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06-25-2014, 05:12 AM | #41 |
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 327
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Incursion Twenty Seven: No More Games “CrossRobo online,” said Red Cross, confirming the docking had indeed been successful. The ranger’s giant humanoid mech, formed from the two Cross Machines, the ariel Challenger and the tank-like Guardian, stomped towards the two hundred metre tall, hard-shelled, elephant creature. The latest product of the Black Water had come charging out of the wilds and jungles to the south of the quarantine wall. It had burst straight through the super reinforced concrete like it were paper and closed in on Steele City in minutes flat. Just as Lady Oblivion warned them not hours earlier. It lashed out with it’s thick, barbed trunk, hitting CrossRobo in the abdomen. The sound of metal shearing and groaning filled the ranger’s ears. “I’m not a fan of these giant monsters,” said Green Cross speaking with a matter-of-fact tone. “And I’m not a fan of Lady Oblivion.” Blue Cross chuckled and shook his head. “Were you ever, Brad?” The yellow ranger snapped her fingers in front of their visors. “Concentrate. Remember what we were talking about in training, yeah?” Forget to pay attention just once and risk a grenade to the face … again. Green Cross shuddered. Got it. CrossRobo grabbed ahold of the monster’s trunk and attempted to pull it off balance. Evidently trying to wrestle with a kaiju as sturdy as this one wasn’t working… but then neither had unleashing the Guardian's full missile cache. “What are we going to do?” White Cross said. “It’s taken everything we’ve thrown at it!” “There is one thing we haven’t tried yet,” Red Cross pointed out. Instead of wrestling with it, CrossRobo planted its feet firmly against the ground and reeled the monster in with one hand. They raised the mech’s other arm and pressed the end of the cannon’s barrel against the elephant kaiju’s forehead. Red Cross hit a sequence of buttons. The mech drew vital energy from the internal power cells for it’s finishing move. “End of the road, beastie.” Just as his fist was about to hit the launch button, White Cross seized his wrist, yanking him back from the point of no return. “Not yet!” She jumped from her seat and pointed to a window in the skyscraper by which CrossRobo and the monster were duking it out. “There’s someone still in that building.” “StratCom evacuated the entire area to the bunkers, there’s no one there!” “Just trust me on this one,” she said rushing out of the hatch at the back of the cockpit. A beam of light shone from CrossRobo and struck the building, depositing White Cross inside. Yellow Cross skirted around her console and leaned over the red ranger to see out of the viewing ports. “What the hell is she thinking?” “At a guess, I’d say she’s taking CrossShadow’s words a little too seriously,” said Blue Cross, his eyes still trained on the shelled elephant. The monster had begun to pull back. He fought with the controls in return. “She’ll get out alive, she always does... Now let’s please get back to the kaiju!” “Right!” they agreed in unison. o0o White Cross landed in a crouched position in a meticulously kept office cubicle. She stretched up to peer over the divider and out of the panoramic windows. By the angle, she estimated she’d ended up a floor or so below the one she wanted, on the western flank of the building instead of the eastern. She grunted in frustration and dashed out into the hallway. It took not even a second to decide on taking the stairs. Ascending one floor was the easy part. Searching a storey from west to east, front to back proved to be a little more daunting a task. o0o “We’ll lead it away from that tower block,” Red Cross said. It had become somewhat of a rule, the more common this type of battle became, that collateral damage was not only to be expected, but a certainty. Of course, that was no reason to go smashing the city to hell and back. StratCom could throw only so much money at the public and commercial sectors before it got too difficult to handle. Who wanted their lives disrupted anymore than having a gigantic elephant monster lumbering into town. CrossRobo pivoted on the spot and, with the trunk slung over its shoulder, began to hauled the monster down the street. The robot’s servos and hydraulics, not matter how advanced Dr. Zamora claimed them to be, started to twist, buckle and overheat from the strain. Nevertheless, the mindless creature stumbled forward providing them with the forward momentum they needed to get the plan rolling. o0o The floor above was a truly faithful replication of its sister below, besides the addition of a few extra columns. “If you’re in here, call out to me.” She shouted to be heard over the din of the battle. “It’s okay. I’m with StratCom. I’m the White Cross Ranger.” She heard a shuffling, then a scrambling. A shape darted across the gap at the end of the row of cubicles. “Seriously, I’m not a fake or anything.” She pushed deeper into the maze of desks and stereotypical blue dividers, searching from side to side for any sight of her target. “I’m here to get you to safety.” The quick patter of running footfall sounded behind White Cross. She spun around to see the same shape disappear around the corner wall and into the corridor holding the lifts and stair well. Oh, for god sake. She made it out just as the lift doors were sliding shut. Pushing out her hands she shoved a concentration of air into the gap to stop them from closing. The panicked office worker, a young woman she now noticed, frantically jabbed at the buttons. White Cross reached into the lift, and released her air doorstopper. The doors slid open, sensors recognising her as per their job. The woman inside lashed out, eyes closed, and clawed at her. “Stop!” White Cross below. “Open your eyes. Look. Think with your brain for a second.” She stepped around the office worker and pulled her into the least lethal arm hold Maria had taught her. “I’m on your side!” o0o Outside, the monster found it’s footing. It’s wide-feet dug into the concrete and it yanked back. The rangers lost their grip on CrossRobo arm controls and the beast’s trunk slid through their fingers. It lurched backward, rearing onto it’s hind legs in surprise, and stumbled shell first into the office building White Cross had not long teleported into. o0o The building juddered like they were in a earthquake. Just as the lift doors closed, White Cross saw the floor crumple and concertina accompanied by the sound of distorting steel superstructure. Moments later the floor seemed to drop out from beneath them. The lift car plummeted at least ten floors before the emergency breaks kicked in. She wanted to say something witty about this being exactly why you should always use the stairs in an emergency. But the lift jerked to a halt and she hit her head hard against the wall of the car. The world went black. o0o The shelled elephant monster pulled itself from the all but demolished building and trumpeted its anger. Blue Cross attention was finally torn from the enemy to the building. I hope you’re not hurt in there, Allison. “Now would be a good time to finish this, guys.” “No complaints there, Blue,” Yellow Cross said. Red Cross hits the initiation sequence and CrossRobo finished charging crackling energy into it’s two huge arm cannons. He wasted no time hitting the launch button. The mech’s characteristic energy spheres surged forward, scoring a direct hit on the monster, burning it to ash in seconds. o0o It had taken many hours to pull Allison and the office worker out of the wrecked lift shaft. Without being able to secure the mechanism from below, the emergency services had to abseil from more than ten floors above to reach them. She woke up in a civilian hospital with her four teammates by her bedside. Catherine entered not long after saying thank you to a nurse. “Well, it took some explaining but the hospital staff know the score. They promised me they won’t let slip who we are.” “What… happened?” Allison said, attempting to sit up. At least three pairs of hands forced her back down. “What happened, sis, is” said Ken, scowling, “you were still in that skyscraper when it got totaled by elephant ass!” “The girl!” she started. “She’s doing okay, considering,” explained Robert. Maria sighed audibly drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the ward. She spoke in a whisper to avoid having to wait. “Mind telling me what you were thinking?” “No one gets left behind,” Allison wheezed. “No one, no matter what.” “Admirable, yes, but you could have been killed!” “I’m done playing games.” Her eyes unfocused. She was tired of looking at their judging eyes. “Frankly, if it turns out I managed to save that woman’s life, I’d being smiling... all the way to whatever passes for an afterlife in this screwed up universe of ours.” o0o A nurse returned shortly to announce the end of visiting hours. Ken tore himself reluctantly from his sister’s side. On the way to the cars, he turned to Catherine. “She’s always been a bit of a martyr, I just never thought she’d...” “You know, this kind of attitude isn’t unheard of in the military. People get so focused on a cause they lose all sight of why they were fighting in the first place.” She stopped him and waved the others on so they could talk with a bit more privacy. “Forget what anyone's told you, Ken, humans are fundamentally selfish creatures. She may say she wants to save the world for future generations, but really? I think she has a deeper, more personal reason.” Catherine nodded her head toward Robert as he stooped to get into the car. “What are you-? You don’t think she…” “I hear best friends means all kinds of rubbish these days.” She winked. “She berates him because she wants him to be the best he can be. Simple as that.” Ken frowned, then scoffed a chuckle. “I don’t know about that, boss. Rob can really piss her off.” |
07-09-2014, 06:10 PM | #42 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 327
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Incursion Twenty Eight: United Front Part One A news reporter stood speaking his piece to camera. “It has been three weeks since the Cross Rangers fought the gigantic elephant mutant, in a battle that reduced to rubble, nay, destroyed the Casteneda Digital building. And while this reporter is thankful for Strategic Command’s continued presence in Steele City, I’ve begun to wonder. Are the rangers truly qualified to wield such devastating machines? One cannot doubt they are a force for good; yet how much more collateral carnage must we endure from both sides of the conflict?” The reporter moved swiftly through a series of live street interviews with unsuspecting members of the public, drawing and manipulating as much agreement from them as he could to support the views of the news corporation. Finally he called forward a woman, whom he introduced as an employee of the now office-lacking Casteneda Digital, Inc. “Ma’am, you are a victim of one of StratCom’s giant-sized clashes against the monster incursions, are you not?” “I am.” “How does it feel to have your life simultaneously destroyed and saved by the Cross Rangers?” “I…” The office worker frowned. She leaned into the mic and spoke directly to camera. “If it wasn’t for the White Ranger I wouldn’t be speaking to you today. When the lift dropped, my heart leaped from my throat, but she, that wonderful woman, selflessly broke my fall with her own body.” The reporter pull the microphone away from her. “And yet you wouldn’t have been in that mess had StratCom done their job properly? Or, say, if the rangers had been more careful piloting their robot?” She locked eyes with him. A ferociousness burned there. “If every ranger is like the White Cross Ranger I met, then you’d do well to drop your campaign of slander against them.” She turned to camera once more to speak her mind, but two unremarkable ‘passers-by’ hauled her away by the arms. She shouted as loud as she could to be heard. “The Cross Rangers are our saviors! They’re good people… the Best!” As the shot tightened up on him, he cleared his throat and straightened his tie. “Well, there you have it. Are they heroes? Are they far more of a danger to us than a help? Who sanctioned their particular brand of vigilantism? And finally… does this country really need superheroes? You decide.” o0o It took those three weeks for it to show, during which Allison had made as full a physical recovery as could expected; something wasn’t right in Steele City's business and finance district. Not long after the disaster at the Casteneda Digital building, the subway platforms into and out of the district were closed. Workmen erected their signature striped tents around many manhole covers. Every few days the water would be shut off to great uproar from the local businesses. Two enlisted StratCom personnel were posted at the mouth of one such subway entrance. “Why do we got to do this job? What’s down there that’s so interesting?” said the first. “Can’t say,” the other replied keeping vigilant watch. “Don’t know. Wasn’t told.” “Sure, sure, but you got any thoughts on the matter? You’ve gotta.” “You wanna know what I think, Buck? I think something’s wrong with the city’s plumbing. Like... seriously wrong.” He leaned in closer so no one else would hear them. “Wrong like… infection wrong.” The first soldier, Buck, nodded in agreement. “You’re not wrong there.” After a minute of silence Buck spoke up once more. “And have you seen the Cross Rangers about up here? Captain Austin? ‘Cause I ain’t. This job’s too good for them, that’s why!” o0o While the lower ranks talked conspiracy on the surface, the rangers were slogging through underground rivers of Black Water. “How did we miss this?!” said Green Cross catching himself before he slipped in face first. “All that scanning equipment… for what?” Cadet Ferris’ voice came at them over the radio patched through to their helmets. She sounded sheepish at best. <Actually the incursion signal system prioritizes full, above ground, manifestations. All other signals are downgraded for our triage analysts to pour over later.> Green Cross rolled his eyes, though no one could have seen. “This is why the media is talking shit about us. This!” o0o Later that day the field reporter once more went live to the country. “Breaking news in this, the fourth hour of the total shut down of business district. It started with a few civil workers digging around in the sewers. And now…” The camera panned away from him hastily taking shots of hordes of StratCom troops blanketing the area. They appeared to be searching for something. “... as you can see, our city's resident paramilitary has descend upon us like something out of Orwell’s 1984. What are they searching for, and when will trading resum-?” A group of soldiers, Buck and his comrade included, leaped from somewhere nearby and seized the reporter by the arms. They confiscated the camera and cut the feed. Outraged, the reporter struggled against them. “This is against my rights. Suppression of the media. Disregard for freedom of speech!” “You, sonny jim, are in violation of restricted area. No amount of freedom of speech means you get to break into an area like this and get away with it.” o0o The five rangers dropped from the sewers, down an access shaft and onto platform one of East Green Lane - one of the city’s seven disused subway stations. They looked around, but darkness proved all encompassing. “Blinding Advent,” said White Cross, throwing a orb of gently glowing light into the air. “There. I hardly ever get to do that.” Yellow Cross checked the map they’d requested from city hall. East Green Lane was on the very edge of the business district, and the last of the so-called ‘border stations’ to be checked by either them or another team. Knowing the others had clocked the same thing as her about their surroundings, she radioed in to Cadet Ferris in the war room. “East Green Lane is clear.” <Great, just let me…> Typing sounded over the radio. <Yes! There. We were right. The incursion used the main sewer south out of the city to infiltrate this far. I guess it’s possible the Black Water might have slipped the net, so to speak, but it’s looking like the majority the stuff is confined to the business district.> “What about the three unknowns?” <Sending teams out to those points as we speak. Even if they have gotten outside the district they couldn’t have gotten far.> “Excellent. Thank you, Cadet.” Yellow Cross hung up and turned to the others. Yet before she could speak and report anything to them, a rumbling came from the northbound tunnel. “On guard, guys.” White Cross raised her hand to her ball of light and captured it’s energy once more. She directed it out onto the tracks and a part way to the end of the platform. Though only a fraction of the tunnel beyond was illuminated the source of the sound became painfully obvious. A wave of Black Water bore down upon them. “We should get moving…” “Right again, Red,” the yellow ranger called leading the charge up the stairs to the defunct station’s upper levels. Reaching the surface from there was an impossibility. In the course of installing newer, high speed, and generally more efficient lines the station had been cut off, reachable only by access shafts, nearby sewer lines, and the subway tunnels themselves. The wave of Black Water crashed through the station, rising until the platform and the bottom half of the stairs were submerged. Blue Cross peered down the stairs at what remained of the opposite northbound tunnel arch. “Where … does that line lead exactly, Maria?” Yellow Cross reeled off the directions as she read them. “It goes right out into the commercial district, through three stations, to a dead end, then loops back into the ... downtown line… Oh shit.” Red Cross radioed in this time to Captain Moses’ direct line. “Catherine, we have a little problem. The Black Water just spread out onto the downtown line.” <Are you sure?> came her hurried reply. “Positive. I’m at East Green Lane looking at a lake of the stuff.” <Understood.> It sounded to Maria like Catherine was equipping herself for combat. <Get out of there for now, rangers. You’ll be needed in the city centre.> o0o “You can’t do this to me. I’m important… I’m famous!” “You’re just a guy who likes to tell people what to think.” Buck wrestled the news reporter over the boundary line where two more StratCom soldiers took over. When Buck shot a look at the camera crew, they stuck up their hands and went willingly, finding their own way into the back of a police van. Before getting in one of them shouted back at over the barricade. “Yeah, we want the scoop… but I’m not a nut job like him. Got a wife and kids. You know?” “Make sure you keep it that way! Rein the guy in a bit, got it?” The commotion had caused quite a stir within the gathering crowd of curious onlookers. Didn't they understand the meaning of ‘Danger! Restricted Area’? To Buck it seemed that throwing up signs like that was basically sticking up a giant neon sign saying ‘Really cool things going on here, but we want to keep it to ourselves… so come and get it!’ He sighed and shook his head. “Honestly… Keep things secret for a reason and people think you’re being a jerk" “Oh I don’t know about that,” said his partner. “The way I see it, people get curious ‘cause they, like... fundamentally, want to help somehow.” “Or they like a bit of masochism.” He grinned. “Those are big words for you, Buck.” “You can shut it an’ all. I read.” The sergeant spotted them, his beady eyes shining a look of recognition or perhaps sadism. He approached them, pointing as though an idea had just struck him and he needed to exact it upon someone before he forgot. “You two will do, nicely.” He gathered them together and walked them past the tape, the barriers and the riot cops. “I’m sending you downtown. Got a little situation brewing over there and we need bodies to, uh… just get up there. You’ll be briefed later.” “Yes, sir.” About as quickly as he’d founded them, the sergeant disappeared into the mixed crowds of soldiers, support technicians, and the general public. They signed off with field ops and climbed into the truck on its way to the city centre. “What have we got now?” “More of the same.” Buck rolled his eyes. The rest of the platoon sitting around them shrugged in half agreement. They’d never committed to an opinion before, so why would they now. Not my job, as many of them liked to repeat. Buck often wondered whether that was the right way to go about things, or whether a little initiative could grease the wheels. Then he remembered he was meat. Officers could think. The Cross Rangers could think. Squadies could not. Turning onto Kaufman Avenue, and coming to a stop just beyond a second cordoned off area, a curious and terrifying sight rose up before them. Central Square, though typically a hive of tourists, camera phones, and taxis, had been transformed into a crime scene out of a nightmare. The square’s three 19th century fountains ran black, overflowing their splash pools. And where the streams met, joined by others rising from subways and manhole covers, an already five-storey tall, pitch black tower imposed itself on the city. One of the not-my-job crew jerked a thumb at the growing spike. “That’s different, don’t you think?” |
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