Vezok's Friend

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone The sphere, thanks to its shape, was harder to pick up than the cube and Atamai had to pause once or twice to adjust his grip or risk it slipping from his grasp. He stood over the center hole and dropped the sphere. At that very moment, the administrator informed the group: “Grid deactivated. The grid must be active when the sphere is dropped.” The sphere disappeared down the shaft, the sound receding rapidly. Three seconds passed and then there was a splash from down below as the sphere hit water. Assembling the sphere had obviously worked, but the rest hadn’t. “Resetting.” The tiles of the grid suddenly flipped over, hiding the inscripted side from view and forming a smooth surface in the ground instead. At the same time, at the bottom of the grid, where they had found the cube originally, another rose from the floor in the same spot. Once it had fully emerged, the grid tiles flipped over again, the missing insets having been replaced. “Would you like to try again?” OOC: @~Xemnas~ IC [Tactical Panda II]: Moving as the ship lowered, so she could keep an eye on the exact spot she had felt, Yumiwak saw the landscape below come into view again and found that her direct line of sight was obscured by a rocky overhang and its cast shadow. Out here it was simply too bright, her eyes not adjusted to clearly see what she so desperately wanted to, just waiting below. But what she could make out was the silhouette of a boulder, and laying atop the boulder, a figure resting on its side. A very tall figure, the organic and curved outline of the body a stark contrast to the surrounding rock… OOC: @EmperorWhenua IC [Nixie]: “Oh, spirits...thank you...thank you!” Nixie said, relief obvious in her voice. Without another word, she spun and hurried back up the road towards her hut. Taja of course knew the way. The astronomer threw her door open and skidded to halt inside, looking around her room. Piles of charts and tablets and scrolls with notes were scattered around. Some were orderly and sorted, some were just notes or failed attempts. Between them and the telescope, it was impossible for her alone to grab all of it. But now that she had help. She let out a brief sigh, then went to work on getting the telescope ready to be dismounted. OOC: @Eyru

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone Just as before, each new tile unlocked and attached to the cube, until finally, the group was looking at another sphere like the ones they had spotted before. Beyond that, nothing happened. Had they done everything right? And what came next? OOC: @~Xemnas~@pokemonlover360

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone Rolling the cube, Atamai saw that the circular portion of the tile had come loose and attached to the cube instead as it flipped onto the next side. The bottom of the tile was curved and the edges were obviously shaped to allow more of them to attach to the other sides. Atamai recognized the shape of the lines as the same as on the sunken spheres visible at the bottom of the chasm. Touching the [1.2] tile, there was another locking click. OOC: @~Xemnas~

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone “Input through use of elemental powers is invalid and will not be recognized.” There was a short pause. “You’re gonna have to do this one manually.” OOC: @pokemonlover360

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone “Negative, Kilo-M9. Elemental powers are available but input is not recognized.” the administrator replied. Putting the cube onto the [1.1] position, Atamai could feel the tile ever so slightly yield to the pressure. There was a click of something locking in place onto the cube. “Grid activated. Each side may only touch the grid once. The grid must remain active for the entire duration until drop. Interrupting grid contact or failure will cause a reset.” OOC: @~Xemnas~@Snelly@Tarn@Harvali@Onaku@pokemonlover360

IC [Kunok McGrokk]: “Alright, alright. I see whatcha getting at, friendo. And yeah I can tell you’re new, the long spine gives it away a bit.” Kunok scratched at his jaw, making the frills growing from behind it wiggle. “But you’ve picked one heck of a place to set up shop, believe you me. You got blighted swamps and creepy isles to the South, kama-crazy warskaks North, West you crushed when you got here and East...well, look around.” “Now I ain’t telling ya to stop but you gotta know what you’re getting yourself into. Folks round here mostly live of what they can scavenge or grow for themselves. Rig’s a bit different cause they’re all bunched up and split the time between raiding and fishing so you get a place or two but elsewhere...hard to see it happen. Warskaks got their fenced in Oasis but they’d sooner eat you methinks.” “So, tell me true: You serious about opening up a place? No other motives?” OOC: @Sparticus147

IC [Nixie]: “Yes, but...what happened to you? Who’s that with you?” Nixie looked taken aback. The Toa, her friend, looked...changed. And a little scary, in fact. The circumstances were not helping. She glanced around between Taja, her companion and her own feet, as if to decide between the three issues pressing her the most right now: Her own safety, rescuing her work and her friend’s transformation. After a second, she was forced to push that last question down in the list of priorities. “Nevermind, later, no time now.” she chided herself, then looked at Whisper. “I’m sorry we have no time for introductions either, stranger.” “Taja...listen. My work...the charts, the telescopes. It’s all back at my hut, I just got it set up. I can’t just leave it, it might help in the future. That’s why I came here: to ask for help, because the head is blocking the view and I wanted a complete overview but then the warning came and I thought about asking someone to give me a hand in moving it all to the caves, but I didn’t want to keep anyone from helping protect the village either. But I can’t move all my work alone in time, so I didn’t know what to do and then the alarm came and I saw you and...I need help.” She got faster as she spoke, because even just explaining herself felt like it was taking too much time. OOC: @Eyru @Nato the Traveler

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone Peering into the chasm, Atamai saw that the waterfall obscuring the pathway on the far side fell into a series of pools, like a hot spring terrace, before collecting in a clear lake the very bottom of the canyon. In fact, the water did appear to be hot, as there was steam coming off of the highest pools. On its way down, the water cascaded into every pool - except one: In one of the natural basins the Toa spotted a generator powered by a water wheel. He also spotted the reason why: the pool above that would have fed into this one wasn’t filled high enough. Leading towards that pool was a halfpipe, or slide, emerging from somewhere in the rock face below the ledge the group was standing on. It seemed to line up with one of the three holes, but which one exactly was unclear. While tracing the slide, the Toa also spotted a line of submerged pillars below the clear water at the bottom. They led in a straight line towards the far side and the last one, partially obscured by the steaming mist of the waterfall impacting on top of it, wasn’t entirely submerged, because it didn’t have a flat top. Rather, a rounded arch was built on it, acting as a shield from the scalding downpour. And he saw one thing more below the rippling surface: Scattered spheres of rock laid at the bottom, either by themselves or in small piles of two or three. They were smooth, except for a series of geometric lines wrapping around them. OOC: Artwork for quick reference visualization, but it's not necessarily to scale. IC descriptions take priority in regards to size and distance. @~Xemnas~

IC [Tactical Panda II]: As the airship came about and pointed its bow towards the massive silhouette looming on the horizon, Yumiwak could look down and almost picture the flow of the battle that had taken place based on where the dead had fallen and where the fight had led, eventually showing a trail of footsteps leading away from the carnage. Her assumption had been right, whoever had walked away from this had been heading towards the giant head, at least initially. But up ahead, the landscape below became increasingly eroded, full of small, dried out gorges and overhanging rocks where water had once flown. It would be impossible to trace the footsteps reliably from above in this terrain. OOC: @EmperorWhenua

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone Examining the grid, Atamai and Kilo saw that in the entire 4x5 grid, there were only ten distinctly different symbols, with the rest of the grid being filled out by duplicates. One of the symbols showed up four times, three were represented thrice, two twice and another three only showed up once. The symbols in the top right of the grid [1.1], the middle [1.3] and top left [1.5] were identical and didn’t show up in any of the lower rows. Directly adjacent to those three tiles in the grid were the three circular holes that opened into chutes dropping into the rock. Looking down into one of the holes, Atamai and Kilo could see that they didn’t go straight down all the way, but instead arched away and out of sight eventually, leading towards the ledge of the chasm that they had only glanced at so far. Maybe there was more to the chasm itself? Between the three holes, adjacent to the tiles in the [1.2] and [1.4] position were dividers blocking the holes off from each other. To Atamai, the setup looked somewhat reminiscent of slides in a Ga-Matoran waterpark. OOC: @~Xemnas~ @pokemonlover360

IC [Nixie]: There was one more being lingering around Sans hut, caught between the urge to get herself to personal safety and the need to save her work. But all that got overridden as she spotted a familiar yet very changed figure nearby, talking to something...someone that was utterly alien to her. She took a few hesitant steps closer. “T-Taja...is that you?” Nixie asked. OOC: Wasn't counting on that, but it's so nice that Taja decided to drop by in plain view @Eyru

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone “You are not apostatized. A translation is not necessary.” OOC: @Onaku IC [Kunok McGrokk]: “I appreciate the cooking, I suppose, I really do, but anyone ever tell you this is very, very strange?” McGrokk asked as he sat down. He poked at one of the taco’s first before loading up a plate. They were indeed quite tasty, much better than he could do if given a similar amount of time. OOC: @Sparticus147

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone The cube was a cubic meter in size, made from rock, but carved so smoothly it almost appeared as concrete. It’s edges had a minimal chamfer and its sides were plain and unadorned. They seemed to correspond to the size of the grid tiles, though upon closer inspection the tiles were a little larger. In order to lift the cube, Atamai had to squat down, and firmly grasp the bottom edges before pushing through his heels. It was rather heavy. OOC: Probably should have specified this last post. @~Xemnas~ IC [Kunok McGrokk]: “...” The trader was a bit too stunned by Gore’s tack - a rare occurrence for Kunok - to object to him pushing his way past him into his house, for lack of a better term and towards the kitchen. “...knock yourself out.” he eventually said, following the other inside. He was obviously dealing with someone who’d wandered the wasteland a few days too long. But, nobody ever offered to cook for him so as long as he got a change from his own home cooking out of it, he’d humor his...guest. For lack of a better term. OOC: @Sparticus147 IC [Tactical Panda II]: As they approached, it became clear the exposure had not done the bodies any favors. And then, as the airship approached, some of the bodies started twitching. There was a brief moment of alarm, before the reanimation turned out to be the result of wasteland scavenger rahi that were gnawing at the corpses and now quickly scuttling for cover as the shadow of the vessel fell on them. OOC: @EmperorWhenua

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone As Atamai led the group forward, they all could feel a soft breeze the closer they got to the doorway. There hadn’t been any draft before, which indicated that the way out had reopened behind them. The omega shaped passage led into a hallway that was strangely just long enough for the disembodied voice to answer the barrage of questions from the Kralhi as the group walked. Though it did not answer them in the same order as they had been asked: “Well regarding your names, it is polite to know those you interact with. Kilo-M9, Atamai, Jutori, Vashni, Zadred, and the Collector, it is a pleasure to meet you all.” the Administrator said. “I am the Administrator, I have overseen the ruins for 746 trillion cycles - or something like that. I lost count. These ruins contain access to the space and chambers you currently traverse. They were built before my inception and are topped by a gong. A gong’s purpose is to be rung. The entry chamber was designed to be opened by those who can, regardless of whether they are welcome or not. There are currently some apostatized in the ruins to the South and West. They are not welcome, but I cannot turn them away. Please proceed into the next chamber.” With Atamai still at the front, the group emerged into a cavernous space, still under the strange pre-dawn/dusk starry sky, but this chamber was much, much larger than the first. They found themselves on the wide, rocky top of a wall overlooking a deep and wide chasm, formed by the same stratified rock they’d seen in the entrance chamber. Straight across on the far side, a loud, steaming waterfall plunged into the depths. The bottom of the chasm was currently obscured by the ledge up ahead. But just barely visible through the waterfall, they could spot the familiar omega doorway behind it again. But what drew their eyes more right now were the features of the space on their side: There was a cube sitting on the floor right in front of them. And just beyond it was a grid of tiles on the floor, arranged in 4 rows and 5 columns, with groves separating each tile from the next. They were rectangular on the outside, but each had a circular inset with a Zakazian inscription at the center. And beyond that, bordering on the tiles above the first, third and fifth column of the grid, were three holes dropping into the rock just ahead of the ledge. Between them, the rock rose, separating the holes from each other. And starting on either side of the holes was a semi-circular walkway, jutting out over the ledge. OOC: Welcome to level two, @Tarn @~Xemnas~ @Snelly @pokemonlover360 @Harvali @Onaku! IC [Kunok McGrokk]: The trader looked puzzled at his visitor, eyebrows thoroughly furrowed. “Food…” “You should probably eat it before it spoils. Which makes it a hot commodity for me. Dangerous to carry tho, everyone loves a fresh bite to eat. Rogue Riggers ‘n Warskaks ‘specially. So you gotta be clever about where you hide it en route. But this ain’t a restaurant, friend.” OOC: @Sparticus147 IC [Tactical Panda II]: Standing on the bow of her vessel, Yumiwak could notice through her telescope that there were scattered black spots dotting the otherwise rock and sand landscape in the distance. OOC: @EmperorWhenua

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone “There is another chamber behind the door. The intent of those that built this place is unknown to me. That knowledge is not part of my programming.” OOC: @~Xemnas~ IC [Kunok McGrokk]: The front door of the shop opened and the Skakdi trader stood in front of Gore in all his blinged out, robed glory, gold canine teeth glittering in the sun. “Mh-yeees?” He asked. OOC: @Sparticus147

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone “The administrator is the administrator. You are speaking to the administrator.” OOC: @~Xemnas~

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone The inscribed rock dropped into the bowl with the same echoey sound as before, but this time, as it faded, another sound could be heard. A deep hum of a two-note melody sounded from everywhere and nowhere at once, then faded away into nothing. At the same time, dust fell from the omega shape, as the inside recessed a bit before revealing itself to be not just a carving, but a doorway. “The Administrator welcomes you. Names please.” a voice spoke up, in the same elusive way as its start up melody. OOC: @Tarn @~Xemnas~ @Snelly @pokemonlover360 @Harvali @Onaku Congratulations!

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone The sound of the piece of slate rock dropping into the bowl was amplified by its parabolic shape and echoed off of the walls. The sound took a second or two to fade and it felt to Jutori as if something was going to happen, but it didn’t. Something was still missing. Atamai briefly glanced over his shoulder from where he was drawing symbols below the writing on the wall to see if there was an effect, but continued when nothing happened. He set the edge of the piece of slate against the wall again and continued the drawing process, only for the rock he was using to shatter. The slate was very brittle and in fact wore away much quicker than the rock wall did as it scraped against it. A short while and several broken pieces of slate later, Atamai was done and stepped back, next to Collector and Jutori who were flanking the pedestal with the bowl, to admire his handiwork. They were indeed the corresponding symbols to Unity, Creation and Strategy, but aside from looking nice underneath the Matoran phrases, there was no effect. OOC: @Tarn @~Xemnas~ @Snelly @pokemonlover360 @Harvali @Onaku IC [Kunok McGrokk]: The Skakdi sighed and closed the crate holding the bike back up again. “Sorry, friend. Can’t do much without a name. You gotta give me that much.” With that, he locked the crate, shrugged and returned to his hoarder’s paradise shop, waiting to see who else was gonna grace him with a visit in this strange, strange week. OOC: @Sparticus147 IC: [Ostrox - Tranquility, above ruins of Po-MetruSculpture fields] The bolt shot away from the side of the ship, it’s crackling energy field expanding steadily as it got further and further away. They had aimed squarely for the center mass of the statue, but at this distance, the bolt deviated slightly as it traveled and only clipped the statue in its side. Where it did, it seemed to rob the sculpture of its structural integrity and it half crumbled, half exploded as the bolt struck its side and then fizzled out, its destructive energy dissipated. The Vahki was about to report that the target was still standing, when the statue began to lean, the outstretched arm holding its weapon aloft now too much to bear with part of its torso missing, and it cracked starting at the crescent impact site, before collapsing in on itself in a cloud of dust and debris, leaving only the socket with a plaque reading Toa Naho - beloved champion. OOC: @Toru Nui

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone Zadred’s prodding of the omega shape revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Up close it just became evident just how neatly carved the three lines of Matoran writing in the stone were. But pushing them did not activate any hidden mechanisms. The rock felt solid. Following the lines forming the arch of the omega led Zadred back along the walls surrounding the chamber and to where Kilo and Atamai were trying to decipher the Zakazian writing. Where at first glance the carvings had looked completely unfamiliar, the close inspection showed that while it was very different indeed, there were some vague similarities to their own iconography. Some of the carvings seemed to depict bipedal figures in various poses: maybe like Matoran or Toa, performing different rituals perhaps? But if so, they didn’t seem to pertain to the mystery at hand. @Tarn @~Xemnas~ @Snelly @pokemonlover360 @Harvali @Onaku

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone Kilo’s examination of the walls revealed no further Matoran writing or symbols. However the way the walls were laid out was reminiscent of the walls of history common in Matoran society. Based on the Zakazian lettering, they could start to collect a database of the native writing. If they could figure out enough of the symbols, the rest could be decoded from context and provide and alphabet that would then allow the machine to read and write the language. Who knew when that might come in handy? Vashni couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary with her element either. Yes this place was odd, but there was nothing of note here for the Toa of psionics. The slate piled up around the base of the podium and spread across the floor also revealed no further Matoran symbols to Atamai and the rest of the company. Turning a thin piece of rock over in his hands, all the Toa could see were the scratches from where the other pieces of slate had scraped against this one as he picked it up. Brushing over it with his thumb only made the scratches deeper. OOC: @pokemonlover360 @~Xemnas~ @Onaku @Snelly @Tarn

IC: Reliable Narrator | Northern Wastes, Ruins of Stone An odd tingly sensation washed over the members of Odd Company as Atamai led them into the Ziggurat. It was as if a barely perceptible but warm breeze blew past them in the dark passage as they entered. In fact, the air was incredibly dry here. Then pale light appeared up ahead and the passage opened up into a roughly circular looking chamber under a late dusk or early dawn sky, adorned by faint stars breaking through the waxing or waning sunlight. But upon looking up they noticed the chamber was in fact just the deepest part of a larger canyon with intricate, stratified rock walls ranging from pale tan and grey to rich red and orange in color. The walls were smooth, as if sand carried by wind or water had eroded them to this point in ages long past. More carvings like those on the outside adorned the walls here. As the group moved forward they saw the ground beneath their feet was a thin layer of rocks, patterned as if belonging to a zen garden and only interrupted by pieces of slate sticking out of the gravel here and there and increasing in number towards the center of the chamber, where, in contrast to the very organic looking walls, an incredibly precisely carved podium rose from a pile of the grey rocks. The podium was shaped like a pyramid with the tip cut off. In its place was a carved bowl, sitting securely in a depression atop the podium. And beyond the podium, at the far side of the chamber, more prominent lines carved into the wall there converged into a large omega shape. At its center, written in Matoran, it said: Brought Into Existence Best Laid Plans Accomplished Together OOC: @pokemonlover360 @~Xemnas~ @Onaku @Snelly @Tarn

IC: [Takadox - Say What?] “Your kind!?” the warlord exclaimed. Then it clicked. The underground Skakdi in the group, his cryptic talk about knowing where to go and hearing things. Karz. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? That’s why this Mesi is following you so willingly, why you claim to know and hear things.” Takadox’ mind raced. Did he just trade one captor for another? Why had this being of shadow come to rescue him? Did he just trade one captor for another. He briefly thought about his escape options...and found there were none right now in this tunnel if he turned on the group, exit in sight or not. He'd have to wait until they made it out. And while running, he had no chance of making them tell him anything with his ability either. Fine, direct examination then. “You’re not about to drag me off to your own temple and do the same thing the blind horde was gonna do, are you?” OOC: @Burnmad IC: [Nixie - Not again] Word had spread through Metru Koro of the impending attack. Two days, if the league’s emissaries were to be believed. Nixie didn’t. The astronomer was nervously standing in the vicinity of the Turaga’s hut, shuffling her feet and clutching at the leather bag hanging from her side, slung across her shoulder, stuffed to the brim with star charts and her portable astronomy tools. At her feet was another bundle, wrapped tightly in string to make it more compact and easier to carry in addition to her bag. She’d only just begun filing the charts and drawing new ones and now she was once again forced to grab what she could. And here Taja and her had only just finished setting up the good telescope. She’d originally come to this part of the camp to ask if one of the village's defenders would agree to help her on a secret excursion to the top of the giant head. Preferably someone who could fly or had access to an airship. That’s when she spotted Toa Skyra running up to Sans’s hut, shouting for her partner Rose to come help her go after one of the Barraki. Nixie had half a mind to tag along. If they were after one of the warlords they had to go to Metru Nui and then she could split off and head to the top of the GSR head. If the stars held knowledge that could help them in the long run, she needed a complete picture and their old home was decidedly in the way at this point in time. But then what would happen to her hut here? Her mind was filled with the stacks of work material left at her hut, about to get bombed out of existence if left sitting there like this. No - no her trip would have to wait. What she needed right now was to save her work - and she needed help to get it done in time. But who to ask? She couldn’t just pull a capable fighter like the duo of Toa away from their duties. Saving lives took priority of course. Maybe once everyone was leaving the Turaga’s hut? And so she kept lingering in the village square in uncertainty, pacing nervously back and forth. OOC: Nixie open for interaction.

IC: [ Vasquez - Danger Zone] Vasquez hit the ‘improved mobility’ switch to adjust her seating and watched as Nova 2’s frames pulled ahead, spread out and began to engage targets. An artificial shooting star raced by overhead as Madrigal fired her opening salvo and Markov joined in with his M92 almost simultaneously, followed shortly by Julia’s gauss cannon. Purple and blue explosions in the distance signaled the projectiles had found their marks a heartbeat later. Myra hung back for a moment, to get a good first-hand overview before joining the fray herself. Tacmaps and briefings were all fine and dandy, but reality had a way of disappointing by not matching up with the intel. Standard operating procedure was to assume intel was incomplete, that they would hit snags and to prepare accordingly. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst - blah, blah. Personally, she preferred ‘overkill is underrated’. Between the Spartans and Broadswords, it took almost no time to designate all the corvettes’ currently deployed escorts. As soon as the Seraphs and Banshees came into scanning range, they got automatically tagged and added for the entire team, including the one that had just left Artur’s field of view. <<Lost sight of the third. You see where it went?>> <<Nova 2-2, bandit marked.>> came Myra’s voice over the team channel, while at the same time, a small red triangle appeared on Artur’s HUD indicating the position of the third Banshee in relation to their booster frame. Meanwhile, Myra throttled up her own frame to catch up with Nova Two, engine readouts briefly hitting 104% as she closed the gap. Glancing to her sides despite seeing their icons on her HUD already, she saw Jill and Cassie were on her port and starboard respectively, keeping pace. Alright, time to go to work. With her M92 fully charged as well, she selected the Banshees flying close to corvette B, targeting the one leading the flight.. <<I’ve got the leader.>> she informed the rest of Nova One. The targeting computer spit out a firing solution within nanoseconds and she hit the thumb button. The frame shuddered and her visor darkened briefly in response to the bright flash. The lead Banshee disappeared in a cloud of ionized gas as it exploded, the shockwave throwing its wingman off course. <<Splash One.>> That got the attention of the rest and they turned to intercept. She briefly considered firing up one of the MITV pods, but they needed them for the bigger ships. It was only a matter of time before their plasma turrets would come online. The indicator on her HUD showed the Gauss cannon slowly starting to charge again. 3%...4%. If they could keep up the momentum of their surprise attack, the next shot could very well be the one used to rip through the corvette’s shields. So for the time being, that left one thing: <<I’m going in for guns.>>

IC: [Takadox - Running outta breath] “Again I ask:” the warlord gasped, trying to keep on his feet, almost tripping over Providence. “How?” He had seen too many strange things and was still freaked out by the fact his rescuers were running with one of the people he had just been rescued from. “And what’s his deal?” he asked, pointing at Zak-Yak. OOC: @Burnmad @Sparticus147

OOC: Spartans calmly and professionally setting out to do what they do best theme. IC: [ Vasquez - En route to intercept] At first there was a lot of noise, warning claxons signaling the impending launch, the roar of the engines, the comm chatter, the rattling of the booster frame. But the cacophony fell away the instant they passed through the hangar airlock and into space, replaced by the quiet sounds of her armor and the soft hum of the engines transmitted from the frame into her suit. Despite the pre-mission excitement and adrenaline rushing through her, an odd sense of calm overcame Myra as they shot away from the Madrigal and towards their targets, which were both highlighted on her HUD, which had switched to flight-mode. The mission timer had started as well. The corvettes both had target markers on them and a thin line indicating the optimal trajectory for her booster frame to reach the intercept point. “Madrigal Actual, this is Nova Lead. Good launch. Over.” Vasquez reported. “Copy Nova Lead.” came the reply from Madrigal. “Good launch, we’re showing green across the board here too. Over.” Myra switched over to the fireteam channel. “Nova Team, assume scattered formation and proceed to the intercept point. You are cleared hot as soon as bandits are in range. Don’t do anything stupid and happy hunting.” With that out of the way she glanced back over her shoulder towards the aft gun turret and Taylor. “You doing okay back there, Gunny?” OOC: @Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)