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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Takara didn't waste time, as she swiftly made her way toward the back of the cave. However, by the time they reached the dark zone, her attitude seemed to have changed- quickly the stiff professionalism and unnecessary bravado were gone, replaced instead by an eagerness. With flashlights turning on from those who had them, the world changed from one of a dim flickering light to one instead of darkness cut by beams of bright light, occasionally flashing across natural wonders that had developed in the cave over the millennia. Stalactites, stalagmites, cave shields, streaming limestone curtains, and other strange fantastical formations abounded this far back in the cave, and there was no shortage of "oooh"s and "aaah"s from the sergeant, as her head bounced from one structure to the next, though this didn't stop her from continuing onward as they scrambled their way up, down, around, and sometimes through, obstacles within the cave, but they always found a safe route through.

"Man! This place is cool!" Saki exclaimed, apparently having never been in a cave like this before. "What do you guys think?" she asked of those following her, as they came into a large, open chamber after about a mile of travel through the cave system.

"I agree." Coriander responded. The comment seemed genuine but there was no enthusiasm in it. Not wanting to go out into the more open part of the chamber, Coriander dragged her hand along one of the walls, hugging close to it for security. However, she suddenly gasped and stopped, moving her flashlight to the wall to look at it- it seemed normal, as far as cave walls go, but for some reason it had surprised the blonde girl.

"What is it?" the Sergeant asked, turning her own flashlight to shine on the other girl.
"There's... There's something here"
"What? an animal or something?"
"No, it's in the wall, there's some kind of machine."
What do you mean there's-" Saki began, but stopped short as Coriander began wiping and scraping at the wall, taking off the thin layer of scum and limescale that had grown on the wall since the cave's creation. The group would be quickly surprised to see what appeared to be a metal wall revealed behind it. As Coriander revealed more of the wall a seam was found, quickly uncovered to show that it was a small panel. Coriander pushed in on the panel before anybody could say anything, and some sort of mechanical whirring could be heard as something behind the wall moved, and suddenly the entire chamber shuddered. A noise behind the group caused them to turn, and the floor in the center of the chamber seemed to collapse, but instead of making a big hole, it revealed a wide staircase leading downward deeper into the mountain.

Saki's Jaw dropped. "Whoaaaah...."
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Straken
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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Nolan was perfectly fine with the pace set by the pilot and taken a comfortable position at the back of the group; feeling slightly out of place amongst the kids that comprised the rest of the group. The stifling confinement of the cavern did start to wear on his nerves, but Saki’s random interjections added just enough breaks in the silence to keep his mind from wandering to other things.

When Coriander became startled Nolan glanced casually towards the new point of interest, but he saw nothing that really stood out to him. Although when the floor moved to reveal a secret passage Nolan’s face shifted to a look of mild surprise; like he had just eating an odd new meal that tasted better than it looked.

“Hmm, neat,” he said lightly as he lifted his camera and snapped a quick picture of the stairway. Letting the camera rest on its strap around his neck again, Nolan stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and walked over to the opening and looked down the stairs.
“Don’t see that every day,” Nolan said to nobody in particular before turning to Saki. “Now what kid? Keep moving?”
Despite his intentions of getting out of the cave, he had a nagging feeling that a staircase appearing out of the ground would provide some rather interesting photos for his to take.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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After what seemed like ages in the spottily illumined darkness, something was discovered to pique everyone's interest. A hidden stairwell in Haven Cavern? Sounded like something straight out of a novel- probably one involving pirates, sporting a dashing young lad with a heart of gold out to discover some long lost treasure. Of course, there were no pirates here... well, maybe the Citabrians if you twisted the meaning a bit. They did scour the galaxy on their spacefaring vessels seeking a port to plunder, after all.

"There's no reason to ignore whatever is down there," Oriza added.
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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Did they even know his name? No. No, they didn't. But did it matter? No, that didn't matter either. Despite all this though, Donovan followed them anyways, simply because he was curious. In all honesty, he even admitted that to himself grudgingly. They were a motley bunch now, all mostly, and emphasizing on mostly, young group of people who were all as different as humanly possible. Someone who had to be a feminist. A middle aged photographer. A...farmgirl? And of course, the Sergeant that had a personality that more fitted a bubbly new recruit. But these were just descriptions. Brief surface summaries. What he actually thought of them, Donovan kept to himself as was his right to.

But when the floor opened up however, he said only one thing, and without much fanfare. "Oh."

And at that, he went right down the stairs with a shrug.
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Kai
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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Fearless, that one... Saki thought, as Donovan descended down the set of stairs that appeared out of nowhere. She grinned, realizing she had yet to bother to ask the name of this one, or any of the people in the group. However, that didn't bother her, since she expected to get out of their hair soon- this stair must lead out, or to something that lead out, after all.

When the group all made their way down, however, they were confused. The stair didn't seem to lead anywhere important, just into a hallway. Deciding at random, Saki lead the group to the right, down the hallway toward what she figured might be something important. They passed by room after room, none of which seemed to hold anything important- most of it appeared to be so horribly aged that it might as well be dust, and would probably turn into such at the first touch. Before too long, however, they found their way into what appeared to be a control room, one wall of which was made out of what appeared to be glass.
"Ah, good!" Saki exclaimed, as if she recognized where they were. from a pocket she pulled out a small device, though its design and purpose were unknown.

Saki quickly got to fiddling with the control board, however, and soon the thing glowed to life, starting to hum a bit as it turned on for the first time in who knew how long. "Awesome! it still works!" the girl let out, giddy with her luck, as she continued to look over the control panel. She made a squeal of delight as she apparently found where the device went , and the plugged it in, the computer making some strange noises before all the screens lit up, written over in some seemingly indecipherable language, but it quickly became apparent what the small device did, as all the text translated into English and some of the symbols turned into numbers, and other symbols commonly used on earth. Saki kissed the little device, and muttered "Thank you daddy~" before getting back to business.

"Alright, let's see if I can get the ECF signal, and...There!" After typing in a few commands then hitting a rather ominous looking button, sound began coming from somewhere as a screen displayed a topographical map of the area, which had a number of differently colored dots on it, one blue, and four red. However, that was of little interest compared to what was coming from the speakers.
".. TEACH YOU A NEW MEANING A THE WORD HURT YOU JIVE SONOVABITCH" a voice roared, followed by some loud feedback over the communications
"Hey! Lieutenant Ritchie? is that you? This is Sergeant Takara" Saki called, looking a bit confused.
"Izzat really you, Sugar?" the lieutenant responded, himself sounding confused "I Saw Velo's IFF go down, thought you was dead!"
"I made it out alive, what the hell was that noise?"
"Oh, I punched one in the face."
"You punched an OrganArm in the face with a MekKad?"
"You bet yo britches I did, little lady! And here's another one!" a sound of repeated interference could be heard, which to Saki would mean he had begun firing off a number of rockets, and she placed her hand over her face.
"You do realize you're fighting four OrganArms, right?"
"Yeah, I think that's how many I counted last I looked."
"Which MekKad are you flying?"
"Flying? I'm in Number Seven! Ground-type, bossy-butt!"
"You're.. WHAT? How are you even alive? You failed all the aptitude tests for MekKad piloting!"
"Aptitude Schmaptitude! it's all about attitude, ya hear? And I got PLENTY a that, Little Miss Sergeant, Bwahahahaha!" the Lieutenant burst into some sort of laughter, as if he hadn't a care in the world.
"Is there anybody else around, Ritchie?"
"Juss you, I think, What you piloting? I don't get a read on you, it just looks like a mountain's talking at me!"
"Well, I think.. Here, let me see if I can find something.. A-ha!" Saki pressed another button, and suddenly the room on the other side of the glass was lit, and Saki's jaw dropped. They were in the launch control room for a group of mecha, but the Mecha that were present were unlike anything they had seen before, not the Citabrians' OrganArms, or the ECF's MekKads, or even the Omega Directive's mecha, either. They almost looked new, perfectly preserved in their launch room, and appearing to be at least a few decades ahead of the rest of the mecha thus far encountered.
"What, what is it? Don' leave me hangin, babe!"
"It's... I'll be joining you soon...." was all Saki could manage.
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Straken
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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As the group made their way down through the artificial passageway Nolan would snap the occasional photo of random points of mild interest, and when the group had made it to the control room Nolan took many more shots; the point when Saki lit the next room over however Nolan’s jaw dropped slightly and he was snapping pictures left and right. The ragged photographer had a faint smile on his face as he focused himself on his passion for his art.

“Ha! I knew I would get great shots down here,” Nolan almost cheered as his melancholy lapsed into a brief moment of joy. “I may be getting’ old, but a good photographer never loses his instinct.” From there he got as many unique shots as he could get from his view point in the control room. Once his moment of vigor had passed he lowered his camera and turned to Saki.

“Hey kid soldier, ECF been developing new models or something? I don’t recognize these MekKads,” Nolan asked Saki as he relaxed into his typical nonchalant demeanor.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: Tranquility Broken

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

Oriza, frankly, wasn't really surprised-- until they came to the control room. It was something straight out of a mystery or spy novel and frankly took her breath away. Then, just when she thought it couldn't get any crazier, what was clearly a hangar for mechanized infantry lit up. She gasped.

So many thoughts raced through her head: What are they? Whose are they? Why are they here? Why are they UNATTENDED? Why sparkling new when everything else is dust? But more importantly, she began to wonder: Could one of these help me? Could this give me the strength to defend my beliefs and those who share my ideals? Could such a thing serve as the rallying point, the flag for people pursuing peace? It is built for war, but if it fell into the wrong hands...

That last thought suddenly made her curious of everyone else's opinions and desires. Her eyes then settled on a particularly bright one and at once knew it was meant for her- the way it practically gleamed, its very form the quintessential symbol of hope and goodness. Any banter could not penetrate her thoughts at this moment, she was so enraptured. Oriza was grinning.

With a hand pressed to the glass, she continued to admire it, and thought, I know you as though a missing part of myself has just been found; your past, your future, your strengths, your weaknesses, dreams and desires- we share them all. Your name has been etched into my heart since birth: you are Hero, the Bright One; Paladin of Hope and Peace. Oh how I have yearned to meet you, and here we are at last!
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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Quiet, muffled footsteps could be heard from behind the two as Donovan's tired, dirty and worn sneakers brought him over to the observation window. He softly brought his fist down onto the window's surface solemnly, soon spreading it out to lay his palm against it as well. The boy didn't say anything, or at least not right away, as he was busy looking over everything he saw very carefully. "One of the two units. Over at the far end; I hope you're going to tell me they're not too hard to pilot Sargent." he spoke to Saki.

It could only be described as facelessly menacing.
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Kai
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Re: Tranquility Broken

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Saki first turned to Nolan and Answered him directly "No. These aren't New MekKad, Nor are they the RECONs we're developing, these are something different entirely... I've never seen anything like them before." And then, Oriza and Donovan seemed to fixate on the mecha outside the control room window.

"Uh-Uh! nope! You guys are NOT going to be piloting one of these things. You'll just get killed!" Saki warned, looking disapproving, though she seemed to be in too much of a hurry to back up her words. She left Donovan's question unanswered and simply made her way out of the control room, finding herself a flight of stairs, and making her way down to a mid-level walkway that clung to the walls of the hangar. She followed it around, interestingly enough to one of the Mecha that Donovan had pointed at.

"Besides, that's an assault type, My specialty~" she pointed out in a singsong voice.

Coriander simply looked at the Mecha in the hangar. They were unlike anything she had ever seen- sure, she had just seen two Mecha fighting just a couple of hours ago, but these were on another level entirely. Each was tailored specifically to it's role, as opposed to the MekKad and OrganArms, which appeared to all be based around the same framework, modified to suit different tasks. One of these Armors- Less flashy than the others, Not particularly sleek, or bulky, or menacing, but one that looked like it could probably do anything you asked it to, sat in the middle of the row of Mecha along the far wall. It looked almost melancholy, as if it had been sleeping a long time, waiting for someone to come along and bring it to life. Without warning, Coriander dropped her pack and dashed down into the hangar, making her way to the mecha.

"Get out of here!" Saki's voice called from a distance away, and then a mechanical whirring could be heard as one of the two Assault mecha sprang to life, its cockpit opening and the half-Japanese pilot hopping into it.

Coriander, naturally, ignored Saki, and stopped at her chosen mount. She touched it softly, and it sprang to life, almost instantly. Its power source switched on, and its eyes began to glow. The cockpit opened invitingly, and Coriander could not refuse. She got in, gathering her sundress to not catch on anything before she sat down in the pilot's seat. Everything came to life for her, as the cockpit closed again, bathing her in a glow of screens and displays, few of which she understood completely, but she felt that she knew, almost instinctively, how the Mecha worked.

Saki, conveniently wearing her piloting suit, hopped into her mech. The control scheme was slightly different from her old mech, but her trained eyes were able to figure out all the controls pretty quickly. She threw one of her legs over the motorcycle-like seat and sat down, leaning forward to grip the controls, and placing her feet on a set of pedals below. A small saddle centered itself beneath her posterior, and a sort of harness came up from the seat to lock her in place. It was pretty easy to tell that the Mecha had been designed for intense acceleration and hard maneuvers, but, Saki was no stranger to any of that. "Sergeant Takara, Ready to go!" she roared happily as the cocpkit flashed on, giving her a good view of the outside, much better than her old MekKad had.
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Re: Tranquility Broken

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

Oriza only looked away when Saki's footsteps could be heard retreating. The sound clearly emanated from a descending stairwell; glancing out once more, the young woman noticed the pilot was indeed going for one of the suits. That was all the indication she needed that it was okay. Saki's half-hearted rebuke of Coriander was confirmation.

Oriza sped down the stairs. Where the other females had turned left, Oriza veered right, moving toward the massive knight in shining armor. From this angle the mecha looked even more knightly and noble. Its "face" was framed by a horned helm, and though there was no human expression it bore a determined and stalwart demeanor. In awe, Oriza reached out timidly to touch its breastplate. At the faintest touch, she recoiled, shocked at how alive it felt. This, she realized, was Hero regaining consciousness- and even more reassuringly, acknowledging its partner. The breastplate was lifted on hinges from the shoulders to reveal the flat "abdomen," which in turn fell out to provide an entry ramp. She gingerly climbed aboard and settled into the seat.

It was comfortable but not luxurious, designed with the intent to keep a combatant's mind focused on the fight and away from any thoughts of personal discomfort. Hero sealed itself, leaving Oriza in a surprisingly comfortable and calm darkness. Her hands found the controls, but still the warriors of peace did not move. Oriza was filled with worries: What if I'm wrong? What if I die? What if this is nothing more than a war machine? Am I fooling myself into hopeless belief?

Hero, the Bright One; Paladin of Hope and Peace waited patiently for the young girl to settle her heart.
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