Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 1: Training Facility ONX)
08-20-2010, 05:06 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by WoodlandBeef.
TARGET TERMINATED
The Hunterbot surveyed the creature’s smoking body and scanned its vital signs. The primate-insectoid had a very weak pulse and wouldn’t last maybe but a few more minutes if it fought to stay alive. Satisfied with eliminating the threat, Charlie rotated and observed its companions carefully. It seemed both the plant and female had more up their proverbial sleeves than the Hunterbot had originally identified. The Viridioflorian seemed to have done something strange to the creature while it was latched onto its wounded arm that caused it to react the way it did; and the female warrior’s abilities were far from anything the robot had encountered in any of its missions. CH4-12-L13 made note of this new information and stored the data away for later.
The mech lumbered towards where Lloyd and Karen were each respectively rubbing their temples while recuperating from some spike in the current audible frequencies. Unsure as to why they were so easily overcome, Charlie extended one arm and nudged Karen’s shoulder as gently as a large mechanical machine constructed solely for killing could muster. Karen’s smaller frame lurched from the gesture and she turned to glare up at the robot.
“What is it now? You pretty much pissed off the bush over there you know?”
Ignoring the latter part of Karen’s remark, the same claw gestured towards the door on the far side of the room that emitted a hiss as it slid open and allowed the group to press onwards. Charlie simply waited for the others to make a move, intending to take the rear lest any more creatures attempt a surprise attack.
“It makes a pretty good point. No sense heading back, might as well move forwards and not waste time”
Karen eyed Lloyd contemplatively, not because she disagreed, but more so to reaffirm her newfound conviction and plan out how they should move onwards. In any of her past video game adventures, taking a party into a dungeon and make it all out alive was simply about positioning the players where they were best suited. She and the robot were definitely the strongest currently and could probably take more punishment than Reudic and definitely more than Lloyd. That put the Viridioflorian and novel dweller to stay in the middle where it was generally safer. Karen exhaled deeply as she took her new role to heart.
“Lloyd, you and the bush stay behind me. Charlie will cover the rear so nothing should be able to get the drop on us…literally…”
“You can’t really be up for this Karen! You shouldn’t be so willing to throw your life away…th-there’s always plot holes; there has to be. If we find them, we can use them against the Monitor! Don‘t you value your own life?!”
The sword wielding girl turned around and regarded Lloyd with a determined gaze.
“This is what I must do; my heart is set on it. You wouldn’t understand anyway…”
The words exchanged between the two humans held little interest to the Hunterbot, and as its programming dictated, the mission had to go on as there was no time to waste. The mech emitted a whirring noise to garner the others’ attention and once again gestured towards the hallway beyond the open door
“Char-lee…wahn…mouv…fur-wards”
“Yeah…we know. We should go before anything else unpleasant happens”
Lloyd nodded to Karen and the small group set off through the portal. The hallways was really more of a corridor; small, narrow, and dimly lit. The steely gray walls offered no solace to the troubled minds of Lloyd and Karen, although the latter was somewhat better off as she was focused on one particular task at hand. Saving everyone else in this godforsaken steel hell. Karen’s mouth was set in a grim line as she led the group with Lloyd sticking rather close to her. He didn’t seem too fond of being metaphorically arm in root with some creepy talking plant, and he still had a sketchy acceptance of the robot. Trusting something with that much firepower that was supposedly an opponent in this battle to the death wasn’t quite as easy. The inability to really communicate on a normal, humane level with either the Viridioflorian and Hunterbot did little to help justify Lloyd trusting either of them.
Charlie’s processor was satisfied that their group was moving again. Soon enough they would reach the target destination and the Hunterbot could complete the secondary objectives. Oddly though, the way the female now carried herself and the way she exchanged words with the male piqued the robot’s mechanical intrigue.
‘…value your own life?!’
Life was a concept both foreign and familiar to the robot. The mech possessed no conscience of its own, but it was debatable if Charlie be considered ‘alive’. To be alive was to have function…to have purpose…and CH4-12-L13 indeed had purpose. Its purpose was to terminate life. Something about Karen’s actions caused a temporary faltering in the machine’s processor. Charlie accessed its databank once more to try and make heads or tails of the female’s actions and came to settle on three words.
‘Protect. Save. Sacrifice.’
The Hunterbot started to slowly lag behind as it processed the two words; definitions, uses, synonyms, everything, and then applied it to the recent events that had come to transpire. Charlie soon discerned just what Karen was planning to achieve. She sought to protect those she could, save them from the one known as the Monitor, and she would sacrifice herself to do it. Something about the nobility of her actions struck the Hunterbot’s core A.I. as uncanny and rather incomprehensible. Then again, Charlie came from a place where only greedy politicians and pigheaded warlords ruled the galaxy, stabbing one another in the back for fame, money, and power. The Hunterbot needed more data.
The three in front halted at the edge of what looked to be a seven by seven board slightly illuminated by red, blue, and yellow lights. Charlie’s optics noticed the change in lighting and halted, just in time to avoid bumping Lloyd’s head with its main body segment. There was a small terminal situated before them and three poles situated on the opposite side of the board.
“What do you make of this? Looks like some kind of game…”
Lloyd tentatively took a step onto the partially illuminated board, expecting lasers or flamethrowers to sprout from the walls and blast him. Nothing happened so he took a few more steps, still retaining heavy caution until Reudic floated right on by to the other side.
“Ar Kheez. Dohr…oh-pen”
Karen was unsure of what Reudic was referring to at first, but a closer observation of the door revealed three unlit orbs surrounding it. She then turned her gaze towards the poles, which each had colors matching the orbs, but were also unlit. Lastly, Karen’s eyes fell towards the console and the three bars of light. The console was dark, save for a big red button.
“Hey Charlie. Can you blast that door for us?”
The robot twisted to ‘look’ at Karen and then the door. A whirring noise followed by a discharge of heat, steam, and light followed as Charlie’s laser fired at the door. They were all astounded when the bolt dissipated into a rippling effect as if there were some kind of energy shield protecting the door.
“Figured as much…guess we gotta’ press the big red button and solve the puzzle”
Putting her knowledge of the gaming universe to the test, Karen pressed the button and immediately, the console lit up showing a miniature version of the board except that each square had basic square and rectangular shapes within them. From her perspective, each square could be rotated and shifted with those adjacent to it; and whenever the open ends of the squares connected properly with those of the colored squares, the color would move up. It was fairly simple for her to figure out except for the fact there seemed to be a particular time limit to complete each link, which would cause the puzzle to reset if she was too slow. Despite this, Karen’s adept intellect at such ordeals made the challenge trivial to bypass with only having to restart twice.
The three poles were lit up and Karen, Lloyd, and Reudic each touched one. The orbs around the door lit up and the shield dissipated as the door opened allowing them to proceed onwards into the largest of all the arena-like rooms. There wasn’t much of anything inside the next room save for some ages old bloodstains and battle damage. Still, there was no reason that any of them should let their guard down. This place was as dangerous as they come; more dangerous than any dungeon, novel, forest, or planet the four had encountered in their existences.
An explosion towards the aft end of the mining frigate caused for alarm amongst those aboard the station and sirens sounded. The frigate wasn’t even an eighth of the size of one of the ONX Training Facilities, but a head on collision was inevitable and the damage could be significant; not only to the station itself, but some of the valuable experiments within those cold, steel walls. The station’s scanners calculated the trajectory, velocity, and several other readouts on the incoming frigate wreckage. Training Facility ONX 5 was where the frigate would impact. With nothing that could really stop the encroaching ship, the station’s occupants held their breaths and watched as the spacecraft smashed into ONX 5 and a plume of fire erupted from the impact site. A scan of the damage indicated something that none of the scientists aboard the facility were pleased to hear.
“What the hell just happened? An earthquake?”
“I…guess? It sounded more like an explosion to me. Either way, seems like the power is out…” Not even five seconds after the words left Lloyd‘s mouth, a loud buzzing sound echoed throughout the area and dim, red lights flickered to life bathing the room in an ominous glow.
“…scratch that. Though these have to be the emergency generators. Whatever happened…really did some damage to the facility”
‘Attention all personnel! A mining frigate has collided with Facility ONX 5! Critical damage to the main reactor sustained! Repair teams deployed!’
“A…mining frigate? Frigates mean ships, but ships don’t tend to mine…unless…” Karen’s jaw dropped as things finally registered in her mind.
“We’re in space!?”
The sound of scuttling intermingled with some of the most grotesque organic noises ever heard filled the ears and audio receptors of the four contestants. Karen and Lloyd exchanged glances while Charlie faced the hallway from which they came. The Hunterbot’s sensors could pick up movement, but neither the thermal or infrared could fully identify it…or them…or whatever it was. Reacting as programmed, Charlie’s pincers opened and spewed jets of flame out into the hallway behind them. Screeches and pops could be heard as the nearly undetectable organisms behind them burned and died. Suddenly, a form came from seemingly nowhere and smash into the Hunterbot, sending it sprawling across the room.
“What the hell just happened to the robot!?”
“U-Uh…Karen? We have bigger problems! Our friend is back…and uglier than the last time!”
Indeed it was. The primate-insectoid hybrid was looming before them, but unlike before, its body was still missing a large part of its torso. Strangely enough, parts of its flesh had become covered in enormous blisters, tendrils, and decaying plantlike matter. The missing fingers and other wounds had been filled in by wiggling tentacle-like growths. Two of the creatures eye sockets had alien flowers protruding from it and its lower jaw hung limply allowing its bloody drool to slather over the ground below it. Overall, the creature looked hideous enough that even Charlie‘s emotionless processor was repulsed by the sight. Either way, the thing was back and it was pissed.
TARGET TERMINATED
The Hunterbot surveyed the creature’s smoking body and scanned its vital signs. The primate-insectoid had a very weak pulse and wouldn’t last maybe but a few more minutes if it fought to stay alive. Satisfied with eliminating the threat, Charlie rotated and observed its companions carefully. It seemed both the plant and female had more up their proverbial sleeves than the Hunterbot had originally identified. The Viridioflorian seemed to have done something strange to the creature while it was latched onto its wounded arm that caused it to react the way it did; and the female warrior’s abilities were far from anything the robot had encountered in any of its missions. CH4-12-L13 made note of this new information and stored the data away for later.
The mech lumbered towards where Lloyd and Karen were each respectively rubbing their temples while recuperating from some spike in the current audible frequencies. Unsure as to why they were so easily overcome, Charlie extended one arm and nudged Karen’s shoulder as gently as a large mechanical machine constructed solely for killing could muster. Karen’s smaller frame lurched from the gesture and she turned to glare up at the robot.
“What is it now? You pretty much pissed off the bush over there you know?”
Ignoring the latter part of Karen’s remark, the same claw gestured towards the door on the far side of the room that emitted a hiss as it slid open and allowed the group to press onwards. Charlie simply waited for the others to make a move, intending to take the rear lest any more creatures attempt a surprise attack.
“It makes a pretty good point. No sense heading back, might as well move forwards and not waste time”
Karen eyed Lloyd contemplatively, not because she disagreed, but more so to reaffirm her newfound conviction and plan out how they should move onwards. In any of her past video game adventures, taking a party into a dungeon and make it all out alive was simply about positioning the players where they were best suited. She and the robot were definitely the strongest currently and could probably take more punishment than Reudic and definitely more than Lloyd. That put the Viridioflorian and novel dweller to stay in the middle where it was generally safer. Karen exhaled deeply as she took her new role to heart.
“Lloyd, you and the bush stay behind me. Charlie will cover the rear so nothing should be able to get the drop on us…literally…”
“You can’t really be up for this Karen! You shouldn’t be so willing to throw your life away…th-there’s always plot holes; there has to be. If we find them, we can use them against the Monitor! Don‘t you value your own life?!”
The sword wielding girl turned around and regarded Lloyd with a determined gaze.
“This is what I must do; my heart is set on it. You wouldn’t understand anyway…”
The words exchanged between the two humans held little interest to the Hunterbot, and as its programming dictated, the mission had to go on as there was no time to waste. The mech emitted a whirring noise to garner the others’ attention and once again gestured towards the hallway beyond the open door
“Char-lee…wahn…mouv…fur-wards”
“Yeah…we know. We should go before anything else unpleasant happens”
Lloyd nodded to Karen and the small group set off through the portal. The hallways was really more of a corridor; small, narrow, and dimly lit. The steely gray walls offered no solace to the troubled minds of Lloyd and Karen, although the latter was somewhat better off as she was focused on one particular task at hand. Saving everyone else in this godforsaken steel hell. Karen’s mouth was set in a grim line as she led the group with Lloyd sticking rather close to her. He didn’t seem too fond of being metaphorically arm in root with some creepy talking plant, and he still had a sketchy acceptance of the robot. Trusting something with that much firepower that was supposedly an opponent in this battle to the death wasn’t quite as easy. The inability to really communicate on a normal, humane level with either the Viridioflorian and Hunterbot did little to help justify Lloyd trusting either of them.
Charlie’s processor was satisfied that their group was moving again. Soon enough they would reach the target destination and the Hunterbot could complete the secondary objectives. Oddly though, the way the female now carried herself and the way she exchanged words with the male piqued the robot’s mechanical intrigue.
‘…value your own life?!’
Life was a concept both foreign and familiar to the robot. The mech possessed no conscience of its own, but it was debatable if Charlie be considered ‘alive’. To be alive was to have function…to have purpose…and CH4-12-L13 indeed had purpose. Its purpose was to terminate life. Something about Karen’s actions caused a temporary faltering in the machine’s processor. Charlie accessed its databank once more to try and make heads or tails of the female’s actions and came to settle on three words.
‘Protect. Save. Sacrifice.’
The Hunterbot started to slowly lag behind as it processed the two words; definitions, uses, synonyms, everything, and then applied it to the recent events that had come to transpire. Charlie soon discerned just what Karen was planning to achieve. She sought to protect those she could, save them from the one known as the Monitor, and she would sacrifice herself to do it. Something about the nobility of her actions struck the Hunterbot’s core A.I. as uncanny and rather incomprehensible. Then again, Charlie came from a place where only greedy politicians and pigheaded warlords ruled the galaxy, stabbing one another in the back for fame, money, and power. The Hunterbot needed more data.
The three in front halted at the edge of what looked to be a seven by seven board slightly illuminated by red, blue, and yellow lights. Charlie’s optics noticed the change in lighting and halted, just in time to avoid bumping Lloyd’s head with its main body segment. There was a small terminal situated before them and three poles situated on the opposite side of the board.
“What do you make of this? Looks like some kind of game…”
Lloyd tentatively took a step onto the partially illuminated board, expecting lasers or flamethrowers to sprout from the walls and blast him. Nothing happened so he took a few more steps, still retaining heavy caution until Reudic floated right on by to the other side.
“Ar Kheez. Dohr…oh-pen”
Karen was unsure of what Reudic was referring to at first, but a closer observation of the door revealed three unlit orbs surrounding it. She then turned her gaze towards the poles, which each had colors matching the orbs, but were also unlit. Lastly, Karen’s eyes fell towards the console and the three bars of light. The console was dark, save for a big red button.
“Hey Charlie. Can you blast that door for us?”
The robot twisted to ‘look’ at Karen and then the door. A whirring noise followed by a discharge of heat, steam, and light followed as Charlie’s laser fired at the door. They were all astounded when the bolt dissipated into a rippling effect as if there were some kind of energy shield protecting the door.
“Figured as much…guess we gotta’ press the big red button and solve the puzzle”
Putting her knowledge of the gaming universe to the test, Karen pressed the button and immediately, the console lit up showing a miniature version of the board except that each square had basic square and rectangular shapes within them. From her perspective, each square could be rotated and shifted with those adjacent to it; and whenever the open ends of the squares connected properly with those of the colored squares, the color would move up. It was fairly simple for her to figure out except for the fact there seemed to be a particular time limit to complete each link, which would cause the puzzle to reset if she was too slow. Despite this, Karen’s adept intellect at such ordeals made the challenge trivial to bypass with only having to restart twice.
The three poles were lit up and Karen, Lloyd, and Reudic each touched one. The orbs around the door lit up and the shield dissipated as the door opened allowing them to proceed onwards into the largest of all the arena-like rooms. There wasn’t much of anything inside the next room save for some ages old bloodstains and battle damage. Still, there was no reason that any of them should let their guard down. This place was as dangerous as they come; more dangerous than any dungeon, novel, forest, or planet the four had encountered in their existences.
/-|=+=|-\
Outside the immense space station in the vast expanse of stars, a mass of metal sped towards the facility. Some of the engineers aboard the station noticed the strange object hurtling towards them and called in a visual scan. It looked to be a basic planetary mining frigate that had suffered some heavy damage. There were no interstellar routes in this sector so seeing something like a mining frigate so far away from any planet was indeed call for concern. Members on board the space station directed communications towards the ship ordering the crew to change course or slow down, but only received static mixed with strange noises in response.An explosion towards the aft end of the mining frigate caused for alarm amongst those aboard the station and sirens sounded. The frigate wasn’t even an eighth of the size of one of the ONX Training Facilities, but a head on collision was inevitable and the damage could be significant; not only to the station itself, but some of the valuable experiments within those cold, steel walls. The station’s scanners calculated the trajectory, velocity, and several other readouts on the incoming frigate wreckage. Training Facility ONX 5 was where the frigate would impact. With nothing that could really stop the encroaching ship, the station’s occupants held their breaths and watched as the spacecraft smashed into ONX 5 and a plume of fire erupted from the impact site. A scan of the damage indicated something that none of the scientists aboard the facility were pleased to hear.
/-|=+=|-\
Charlie and the others had just crossed the threshold into the new room when a jarring series of tremors shook the facility from communications array to storage center and every where’s in between. The Hunterbot, Karen, and Lloyd had all been knocked off balance and hugged the floor until the shaking subsided, whereas Reudic floated lazily beside them. The lights went out, leaving the four contestants in complete darkness. Charlie instinctively activated its thermal and infrared sensors to keep watch for anything suspicious. “What the hell just happened? An earthquake?”
“I…guess? It sounded more like an explosion to me. Either way, seems like the power is out…” Not even five seconds after the words left Lloyd‘s mouth, a loud buzzing sound echoed throughout the area and dim, red lights flickered to life bathing the room in an ominous glow.
“…scratch that. Though these have to be the emergency generators. Whatever happened…really did some damage to the facility”
‘Attention all personnel! A mining frigate has collided with Facility ONX 5! Critical damage to the main reactor sustained! Repair teams deployed!’
“A…mining frigate? Frigates mean ships, but ships don’t tend to mine…unless…” Karen’s jaw dropped as things finally registered in her mind.
“We’re in space!?”
The sound of scuttling intermingled with some of the most grotesque organic noises ever heard filled the ears and audio receptors of the four contestants. Karen and Lloyd exchanged glances while Charlie faced the hallway from which they came. The Hunterbot’s sensors could pick up movement, but neither the thermal or infrared could fully identify it…or them…or whatever it was. Reacting as programmed, Charlie’s pincers opened and spewed jets of flame out into the hallway behind them. Screeches and pops could be heard as the nearly undetectable organisms behind them burned and died. Suddenly, a form came from seemingly nowhere and smash into the Hunterbot, sending it sprawling across the room.
“What the hell just happened to the robot!?”
“U-Uh…Karen? We have bigger problems! Our friend is back…and uglier than the last time!”
Indeed it was. The primate-insectoid hybrid was looming before them, but unlike before, its body was still missing a large part of its torso. Strangely enough, parts of its flesh had become covered in enormous blisters, tendrils, and decaying plantlike matter. The missing fingers and other wounds had been filled in by wiggling tentacle-like growths. Two of the creatures eye sockets had alien flowers protruding from it and its lower jaw hung limply allowing its bloody drool to slather over the ground below it. Overall, the creature looked hideous enough that even Charlie‘s emotionless processor was repulsed by the sight. Either way, the thing was back and it was pissed.