Oh. Of course. The only girl I've -ever- met who ended up getting more GalacTube hits than me. Not overall, of course, but a higher cap on that one vid. In the billions, if memory serves. Not to mention all the RealRendered porn videos of her being....
Quietly clearing her throat, and filing that particular train of thought away without the option of parole, the Asari smiles to herself, and continues to interrogate the VI... on a public channel.
"A Commander, now..? My, my.. someone's certainly gone up in the world. And without my assistance, too! A.. pleasant surprise."
The ditz attitude, some folk might notice.. had collapsed in the wake of this recent news.
"Commander Lappy.. excellent. The question does remain, though.."
And here, the Asari demonstrates another bad habit - thinking out loud. On an open comm channel, no less.
"Depending on a few variables.. she'll either slap me, drag me to the execution chamber, or drag me to another chamber, from which I won't emerge for days.. Possibly all of the above. Ah, well."
An eloquent sigh, a shrug.
"Not a bad way to go, I suppose. I'd suggest, Kiera, that you turn whatever cameras you have on and set them to record when the Commander gets back. This just might break her GalacTube record.."
With that, the Asari switches her communicator off.. and turns to face the entrance to the courtyard, still sitting rather happily on her crate, a smile turning on her lips.
((Updated the skills so Pilots were slightly less useless... Every class has an inherent ability (like the Runner's Free Running and Civilian's Blind Luck), and it is listed as such.
Also, I would be updating the thread... but I'm waiting for Keylo and Maiko.))
((My bad, didn't think there was much for me to respond to.))
Reya would opt to spout a stream of slurred together profanities upon being shocked, spinning about with an angry gleam in her eyes in an attempt to smash the slime that had dared shock her in pieces...but miss, much to her frustration, which would be evident in the tone of voice she chose to speak to Kalica with.
"No...trouble...just being...zapped by bloody slimeballs- get off of me you fuckers!..."
With that said, Reya would opt to try tearing free of the slime on her boots first...perhaps backing off an taking a shot afterwards if she had the energy to do so.
"Some civvy who doesn't know how to use their radio it seems." Circe said dismissivly in response to Jenn's question, though her jaw was a little tense. "We can study the darts once we get back, until then, keep your eyes open. Just because Kiera isn't picking up signals doesn't mean we're out of the woods."
Reya: Attempts to break free, then fires her last round; uses 2 EP.
Break 1: 18 + 4 = 22 vs. 2 + 2 = 4; Reya is free.
Attack 1: 10 + 4 = 14 vs. 8 + 2 = 10; Damage: 1.
Small Slime 1 dies.
Enemy turn:
Small Slime 2: Begins to scurry away; uses 1 EP.
Slime 2: Attempts to grapple Reya; uses 4 EP.
Grapple 1: 4 + 2 = 6 vs. 8 (Autoloss)
Grapple 2: 9 + 2 = 11 vs 13 (Autoloss)
Grapple 3: 12 + 2 = 14 vs 18 (Autoloss)
Grapple 4: 5 + 2 = 7 vs 15 (Autoloss)
Slime 4: Attempts to grapple Kalica, then begins to dissolve her clothes; uses 4 EP.
Grapple 1: 18 + 2 = 20 vs. 2 + 1 = 3; Kalica is grappled with 17 points and is fully trapped.
Attack 1: 7 + 2 = 9 vs. 8 + 1 = 9; Tie.
Attack 2: 3 + 2 = 5 vs. 1 + 2 = 3; Kalica's Armor Durability: 3/5
Attack 3: 17 + 2 = 19 vs. 17 + 1 = 18; Kalica's Armor Durability: 2/5
"They can SHOCK us?!" Kalica shouted, then proceeded to struggle frantically once more, jumping away from her Slime. She pulled out her Automatic Pistol and aimed it, literally firing an entire clip into the Slime. Almost instantly a yellow orb popped up inside the thing, which, as soon as the second round struck it, the orb shattered, and the Slime did almost the same, splattering against the walls and Kalica. Staring at the Runners sudden burst of adrenaline, Reya simply stepped out of the slime around her ankles, before shooting at one of the smaller fleeing slimes; Just as she took another bead on the other slime, she realized that her rifle was out of ammo.
Kalica's yelp of surprise was enough to distract Reya from reloading. Glancing over, she saw a Slime had enveloped the girl all the way up to her shoulders without much difficulty, and was already dissolving her red clothes, leaving the Runner in her panties and bra. Reya felt something on her boot; when she looked down, the other regular-sized Slime was slurping onto her footwear. With some fancy footwork, the Marine was able to confound it's lunges at her feet, panting heavily from the sudden jumping around.
One Mile Southwest of Firelight: Juniper's Apartment Complexes; Circe, Anne, Laina, Jennifer and Commander Winters
Laina inspected the clips as they walked, looking at the pink coded one. It was a dart, filled with a pink liquid; the needle was sharp, but didn't seem like it could pierce through armor. The plunger activated as soon as the needle pierced something, it seemed. The green coded clip had the ancient case-rounds the Alliance used over 400 years ago; The pistol's firing pin struck the primer at the bottom of the round, sending the semi-liquid round at a target. That must have been how Circe lost her clothing... Well, most of it.
"It wasn't just a civilian..." The Commander said, in response to Circe and Jenn, "She's just never been good with Human Technology. Besides, she doesn't matter much; Just another ghost from my past," The rabbit murmured the last part, glancing back at Circe as they walked. Firelight was in sight now, and they could see the group ahead of them walking into the base.
"Commander Winters?" Simmons asked over the headset, "We made it. Can't wait to see your little tail walk in here though!"
"Uhm, Roger that," the Commander replied, then looked back towards Jenn, "I'll need you to look at Simmons when we get back, Medic... She's not well, I think." After that, however, they continued on to Firelight.
Cassidy was supremely disappointed as a group of humans walked through the gate of the base, a mechanic grinning brightly as she saw the Asari.
"Ooooh! An Asari! Maybe I'll get lucky before one of those nasty green skins drags me off!"
It wasn't long before the woman she was waiting for came through the gate, with three clothed and one nude human with her. The Commander glanced around the courtyard, barely giving Cassidy a second thought, before she contacted Kiera. Everyone in the courtyard was able to hear her, though.
"Kiera, close all entrances into the base and don't open them without my command. Arm your Gatling Turrets, and make sure your sensors track any movement. Oh, and, please, if there are any shackles on still left in your code, release them; I'll need your full abilities for this."
The gates around the courtyard began to slide close... Everyone was stuck in the base until Cassie gave the word.
Circe looked over to Cassie at the 'ghosts of the past' comment. "Understood sir. We can expect a non-human once we reach the base then?" Circe kept her tone neutral, but it was clear she wasn't one for inter-specieces relationships. "About Simmons sir," Circe changed topics, glancing at the darts in Jenn's hands. "Can she be trusted? She might become erratic if an antidote can't be found."
Circe nodded and continued the rest of the way in silence. 'Great. One of the galaxy's sluts.' She thought when Cassie mentioned the person was an Asari.
When the group arrived at Firelight, Circe frowned as she noticed Cassidy, standing out with her blue skin. Looking over the other people assembled, she noticed Ashley and smiled, glad to see the civilian had managed to stick around in all of the chaos. That was promising. The addition of a few new Alliance personel was also a good sign, though Circe couldn't be sure if they had been hidden somewhere in Firelight or had been picked up by one of the teams. Circe was mentally kicking herself for being the one that needed 'rescuing', though she did console herself with the knowledge that her group was the one that found the Commander.
When Cassie finished addressing the VI, Circe turned to her. "Sir, with your permission, I would like to get dressed." Circe wasn't as concerned about her lack of clothing before, as she was in a small group and there were more important matters, but now that there was a lull in the action, and a signifigantly larger number of people around, even she was starting to feel a little self-conscious. She gave a different excuse however, "I'll be more effective armored, even if it is a BDU."
"Please don't overreact with Simmons. She's acting weird sure, but she hasn't been threatening yet. I'll take her share of the work for now." Laina said nervously as she glanced back and forth between the other mechanic and the Commander. "Maybe it will wear off or we find an antidote or something.."
"Speaking of which.. Kiera, would you kindly guide me to where the storage space for raw materials is, and to contact whatever tech person would be interested in examining the drugs that the orcs have been using on us and tell them to meet me there? I have a present for them, and a lot of work to do if I'm to keep you and the base running." The mechanic asked into the communicator. Happy to have reached the base with both Circe and the Commander safe, she turned her back to the group and mindlessly headed off towards the interior of the base to get to work.
Well, I must admit, that was unexpected. Still. A few years of military service will make -anyone- rather boring, I suppose. Time to introduce myself.
Pointedly ignoring a few unkind looks, and a few sets of eyes that made her long for the days of figure-covering lab coats, as opposed to these damned bodysuits, the tattooed Asari hops off her crate.. and stalks across the courtyard towards the Commander.
Suddenly, there's no trace of the bubbly, happy-go-lucky Asari from earlier. Not a skip, not a hop, but rather, a crisp, almost military-style march, covering the ground with as much dignity as she could muster while wearing a skin-tight outfit.
She stops, however, precisely five feet from the lapine Commander.
"Dr Cassidy Mri'Lori, Ma'am. Pleased to be at your side in this crisis. How can I be of assistance..?"
No one else gets so much as a second glance, with the tattooed, blue scientist addressing Commmander Winters.. and having little time for the rest of them. After all, there was no way she could hope to maintain her ruse -now-.
"Go ahead, Viola," Cassie said, glancing at the biod - before her attention was quickly turned to the Asari who had strode up to her. Cassie had been a little shorter when she had met Cassidy, but apparently the scientists working on her genetic code had fixed that, as she now stood at eye-level with the Asari.
"Hello Cassidy. Nice to see you in person, especially since I've only seen you on the Extranet for the past two-hundred odd years. Too bad, though; I would have continued going on with whatever alias Kiera had decided to give you. But I'm fairly certain no one here will care who you really are, because I'd rather not be killed by some big green brick shit-houses, and I'm fairly sure no one else will want to either; So, at the moment, we'll have to all act like one big happy family, even though I'm still pissed off where you left me, when you left me."
Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Cassie finally reopened them, then smiled a little, "But if you really want to help, I could use everyone in the Command Center so I can fully assess how truly fucked we are before you try to sneak into my bed again."
"..heh..."
"Kiera," Cassie snapped into her intercom, "Just because I released the AI Shackles doesn't mean you get to start snickering at every bitching I hand out -"
"Sorry," The apparent AI cut in before Cassie continued:
"-You've updated my roster of the people available and I'm missing two. Where are they at?"
"Sub-Floor 1, Ma'am; I can't see, but one said they were dealing with slimes," The AI said calmly, with Cassie already storming towards the compound interior.
"How the hell did those sludge puddles get out from their entrapment? Just.. Make sure everyone gets to the Command Center..."
The doors opened and closed as Cassie walked into their base, the courtyard now relatively quiet as everyone looked at each other...
"...Sooooo..." Kiera said over the public channel, "...My name's Kiera... I'm uh, I'm an AI... and it would be nice if you guys could get to the Command Center? Please?"
With all the charm of the born salesman, Cassidy spreads her hands in an eloquent shrug, and a disarming smile.
"Well, taking things chronologically.. First, good to see you. Second, someone would have recognised me anyway, and I was getting sick of the visual gropes my demeanour was earning me. Third, families sound good to me, though.. there's something we might need to discuss."
An artfully placed cough.
"...About that. Fourth.."
By this point, Cassidy is hot on the trail of the retreating Commander Winters. She wasn't entirely sure -where- the bunny was going, but she was damned if she'd be left behind!
"I can explain about that. Long story involving a locked autopilot, about a thousand Alliance marines with rifles, and a 'shoot-on-sight' order on me and all associates. And your reputation to consider! And as for sneaking... As far as -my- memory serves, and, I should add, the vid-records support.. there was certainly sneaking involved, but not on my part!
A pause for breath, as the courtyard door closes behind them.
"And, I thought you had an AI, interesting. Who built it? It doesn't seem to like me very much. And.... where are we going... Lappy?"
(I think we're going to rescue our slimed friends! *A-Team theme*)
"To the command center..? But we just got back and.." Laina started to complain to herself before Winters stormed right by her with Cassidy in tow. Letting out an audible sigh, she quickened her pace to match them, but leave a little distance.
Circe saluted and turned to head into the base, casting a glare at Cassidy on the way. A short distance inside, Circe realized that Cassie and the asari were following her, well, not following, but traveling in the same direction for a ways. Listening to Cassidy talk to Cassie behind her was setting Circe on edge, but the bionoid kept her silence, at least until she was about to turn off to her bunk when Cassidy said something that struck a nerve.
"...thousand Alliance marines..."
Circe paused and waited for the two to catch up to her before turning around and addressing the asari. "Doctor Mri'Lori," Circe addressed her in an icily polite tone, emphasising her title. "This is a military operation. Even though you are a civilian, you will need to operate as though you were in the service. That means discipline and respect. If your allies can't trust you in combat, you're more dangerous than an enemy." Despite Circe's clear antagonism, she was trying to make an ally of the asari, if not a friend. "Do you think you can do that, doctor? Treat people with the respect due to their station?"
"Well... uh... I guess we'll head to the Command Center then," Jenn says.
"Okay, so we have a Cassie and a Cassidy? I am so going to get their names mixed up, oh geez..." she whines quietly.
She begins heading toward the Command Center, keeping an eye on Simmons. Once the Commander and Kiera were done with her in the Command Center, she'd grab a hold of Simmons and try to figure out what she could do to help.
*giving a cry of frustration at another slime moving to her and this time wrapping her up like that she sturggled and gave a string of cusses as her clothes dissolved away within the slime struggling once more to get away from this new attacker*
(Based on the numerous Mass effect references, I'm guessing the fact that Kiera's an AI is something that the characters would think is bad. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
"An AI?" Ashley says to herself quietly as she sits bolt upright in her seat. Her snack food momentarily forgotten, she glances around the empty mess hall. Having little idea of what was going on. Still, she might as well go to the Command Center, so she could figure out what was going on.
Cassie paused, turning around and stare at the two women. As soon as the two finished, she crossed her arms, glaring with her pink eyes.
"Stop bickering. Command Center."
She points at Cassidy, "No touching anything until I'm there," then, at Circe, "Make sure no one touches anything until I'm there."
And with that, the rabbit stalked off towards the Cargo elevator. Ashley had just come up from the mess hall in the freight elevator, the Commander stopping in front of her.
"Commander Winters," She said, introducing herself, "I'll need you up in the Command Center, Miss, even if you aren't part of the military." She side stepped to let the civilian through, moving into the elevator, her fingers resting over the buttons.
"Oh, right, Laina," Kiera said over her headset, "Right now, because the Commander has blocked off the Mechanical Engineering level, there's no way for me to open it up and allow you to deposit your resources there. However, if you take them into your room, I'll gladly reroute them overnight to my manufacturing center."
"Hey now, I had more questions..! And you haven't answered my earlier ones! Lappy! Where do you think you're.. "
The Asari stops dead in her demands as Circe turns on her. For the briefest moment, her heart misses a beat.
Impossible. You're dead. I know you're dead.
Then trained eyes pick up the little irregularities. The oddities in her behaviour - the lack of a certain address, for one. The hair, for another. With that little blind spot filled.. (though the questions it raised were interesting beyond belief), the doctor straightens, and fires back her best intimidating stare.
"I don't quite understand how you thought I was being disrespectful. The Commander and I were last... separated by, as I said. About a thousand Alliance marines. Twelve hundred and fifty-eight, if memory serves, all with orders to reclaim all traces of my experiments. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to be doing than exchanging words with a clone wearing someone else's face."
A glance to Circe's shoulder.
"Without the clearance to discuss such things, to shoe."
She'd never quite mastered human euphemisms. In a rare display of urgency, though, the Asari breaks into a run, skidding rather ungracefully into the lift beside the lapine Commander Winters.
"And if you think you're going down there on your own, you can think again. I need to know what we're up against, and.. well."
A smirk, and a phrase echoed from an old, old friend.
"No better place to learn than the front line!"
(Going with her, damnit! I WILL see combat! I'm NOT just a piece of blue ass that everyone here has slept with! I'M NOT!)
