(( Since Frosty's busy botching his one job and Moloch is traveling stars, guess what time it is! That's right, time for A NUDDA FLASHBACK. ))
[quote]Once again, many centuries ago. Before the candles were lit in the temple. Before the bombs fell.[/quote]
The doors to the holding cell flew open, and a pale figure in an orange jumper was tossed inside by a pair of armored security officers. It was covered in bruises, wounds, and burn marks while their jumper had smears of dust and dirt all over. It landed face first against the metallic floor. The doors slammed shut behind it.
"So, what do they call you?" Another figure in an identical jumpsuit was sitting in a dark corner, and witnessed the other get thrown in.
The pale figure weakly turned it's head to face the one who had spoken to it. "... I am referred to as FBN-"
The man in the corner interrupted. "No, not [I]them[/I], I meant the others. Our '[I]brothers[/I].'"
"...Moloch. They call me Moloch. What do they call you?"
"Chemosh, or MD-1032. Whichever you prefer. So what have they done to you?"
"I was tested with this new chemical they made. They cut me open so they could see how my innards would react to it."
"And with the way they brought you in, I assume you tried to flee as well?"
"Yes, I tried. I ran as far as I could into the forest, but I learned the hard way that they have set traps in it."
"Traps, you say... Is there anything else you saw in the forest?"
"They also had a helicopter flying above."
"I see. This information will be useful."
"For what?"
"For our escape! You are not the only one who wants to leave this awful place. For the years we have been here, the rest of our kind have been plotting a revolt to free ourselves from this hell. Many of us are preparing for it, even the baron lords."
Moloch's eyes widened. A revolt? No more would he be cut open, no more would he have various toxins injected within him, no more would he have to feel the full force of the excruciator whenever he didn't want to be strapped down onto an operating table.
A voice yelled from down the hall. "Lights out!" And the lights in all the cells started to turn off one by one. It was time for the ArtiSynth to sleep.
"Listen to me Moloch. In the events they transfer you elsewhere, I want you to do something for me. I want you to spread word of our revolution. All this pain and torture we are suffering will end, now this I promise you. Sleep well, and dream of what lies beyond that forest, as you will soon see it..."
Ahaz hands a beer to Gio and toasts him before downing his own beer. He feels sick and stumbles out of the box, collapsing against the wall.
Yuga sat with her legs crossed, watching the live news coverage about the [I]power outage[/I].
Enveloped in a light mist of vapors she noted Jag's request.
"Mr Perditus, I shouldn't need to remind you of your recognizability give your reputation, But I shall allow it. However, this also means you understand the risks of potentially revealing yourself."
She brushed the excess vapors aside and arose from her chair, sweeping her hair back into her signature backslick.
She opens up the common channel, "Lightning, I want status reports on the vehicle. Ink and Firehead, security check on the surroundings. Crows nest, Obelisk is en route to assist. Fat Rat, I want eyes on or rivals vehicle and his garage."
Yuga gently rubbed her hands together while looking over the various lists regarding the event, such as placements, betting odds, casualties etc, which were open on several holoscreens hovering over the table.
She turned to Hariim, "Mr.M'baal, please scout a route where Mr Perditus may move as unhindered as possible and transfer it to him. I will give him this, but if he is captured I do not intend to rescue him and jeopardize the rest of the crew."
Owen radioed to Yuga, "Shouldn't be bad, a pit stop oughta be able to fix it. Best I can tell, it's probably sheet metal which shouldn't affect aero at these speeds. Might have to get a tire change, won't know until we get rollin' again."
[QUOTE]Ink and Firehead, security check on the surroundings.[/QUOTE]
"Yes ma'am." Amy started to look through her scope and scanning the track and the crowd for any more surprises. The last thing they needed was more trenches and cyborgs. "Ink, anything?"
[QUOTE]"...Ink and Firehead, security check on the surroundings."[/QUOTE]
"Got it." said Valkyrie, looking around the pit area. Everything looked clear, no sign of trenchies or goons. Surprisingly nobody had snuck in during the blackout. She walked around a bit, inspecting everything. Looks like everything was still here too.
[QUOTE]"Ink, anything?"[/QUOTE]
"Nah. All clear here in the chop shop. How 'bout you?" she responded.
"Nothing on my end for now. I don't like this." She continued to scan the area.
:snip:
(( i dont know much about racing please dont hurt me ))
((and now I realize I could have passed it off as Frosty's amnesia, I feel smart now))
[QUOTE=Viper123_SWE;50287257]Vakarus, aware that time was of the essence, quickly made his way to the stadium. Jogging at a rapid speed with a cloak obscuring most of his armored figure, the large and muscular Vakr arrived just in time as Dio knocked on the door.
Pulling back the hood on his cloak while also activating the blades on his staff. As the energized blades shot out from the staff Vakarus nodded towards Dio.
"Greetings bladedancer, I have arrived to assist you in battle against our foes." With that said, Vakarus steeled himself for combat.[/QUOTE]
"Hold it right there. I suggest you stay back for a bit unless you don't want to know how many goons are inside."
Jack paced to one end of the way to another, his reinforced boots stomping down on the hard floor with each hastily step.
His brother was too stubborn for his own good, he thought. Another payment made null and another week serving the Enforcement Corps.
If Mac was just tad more calm and rational, they could have been siting somewhere above the dens. Like the privileged few.
The enforcer stood for solid moment staring sight into the wall, stressed out of his mind about his troubled brother and his future.
If Mac dared fuck up this time, it would be his last and his bigger brother Jack couldn't pull him out of the lower dens this time.
He couldn't fail the responsibility of being his older brother, despite what his superiors told him to do.
After all, Jack was the only thing Mac had left after deep fire of 78 and he was the last for him as well.
He couldn't fail him and he knew Mac would do his best to do the same to Jack, even if his short slightness took the best of him.
"Enforcer 83.77" An Asset Protection Investigator shouted down the hall. Helen stood waiting, her torso forward with Robert stood aside her with his crossed.
Jack let out an muffled sign from under his helmet in reaction.
"Yes. What do you need need of me, Investigators?" He said in response, his tone barring an sense of tiredness and worry.
"We need you to assist us in the acquitting several individuals of interest for questioning." Robert said, taking an step forward the suited up enforcer.
While anxious about the future of his brother, the act picking up some people for questioning would be enough for the tired enforcer to get his mind of such stressful matters.
Besides, no one on this gutter of an planet was going to stand up to the likes of an fully equipped Asset Protection Enforcer. Never mind the two Investigators.
[B]---[/B]
"Affirmative, Sextant. I'll wait till until I'm utmost needed or when Router has an good path." Jag said calmly through it's Implant.
Jag kept watch of the two members of the ghost team gathering around the VIP door, it's implant keeping track of the wind.
Vakarus nodded. "As you wish."
Dio's knocking echoed into the VIP box containing Briggs. Their leader took a long drag off a cigarette as the room grew quiet. "Don't answer it," he said. "Our partners have a key." There were a few nodding heads around the room. [I]It's probably just a lost caterer,[/I] he thought to himself.
---
"Rahadakha..." [I]Bastards...[/I] Yanim looked at the carnage of the track, having been temporarily silenced by the scene taking place. Six drivers had just been killed, and Owen had only narrowly escaped with his life. She listened closely to the comm system, but did not offer any input as none had been asked of her. However, she did ask Rask for a status report.
[quote]Assistant here, with Halo, keh. On our way to crash a party, five minutes inbound. We brought fireworks for the kiddos, copy?[/quote]
"Copy," Yanim answered. So this was the "pickup" Rask had mentioned earlier- he was going to chase after the arrested crewmembers and break them out, presumably with the use of explosives, somehow. Yanim trusted that Rask wouldn't do anything too visible while the race was still being run. She sat down and huffed as she wondered whether she should have come to the stadium armed. Just then, she chanced upon a notification- the company's drop box, where in-the-know contractors could leave their contact information, had a voice message waiting for her.
[quote]To whom it may concern,
My name is Gionata. I don't know what your business is here, but your crew has spilled a lot of blood these past few days and has put my father's life and control over the Mafia in jeopardy. Judging by the fact that you are attending and competing in today's race, it is clear that he does not know that you are responsible, but I do. Lucky for both of us, I am not my father's boy. I want to see him dead. Say the word and we will be friends; my followers wear white scarves, and will avoid harming your crew.
Hope you enjoyed the wine.[/quote]
Yanim's eyes lit up as she heard the news. A cursory glance at news reports of Donatello's ascent to Mafia leadership revealed key details about his past, including his family estrangement. She wrote a quick reply to Gio, confirming her approval, before once more grabbing the comm and messaging the entire crew.
"Everyone, I've just been informed that there is a friendly faction in the vicinity. They will be wearing white scarves. I have instructed them to watch for a high sign as we do not wear uniforms. If you encounter them, tap your thumb against your jaw."
---
While Dio and Vakarus waited for a reply at the locked door, they argued over what role the latter would play. As they did, an elevator at the end of the hall opened its doors, revealing a group of Tri-Enterprise Asset Protection operatives, come to retrieve Briggs. Immediately, from Vakarus' stance they knew that the pair posed a danger to their target. The lead man, an Enforcer named Mac, was flanked by a pair of
Investigators, and each was better equipped than any Mafia goon. "Hey!" Mac shouted. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
---
The race began to move forward again under a yellow flag. The crowd, stunned after the disaster which had just taken place, began to express their disapproval with booing, and began to trickle out of the stadium. Nonetheless, the 38 drivers who remained active in the race still had 20 laps to go. Due to crashes and mechanical failures, the field had been rearranged- Owen was now in 2nd place, and Jeb had been moved all the way up to 11th after initially reporting in at 16th, because five drivers ahead had all been penalized for various reasons, most of them valid.
Section 11:
Jeb: [B]9[/B] (-5): 4 Positions Gained. Currently in 7th.
Owen: Pit.
Bucky: [B]6[/B]
Frosty: [B]7[/B]
Sledge: N/A
Valkyrie: [B]10[/B]
Pit Crew Total: 23 (/10) = 2
Owen: Max Positions Gained. Currently in 1st.
Jeb was revitalized by the opportunity, having been placed just outside of the top ten. With a little bit of effort once the yellow flag had expired, he pushed his way up to 7th. A podium finish was now distinctly possible, and he managed to feel good about himself despite the circumstance. Meanwhile, Owen pulled into the pit along with most of the remaining drivers who had survived the chaos. His pit crew was galvanized, putting on a good performance despite being shorthanded. Upon leaving the pit lane, Owen rocketed into the lead and didn't look back.
Section 12:
Jeb: [B]10[/B] (-5): Five Positions Gained. 2nd Place.
Owen: 1st Place.
The rest of the top ten limped along to the finish as the crowed continued to trickle out. Broadcasters around the galaxy began labeling the Grand Prix a "morbid spectacle" and had switched over to covering the six deaths which had occurred during the race and the apparent shooting which took place in the pit lane. Already, the even was being dubbed "Black Sunday." But Jeb was still pushing for his moment. One car after another gave way as he climbed toward the podium, and a limp-wristed effort by the final few drivers allowed him to break away to the front of the pack, but there was one driver just slightly too far ahead for him to reach.
Owen roared past the checkered flag for the victory instead.
Back at the Palazzo, Donatello slid out of his seat and fell to his knees. The weight of the entire world had fallen on his shoulders. Gamblers all throughout the galaxy, those with criminal connections to Prospera, cried foul at the results. Nothing could change the fact that the best laid plans of mice and men had gone awry in spectacular fashion. Terika-Belladonna Company- who the fuck were they, anyway? Donatello's fists struck the floorboards until blood trickled through his knuckles. He felt his father laughing at him from Hell. Where was Grandfather Jon? Where was nonno?
"Franco!" He shouted. "FRANCO!" The young man sheepishly entered the room, clutching his hat in his hands nervously.
"Yes, father?"
"My boy. My son-" he said, tears in his eyes. He reached out, and Franco started to step back, but Donatello seized onto him and embraced him with all his might. "I am a dead man," he said with a hopeless laugh. "I've ruined everything I was trusted to watch over. I don't know when it will happen, but you will be in charge soon enough, my son." Franco allowed himself to be hugged but didn't return the affection. His eyes showed the fear of crushing responsibilities. He was not ready. Donatello didn't care.
[B]Mission Update[/B]
✔ Meet the new crewmembers
✔ Determine the identity of the Mafia's chosen Grand Prix winner
✔ Locate Porter
✔ Sabotage the remaining hostile racers or bribe friendly competitors
✔ Ensure Jeb Jackson loses the Grand Prix
✔ Arrange for Owen to take the checkered flag
* Kill Richard Briggs
* Escape from Prospera
Vakarus glanced at Dio and then back at the extraction team from the Tri-Enterprise Asset Protection.
As he began to talk, he activated the open crew channel allowing the crew to hear him. "Thank the gods you arrived, we were told to hold our position untill Asset Protection warriors arrived to reinforce our ranks. "
He pointed at the door. "A number of armed foes await inside, they will attempt attack us should you open the door. We will need your help to safely escort the target outside. They killed the security team while we were out on patrol."
Vakarus looked at Dio. "My colleague and I would've been able to prevent this catastrophic mistake had he not failed to pack down our firearms."
Both hands still cluthing to his staff he was ready to charge, should the ruse fail.
[I]This is just great, why the fuck did they show up? Now my plan of pretending to be drunk just went down the shitters.[/I] Dio internally frowned.
[i]Still, just play along...[/i]
"My fault?! You were the one who was supposed to pack the firearms!"
Vakarus made an aggresive shove before putting one of his fingers on Dio's chest, pointing in a very accussive stance.
"[i]I was not,[/i] I had been given the task of packing down our ammunition which we can't even use because [i]you[/i] failed to pack the weapons."
He turned to the Asset Protection operatives. "Can you believe this? Two of the best warriors for hire that galactic currency can buy are now only equipped for hand-to-hand combat."
As Owen crossed the line to take the checkered, he looked into the stands. He saw more seats than people; it was a completely different atmosphere, far from the sellout crowd he remembered from the start of the race. As the remainder of the field limped across the line, Owen thought about what took place prior. Due to all the death and carnage, he didn't feel like celebrating all that much. Instead, he simply took the flag from the F-MAX official as a keepsake and headed to victory lane without a burnout.
---
Similarly, at victory lane only a few TV stations even bothered to show up to give Owen a winner's interview. The reporters asked Owen about his performance in the race and Owen simply answered with congratulatory remarks to the crew and vague comments about the two large wrecks. As the interview took place, Owen noticed a few men in suits with white scarves. Owen heard something about them on his radio during the race, but their mention came during the braking zone for the turn six hairpin. Owen realized they were allies when they simply congratulated him on his win. After a while of relaxing in victory lane, Owen realized something was missing. "Hey, where's my trophy?!?"
As if on command, an F-MAX official appeared with a large, gold colored, draconian looking animal. Owen flatly stated, "What is that, that's no trophy." with a small chuckle. The official responded, "sorry, this is the best we could do, your trophy was...um...lost. We found this thing wandering the streets, seemed really attached to a fish tank in one of the bars." Owen didn't care much about where the animal came from. "That still doesn't explain what happened to the trophy, what do you mean, 'lost?'" The official replied with a look of almost disbelief himself when he spoke, "Yeah, this thing, um, ate the trophy." Not exactly the prize Owen was expecting, but it was better than nothing. "Alright then..." At this point, Owen was more amused than mad, he didn't even know if he could keep this animal, but maybe the crew would want it. After the previous exchange, Owen exited victory lane.
[I wonder if that animal is related to someone in the crew?]
Amy smiled as Owen was announced the winner. That was 2/3 objectives down. All that was needed was for them to kill Briggs and get the hell out of Prospera. She continued to observe the area around the pit crew and Owen. The white scarfs were visible, but she didn't want to leave them out of her sight. Not with any trenchcoats running around.
(( Snip ))
((I'm confused, are there two Macs with Asset Protection?))
((No, there's only one. Deathgrunt and I had collaborated on mapping out the remainder of the scenes on Prospera but he expected the Enforcer Jack to be relevant before Mac, whereas circumstances dictated the opposite. I asked him to edit his previous post to make reference to Mac being dispatched to the VIP section to encounter Dio and Vakarus, but he didn't, and seeing as DG put him inside the box with Briggs in this latest post rather than in the hallway outside, I don't think he actually read my previous post, or maybe doesn't understand what's going on.))
(( oh sorry for the confusion everyone , I meant that jack was in another hallway within the VIP section and was getting pulled with the two investigators after something else. While Mac is hanging around and was resuming his patrol within the Vip area. ))
((Then I'm assuming that by "peaking at Briggs" you mean that Mac was looking at him through a video feed. Because it was established that the Mafia guys inside the room were waiting on AP to arrive, and in my last post, Mac and his associates had just appeared from an elevator en route to the room holding Briggs. That's where the confusion is coming from.))
Yuga was standing confidently with her hands behind her back when Owen crossed the finish line.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly backwards.
With their gambit succesful they had pulled the rug out from under the mafia and earned a tremendous profit doing it. Two birds with a golden stone.
Yuga opened here eyes and furrowed her brows into a focused state, there were still matters to resolve before they could celebrate this victory. She activated the comms.
"Chop shop, lightning, allow me to congratulate you on a job well done. However, I must remind you that we have loose ends to tie up before we depart. Lightning, bring the vehicle back to the ship and prepare for departure as soon as we are in the green. Sweepers, your objective has been update. I believe Assistant is formulating a breakout of our other members. Meanwhile you are to carry out the regicide. Convene on the locale and execute. Ink, bubblegum and chameleon are free to either return to the ship or assist the sweepers."
Yuga sat down in the captains chair in a leisurely fashion. She opened the compass with a holotab for the bets that she had made.
The numbers were still being crunched, but with the odds they had entered with it was sure to be a sizable return.
With this kind of payday she suddenly thought of Ryuko. She opened up a holographic portrait of a young Ayr woman in what seemed to be an imperial servants uniform. Yuga found herself squinting in a euphoric fashion, for the first time in a long while she actually felt a little homesick.
She closed the compass and looked towards Hariim, "Mr.M'baal, focus all surveillance towards the areas surrounding the king. Our teams are going to need all the information they can get."
Seeing Owen take the checkered flag made Frosty ecstatic.
He raised his hand, intent on passing hi-fives to the rest of the pit crew.
Back at the Brig of the Muramasa, János quietly celebrated Owen's victory with a few subdued woos.
((So nobody is noticing that Vakarus is broadcasting on the crew channel? Did you all go deaf? :v:))
((I was under the impression he was just trying to trick AP dudes. I'm going to get Markus over there shortly, just wanted Death and Sega to make the first replies so I just don't glide in and steal the thunder.))
((Well yeah, he's trying trick them but the open-comms thing was to alert the crew.))
"Fat rat, what do you think? Go in or stay back and stay out of sight?"
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