Tech4X

[Vell]

and as L3X flew, others planned. the Scord operations kicked up, as L3X sped toward the people, the cold spot stopped growing, covering most of Europe. the 'eye' of the cold spot is a perpetual blizzard.

and L3X is all to aware of the signal he emits, allowing BioE to pinpoint his location at any time.

as he thought, he came upon the people, and found no familiar faces. except one that shot out from some database hidden in L3X's systems. a file, on this person.

a name didn't come to mind, but the person was in the area of the United States, according to the file. a leader of some movement. the exact movement, however, was lost to him.

as L3X stepped off the Drifter, the man, and his companions, turned towards him.

hello, android, what are you doing around here?

[Blizzard]

L3X:

Even though this man is probably of interest, L3X just gives him a silent glance. Since L3X has no face expressions, the man can't really tell what L3X is thinking. The glance doesn't take long; 2, maybe 3 seconds. L3X turns away.

I spotted Kyle over there. I should probably go straight there and talk to him.

[Vell]

so L3X walked over to Kyle and Kyle told L3X that Asia will become dangerous soon and it would probably be best to stay away from that general part of the world for a while.

[Blizzard]

L3X:

L3X is trying to get Kyle to say what's wrong, but Kyle refuses to tell L3X what's going on.

What the hell is going on?! What are you hiding?!

[Vell]

Its nothing that involves you. this has to remain low, not even the operatives involved know whats happening. you're important to the Scorchers L3X, but, as you know, you aren't affiliated with us; oh, yes, you do help us a lot, and we do help you a lot, but you aren't a member.  we tell you where we go because you have a tendency to help us survive another day when we're in a bind. but you aren't one of us, and this is too important. just stay the heck out of Asia.

this is apparently a serious issue; Kyle calls L3X Lex, not L3X.

[Fallen Angel X]

Tikoja:

   Tikoja was thrown back into a wall when the aircraft exploded. He fell to the floor and sat down. His back was terribly sore. He wasn't paying attention to the recent events due to the fact that he suffered from ADHD. As a result, he zoned out for the past five minutes. He noticed his pathway back to Odius was blocked and it would be futile to head that way.

   Suddenly an explosion occured and Tikoja got up and went to investigate, rubbing his back on the way.

[Blizzard]

Tikoja:

Hopefully Tikoja has come to his senses, because it's about to get nasty. Another explosion can be heard... As Tikoja runs towards the sound of the explosion he notices something in the far. It's flying and it's big, really big. It is a huge Scord Battleship. They seem to be trying to destroy the ruins, but why? As Tikoja gets closer he realizes that it may be a good idea to get in cover. There are several VS-Crafts supporting the battleship. Suddenly Tikoja spots a VS-Craft that lands. The Scord slowly get out. They are carrying some weird looking equipment with them. It doesn't seem to be combat equipment. They actually seem to be carrying no weapons at all. Is this a good oppoturnity to kill them and take over the VS-Craft?

[Fallen Angel X]

Tikoja:

   Tikoja spotted the scord who were unarmed. He could have just left, after all, his mission had nothing to do with this but he wanted to find out what was going on. Tikoja readies his eye and his gun and takes careful aim. He took account the wind and his distance and aimed at the group of Scord. He'd have to make the next few shots count. If he didn't, a battle would most likely brew, which he didn't want. He pressed his hand on the trigger and fired 6 shots into the group of Scord with great accuracy.

[Blizzard]

Tikoja:

Surprisingly each shot was a full hit. All 6 Scord are killed in the gun fire and Tikoja has no obstacle between him and the VS-Craft.

[Fallen Angel X]

Tikoja:

   Tikoja reloaded his revolver while looking at the surrounding area. He knew it was work to have to pay attention but it'd have been more work if he was ambushed unsuspectingly. He approached the VS-Craft but rather than boarding it, Tikoja looks at the weird equipment they were carrying.

What was it?

[Blizzard]

L3X:

Fine, have it your way.

Suddenly L3X picks up a signal.

Strange, it's far to the east. Hundreds of kilometers. The last time I got a strong signal like this was during the last Scord War and... Oh no...

Leaving Kyle baffled about what just happened L3X starts running toward his Air Drifter. He jumps in, starts the engines and flies straight to the east.

This is a Scord mothership and the signal is sending is a direct attack order with countdown to all ships in the area. And not just that... Before the attack they are going to deploy a mass destruction weapon. It's not a nuke, but it can destroy cities... I have to stop them! I have to take it down somehow! Best I infiltrate it and try to destroy it from within somehow. I should be there in a couple of hours. That should give me enough time get in there and sabotage it.

This is a serious problem. The Scord mothership seems to be somewhere in North America. What is going on...?

Tikoja:

The weird equipment looks like sensors. The Scord seem to be searching for something. Tikoja has an opportunity to either hijack the VS-Craft, take the equipment for analysis about what they are doing or both. What will he do? And if he takes the equipment, where will he take it?

[Fallen Angel X]

Tikoja:

   Tikoja looked at the sensors. Perhaps they were looking for something, but it was something big. They sent out quite a force to look for something. It must've been something big or atleast something important. If that was the case, he knew the scord couldn't have it. He thought for a moment on what he would do next. He could hijack the VS-Craft nearby him but the last one had exploded when Odius approached it so Tikoja wasn't so sure. He could bring the sensors back to the rebels and they'd send a sizable force to deal with the problem. He could also look for Odius and team up with him. He decided he'd attempt to hijack the VS-Craft. He entered it and looked around for explosives.

What happens next?

[Vell]

(sin't North America WEST of europe?)

L3X flew off towards the signal in North America; the Mothership. he estimated that after his arrival he'd only have about two, maybe three hours before the Scord launches their offensive. he would have to act fast.

[Blizzard]

L3X:
(You said we were in Asia, Ulta.)

After a few hours of flight L3X can see something at the horizon. The mothership is even bigger than he imagined. Even though he fought in the last Scord War, he never actually got to see a mothership. He only remembered the signal that was sent a couple of hours before the massive attack.

I'll be there in 10 minutes...

L3X continues flying towards the mothership for now thinking about how to infiltrate it. Obviously he won't be able to land too close to it. As L3X gets closer and closer, he notices that a large number of VS-Crafts are circling around the mothership. It seems as if they would be analyzing something...

Tikoja:
(BTW, don't worry, L3X is not getting close to you. You're in Europe. xD)

Tikoja messes around with the controls and the VS-Craft seems to be booting up. Tikoja takes a seat as there is suddenly a small display showing up which seems to be asking for a password or something like that. Tikoja enters something quickly without knowing what's it about. The CS-Craft takes off without problems. But something isn't right... The VS-Craft is flying by itself! By the time Tikoja notices that he's not in control of the VS-Craft, it's too late. It's already too high above the ground to be able to open the hatch and jump down. Tikoja has no choice but to sit down and wait for the VS-Craft to reach its destination which seems to be the larger Scord battleship. As the VS-Craft with Tikoja slowly approaches the battleship, he starts feeling dizzy. His senses seem to be fading away slowly and the large battleship outside looks more and more like a big blur spot rather than a spaceship. Just now Tikoja notices that odd smell in the air. It's knockout gas. Tikoja starts to panic and gets up, but the gas is already too deep in his organism. Tikoja passes out and falls on the floor, luckily not breaking a bone.

After a couple of hours Tikoja wakes up. He notices that he's in some kind of cell. He's most probably on the battleship. It's rather odd that the Scord take prisoners, but this seems to be what is happening here. Suddenly a Scord accompanied with two other heavily armed Scord enters the room. The Scrod walks slowly towards Tikoja's cell. Then he presses some buttons on the side and a small hole opens in the energy field containing Tikoja. He throws something into Tikoja's cell. It's looks like a small plug, easily fitting into an ear. Tikoja first hesitates. But after the Scord mimics with his hands to plug it into his ear, Tikoja decides to give it a shot.

Can you understand what I am saying?

Oddly enough he does. Tikoja nods slowly.

Who else knows about this operation? Who else knows about what we are looking for here? If you tell me now, I will consider to let you live.

Tikoja seems to have a problem here... He has no idea what's going on and he wasn't able yet to contact anybody about it. What will Tikoja answer?

[Vell]

(

Its nothing that involves you. this has to remain low, not even the operatives involved know whats happening. you're important to the Scorchers L3X, but, as you know, you aren't affiliated with us; oh, yes, you do help us a lot, and we do help you a lot, but you aren't a member.  we tell you where we go because you have a tendency to help us survive another day when we're in a bind. but you aren't one of us, and this is too important. just stay the heck out of Asia.

)

what should L3X do? attempt to hijack a VS-Craft, or make for the mothership immediately? time ticked down, and L3X would have to think swiftly. he had only a few hours. taking over a mothership, alone, would take a long time, if it was possible at all. he could just attempt to destroy the thing.

[Fallen Angel X]

Tikoja:

   Tikoja spat at the scord. He wasn't about to tell them anything even if he did know. Tikoja had his eye scan for the location of his gun. He'd located it.

Fuck you! I'm not telling you anything at all. I'd rather die then tell you freaks.

   Tikoja was scared out of his mind. He didn't know if he could back up his words but in the meantime he'd activate his distress signal found embedded in his leg.

[Blizzard]

L3X:
(Misunderstanding, lol!)

L3X decides to hijack one of the VS-Crafts. This would be the best way to get on the mothership undetected. L3X goes for it when he arrives. He takes down on of the scout groups and hijacks their VS-Craft. About the same thing happens to him that happened to Tikoja. After entering the wrong activation sequence, the VS-Craft returns to the mothership automatically... Luckily the sleeping gas has no effect on L3X as he is a synthetic, not an organic lifeform.

I'm not sure if the Scord are aware of my presence. In any case I have to be careful when I leave this aircraft when I'm on the mothership. I might have to quickly dispose of some Scord before they can alert the rest.

After a few minutes L3X enters the mothership. From a closeup it looks even larger than from far away. The VS-Craft lands on a marked spot and several Scord surround the aircraft. They open the hatch and slowly enter the aircraft. Oddly enough there is nobody there... "Maybe the reactivation countdown just expired and the ship simply returned by itself? No... The console clearly states that a wrong activation code was entered. But where could the intruder be?" That is pretty much what the Scord face expressions and behavior can tell L3X about what the Scord are talking about... Obviously L3X is well hidden but still able to spy on the Scord.

Hm... I'm not getting any useful information from these Scord here...

L3X ambushes the 4 Scord and slices them into pieces before they even realize what's going on. L3X stays undetected for now. He leaves the VS-Craft and scans the area.

Now that I have a 3D area map of this place, I should try to find the engine room...

L3X locates a few positions on his area map that could be the engine room and starts heading for the first one.

When I know where the engines and their energy are, I could find a way to destroy them and take this thing down. I have two hours left until the attack...

Tikoja:

Grrr... Knock him out!

One of the Scord guards presses a switch and suddenly Tikoja is paralyzed by a high voltage. He doesn't pass out, but he's completely paralyzed. There's nothing that he can do now.

Get him out of the cell. Let's see how he responds to torture.

The guards open Tikoja's cell by deactivating the energy field. They take him into a weird room where he is tied onto some kind of chair.

I am no Scord of empty threads so I will show you that I mean business.

The Scord general presses a switch or two at some kind of console. Suddenly a spike runs through Tikoja's leg. It hurts like hell. The spike stays in there for now.

I am asking you again... Who else knows about us and how many are there? If you tell me now, I will remove the spike from your leg and return you to your cell. After I confirm your information, I might just let you go. For now.

Just now that Tikoja hears those Scord words, he realizes what just happened. Sadly enough the electrocution from before didn't paralyze his pain detecting nerves. The spike ran straight through his leg and it hurt like hell. He looks down and realizes that it probably damaged, if not even destroyed, the distress signal emitter. The general probably had no idea it was there.
This is a nasty situation. It seems that his survival depends on his next few words. Well... Best case scenario would be that the general runs another spike through Tikoja's leg or one through his other leg. But what will happen if he tells them something...? Sure, nobody knows about Tikoja, but he could lie about it. That would get him back into his cell and away from this chair of pain and torture while the general checks on that. This could give him enough time to think of an escape plan and to take care of his wound. It would be a very bad idea to leave it untreated, Tikoja could bleed to death.

So? Have you decided to talk? Or do I need to be more persuasive than this?

What will Tikoja tell the general?

[Vell]

and so L3X moved. he encountered a few more Scord along the way, but took care of all of them quietly. he wasn't sure, but he estimated that sometime within ten minutes the Scord would find their fallen comrades and alert the mothership. and then thigns would get really tough.

[Blizzard]

L3X:

L3X arrives at the first location as suddently the alarm goes off.

They know that I'm here, damn! Hm, this isn't the engine room... I should head for the next location. I should try to stay undetected. Even though they know that somebody is on board the mothership, they don't need to know how many and who...

Suddenly L3X notices something in the corner...

Weird... It looks like a weapon... What is that?

L3X grabs it...

[Vell]

the alarm went off in that room. the weapon seemed light, but L3X thought it was quite powerful. and Scord-made.

perhaps he should use this instead of his own weapons if he encounters anything?