Well, I'm outta here. Got some...'things' to do." By 'things', that was obviously illegal activities. "Smell ya later, losers." Of course, he didn't care for the fact that he had narrowly escaped death that time- just now he could do whatever he wanted. Eimi grasped Mai's hand tightly. "..Stay close to me. I don't want you getting hurt. Out there...is unspeakable horrors. Now that Kaede's done so much...We can't turn back now. It's all or nothing. So stay by my side. We'll take this on, together." Mai's pale face flushed with pink. It was as red as she could get. "Of course. I'll never let you go." "Ok, when did this happen?" Megami eyed her daughter shrewdly. "I don't disapprove, I am just curious." Eimi's eyes seemed to glaze over, before backing back, letting Mai's hand go for a moment, affirming, "...She's very persuasive. Very, very persuasive. And besides...she's not too bad. Kinda cute, actually. ...Anyway, it should help with the Nagareboshi/Chokushi alliance a little, since..." she glanced out the window, noticing a white and red streak shooting off. "...The clan head is an abrasive, ignorant, insufferable jackass." She clutched Mai's hand tightly once again. "...This should clear everyone's heads for a bit." Megami smiled, and walked up to her daughter. "True, she is very cute." She looked over at Eimi. "I'm just glad you grew into being a decent child." She placed a hand on Eimi's head. "I've heard alot about what a...I suppose the nicest word is "bad", child you were." Eimi shrunk back. "...I...I wasn't so bad. Gai even said...all I needed was proper guidance to force myself back on the right path. Thus, that is what he did...He can be nice...sometimes." It was true...Eimi had definitely grown into a model citizen- especially since she mostly stayed away from Kagirinai's antics. Now, with Mai beside her, she could finally break free from that what was shackling her down- Masato's curse was lifted. "He said I wasn't bad- I just needed to be set free from Dad's hold and helped along by him." She glanced down. "...By the way. What happened, to Dad...." Gai never told her- he'd killed him. "Well..." Megami frowned. "You know how our family was separated when Masato, you, Gai, and Giri were all thrown into the rift? Well...Masato didn't take well to it, and his sanity slipped quickly. He was led to believe we all were dead...he fought with Gai over it and...your father is dead." Blunt, and to the point. Eimi's eyes widened in shock- there was no, no way that that could have happened. Tears began to well up in her eyes- though keeping her from devolving into unintellgent blubbering was holding Mai's hand. "...Gai lied...to me...?" It was always kind to be cruel in such cases. She regained her composure, remarking, "...There IS a way to bring him back and turn him to normal, right?" Megami smiled. "Such a good little girl." She hugged Eimi briefly. "If there is a way, I'll find it. Don't worry about it for now." Masato was mine when he was alive, he's mine in death. We'll fix it." She looked at Mai, who understood. It would be her job to console Eimi when this was said and done. Kaito and the Chokushi family were being patient, letting this family reunion run it's course. Megami walked over to Kachihi next. "So...you're my grandkid?" Kachihi glanced up, moving from his almost fetal position near the twins, before hopping to his feet. To tell the truth...he was nervous. Really, really, nervous. Considering that it was from either from her or Masato that Gai got his attitude, she could treat him like Gai does...or it could be just Gai's problem. Kachihi began to sweat buckets, completely and utterly worried. "Ye-Yes, ma'am..." He scratched the back of his head, backing back slightly before he collided with the wall by accident. She flicked his forehead. "Don't call me ma'am." Then she smiled. "I didn't get a good look at you last time we met, but you are the spitting image of my son when he was younger. But you don't have his bad attitude." She kissed his forehead where she had hit it. "You're a good kid, and don't let Gai put you down, ok?" Kachihi stuttered as a faint shade of crimson crossed his cheeks, backing back, crossing his arms. "...Ri-right." Still, he wasn't exactly too sure... "...At least, I just want him to call me his son, even once...But you're right..." From then on, he stored such an inferiority complex away in the back of his mind. She smiled and turned to Fumiko. "How have you been, Fumiko?" "I-I'm fine." Fumiko was shocked that Megami remembered him. "That's good. Has Kachihi treated you well?" She sounded concerned, eyeing Kachihi as if she didn't believe he couldn't treat Fumiko well. "Of course!" Fumiko said instantly. It wasn't a lie either. "That's good." She smiled. "Now...who are these two?" Her attention fell on Aoi and Momoiro, who were still sitting in the corner, Aoi's attention still on the exit Gai had made. Momoiro, almost instantly, leapt into Megami's arms with a broad smile plastered upon her face. "I'm Momoiro Amagase...This is Aoi. We're twiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiins. We come from Kachihi-papa and Rika-mama...." Kachihi immediately made a face, noting that Megami would be wierded out by the fact that their 'mother' was a dude. There was no way he could pass Rika off for a girl- not now. Megami caught the energetic child and smiled. "You're a rambunctious little one." Aoi, following her sister, walked over to Megami, and tugged on her dress. Megami picked up Aoi as well, holding each of them in one arm as if they were infants. "I see you're the quiet one." Aoi quickly fell asleep against Megami's large chest, looking as innocent as ever. She looked over at Rika. "And you're the "mother", Rika? I see Seishin biology does wonders." Rika flushed. "You knew?" "You have my son's genetic material, and I have a special knack for detecting boys like you, as Kasumi will attest." She smiled. "Don't worry, our family is odd to begin with." Kasumi's eyes widened, before immediately scrambling to his feet. "...Alright, I'mma make like my pants...and split." With that, the Quincy attempted to run for the hills, to no avail as Senji grabbed his arm. "...You ain't goin' anywhere, got that?" Senji quipped, causing Kasumi to make a face at him. Senji began to contemplate, "...Speakin' of which...how the heck do those Seishin give birth...You got some grade-A freaky material right there. Kachihi sighed, "...Something about a c-section...I remember Gai wouldn't have me the natural way, so..." "The c-section is indeed the safest way." Megami agreed. "For males anyway. And it brought these two angels into the world, so we can't complain. Now, the natural way is a bit different. Masato had explained it. It involes-" "Ok!" Kaito quickly interrupted. "I do think we've heard enough. Our problem is currently Kaede. This diary-" He held it up. "Contains information on her. Would anyone like to have this information divulged?" Kasumi sighed in relief. Now that that woman was distracted, he could run off- or not. Senji's grip tightened around his arm, before dragging him in closer. "...That's something I can tell you about later. I'mma ask..." his gaze focused on Megami, and then, Rika. "...I gotta learn how to give birth. Great party trick, no?" Kasumi growled. "...You have no idea how much of a twit you sound like." Of course, Senji didn't listen as the group gathered around Kaito, waiting for such important information. Kaito opened the diary, and skimmed the pages again. "I will read it exactly as I see it." He cleared his throat. "'First off, Kaede Mikazuki was born sometime in the past—around the time of The Day the Soul King Fell, which is, as you know, when Gai defeated Kazuma in the past and set up this whole fiasco. She's…not, not a Tenjōgekido at all. Even I don't know what she is—but her mannerisms, fighting style, appearance, and personality is similar to that of Nika's. Her psychic powers—while powerful, are stunted by the two second delay between them taking effect. In addition, someone—or something is possessing her to relay their ideals through her body.'" Everyone inched back in shock. "...Wait, so you're saying...that we shouldn't blame Kaede for anything...but the thing possessing her?" Kachihi stuttered, before declaring, "...Then that's what we have to do. We're going to free her from her torment and let her...be happy. That's all there is to it." Kasumi sighed, "You do know, that others won't agree with that? Regardless or not if she's in control, she IS performing evil acts, y'know. She can't get away with the consequences. Understand, idiot? We're going to take her down." Aoi woke up, and removed her face from Megami's breast, where it had been pressed as she slept. "We should save her...she has someone who loves her too...killing her is bad..." Kaito the child an appraising sort of look, and Megami smiled. These two would be a fine new generation of Nagareboshi. "Well, Aoi has never truly been wrong." Fumiko pointed out. "The child is shockingly accurate." Kachihi nodded. "...She's right. We need to find a way to exorsize that thing from her soul...Guess we can't just beat it out of her..." Kasumi tapped Kachihi on the forehead. "...Now, think about it. Rika knows Onmyoudo. All we need to do is get Rika close enough, and game, set, match." Senji interrupted, "Shame she's in a whole 'nother power class. That causes...problems." "I don't think just one Omnyōdo is enough ti purify her to begin with." Kiyoko murmured. "However, if all of us get Kaede to focus on us while Mai and Rika conduct the exorcism, could that work?" Kachihi ground his teeth. "...The problem is, we need to get to a level where she'll see us as a distraction...I know, I'M nowhere near that..." He slumped. "...Guess we'll need help again, then..." "Well..." Kaito pulled out a syringe. "I have a new strength formula, if you're interested..." Kiyoko narrowed her eyes. "Why do you sound so hesistant?" "It causes you to melt, reducing you to molten remains of your former self, an hour after the original injection..." Kaito sighed. Kachihi inched back, stammering, "No-no-no-no-no-no-no!...We'll be fine." Kasumi snarked, "Y'know, you could do something that your entire clan has NEVER done." "...That is?" Kachihi lifted his eyebrow, curious. "...Train, dumbass. Don't cut corners, push hard. I mean you'll either come out a superman or a wreck. Don't snap or die, either." Kasumi answered. "That's the problem..." Megami sighed, as Aoi fell back to sleep against her breast. They worked well for pillows. "You all are too weak. Training won't get you anywhere, not nearly to the level you need to be to take on Kaede. The level of power I possess is close to hers, but I was more of a natural talent. Same with Masato and Gai. But that seems to have died down with the generations not being so...um...inbred." Kasumi scratched his head. "...Guess you're making this clan, rather, erm, normal, right, Kachihi?" Kachihi elbowed him in the ribs. "...Shut up, Kasumi." Kasumi added, "...Yes, it's true. You don't possess Gai or Masato's natural talent, so you'll need to work your arse off to be seen as a threat to Kaede. So, let's get to work, shall we?" "You aren't following, Kasumi." Megami sighed. "Training won't get us anywhere. We have our stategy..." "The problem is implementing it." Chiisai murmured. Kasumi's eyes sharpened, as he stroked his chin in a half-arsed attempt to imitate a professor. He was never one for following, anyways. "...If that's the problem, then..." He shrugged his shoulders, sighing, "...Welp, I'm outta ideas..." Kachihi stuttered in doubt, "...Then, WHAT do we do? I...I don't know...Maybe we should let Gai handle this..." Megami frowned. "I do have a method." She murmured. "However, it involves a rather lot of kissing." Kachihi shrunk back slightly. "...Wait, is that the Limit Remover you put on us before?" He scratched his head. "...I...kinda forgot about that. Would've been handy, if, y'know, I could have remembered it. Would've saved us a lot of trouble..." He sighed, completely annoyed at himself for his crappy memory. "It's only a temporary boost, but it should be enough for you all to provide a sufficient distraction with me while Rika and Mai try to exorcise Kaede's literal demons." Megami smirked. It'd been a long time since she'd had an actual challenge. Kachihi crossed his arms. "...So, in the end, we're little more than distractions?" He applied his palm to his forehead in exasperation. "...Great, just fucking great. Back to the goddamn start. I- I mean, we, never improved at all." At this point, Kachihi could barely hold himself back. "It's not about improving, Kachihi." Megami smiled at him warmly. "You're trying to do too much again. At the end of the day, it's not about the power you could have had, but what you could do with what you have." She would make a good parent, had she been around to raise her kids. Kachihi sighed. "...Yeah, you're right..." Still...he wasn't sure after all. He always wanted to surpass Gai, or at least get to a level where he would acknowledge him as an equal. "...I guess it's not so bad..." He slumped. "...Anyway, off that. Should we start now, or no?" "Let's rest easy." Outou suggested and Megami nodded. "We'll start training tomorrow. Besides, I would hate to have to put these babies down." Even Momoiro had fallen asleep in Megami's arms. Kachihi was probably wondering where the hell was this woman when he needed a mother. Kachihi scratched his head. "...Well, at least she's better than Yuuki." That was obviously, a given. He was overjoyed that there was at least one member of his family who appreciated him... ...Soon after, dusk shrouded the area, leaving the group to sleep their troubles away. Little did they know, that things were only designed to hamper their progress even more.
- When the Yeerks offer to exchange the Andalite disc for an Andalite, Jake and Marco come up with a risky plan to get a Controller to capture an animal instead. When the Yeerks realize they've been duped, they arrange forThe Sharing to move forward with a plan to harvest more humans to become Controllers.
- "On the Run" is the 10th book of the Left Behind: The Kids series. It's release date was in July of 2000. It was written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.
- Song Name: On The Run Artist: Pink Floyd Album: The Dark Side Of The Moon, Shine On Run Time: 3:36 Year: 1973 Track Number: 3 of 10 Written By: David Gilmour, Roger Waters Recorded : Between July 1972 and July 1973 Released: 1 March 1973 Info:
* This piece was created by feeding an 8 note sequence into the EMS VCS 3 and speeding it up to 165 BPM, with a white noise generator adding the high hat sound. The band then added guitar parts, created by dragging a microphone stand down the fretboard, and panned left to right. There are also some other synthesizer parts, made to sound like some type of vehicle passing, giving a Doppler effect. The 8 note sequence (D, F, G, F on octave below Middle C, and D, middle C, D, E on Middle C octave) is played at a tempo of 165, and modulates upwards occasionally. Near the end we hear an explosion which gradually gets quieter, leading up to the chiming clocks marking the intro of 'Time'.
* When The Dark Side Of The Moon suite was performed in 1972 (before the album was released), it went under the title "The Travel Sequence" and was, instead of a complex electronic instrumental, a more simple guitar jam, without the use of synthesizers and other electronic instruments. A short clip of this is played on the DVD "Classic Albums: The Making Of The Dark Side Of The Moon" and can be heard on all performances of Pink Floyd playing the album live in that year.
* At 27 seconds into the piece, the sound of a female voice on a loudspeaker can be heard. Some think it to be an airport public address system, saying "Get your tickets and your passports at the ready, we make a brief stop at customs and then we begin. Now boarding flight 215 to Rome from Colorado Fields." The talking continues for nearly thirty seconds, but some of it cannot be heard because a helicopter like noise is played over it.
* In the beginning of the song, we hear something similar to a whispering voice saying: "On the run" repeatedly. It's the sound of a Leslie speaker without any sound played though it.
* At 1:54, Roger the Hat, a Pink Floyd roadie, says: "Live for today, gone tomorrow. That's me", then laughs. The laughter on the CD version sounds markedly different to the laughter on the record.
* When the album is listened to along with the film The Wizard of Oz Dorothy sings "Over the Rainbow" while "On the Run" is played. This forms an interesting contrast. The initials of the titles in both songs are OTR. Also, if the viewer uses his/her imagination, it seems that Dorothy is watching "planes" fly overhead.
* The NBA's Chicago Bulls uses On The Run for visiting-team player introductions.
* When the band performed the song live on the post Roger Waters tours, all (except Wright and touring keyboardist Jon Carin) disappeared from the stage
* A live version of the song can be heard on the Delicate Sound of Thunder concert video. This version did not appear on the CD release.
* The song was originally titled as "The Travel Sequence", it had a much different sound and did not include the Sythenzizer, it was an instrumental song and sounded much more like a Jazz/Funk fusion. The Song title was eventually changed once they got a hold of the Synthi AKS.
- On The Run is the third level of the first chapter of EDF: Insect Armageddon. Strike Force Lightning (the players' characters) are forced to pull back to safety as Ravagers begin to bomb the area to reduce Human resistance. It is the first level in the game to feature Spiders, Gunships, and Carriers, although the latter is invincible and does not act like later carriers found throughout the game. The next level, Ditchslap, takes place in a different segment of the map, beginning where On The Run leaves off.
- __NOEDITSECTION__ __NOEDITSECTION__ File:Nav bar left.png On The Run File:Nav bar right.png File:Quest Boss Icon.png On The Run is a that is part of the Framed storyline. File:World Braavos.jpg Jon carefully uses his foot to open Lorenzo's office door, not touching anything, and dashes into the corridor.
- When Jaime decides to leave the OSI, her resignation is met with opposition, forcing her to flee for freedom or be confined as property of the federal government.
- Crackling, scorching, blazing, burning fire. It swept across the planet's barren surface, springing into seas of brilliant orange wherever it took hold and ignited the air in firestorms louder than any ocean tempest. Ravaged by years of war, no plants were left in the piles of dust and shattered stone for the blaze to feed on, forcing even such a force of nature to struggle for survival. But where no living thing remained, the flames found ample fuel in bodies. Body-armored Marines lay heaped together in gruesome stacks with the patch-clothed farmers who'd taken up arms against them, skin and clothing blackened in the encroaching flames. Their corpses charred and crumbled away to ash, then swept off the remains in the wind to join a cloud of death choking everything yet to burn. The dead, at least, had some last fortune in no longer being able to feel the inferno's heat, but one man, still alive in the endless carnage, felt its ire assaulting his every sense and sapping the remaining life from his body as he fled for what little he had left. Acrid smoke and the stench of burning flesh stung his eyes and nose, while flaring tongues of the larger beast struck him with near-solid waves of heat down a course it dictated. Deafened by the crackling air, he blundered on without knowing to or from what he ran. The haze pressed in all around, its touch baking through his clothes and skin to roast him alive. Dying muscles, exhausted from his flight, sent last requests for air to his smoke-filled lungs in vain. But he pressed on, survival instincts demanding he find new ways of willing his oxygen-starved limbs over each new slab of broken permacrete in his way. It was a gallant struggle, but futile. Heat and smoke took their toll as he ran like a helpless rabbit, reacting without guidance to the fires in his way, driving himself deeper into the trap with every turn. At last, a thorn of twisted rebar hooked his jacket as he jumped from a permacrete slab, yanking him sideways in midair. His chest hit the ground squarely, winding him, and as he gasped for breath he could taste the planet’s red dust on his tongue. He wondered dimly if it had always been that color, or if generations of fighting had stained it that way. Out of strength and air, Gavin knew when he fell that he’d never get up again. Desperation willed him to cry out, but there wasn’t enough breath in his lungs to even try. It would have been pointless anyway, a bitter thought whispered to him. There was no one alive to hear him. Soon, he’d join the dead and crumble to dust, too. Waiting for the end, open one hazel eye dared open in hopes that someone would appear. It came a shock when someone actually did. Amid a clearing in the rubble just a few paces away, he could just make out a lean, stunted figure, cast in shadow as though the firelight was afraid to touch her. His vision resolving, Gavin’s eyes sprang open, stinging all the more as he realized he knew that outline. Baggy pants, hair tied back by a bandana . . . and a bumpy black vest strapped over her teal blouse. Something more than muscle forced Gavin’s deadened limbs to move. Pulling himself to his feet, he carefully limped towards the figure, not caring for the blaze closing around them. Escape or not, he was going to reach her. She was staring out over the wasteland, not seeming to notice Gavin as he came within a few feet. He lifted an arm to reach for her, when something caught his other hand and held him back. Glancing back, his breath caught as he found himself staring into the face of a man he’d left for dead. Clad head-to-toe in black armor, strapped with bandoleers and ammo bags, the edges of this new figure were blurred, wavering in the heat like some accursed mirage. Half its helmet was black as shadow, and the other painted in the dusk's bloody red light. A single, accusatory eye stared back at him from the sunlit side. An arsenal of blades and handguns hung from its belt, but the shade didn’t go for one to finish him off and held him anchored in place. Gavin’s fear vanished just as suddenly as the shade had appeared, replaced by a long-repressed anger swelling up hotter than the blaze pressing in around them. Clenching his free hand, Gavin prepared to bring his fist around for a punch, when he felt it close on something. Turning back, he was startled to find the girl standing in front of him. She met his gaze with hollow eyes, extinguishing his anger with the chill of horror running up his spine. Within his fist was her own tiny hand, both curled tight around the detonator. All Gavin had time to scream was, “No!” “Ow!” Gavin slid a hand up to his throbbing forehead and hissed, cutting himself off just short of a cuss. He opened one bleary eye between the fingers dragging down his face and grimaced up at the slanted ceiling just a foot above his bed. A dent had started forming after so many fitful nights. The dreams were back. And just when he thought he’d seen the last of them. Slumber spoiled by the nightmare, he slid into a fresh, cooler spot on the sheets and lazily surveyed his quarters aboard the Chancer V. Nestled in the very tail of the aging—no, make that aged—Argo-class freighter, the captain’s cabin was in its usual state of disarray with clothes, books, and an assortment of miscellaneous junk that only Gavin would’ve been able to identify set on or draped over every available surface. A wooden desk, bolted against the wall just a few feet away, was by far the worst offender. Stacks of old repair manuals and used paperbacks he’d left half-open rather than find a bookmark towered so high they almost obscured the sleek computer screen set into the wall behind them. Even its assigned chair was filled up, sitting skewed from the last time he’d used it. Above it was, ironically, a mostly-empty bookshelf, with a strap in place to tie down the few books still in their place should the artificial gravity fail. The back wall, opposite, was left completely empty. Its surface was steel, like every other wall, but its panels were articulated so the whole wall could roll up at the touch of a button to reveal an observation window. Normally, Gavin would leave it open, but when the Chancer was in slipspace as it was now, and the stars disappeared into the lightless void between spaces, he preferred it out of sight and out of mind. To top it all off was Gavin himself, lying where he’d collapsed atop his unmade bunk after his freighter had made the jump to slipspace. He had dark hair running just long enough to meet the layer of stubble in place around his jaw after one too many days gone without a shave. He’d been so exhausted from the day before, he hadn’t even bothered getting out of his spacer's jumpsuit before hitting the hay. Yesterday. He thought sourly. When the bounty hunter showed up, forcing Gavin to bail before he could pick up a decent cargo. No doubt about it, that was why he’d seen Mamore in his dreams. Gavin knew he’d be bound to cross paths with someone on his tail sooner or later; between the UNSC, the Syndicate, and even the Insurrection, it seemed like half the galaxy wanted a piece of him these days. But he hadn’t counted on the hunter being Stray. Simon, he corrected himself. Simon-G294, the Spartan who’d thrown in his lot with the Insurrection. Gavin still remembered the day the scrawny child soldier in patchwork clothes came into camp, led on by the girl in the turquoise blouse. Still remembered when the boy admitted he was a Spartan, how strange it had been to think the heroes of the Covie War were just kids like him. And now, five years later, he still had so much youth in his face. But it was only skin deep; anything resembling childhood innocence was long gone, torn out from under his skin by a galaxy forcing him to grow up fast. Stray still had the same tortured eyes as the Insurrection’s hardest soldiers, the same anger trapped inside. After Mamore, well . . . he had a lot to be angry about. Gavin considered himself lucky to get away. After all, if he hadn’t taken the precaution of landing precisely three hangars down at the spaceport from a warehouse filled with radiation-shielded cargo containers that nullified all thermal scanners, well, what was a man to do against a Spartan? But then, Gavin made his own luck like that, even if Spender, the old spacer who’d taught him the trade, always said luck runs out. He rolled over and sighed, trying to settle back in as he ignored the blaring alarms. Wait, alarms? “Oh, what now?” Gavin shouted, kicking free of his tangled bedsheet. He sprang off the bunk, scooping up a boot from the floor as electric beeping shrieked in his ears. The noise woke him up enough to cut through any remnants of sleep clouding his thoughts and let him analyze the alarm’s particular pitch. It was a smoke alarm—a basic system, but not a good thing. If a smoke detector was going off, it meant something in his ship was burning, and any internal sensor on whatever had the problem had already failed. Gavin was lucky the detector caught it. The problem could just as easily have simmered and given him no warning at all until his ship exploded. It still might, but now at least he had a chance to prevent it. Swiping his jacket from the back of the chair and a black baseball cap from its place on a hook, Gavin dashed out the cabin’s door, nearly tripping over a discarded shirt in the process. Stepping out into the hallway, he could instantly smell it. Smoke, but nothing like the cloud of death from his dream. It was machine smoke, oily and thick, but bearable after the memory of burning flesh. Shrugging on the worn leather sleeves of the brown jacket, he pelted down the corridor between the ship’s passenger cabins, trusting his nose for a guide. Halfway down the passage he reached an intersection and skidded to a halt, grabbing the corner of the wall to stop his sprint. A quick glance down one of the side corridors told him at once; wispy, blue-gray tendrils had started climbing the stairs on either side. Using his grip on the wall to pull himself in the new direction, he hurried below, coming out under the high ceiling of the Chancer’s cargo bay. The room was large enough that Gavin probably could have fit a UNSC tank or two in the lane between the stairwells, not that he’d ever be keen on trying. But at the time, the bay was empty, clear back to the hydraulic door that functioned as a fold-down cargo ramp. Another day, Gavin might have wasted some time lamenting his lack of work, but right now, the smoke billowing out of a door in the bulkhead separating the bay from the engine room fore of it had his attention. Vaulting the railing, he landed hard and sprinted to the door over the protest of his calves. The moment he crossed the threshold, haze pressing tightly between the engine room’s walls had Gavin hacking and coughing as his body reacted violently to the fumes his lungs drew in with every breath. Crossing the room, he kicked over a toolbox that had been carelessly left out, spilling wrenches and pressure meters underfoot. Gavin stumbled, but made it to the life support controls and typed in a command to speed up air recycling filters all over the ship. It gave him a jump on clearing out the smoke, but didn't solve the problem. For that, he had to look around for the source. At first, it was hard to even make out the bulky shapes of generators and recycling tanks. The haze swirled in lazy clouds as status lights on the machines created a dazzling light show. Then a strong, consistent flicker of orange at the back of the room caught his eye. He grabbed a compact fire extinguisher from its bracket on the door and did his best to charge, dashing around the massive obstacle of his slipspace drive and squeezing between it and the ship's powerplant. Then, he finally laid eyes on the fire itself. It seemed so out of place for an instant that Gavin came to a stop, trying to make sense of the column of flame rising absurdly high for not having a scrap of potential fuel at its base. It seemed to just spring from a tiny circle on the metal floor, not a flicker spreading outside. Then he spotted the iridescent film on the deck beneath it, and took aim with the extinguisher at the little pool of oil. He squeezed its handle tightly, and was rewarded with nothing more than a dry squelching sound. “Are you kidding me?” Gavin railed at the extinguisher, suddenly regretting buying the safety equipment at a discount. He threw the useless can aside and looked around frantically for anything else to use. There was a spigot on the water recycling tank, but he didn’t waste a thought on it. Water and burning oil were a bad combination. His wandering gaze halted when he spied a cleaning rag lying among the tools he’d kicked onto the floor. Without hesitation, he threw himself over the slipspace drive and made a grab for the cloth, dinging his knuckles on a heavy torque wrench and knocking his wind out as he landed on his chest. Before he even tried to get up, he reached out for the recycling tank’s spigot and twisted open the valve. Water splashed out onto the floor and Gavin thrust the rag into its torrent, holding it there until he was sure every corner was soaked. Waiting on it as the fire still crackled in his ears was a test of his every nerve, but the rag would just be more fuel for the fire if he threw it in half-dry. It did, however, let him get some of his breath back in the less-dense smoke near the floor. But by the time he was ready, he was sure adrenaline flowed thicker in his veins than oxygen. Climbing to his feet, Gavin felt his head swim and had to put a hand on the slipspace drive’s edge for balance. Using its edge as a guide, he staggered back like a spacer the night of payday through the oily smoke, dripping rag held over his mouth and nose to filter his breath. Straining to see through his stinging eyes, Gavin used the fires radiating heat to tell him when he was close enough. Then, squeezing his eyes shut for one last second of relief, he sprang them wide open and took his shot. The drenched rag landed squarely on the oil stain and hissed. Gavin ground it under his boot a few times until the last of the blaze fizzled and snuffed out. He breathed a sigh of relief, then fell into another fit of coughing when he inhaled. The air filters were starting to thin out the smoke, but Gavin pulled off his cap and swatted it through the air to help them along. Returning to the water tank to shut off the spigot, he waited a minute or two until the air was breathable again, then doubled back to the scene of the fire. Taking a knee, a quick touch of the rag told him the oil was still hot, even if it wasn't combusting anymore. He drew his hand back, when a tiny, black droplet burst on its back. Looking up, Gavin spotted a pipe running along the wall directly above it, and a few drops of dark condensation on its underside. He twisted to get a closer look, and found the problem: a bullet was lodged in the pipe’s side. The pointed shred of metal was wedged tightly, plugging the hole it had made, but a hairline crack threaded out along the pipe in either direction and let oil slowly drip through. Right underneath the leak was a shorn wire, probably meant to connect the oil pressure gauge to the alarm which had failed to go off. A few drops of dark liquid stained its end. There must've been his ignition source. He knew where the bullet came from the moment he recognized it. Gavin's escape in New Tyne had been so close, Stray had fired an assault rifle after the retreating freighter. A couple armor-piercing rounds had broken the ship's skin, and while he'd patched the holes before leaving atmosphere, it seemed this one had ricocheted around enough to cause him some trouble. Gavin made a mental note to see about buying back the belly armor plate he’d sold for scrap last trip. The fuel he’d save in the tradeoff just didn’t seem worth it anymore. He should’ve broken out his welder and patched up the pipe, but instead, he only shut off a valve feeding into it, and covered the wire's loose ends with a bit of electrical tape. He'd fix it later. For now, all he could do was slump against the wall and slide down to a seat on the floor. Blue-black streaks lay under Gavin's tired eyes, his head was dizzy and aching, he smelled like engine smoke, and his sleeves and pant legs were soaked from the thin layer of water sluicing over the deck towards random strong points in the artificial gravity units underneath. Tired didn't begin to cover it. He wasn’t worried about the water. Dehumidifiers in the water-recycling system would catch it once it evaporated just as the air-recycling filters made the smoke recede towards the ceiling as it thinned out. At last, the detectors, satisfied by the smoke-to-breathable-air ratio, shut off, leaving nothing but the hum of the Chancer’s engines behind. Without them, Gavin found the silence deafening. There had been a time when silence was unheard of on his ship. When his crew would constantly get in each other’s’ ways as they went about routine checks to make sure this kind of thing didn’t happen. Now, he missed the heavy tromp of Cail’s boots on the deck, missed Allana’s hauntingly beautiful hum floating down from the common rooms, even missed the noisy wheeze of Bupup’s methane breathing apparatus. More than that, he missed them. But he put those feelings aside. The old crew splintered after going one circle of hell too deep on a job. Wasn’t anyone’s fault, Gavin needed to remind himself, for picking up the job from the Syndicate. By its end, they were a crew who just couldn’t trust each other anymore, and what went down would’ve been bound to happen anyway. The job had been nothing more than the occasion. Now, Bupup was dead, Allana was dead, and Cail . . . well, wherever he was, Gavin wished him better luck than he was having at the moment. Gathering his strength, Gavin picked himself up and headed for the freighter’s cab, unbolting a door on the wall opposite the one where he’d entered. On its other side was the galley, brightly-lit and of all places strangely clean compared to the rest of the ship, if only because there wasn’t anyone else to clean up after. He scooted around a table and set of stools, all bolted to the floor, and stepped through the open hatch to the cabin. He couldn’t help a small smile as his boots cleared the door's rim. Under the sloping ceiling of the Chancer’s nose, the cab felt cozy and dark, bathed in softly glowing readouts and multicolored buttons with just enough indirect light coming in from the door to see by. Stepping out of its anti-shadow, he pressed against the padded back wall and slid behind the consoles, into the well-used pilot's seat and sighed in contentment. After running the length of his ship, there was no place he'd rather end up. From the captain’s chair, the whole of the universe made sense to Gavin. The scale of a million stars, each with their own system of planets and moons, and each one of those a world unto itself, seemed much more manageable fitted into the view of the wide porthole wrapped around the front of his ship. Whatever lay in his path, the Chancer gave him the choice to fight or run from it as he pleased, though he found these days that he was doing a hell of a lot of the latter. And running was getting old. Settling back, he gazed out into the incomprehensible dark space of slipstream and found himself longing for the jump to end. He wanted to lay eyes on a speckled starscape again. Stars, he knew, hurtled through space at impossible speeds, but to something as small as a human being, they never seemed to move at all. Ages ago, sailors among his Earth-bound ancestors had charted their courses by the constant patterns in the sky. Gavin wondered what it’d be like to be so permanent, unaffected by petty human concerns, all the way from the ambitions of the masters of the UNSC and Syndicate all the way down to his own day-to-day struggles: where to get his next cargo, how much they would pay, and would it be enough to feed him for the weeks a slipspace jump would take. He wouldn’t at all mind not having to worry about it. Realizing the silence was affecting his mood, Gavin slipped his left hand into the darkness beside his chair and pulled up a plain acoustic guitar from where it was usually propped up to wait for him. The instrument was cheap, made of laminate wood in some Inner Colonial factory that churned them out by the hundreds, but it was like an old friend to him. Every one he'd owned, and he'd owned many, had its own history and memories associated with it. This one had been with him through countless bars across the colonies, a veteran of late nights playing for tips just to pick up a few extra credits, and many a lonely moment in slipspace like this. The feel of its strings, the vocal cords of its long neck, were familiar to his fingertips as he brought it into his lap. Even an identical one from the same factory would've had a different feel to it. Thinking back through the many tunes he'd picked up or invented himself, Gavin coaxed the notes out of memory and the taut strings of the guitar, and filled the void in his silent ship with soft-strummed notes and a voice that had to sound cheery to sing it right. Engines burn bright in the evening sky, Horizon’s last fading light beckons me. Turn of the world below goes by As breaking its orbit, I set to sea. Brightest of stars in the darkest of space Connected outline a path for me to trace Though the vacuum between tears my breath away, True to this course, I swear I will stay. Slip between spaces, through oceans of night Dark currents carry me faster than light. Though I have to trust that I’ll find my way I can’t help this feeling I’m slipping away. I’ve shaken the hands of the broken and whole, Met millions of eyes and seen through to their souls. But what, when they look up and back at me Reflects in their eyes, I can’t say that I see. For I’m only a spacer about to take flight, Wandering aimlessly into the night. Behind, let them say of me what they will say I’ll be sailing starside and slipping away.
- Wydawca: FanPro Cena podręcznika: $19.99 Numer katalogowy: 26003 FPR26003 Cena (pdf): (12,99 $) Format: 56 stron (planowano: "80 pages perfectbound") ISBN-10: 1-932564-65-9 EAN: 9781932564655 Developer: Rob Boyle Autor(-zy): Robyn King-Nitschke Twórca okładki: Shane Coppage Data wydania: planowana: Wrzesień 2005. Premiera (jako pdf) - 05 marca 2006 Pierwsza przygoda do Shadowrun, 4th Edition. Drużyna zostaje wysłana w poszukiwaniu bezcennego czipu. Gracze poznają świat mediów lat siedemdziesiątych XXI wieku, a mistrzowie gry dowiadują się, jak prowadzić Czwartą Edycję. Ze strony : On the run Dodał: Andrzej 'ShadEnc' Stój W tej, wprowadzającej w realia czwartej edycji systemu Shadowrun przygodzie, gracze będą mieli okazję wyruszyć na poszukiwania zawierającego bezcenne informacje, archaicznego chipu medycznego. On the run jest scenariuszem zaprojektowanym w celu bezbolesnego wprowadzenia nowych drużyn, zawiera również szereg sztuczek, które i weterani uznają za przydatne. Fabuła przygody porusza wszystkie ważniejsze aspekty świata gry. Idealna jako jednostrzałówka, On the run można także wpasować w istniejącą kampanię. Tytuł: On the run Linia wydawnicza: Shadowrun Autor: Robyn King-Nitschke Okładka: Shane Coppage Wydawca: Fantasy Productions i WizKids, LLC Miejsce wydania: USA Data wydania: 2005 Liczba stron: 56 ISBN-10: 1-932564-65-9 Numer katalogowy: FPR 26003 Oprawa: miękka Cena: 12,99 USD Pierwszy projekt okładki
|
