<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class='ooc'><tr><td> <span style='color:blue'>Solo for Celuvix Novox ~Current Day~47 ~ Current Quarter~Tria ~ Current Year~81379 </span> <span style='color:gray'>In times when getting paid is just enough, and getting by isn't enough at all.</span> </td></tr></table> <span style='color:gray'>Within the Nyonge mountain range, locals have been complaining of small, harmless yet out of place tremors, sudden shakes under the ground that seem to come and go on a regular basis. While authorities have passed these tremors off as latent volcanic activity.</span> Dark, pitch black with an endless hue, the sound of swift passing air and fluttering cloth bounced off from what seemed to be a vertical tunnel. As the tunnel became deeper, small diodes of dim, red and blue lights pulsed at slow pace, even though they passed quickly as something--someone--fell down the tunnel. The dim lights only shed against an appearance of white, sleek fur, a perky earring tacked ear, and flailing straps of black cloth. After what felt like a timeless fall, the sound of lashing cords and metal hooks tacking into the tunnel brought the falling to a quick stop. <span style='color:gray'>For some, the existence of Machina stands as a convenience, a staple of life that makes the most complex tasks easier to manage, and the most mundane tasks all the more simple. In other cases, even when it seems to be in the advancement of technology, there are those who would use Machina in order to cause great misfortune.</span> The tunnel came to an end over a deep, dimly lit hallway of steel panels and blue carpet. Lining the walls of the quite lavish looking corridor, white doors marked with stenciled number values began to close, locking automatically by some sort of mechanical device. A highly advanced laboratory, deep within the mountains of the Nyonge mountains, had been infiltrated. Under the veil of secrecy, its secrets would be stolen with as much secrecy and misfortune as the laboratory itself caused. <span style='color:gray'>Powerful weapons, bastardizations of nature and science, stolen lives of the innocent and naive. Though the advancements of machina come to the aid of the greater good, their speed in prosperity do not come without a price. A price often paid with those who desire help the most.</span> From bottom of tunnel, covered by a silver air duct filter, the sound of scrapping claws against metal gave off the presence of life within the purely mechanical corridors. As sudden as the noise started, the filter burst to the ground, followed by a mass of black, lashing cloth. "Specialist, call sign Vee in position." Crouched on top of the fallen filter, a young Pendragon hid amongst the cover of black, buckled belts. The voice was of a young male, his white, fox tail lashing low against the floor with tail flame almost dull in a flame more reminiscent of a heat wave. He stood up quickly from the busted filter, sprinting to the wall while ripping away the black belts. They exposed the long maw of a white fox, the fur about his eyes covered by gray crescents, the white fur slightly blending in with short, loose fangs of silver hair that covered both eyes by just the tips. His chest was exposed with only a cross black strap supporting some sort of device on his back, but both shoulders carried medium sized shields in the shape of helmets, both of them supporting protective black sleeves that ran down to his fur covered, elongated hands. His lower half stayed covered by shadow, thought the silver end of a rather long blade's hilt peeked from what little light would allow. He was waiting against the shadowed corner of a corridor, staring down into the dark with both arms clenched at the ready. Within his left ear, a quiet transmitted voice buzzed his first orders.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class='ooc'><tr><td>Commlink: <span style='color:blue'>Blue</span>. Vee: Italics</td></tr></table> <span style='color:gray'>Specialist Vee, affiliation unknown. He is a Pendragon under the employment of fate, a machina technician commissioned by chance. His real name, known only to those he knows, and his occupation a mark of mystery always following pillars of smoke. Truth be known, his first official job would be his current predicament under the payroll of the USR. Rumor has it that Vee is one of the younger operatives to be temporarily employed, and has been blacklisted from most Machina excavation companies for his overzealous lust for exploration.</span> Down the blanketing dark of the corridor to the west, what appeared to be a churning pillar of light barely flashed, becoming larger as the sound of an automatic door hissed at the far end. <span style='color:blue'>Fia Core will be activated in Twenty-five minutes. Estimated time until access to core facility is granted, twenty-four minutes. Specialist Vee will access three security points towards core, to be decoded upon arrival. Outer layer now accessed, Fia Cooling Facility. Warning, hostile forces detected within facility. Warning, hostile forces detected within facility.</span> His ears twitched at the last part of his order's announcement, springing from the edge of the corridor immediately. As he left the shadows into the middle of the corridor, the last of the black belts tore away with ease. The churning pillar of light was what looked to be a large gear outside of the slowly opening door, but he couldn't be certain. Whether the hostile forces were to be feared could wait until later. The ends of the corridor soon became covered by white and yellow sparks, tracing only slightly as a weak rain , but soon spraying against the walls and ceiling. Shots firing, and the appearance of the first security point apparent, Specialist Vee covered his face with his forearm, the black sleeves over his arms flailing. Every so often, fired rounds would cause a transparent panel of force to phase in front of his body, firing off the side. As he reached the door of the corridor, Vee reached for the silver hilt that bobbed at his side. One foot on the edge of the now open passageway, Vee jolted into a room of vast blue, the Hydropike Turbine room. It was as if he jumped from the twentieth story of a large tower, nothing under his feet but open air, steam, and the water below. A large tower, pulsing with an unearthly glow from within dark frames and narrow bands of circuitry that turned a massive, slowly falling set of circular disks, drawing a steady stream of quick flowing water in a narrow sheet field around the mast of the turbine. However, the peace that was machina and nature was broken by those who would support it. Across the large room, on the small platforms and bridges that spread out through the different consoles abroad the turbine, lightly armored private police guards had already taken control of the room. They were covered in simple riot armor, crash helmets with shaded visors, and using only small firearms to set back their enemy. The enemy, though a convenience for specialist Vee, raided with the outfit of USR, possibly a reagent squadron sent to bust operation on the basis of a small tip. Vee overshot his jump, not expecting to meet open air as he saw the bridge platform was moving too slow for him to jump onto. He didnÂ’t fall far, but tumbled slightly as he hit one of the lower bridges. Rolling to recover quickly, his eyes caught of a rather large machina sentry that crashed to the floor in front of him. Like a cascade, a filament of green light covered Specialist Vee's eyes in the shape of a small visor. Small yellow crosshairs fixed on the sentry, just as the beacon in his ear blipped. <span style='color:blue'>Numset Class Defense Sentry. High, 9.67 meters. Weight, 238kg. Fia based Machina Balance Offense. Primary weapon, hydrolic Guillotine. Secondary weapon, corrosive missile. Tertiary weapon, mandible claws-8.</span> While the beacon analyzed the machina before him, Vee took off with a sprint towards the edge of the bridge, His feet--more of angular paws in supported bracers-- lightly tapped against the ground as the silver scabbard of his Ice Fang bounced at his side. His legs were covered in padded body armor and a large utility pouch, while the device on his back was shrouded in a mass of locked, black belts. As he reached the edge of the bridge, the hissing sound of missiles followed close to his feet. <span style='color:blue'>Initializing full range recon, monitoring target for analysis.</span> Veeran along the edge of the bridge, jumping as far as he could with every other step as the corrosive missiles exploded behind him, blasting away at the strong bridge with heavy shockwaves and a cloud of acid that caused the surface metal to rust just a bit. Vee came closer to the Numset machina, dragging the tip of his Ice Fang against the floor of the bridge just for a few seconds. He noticed that the Numset resembled a large mechanical insect, a two legged work of machinery with heavy, sharpened claws that shattered streaks of electricity occasionally. When he was within leaping distance, Vee burst from the floor with both hands gripping his ice fang. The Numset machina slashed one of its large claws down at the leaping Vee, catching his blade with a heavy crash of sparks upon their impact. His attack of opportunity missed, Vee ran across the back edge of the claw towards the head mechanism. Twisting his Ice Fang over his head with a full powered arch, Vee slashed down against the mead mechanism as two small turrets pointed dangerously for his torso. "Intruder on the O-4 control struts! There he is, take that guy out before he gets too far!" Vee looked up while wrenching his blade from the sparking head mechanism just in time to see the Facility's guards aiming at his position. The first few rounds grazed against the Numset's powerful shield arms, but Vee jumped backwards from the machina before they had a chance to correct their aim. While falling back, he pulled the strapped device from his back with the belts ripping away. It was a sword breaker, about three of feet long with an end in the shape of a crescent, and a square notch that bore a nozzle barrier in the shape of an afterburner. The hilt was loaded with a crest, locked in place and filled with a sloshing red liquid. Before falling to the ground, Vee pulled the trigger of his strange device. Roaring, like a tornado of flaming and burning winds, a flare of red and orange fanged fire streaked towards the Numset Class machine. It fell back off its feet towards the guards behind, shattering for a split second before beigh caught by the blast's explosion. A blast of air knocked Vee from the bridge platform because of his explosion, mangling the bridge and scattering scrap parts across the turbine. He fell effortlessly, white tail lashing behind as the weakened tail flame became a more obvious blue flare, lashing out while he reached for the edge of another platform. Specialist Vee managed to catch on just past his fingertips. He quickly slid the Ice Fang back into her silver scabbard, just in time to catch the sword breaker before it fell to the water below. It seemed that the USR forces had gotten the upper hand, most of the aggressive fire going into the security barrier than firing in his direction. After jamming the sword breaker into the hanging strap on his back, Vee swung onto the above platform. "I suppose this is it...approaching Cooling Facility Security Control Point." <span style='color:blue'>Acknowledged.</span> Vee was turning, rotating around the base of the turbine on one of the powering disks that powered the facility. Four monitors, each of them surrounding the inner rim of the power disk, appeared to be off with only a small console on each for an interface. Since he didn't want to be caught up in a different battle unrelated to his mission, Vee stayed crouched on the disk until it rose to the top.
Fading yells and muffled crossfire died into the down below as the rotating disk rose at a gradual pace a dark, red low light illuminated room. Vee's hand remained on the trigger end of his mechanical swordbreaker, evenly feeling the notches along the grip while glancing into the next area. As the disk closed from below, his white fur became tainted by the dim, red lights. His eyes became dilated while trying to focus into the distance, trying to pinpoint exactly where the Fia Core would be. He was only beginning to focus, when he noticed what covered the floor. Something occurred earlier in this place, which appeared to be ahead of schedule from the specifics of the mission. Bodies, shot to pieces and slain in ways that frantic soldiers would do when faced by death at the hands of another. Dozens lay dead across the floor and hanging over rails near smoking consoles, while the dying writhed weakly, their few seconds of life to be survived by painful agony. While perusing the corpses from his position and searching for the security point that held the Fia core, the virtual light visor cascade over his eyes once again. "Damned 76th Wing, this ain't good!" A heat signature registered to his far right, towards a door that he could barely make out. Just as his eyes flashed to the right, he noticed the Fia core. In the middle of a sparking, rather large podium that was supported by a series of thick cables, a pulsing orange orb beckoned t the darkness with its own vibrancy, flashing with a sort of inner fire that sent a translation of data to light through the cables. Whoever was there, it was obvious. They stood in the middle of Vee and his prize. He sprang from the rotating disk platform as it locked to a close, releasing his sword breaker and reaching for the dangling hilt of his Ice Fang, still wedged at his side. His hair flickered with his sprint, tail flying behind him as the young Pendragon thrust the Ice Fang's hilt forward with the meat of his palm. Only a few quick taps of his paws, though his sprint was quick, did it take for his adversary to catch him in the act. "Do not approach that podium! You are in a restricted area!" <span style='color:blue'>Security Point breached, 10 seconds until mission completion.</span> His free hand had only to breeze past the Fia Core, pulling it away with cables flailing as the other hand sliced away the bottom of the cables. A theft successful, his sword screeched quickly against the rooms floor, leaving a narrow coat of ice where it struck. Vee could see who stood in front of him, and despite his conscious to leave at least one uninvolved person uninvolved, the Ice Fang's bite did not leave such prey unattended. His blade struck through the security guard's armor, slowly at first, but eventually biting flesh as the cold material seeped between the guard's ribs. Vee kneeled slightly, turning his wrist as the blade pulled out from under the guard's armpit, splattering blood on the wall behind. "Mission Accomplished, returning to off duty status effective immediately." Just as quickly as the Pendragon arrived, as if an unlinked part of a story never to be told, his shadow disappeared into a hallway full of those slain just to allow him freedom.
