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Post by SlvrNight on Jul 22, 2016 21:02:47 GMT -5
Sasha watched the battle from behind Mars's back. Her eyes instantly moved towards the beginning point of the large burst of magenta energy, noticing it took down two of the large owl demons. A frown grew on her face, slightly annoyed at the quick destruction of them. The more they killed, the less chances they had to capture one alive. Then again, Norman had a lot of faith in Mars's abilities. Hopefully something like this wasn't beyond him.
At the originating site of the blast she could make out a metallic object, humanoid in shape, with arms. Either it was a robot of some kind or someone wearing armor. Regardless, it seemed like they had an ally. Hopefully they wouldn't muck this up for them though.
"Mars." The detective started. "We seem to have an ally atop that hill. A sniper of some kind, given their shot and the range. They're also metal. Or wearing metal. We'll deal with that later."
Sasha continued to watch in silence afterwards, noticing Mars's attempt to simply disable the third bird he shot at.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Jul 25, 2016 11:26:05 GMT -5
The confusion created by the surprise attack from Mars and Sasha's "guest" had resulted in a temporary state of panic among the owl-men. This gave Mars enough time to kill his first two targets. However, the third, who he intended on shooting in the leg, was quick enough to take flight before he could get the shot off.
The owls that looked to the attacker on the hill were too late to move away from the rain of lasers. In the end, there were only six left. Two of those six made a hasty retreat to the east, leaving only four left. The remaining owl-men circled Mars, Sasha and the newcomer, until they simultaneously descended on all three of them. Two dived talon-first for Sasha, while one headed for Mars and another towards the gunner on the hill.
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Post by Jisui on Jul 25, 2016 17:07:43 GMT -5
"Tch..." Mars watched in annoyance as his third target managed to avoid his shot, with the remaining stragglers swarming about them. It seemed one of them had left to deal with the newcomer, leaving three for him to deal with.
Manageable.
The mercenary's eyes snapped to the owl diving towards him, dropping the rifle in his hand and reaching behind him. His arm swung forward. A flash of silver reaped through the air.
Its head cleanly severed, the owl dropped to the ground with its last sight being that of scarlet eyes.
In Mars' hand was a large hand-axe made of silver, its straight edge dyed blue with the blood of the avian beast. There was no time or desire to think about it. Not when Garanteen felt so warm in his hand, and when the dangerous thrill of combat was beginning to emerge.
Spinning around, he roughly pushed himself in front of Sasha as the two birds dived down at her. Twirling his axe in an arc, he swung it down with devastating force at one of the owls in an attempt to bury it in its chest. However, he was unable to stop the second owl from raking at his right shoulder with its talons.
It was a scratch, he told himself, only giving a slight audible grunt. Ignore it. He was still here. He was still alive.
[[All-Killing Strike: "Death in a single blow" is a concept that succinctly summarizes Mars' fighting style. The mercenary dislikes both prolonged battles and prolonged deaths, preferring to finish off his opponents as quickly as possible for both of their sakes. Thus, Mars' first strike in battle will generally be the fiercest one he'll throw. Any of Mars' first strikes in battle on an opponent (with the exception of a rifle shot) will be automatically raise his Vigor to the rank of A temporarily for a post. The resulting blow can rip through an opponents defenses with devastating effect if the opponent is caught unaware, leaving them greatly weakened or incapacitated before the battle even begins.]]
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Post by SlvrNight on Jul 25, 2016 17:49:02 GMT -5
Sasha continued to watch the battle from behind Mars. They were down to only four opponents now, much better than the previous odds. When three of them dove at her and her bodyguard she cursed under her breath. Mars had only one arm after all, and it didn't seem like his weapon had an automatic fire rate. It would be difficult for him to take out all three before they reached them. If it came down to it, she didn't mind taking a few hits to help out.
The detective watched as Mars fluidly dropped his firearm and beheaded one of the demonic owls in a simple motion. She raised an eyebrow, impressed at his speed. Even with one arm, he seemed to have no difficulty. This made her wonder, in the back of her mind, just how good Mars would be with both of his arms? It's something she would never find out since it was obvious he couldn't regrow the thing, but it was something she was genuinely curious about.
"Mars..." Sasha whispered, a slight tone of concern present, when she saw the final creature score a successful hit against the mercenary, slicing through his shoulders with its talons. She looked at the wound, sighed, then looked up at the creature above.
She had a good amount of training. She was skilled enough to lead her own squad back in JX City. She also knew how the world worked and knew when she was outmatched. Sasha wasn't a coward by any means and had more than once faced off against opponents significantly more powerful than her. While Mars was indeed her bodyguard, simply letting him fend for himself wasn't like her at all.
Sasha took out her pistol and aimed up at the creature. The gears of her mind turned as she did her best to calculate and mentally simulate how the wind and owl's speed would effect her shot.
Then she fired a single shot, aimed at the middle joint in the beast's left wing.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Jul 26, 2016 21:46:27 GMT -5
The monsters were still focusing most of their effort on disposing of the seemingly weakest prey. Such tactics didn't sit well with him. It was opportunistic and cowardly. If these things had any value for sapient life, they weren't showing it.
Then again, they were only as quick as he was to kill. Perhaps it wasn't apathy in their hearts, but resolution. Either way, it didn't matter.
He took aim for the moment and attempted to disregard the owl descending upon him. He fired one of the owls headed for the woman. A direct hit, tearing it to shreds with laser fire. The other two headed for the humans were decapitated and sent tumbling to the ground, knocking it unconscious, in that order. The swing from the man's axe caused the decapitation, while the shot from the woman caused her target to lose flight control and fall.
He then took aim back at the descending owl. Rather than firing, however, he waiting. At the most opportunistic moment, he activated the bayonet attachment on his cannon, causing a blade a green light to project two three foward from the cannon's underside. His attacker fell right into it, splitting the creature's gut open as his broke its neck on the ground behind him.
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That was it. All of the monsters had either escaped, dead, or in the case of one owl, unconscious. The threat had seemingly subsided.
Blue blood stained the snow around the camp. Faerie dust was also visible to both Sasha and Mars. It coated everything like a layer of dust.
For all the commotion and danger they went through, very few things were clear. There were two things, however, that they knew. One was that Norman would undoubtedly want to hear about this event. The other was that they had a third party assisting them.
It would be prudent if they tended to those two issues sooner than later.
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He did it. He chose to save human life, and he had succeeded in doing so. However, in the process, he had exposed himself in their eyes. There was no point in running now. They knew he was there.
He chose to embrace it. If they had questions, he would answer as best as he could. It was all he could do now. For them. For her.
He stood as he activated the magnets on his body, sealing his weapon to his upper back. To them, he probably looked like some sort of strange construct. That wasn't entirely inaccurate.
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What stood before Mars and Sasha atop the hill was an eight-foot-nine, four-armed electronic construct built into a vaguely humanoid form. It was covered in thin layers of black metallic plates. symmetrical lines in the armor glowed neon green. This was most likely some sort of light armor, as in its gaps there were traces of some sort of artificial muscle fiber. Its shoulders in particular adorned particularly large armor plates that jutted outward sharply. Its head was shaped like a forward pointed half-cylinder with two glowing green horizontal slits at the front end. On each of its four hands were six fingers; four regular fingers and a thumb at both ends. Its feet were equipped with what seemed to be a set of armor boots, disallowing them to see whether or not it had toes.
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Post by Jisui on Jul 26, 2016 22:39:08 GMT -5
"Nice shot." Mars admitted, somewhat impressed as he stared at the unconscious form of the owl. He honestly didn't expect much from Sasha in the form of combat, but it was a pleasant surprise that she didn't turn into a nervous wreck during a battle. It made his job significantly easier.
The mercenary quietly moved over to the slumped form of the avian creature, eyes straining at the heavy amount of faerie dust on the ground. After verifying that it was safely disabled, he let a slight sigh escape his lips upon turning back to his charge.
It looks like they found whatever was taking the villagers and workers. The next question was why. But for now, they had an even more pressing issue...
On the hill was a giant construct of metal. Through the darkness, he could see faintly glowing green lines framing it, giving him an idea of what it looked. More importantly, he could see its weapons snap to its back.
That was a good sign. If that thing decided to set its sights on them, Mars wasn't entirely sure they would have been able to do much after seeing the display of firepower that razed several owls to dust. He was hoping that the strange machine was non-hostile, but the duty of a bodyguard was to prepare for the worst.
He rotated his right shoulder gingerly, trying to ignore the dull ache and dripping wound that the owl had inflicted on him in the event that he would need to fight soon.
"...What should we do?" Mars questioned, turning a pair of inquisitive eyes towards Sasha.
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Post by SlvrNight on Jul 29, 2016 22:47:03 GMT -5
Sasha narrowed her eyes at the metallic creature, studying every detail she could see. It had four arms and its black armor had a few lines of glowing green on it. Its height was surprising, with it being nearly nine feet. Plainly said, it was extremely intimidating. If it hadn't helped them already, it would've been extremely easy to immediately assume it was hostile.
That wasn't entire disproven yet, though. It was very possible that this creature was just trying to get them to lower their guard. Or it wanted nothing to interfere with its attempted murder of them. However, it could also be that it was somehow connected to the disappearances. Maybe it was also on the trail and figured they were all heading for the same goal?
No, there simply wasn't enough solid facts to form any kind of accurate theory as to what this robot wanted. They had little choice but to take the direct approach.
"Keep your guard up." Sasha replied to Mars. "We'll withdraw our weapons but keep yourself ready to immediately get back into the fight if this guy attacks us." The detective holstered her pistol and took a few steps forward, her emerald eyes never leaving the robotic creature atop the hill.
"Who are you? Why did you help us?"
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Post by Tokrochiru on Jul 30, 2016 3:58:57 GMT -5
Tension built up as the human woman approached him. He wasn't sure what to feel. Excitement at finally speaking directly with a human being? Worry that they might attempt to attack him out of fear?
Who are you?
It was a good question, but also one with a very complicated answer. He chose not to answer immediately. He needed more time to think of a response they would understand. Thankfully, the woman's second question was much simpler.
Why did you help us?
"Because I'm sick and tired of doing nothing!!" It wasn't his intention to raise his voice to that level, especially considering the way he spoke. When the words came out, it sounded as if three or four people were speaking in unison. He knew this, but his passion made it difficult for him to speak in a human tongue while maintaining a relaxed tone and mid-level volume.
He attempted to calm himself down by running some extra coolant through his body. He was nervous, and it wasn't helping matters in the slightest. Steam poured out through certain, very small orifices as he expelled heat from his body.
"I apologize. I lack experience communicating with fleshbo-....no. Communicating with 'humans'. There are a great many things I wish to say, but I haven't the slightest idea on how to voice them. Anything I could tell you would be meaningless without the proper context."
He hoped that got the point across. While he had comprehension of certain human and akma languages, translating his own thoughts and experiences into them wasn't something he excelled at. Not for lack of trying, given the choices he made over the last few years.
If only he could find a way to "break the ice" as their people would say. He knew that most humans introduced themselves upon first meeting each other, but that wasn't something he could do. Not in the same way that he could with another of his kind.
Then again...did it really matter? Perhaps a title alone would suffice for the moment.
"If you need a name, call me SEEKER. I would tell you my full name, but I doubt you would remember it easily. It's...long. Complicated."
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Post by Jisui on Aug 1, 2016 23:04:27 GMT -5
Following heed to his charge, Mars placed Garenteen back on his belt and took a few cautious steps towards the robotic construct. He made sure to position himself in front of Sasha in the event that he would need to protect her, although he was inwardly somewhat impressed by her calm demeanor at the moment. There were not a lot of people who would just casually walk towards something that was potentially quite dangerous.
"Because I'm sick and tired of doing nothing!!"
The mercenary's eyes widened, caught off guard by the sudden burst of passion from the machine. He hadn't even expected it to speak, much less sound so...alive. It sounded like it had more emotion than Duster in all honesty, whatever merit that had.
Mars quietly listened with Sasha as the machine continued to speak, his mind almost instantly recognizing the pattern that it was speaking in with growing familiarity. The pauses, the odd steam rising out of it, the word choice... the machine, SEEKER, had problems talking to people it seemed. Or humans at least. Mars wasn't entirely sure how he felt sharing that similarity with a robot, but it caused him to ease up his tension by a fraction. If nothing else, he could understand how hard it was to convey thoughts to other people.
"...Mars Grisk." The bodyguard spoke up after a short period of silence following SEEKER's introduction, instinctively putting out his hand for a handshake and immediately realizing a problem. With a somewhat embarrassed cough, he retracted the hand quickly and waited for his companion to speak.
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Post by SlvrNight on Aug 2, 2016 19:25:58 GMT -5
"Because I'm sick and tired of doing nothing!!"
Sasha narrowed her eyes at the robot. The passion in his voice. The emotion. Despite being a machine, he sounded very much like an organic being. This was interesting. Was he a type of artificial intelligence? Maybe a soul of the dead linked to a metal body? He could also have simply been a machine programmed to try and emulate organic emotion. That last one was a fairly offensive and negative thought, so the detective pushed it aside. Regardless of his origins, this metallic creature seemed to have individualistic thoughts and emotions.
The redhead could hear an increase in liquid moving throughout the robot's body as it released steam. Curious. Did his body work similar to a human's but emulated those functions in a way only a robot could? To help with being nervous or shy, coolant flooded the body to help calm it? Similar to a deep breath for an organic? She could hear a type of low hum all throughout the body, although this sound changed when she focused upon its center, within its chest. It sounded similar to a constant quiet draft of wind leaving a hole, like a type of exhale. It had some type of heart?
The mechanics of the robot were very interesting, for Sasha had never encountered something like it. How would she know if he were lying? What sounds would she have to listen for? Would the sound in his chest shift? Would he have liquid course through his body more quickly and heavily?
All of that was irrelevant at this moment, and to the case in general.
"You're tired of doing nothing. I wonder if you're talking about the disappearances..." Sasha cupped her chin as she stared at the metal creature, studying him.
She then smiled, trying to ease SEEKER's discomfort, gently placed a hand on one of his left arms, and looked up at his helmet in an attempt to give "eye contact".
"My name is Sasha Ratamu. I'm a private investigator working on solving the disappearances that have occurred in this area."
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Post by Tokrochiru on Aug 5, 2016 1:17:25 GMT -5
An investigator. Seeker was surprised that she didn't refer to herself as a detective. He had assumed that was the term humans preferred to use for the profession. Investigator was a more direct, less cultured way to phrase it.
She had only spoken a total of six sentences, and already he felt like he was talking to a steelborn. Or perhaps it was the steelborn that spoke like humans.
Regardless, the woman no doubt had questions. He intended to answer them.
"Our objectives are the same then. I've been looking into the disappearances for a little over two months. In that span of time, you two are the first humans who have survived an encounter with the gangrites. All the others have vanished. I don't know where they are being taken, but gangrites are predatory creatures. They don't hunt what they don't intend on eating unless they feel that their territory is threatened. I'm...I'm worried about what this might mean for you. Your survival might push them to work harder at whatever goal they strive to achieve."
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Post by Jisui on Aug 7, 2016 20:29:54 GMT -5
Mars felt his body tense up slightly upon seeing Sasha place her hand on Seeker's arm, his muscles screaming to protect the slight woman despite the seemingly harmless machine. Despite this, he restrained himself in an effort to trust Sasha. She was the one putting herself at risk in an attempt to communicate with the robot. Whether or not he approved (and he was inwardly somewhat impressed by her boldness), he had to believe in her if they wanted any progress on this investigation.
"Gangrite?" Mars hadn't intended for the thought to be spoken aloud, but found it leaving his lips as Seeker spoke. Was that the name of whatever the hell had attacked them? His eyes snapped to the unconscious form of the sole owl survivor, squinting at the harsh glimmer of faerie dust that assaulted his eyes.
"...Ithrin."
The word resurfaced to his mind, immediately causing an uncomfortable feeling to arise in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't explain the feeling, nor could he reason its cause. He could only push it away in an attempt to focus on the situation in hand.
The way Mars saw it, if the owls... gangrites, would refocus their efforts two-fold, the only solution was to figure out where they were taking their prey. He assumed that's what their trail had been leading up to, but the recent attack had thrown a wrench in that plan. It would be extraordinarily difficult to follow any sort of trail after that battle. Even importantly however...
"Do you want to keep going?"
Scarlet eyes gazed over at the detective, devoid of sentiment and difficult to read into. It was a simple question, not meant to challenge Sasha's fortitude or bravery. Most detectives would have either given up on the case or waited for reinforcements when faced with the sudden danger that had just arisen. His job, above all else, was to ensure that she stayed alive. He certainly wouldn't blame Sasha if she wanted to be escorted back.
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Post by SlvrNight on Aug 10, 2016 22:21:27 GMT -5
"Gangrites?" Sasha repeated the name of the creatures, testing its sound on her mouth. She wasn't an expert on animals, so this wasn't a big deal to her personally. She imagined there was much she didn't know of this world's natural creatures. Although the term "natural" could be disputed if one knew their history.
"The don't usually hunt what they don't intend to eat..." The detective stroked her chin as she thought. "So, what? These disappearances could possibly just be these creatures taking people around here and devouring them. But if that were a natural problem, then it should've started happening a while ago. Not like this civilization popped up within the last two months or anything. Something had to have pushed the gangrites here, or disturbed them maybe."
Or perhaps someone was manipulating them. Controlling them somehow. Controlling animals wasn't exactly an unknown type of magic. Hell, the mage wouldn't even need to be a master to do something like this. But it also depended on how many of these creatures were being used. Controlling more required more expertise and power.
"Damn it." Sasha muttered. "This opens up more questions than it answers really." Truly it was as if she had completely ignored the part where Seeker had said their victory would result in a renewed, more aggressive, effort on the gangrites' part. Most would be visibly alarmed by that, and rightfully so. A normal human's life would be in extreme danger in this case.
"Do you want to keep going?"
She looked at Mars, putting her thinking aside for the time. "Yes." She answered. She then stopped, realizing her voice sounded harsher than intended. The detective took a small breath before looking at the mercenary again, taking a step closer to him.
"I have no intention of heading back. I've had my fair share of dangerous cases, Mars. I've been in many fights. I've seen a lot of blood. I've lost many people." That last part wasn't supposed to come out, but she continued as naturally as she could, with only the briefest of pauses.
"It'll take more than this to push me away from a case. Besides all that, this seems to be getting more serious. If all the people who disappeared are dead, than this needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. I'm here working on it right now, so it might as well be me."
Sasha smiled.
"But I appreciate your concern."
Whether he was doing it just because it was his job or not, she appreciated it truly.
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Post by Jisui on Aug 11, 2016 1:03:01 GMT -5
"Understood." The mercenary responded without messing a beat, his stoic gaze dipping downwards to lock eyes with the detective. Truth be told, he had been expecting that answer, but not the resolve and weary experience that seemed to come with it. Good.
It was good for them both. Good for her, that she would have the determination to see this through to the end. And for him...
"...It just became easier to guard you." He admitted, the corner of his mouth twitching into a small, but rare smile that broke the usual mask of indifference he wore. Realizing that he had let his thoughts slip, the mercenary averted his eyes quietly. Regardless, he meant what he had said. It was easy to protect a client.
But even easier to protect someone he respected.
There was nothing to fear. If the danger had doubled, than so would his efforts. He only needed to match her resolve.
"What about you?" Mars questioned, quickly switching gears and glancing at SEEKER. "What do you plan to do now?"
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Post by Tokrochiru on Aug 11, 2016 19:28:16 GMT -5
Sasha asked all the right questions. What could Seeker do now that he'd helped these two humans fend off the Gangrites? They clearly weren't going to halt their investigation on account of the danger they faced. He noticed his internal temperature rise as he struggled to weigh his options. However, he couldn't afford to waste any more coolant on something like this. He decided to deal with the heat. It wasn't as if his body was in any danger in the first place, given the weather.
He tried to come up with a plan. A detailed, precise series of actions he could take in order to accomplish his objectives....Only to stop himself mid-thought. He couldn't afford to think this way anymore. Nothing could be gained from overthinking it. He couldn't afford to hesitate.
Not after he made that promise.
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Stones fell left and right. The waters rippled and waved wildly as the foundation of the underground cavern were torn asunder.
The little winged child looked up to him, tears building as she struggled to speak.
"Promise me you won't hide anymore. Promise me that you'll go to all sorts of places! That you'll meet all sorts of people! Don't spend your whole life trapped up there like I was down here."
SEEKER's gaze was glued to the fluid draining from her eyes. Out of all the things he wanted at that precise moment, more than anything else, he wanted to cry with her.
"...I promise."
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So he made an impulsive decision.
"I'm going with you. You'll need my help if you want to track the Gangrites down skillfully. I'm not taking no for an answer."
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