[RP] Project Destrillians - The Uprising

Alexander
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Alexander cradled the back of his head in his hands, a relaxed gesture, as he stepped aside with Ralph Faiz.

"Sorry for the less welcoming gestures. I'm in a rush... But we got time to talk. I've been meaning to ask: Who are you? How did you come to know me? And what has Viola given you for a power?" Ralph had asked.

"You're actually quite popular amongst some of Viola's, err... other enemies," replied Alexander. "My name is Alexander," he continued proudly. "I can manipulate gravity, at least somewhat."

With a slight look of awkward guilt on his face, he turned to the others. They seemed both curious and wary of him. "I'm the same as you guys, except I was born in the outside world. My mother, she escaped the facility while still carrying me."

He felt strange saying this, because it came with the realisation that his parents original intent was to use him in some way against Viola. Maybe they wanted to try and replicate the process of creating Destrillians themselves. Had his parents lived, would they have exploited him to further their own ends and those of the resistance? He quickly shook off those thoughts. It didn't matter anymore. He just wanted to help break the others out of this place and enact some good old fashioned revenge on Viola. Realising he trailed off for a moment, he quickly snapped back to the present, noticing the others had gotten round to planning their next move. One of them was speaking of a Dr. Royston, who was apparently someone who could help. "I've got a contact, on the outside, who can also help us once we're back on the upper levels. She was my eyes and ears when I infiltrated the facility, except she hasn't been able to access anything on this level, at least not yet."

Ruth
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Ruth had established a little 'base of operations' of sorts in a cave situated roughly a mile from the facility. It wasn't the most comfortable of places, but it was well hidden. Coupled with her own defence system, she felt confident it would be incredibly difficult to find her here. She had some rods placed into the ground just outside, concealed within the shrubbery that scrambled any tracing technology. Effectively, she was invisible, and could both access a large amount of Viola's security systems and maintain contact with Alexander without leaving any kind of trace for Viola to catch on to. But she was concerned. What was originally conceived as more of a stealthy operation had turned into something more of an assault. She had hoped that Alexander would be able to get in to the facility unnoticed, release the other Destrillians and then escape. Of course, it would have been impossible to escape without being noticed, but right now they haven't even banded together and already there had been a lot of destruction.

Ralph Faiz stepping into the picture turned this into something a whole lot bigger. When it came to Viola, he was pretty much Public Enemy Number One. However, there was an upside to his coming. Maybe he had some reinforcements waiting to pick them up once they had escaped the facility, maybe-"

"Ruth, stop thinking too much," Alexander's voice came through her earpiece.

Alexander. He knew Ruth too well. Before she could reply, he continued speaking. "I've met up with Ralph Faiz and three others. There are still others to go and find, and once we've rounded everyone up we may need your help."

"Er, yeah," replied Ruth, rapidly typing commands into her laptop. Her eyes hardened. "It's not going to be easy getting out. It appears the facility have activated more defence systems. They're definitely designed for keeping things in as opposed to out. I'll try to find out more."

"Much appreciated, dear," replied Alexander.

Ruth laughed quietly. Dear? That one was new. She leant over her laptop, working to try and access more information on the inner workings of the facility.
 
Ralph, Elise and Aya -

"You're actually quite popular amongst some of Viola's, err... other enemies," replied Alexander. "My name is Alexander," he continued proudly. "I can manipulate gravity, at least somewhat."

Ralph chuckled at Alexander's information. He knew he would be named as one of the most dastardly and harmful influences in Viola's and its enemies' list in the long run. He was already enjoying the first impressions given by Alexander, he knew for an Oriental Frontier-looking person, he was a guile individual.

"I'm the same as you guys, except I was born in the outside world. My mother, she escaped the facility while still carrying me."

So he was one of the few who was taken care of outside, and thus also a more practical person to be conversing with in terms of affairs from the outside.

"I've got a contact, on the outside, who can also help us once we're back on the upper levels. She was my eyes and ears when I infiltrated the facility, except she hasn't been able to access anything on this level, at least not yet."

"Right!" Ralph said. "That places you and Tarlach among the heavy hitters with myself. Aya and Miryz, are our main intelligence or source of information. I mean no intent to understimate them, since I dont know what kind of horrors the other one is weilding," Ralph eyed carefully back at Miryz. He was a terrifying yet well meaning individual in Ralph's eyes. The doubts of his power and information it posseses was something he would want to look at later, but for now, he had to trust them. Marko was still here, and they needed him as well as Elise's ...'VIP' to finally begin their escape. He grinded his teeth for a bit. If they were facing a deadly force of Viola's finest as well as other beasts within the facility, he may want to call in for back up.

"Alex, I know you got someone in your comm. Perhaps if we combine our information pool, maybe Elise and herself will be able to situate us rather than we selfishly keep to ourselves. Your friend and Elise are our mission controls while Miryz is our 'Captain'. You, myself and Tarlach are tank points, we keep the situation under wraps before they unleash hell while Aya is Miryz's point woman, keeping him away from strays. That's my plan until Marko and our VIP are located," Ralph explained.

"You're gonna have to forgive me for impeding. Time isn't my friend and I need all the help I can get," Ralph said as he sealed his helmet in and scanned Alexander's comm, he patched Elise through under an encrypted code to prevent any unwanted parties from gathering information against them.

"I've sent and uploaded Elise unto your friend's server, I leave those two to get acquainted. No fears, I haven't tampered with your line," Ralph said assuringly as he waved a hand at Alexander.

=========================================================================================

From the transmission alone, it paved way for her to use the WLN servers to surf through unto the port of where Ralph had instructed her to go utilizing Alexander's comm. At the arrival port, she could see a young woman against the screen and searched her system for any means of projecting herself. Elise's corporeal form had formulated around Alexander's contact's computer, utilizing the WLN camera to project herself.

"Good evening," Elise said formally to the woman before her in a professional manner.

"I am Elise Winters, former scientist of Haven Artilieries and currently Ralph Faiz's personal Artificial Cybernetic Intelligence software. I've been instructed to provide you with information on what I have gathered within the levels of the facility. I have the charts for your intel as well as a request, considering I have enough tasks on my memory as it is," she said. There was a limit to her nigh omniscient form; her track and memories of her former self have been slowly corrupting itself over with the AI that made her into what she was as well as taking a toll on her psyche, as a part of her are running Ragnums 231, repairing the 251 in Aya's chamber and currently conversing with this woman.

"What do you know of an individual named Cassandra Ackerman?"

=========================================================================================

"Ralph, I've made contact with Alexander's colleague, apparently named Ruth. I am dividing my processing time away from reconstructing the 251 as she is now 93% operational," Elise advised Ralph.

"Can you send it over to her incase we need to clear out?"

"Negative. Using the same way we've utilized for entering has now been sealed and heavily guarded from the surface. I can have the pod as well as the 251 launch once you and the Destrillians divert Viola's attention," Elise said.

"Fucking great," Ralph sighed. Even though the pod has secured the suit wherein it won't even be penetrable due to its electrical output, laser lockpad systems and complex encryption, he still was worried if Viola may use it as evidence against him later in their inevitable showdown in court. His next strategy was to justify with the WMC as well as the courts on his attacks today, as far as he can think, locating Marko and Ackerman may be his only chance as leverage against Viola.

"Fear not, I'm sure you can have Marko use it for a while," she chided.

"We don't even know what kind of a person he is, I knew Kram for only a short time. Who knows what Marko is now..." Ralph said.

========================================================================================

Aya looked at Tarlach after she asked him and Miryz.

"His plan is somewhat sound. I'm curious on the reason Ms. Winters has created monsters like us instead of mass producing weapons that mimic our abilities. The biggest problem is the defense around Ms. Winters herself. Most likely she will be a high ranking person in the company and would have created safeguards against our abilities. Not to mention that she may not even be in this building. If worse comes to worse, she could say screw it and try to kill us via the safeguards. We need more Distrillians before we can take on Winters. At best, we should locate Distrillian number two. Our older 'sister' Lux. Her ability to take out the lights will prove useful when the backup power supply kicks in, if it does."

Aya started blankly at Tarlach. He was well known for his doubtful nature, even the history of Elise was all the more suspicious. Miryz was not doubting of it from what she can observe of him, but Tarlach had now placed Elise unwittingly in their spotlight.

"As far as I know, her body's been lost for ages. According to Ralph, she's trapped within this net thing in the suits he's in they have from the outside. She's not even affiliated with Viola, Tarlach! She told us she's from Haven Artilieries, another company against Viola!" Aya said with justification. It can't be possible to consider that Elise may be a corporate spy or even someone who launched this attack to simulate their battles for data purposes. Ralph's too good or hell, he's not stupid enough to endanger himself by betraying them as far she knew.

"I'm not against finding Lux, or any of our brethren; we need all the help we can get. I know some of what awaits us beyond this floor but the higher we go, the less I'll know ahead of time. However, there is someone who would be willing to help. Dr. Royston is actually a subversive. Her child was taken from her for these experiments so she has no love for Viola. She probably knows more about the higher floors and could even get us through some places with her security clearance. It would make movement faster and probably limit casualties as well."

Aya found this piece of information interesting and yet the mention of Lux had boiled her blood a little. She scratched her red hair in anger as she looked to both men. The last person she would want to see right now was Lux. The one who possibly placed her in this predicament until Ralph freed them all.

"Seriously? Lux? That girl's a retard! Time and time again she would always make it my fault for what went wrong with her! Dr. Eizner injected me with nanotech because of her for god's sake!" Aya stammered at the thought of finding Lux. It wasn't until the realization that she maybe also at fault for the incident years ago. Fate was against all of them, for her to argue needlessly on Lux as well as pressure Ralph and Alexander's openning would put a dent in their plans altogether. It was making things up as they went and the men's idea was at least logical to her. The more help and destruction they can encite, the better for their escape to become less suicidal.

"If we're going to take out this facility though, we need all we can. I can find out about Marko and see where the others have congregated. If we stay in groups of about five, we should be able to move efficiently and attack multiple points. When it comes down to it, we're the weapons of Viola - if we go rogue, little can stop us."

"So Tarlach thinks Elise is a threat while Preacher thinks we need to find Lux as well as Dr. Royston? I can probably ask Ralph that. He's keen on keeping us safe that's all...Tarlach, we'll also consider Elise a threat until proven otherwise," Aya said as she took both male Destrillian's advises to heart. She could feel her spirits lift slowly even at the most crucial moments, Miryz's swaying words and Tarlach's manly brawn had a way in which made her feel all the more safer with the group. Ralph and Alexander was still a mystery to her and them, pondering what she may be able to think about Alexander due to his shady past. She turned back to Ralph as she addressed him and Alexander.

"Ralph we're good to go," Aya said.

=================================================================================

Ralph turned back.

"Gotcha. Plan is, you take point with Miryz while he takes the calls, our 'Captain' if you will. Tarlach, front and center. You're with me and Alexander as we have enough firepower to destroy a city," Ralph said.

"Finally, Elise and Alex's friend can brief and update us the current crisis on the surface as well as any hostilities ahead. First point of order, Miryz the Preacher, where can we find my little brother?" Ralph asked in regards to Marko's current location as all parties prepared for the inevitable wave of soldiers and armored men ready to put them down and seal them within this harrowing tomb.
 
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“Do you have a name, or will I need to create one for you myself?”

Even the simplest of questions could garner the oddest of answers, but Mithras simply smiled. "Fair is only fair, when one knows the things I do and the other does not. For example, you do not know that cake classifications are generally divided between moist cakes containing butter or fats, and more foam-like cakes that use more egg instead. So, to give you a head start as to your knowing..." He trailed off, thoughtful as he prised the fingers off a severed limb still holding onto a hard plastic rifle. The barrel had been partly sliced off thanks to Lux's handiwork, though Mithras did not mind. He had worked with far less in the past.

"... I am Mithras. Rosin from upstairs says I am a first-class soldier, though I rather prefer to call myself a chef. Far more interesting. If you have to deal with dead things, may as well deal with edible ones, hmm?"

His haphazard train of thought was rudely interrupted by the incessant whine of his earpiece. "Connor-Guzman, you thick-headed shitstain!"

"Hmm? Ah." He had forgotten. Pushing against the earpiece with a finger, he switched on the microphone once again. "All is quiet on the front, my captain."

"Like hell it is. Cams are off for some goddamn reason, and after B5 blacked out infrared has been going haywire. What the fuck is going on down there, Major?"

Mithras, giving Lux a wink as he pressed a finger to his lips, nudged a corpse with his foot. Tapping at a communicator belted to his waist, it crackled to life as its loudspeaker rang out with a slight tinny. "Hmm, had a little bit of a scuffle. Number 2, the little lightbulb seems to be stealing all our power, perhaps? The butterfly fluttered off before we could put it back in the jar, though. A shame."

"Goddamnit. Have you sighted any of the others? One of the lab coats are coming down to B5 for god-knows-what." Vargas on the other end was quite obviously agitated, perhaps even manic. But still business-as-usual. The man was incorrigible. "What's the situation down there?"

"The cuckoo is stealing all your eggs as expected, I think. You should check your nests, and lead your chicks by the beak accordingly. Put them all in one basket, perhaps. Engage with prejudice, I think. No more treading lightly for you, I suppose?"

"You're goddamn right. Alright, the eggheads tell me Numbers Thirteen and Fifteen were pretty much one of the last ones to go dark on us. We'll correllate the paths where our patrols went dark most recently, and we'll seal off all the other available routes so we can divide and conquer. They can force their way through these gates but hopefully when we develop a real chokepoint, it'll make tiring them out that much easier. And we can lock down Faiz where we want him."

Mithras raised an eyebrow in amusement. With Rosin's misdirection in place, the two of them could lead the Facility by the nose, perhaps even more so than Ralph Faiz's dynamic entrance. But no certainties there - not yet. "A bold strategy, my captain. Credit where it's due, you would have made an excellent falconer in another life."

As usual, Vargas ignored Mithras' praise, choosing to mutter expletives instead (a bad habit, all things considered). "Your move, Faiz, you sanctimonious shit. You know the drill, Connor-Guzman. Put the dogs back in the cage. We'll lead them to you. Vargas out."

As if on cue, the corridor behind Lux began to rumble as the ceiling seemingly began to collapse. A row of ceramic ceiling panels close to the two clattered to the floor as a large, heavy door began to sprout in its place, looking suspiciously like a wall that had been unceremoniously dropped down to completely block their path. With the sound of grinding gears reverberating through the walls, it reached the floor and stopped with a heavy rumble. Mithras motioned for Lux to follow, as the corridor ahead of them began to reveal a descending gate of its own.

"It gets interesting from here, my little light bulb. Let's go find your friends. They tell me I'm a certified expert on crazy, and I think your brothers and sisters might be swimming in it at the moment. Best not to leave them in the hands of madmen and preachers. And preaching madmen, oh my. Certainly hasn't been a positive feng shui to the day today."
 
Ricin

The sting of dissolving bullets in his chest stung hard. The pain nearly caused him to grasp hold of the walls for support. Not even off the first floor and already his clothes were ruined. BY now the front of his shirt had dissolved to shreds. "Why do I even bother?" he sighed.

He turned back , only for one purpose: acquire another shirt. Then it would be time to find doctor Miller and make an escape. He wondered where he'd go. A city. Probably a big city with lights and shows. He'd like the city.

The blood loss was more than he thought. It had taken mere minutes for his wounds to scar. Everywhere he went he saw remnants of projects who had fled or were fleeing. Littered halls and fallen comrades. Most were gone; they had just woken up and left. Many were in small in teams. Others decided to fight each other. Probably over stupid quarrels.

He had no time for that. This was his chance to really get to the outside for good. He fast-walked back. There was no reason for him to use his charm. Viola staff knew his tricks, the other projects avoided him. He didn't mind being avoided, most of the others were useless anyway. Always over exerting themselves and blindly trusting any authority. He didn't care much.

He'd neared his old room, there was no sign of the other Destrillians from before, but there were a few heavy blasts sounding from up ahead. He'd quickly grabbed his shirt and spun to leave before nearly bumping into someone. "I apologi-" he stopped himself, manners were a habit he didn't have time for.

She looked just as surprised as he. She'd obviously just woken up. Another loud bang, and then screams echoed off in the distance. That murderous little kid.

The last thing he wanted was another confrontation. "Look, I don't know exactly what's happening here but, you shouldn't just stand there." he said putting on a fresh clean white shirt. "There's something big going on and I'm not waiting around to get killed or captured by more lunatics-wait"

He'd finally gotten a good look at her face. Yellow eyes. Her appearance hadn't changed much. He remembered here only during his elementary years as a child. Most memories after that were a blur. He doubted she remembered him, he spent most of his time sneaking out and in cryo. Any rumors he knew of himself weren't the kindest. "You're that lightning chick. 15 right? Long time no see-"

Another explosion sounded off behind them. "Come on, the rec room should be this way."

He disliked being around other useless projects but in all truth he'd used more of his own powers than he intended to. It was he who was useless despite his best efforts to admit it.
 
The President and the Pets

There were few things the President of Viola enjoyed; being woken from the rare day off he had was definitely not one of them. And now, dragged away from a warm hearth and his favourite brandy, the CEO sat in his lumpy chair at the board meeting on the upper levels of his pantheon.

He tapped a pen against the smooth surface of the tabletop, crowded with whitecoats in name tags. The table itself was suited to only seat a dozen attendants, but given the distress and the circumstances, twenty-seven helpless people crammed themselves into the tight room. Soldiers in uniform, four to be exact, sat in the corners, which more were posted outside at each exit in the halls.

“We need to contain them!” One whitecoat exclaimed, slamming their palms against the table.

“We’ll all die here. We’re sitting ducks.” A woman with mousy brown hair cowered close to one of her comrades.

“We should worry about ourselves right now.”

“But what about the Destrillians?” Someone countered.

“What about them?”

“That’s our life’s work!”

“There will be nothing to work over if we don’t get out of here with our lives.”

The President’s brow furrowed and he pinched the bridge of his nose. A low sigh escaped his lips as he reached behind the lapel of his white wash suit and retrieved a small packet. Once freed, he lit a smooth white stick, and exhaled the toxins with a slow, lethargic breath.

“I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t smoke here.” One insubordinate spoke up. Did they really not know who he was?

Without heed to their caution, he reached into the table and plucked at a keyboard. A thin screen descended along the wall from the ceiling, catching the attention of a third of the room. He rapped at a few keys and the screen’s projection divided into nine sections. The images flickered, shifting from one view to another until the live feed displayed the majority of the Destrillians. Even in black and white, their figures were stunning: Air and Gravity were hashing it out; Lightning and Poison had made contact; Light was confronting a soldier in uniform, however she had yet to kill him; a few other prototypes had gathered together with a man in armour. Ralph Faiz.

What was he doing here?

The President tapped another key to blow the image up. Sure enough, it was the megalomaniac of Faiz Industries; rumours were spreading that he hadn’t taken to Viola’s uprising in the corporate world, but to infiltrate his world? Ralph wasn’t going to walk out easy from this.

As soon as word has spread of the impact when he received the call, he put in the ordered to seal off the main floors. Close the gap to the outside. Shut the projects in. He couldn’t spare a single prototype due to a miscalculation of the fortification of his floors against Ralph’s grit. He wouldn’t waste a second to contain the Destrillians from escaping. Ralph too.

The President lifted the cigarette from his lips and let out a low drag, disturbing the air of those around him. Even though he held their salaries in his palm, there was no containing the disdain from their faces as he blow smoke in the boardroom. He tapped the keyboard again and the panes switched again away from Basement Five to B4. Cut into quarters, three of the screens burst with life. Shadows moved in the black and white windows, and his lips tugged into a sordid grin.

“By now you have all failed. Everyone in this room was tasked with a simple thing: control your child.” Indeed, every project was like a child to its keeper. There was no doubt that affection was sewn within the same thread of fear. “Obviously, even that has become too much for you.”

“But sir, the projects have been complacent until Ralph infiltrated-"

“Was I done?” The chief turned towards the interloper.

The man swallowed his words.

“Like I said, controlling your project has become too much of a task for you. If we don’t find a way to reign them in within the hour, we risk contamination.”

“Sir?”

“The distrum induced sleep is what keeps them complacent. We wake them only for testing, training and socializing. If they’re waking of their own accord, with or without Faiz’s help, then we risk the pollution of their minds. I won’t have a single one of them thinking on their own in Viola. I already have my hands full with the evangelist.” He threw a cold look towards an assistant to Doctor Royston, who was found to be absent from the meeting. Most key players were. Dead? He could only hope. Everyone was replaceable. Most surrogates found that out themselves. The Destrillians though? They were invaluable.

“But they’ve proven themselves to be every little bit the little warriors we’ve raised them to be. However, my patience is wearing thin, and every second they spend outside is another thought of doubt that seeds into their minds. I can’t rely on the Viola Guard anymore. Not when things are this strained.”

By now he had garnered the full attention of the room. A few watchful eyes stared into him, taking in his every word like the projects accepted the praise of their preacher brother. Some were still taken with the screen to the left of the room. The images shuffled in the dark, and a voice cut in over the President’s words.

“Sir, the Starters have awoken. What is your order with progression?”

Static cut the voice off. Some in the boardroom couldn’t even locate where the voice had come from. Small speakers in the LCD panel buzzed with static. The President cleared his throat.

“Take the more direct route. Ceilings and floors can be rebuilt. Specimens like these can’t be readily replicated.”

“Sir, are you certain?”

“Did you hear me stutter?”

Just then the private muttered an apology and the feed cut from the speakers.

The Father of Viola leaned back in his chair, attempt to make do with what he had, and set the cigarette in his mouth again, taking in the husky scent of tobacco with every drag. It’s going to be a long night.

--

Somewhere in the corners of Basement Four, three mechanical behemoths breathed in life. It was a rare occurrence that their master would call on them, never mind that they would be given free reign of the lower basements to collect the projects. Each were stationed at separate corners of the floor, and directly below them, different sets of Destrillians were gathered. A Viola operative tampered with the control panels hidden behind glass windows in observation decks in each arena. They watched within protection as the steel plated muscles shifted and groaned from misuse.

In the south corridors of Basement Four, the blue accented quadrupedal lifted onto its haunches and stumbled forward. Its stubby arms flexed once, as if aware of the months it had slumbered since the last time a Destrillian came to train with it. The shell on its back grinded as the steel armour shifted to allow the twin cannons throw, and it rolled its neck almost reflexively from a deep slumber.

Far in the north, the red and orange highlighted dragon of steel lifted its slender neck, stretching to a full twelve foot stop. It curled back onto its flank, a tail uncoiling from its body as long and lethal as its neck. It’s arms which helped hoist itself up, while short and helpless as they appeared, scratched absently at its back. As if on cue, two wide panes of iron sailed across the room, extending nearly the full length of the arena. It flattened and folded its wings, retracting them to a more submissive state.

And somewhere to the west of Basement Four, the naturalistic weapon awoke. It shuffled forward a few steps, and the bulb on its back began to bloom. Metal petals flattened across its rear and the beast’s wide jowls clicked as it let out a low, mechanical growl. Though there was no one in the room to witness it, the air began to take on a sickly sweet smell to it.

When the signal was given, all three behemoths turned to the floor and trust a metal claw through. They dug through cement and circuitry, stomping through way to the bottom Basement. The President was assured that money was the key to everything in life; Viola could be rebuilt, stronger, thicker, and more resilient to terrorist attacks. These small things he was not concerned with. But there were some things in life that were precious, and the lives that they had stolen from others were not to be squandered.
 
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Tarlach

"Ralph we're good to go,"

"Gotcha. Plan is, you take point with Miryz while he takes the calls, our 'Captain' if you will. Tarlach, front and center. You're with me and Alexander as we have enough firepower to destroy a city. Finally, Elise and Alex's friend can brief and update us the current crisis on the surface as well as any hostilities ahead. First point of order, Miryz the Preacher, where can we find my little brother?"

Tarlach grunted. Front and center was nothing to him as long as he was dealing with steel and iron. Anything else and he would have a bit of a problem. With a flick of his wrist, the many steel needles from the ceiling he created reformed as a portion of the steel shaped itself into a sword. Tarlach took a few practice swing with the sword before he was comfortable with it.

"This will do nicely." Tarlach muttered before he heard something. Tarlach strained to hear it as he raised a hand.

"What is that sound. Stone cracking? Maybe. But it is too too sharp for that. It has to be metal cutting through stone and it sounds like it's from above us. Be on your guard. Something's coming down fast." Tarlach muttered as he motioned the remaining steel to reshape itself into several large cannons balls that hovered close beside him while the noise seems to be growing louder with each passing seconds.
 
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Dr Hildemar Dietrich

Just us and the mice...


​

The lower the duo went, the more shuddering the elevator began to become. Even the lights began to waver and the steady hum of the box was only interrupted by the quivering of Schneider. As the elevator shuddered to a halt at the base, its double doors slid open and what greeted them was a dark hallway. Soft luminescent lights glowed softly from the floor for some low light guidance.

Hm... lights are still off and no sign of the escort promised for us. Schneider, torch.

From behind came a hefty maglite torch and with a quick click, its powerful beam cut a swathe through the darkness. As Hildemar pondered on the tardiness of the security force, violent vibrations reverberated the floor above and the elevator itself began to clatter slightly against the shaft it was in.

What the... What now? An earthquake?

Mr Schneider, out. Now.

While it hasn't collapsed yet, Hildemar doubted the structural integrity of it should the quakes become more severe. It was time to relocate. Perhaps to one of the now vacated chamber rooms, but first, she needed to inform Mr Vargas and his subordinate.

Mr Vargas. I am relocating to a vacant chamber room to take cover as your man seemed to be absent from where we were meant to meet and that the structural integrity of the elevator is now questionable. I will be moving to Room 003 momentarily.
 
Ralph, Elise and Aya

The team had already plowed through a series of tunnels and alleyways around the facility, descending to the lower levels to find Marko was their first ideal plan. He had advised all of them to conserve energy for the inevitable showdown above where he knew a large escort would be waiting for them to put them down and without a doubt, burry them alive in this decadent place. They were yet to be decieved, for they had no idea the power of Viola's terrible science has branched out to things larger than life itself.

Ralph's scanners began sending large signals of high alert. He halted as he raised a hand for the travelling party to stand down as he switched his scanners on to find the source of all this maddening alarm. He raised a hand for Alexander to stand guard by the group as he stepped aside to speak with Elise.

"Elise what's with the fireworks in here?" Ralph asked with the large scale alerts coming from his helmet.

"Ralph! They've unleashed The Starters! Get Aya and the others out of there now!" Elise said in a panicked voice.

"Starters? What're you on about?" Ralph asked.

"Machinas! Large scale demolishing classes! They aren't Haven Machina types!" she said as she showed him a series of pre-designed models that dated back years prior to them meeting. He had wished he paid further attention to detail as to what was being built here other than these children or buying out his suits for security purposes. Viola and The President always had a means to outbest him in size and scale of what they were creating. Ralph sighed at the inevitability of a confrontation and seized control to keep the peace and not to incite panic within the team.

"Give me a heading where we can avoid any of them and advise how many have we got?" Ralph asked as he held a hand gesture that they're about to be attacked.

"Three are drawn on your tail but one is currently sent to pursue your team while the others are on other sectors searching for the other awakened lot! Your best bet is to move north of your position to the open recreation room, that will draw their attention. Ruth and I will gather as much information as we can from the Starters as soon as possible and brief you," Elise said.

Ralph's eyes widened, with the others burrowing to get to the awakened Destrillians. One of them will no doubt find Marko. With the current situation at hand, he was about to burst in anger.

"You've got to be kidding me. Elise! These guys have only left their cribs! Alex and I can't manage them so s-"

He was interupted by a large roar above as well as earth and metal bending and screeching their ears. Aya crept down and shielded her ears from the unbearable horror from above. The sound was monstrous and deathly, it shattered his trail of thought as Tarlach spoke ahead of the team with a noted sword already manufactured due to his abilities.

"What is that sound. Stone cracking? Maybe. But it is too sharp for that. It has to be metal cutting through stone and it sounds like it's from above us. Be on your guard. Something's coming down fast."

Ralph looked at Tarlach as he turned to the ceiling. There were large amounts of hard bending of steel and sharp screeching sounds of metal being separated as it drew ever closer to them. He looked back at the group.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, for your convenience I suggest we hastily make for the recreation room. Elise will guide us to -" the sounds have gotten larger and more ominous. He paused for a moment and began gliding, unable to find words to comprehend the beast above.

"Fuck it. RUN!" Ralph said as he directed them to run towards a lone probe Elise had sent as a scout prior. He could count on their abilities and speed as he jetted atop of them on a low level flight with his boosters.

Aya wasted no time as she used her enhanced speed to escape out of Ralph's site with the group and made it through a series of corridors now seemingly cleared from Viola security presence. The group used all their strength to make haste towards the large scale recreation room to recoup their energy while Ralph thinks of a counter attack that can be possibly made for the Machina on approach. Ralph flew at their pace to ensure their numbers are not left behind.

"Alex, can you have Ruth scale the database for any information or logs on these things? I'll have Elise assist in breaking through their encryption and firewall!" Ralph said. He was anxious, anxious about the lack of knowledge as to what foe they were facing. As they sped closer to the recreational room, a room as large as the ancient mines of the northern sectors, he can't help but fear that his words will mean nothing to them in the long run. What's worse is that if he were to disappoint them all, reaching Marko will become an impossiblity and his assault in this facility would have been for nothing.

Aya led them as she was the one who could easily spot the lone probe of Ralph's leading them through a small stray light up ahead towards the room. She had never faced this kind of machina before, even then there was a lurking string of doubt in her mind that anyone of them could die this moment. It thrilled her yet at the same time, brought fear. She had never experienced anything so unexpected before, it felt like a childish glee within her that a challenge has already began to spawn before them. She knew that freedom will not come so easily from Viola and Ralph knew the risks when he came down here. It was now time to prove if escaping was really their destiny or but a delusion they had fooled themselves into thinking. The room was right up ahead, and the sounds from above were roaring like terrible war machines that was only described through pad data they were trained with for years.
 
Miryz eyes turned cold as he gazed over at Aya.

"Regardless of her mental status, Lux is one of us, with powers beyond ordinary humans. I would not turn away the assistance of my sister, just as I would not turn you away Aya. You have recorded problems as well and yet, I show you no animosity. You are both my brethren and we are alone in this world with only our kindred. You would do well to remember that among all people, Lux is one of the few that can understand you or me.

"As for the current whereabouts of Marko, it would appear that he is close to his stasis chamber, given the position of his thought patterns. Niya and Ricin are both nearby - no doubt they will find each other."

Miryz saw the thought patterns of the Starters before Tarlach heard them btu it took him some time to figure out what they were - machina had a conscious totally different from that of the human mind and at this point, showed as little more than a clump of static in the mind's eye. Ralph's comments about starters and Tarlach's comments about digging made it all click. Very little existed in the minds of the current Viola scientists Miryz had access to, most not having been a part of the Starter's last awakening. As it were, all Miryz knew was that they were large scale machina that could prove to be a thorn in their sides, especially when his powers only went so far with them - for now at least.

The grinding of metal on earth was enough to deafen lesser men and it was with difficulty that Ralph could be heard over it, telling them to move to the recreation room. A decent place for such a confrontation - enough room to manuever but with them being machina, Aya was relatively useless power-wise without someone already hurt or having to hurt someone. and he was same way - the machina were just too alien. Joining the trio, he made a point to catch up to Tarlach, an idea already forming in his head.

'Can you make me one of these with your metal shaping?' he asked, sending an image of an archaic, ornate rapier that probably belonged more in a video game than in combat.
 
Ruth
___________________________________

Ruth was typing frantically, trying to figure out what these machines were. With Elise's help, it was much easier breaking through Viola's firewalls and encryption. She came across a database entry for something called 'Starters' that seemed to hit the mark. Gargantuan machines, of which only three were recorded. Three varieties, each seeming to adhere to specific elements; Fire, Water, and Earth, or Nature. "Huh... Surprising there isn't one related to air," she muttered.

"What was that?" asked Alexander, who didn't seem the least bit phased by what was going on.

Ruth cleared her throat. "Right, listen up, Lex," she said. "Three machines have been set free in the facility. They're huge and powerful, so I wouldn't recommend you tangle with them unless you have a solid plan of action."

She managed to pull up some images of the monstrosities onto her screen.

"They appear to be made in relation to individual elements. Fire, Water, and Nature... or Earth. The weapons they have at their disposal are tied in as such. That Fire one comes packing with flame throwers, and... I'm sure you get the picture."

"Alright," replied Alexander, and she heard him repeat the information to the others.

Ruth switched windows to the security camera footage she had managed to access. It was a live feed, recording the location she believed to be directly above Alexander. What she saw nearly made her heart stop. The machine was like a cross between a gigantic frog and a dinosaur. It stood on four legs, in a wide stance that made it seem rather short and stumpy, despite barely being able to fit in the corridor. Switching back to the images of the Starters, she found that it was the Nature one.

"Lex?"

"Yeah."

"The one that's chasing you guys is the Nature one. It has a number of weapons, it's primary weapons being a series of vine-like appendages that can reach out as far as... fifty meters. It also exudes gasses that are meant to dull the senses and wear you out, almost like an anesthetic."

"Great... Does it work against Destrillians?" asked Alexander.

"It doesn't say on the database about the effects it has on Destrillians," she replied. She heard Alexander ask Ralph if he had a gas mask or something in that suit of his.

Ruth continued passing on the details. "It has some pretty standard firepower. A couple of mounted machine guns and a pair of rocket launchers. But there's also some sort of cannon that looks kinda like a plant bulb mounted on its back that's purpose seems to be to unleash a blinding beam of light. It says here that the cannon is solar powered, and requires a certain amount of time to charge up before it's unleashed, but if Viola have only just set the thing free, you should assume it's on full batteries. And just remember to be mindful of those vines and that gas. They're what you'll need to be more wary of than anything."

"Alright, we're on our way to the recreation area. If we have to fight this thing, then we're gonna do it somewhere more suitable."

"Be careful, Lex," said Ruth.

She stood up and stepped out of the cave, badly needing to stretch her legs and take a breather. She was getting tired, so she took a couple of concentrated caffeine pills to keep her going a while longer. Thinking back to her first conversation with Elise, she realised that she had heard a bit about this Cassandra Ackerman. She tapped a button on her earpiece to open the frequency she now uses to communicate with Elise.

"About Cassandra Ackerman... She worked for Viola. I don't know what she did there, or if she's still there even. But what I do know, is that she's been notorious for having some rather... outlandish ideas, even before she was employed by Viola. Last I heard, she had been trying to find a way of infusing Dark Matter into a human body. I don't think she ever got that to work, though. You don't think she's been trying to do that with a Destrillian, do you?"

_______________________________________________________________

Alexander
_______________________________________________________________

Alexander breathed deeply after repeating the information Ruth passed on to him. The part of him that was itching for a fight was screaming for him to stop and take this thing on. The other part of him, that oddly sounded like Ruth, kept telling him they should keep going. Breathing in through his nose, a sweet and sickly stench hit him. He wondered if that was something to do with the gasses the machine emits. A loud roar came from behind the group, almost as though it raced up the corridor. The machine that was chasing them was still out of sight, but he could hear the grinding of metal plates and slamming as the thing came charging after them. He wondered if they had no choice but to try and fight this thing.

The group reached the recreation room. It was a wide open area, and Alexander felt a bit more comfortable about fighting here. Shunting aside any doubt and worry in his mind, he cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms and legs. "So what do we do now?" he asked the others.

He turned to face the way they had come from, just in time to see a series of vines shoot out from down the corridor. Using his powers, he created a field of gravity in front of him that forced the vines into the ground. They wriggled about, trying to push their way forwards, but resigned to pulling back slowly. What followed was two rockets, which were also forced into the ground upon reaching Alexander's field of gravity but they exploded with enough force to knock him back off his feet.

He grunted in pain as he landed on his backside, a couple of meters back from where he stood. "Shit!" he spat contemptuously as he got back onto his feet, dusting himself off and readying himself for the next onslaught.

The monster revealed itself, then. Bursting through the open door into the recreation room. Rearing up onto its hind legs, it bellowed like a thunderclap before going back onto all fours. The whole room shook as it did so. The thing was massive, and it was getting ready to charge at the group.
 
004- Aquilo



Aquilo nodded silently at Izanami, his instincts almost shouted at him to tag along with her. Two heads were better than one- to quote a cliché. 003 always seemed to be… logical. Calculating. It seemed like she could break down a problem, strip away the excess and pick out the key features- retrieve the worthy from the worthless. Also, her air-her aura- seemed to emit something of an opposing nature to Aquilo’s own: The unstoppable object; the wind’s relentless fury versus the unmovable object; the stoic, still nature of gravity.


At least, that was who 003 seemed to be, according to Aquilo’s senses. Nevertheless, he digressed and began a wary stroll down Viola’s basement corridor. One aspect of this facility that Aquilo did recall was that of the length… The floors were massive. They had to be: with all the gear and equipment that a distrillian subject would need, it’d definitely need more that a single and average laboratory. Hell, even an expanded version probably wouldn’t have been enough. Well, that’s what Callaghan wanted for the 004 project. Then again, his methods were of the obscure- perhaps intelligent- yet sadistic. It wasn’t the prodding, poking and torture of the body that Callaghan was known for- Aquilo’s ‘gift’ already displayed the physicality- but that of the soul. The doctor could pull your brain apart within a few sessions; wire you into something else entirely… What if he had you for years on end? A scary thought for some, but life as he knew it for Aquilo.


004’s steps continued down the hall- followed by (what he supposed) were 003’s. He’d decided to push slightly forward, ahead of her. His senses told him that this wasn’t just any old power outage… Something was different, fishy about this. Needless to say, Aquilo was on edge. His inhalations were tense, almost on a knife’s edge. Without much of a stimulus, he was moving- limbering up as if he was ready to jump; to pounce. Aquilo did this in more than a single way. A sliver of paper (very softly) eddied in the air; his right index finger followed the air current. If there was one benefit to an Aerokinetic underground, it was the chance to refine his trade; he had to keep up with the others, even without open access to the natural wind… He had to find his own updraft.


Aquilo glanced at Izanami every 10 or so paces. The fear the two of them could get caught was certainly a valid one indeed, but it wasn’t what overtook his mind: What if she turned her skills against him- for some reason or another? These people take pride in their ability to control distrillians. They were just subjects, lab rats for their bidding. Of course they’d have contingency plans for these types of situations.


But what if it came down to defence? What if Aquilo was caught between death and murder? What if Viola just wanted to use this as a justification to murder every one of the distrillians? Aquilo knew himself… He would have to fight, kill and do anything in between to survive. He wanted to live. No machine would take that away from him; nor would any guard or soldier.


But could Aquilo murder one of his “siblings”? It’s easier to steal life when you have a vendetta, a grudge against the other party; Each distrillian had a reason to want to end the life of a guard, but what of their fellow experiments? Definitely, there have been some altercations. 00X has probably crossed 0YY… But, could this lead to something more? This was what worried Aquilo… Each distrillian was a hydrogen bomb in a humanoid avatar that was just asking to be detonated. For most of the walk, he discussed this in his mind; albeit in a much more eccentric manner. Eventually, he gathered the courage to ask 003 on the matter.



“… Do you think they might…? They might…. They could get rid of us? We could've out lived any usefulness... WE could've been cloned...”


He inquired with an aspect of fear ruling his tongue. Izanami seemed to be smart… Maybe she could put his mind at ease with her answer- He continued his pace as he awaited an answer- an evil chill struck him at that moment. It was so cold; especially when only in your briefs. But this was something else, as if something sinister awaited him. Were they headed toward something wicked?
 
Marko

A fallen guard lay writhing in fear with some unknown form of terror, Marko had finished settling in his new guard clothes indiffierently as his victim screamed at the room before falling comatose with his mouth foaming and his eyes severely bloodshot from the exposure to Marko's power.

"Whatever you did in life, sure aint pretty buddy. It shows in your face," Marko said as he closed the eyes of the victim. This gift given to him by Dr. Ackerman was a curse if one was not too careful: It pulls out your primal fear and various other forms of terror once coming into contact upon the flesh among others such as rusting or rotting certain objects. A single jab with this dark energy against the guard somehow crippled him with his own fears and sins. Leaving the traumatized guard alone naked at the floor, Marko left the rest room and planned ahead to meet Niya and Miryz.

Marko tucked his scarf as he snuck around from the next corridor to the other. He had a very strong feeling that it was night right now, perfect for him to use his powers to its maximum potential and also keeping up its consumption to a low. With each time he faced a possible confrontation with a large group of armed guards, he swiftly drifted unto the shadows of a pillar and reappeared on the pillar on the far corner away from them. He snickered as he mischievously used this shifting ability to avoid uneccessary scoffles.

Eventually, it came at a price: Marko wandered carefully around the floors above and below and after almost ten minutes of searching he had realized he was lost. What seemed to bother him as the minutes hurried its course, guards were sparringly seen or even escaping to the higher floors. He frisked the uniform he stole for any piece of useful items that it may have and he found himself an ear piece. Much to his delight, he tucked it into his ear to spy on the Viola Frequency to get any tips on how to escape. He shuffled it into his right ear as he turned it on. What met his ears was the most unpleasant of news:

"We're initiating the Starter Protocol - Situation contaiment Alpha is in effect. This is due to the fact at 0200 - WST, we recieved an unprecedented attack from external parties at our facility, compromising our subjects under The Destrillians Project. The instigator is identified as CEO of Faiz Industries Ralph Faiz, creator of the Ragnum suits. We urge you not to engage him as he has captured our subjects and is turning them against us. All personel retreat to your nearest shelter at the bunkers. This is not a drill. The Starters have been deployed. This is not a drill."

Marko stared blankly at the darkening corridors, he even noticed that the lights were slowly dimming. No doubt the emergency back up generators have been deployed were now beginning to be ultimately cut off from the basement's supply to give them a disadvantage. Beads of sweat trickled down as he realized that he was in no common situation.

"How could I be so stupid as to wander alone for so long?! I need to get to Niya fast! I can't wait to see what this protocol is all about..!" Marko snickered, so this was the test that Dr. Ackerman wanted him to endure. No doubt she had a hand in their escape as per his thoughts. His musings were interrupted as he heard a loud roar from behind him. He scowled as he looked back and closed his eyes.

A presence, unlike that of any other he had experienced or was trained to respond, was coming from behind... or was it from above? Marko had yet to master his sensing abilities, it was darkness; his homefield. But why does he feel that primal fear surging within him?

A large explosion and grinding of steel and earth from the distance sliced the ceiling as a large fist; a giant's hand, crushed the seemingly impenetrable steel with ease. Marko stepped back in horror as its gigantic feet descended from the surface while tearing the hole open to fit its size. The height of basement 5 was enough to accomodate it's size. It's face was blue and eyes near lifeless and optics were yellow. If Marko remembered correctly, this could be a Machina, one of the core weapons of the outside world used for warfare. What could it be doing here?! Marko sent out a telepathic message to anyone who can catch on to them. He caught a glimpse of the insignia on its right chest reading: [ Destructive Threat Response Machina: Type - Vody ]

Niya? Anyone? I've made contact with something called a Starter...It looks like a Machina cos it's big...Blue... And - oh boy - this guy's huge!

The big machinery let out a massive roar from its speakers as it clenched its fists, intimidatingly trying to punch the ground where Marko stood. He instantly dodged it and made a run for it. The monstrosity dragged its gigantic hand and tried to punch Marko to the wall, with the young Destrillian's timing and ability to shadow move from one location to the other, he reappeared behind the beast's shadows and darted for the opposite direction. His mind is now racing with fear. He sent a telepathic cry for Niya, whom he knew was the closest to him in this level.

Niya!? Where are you!? These guys aren't fooling around! They're trying to kill us!

His ear piece continued to brief all security within the basements now seemingly hiding from sight:

"The President's issued an order to exterminate the renegade CEO Ralph Faiz of Faiz Industries and any other dissidents responsible for awakening the Destrillians. Anyone caught in the cross fire or not in their stations is to their own responsibility and will be subjected to immediate death by any of the Starter Models: Destructive threat response Machina - Type Zhar , DTRM - Type Vody and DTRM - Type Raster, we are commencing operations currently. Please retreat to your bunkers or exits. This is not a drill."

He pieced together why the beast saw him as a hostile; the guard uniform he was wearing was easily enough for it to spot him as a renegade operative rather than a Destrillian. He swore under his breath for this minor mistake, but something else caught his attention at the message sent through his earpiece.

Ralph Faiz?! ... could he be that boy in the dream?!

Marko wasted no time as he tried to escape the gigantic Machina's sights. It unleashed a terrifying roar from behind him as he felt the air moistening around him. He had to find Niya fast or his break from Viola would be very short lived.
 
Tarlach

Following Aya, Tarlach ran as he could. A few feet away, Miryz caught up to him and sent him an image of a rapier.

'Can you make me one of these with your metal shaping?'

Tarlach grunted a bit before using one of the steel cannon balls to reform as the rapier before he grabbed it.

"It's durable. But don't try to overpower a machine with it. Steel's not flexible as iron." Tarlach muttered as he toss the rapier to Miryz.

The cracking grew louder as Tarlach stopped for a second, letting everyone else run ahead of him. Looking up, he saw the cracks growing wider and wider until with a loud crash, a quad-pedaled machine burst through, landing in front of him. The key thing Tarlach noticed is the smell it brought with it.

"Shoot. Keep running!" Tarlach muttered as he fired the three remaining cannon balls at the machine.

The shots hit it's mark as the machine stumbled back a bit as if staggered. Quickly, Tarlach reformed the steel balls into several steel walls that stood between him and the machine, though Tarlach caught a quick glimpse of the machine's metal warping a bit like water before vines sprouted. Not waiting around, Tarlach quickly took off and soon enough found the recreation area that was mentioned.

"Good news is we got a few minutes before that quad pedaled machine comes after us. The bad news. We only have a few minutes before that quad pedaled machine comes after us and smash our brains in." Tarlach muttered as he faced the doorway he entered.
 
Ralph, Elise and Aya

Ralph caught Tarlach firing his last set of steel-like cannon balls at the beast, from what he caught of its markings and from Elise's notes, its designation is called [ Destructive Threat Response Machina: Type - Raster ]. Ralph aided the metal Destrillian by firing a small missile at Raster's eyes, it split into baby rockets the exploded directly at its face. The blast hit directly and seared the Machina's face, Ralph could notice the burning affecting the beast as its roars were pained and loud. He turned his attention to Tarlach and pointed to the recreation room.

"Get your ass over there, boy!" Ralph called angrily at Tarlach to cover ground. He wasn't sure if his bravery or recklessness was to lash at him for. Before he could find time to lecture him, Raster's face roared angrily at Ralph's small mechanical figure. Ralph remain steadfast and floating to impede Raster's way in order to allow Tarlach to reach the gigantic recreation room without interference.

"Elise, scan Raster for any weakspot before he knocks the living daylights out of me," Ralph said as he set the scanners on to scan its entire body for any structural weaknesses. He fired sets of lasers at Raster as they scratched the surface of the Machina's tungsten-like hide. It looked so much like flesh, yet the feel was near metal, much like how Aya's composition would look if clothed in her ability.

"Working on it, I'm also relaying the physical aspects of it over to Ruth for further analysis. Get out of there," she advised. The biomechanical behemoth was about to launch a set of sharp metallic-like vines at Ralph to which he dodged them midflight. He threw point blank cutters at Raster's face to distract it further and flew straight over to the small opennings of the rec room's entrance above and flew down to greet the team.

"Elise and Alex's friend Ruth are now analyzing Raster," Ralph said as he landed side by side the group checking the composition of his cutters at his suit's finger tips.

"Who the hell is Raster?" Aya asked as she bit her hand to secrete blood in order to form her abilities while listening carefully. She could see Alexander and Tarlach taking point as well and she did not want to slack behind.

"That thing is called a Destructive Threat Response Machina: Type - Raster," Ralph explained as the helmet shifted open to reveal his face as his helmet shifted once more to allow his whole head to be exposed. His hair was now unkempt and his face was getting tense from the presence of the beast's inevitable return as he bit his lip uneasily.

"Is that supposed to mean anything?" Aya asked nonchalantly as her blood soaked her arm to form into sharp, tough skin around it, she took a bite on her arm to secrete more plasma to cover her body with it. Her abilities needed her as clotheless as possible, for the sake of the fight right now she had ripped Ralph's jacket sleeves so her arms can be free to meld into weapons for her to fight.

"It's something they use to exterminate any living populace or for long term warfare. We got the Average class and these guys. They don't plan on taking you alive from looking at it alone. Are you even taking this seriously?" Ralph said as the beast roared and ran closer to the doors of the rec room. He checked all of his suit's functionality to ensure that they're top primed, it was grateful that he settled for a classic 231 Model instead of the latest. Prototypes usually never work, hence why he was also anxious with these guys. Like the 251 he used to enter, they were works in progress, something of a testing phase. They were never meant to see the light of day and yet here he was fighting alongside them.

"Destrillian. Not human remember?" Aya said as she smiled at him. Ralph's uneasiness mellowed out as he smiled back at her as the helmet resealed his face into his head, forming the signature style helmet of the Ragnum. He called out the guys as well as Miryz at the back of the group.

"Listen guys, I know I'm kinda new to this Destrillian gig but don't you worry. You all may be altered but deep down at everyone's core, you care for each other. That's what makes you all human. No matter what they throw at us, you have each other and myself of course. And I sure as hell think you're ready for this kind of fight. Think of this as a test to see if you're worth it out there cos we face monsters like these everyday," Ralph said as he grinned underneath the suit. He wasn't really in tune with inspirational speeches, but he had hoped that it would wipe off the doubt that they seem to be having. He could not tell, but he also released his uneasiness and remained steadfast with his mission at mind.

Aya scoffed at his attempt at inspiring them as she extended her blood loaded arm to form a spear at her right hand and keep her left hand as claws, she was never the one to settle for defensive. If Viola really wanted them dead, then they're gonna be in one hell of a fight.

"Call it, Captain preacher," Ralph addressed Miryz behind him as the mechanical beast began clawing violently at the door to get to its prey, roaring violently while doing so, awaiting orders from the preacher. Aya's heart raced as she stood side by side with Alexander, Tarlach and Ralph as she held her makeshift blood spear up against the rampaging Raster.

===============================================

Elise reappeared on Ruth's screen after gathering data on what Ralph has recorded. She displayed one data of Raster straight for analysis.

"I've gathered some visual confirmation on the Machina named Raster, the Plant Machina of The Starter series," she advised Ruth.

Ruth responded. "About Cassandra Ackerman... She worked for Viola. I don't know what she did there, or if she's still there even. But what I do know, is that she's been notorious for having some rather... outlandish ideas, even before she was employed by Viola. Last I heard, she had been trying to find a way of infusing Dark Matter into a human body. I don't think she ever got that to work, though. You don't think she's been trying to do that with a Destrillian, do you?"

"Aye, I know. She was Marko...or Kram's doctor, thus proving the theory correct. Marko, from whatever files I could steal from Viola's server before this disaster, was exactly the result of extensive research into bending the laws of physics and dark energy. It thaws out one's primal fear and sends the user of this ability to the dark matter world for a brief moment and reappearing in another location, in essence, Marko can appear anywhere he wanted as long as it was shadowy or even dark... " Elise remembered the days she spent pouring equation after equation a possible way of allowing the human mind to enter into a dimensional rift and back again with Dr. Ackerman. It was how she had developed the idea of using the WLN of Linisium to potentially reach a new level of being through cyberspace.

"Dr. Ackerman and I worked on his data prior to our partnership dissolving, forcing me to work with Haven Artilieries. This theory I used was allowing your consciousness to enter WLN space, but alas, I was trapped after an incident and my body was stolen from me... That is why I agreed to partner alongside Ralph. I believe she may have my body...or the person that stole it from me," Elise said.


Elise was notified through the pod that jettisoned into Aya's chamber that all repairs to the 251 have been now completed. She began notifying Ruth of it.


"Ruth, the 251 is ready. If I may, do you require it for escaping incase things do not go as planned? Or may I use it to scout behind enemy lines while locating Marko and Ms. Ackerman?" Elise asked. She had hoped for the latter, as locating the two was also a goal she had in mind, her talent for multitasking was going to be put to the test as well.
 
Lux

Alas, it seemed that finding an easy answer for his name was another lost cause. Lux stared at the strange man blankly as he talked in circles around her. Never in her life in Viola did she meet someone who loves to flap their gums as much as he did- well, except maybe for Miryz. And then, slowly but surely, the words began to unravel down to the conclusion.

Mithras. First class soldier? Then why would he be fraternizing with her? Suddenly, Lux felt like she needed to be on her guard. But his invasion of her personal space, and the noncommittal reaction towards his fallen crew made her see it differently. He said he wanted to help. So maybe she could trust him.

If not, she could easily slice him in half with her light.

He motioned for her silence, pressing a finger to his lips while he placed his communicator on speaker. She eyed him carefully while he spoke with his commander, and in the meantime, she robbed another soldier of his belt and cinched her already stolen pants tightly to her waist. She had already been caught with her pants down once, no need for a second go of it.

Lux’s reasoning for her trust in favour to Mithras strengthened when he mentioned her to his commanding officer. She had just disappeared so casually, and while they weren’t okay with it, he had no problem forming the lie. Maybe he really did want to help.

She waited around patiently while the two spoke, her hands pilfering through the pockets of the men whose lives she stolen. Coming up mostly empty handed- as were most of the weapons- she decided to forgo the option of carrying a weapon. It would only slow her down; she was far stronger without it, even if her nagging headache would continue to be problematic later on.

Lux’s lips quirked in a half smile at the odd nickname he was offering to her. As the ceiling began to tremble and sealed off one half of the corridor, Lux didn’t need to be told twice to follow him towards safety. She had no doubt that he knew the halls like the back of his hand, but walking Basement 5 for all her life, nobody knew it better than she. Except in equal parts, her brethren.

“They may be family… But they’re not my friends.” Lux muttered as she trotted alongside Mithras in the hall, leaving behind the second collapsing pseudo-ceiling which would have sealed them off in a neat little box. The corridor beyond was just as plain and white as the one they had abandoned. To the left, the hall had already been sealed off. To the right, the option still lay open. “I guess they have their own little plans for where they want us to go. Like rats in a maze.” She thought on the sentence and cursed herself inwardly. Already this strange man was having an effect on her thoughts, speaking in odd metaphors.

The two followed the path set before them, briefly marked by sealed steel walls that hadn’t been there moments before. But the deeper they traveled through Basement 5, the more open the floor became. Had Viola planned to try and seal them off in the corners by their chambers? Easy to do had they not already broken free. Surely they would have anticipated that they moved quicker than that, so then what?

And as if Viola had read her mind, the answer came from above. A shrill, grinding scream came from Basement 4. Instantly, her head tipped backwards, and as if captivated by the sight, Lux stared helplessly as something tore through the metal and the ceiling like her light tore through the flesh of the soldiers. Ceiling panes flapped to the floor and the level above them shuddered with every slogging attack. What could Viola have that could have such feral power? No Destrillian was on Basement 4.

But it wasn’t a Destrillian. It was a Starter.

The ceiling flared red, blazing like the blood that coated her. The last of the remaining iron melted aware as the beasts claws tore through opening and drudged its way through. She staggered back a few steps, in awe of the size of the machine before her that sank through the ceiling to their basement. There was no way that could fit on their floor… could it? If not, it was going to make room.

“Mithras… what is it?”
 
"Who said anything about overpowering it?" Miryz asked,givign a sly wink to Tarlach as he deftly caught the rapier.

It was lighter than the ones he had created, which meant that handling this one would be easy. As he ran, he held it in front of him, perpendicular to his body, the index and middle fingers resting on the blade. Around him, as the vines struck out, he moved to the side to avoid them, even as his eyes were glazed with a lack of conscious thought. As they neared the door, he flipped it out to the side, casting his now lucid gaze behind. Trailing behind the metal blade were light blue copies, four of them with about a foot's distance between them. It was only a visual aspect but it was more than effective for the purposes he had in store.

Passing the threshold, he whirled around, his blue-black hair a shroud over his face. The rapier was held in front of him, the copies slowly cycling around it.

"Aya, Tarlach, break it open. I don't need anything large, enough to get this elegance into," he said, gesturing with his rapier. "It has to be directly over the circuit synapses, or whatever it uses to conduct the electrical impulses that allow it to control it's bulk. Faiz, Alex, provide artillery support and keep the ranged attacks away from me. One more thing Faiz. I need Elise to call out to me. For a time at least. I need to pick up her frequency - with any luck, there's enough human similarities I can find it over the thoughtwaves. Once I have that, I can put the second part of this plan into action. The only issue will be actually pinpointing the frequency Elise is on which will take time and my concentration. I can dodge most of it, but there's only so much my body can do on it's own."
 
Niya

Niya turned another corner, carefully keeping track of the red trail and to avoid touching it as she went along. She hugged the wall as she walked, stilling her steps whenever she heard a sound. Soldiers. Brothers. Killing.

So much killing everywhere.

She hated the thought of her brothers and sisters quarreling with each other. Everyone was in such a rush to escape, so why not go through it together? Why argue and kill if it meant nothing? They had all experienced the same pain, they all had the same cause… and yet… here they were, on the edge of death and despair.

As she rounded another corner, something stung her. It was the same pain she felt before on her foot, this time on her chest as the red pressed against her, eating her skin. She squealed and brushed at it, singeing her fingers with the acid.

He warned her about standing around. An explosion at the end of the hall did the same. They both glanced in the direction, momentarily distracted. As he stared off, Niya sneaked a few peeks at her found brother; look dark curls, muddled yellow eyes, and in case she had any other doubts, the brand that sat on his arm. 010. Niya hadn’t seen this Destrillian much in the Recreational Room, possibly even for a few years, she couldn’t be exact. And why was that? Where had he been hiding for so many years? But here he was. Outside. Tired. Anxious. And on the run, just as she. There was no discrimination on the path for freedom.

“I know the way!” She exclaimed, taking his hand by the wrist and dragging him down the hall. She winced at first, cringing as the acid that leaked from the cuts and dribbled down his skin stung her flesh but she didn’t dare let go. She had found one. Finally.

And then, as luck would have it, she found another. Or rather, they found her.

Niya? Anyone? I've made contact with something called a Starter...It looks like a Machina cos it's big...Blue... And - oh boy - this guy's huge!

A Starter? She had heard of those things before, and on one occasional trip to Basement 4, even saw the doors to one of their chambers. But she hadn’t seen one. She never had the privilege of training with it. Were they allowed? Would it be too much? She had a feeling they’d find out soon enough.

Niya!? Where are you!? These guys aren't fooling around! They're trying to kill us!

They were getting frantic, and likely with all reason to be. Niya evaluated the halls ahead of her. She knew the way to the recreation room like the back of her hand- but if one of her brother’s was in danger, there was only one other way about it.

“Do you hear that?” She asked Ricin, casting him a quick glance as she changed directions. Two halls to the left, and she started to follow the message sent to her. “Someone needs us.” The voice was still too far for her to attach a signature to it, but if the broadcast was open, then Ricin would have heard it. Her grip on his wrist tightened momentarily, a twinge of pain searing her hand as she did so. But still she slogged onward, dragging her brother in arms straight into the onslaught of the beast and the source of sudden humidity in the air.
 
Tarlach

"Right, break it open. Let's see on that." Tarlach muttered as reformed the steel walls he made into one very large spear.

He tossed it at the machine as it tore into the room. The spear bounced off the machine as the metal distraillan's eyes narrowed.

"That's not steel. Otherwise the spear would have puncued through it." Tarlach stated as a vine shot towards him.

Tarlach braced himself as the vine slammed into him, slapping him on the side. Luckly, he blocked the swipe with his sword as he repelled the vine.

"Hey Miryz, any chance on locating a weak point on this machine to make your plan run a little easier?" Tarlach yelled as two more vines joined the vine that attacked him, keeping Tarlach on the defensive.

Occ: Vita typing ftw.
 

Izanami



​
Izanami walked silently behind Aquilo. Unlike her fellow subject, Izanami really wasn't in to deep a thought. Rather than having inner turmoil about the current situation, Izanami ran her hand along the wall as if she was a school girl walking home from school. Her mind floated from thought to thought. The free time offered by this little walk was quite liberating. Her wandering thoughts were only interrupted by Aquilo's sudden question.

“… Do you think they might…? They might…. They could get rid of us? We could've out lived any usefulness... WE could've been cloned...”

It was an interesting concept. It could be possible. After all, given that all the subjects were granted special powers via genetic tinkering, who is to say they aren't capable of cloning. She herself was the living proof of accelerated growth. Granted, accelerated education and mentality imprinting with consistent results were a bit more dubious, but it was all still possible.

Definitely. After all, we are just projects. Investment. If they run out of money or that they perfected what they were after, i don't see why they would keep us down here. They would either perfect the rest of us or have dealt with us already as to not waste money.

Just as she had said that, the corridor began to become larger and larger. It wasnt the enlarging of the room that piqued her interest, but the increasing vibration and muffled creaking from above. Her eyes narrowed at the source of the noise before the roof collapsed and in came a gigantic mechanical beast. Its red colour was quite vibrant and a detached part of her mind appreciated how well the colour matched the lines of the machine. The rest of her mind did register the threat it actually presented. A large I beam flew straight towards the duo from the violent clawing of the machine, but with a quick swipe of her right hand, Izanami warped the gravity to her right and deflected the metal shrapnel from the two Destrillians

Hm.. Well, it seems like your concerns are valid after all, Aquilo. Let's see if this is a retrieval or a clean up crew.
 
Ricin

He'd felt guilty about Niya's burns despite his . His wounds had begun to stop leaking, but he knew his toxins were still burning, still damaging her the longer she held on. "I can walk fine by myself now yaknow?" he mumbled.

They'd been going for minutes. The booms and shouts echoing down the long corridors were evidence that something was definitely not right. But people were escaping. This was the time for escape, while everyone was distracted by whatever was going on. For a moment they changed directions, Niya leading him on further and further. Is this the right way? I can't even remember. Two years away had made these halls seem foreign.

“Do you hear that?”

Ricin steadied his ear. He never was good at picking up messages. "It's faint."

“Someone needs us.”

"Well bullshit, I never volunteered to play babysitter. Sounds more like someone needs you. And there may be trouble up ahead."

He continued on but realized Niya's tight grip on his wrist. She didn't seem to be letting go anytime soon. She's got me only for now but once we're free... It wasn't nice to just abandon her, and he'd hate to be rude. But he knew somewhere up above the good Doctor was waiting. Or maybe it was worse, maybe the doctor was hurt? But he knew that Dr. Miller was more than capable of handling himself in a fight due to their own past sparring. A nasty foul sound from down the corner shook him from his thoughts.

He knew he wouldn't get far past the 5th and 4th floors without help. It's not like he could seduce his way up anymore. "Alright, we'll help this one but no more. I'm trying to get out of here. Having a dozen tagging along isn't going to help much with that."

The moist air had already given him an idea of what Viola nasty they were about to face. He readied himself. Most of his bleeding had stopped but he figured he'd play it safe as a backup for now. "You can feel that right? There's something down at the end of that hall. You sure about this?"
 
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