Eternal Galaxy: Phoenix - Intermission

[SUSTIC]

Nevaaras | CY-001

As Ethan took off running in Astraea's direction the winds of the planet seemed to finally slow down a bit. Not that they weren't intense before, just that now any winds seemed to have stopped. Leaving the bright sky to be crystal clear, and the sun was actually beginning to set. Hell he could even see Astraea in the distance flying towards what looked to be... a GRACE Industries ship coming down to land in the distance...



Palace - Palace Depths - Near Engines

As the Doctor continued working, monitoring, and doing all the helpful stuff to provide John and Cortana with information... He could see something moving on the map of the engine room. Or at least in the vents toward the engine room. Something small. Seeing this the Doctor spoke up to Angela.

"Okay Angela I do have a job for you, as my associates could use some assistance and/or back up down there. For it seems there might just be something in the vents down there. They might be able to handle it, but right now we can't take any chances. Also don't worry about me. I've handled my own fair share of near UNIVERSE ending situations on occasion, so I could possibly handle things if things go sour up here. Maybe. Possibly. Either way just head down to their location. It's only one person in heavy green armor, with an intelligent AI. Can't really miss them. Anyways I'll be up here feeding information down there." Spoke the Doctor as he took the communicator and spoke to John and Cortana.


"Okay soldier boy I am sending you a little back-up just to be safe. Also I hope you have a functioning radar there because there might just be something in the vents. Not sure yet. Just be careful."

[Kristia]

Palace - Palace Depths - Near Engines


Hefting the staff on her shoulder with one hand, Angela checked the charge on her side-arm ("Not the strongest weapon, but can pack a punch in overall.") she thought while hearing the Doctor, "Soldier with an Artificial Intelligence companion, curious combination." the platinum haired nano-biologist commented. She had met quite the variety of AIs, some were still too objective and cold, others were corrupted with too much time of age, while some lucky ones managed to be free ("Probably either the first or third type in this case if they are as peculiar as this man."). Feeling completely recovered Angela nodded at him "I will have my comms open in all frequencies if something needs to be said, please warn your ally that I'm heading his way, I don't want a trigger happy jar-head to shoot before speaking."

And with that, the woman headed towards the soldier's location.

[Tewi_Inaba]

The Expense | VR Training Room

Lycoris quickly calculated her odds and decided it was best to charge in head on. She knew her armor could at least withstand one of his shots, and even if it didn't she would heal up quickly enough. Taking that into consideration, she aimed her blade at the man's hand which he used to fire the gun. She would allow the bullet to hit her somewhere between her armpit and her breast in exchange for the chance to part his gun from his hand. If all went well she would be able to cut off his hand and quickly swipe the gun away from him. A disarmed opponent would be a lot easier to defeat.

Jiff-E-Mart - Electra | Geminiea Alpha

Rebecca seemed to regain a good amount of interest when she saw her brother dawn the goggles and look around as if he could see something she couldn't. "Can I have a pare?" she asked with obvious curiosity of the strange goggles. She couldn't help but wonder what it looked like staring through them.

[Cucoo5]

(Derp cometh)
Palace - Palace Depths - Near Engines

"Perplexed...
resentful...
fearful...
annoyed...
excited...
concerned...
quiet...
infuriated..."

A soft tapping could be heard near John's location; the sound of razor like appendages against metal echoes around the vast passages leading towards the engine's back-up power systems.

"Bitter...
dissatisfied...
unsure..."

The tapping was growing louder. The source of the noise stayed in the shadows, unseen. It new it's limits in the form it took. Once it was close enough, the entity took a different form; before it was insectoid, now it became a congealed group of nanoscopic organisms that moved silently and ever closer.

***

The system within John's armor that contained MIMI suddenly became active. A nervous voice of what sounded like a young girl spoke, "They're here...! Nihiliod!" The sensors that had been active in searching for Achlys now began showing slight pings where it detected any absence of particles. MIMI tried to concentrate the sensors scan area to try and show exactly where the Nihiliod was, however since it had changed form, couldn't pinpoint it's location. "It was there..." She marked a point down a side passage up ahead.

[S121]

Nevaaras | CY-001

It did not take Ethan long to catch sight of Astrea in the sky, though he could see that if he didn't hurry, Mokou would soon have little chance for freedom. Eyeing the dropship, Ethan already knew what he had to do to increase Mokou's chances, and with that in mind, Ethan sprinted even faster as he pulled out his TRX-77 railgun cannon and prepped it to fire. Once it was ready, Ethan lunged forward as he took aim. Time seemed to slow down for him as the gun hummed to life in his hands, the massive electrical current surging from the fusion cell to the power supply, then from the supply to the super-capacitors, where the energy was finally unleashed into the rails. Electricity arced into the projectile and against the other rail, to which the 25 mm ferric slug reacted by blasting forth from the barrel and after the drop ship, causing a loud crack as the bullet pierced the air and left a trail of plasma behind it as it flew at speeds exceeding Mach 30.





The Expense | VR Training Room

As Emil saw Lycoris lunge after him, he made the adjustments required for his anatomy to survive an onslaught from the genetically modified cat-girl. As soon as Lycoris closed the distance between the two, Emil did something quite unexpected as he whipped his wrist forward and actually threw the gun at her, all before lunging after her as well, ready to grab her by the wrists and launch a counterattack.





Jiff-E-Mart - Electra | Geminiea Alpha

Thomas simply gave a light frown as he considered whether or not to allow his sister to use an extra pair. On one hand, they needed to conserve battery life for actual missions, and these things were not a dime a dozen, though on the other hand she could help double their success by being an extra pair of eyes. That, and although he was initially being objective an analytical about the situation, he felt that perhaps it wouldn't hurt to let Rebecca have a little fun. To that end, Thomas walked back to the chest before pulling out an extra pair and holding them up to Rebecca's chest level.

"Here, put these on, and I will show you how to activate them.", Thomas calmly said to Rebecca.





Palace - Palace Depths - Near Engines

John firmly gripped his gun as he swept his gaze along his surroundings, predominately in the direction of the noises. His battle rifle followed the aim of his gaze, ready to fire upon whatever emerged from the darkness. It was only when MIMI activated that John had some way to track the hostile. Upon hearing that it was a Nihiloid, John's grip tightened just a bit as he took a deep breath and readied himself for a fight. With his destination locked by MIMI, John turned his attention to the AIs within his head.

("Cortana, raise overshields to 400%. MIMI, keep an eye on sensors. I also need intel on what we're up against, data on these creatures."), John thought to the AIs. His energy shields began to pulse as more energy was diverted to the projectors, raising them to a hefty 400%. After that, John began to move towards the waypoint on his HUD, paying close attention to his surroundings.

[Tewi_Inaba]

The Expense | VR Training Room

Lycoris was confused by the incoming projectile, she thought for sure that the gun would be some sort of threat to her, and thus she quickly moved one of her arms to grab it. She managed to grab the weapon within fractions of a second, showing off that impressive cat like reflexes, however she was unable to keep trak of her other arm and where it might be going.

Jiff-E-Mart - Electra | Geminiea Alpha

Rebecca was delighted that she got to try ou the fancy goggles her brother gave her. She wasn't nearly as tech savvy as we was, and any time she got to try something new was always exciting, especially when it came to playing with high tech toys. She put the goggles on and adjusted them to fit her skull, making sure they wouldn't fall off but also not making them to snug against her skin. "Alright, what do I do?" she asked her brother awaiting further instruction.

[SUSTIC]

Nevaaras | CY-001

Astraea flew through the sky with Mokou in tow, who was honestly fighting against her quite roughly. Astraea could SEE the dropship in the distance descending from the clouds, but sadly just as the door on the side of the Dropship opened and one of the crewmembers held his hand out for Astraea, the sudden loud bang could be heard echoing throughout the area as something with an intense speed struck the side of the dropship that came to pick up Astraea. Seeing the ship take heavy damage and practically explode a good distance in front of her, the Angeloid got a look of pure horror as she watched the now destroyed dropship and all who died on it go crashing to the ground below.

Astraea was safe to say, absolutely horrified. Not because that her only current escape was destroyed, but the poor people on it who were killed...

However sadness soon turned to anger as Astraea, who despite being high up in the sky, had let go of Mokou. Taking out her powerful shield, she turned to face Ethan and held it at the ready in front of her. With the hardlight energy barrier projecting from it, she then turned on her communicator and called for backup...

"This is Astraea. The ship that came to pick me up had gone boom... Please. Send backup now!" She spoke to the people on the other end of her communicator. THe people of GRACE, or rather the larger ship stationed in orbit of Nevaaras's moon, had gotten the call for backup and were prepping to send a 2nd dropship. Giving her the command to go and wait for it, but to also be careful... something Astraea didn't really pay any heed to as she let go of her communicator and grasped the handle to her blade. Pushing the trigger below the hilt caused the hardlight-like blade of energy to form from the handle, and from that Astraea scowled. A look of pure anger at what had happened. She had one thought. Take out Ethan to avenge her fallen comrades.

Astraea, with her blade charging up for a powerful slash, and her hardlight barrier projecting from her shield, was now flying down towards Ethan's location... at a speed that was increasing rapidly.

[S121]

Nevaaras | CY-001

Ethan furrowed his brown and smiled as he watched the projectile collide into the dropship and take it down. Now he wouldn't have to worry about Mokou being taken so easily, and as he landed back on the ground, he put away his railgun, though before Ethan could go pursue Mokou, he could see a rapidly approaching Astrea, and it looked like she wanted to fight.

(Okay, time to give this angel some hell.), Ethan thought before he pulled out his XMA-38 Assault Rifle and sent volleys of .556 ammunition screaming towards her at mach 5. Meanwhile, Ethan was preparing himself for the moment when Astrea would reach him, once that happened, he was going to try and surprise her.





The Expense | VR Training Room

Seeing that Lycoris took the bait and grabbed the gun, Emil took that opportunity to lunge and grab at her free wrist. Once his hand was tightly around her forearm, he then dropped down by about six inches before pressing forward with his weight and sent a swift and powerful punch aimed right for her solar plexus.





Jiff-E-Mart - Electra | Geminiea Alpha

"Okay, now you just press this button right.. here.", Thomas said as he then took Rebecca's left hand and brought it up to the button on the side of the goggles, gently brushing her index finger against the button to show her where it was.

[Kristia]

Palace - Palace Depths - Near Engines


Moving through the halls, Angela had her staff in one hand and the side-arm on the other "This infestation is getting out of control, got to move faster." she spoke to herself while stopping at each corner to look for the creatures, each time it was safe, the nano-biologist ran, but every time she heard something suspicious, the platinum haired woman went for another route, following the soldier's signal.

[SUSTIC]

Nevaaras | CY-001

Astraea in a rage at what Ethan had done, continued to charge at him. Her shield's hardlight barrier projection managing to block the volleys of ammunition that was fired at her. However this shield can only last for so long before it needs to recharge, and quickly thinking Astraea made a near complete U-Turn. Instead of flying back, she ended up flying much higher into the sky, well above the clouds where it was hard to see.

Once she was above the clouds she just let out an angered scream... Before suddenly after a quick re-positioning of herself to where she assumes Ethan might be, she quickly took her sword and her shield and readied it once more as she then began flying straight down at where she hopes Ethan to be. With hopes that the clouds will give her enough cover to give a good surprise to Ethan.

[S121]

Nevaaras | CY-001

Ethan was prepared for her to come slamming into him, but when she made a sudden u-turn back into the clouds, he tilted his head in light confusion, but remained on guard. After all, this girl was certainly not somebody to take lightly. That being said, Ethan was right to assume she would come back, because she then erupted from the clouds, to which Ethan responded by firing at her once again with one hand. It was not as accurate as he would have liked, but he needed to be ready for her when she came down, because the was descending fast. His other hand tightly gripped his sword, waiting for the right moment to strike. Now all there was to do was keep her on her toes with gunfire.

[SUSTIC]

Nevaaras | CY-001

Combined with the low accuracy, and the height at which Astraea was descending from. She had locked her sights onto Ethan's location. Dead set on taking him out, she grasped her blade and activated it. Locking it into it's activated stated, Astraea took it and took aim... and with one powerful throw she tossed it right down at Ethan as if it was a spear. Due to the size of it, and the speed at which it is descending at, along with it's hardlight-like energy blade. It would make it kind of hard to stop by trying to shoot it, let alone see it. Though if Ethan could see it he would be able to move out of the way.

[S121]

Nevaaras | CY-001

It wasn't too hard to see the blade's metal components glimmering in the sunlight and the energy trailing as it surged towards him. Ethan gritted his teeth as he suddenly somersaulted forward and narrowly avoided the blade, taking aim at Astrea once again and firing at her from a crouched position. At least now she didn't have her sword.

[SUSTIC]

Nevaaras | CY-001

Shortly after she had thrown her blade, Astraea had begun picking up speed as she flew down towards the ground. Not entirely expecting Ethan to dodge the blade, she wasn't honestly that surprised either. Regardless she continued to fly downward at ever increasing speed, even when bullets flew by her when Ethan opened fire once more. The rounds Ethan had fired at her flew by quite close, if not grazed her arms, stomach, and even her wings. As such she quickly took her shield up and activated it's hardlight barrier projection and had it aimed at Ethan's direction just as she landed.

The second she landed she kicked up a rather large cloud of dust, along with quite a loud bang... Within the dust she had grabbed her blade once more and grasped it tightly before turning to face where she assumes Ethan to be... right before suddenly flying out of the cloud of dust swinging her razor sharp blade at the man. What Ethan would have seen was her striking the ground, and kicking up a large dust cloud before suddenly lunging out of the cloud swinging her blade with a look of pure rage and clear intent to kill. Her blade coming within inches of Ethan.

[S121]

Nevaaras | CY-001

Ethan had a feeling that when Astrea came barreling in his direction that she would be going for her sword, so he quickly reached down to his belt before rising to a stand and lunging away from the blade planted in the ground. Once Astrea landed, Ethan tossed a grenade at the blade, but did not expect what happened next. When Astrea landed, a massive gust of wind had altered the trajectory of the explosive, causing it to fall short of its target. Even worse, neither of the two would be able to see the explosive inside the dust cloud the angeloid had kicked up. Seeing how he was in immediate danger, Ethan jumped back from the possible location of the grenade. To his surprise, Astrea had done the same, only she had her blade out and swung. Seeing how they were now face-to-face next to an impending large explosion, Ethan suddenly dropped to the ground and covered his ears.