Tranquility Broken

Set in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world where the earth has been invaded by aliens, a group of refugees finds themselves in possession of advanced giant mecha with the power to save the world- If they're up to the challenge.
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Kai
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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The young blonde seemed almost shocked when Oriza offered to help
"R-Really?" she asked, somewhat incredulous. her voice seemed to have a hint of excitement, and her body language lost its nervousness for a moment as she brought her hands up in front of her, elbows tucked in and hands balled with some hint of eagerness. However, the moment was short-lived, and The girl returned to how she had been before, though this time she was putting on her pack so it seemed less apparent.
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Straken
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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Given Oriza’s offer to help, Nolan settled back content to let the two wander off leaving him to sit alone once more. However after one last passing glance at the young blond, it struck the aging photographer as to why he felt and urge to photograph her. She looked to be around Abigail’s age and she almost reminded him of how his daughter would look around this time in her life. He felt a sudden pang of sadness that was not reflected in his face, and came to a decision to help the girl out in finding her friend.

Silently he began to carefully gather all of the pieces of his camera together in a pouch which he then stuffed back into his rucksack. With a slight grunt he hoisted himself up and brushed himself off. “Might as well give ya a hand,” Nolan said lightly as he interjected into the conversation. “Should probably move further back into the cave myself since the battle sounds like it is getting closer.”
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Kai
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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"Well, then, I guess we should go farther in, right? I think the people went down there more." The girl looked deeper into the cave, which was dimly lit by glowsticks, the occasional torch, and a couple of campfires. She dug into a side pocket of her pack and pulled out a small flashlight, which proved to be much more powerful than it looked, and began walking nervously deeper into the cave.

"I'm.... I'm Coriander, By the way." she mentioned, sounding nervous again, as they followed the path created by the glowsticks someone had had the good sense to lay down.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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Oriza was happy to have something to distract her from the current situation, and all the happier to spend some time helping someone in need. "Well Coriander, you can relax. We'll find your friend, John."

In the silence, she noted that the older fellow hadn't provided his name. Normally she would press him for it, but he was clearly what she termed a 'melancholy soul.' He must have been an introvert, spending more time reflecting and thinking than interacting with the world at large. Oriza was perfectly alright with that, and in fact found herself often attracted to those sorts of people. Melancholics tended to be far more intelligent, considerate, and firm in their beliefs: all attributes that young Miss DuPont admired.
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Kai
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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About six miles from the caves, Or Four miles from Coulee, a desperate battle was raging. An ECF Mecha and a Citabrian Mecha squared off, the two Assault-type mecha using their speed and agility to do ferocious combat with one another. The Pilots were doing the best they could to kill one another, high powered weapons destroying the natural beauty that surrounded them. The ECF Mecha was trying extremely hard, but it was obvious at this point that the aging craft could not keep up with its Alien counterpart, though its pilot did what they could to compensate for that fact.

A blow- The ECF Mech landed it, and one of the Citabrian Mech's limbs was taken off in an instant, bits of metal shattering into thousands of pieces while the underlying structure turned into a bloody pulp, the semi-organic mechanisms of the Mech showing that while they could move faster, they were somewhat less resilient than their earth-born counterparts.

However, the victory was short lived, and the Citabrian mech counterattacked swiftly, Some sort of beam weapons built into its chest lashing out with a lance of reddish energy, that blasted toward the ECF mech- It paused, momentarily, and a sparkling sheen of a shield around the ECF mech, but it was soon dashed away and the energy beam continued on its path, smashing into its target with a ferocity that more than matched the blow its issuer had received. An arm and a leg wrested themselves violently from the mecha, which was thrust violently to the side, but it didn't make it to the ground- thrusters ignited, throwing the mech into the sky on an unstable arc, all the while the ECF mech let out a number of shots from mounted weapons. This was futile in the Mech's current condition, and the Citabrian mech let out another blast- the ECF machine convulsed as its thruster pack exploded, but continued upward for a moment before reaching the apex of its ascent, arcing back toward the ground, billowing smoke as it went.
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Kai
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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It didn't take long to realize that their task was all but hopeless. With nearly three thousand people from Coulee packed into the Haven caverns, everywhere more than twenty meters or so past the entrance was packed full. Large groups milled about or simply formed small encampments, leaving a bit of a meandering pathway where comers and goes could thread their way through. The cave systems were large, however, and after a certain point the number of people trickled off, and the glowsticks and lights ended, bringing the trio to nothing but darkness. Coriander stopped here, seeming rather afraid, and then turned around, looking nervous.
"Let's try again..." she mumbled looking somewhat downtrodden, moving closer to Oriza and grabbing onto her arm for security.

"He should be here I saw him head out... I just stopped to get my stuff and he was gone..." Small tears began forming in the corner of her eyes and she seemed obviously distressed. "If I had been faster then this wouldn't have happened... he wouldn't just leave me...."
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Straken
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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As the three walked through the crowds Nolan kept questioning why he had offered to help the girl, and why he was still following her for that matter. Nevertheless he cast his eyes through the crowds to see if he could spot anyone matching the description of the girl’s friend. Unfortunately, the vague traits she described brought up more matches than he could really count offhand, and as many were of varying ages, heights, and stances the freelancer could place any specifics. Once the small group reached the end of the line, Nolan scratched his head and looked around a bit into the darkness.

Once Coriander began crying ever so slightly, Nolan went into autopilot as far as his reaction went. Relaxing a bit, the photographer slid a hand into his overcoat and his typical expressionless face softened into a slight, comforting smile. “Don’t cry just yet. It isn’t your fault you got separated,” he said in a subtly kind tone that sounded odd to him as he spoke. “Just need to make another pass through the crowd is all. You could try calling his name, or.” He trailed off at the end as he stopped acting on impulse and returned to his usual flat expression. “Or we could ask around the crowds to see if they have seen your friend John, and by chance did John tell you anywhere to meet by chance? You know, once you got into the cave.”
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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Oriza smiled and spoke softly, trying to console Coriander. "We'll find him, but there a lot of people in here, so it's going to take time. Just take a deep breath and we'll have another look." She laid a hand over Coriander's and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

One of the traits that set Oriza apart from so many is when she spoke this way, she meant every word- the young woman didn't blather just to make someone feel better, but provided honest words of comfort.
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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Everything he owned was in the backpack clutched tightly to his chest.

Since coming to Coulee, he'd basically taken on odd jobs that nobody else wanted to do and made for himself a somewhat decent living. He didn't have much of a 'rep' either. To the locals, he was just another hard working new guy that came in, and there was nothing about him that had him stand out from the crowd either. Though, one thing Donovan did have going for him was that at first glance, the word 'lazy' came to mind; he'd rather not get up to do anything, and preferred to just use his free time to soak up the free internet he sometimes, just sometimes, got. If that wasn't around, just plain loafing about in his room was fine with him too - there wasn't exactly much to do in the town of Coulee, given the war and all. Refugees were streaming in, not tourists after all.

Donovan laid on the cave floor well into the dark section of the cave, sound asleep.
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Kai
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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On their second pass, they managed to make it halfway before a woman stopped them, grabbing Coriander in a sudden hug. "Coriander! You've made it!" the woman exclaimed, looking somewhat, but not entirely, relieved. "Where's John?" She asked.

"Miss Melissa!" the blonde girl responded, looking much better, until the woman asked where John was. "I was looking for him, I can't find him, he's not here..."
"You mean he didn't bring you here? He said he went back to look for you."
Coriander's face fell with this revelation, and she suddenly extricated herself from Melissa and Oriza, and ran toward the entrance of the caves, clearly distraught.
"Coriander, come back here! it's too dangerous!" Melissa called after Coriander, making her way after the blonde girl in earnest.
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