Take back the city (1-2)

psikeout · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 8:47 pm

Sometimes, Rock had a capacity to act more like a machine than a person; the way he peered over that ledge, frozen in place, but with his eyes darting rapidly and intensely, made clear that he was "scanning" the cluttered, indiscernible mess of industry below.

"Look," he said, after about seven seconds of silence, jutting a finger. "Points of interest."

"Squarish building with the conveyor belt running out of it, down into that tunnel. Those things on the line are robots like the ones we saw in the city. That's gotta be the production center, or at least storage, or whatever. But, there are gun emplacements around it."

He pointed to the next noteworthy structure.

"That largest structure over there—The one that stretches all the way down into the pit, with smokestacks and pipes. Those are transformers outside of it. Most likely a power plant, using geothermal energy from the magma flows beneath the island. Take it out, and hopefully everything else will lose power, unless there's an impressive backup system—Which I wouldn't rule out. Also, more gun emplacements, if you look close."

His hand glode for a second, then pointed again.

"Those vats of chemicals with all the smoke coming out—Watch out. I thought that sulfur smell was just coming from the lava and crap, but I think it's chlorosulfuric acid, or something similar—Like what's used in some smokescreens. See those small pipes pouring into the vats? Trace those. They come out of that bank of water towers. Whatever it is, when it mixes with water that's pouring out, it creates that thick, chokin'-ass fog, like what we've had over the city for the past day or two."

He settled back for a moment. A hovering drone was coming up fairly close to their cliff.

"So, I say we stay away from the chemicals, try to take out the transformers, and see what happens. If it does take out the power, then surveillance and the guns and other defenses will hopefully go down, and we'll be able to move more freely."

nUcLeArEnVoY · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 8:48 pm

"... Ace," he muttered warily, still on his tush in awkward aloofness off in the sidelines. Teck hated feeling useless just as much as the very fox whom Silver Sonic II was toying with like a living ragdoll, and Eggman's words were just propaganda to him, they went in one twitchy orange ear and right out the other. Trading witty remarks with Eggman wouldn't free Tails' from Silver Sonic's relentless grasp or serve the saving grace for Ace's incoming exposure to heavy fire, so it was up to him to intervene and lead them toward their next step in this dire conflict.

Pushing his spectacles doggedly up the bridge of his chestnut nose, Teck went to his feet in a fleeting WOOSH and set his sights on their antagonistic foe. Silver Sonic II seemed awfully obsessed with taking Ace down, and like most of his opponents, probably thought nothing of the spindly-looking porcupine - Teck hoped this grave underestimation would turn out to seal his not-so-favorable fate.

One glance westward awarded him the sight of a small boulder roughly the size of a traditional beach ball. "Enough momentum," he muttered inaudibly. "Might just trip the bah'stud, thus opening the door for a decisive strike from any of us."

What did he have to lose except for more pride? That's overrated anyway, so with a hurried scuddle to the boulder, Teck pushed forcibly against it to make sure it wasn't planted too firmly into the ground. Luckily, it did nudge. "70 lbs or so," Teck estimated, backing off from the boulder. "Here goes nothing...!"

Breeeam.... BREEEEM.... BREEEEEEEEEEEEMM...

Inside his wildly spinning little world, Teck made sure to aim himself so that the boulder would fire towards Silver Sonic II's legs whilst it was busy raining hell on that poor Alley Cat. After a third rev, the torque was so extreme that Teck began to excavate into the sand which would void the entire plan since the angle would instead propel him into the air, and so he let go - yet not at optimum power as he had hoped.

Teck crashed into the boulder with enough force to crack it but not shatter it: needless to say, such a drastic transfer of kinetic energy lended quite a nice little boost to the once stationary rock as it went skimming in a nearly perfect lateral sail along the sand en route for Silver Sonic's legs.

David · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 9:33 pm

Unable to use his board in the dense brush, Toby bounded through the woods after his compatriots, slipping early on to the back of the pack. It wasn’t long before he hit another giant, massive, sheer cliff face. The kangaroo rat paused for a moment, taking in the sight. “…Somebody picked up a pack of mega-crags from Buy ‘N’ Bulk.” Whistling at his next obstacle, Toby backed and rushed that sucka. Grinding up the wall as far as his legs would take him Toby leaped into the air, taking note of ledges as he flew upwards. In a few bounds, young Cotton had rejoined his temporary team-mates on the ridge of a… a…

“…Whoa.” Toby’s eyes went wide as he took a few steps, surveying both the drop and the mechanized madness below. “Who turned off the forest?” Plopping down on the ridge with his legs dangling off the edge, Toby rested himself as the others discussed their next course of action. Stretching his arms high above his head, board boy glanced back at his pseudo-friends. “We’re goin’ down there, aren’t we?” It was hard to keep a mischievous smile from dancing across Toby’s lips. This was gonna be exciting… if not deadly. But definitely exciting.

psikeout · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 9:40 pm

"Yyyeeeeahhh, actually..."

Rock was looking at Toby a little too interestedly. It was very much a plotting face.

"..."

His expression softened, and he sighed with a quick raise of his brows. "I hate to be like, 'hey, expendable guy I just met, go be bait,' but, if you're up to it, I'd say it'd be best if you went in first, and used your gear to lead all the heat off in some other direction, away from the power plant." He quickly amended, "You seriously don't have to agree to this, though. Go too slow or hit a dead end and it's suicide for sure."

Mie · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 9:56 pm

Externally evident, the cogs in Jam's head turned in silence as her focused gaze ran the trail Rock had indicated. Possible scenarios unfolded in her mind's eye; gun emplacements, gun emplacements not, back-up power, back-up power not, choking-ass fog... Her face scrunched in aggravation at the numerous variables, more than ready to forget the what-ifs, and just dive in. She nodded once to herself, charting out her beeline to the suspected power plant, just barely paying any attention to the new addition's back-and-forth with the white primate.

She was just about primed to go, too, until what was being proposed at last registered in her head. As Rock had pretty much voiced her thoughts verbatim, she didn't need to, but she did cast an incredulous, cock-browed Are you serious? expression at him, just to punctuate.

Rusty · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:21 pm

Once the serval managed to get his carcass behind a big boulder, the rusting machine turned its attention back to one of the other furries, specifically Teck. But while it wasn't necessarily neglecting any of the three combatants (even the fox it had just turned into a life raft), it could only hold so much of its focus on one or the other, so the boulder met its mark without much room allowed for evasive maneuvers. It had been in a half turn so the rolling thing impacted against only one of its big, tough feet, but that still managed to topple the tall robot forward. It awkwardly crumpled to one knee and immediately fought to regain its balance by slamming its hands into the sand before attempting to rise.

In the darkness it was hard to tell if there was any significant damage. Silver Sonic sure didn't act hurt by any means, but at least the interesting method of attack kept it from wreaking havoc, for those few seconds, anyway.

David · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:29 pm

Huh. Well, that wasn’t exactly what the bright yellow boarder had expected to hear come straight from the monkey’s mouth, but he was… mulling it over. He closed his eyes for a second as he thought. The vast majority of the boy’s life had been lived based on the principle that the bigger the risk was, the bigger the potential gain. Despite injury after injury, Toby Cotton had made a name for himself on boarding circuits for biting off more than he could chew, and subsequently chewing it. Still, the word suicide seemed to hang in the air, slowing time for just a moment. The risk was huge this time, no doubt about that. By Toby’s reasoning, the gain had to be immense. People needed him. Without saying a word, the boy un-strapped his board, and stood up, laying it on the ground next to him. He started the sucker up, and with some whirs, beeps, and flashing lights, the New Leaf came to life.

“…Gimme a sec. I gotta check ‘er out.” The kangaroo rat knelt next to his board, popping open a panel on the side. That crash in the sand wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the ones he’d been through in the past, but this was one of those moments where safe really was better than sorry. Everything seemed to be okay, and his baby looked to be sand-free, so Cotton closed her up, patting the side. He turned the board off, and sat back down with his pack.

He did a little rummaging and came up with a pair of goggles that he wiped on his shirt, as well as a bottle of water that he downed about half of. He stretched the goggle strap and snapped it snuggly around his head, adjusting the lenses for comfort. Finally, he snatched up the small chao flittering around his pack curiously, and hugged him to his chest.

Kyle didn’t seem to mind being grabbed up. He had pilfered the half empty water bottle from the boy’s pack and was polishing off the contents. “…Aaaah!!” The jelly-belly sighed, satisfied. It was then he noticed how tight the boy was holding him. “…Buja ba ji, Toba?”

”I’ll do it.” Toby grinned, his heart already beating wild and uncontrollable in his chest. “But he goes with you two.” Toby held Kyle out to Jam.

psikeout · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:40 pm

The white primate frowned.

"Okay, yeah, we'll watch him, but remember, this... is just Dr. Eggman, so don't go writin' your will or nothin'," he mumbled, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. "I mean, you should survive as long as you don't fall in the lava. I think I even saw some rings down there..."

He headed back to the cliff's edge to look and confirm his statement.

"And it don't make you less of a man to take protection, y'know?" (Context is so incredibly vital here.)

Mie · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:50 pm

It was hard not to be influenced by the noble kangaroo rat's reckoning with his fate, and malleable as she was, Jam grew grave watching the cycles of his resolve play across his face. So sucked into the valor and drama of it all was she, that when entrusted with his lookalike companion, the berry-hued simian immediately stretched out her hands, nodding earnestly.

She'd been just about to say something like, "He'll be safe with me," when Rock's reality check brought her crashing down to earth, and she suddenly felt... incredibly sheepish. Thankfully, conversation continued seamlessly to protection and manliness, or something, eliciting a muted snort, as she turned back toward her objective, mumbling something that might have been, "Yeah, but it ain't as fun."

Diluss · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 11:19 pm

Tails lurched upright as he neared the shore. Hugging his chest as he splashed through the shallows, he seemed oblivious to very nearly everything except the emergency pack. He dropped to his knees beside the black vinyl-weave satchel, freeing one hand to work while keeping the other still crossed across his chest.

He grabbed at the seal, and flipped open the top of the bag with a sodden glove. There was an array of objects in bright colours stored inside the recesses of the pack, all apparently shrink-wrapped in plastic, but there was one item Tails went to directly.

A burnt orange tube, with a metal loop at one end.

Freeing both his hands now, he pulled the tube out of its protective plastic, and, with one awkward gesture, pulled the metal ring.

There was a flash and a gout of blinding, cherry red flame—glowing to white, closer to the center—and Tails threw the tube down onto the damp sand, where it spat and hissed and began boiling the water away.

nUcLeArEnVoY · Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 9:40 am

"TAKE YOUR SHOT, ACE!" Teck screamed, his hands cupped around his lips to amplify his chirpy teneur. Still, even though Ace's door was wide open whilst Silver Sonic recovered from the porcupine's offbeat strike, Teck wouldn't sit there doing nothing since his own door swung wide open as well, and so he charged in hopes that Silver Sonic II was now expecting only Ace to attack.

Considering the hide of raw steel of which the mech was composed, reckless swings of his legs wouldn't suffice lest he wanted to end up with some reaally bad bruises, so Teck had to depend almost exclusively on his spin attack to get the job done. Scampering toward Silver Sonic, Teck bounded forth and invoked ball form yet again in an attempt to inflict the classic 16-bit-style "bop" along the head while it was down, making damn well sure that he'd land on the smooth part and not those deadly steel spines.

Greens · Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 12:50 pm

Teck wouldn't have to say it twice.

In fact, he probably wouldn't have to say it once, either. The cat sneaked a peek over the opposite side of the rock once Silver Sonic decided to stop blowing it to pieces, and when he saw its attention turned and Teck revving up, he was already in motion. He slipped out of cover, scooping up the big, gravelly, angry looking piece of boulder that Silver himself had shot off. (You know, the really big one that's difficult to grasp in only one hand.) And while he was charging it up the instant he started running, he hadn't thrown it yet.

Halfway there, just when it looked like the mecha might just pick himself up and retaliate against Teck, Ace shoveled up one more stone, flung it at its big, metal legs, in the hopes that the porcupine might take advantage of it.

When Teck was done, be his attack hit or miss, then came Ace the Alley Cat, suddenly within melee distance. His lungs screamed out, his arm reared back behind him like he hated the smell, the wedge of boulder he held still charged with chaos energy to the point where it might nearly nearly explode in his hand. But rather than throwing it, his arm would come careening in a 180 degree overhead blitz that was almost beautiful in its brutality.

Although, whether or not the attack smashed the robot's webbed eyes like Ace had hoped, if it landed in the least, the rock really would just explode in his hands. No way that would feel nice for the giver or the recipient.

Rusty · Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:11 pm

By the time Teck would reach where he was headed, he wouldn't have anything to hit. That rock throw from Ace further knocked the machine off-balance, leaving it with little opportunity for any kind of counter-attack against the incoming foes. Aware of this, it took a defensive position by lowering its head to let the tough skull absorb the inevitable impact, but it still flew, regardless. Ace was the one who finally managed to move the couple-thousand-pound robot from where it had been situated thus far in the struggle.

It banged against a rock formation and hit the sand on its feet. There was a sizable dent on top of its head near the spines--if it'd had a brain Ace probably would've just turned it to mush, but alas, that wasn't to be.

The moment it hit the ground again, there was a thunderous boom. Its rockets ignited, sending it forward with surprising acceleration and velocity for something of its mass. It bent forward, curling itself into the world's biggest rolling wrecking ball, and it went roaring headlong at the alley cat (perhaps it was a bad idea for Teck to suddenly be in close proximity to the feline) that had done a fine job of repositioning it while an odd, if ominous chainsaw noise accompanied the avalanche-like sound that was Silver Sonic II in a spin. Sand kicked high in its wake, spraying out behind it. No way anything wanted to get hit by that.

David · Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:21 pm

Toby passed off the little guy to Jam, and listen to Rock as he talked him out of his current mind-set. “Rings, huh?” Peering down over the ridge, the daredevil definitely noticed a decent few glowing spots down below. He glanced back at the white simian. “No clue how those got there, but I’m sure not complaining!” Toby started his board back up, placing one foot triumphantly on its back, keeping it steady. “I’ll grab up a few of those in no time. I’ve got no clue how to use ‘em, but, eh… Can’t be that hard, right?”

Picking up his pack, Cotton readied himself to take the plunge into the wired-up wonderland below. It was then that a thought crossed his mind. “…Say, how do we meet up after all this is over and done?”

psikeout · Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:38 pm

Rock's mouth opened to respond quickly, but then he realized, that was a good question.

He thought a second, then something occurred to him, and he quickly pulled out that little booklet he'd been writing in earlier. "You can just make your run, then try to escape or find a safe place," he explained as he scrawled a number on the page, then tore it out and handed it to the bold rat. "If we don't run into each other again, you can call, and we'll get the, uh,... little guy back to you."

And with that, he turned to the ledge once more, and readied himself.

"Just remember," he added, "Robots. They're overblown calculators with guns. They're good shots, good at predicting trajectories, but bad at predicting changes in trajectories. Keep fast, avoid moving in straight lines, and you'll be good."

He rolled his head around on his shoulders to loosen up, patted his shotgun's grip over his shoulder to make sure it was still hanging there safely, then looked to his accompaniment.

"Let's get this over with."

Take back the city (1-2)

Who is online