Recon mission

[issunboushi]

Erian nodded and grabbed the file.
''yeah... i guess it's better''
he had many thoughts in his mind. how did they get those blueprints? what did they know about the Nova Orbiting Station? did they also know he was linked to it? and most importantly, what were they planning to do with it?
his thoughts were interrupted by a squeaking voice in his head.

Kaji had easily sneaked unnoticed around the underground facility thanks to his cloaking ability and finally reached the main control room.
it looked just like any other room from the outside, apart from the iron tag 'MainControl Room', but as soon as he entered he found at least a half dozen of guns pointed at him.
luckily for him, he was still phased out, so they didn't see him, but they started slowly walking towards the apparently-self-opened door.
Kaji couldn't do anything but squeeze himself against the wall and try to be as quiet as possible, hoping they would just pass by him.
''Erian, i got a problem: i think they were expecting me''
he whispered in the microphone.

in another section of the building Erian let out a ''dammit!'' clenching his fist.
''did they spot you?''
''no, but they saw the door open and close by itself... i'm quite sure they at leas suspect one of us is in the room''
Erian threw a punch at the wall... but he stopped right before reaching it. <a useless action that would only cause you physical pain and not change a thing>, that was what his rational brain told him.
his eyes dashed around the room, scanning it for anything that might have helped him get Kaji out of that situation.
they stopped on a security camera. it was pointing in another direction, so Kai and him were not in its field of view.
*yes... that might work* thought Erian while a plan was forming in his head.
he grabbed a chair and put it under the camera, careful not to be seen by its electronic eye, and then climbed on it and grabbed its network cable.
*there! now, let's hope someone is watching the security screen...*

on the other side of the cable a fat guy was drinking some beer and tiredly keeping an eye on a dozen of surveillance screens.
he was sipping his beer when a sudden movement on one of the screens caught his attention. immediately he slammed his fatty fist on the intercom button and started barking orders in the microphone.
''intruders on level 23! repeat: intruders on level 23! all units on levels 22, 23 and 24 get out and proceed to the lockdown of these levels!''
he released the button and returned to watch the screens. a lot of people could be seen running on them now, yet he still couldn't understand something...
he wiped the sweat off his forehead and murmured, watching at the screen that had caught his attention
''how the heck could an entire military squad get to level 23!?''

the security guards had almost reached the door (and Kaji, squeezed to the wall next to it, too) when the loudspeakers hanged the room's ceiling started crowing about intruders and a security lockdown.
hearing the alert signal, the men suddenly turned around and returned to their positions, awaiting for more orders.
*no way! did those two really get caught?*
thought Kaji, sneaking behind a bulky computer.

[iridescentdreamer]

An eyebrow rose at Erian's conversation with...Kaji? She assumed. Before the man did something unexpected...shifting the camera's view.

"What are you do-?!"

She winced, hands futily covering her sensitive ears at the loud blaring of the speakers, leaving them ringing.

Intruders on level 23!- She tuned out the rest of the achingly loud voice, eyeing the odd look on the other's face.

Wait. Were they a distraction?

She could already hear the scientists beggining to shout and yell when the fain sound of footsteps became clear.


"....alright then." She straightened up, falling into a bit of a tense stance, as if expecting that door to slide open any moment.

Though, they'd still have a bit of time...it DID require a special level of access to open it after all.

"Plan? Or are we winging it?" She called

[issunboushi]

Erian climbed down the chair with a satisfied grin
''don't worry: they did see some intruders, but no, we're not the ones they spotted''
he wanted to add something, but Kaji's voice suddenly drilled through his eardrums.
WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!? whas that your diversion? you let yourselves get caught??
''yikes!! keep it down! do you want to be found out? sheesh... as i just said to Kai, the 'intruders' they saw were not the two of us: what i showed them was a military squad i took from a war movie i once saw. now do me a favor and connect that damn walkie-talkie to a computer!! over and out''
he sighed and then turned back to Kai
''anyhow, don't worry about the lockdown: when Kaji connects that thing to the computer unsealing the doors won't be a problem. now...''
he turned the chair and sat on it
''...we just have to wait for Kaji''

[iridescentdreamer]

At Erian's explanation Kai gave a relieved smile.and decided to turn, stretching a bit until her neck gave a satisfying pop.

"Alright....I just hope he hurries...this place is giving me a serious sense of deja vu..."

She muttered, but it seemed, the men on the wall -wanted- to be found, and had proceeded to be as loud as possible when ever they thought they heard someone was coming.

As she turned, she gave her 'hostages' a look.

"Quiet! If ya know what's good fer ya!"

One of them sneered, even from his place.

"What would be good for us, was if your kind, just stayed dead on that mountain."

At those words, Kai froze. Blue eyes flashing up at the man.

".....what did you say?" her hands clenched, head bowing a little. Really One person couldn't tell if she was crying, or near killing someone. Maybe both.

Perhaps it would've been better to just knock them all unconscious, rather then restrain them, because the girl was very well eyeing the energy swords on Erian's arms...which shut that man up well enough.

[issunboushi]

Erian took Kaj's hand
''forget about them: as they are now, there's pretty much nothing they can do...''
he wanted to add something, but he suddenly had an uncomfortable feeling of deja vu: he realized that his natural reaction (he took her hand in order to prevent her from doing anything to the men on the wall) felt like some romantic scene from a love story... and he was looking her in the eyes too!
immediately he let go of her hand and turned to the other side to hide his blushing, then he yelled to the men that shouting was useless because all guards had already left the floor.
in that moment Kaji opened a connection.
''Fire Fox to Inspector Gadget. do you copy?''
Erian sighed
''and when did we decide for the codenames?''
''well, i did now. fitting, aren't they? though for your girlfriend i can't decide between Tinker Bell and Snow ...''
''will you cut that out!? or did you call just to show off these codenames you came up with?''
on the other side of the line Kaji grunted
''of course not! well... not entirely. i managed to plug the walkie-talkie to a computer. ball's in your court now. Fire Fox over''
Erian raised his fist
*all right! now we're back in busyness*
he closed his eyes and concentrated on the walkie-talkie's radio frequency.
in his mind it was as if he was in an endless black room, and in the room there were a lot of different light sources. these lights were all the radio waves sources he could feel. some of them were close, others far, some brighter than others, and all had a different color, because all were tuned on a different wavelength.
Erian had never tried this before. his inner self was walking in a swarm of different colored fireflies, and he could understand what every one of them was saying.
at the moment his only thought was
*if only Kai could see this*
but then he remembered in what situation the two... the three of them, Kaji included, were, and focused only on his own wavelength.
as he narrowed the frequency range the fireflies went off one by one, leaving only two of them in the room with him: one was Kaji's radio headset, tuned on his wavelength in order to communicate with eachother, and the other one...
''bingo''
he murmured.

about two minutes passed before Erian opened his eyes again.
he walked to the door of the room, and when he reached it it opened as if by its own will.
he smiled and beckoned Kai to follow him, then he opened a connection with Kaji.
''good job Fire Fox! meet us at the eastern exit''
Kaji laughed.
''haha! you see? told ya the codenames fit perfectly! Fire Fox over and out!''

[iridescentdreamer]

She closed her eyes for a moment, the other's words ringing true. They WERE helpless as they were right now, and probably just provoking her so they could-

Her thoughts were cut off when she finally noted that the other's hand was grasped in her own in a reassuring gesture, before the other pulled away abruptly, causing a look of slight confusion played across her face.

However, she wrote the action off as him being distracted, he was having that conversation with kaji again.

She didn't bother listening in though, after all hearing one side of a conversation would only confuse her.

Instead, as Erian's face went blank, just as it had with the panther, she decided to busy herself gathering the remainder of files incase they had to run quickly.

"Bingo."

Kai's ears perked up as the door swooshed open, before padding after him eagerly. Yes! Time to get OUT.

The facility seemed to be in chaos, lights flashed, sirens echoed in an odd cacophany...and-

"East gate you said?" She asked lightly, eyeing behind them to see if anyone had caught wind or found the men left restrained in that last room.

Kai wasn't sure which way...really, but figured if she were to follow-

Gas canisters dropped to the ground with an odd clank in front of her, before smoke invaded her vision, and clogged her sinuses, and she stopped to cough furiously, feeling suddenly out of breath.

"T-Tear gas?!" She wheezed, eyes stinging, before she decided it'd be better to find her way OUT of the cloud. Waving her hand she reached up and gripped for the hem of Erian's shirt.

[issunboushi]

already at the first breath, the sensors in Erian's synthetic lungs analyzed the chemical composition of that gas and its grade of toxicity.
what they were breathing were vapors of what was usually called 'CS gas': a low-toxicity gas usually used as non-lethal riot control weapon... not a big threat, he thought, but his assurance crumbled to pieces when he realized that the high concentration of gas in a closed space was almost suffocating Kai.
panic-stricken, his only thought was to get her out of that deadly cloud.
he lifted her in the arms and started running down the corridor towards the exit.
being still synched with the facility's mainframe, opening the locked iron shutters wasn't a big problem. no: the real problem, as Erian would have soon realized, were the armed guards waiting for them just past them.
''it's them!''
shouted one of the guards
''don't kill them: the boss wants them alive!''
Erian clenched his fists. of all times...! and Kai still didn't fully recover from the intoxication, too!
he carefully put her down, laying her against the wall, and then turned to face the security squad.
''that's it''
he murmured to himself, activating his energy blades
''now's my time to shine!''
he lifted his arms and crossed the forearms in front of his chest, then he closed his eyes for a second and concentrated on the gloves' energy output system. though pretty sophisticated on the hardware, they had very simple programming: the only information they needed to work was the shape they had to give to the blades... and actually with the right re-programming the blades could easily become claws, maces, fists and even shields.
to be honest this whole thing was just merely theoretical, and Erian never had the chance to test it, but at the moment it was their only chance.
*'sink or swim', as they say*
thought Erian before overriding once again his processors' clock and at the same time synching with the gloves.
''this is it! Full Synchro''
the blades blurred for a moment, and then doubled in size.
Erian took a second to scan the guards before dashing forward with increased speed.
*aim for the weapons*
he said in his mind
*scaring and disarming is better than killing*
his first swipe cut one of the first soldiers' gun in half, and so did all his other attacks: thanks to the overclocking he acquired new targets at an incredible speed and was able to hit them with millimetrical precision.
in about 30 seconds none of the men could count on any sort of firepower, and the troop commander ordered an immediate retreat.
*just in time*
thought Erian, feeling the last of his remaining energy drying out.
a sadly familiar darkness slowly engulfed his sight, and a few seconds later he was laying unconscious on the floor next to Kai.

[iridescentdreamer]

Kai couldn't so much as complain, as she just broke down to a flurry of coughs, attempting to get oxygen back in her breath.

Eyes burning, it all started to haze in and out for her, and couldn't so much as complain when the other lifted her form easily rushing her towards the exit and fresher air.

Whoozy, she merely leaned back against the wall as she gasped weakly for air, slowly feeling the relief that she could -breathe- again.

''This is it! Full Synchro."

Hearing his voice, she looked up, vision blurring in and out as she followed the subtle movement. the gloves increasing in size in a sudden flash, before Erian smoothly disposed of so many firearms...she could barely follow. Before she knew it, the enemy was retreating.

Though for her...moments after seemed to go in a perverse slow motion as Erian's knees hit the floor. To her..it was an echoeing loud thunk, and her eyes widened as he slumped to the floor.

It seemed nothing would spawn from her mouth. She wanted to scream. Yell. Anything.

Instead, Kai found herself scrambling to get to his side. She honestly didn't know what to do, or even if he would normally have regulated pulse or breath. All she knew was that the body still had a strange lingering warmth to it.

Grunting a little, she rolled Erian onto his back nudging him a little with her hand.

"Erian?...Erian!" Nothing, and really, she couldn't see herself carrying him out. She was not a large woman.

"It's not naptime dammit!" She pinched his cheeks, and when she got no response, bit her lip.

However when she heard more footsteps.. She stopped, immediately pulling up a thin wall of ice about them as a half thingyed defense. She was tired, could barely see, and really didn't think she could take on a single man, let alone one of those cybernetic creatures that seemed to be scattered through out.

"....Shi...." She started, Reflexively Crouching over the other as the ice cracked and shattered, wincing her eyes shut as she waited for the sudden strike of pain that surely would come.

[issunboushi]

''well, well, well. what have we here?''
the guard couldn't believe his luck: he hid back during the fight earlier, and now the two intruders who took out the rest of his troop were laying defenseless on the floor, served on a silver plate.
''it must be my lucky day''
he sneered, and then pointed the gun at the girl.
''make him stand up, willya? i don't wanna have to carry him to the boss! or...''
he pointed it at the unconscious guy and started slowly pulling the trigger.
''...i could just take you to him and say that the other one was killed during the fight with the security squad''
''or you could shut the hell up and leave them alone''
the guard almost leaped up like Wile E Coyote when Road Runner appears behind him.
he quickly turned and yelled
''who the-?!''
but he couldn't finish the phrase, because a shiny fist-shaped ruby-like gem the size of a soccer ball hit him at high speed directly in the face, knocking him out for good.
''serves you well''
said a familiar voice, while the gem-like fist dissolved in a burst of flames, and Kaji appeared from a dark corner just past the door.
''need a paw?''

[iridescentdreamer]

''...i could just take you to him and say that the other one was killed during the fight with the security squad''

Her eyes widened considerably, and panicked, she clung to the other, as if trying to keep the other's vital area's from being shot. Really, meat shields weren't exactly the best against bullets, but hey, it was something. An ironic turn around from when he had shielded her before from the explosion.

She must have been going insane. Technically he wasn't even human. ....yet he had a personality, and a sense of self. Which was defined as a life. She couldn't just-

A surprised noise and grunt brought her attention to her surroundings again, and her eyes brightened in relief.


''''need a paw?''''

"Kaji!" She smiled a little, though suddenly felt stupid, clutching the unconscious Erian's face to her chest.

"He's not dead, but I can't rouse him!" She stated the near obvious, flicking Erian's forehead.

"...I really don't know what to do...he's pretty heavy."

Lots of hardware probably.

Lightly she entertained the thought of a sleeping beauty scenario, before snickering a little.

"Think we can manage to drag him out of the open together?"

She considered, eyeing the doorway cautiously.







This Board Hosted For FREE By ProBoards
Get Your Own F

[issunboushi]

Kaji shook his head
''out of the question. we gotta wake him up somehow... uhm...''
he closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to remember something, and then suddenly snapped his fingers
''yes! that's it! Kai. where's that shiny stone thingy you used back in the woods?''
he didn't wait for an answer and grabbed in Erian's pouch.
''c'mon! where are you you little... there!''
he pulled out his hand, triumphantly holding the gem.
''ok, now... how did it work last time? you just put it here, right?''
he put it on Erian's chest and then turned towards the girl with a guilty air
''well, you know... i've kinda been spying on you two. at first i wanted to help you out with that panther, since actually before attacking you it was chasing after me, but in the time i did a U-turn and reached you, you were already done with it, so i just started following you. after all...''
he grinned and phased out of the visible spectrum
''...i'm a master of stealth''
''master of stealth my foot! you could have given us a hand anyways! the panther wasn't the only hostile mech we encountered, you know?''
the fox rolled his eyes.
''happy to see you too. sheesh... maybe i should change your codename to Sleeping Beauty.''
Erian was already standing and was putting the metatron gem back in the dimensional pouch.
he pretended not to hear what the fox said and instead turned towards Kai and asked her if she was feeling better.
Kaji sighed.
'' 'good job Kaji' 'you saved our rears' bah... a simple 'thank you' yould have been enough...''
he grumbled, trying to mimic Erian's voice.
by the way!
said the android all of a sudden, and crouched near the fox.
''good job Kaji. if it wasn't for you we would probably be both dead by now... or worse...''

[iridescentdreamer]

"Stone?" She tried to remember....before it clicked. "Oh!" But the fox....was already at it. Wait...how did he-

Her question was answered as soon as she thought it, and had to raise a brow...although a relieved smile soon dawned her face when he saw him get up, half tackling him with a hug when he asked if she was okay.

"You scared me you dork!" she grouched, releasing the guy before crossing her arms with an ounce of fatigue in her movements. Her eyes still stung, but not as bad, leaving her face reddened, and the occasional dry cough.

"...but I'm fine...thanks to you two. Sorry about that..." came the nervous laugh, a bit embarrassed that yet again her butt had to be saved.

At least she tried?

Her ears gave a sudden twich, hearing faint voices coming from the cavern again.

"...maybe we should put some distance between us and that."

Kai stated, breathing a heavy sigh..

"and maybe find a place we can look at those papers we found...maybe?" She was curious really..to what had alarmed him so in those schematics while they were in that board room.

[issunboushi]

Erian put a hand on the pouch where he stored the file.
''aggreed. just give me a second to...''
''HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!''
he didn't even have the time to finish the phrase when a fatty 50-or-so year old guy waddled out of the facility.
Kaji was the first to talk.
''and who the heck are you supposed to be?''
the guy took about ten seconds to catch his breath, and then stood up in all his might (as if...) and answered with a bold
''i'm the one who's gonna capture you!''

the last statement was followed by a half minute of glacial silence... until Kaji burst out laughing.
''you are what!? sorry gramps, but... you and what army?''
a grin appeared on the man's face, as if he had been waiting just for that.
Kaji realized that what he just said was literally calling out for nothing but trouble, but it was too late to take it back: gramps took out a mean looking remote and pressed an even-meaner-looking red button on it... and we all know what red buttons mean.
in a few moments the man was surrounded by a small zoo of at least half a dozen of replica animals.
''me and my big mouth...''
grumbled the fox grabbing the sword and preparing to fight.
he took a step back and got closer to Erian and Kai, always keeping his eyes on the enemy.
''i'll hold him up. you two run away and hide somewhere safe.''
''negative. i'll fight too: together we have more chances of...''
''don't even think about it! you're not a fighter: you would only get in my way!''
''but...''
''don't worry about me. i survived a horde of demi-demon raiders: it takes more than a fat robot tamer and his gang of plushies to take me out! now GO!!''

[iridescentdreamer]

Kai grasped Erian's hand with both of hers, a hard look on her face.

"You've just exhausted all your energy. I'm spent...I don't think either of us are in any condition to fight right now.....we'd just get in the way....Kaji....Kaji IS a master in stealth..and get aways...aren't you?"

She glanced at the fox, tugging on the other's hand.

"...so...so lets go and regroup while we still can!" She said uneasily. Looking at Kaji. "....Don't die either. Or I'm kicking yer ass." She added crossly.

[issunboushi]

Kaji answered to that last part with just a 'thumbs up'.
he didn't turn to hide a faint smile that was curving his lips.
it was quite a while since he felt like that: he almost forgot what it felt like to have someone to protect.
as soon as the Kai and Erian had disappeared in the thick woods he tightened his grip on the wooden sword's hilt and turned back to face his enemy.
''ready when you are, grandpa. you're still in time to run away and save your ass''
the men didn't move an inch, and nor did the replicas.
*why are they not attacking...?*
the grin on gramps's face grew larger.
''if you think this pathetic act saved them, then you're wrong''
he patted on the replica wolf's head and laughed
''these fellers won't have any problem in tracking down their smell after i'm done with you. but don't worry: i won't kill them. no... i'll leave that pleasure to the boss. of course, after he is done with his experiments''
evil laughter.
Kaji snarled and tightened his grip even more. his left hand was surrounded for a second by a reddish aura and a fireball started to take shape.
the flame on the tip of his tail flickered widely with anger.
''and you think i'd let you do that!?''
he dashed forward and hurled a fireball at where the man was, but apparently the latter had some combat experience too: he climbed on a replica panther's back and pressed a few digits on the remote, and the little zoo scattered in all directions.
only one replica, an oversized lizard, wasn't quick enough and got caught in when Kaji made the fireball explode.
one down, thought the fox, but that was going to be a tougher battle than he expected.
a cheetah landed in front of him and he had to jump back to avoid his razor-sharp iron claws. only then he noticed that the other replicas had surrounded him.
other than the cheetah, he had a wolf and a lynx at his right, a hyena and a gorilla at his left, the fat guy riding the panther at his back and an eagle flying on top of him.
that was a really well planned move. they're pretty good organized...
thought Kaji realizing he had fallen right into their trap
but if they think they got me they're damn wrong!
he gave a quick look at the replicas and came to the conclusion that the weakest spot of their formation was the hyena, so he lunged at it sword in hand and sliced it in two with a quick slash before it could do anything.
*all right! another one down!*
he thought triumphantly, when a punch from the gorilla sent him flying against a tree.