Post by Swim on Oct 5, 2015 18:30:59 GMT -5
This week we're going to jump forward in time to set up a future plot and introduce a new point of view character. In the aftermath of Jet's battle with Dagmor he is presumed dead and the hunters carry on without him. At some point Tank is brought out of hibernation and thrust back into active duty, but he's not pleased to find that Sub and his mercs are dead, and that Jet is missing in action and presumed dead. After several more missteps on the part of hunter top brass he reaches breaking point and actually leaves the organization. It's later revealed that these events were set in motion by a new generation reploid by the name of V, who has revived the New Gen movement since Lumine's death and is now waging a shadow war against hunters and mavericks alike.
Our new point of view character is called H, he is a new generation reploid with sophisticated stealth technology and a passion for theft. After being caught and convicted by the authorities it was decided that as part of his criminal rehabilitation that he would use his talents to aid the hunters in their missions. Desperate for his freedom, H entered an uneasy partnership with the mysterious V, who helped H fake his death so that he could join V's brotherhood of new gen reploids. H is able to continue his previous life of dangerous heists and stealing prototype technology, the only thing V asks in return is that he grab a few special items while he's there...
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Disruption: Smash and Grab
H did not enjoy being summoned, but when V explained the circumstances he understood the urgency. And besides, now that he was legally dead he had an abundance of free time, and H had nothing he wanted more than to start his next big heist. Redmon had been too easy, breaking in after it had already been ransacked, its security in disarray. Now V wanted to send him into a World Government facility already on high alert. The stakes were high, the risks higher, and H would've been thrilled to accept. There was just one snag.
"I work best alone," H complained to V. "Why do I have to take on a partner?"
V raised an eyebrow, beside him stood his partner to be, an unknown reploid covered from head to toe in crystal blue armor. "I'd have thought you'd welcome the assistance, someone who can handle the fighting for you if required. And I can promise you she won't slow you down. In any case, this is non negotiable, there are too many factions at play now. Should you encounter the Spectre or any rival competitors you are to disengage, T will eliminate them. There will be no more interruptions."
"Whatever you say," H muttered, he could tell he wouldn't make any headway here, and it wasn't worth arguing over. If resistance were really going to be so heavy on this job he shouldn't have trouble shaking his tail once they were inside. "What's on your wishlist this time?"
"Oh you're free to take what you like," V answered, "The only thing I ask of you are the blueprints to a project that puts each member of our organization in jeopardy, and a list of all the scientists who have access to it. Anything else you find must be destroyed, as if the project had never existed."
This piqued H's interest. "What could be so important, so dangerous that-" he started to ask. V flicked a button and turned on a screen which displayed the device in question, and H understood at once the severity of the situation. This time it would be personal.
H and T warped into the government facility, which was disguised as a car dealership of all things. Apparently it was actually a legitimate dealership, providing cover for the R&D lab underground. H and T had disguised themselves as a husband and wife looking to purchase a vehicle and walked into the show room, trying to look inconspicuous.
"What do you think of this one honey?" H asked, walking over to an SUV. T trailed behind him, staring ahead with blank, unfocused eyes. She made no response. "Well she's great company," H thought, but truthfully he didn't care to engage in small talk, it was only for appearance sake. His 'wife' was a middle aged woman, roughly in her 40s, with dark black hair and long bangs which intentionally obscured her face. She hadn't said or responded to anything since H had met her, and he supposed she wasn't going to start at this point just because they were on a mission. Would she be reporting on him later or was she really just here for the muscle?
H bent into an opened window and pretended to inspect the interior of the vehicle, but in truth he was inspecting the elevator at the end of an area marked employees only. He suspected he could override security and get to the secret basement, but getting to the elevator would be problematic. They couldn't just pretend they got lost on the way to the bathroom, the space was very clearly labeled as employees only. H watched as one of them swiped an ID badge in front of the elevator, and that gave him an idea.
Another employee was heading into the men's room, H followed him in, along with T who didn't seem to care about gender boundaries. H quickly scanned the stalls, and apart from the employee at the urinal they were alone. He'd have to act quickly. H waited until the man had zipped up his fly before punching him in the back of the head and knocking him out cold. T watched expressionless as H dragged the man's body into the stall.
"You just going to stand there?" H asked. No response. No surprise. H snatched the ID badge from the man's shirt and thrust it at T. "Here, you hold onto this, that'll get us to the elevator, I'll go invisible." T gave no sign of acknowledgement but obediently transformed into the man now propped up on the toilet and fastened the ID to her clothes. After H secured the stall door they left the bathroom and made their way to the elevator.
"How's it going Trask?" one of the security guards asked as they passed. H saw 'Trask' pass his eyes over the guard once, then resumed staring blankly ahead, ignoring the greeting. The guard looked surprised, then upset, and with one final look at T he turned away and went back to his job.
"This one is a charmer," H thought, even he was not so socially inept. He hoped she was better at fighting than communicating. He swiped the ID badge and quickly climbed into the elevator.
After a short ride the doors opened to reveal the basement lab where a pair of armed reploids awaited. Beside them was a security terminal that they'd have to walk through. H couldn't see any way for him to get around it either, and he was sure to set it off.
One of the guards beckoned T forward. As she stepped through the terminal it gave a loud beep, and one of the guards approached with a handheld scanner. T held out her hands, seemingly awaiting closer examination but with unbelievable speed she whipped them up and struck the guard on both sides of the head, stunning him briefly before grabbing hold and snapping his neck.
H cried out in surprise at the swiftness of the execution. The other guard had pointed his weapon at T but upon upon hearing H's cry he whipped his head around, looking for the second intruder. That was all the time it took for T to snatch up the scanning rod and hurl it at guard number two, impaling him through the center of his forehead.
H stared, slack jawed at T. Never had he seen anyone kill so quickly, she had gone from zero to death in the time it took to blink. She was now returning to her initial form, donning the bulky crystal armor, complete with the helmet and green mane which obscured her face. "Each of us our secrets," H reflected, bringing himself back to the mission at hand. "That's what we're here to do, to protect our privacy."
Now it was his turn to follow her lead as she charged through the base. From time to time they'd encounter a roving patrol, but the suddenness of her appearance provided enough shock that before they could raise their weapons she'd be upon them, slamming them into walls and continuing through the base. H wasn't sure if they were going the right way, but instead of branching off on his own he followed the wake of her destruction.
It turned out that that path would lead to an employee break room. Once again, T took full advantage of the shock value, punting a table into the closest reploid, knocking him over. Another three employees, humans, started to rise from their seats. T slid over the table, lashing out with her armored legs and pivoted, striking each one in turn. Human cranium were evidently not as durable as reploids, and the blood began to flow freely from their wounds.
The final member, a reploid in the back, had risen to his feet and was making a rush for the alarm. Before he could reach it however he froze in place, no longer able to move his legs. H's slicer had done its job, and the reploid promptly shut down.
Even without the alarm, the scuffle had caused enough commotion to alert the workers that something was wrong. Just beyond the break area was the work station, and as T's menacing figure stalked forward many of them began to flee. At this point H left T to herself while he began his search for the target device. His quarry did not long elude him, it was a fairly large lab, and a number of scientists were still there, hurriedly backing up their research. H observed silently for a moment, watching the scientists rush this way and that before quietly stepping in and dropping each one in turn. Seating himself at the master computer terminal, H began to download the data V had requested.
The commotion continued in the other room, T was obviously still causing havoc. The general practice of harming humans bothered him, he wasn't ready to be considered a maverick, but he was in no position to challenge T. But then, hadn't they stuck the first blow by inventing such technology in the first place? It was weak justification, but it made H feel a little bit better. Especially since after he'd gotten the data he'd be setting fire to the lab to wipe clean any progress the scientists had made. Collateral damage was sure to happen, but then again, they didn't have to be there.
From the main work station there came a fresh chorus of screams, H wondered what T was doing out there. Then he heard another noise, a rush of wind and an eerie hum. H had heard that sound before. He rushed to the doorway and peered out, sure enough there was Spectre, locked in combat with T, along with four other reploids, H had a vague feeling that one or more of them were hunters. One of them was elaborately dressed, complete with a tailed coat and monocle. Another was dressed more ruggedly, sporting an armored jacket and a whip at his side. The other two were a little kid with spiky brown hair and glasses, and a giant, six armed scorpion. It was pandemonium. Because of all the workers, Spectre's four reploid copies had deemed the entire room threatening and were slaughtering en masse. The one with the whip was causing devastating damage, the energy lash cutting through desks, cabinets and people alike as it whirled around his head. At this point, World Government elite guardsmen had joined the fray. They sported stronger weapons and heavier armor, and began to unload fire on the scorpion. The copy responded in turn by unleashing a barrage of electro balls, causing the guards to dive for cover. Fortunately for them, with all of the overturned furniture there was sufficient cover to be had. The scorpion lashed out with his tail, sending a desk and two commandos crouched behind it flying. This left the scorpion exposed however, and the remaining commandos lit him up with their beam weapons. One or more shots ruptured the sphere and the scorpion exploded. The commandos paused briefly to check the status of their wounded allies, and while they were clustered the english gentleman reploid vaulted over a desk and self destructed in their midst. The surviving commandos suddenly became more concerned with evacuating the remaining workers and injured guards than they were with fighting - especially since the intruders were busy fighting each other. Whip man had lashed out at T, trying to abuse his long range but her reflexes were too quick, she caught the end of the whip in her gloved fist and tugged him toward her, bringing up the heel of her boot and stomping down on the lash, forcing the whip's owner to his knees. He wasn't ready to give in however, the whip suddenly surged with electricity, shocking T and forcing her to release the weapon. The man with the whip got to his feet and T started toward him, but she was struck in the shoulder by a floating green orb. By itself it did little more than throw her off balance for a moment but several other balls were orbiting around the little boy, and he let them fly, battering T's armor in rapid succession.
H saw little of this, as soon as the fight broke out he'd ducked back into the lab, finished his download and begun to wipe the data. Once it was erased he began placing detonation charges around the lab to remove all trace of the project. He primed the last charge and turned to leave, but found Spectre hovering ominously in the doorway. The ghostly maverick appeared not to see H, even though it scanned the room with a red beam of light. H waited, holding his breath, not daring to move. Finally Spectre floated into the room, giving H room to slip past. Behind him Spectre began summoning his portals. As soon as H was clear he detonated the charges.
The explosion shook the complex, causing a portion of the ceiling to fall in and more importantly, starting the fires which would burn away the evidence. H had already disabled the sprinkler systems, now it was time to escape before they were caught in the blaze. Ahead of him T was still battling the two spherical guardians, and it wasn't going well. By this point the guards, the workers, anyone with any sense had fled, leaving no one to interfere with the combatants. T was pinned to the wall, propped up by six of the floating balls. The man with the whip was lashing her savagely, and to make matters worse Spectre floated out of the inferno where the lab had been, apparently unscathed. He made beeline for T, the first aggressive move H had seen him make. Apparently the time for stealing was over, it was moving to finish T off.
Spectre fired streams of lightning from its fingertips, occasionally charging large orbs of energy and fired those at T as well. Whip man continued to lash at her, all while the kid's floating balls pinned her in place. Finally T's armor could take no more, shattering to pieces like breaking glass. Amid the wreckage lay a young female reploid. She wore a simple black jumpsuit, had shoulder length blond hair... and some sort of metal collar around her neck. H supposed this was T's true face, and now that he saw it, he felt as though it was a face he'd seen somewhere before... But there was no time to puzzle out her identity, it wouldn't matter if she were killed.
With courage H didn't know he possessed, he grabbed a piece of the collapsed ceiling and brought it down on the skull of the child controlling the balls. The child slumped to the ground, but H knew the silver sphere wasn't broken yet. H bludgeoned the boy's corpse repeatedly until he struck the crucial component and the copy faded away. This gave away his position however, cloaking generator or no. The whip snaked around his body and began to shock him relentlessly, he'd almost lost consciousness when suddenly T appeared behind the whip man and drove her fist through the back of his head. With a feral scream she ripped the silver orb from the copy and crushed it in her hands. The copy's whip faded away along with the body, and H was able to get to his feet shakily. For how exhausted he felt, T had to be worse, H was surprised she could stand after the beating she'd taken. The two stood together and stared down Spectre, who formed a massive ball of energy and hurled it between the pair, the explosion knocking them apart. H got up, looking around for Spectre but the portal jumper had vanished. He appeared behind H a moment later and struck him with a plasma edge. The blade did not cut like a traditional energy sword, instead it discharged its full power into H's left shoulder blade, once again sending the thief sprawling. Spectre backed into his still waiting portal and appeared in front of T as she rushed to help. He grabbed her by the throat with one ghostly hand and placed the other on her forehead, scrambling her circuitry. One of the chips in her head exploded, and began to emit a steady stream of sparks.
But then H appeared, four of him surrounded Specre and dashed at him in unison, Spectre lashed out with his plasma edge, shattering one illusion, but a very real energy dagger pierced the maverick's side. Spectre summoned a portal beneath his feet and sank into it, reappearing a short distance away and began lobbing explosive energy balls at H's images, which disappeared one by one as they were hit. But while he destroyed the illusions an invisible assailant snuck up from behind and stabbed him in the back. H could not control the maverick for long, or force him to self destruct, so he issued one command: disengage.
Spectre did not fight this new command, evading capture and avoiding unnecessary confrontation were among its primary directives. The ghostly maverick conjured a final portal and disappeared into it, leaving H and T alone in the fire.
H rushed over to T, who was lying on the ground, sparks still discharging from her forehead. She looked unconscious, but when he knelt beside her and put his hands behind her legs and back to carry her she opened her eyes and gazed up at him. "Kill... me..." she choked out, eyes filled with fear and desperation.
H shook his head, misunderstanding her plea. "Don't give up on me, I'm going to get you out of here. This isn't going to be the end." She clutched at his wrist in a desperately strong grip, but the effort cost her and she lost consciousness. H hefted her up and carried her fireman style back to the elevator, which the flames had mercifully not yet reached. As soon as the lift broke ground H teleported away, further confusing the guards when the doors swung open again.
V was furious when they made it back, even though they'd accomplished their primary objective and secured the device. H too was upset that Spectre had gotten away, but he couldn't see what more T could have done. As soon as he'd returned she was carried off to the infirmary leaving H alone to replay the day's events in his mind.
There was no question that Spectre had been there to retrieve the disruptor, a device specifically built to target reploids like him. Which meant that someone out there was aware of the existence of V's operation and was looking for a weapon to use against him. This meant that H had gained an enemy, and whomever was deploying Spectre was cunning, resourceful and knew far more than H would have liked.
But they had won this crucial battle, and that counted for something. Hopefully T would be okay, H had to admit that she was tougher than he'd though she'd be. After her armor had come off she'd been almost delicate in appearance, however fierce her persona. H wondered what her story was, how she'd come into V's employ. What her goals and aspirations were, where she'd learned to fight like that, if she had family or friends... and where he'd seen her before. H knew her face was familiar, he'd felt a flash of recognition the moment her armor shattered. He scanned his memory banks, searching for a match, and after a minute he found it in the most unlikely of places... a photograph on a desk in some old, unused research lab in Hunter base. In the picture she'd been in a white dress and had a staff beside her, she looked a bit different now with her hair darkened and drawn back, and with the combat suit instead of the dress, but there was no mistaking her.
H tried to remember everything about that lab, there was an unfinished reploid with some kind of prototype footwear. H had been about to hack into the computer when Sub and his brother had interrupted him... which probably meant that Sub knew T, and that T most likely had ties to the maverick hunters. Did V know? Was she a former hunter that he'd recruited or a spy placed within his ranks? If she was still a hunter that meant the hunters would know that he'd faked his death... and how much more? And now that he was 'dead' he couldn't exactly approach Sub to find out what he knew unless it involved a disguise. And Sub wasn't usually very forthcoming with friends, he was not likely to share information with a stranger.
H wondered if he should share what he knew with V, if T was a potential spy he should be informed. But that would lead to other questions, and thus far H and V had respected the other's privacy. But now that they seemed to be at war with another organization H felt that he deserved an update on the situation. Which might lead V to giving him a more active part, and H did not want to get any more involved than he had to.
For the moment though he wasn't being given an opportunity to ask his questions. Night had fallen and V still had not returned, H supposed he was overseeing T's care. H decided to leave, that he'd get his questions answered at a different time. He'd had enough for one day.
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Things had escalated quickly for V. After ordering Underwood to secure and stabilize Tristy he'd gone ahead to analyze the data H had brought him. The device was every bit as dangerous as he'd expected, and with the prototype destroyed and the records taken, the project lived on only in the minds of the scientists working on it. If the project was to continue they'd be forced to start over. But V wasn't going to give them that chance.
Using the data H had obtained, he dispatched a team of his best assassins to dispose of the scientists quickly and quietly. After the destruction of the facility most of the scientists would have been sent home, he'd have them all killed in the night before anyone knew what was happening. After the threat was eliminated he'd be able to make his next move.
Our new point of view character is called H, he is a new generation reploid with sophisticated stealth technology and a passion for theft. After being caught and convicted by the authorities it was decided that as part of his criminal rehabilitation that he would use his talents to aid the hunters in their missions. Desperate for his freedom, H entered an uneasy partnership with the mysterious V, who helped H fake his death so that he could join V's brotherhood of new gen reploids. H is able to continue his previous life of dangerous heists and stealing prototype technology, the only thing V asks in return is that he grab a few special items while he's there...
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Disruption: Smash and Grab
H did not enjoy being summoned, but when V explained the circumstances he understood the urgency. And besides, now that he was legally dead he had an abundance of free time, and H had nothing he wanted more than to start his next big heist. Redmon had been too easy, breaking in after it had already been ransacked, its security in disarray. Now V wanted to send him into a World Government facility already on high alert. The stakes were high, the risks higher, and H would've been thrilled to accept. There was just one snag.
"I work best alone," H complained to V. "Why do I have to take on a partner?"
V raised an eyebrow, beside him stood his partner to be, an unknown reploid covered from head to toe in crystal blue armor. "I'd have thought you'd welcome the assistance, someone who can handle the fighting for you if required. And I can promise you she won't slow you down. In any case, this is non negotiable, there are too many factions at play now. Should you encounter the Spectre or any rival competitors you are to disengage, T will eliminate them. There will be no more interruptions."
"Whatever you say," H muttered, he could tell he wouldn't make any headway here, and it wasn't worth arguing over. If resistance were really going to be so heavy on this job he shouldn't have trouble shaking his tail once they were inside. "What's on your wishlist this time?"
"Oh you're free to take what you like," V answered, "The only thing I ask of you are the blueprints to a project that puts each member of our organization in jeopardy, and a list of all the scientists who have access to it. Anything else you find must be destroyed, as if the project had never existed."
This piqued H's interest. "What could be so important, so dangerous that-" he started to ask. V flicked a button and turned on a screen which displayed the device in question, and H understood at once the severity of the situation. This time it would be personal.
H and T warped into the government facility, which was disguised as a car dealership of all things. Apparently it was actually a legitimate dealership, providing cover for the R&D lab underground. H and T had disguised themselves as a husband and wife looking to purchase a vehicle and walked into the show room, trying to look inconspicuous.
"What do you think of this one honey?" H asked, walking over to an SUV. T trailed behind him, staring ahead with blank, unfocused eyes. She made no response. "Well she's great company," H thought, but truthfully he didn't care to engage in small talk, it was only for appearance sake. His 'wife' was a middle aged woman, roughly in her 40s, with dark black hair and long bangs which intentionally obscured her face. She hadn't said or responded to anything since H had met her, and he supposed she wasn't going to start at this point just because they were on a mission. Would she be reporting on him later or was she really just here for the muscle?
H bent into an opened window and pretended to inspect the interior of the vehicle, but in truth he was inspecting the elevator at the end of an area marked employees only. He suspected he could override security and get to the secret basement, but getting to the elevator would be problematic. They couldn't just pretend they got lost on the way to the bathroom, the space was very clearly labeled as employees only. H watched as one of them swiped an ID badge in front of the elevator, and that gave him an idea.
Another employee was heading into the men's room, H followed him in, along with T who didn't seem to care about gender boundaries. H quickly scanned the stalls, and apart from the employee at the urinal they were alone. He'd have to act quickly. H waited until the man had zipped up his fly before punching him in the back of the head and knocking him out cold. T watched expressionless as H dragged the man's body into the stall.
"You just going to stand there?" H asked. No response. No surprise. H snatched the ID badge from the man's shirt and thrust it at T. "Here, you hold onto this, that'll get us to the elevator, I'll go invisible." T gave no sign of acknowledgement but obediently transformed into the man now propped up on the toilet and fastened the ID to her clothes. After H secured the stall door they left the bathroom and made their way to the elevator.
"How's it going Trask?" one of the security guards asked as they passed. H saw 'Trask' pass his eyes over the guard once, then resumed staring blankly ahead, ignoring the greeting. The guard looked surprised, then upset, and with one final look at T he turned away and went back to his job.
"This one is a charmer," H thought, even he was not so socially inept. He hoped she was better at fighting than communicating. He swiped the ID badge and quickly climbed into the elevator.
After a short ride the doors opened to reveal the basement lab where a pair of armed reploids awaited. Beside them was a security terminal that they'd have to walk through. H couldn't see any way for him to get around it either, and he was sure to set it off.
One of the guards beckoned T forward. As she stepped through the terminal it gave a loud beep, and one of the guards approached with a handheld scanner. T held out her hands, seemingly awaiting closer examination but with unbelievable speed she whipped them up and struck the guard on both sides of the head, stunning him briefly before grabbing hold and snapping his neck.
H cried out in surprise at the swiftness of the execution. The other guard had pointed his weapon at T but upon upon hearing H's cry he whipped his head around, looking for the second intruder. That was all the time it took for T to snatch up the scanning rod and hurl it at guard number two, impaling him through the center of his forehead.
H stared, slack jawed at T. Never had he seen anyone kill so quickly, she had gone from zero to death in the time it took to blink. She was now returning to her initial form, donning the bulky crystal armor, complete with the helmet and green mane which obscured her face. "Each of us our secrets," H reflected, bringing himself back to the mission at hand. "That's what we're here to do, to protect our privacy."
Now it was his turn to follow her lead as she charged through the base. From time to time they'd encounter a roving patrol, but the suddenness of her appearance provided enough shock that before they could raise their weapons she'd be upon them, slamming them into walls and continuing through the base. H wasn't sure if they were going the right way, but instead of branching off on his own he followed the wake of her destruction.
It turned out that that path would lead to an employee break room. Once again, T took full advantage of the shock value, punting a table into the closest reploid, knocking him over. Another three employees, humans, started to rise from their seats. T slid over the table, lashing out with her armored legs and pivoted, striking each one in turn. Human cranium were evidently not as durable as reploids, and the blood began to flow freely from their wounds.
The final member, a reploid in the back, had risen to his feet and was making a rush for the alarm. Before he could reach it however he froze in place, no longer able to move his legs. H's slicer had done its job, and the reploid promptly shut down.
Even without the alarm, the scuffle had caused enough commotion to alert the workers that something was wrong. Just beyond the break area was the work station, and as T's menacing figure stalked forward many of them began to flee. At this point H left T to herself while he began his search for the target device. His quarry did not long elude him, it was a fairly large lab, and a number of scientists were still there, hurriedly backing up their research. H observed silently for a moment, watching the scientists rush this way and that before quietly stepping in and dropping each one in turn. Seating himself at the master computer terminal, H began to download the data V had requested.
The commotion continued in the other room, T was obviously still causing havoc. The general practice of harming humans bothered him, he wasn't ready to be considered a maverick, but he was in no position to challenge T. But then, hadn't they stuck the first blow by inventing such technology in the first place? It was weak justification, but it made H feel a little bit better. Especially since after he'd gotten the data he'd be setting fire to the lab to wipe clean any progress the scientists had made. Collateral damage was sure to happen, but then again, they didn't have to be there.
From the main work station there came a fresh chorus of screams, H wondered what T was doing out there. Then he heard another noise, a rush of wind and an eerie hum. H had heard that sound before. He rushed to the doorway and peered out, sure enough there was Spectre, locked in combat with T, along with four other reploids, H had a vague feeling that one or more of them were hunters. One of them was elaborately dressed, complete with a tailed coat and monocle. Another was dressed more ruggedly, sporting an armored jacket and a whip at his side. The other two were a little kid with spiky brown hair and glasses, and a giant, six armed scorpion. It was pandemonium. Because of all the workers, Spectre's four reploid copies had deemed the entire room threatening and were slaughtering en masse. The one with the whip was causing devastating damage, the energy lash cutting through desks, cabinets and people alike as it whirled around his head. At this point, World Government elite guardsmen had joined the fray. They sported stronger weapons and heavier armor, and began to unload fire on the scorpion. The copy responded in turn by unleashing a barrage of electro balls, causing the guards to dive for cover. Fortunately for them, with all of the overturned furniture there was sufficient cover to be had. The scorpion lashed out with his tail, sending a desk and two commandos crouched behind it flying. This left the scorpion exposed however, and the remaining commandos lit him up with their beam weapons. One or more shots ruptured the sphere and the scorpion exploded. The commandos paused briefly to check the status of their wounded allies, and while they were clustered the english gentleman reploid vaulted over a desk and self destructed in their midst. The surviving commandos suddenly became more concerned with evacuating the remaining workers and injured guards than they were with fighting - especially since the intruders were busy fighting each other. Whip man had lashed out at T, trying to abuse his long range but her reflexes were too quick, she caught the end of the whip in her gloved fist and tugged him toward her, bringing up the heel of her boot and stomping down on the lash, forcing the whip's owner to his knees. He wasn't ready to give in however, the whip suddenly surged with electricity, shocking T and forcing her to release the weapon. The man with the whip got to his feet and T started toward him, but she was struck in the shoulder by a floating green orb. By itself it did little more than throw her off balance for a moment but several other balls were orbiting around the little boy, and he let them fly, battering T's armor in rapid succession.
H saw little of this, as soon as the fight broke out he'd ducked back into the lab, finished his download and begun to wipe the data. Once it was erased he began placing detonation charges around the lab to remove all trace of the project. He primed the last charge and turned to leave, but found Spectre hovering ominously in the doorway. The ghostly maverick appeared not to see H, even though it scanned the room with a red beam of light. H waited, holding his breath, not daring to move. Finally Spectre floated into the room, giving H room to slip past. Behind him Spectre began summoning his portals. As soon as H was clear he detonated the charges.
The explosion shook the complex, causing a portion of the ceiling to fall in and more importantly, starting the fires which would burn away the evidence. H had already disabled the sprinkler systems, now it was time to escape before they were caught in the blaze. Ahead of him T was still battling the two spherical guardians, and it wasn't going well. By this point the guards, the workers, anyone with any sense had fled, leaving no one to interfere with the combatants. T was pinned to the wall, propped up by six of the floating balls. The man with the whip was lashing her savagely, and to make matters worse Spectre floated out of the inferno where the lab had been, apparently unscathed. He made beeline for T, the first aggressive move H had seen him make. Apparently the time for stealing was over, it was moving to finish T off.
Spectre fired streams of lightning from its fingertips, occasionally charging large orbs of energy and fired those at T as well. Whip man continued to lash at her, all while the kid's floating balls pinned her in place. Finally T's armor could take no more, shattering to pieces like breaking glass. Amid the wreckage lay a young female reploid. She wore a simple black jumpsuit, had shoulder length blond hair... and some sort of metal collar around her neck. H supposed this was T's true face, and now that he saw it, he felt as though it was a face he'd seen somewhere before... But there was no time to puzzle out her identity, it wouldn't matter if she were killed.
With courage H didn't know he possessed, he grabbed a piece of the collapsed ceiling and brought it down on the skull of the child controlling the balls. The child slumped to the ground, but H knew the silver sphere wasn't broken yet. H bludgeoned the boy's corpse repeatedly until he struck the crucial component and the copy faded away. This gave away his position however, cloaking generator or no. The whip snaked around his body and began to shock him relentlessly, he'd almost lost consciousness when suddenly T appeared behind the whip man and drove her fist through the back of his head. With a feral scream she ripped the silver orb from the copy and crushed it in her hands. The copy's whip faded away along with the body, and H was able to get to his feet shakily. For how exhausted he felt, T had to be worse, H was surprised she could stand after the beating she'd taken. The two stood together and stared down Spectre, who formed a massive ball of energy and hurled it between the pair, the explosion knocking them apart. H got up, looking around for Spectre but the portal jumper had vanished. He appeared behind H a moment later and struck him with a plasma edge. The blade did not cut like a traditional energy sword, instead it discharged its full power into H's left shoulder blade, once again sending the thief sprawling. Spectre backed into his still waiting portal and appeared in front of T as she rushed to help. He grabbed her by the throat with one ghostly hand and placed the other on her forehead, scrambling her circuitry. One of the chips in her head exploded, and began to emit a steady stream of sparks.
But then H appeared, four of him surrounded Specre and dashed at him in unison, Spectre lashed out with his plasma edge, shattering one illusion, but a very real energy dagger pierced the maverick's side. Spectre summoned a portal beneath his feet and sank into it, reappearing a short distance away and began lobbing explosive energy balls at H's images, which disappeared one by one as they were hit. But while he destroyed the illusions an invisible assailant snuck up from behind and stabbed him in the back. H could not control the maverick for long, or force him to self destruct, so he issued one command: disengage.
Spectre did not fight this new command, evading capture and avoiding unnecessary confrontation were among its primary directives. The ghostly maverick conjured a final portal and disappeared into it, leaving H and T alone in the fire.
H rushed over to T, who was lying on the ground, sparks still discharging from her forehead. She looked unconscious, but when he knelt beside her and put his hands behind her legs and back to carry her she opened her eyes and gazed up at him. "Kill... me..." she choked out, eyes filled with fear and desperation.
H shook his head, misunderstanding her plea. "Don't give up on me, I'm going to get you out of here. This isn't going to be the end." She clutched at his wrist in a desperately strong grip, but the effort cost her and she lost consciousness. H hefted her up and carried her fireman style back to the elevator, which the flames had mercifully not yet reached. As soon as the lift broke ground H teleported away, further confusing the guards when the doors swung open again.
V was furious when they made it back, even though they'd accomplished their primary objective and secured the device. H too was upset that Spectre had gotten away, but he couldn't see what more T could have done. As soon as he'd returned she was carried off to the infirmary leaving H alone to replay the day's events in his mind.
There was no question that Spectre had been there to retrieve the disruptor, a device specifically built to target reploids like him. Which meant that someone out there was aware of the existence of V's operation and was looking for a weapon to use against him. This meant that H had gained an enemy, and whomever was deploying Spectre was cunning, resourceful and knew far more than H would have liked.
But they had won this crucial battle, and that counted for something. Hopefully T would be okay, H had to admit that she was tougher than he'd though she'd be. After her armor had come off she'd been almost delicate in appearance, however fierce her persona. H wondered what her story was, how she'd come into V's employ. What her goals and aspirations were, where she'd learned to fight like that, if she had family or friends... and where he'd seen her before. H knew her face was familiar, he'd felt a flash of recognition the moment her armor shattered. He scanned his memory banks, searching for a match, and after a minute he found it in the most unlikely of places... a photograph on a desk in some old, unused research lab in Hunter base. In the picture she'd been in a white dress and had a staff beside her, she looked a bit different now with her hair darkened and drawn back, and with the combat suit instead of the dress, but there was no mistaking her.
H tried to remember everything about that lab, there was an unfinished reploid with some kind of prototype footwear. H had been about to hack into the computer when Sub and his brother had interrupted him... which probably meant that Sub knew T, and that T most likely had ties to the maverick hunters. Did V know? Was she a former hunter that he'd recruited or a spy placed within his ranks? If she was still a hunter that meant the hunters would know that he'd faked his death... and how much more? And now that he was 'dead' he couldn't exactly approach Sub to find out what he knew unless it involved a disguise. And Sub wasn't usually very forthcoming with friends, he was not likely to share information with a stranger.
H wondered if he should share what he knew with V, if T was a potential spy he should be informed. But that would lead to other questions, and thus far H and V had respected the other's privacy. But now that they seemed to be at war with another organization H felt that he deserved an update on the situation. Which might lead V to giving him a more active part, and H did not want to get any more involved than he had to.
For the moment though he wasn't being given an opportunity to ask his questions. Night had fallen and V still had not returned, H supposed he was overseeing T's care. H decided to leave, that he'd get his questions answered at a different time. He'd had enough for one day.
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Things had escalated quickly for V. After ordering Underwood to secure and stabilize Tristy he'd gone ahead to analyze the data H had brought him. The device was every bit as dangerous as he'd expected, and with the prototype destroyed and the records taken, the project lived on only in the minds of the scientists working on it. If the project was to continue they'd be forced to start over. But V wasn't going to give them that chance.
Using the data H had obtained, he dispatched a team of his best assassins to dispose of the scientists quickly and quietly. After the destruction of the facility most of the scientists would have been sent home, he'd have them all killed in the night before anyone knew what was happening. After the threat was eliminated he'd be able to make his next move.
