Clockwork Omega

[Qae Shena]

@[member="Ayden Cater"] @[member="Red Queen"] @[member="Cira"]

And then doom showed up. Allaina was absolutely terrified already that she was going to die from being shot when she really would've preferred to die in the fireball of an exploding planet detonated by her own hand. This was not how she wanted to die. Not at all. She could not die on the ground like a grunt!

While Ayden defied gravity and logic and physics by tearing out a door, Allaina was sprinting as best she could to get behind that door and hide herself away from the blasters right as he gave his instructions. Frankly, this was better than nothing. They were safe, for now. Her heart was pounding and her mind racing. This was exactly why she didn't get caught in firefights and she promised not to do it again.

In the meantime, she checked her surroundings. A parking garage. Airspeeders - and a particularly beautiful purple one with twin engine nacelles and a comlink built in. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. It looked nice and fast, too, which was a bonus. Allaina was going to have to get all the way out to the tower and contact anyone who could get her in touch with the Prex. All Ayden's orders received was a nod of her head as she took the datastick and leapt over to the airspeeder.

"Tempest Leader to anyone left on the planet," Allaina said over the command frequency, all but mashing the comlink's buttons as she lifted it up on its repulsors. "I need to find the Prex, right now. I've got a solution to the AI problem here!"

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Cira"] @[member="Jonathon Patches"] @[member="Allaina Mare"]

Sadly for Allaina, Sarge nor anyone who knew he had the Prex with him was using any of their usual frequencies. It was safe to assume that with the AI in the system that their typical frequencies were being monitored constantly.

He'd rather be safe than sorry.

If there was one thing he'd not expected it was Cira willingly putting her hands anywhere near him; even if just to use one of his many loaded blasters... that had its safety off already

Yeah, there was definitely something wrong with Sarge's head if he walked around with loaded weapons, safeties off.

"That's Patches boss...", Sarge says blandly. His mind raced to an abandoned droid factory for a moment before he remember Cira was standing... right in front of him.

Dat view.

 

[Cira]

@[member="Jonathon Patches"] @[member="Sarge Potteiger"] @[member="Allaina Mare"]

Why did every blasted infochant in the karking new found galaxy feel like twisting her panties and make her want to blast a hold on their kneecap?!

Her lips pursed into a thin line. He was the sarcastic sort. Clearly, he wasn't aware of the thin line of bodily threat and harm he was walking. Her eyes couldn't help but narrow at the small data screen with the red sigils dancing across it from the Red Queen.

He was lucky. Very lucky that Sarge confirmed that he was Patches. Yeah, don't faint at Cira believing Sarge. Considering how they now had a droid fleet tearing through Omega Pyre tower and the rest of Fondor, she had very little choice in the matter.

The cold tip of the blaster pistol met Patches's forehead. "Well then... Mr. Patches. Tell me why I shouldn't believe that you were the one responsible for infecting my building with the Red Queen?" Her eyes turned cold. "I don't know you. Nor your loyalties. I've already had the Syndicate come into my tower saying they were 'testing' security, and let me tell you... I don't appreciate slicers coming into my building without a by your karking leave." there came another nudge of her blaster upon his skull.

Unfortunately for Allaina, Cira and Sarge still will not be able to detect her transmission. Unless some no good Information Broker magically did.

 

[Jak Sandrow]

Jak cursed a blue streak as some of his new experimental mechs powered up and blasted away at Ayden and Allaina. He saw them come back through the hallway, and ran with them down the hallway.
"This is definitely the most interesting job I've ever had," he quipped to Ayden.
"Just keep running" Ayden grumbled.
They ran down past the power stations, the weapons controls (Jak threw a grenade in), and finally made it to the lower hangar.

 

[Qae Shena]

@[member="Red Queen"] @[member="Daxton Bane"]

Dead silence. Nothing. Nobody responding. It wasn't appreciated, really, that someone couldn't respond to her. And she didn't know what to do, either. Allaina had to get her ass to space, flying through the mechanical cloud of enemies that had already shot her down, land in the spaceport, and jack an appropriate ship. Needless to say this was a risky maneuver, but for Allaina friggin' Mare, it was feasible.

The airspeeder's engines ran as hard as they possibly could, flying right towards the spaceport. She knew there'd be a shuttle there, or something. If she could get through the wave of enemies, she'd be okay... but that was a long shot.

 

[Jonathon Patches]

@[member="Cira"] , @[member="Sarge Potteiger"] , @[member="Allaina Mare"]

Well then... Mr. Patches. Tell me why I shouldn't believe that you were the one responsible for infecting my building with the Red Queen?"

She's angry, I can tell he mused to himself, trying to hide the grin from his face. It's not that he took pleasure in irking her per say; he just was no stranger to these scenarios, and judging by her current tone and the ire in her eyes, he wasn't the first person to have "invaded her space" recently. However, given he was outnumbered two to one, and a guest on THEIR ship, he felt it was in his best interest to not probe any further.

He flashed a smile, and spoke in a calm manner, "Well, I'm guessing by your possessive nature of the building, and the fact that Sarge over here," he said, nodding to Sarge, "seems to be giving you the common title of endearment of 'boss', you must be Cira," he paused for a moment, to gauge her reaction. "And if that is true, then you have certainly heard of me, and you are well aware that while I do many things, sabotaging an entire security systems and turning it's defenses on itself is not my MO; I prefer the more subtle approach," he said, a slow grin forming on his lips.

"In and out, with out so much as a notice. Works well with my clients, and..." he paused, looking at Sarge as if they were about to have a "guy" moment, "It's not so bad a strategy with the ladies either... am I right? Or am I right?" he said with a grin.

"To be frank, I would have had a better escape plan; and my datapad there wouldn't be littered with the virus," he said, nodding to the one Cira still held in her hand. He then slowly raised his hand to his right ear, the small ear bud picking up the hails of a female claiming to have a solution to all of their problems.

"And one of your people appears to be in some form of distress..." he paused, listening to the entire message, "and also claims to have a solution to taking your building back," he added, slowly removing the earbud, he offered it to Cira with an extended hand, as he said, "It's for you, or should I take a message?"

 

[Cira]

@[member="Jonathon Patches"] @[member="Sarge Potteiger"] @[member="Allaina Mare"]

"Guess this is your lucky day, Mr. Patches." if his comments amused her, her set expression didn't betray. Save for maybe that small eyelid twitching upward a millimeter; which was a good sign. The tip of her blaster, now warmed by Patches's skin, withdrew. On went the safety and she passed it to Sarge; who would no doubt take the safety off and holster it.

"Patch the transmission through, infochant. Let's see how productive you can be."

 

[Qae Shena]

@[member="Jonathon Patches"] @[member="Cira"] @[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

A shrill beeping sounded in Allaina's comm as she landed in the spaceport unharmed, the crowd of Omni's forces having been evaded - for now. Her luck was turning. As she sat in the cockpit of her airspeeder, she pressed the button, scanning around for a shuttle - and there it was. A fast little speeder, it'd get her to where she needed to go. Truth told she wanted a Star Destroyer. That'd solve this problem. Or an Inimica. That would also help.

"This is Tempest Leader here. I need the Prex. Ayden has given me some stuff that will solve the AI attack. I need a location update and a warship ASAP!"

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Jonathon Patches"] @[member="Cira"]

"I'll be honest, Patches. The ladies and I don't exactly see... eye to eye." One could only imagine the look he gave Cira in that moment; likely a mixture of wry amusement and annoyed animosity. Either way, he took the gun.

Sure enough, half a second later, it was in its holster with the safety off.

Moving back into the cockpit, he takes the autopilot off and loops around the massive ship Ayden had ordered built; he couldn't remember the name of it.

Looping into a hangar bay, he nestles the ship into its docking and kills the power feeding the engines. He doesn't lower the ramp. "Refueling and rearming, ma'am. Lemme know where we gotta go next."

 

[Red Queen]

Manic childlike laughter bubbled and went echoing down each and every corridor. The Red Queen amused by it all.​

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[[ Come now! I just want to play!! ]]​

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Came the jovial crazed call.​

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[[ Don't you like my game? ]]​

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There was a screech of metal as the door Ayden had flung slammed one of the light mech's against the wall.​

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[[ But this is SO much fun!!! ]]​

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New protocols were sent. As @[member="Ayden Cater"] went darting through another corridor, the sound of klaxtons filled the air.​

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[[ Why won't you play with me?!! ]]​

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Cameras followed @[member="Jak Sandrow"], and just prior to him joining Ayden, a large hatch came slamming down, effectively cutting him off.​

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[[ See... look what you are making me do! ]]​

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More hatches came slamming down in the underground facility. Security systems came online. To include the flickering of laser detectors, electrified floor units, and more killer robots.​

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[[ But we have time... alllll the time in the gaaaaaaaaaaalexy!!! ]]​

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Above ground, the turrets continued their power up.​

 

[Jak Sandrow]

&$^*^#*^@^#@#$%^&*&^!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jak swore as the blast door slammed down in front of him. "Ayden, can you hear me?" Nothing. He shot the cameras, as he noticed they were following him around the small room. A hatch opened up behind him.
He swore again and turned to see a bunch of little droid drones swarming towards him. Also, he could see the walls were electrified. He pulled out a grenade and tossed it into the fray steadily approaching him. The droid popper went off and deactivated most of them, and the rest were quickly dealt with.
Turning to the wall in front of him, he pulled out a plasma cutter from his belt and started cutting. It was slow going, as the wall was quite thick, but after a few minutes, the wall section fell away. He crawled through to see that Ayden was gone. Holes that looked like lightsaber cutting went through the walls all the way down the corridor. He hopped through them to see if he could find Cater on the other end.

 

[Jonathon Patches]

@[member="Sarge Potteiger"] , @[member="Cira"] , @[member="Red Queen"] , @[member="Allaina Mare"]

"I'll be honest, Patches. The ladies and I don't exactly see... eye to eye." said Sarge, to which Patches strongly objected.

"Who said anything about eye to eye? They can look just as good from behind," he quipped with an amused expression, feeling a bit more at ease, and perhaps this time he would make it through with both knees intact.

That's when Cira began taking control of the situation - all business and no pleasure this one - having apparently conscripted Patches into her ranks for the time being. Though current circumstances didn't afford him the opportunity to object. Handing the earbud to Cira, he took his spot at the gunships comm units, and began cutting through the interference.


"Tempest Leader to any... / ...Come now! I just want to play!!"

"Sorry sweetheart... you are not my type," he quipped allowed; why he felt it necessary to share this information publicly, one could never tell.

"I need Don't you like my to find the Prex, right Why won't you now. I've got a solution to..."

Feisty queen, aren't you? His fingers worked the controls, cutting through all the chatter and interference the Red Queen was running, until finally, he got a clear signal; though for how long, he couldn't say.

"This is.... est Leader here. I need the Prex.... den has given me some ... will solve the AI attac..... ed a location update and a warship ASA..."

"Speak quickly, I don't know how long I can hold the signal," he said to Cira, as he gave her the green light.

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Red Queen"]


Ayden skidded to a halt as the the first security door slammed down at the far end of the hall. Turning around, he saw another slam shut. With a scowl, he bolted forward, using every inch of his stride to carry him as far as he could. As he jumped through the air, he could feel a security door crack down mere centimeters behind his feet as he hit the ground and rolled to a stop. Turning and looking every which way, Ayden spotted his hat stuck underneath the door. "Oh that's just great... Make it personal, why don't you!?"

Sighing, Ayden turned back to face the direction he knew the core to be and scratched the back of his head in frustration. This AI was good. She was systematically taking control of the systems and turning their defenses against them. The only way he knew to beat her then, was to be unpredictable. And the first thing he would do would have been to cut the doors apart. Which would certainly lead to a trap.

Casting one last mournful look at his hat, Ayden looked up and jumped. The grate over the air duct was pushed aside easily and set back perfectly. Ayden's face became a resolute mask as he sped along towards the core. He'd have to drop down a room before it, but it would bypass most of the security and traps. 'Note; have Cira shore up the air duct system after this...'

 

[Cira]

@[member="Jonathon Patches"] @[member="Sarge Potteiger"] @[member="Allaina Mare"]

Cira brought the ear bud to the shell of her ear, her brow furrowing in concentration as she heard the transmission patch through. "Tempest Leader, this is Bha'lir," came the code name for the Prex. Her frown grew as she tried to make sense of the message.

"Something that will solve the AI attack?" her eyes grew wide, glancing over to Sarge and Patches, "Warship." her eyes narrowed then, "Starfall.' Yes.

"The Starfall," Ayden's ship would be the best option. An unlikely unveiling, but it would do. It was the only thing that was completely cut off from the internal AI of Omega Pyre tower down here. She locked her gaze to Sarge. "Take us to the Starfall."

Turing back to the comm array, she sent that through. "Tempest Leader, fine a way to get to the Starfall... you'll get your wings there. We'll meet you there."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Jonathon Patches"] @[member="Cira"]

Sarge laughed, then laughed a bit more, then pointed out the cockpit window. "You weren't paying attention when we approached the ship. This is the Starfall. I ordered her to break mooring the moment the attack started; isolated all it's systems. Made sure all droids aboard were shut down, too."

 

[Cira]

"Then you're good for something other than shooting," she said in a clipped tone back, tossing the comm receiver back to the comm array. She straightened, pushing back past him. "Find out where Cater is now!" she snapped out over her shoulder, walking towards the hatch that would lead to the docking port into the Starfall.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Cira"]

"Goin' out on a big ol' limb here, boss lady.", he shouts from the cockpit. "Your tower. Bettin' he's smack dab in the middle of all of this, sneaking his way towards somethin' he thinks will shut them down."

"Anything else? Some coffee, perhaps?"

 

[Cira]

"Black." she snapped back, the door hissing shut behind her.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Black, aye.", he responds sardonically, armored hands flying across the cockpit to shut down all the systems they weren't going to be using while they sat here and did nothing. "Regular ray of sunshine, she is...", he mumbles as he leaves the ship to go find some coffee.

Patches would be alone, but outside was a squad of armed OmegaPyre soldiers. He wouldn't be going anywhere outside the ship without orders from Sarge or the Prex.

Time to go find coffee. Black coffee.

 

[Red Queen]

@[member="Ayden Cater"] @[member="Jak Sandrow"]

​

The security cameras went panning wide, optics zooming in closer onto the lone occupant @[member="Jak Sandrow"], running down the corridor.​

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[[ Oh no. My games are not so easy. ]] ​

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Came the manic giggle.​

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Lasers suddenly flickered to life, their bright blue light lining the walls and crossing the length of the corridor...​

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Rushing straight at Jak...​

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[[ We are just getting started.... ]] ​

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[[ Don't you get it?]]​

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A small hologram of the Red Queen came flickering next to Jak as the lasers kept rushing to him.​

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Another manic giggle.​

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Meanwhile, the sensitive processors registered movement in the air vents. The Red Queen was constantly monitoring thousands of parametors,​

monitored reactions inside Omega Pyre tower, the weapon systems, and made note of the great turbo laser turrets she was seconds from unleashing onto Omega Pyre tower.​

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"Oh that's just great... Make it personal, why don't you!?"​

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The words were caught within the sensitive audio sensors of the Red Queen's domain.​

Within seconds, the Red Queen began comparing the voice signature with Omega Pyre databases. Nothing.​

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[[ I can make it personal. ]] ​

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Came the jovial tone from the speakers on the wall, the voice resonating throughout the tower.​

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[[ I can make it real personal ]]​

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Another giggle. Then a pause.​

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[[ Ohh... Mistah Ghost. You are hiding... Hmm... You are good. ]]​

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Her systems went wild as the search continued.​

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[[ But I'm better... ]]​

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That's when she spread into her own datafiles.​

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A voiceprint came up a match. Centuries ago.​

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[[ Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... ]]​

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One could hear the sinister wild grin creeping over her lips as the hologram purred out.​

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[[ Hello Mistah Cater ]]​