DarkSerge27
Feb 21, 2004, 11:52 PM
"...and that's why we need you to clear out the monsters inhabiting the East Tower. Are there any questions, hunter?"
Tenshi ran her hand through her long, black hair, and reviewed what Chief Natasha had said. She was to clear out all the life forms in the 'East Tower' area of the Control Tower on Gal Da Val island. Simple enough. She had done exterminations before.
"No questions." She said without emotion.
"Then take the teleporter to the Control Center immediately."
Tenshi turned around and walked down the ramp. She went to the door on her right, which slid open as she approached. She stepped on to the teleporter. Her hands flew across a nearby control panel, setting the coordinates for the Control Center on Gal Da Val.
"Alright, let's get this over with."
Tenshi initiated the teleportation down to the island. She never got used to the feeling she got in her body when she took the teleporter. It felt like she was gently being pulled apart. A strange sensation, to be sure, but surprisingly it didn't hurt at all. Still, she never could shake the thought of what would happen if the teleport failed somehow.
Her body materialized on solid ground. She walked around for a bit, scanning the area for anything hostile, or of interest. Her booted made a soft 'clank' noise as she stepped lightly across the metal floor. Her mag, Varaha, floated behind her as it always did. It was something of an unnerving sight. The wing-like mag made her appear as something of a black-clad angel. The black shield on her arm, made from the left arm of a Delsaber, added to that feeling.
"Guess I'd better get started." She said to herself. She accessed the transport device on her hand, and decided her Lavis Cannon saber would be sufficient for the mission. The deep purple, spike-like blade materialized in her hand, and she set off.
Looking around the desolate area, she spotted a control panel near the northern wall. She tried activating it, but it seemed it was offline. To her left she eyed a green, waterfall-like forcefield. The green waves of light gently poured down from the top of the device. Tenshi knew from experience that the green waves meant she could pass, and she did exactly that. As she stepped into the next room, the air off to her left seemed to shimmer slightly. It was almost like something was reflecting the light around it, or displacing it.
"Nothing here." She said as she looked around. "A few security lasers, sure, but nothing. No signs of life at all..."
She tensed. Once again, she saw the air shimmer in front of her. Something was definately wrong. She didn't have time to ponder what it was, however. A few moments after she spotted the shimmering air, something slammed into her back. Tenshi was sent careening through the air about 15 feet. She skidded across the ground for a moment, then quickly got to her feet. She looked around franticly, trying to see what attacked her. Two thoughts crossed through her mind. Either she was attacked by surprise, and her assailent then fled, or...
"Cloaking devices." Tenshi said, finishing her thought out loud. She quickly put her back to a wall so she couldn't be attacked from the rear. Looking around, she spotted the same shimmering sensation in the air, this time in two places. It almost seemed to be an outline of something. It looked roughly humanoid, but much larger in size and weight. Whatever it was, it could probably crush an average human with no problem.
Suddenly, the two shimmering air forms leapt forward, with a loud 'CLANK' as they sprang from the ground. Tenshi realized the threat and immediately rolled forward underneath them. She spun around to face them.
"Gotcha." She whispered.
She lunged forward and thrusted with her saber. The sound of metal being cut open filled the air. She smelled oil being vaporized by the Photons of her blade. The cloaking field had apparently been damaged, because lying before her was a large, tan-colored robot, about 5.5 feet in size, with huge arms that looked like they could smash through a steel wall. Tenshi recalled the analysis of the creatures on Gal Da Val. This was a 'Berill' type Sinow machine. That no longer mattered to her. All she cared about was whether or not it was attacking her. She turned to her left, expecting to see the same wavering air. It wasn't there. She hadn't heard and clanking of footsteps, either.
"So they can teleport too? This is great..."
Something large smashed through her back. She fell to the ground on her face, with some kind of weight crushing her down. The other Sinow had apparently hurled one of the steel crates around her at her. She tried to get up, coughing blood onto her sleeveless black/red shirt. Her hair was in a mess. Her mag had moved out of the way, however, so it was still relatively intact. Tenshi rose to her feet, her entire body screaming in pain. Pain was nothing, however. She glanced around, and saw something peculiar. One of the red security fences was reflecting its light off in every direction about halfway between the two connecting posts that held it together. It's standing there, Tenshi thought. But if I move, it'll teleport behind me again. I'll have to attack quickly. No problem. Tenshi excelled at moving faster than others did. She tightened her grip on her Lavis Cannon, bracing her body for the attack she was about to use. Ignoring the blood coming from the wounds across her arms and back, she swung the purple saber in an upward arc, creating and propelling a blade-sharp wave of force in front of her, slicing the Sinow Berill neatly in two. At the same time, however, a surge of pain swept through her body. Doing that cost her some of her life force, but it allowed the blade to project a kind of slash wave ahead of her. Tenshi collapsed to her knees. Her mag, sensing her pain, responded by projecting a healing wave across her body. Tenshi watched as her wounds closed before her eyes.
"Thanks, Varaha. I don't know if I had the strength for a healing technique."
Now to disable the security lasers via the only way she knew how.
She switched her Lavis Cannon for her Custom Ray ver.00, which she had taken off the body of a deceased hunter on another operation. She twirled the handgun in her hand for a moment, then fired two quick shots, one at each laser post. The searing Photon bullets cut through the metal like a hot knife cut through butter. The machines went up in a flash of fire as their vital systems were ruptured. Tenshi noticed that the force field across from her had now turned green. She thought back to when she was fighting, and realized that it had been red before. Guess I can get on with this damned mission, she thought as she crossed through the field. It was eerily quiet on the path she took to the tower. About halfway across, she spotted a minefield of security lasers ahead of her.
"This is no good... If I cross through there, I'm dead for sure. Only one way to do this now..."
Tenshi hopped onto the railing beside her, landing on it with perfect balance. She thought for a moment that she shoud have made a career as an acrobat.
That thought lasted about four seconds.
This had to go perfectly. One wrong step and she'd end up in the water. Yet, it had to go fast as well. Tenshi broke into a sprint across the railing, moving almost too fast to be seen clearly. Who cares if I fall into the water? she thought. I wouldn't mind rinsing the blood off my shirt anyway.
After no less than ten seconds, she had reached the doorway to the tower.
"My mission officially starts now..." She said as she walked through the door. Without warning, she felt herself teleported to the second floor. At least, she assumed it was the second floor, judging by the shortness of the teleportation. She scanned the room. The enemies in here she knew. She looked at them all, one by one. As she saw them, Tenshi recalled the reports the Lab had given on them.
'Del Lily'- D-cell based cousin of the Altered Beast, 'Poison Lily.' Far more deadly than it's Altered Beast relative, the Del Lily's poisonous spit is so toxic it can kill a man instantly.
'Mericarol'- Altered Beast, a more advanced form of the Altered Beasts 'Mericle' and 'Meritas.' It's venom can cause the body to lose control, often usurping the infected's control over their own body. Multiple species exist.
There were two Del Lilies on the far end of the room, somehow rooted into the steel flooring, and a Mericarol slithering around about six feet in front of her. It took a moment to comprehend Tenshi's sudden appearance, but its surprise was soon diminished, and it spat its poison at her. Or rather, where she was standing a second before. At the time that the venomous blob struck the ground, Tenshi was in mid-air, leaping at the horrible plant-beast for a downward stab. Her feet caved in its flower bud-like head (She assumed it was its head, simply because that was where the acidic spit came from), and brought its neck flat down to its body. Then came the blade.
It seared through the plant's fleshy exterior, and melted its insides away. Green blood splattered all over Tenshi's shirt and boots.
"Dammit... This is going to take forever to get out."
She wrenched her sword out of the dead plant's body, and turned towards the blackish, spike-covered Del Lilies. She made a snap choice.
She was going the harder way.
Tenshi took a step onto the railing and leapt across the room, landing a mere few feet away from the dark plants. Slight problem: she was between them. The two weeds snapped out at her with their fanged mouths. Tenshi blocked the left one with her shield, and stabbed the right one through the head, using the momentum of the attack to move into a barrel roll across its body. She arose in a kneeling position and drew her Custom Ray. The Del Lily reared back and spit a deadly volley of poison at her. Tenshi fired two quick shots and jumped backwards a bit, barely missing the corrosive spit. The lily spat again. Tenshi was too exhausted at the moment from her agility usage to move. She did the only thing she could, and raised her shield as the poison came. The venomous blob collided with the shield, and Tenshi watched in horror as it corroded through it with no effort whatsoever. It was as if her shield didn't exist at all! The poison struck her bare arm, and seeped into her every pore in her skin. Her entire body was overcome with an unbearable amount of pain, and she fell forward, face first. If it was possible for a plant to laugh, then the Del Lily did so. Tenshi looked up as high as she could, and could just barely see the lily's head moving back and forth as if it were taunting her. It was laughing at her.
The pain passed relatively quickly. What's wrong? she thought. Am I dead?
Tenshi opened her eyes. She was staring at the grey, steel floor of the Control Tower.
"Guess not..." She whispered. "Ugh...but...pretty close to it, it would seem..."
She tried standing up, but thought better. She remembered the lily that 'killed' her. It must think I'm dead. I better not move for a while. Tenshi lied there for what seemed to be an eternity, and her strength finally came back to her body. She stood up, a bit shakily, but stood just the same.
"That," she said. "Won't happen again." She stared coldly at the plant in front of her. Seconds later, she stared at it the same way, only this time it was dead. Tenshi had always been the fastest. She smiled.
"And this is only the second floor..." She didn't care about that though. If anything, she was glad it was only the second floor. She lived for the challenge of the fight, and that's exactly why she took these missions. Not for money, for glory, for fame. She did it for fun. It's not fun if there's no chance of dying. She thought.
Time to move on.
--to be continued--
Tenshi ran her hand through her long, black hair, and reviewed what Chief Natasha had said. She was to clear out all the life forms in the 'East Tower' area of the Control Tower on Gal Da Val island. Simple enough. She had done exterminations before.
"No questions." She said without emotion.
"Then take the teleporter to the Control Center immediately."
Tenshi turned around and walked down the ramp. She went to the door on her right, which slid open as she approached. She stepped on to the teleporter. Her hands flew across a nearby control panel, setting the coordinates for the Control Center on Gal Da Val.
"Alright, let's get this over with."
Tenshi initiated the teleportation down to the island. She never got used to the feeling she got in her body when she took the teleporter. It felt like she was gently being pulled apart. A strange sensation, to be sure, but surprisingly it didn't hurt at all. Still, she never could shake the thought of what would happen if the teleport failed somehow.
Her body materialized on solid ground. She walked around for a bit, scanning the area for anything hostile, or of interest. Her booted made a soft 'clank' noise as she stepped lightly across the metal floor. Her mag, Varaha, floated behind her as it always did. It was something of an unnerving sight. The wing-like mag made her appear as something of a black-clad angel. The black shield on her arm, made from the left arm of a Delsaber, added to that feeling.
"Guess I'd better get started." She said to herself. She accessed the transport device on her hand, and decided her Lavis Cannon saber would be sufficient for the mission. The deep purple, spike-like blade materialized in her hand, and she set off.
Looking around the desolate area, she spotted a control panel near the northern wall. She tried activating it, but it seemed it was offline. To her left she eyed a green, waterfall-like forcefield. The green waves of light gently poured down from the top of the device. Tenshi knew from experience that the green waves meant she could pass, and she did exactly that. As she stepped into the next room, the air off to her left seemed to shimmer slightly. It was almost like something was reflecting the light around it, or displacing it.
"Nothing here." She said as she looked around. "A few security lasers, sure, but nothing. No signs of life at all..."
She tensed. Once again, she saw the air shimmer in front of her. Something was definately wrong. She didn't have time to ponder what it was, however. A few moments after she spotted the shimmering air, something slammed into her back. Tenshi was sent careening through the air about 15 feet. She skidded across the ground for a moment, then quickly got to her feet. She looked around franticly, trying to see what attacked her. Two thoughts crossed through her mind. Either she was attacked by surprise, and her assailent then fled, or...
"Cloaking devices." Tenshi said, finishing her thought out loud. She quickly put her back to a wall so she couldn't be attacked from the rear. Looking around, she spotted the same shimmering sensation in the air, this time in two places. It almost seemed to be an outline of something. It looked roughly humanoid, but much larger in size and weight. Whatever it was, it could probably crush an average human with no problem.
Suddenly, the two shimmering air forms leapt forward, with a loud 'CLANK' as they sprang from the ground. Tenshi realized the threat and immediately rolled forward underneath them. She spun around to face them.
"Gotcha." She whispered.
She lunged forward and thrusted with her saber. The sound of metal being cut open filled the air. She smelled oil being vaporized by the Photons of her blade. The cloaking field had apparently been damaged, because lying before her was a large, tan-colored robot, about 5.5 feet in size, with huge arms that looked like they could smash through a steel wall. Tenshi recalled the analysis of the creatures on Gal Da Val. This was a 'Berill' type Sinow machine. That no longer mattered to her. All she cared about was whether or not it was attacking her. She turned to her left, expecting to see the same wavering air. It wasn't there. She hadn't heard and clanking of footsteps, either.
"So they can teleport too? This is great..."
Something large smashed through her back. She fell to the ground on her face, with some kind of weight crushing her down. The other Sinow had apparently hurled one of the steel crates around her at her. She tried to get up, coughing blood onto her sleeveless black/red shirt. Her hair was in a mess. Her mag had moved out of the way, however, so it was still relatively intact. Tenshi rose to her feet, her entire body screaming in pain. Pain was nothing, however. She glanced around, and saw something peculiar. One of the red security fences was reflecting its light off in every direction about halfway between the two connecting posts that held it together. It's standing there, Tenshi thought. But if I move, it'll teleport behind me again. I'll have to attack quickly. No problem. Tenshi excelled at moving faster than others did. She tightened her grip on her Lavis Cannon, bracing her body for the attack she was about to use. Ignoring the blood coming from the wounds across her arms and back, she swung the purple saber in an upward arc, creating and propelling a blade-sharp wave of force in front of her, slicing the Sinow Berill neatly in two. At the same time, however, a surge of pain swept through her body. Doing that cost her some of her life force, but it allowed the blade to project a kind of slash wave ahead of her. Tenshi collapsed to her knees. Her mag, sensing her pain, responded by projecting a healing wave across her body. Tenshi watched as her wounds closed before her eyes.
"Thanks, Varaha. I don't know if I had the strength for a healing technique."
Now to disable the security lasers via the only way she knew how.
She switched her Lavis Cannon for her Custom Ray ver.00, which she had taken off the body of a deceased hunter on another operation. She twirled the handgun in her hand for a moment, then fired two quick shots, one at each laser post. The searing Photon bullets cut through the metal like a hot knife cut through butter. The machines went up in a flash of fire as their vital systems were ruptured. Tenshi noticed that the force field across from her had now turned green. She thought back to when she was fighting, and realized that it had been red before. Guess I can get on with this damned mission, she thought as she crossed through the field. It was eerily quiet on the path she took to the tower. About halfway across, she spotted a minefield of security lasers ahead of her.
"This is no good... If I cross through there, I'm dead for sure. Only one way to do this now..."
Tenshi hopped onto the railing beside her, landing on it with perfect balance. She thought for a moment that she shoud have made a career as an acrobat.
That thought lasted about four seconds.
This had to go perfectly. One wrong step and she'd end up in the water. Yet, it had to go fast as well. Tenshi broke into a sprint across the railing, moving almost too fast to be seen clearly. Who cares if I fall into the water? she thought. I wouldn't mind rinsing the blood off my shirt anyway.
After no less than ten seconds, she had reached the doorway to the tower.
"My mission officially starts now..." She said as she walked through the door. Without warning, she felt herself teleported to the second floor. At least, she assumed it was the second floor, judging by the shortness of the teleportation. She scanned the room. The enemies in here she knew. She looked at them all, one by one. As she saw them, Tenshi recalled the reports the Lab had given on them.
'Del Lily'- D-cell based cousin of the Altered Beast, 'Poison Lily.' Far more deadly than it's Altered Beast relative, the Del Lily's poisonous spit is so toxic it can kill a man instantly.
'Mericarol'- Altered Beast, a more advanced form of the Altered Beasts 'Mericle' and 'Meritas.' It's venom can cause the body to lose control, often usurping the infected's control over their own body. Multiple species exist.
There were two Del Lilies on the far end of the room, somehow rooted into the steel flooring, and a Mericarol slithering around about six feet in front of her. It took a moment to comprehend Tenshi's sudden appearance, but its surprise was soon diminished, and it spat its poison at her. Or rather, where she was standing a second before. At the time that the venomous blob struck the ground, Tenshi was in mid-air, leaping at the horrible plant-beast for a downward stab. Her feet caved in its flower bud-like head (She assumed it was its head, simply because that was where the acidic spit came from), and brought its neck flat down to its body. Then came the blade.
It seared through the plant's fleshy exterior, and melted its insides away. Green blood splattered all over Tenshi's shirt and boots.
"Dammit... This is going to take forever to get out."
She wrenched her sword out of the dead plant's body, and turned towards the blackish, spike-covered Del Lilies. She made a snap choice.
She was going the harder way.
Tenshi took a step onto the railing and leapt across the room, landing a mere few feet away from the dark plants. Slight problem: she was between them. The two weeds snapped out at her with their fanged mouths. Tenshi blocked the left one with her shield, and stabbed the right one through the head, using the momentum of the attack to move into a barrel roll across its body. She arose in a kneeling position and drew her Custom Ray. The Del Lily reared back and spit a deadly volley of poison at her. Tenshi fired two quick shots and jumped backwards a bit, barely missing the corrosive spit. The lily spat again. Tenshi was too exhausted at the moment from her agility usage to move. She did the only thing she could, and raised her shield as the poison came. The venomous blob collided with the shield, and Tenshi watched in horror as it corroded through it with no effort whatsoever. It was as if her shield didn't exist at all! The poison struck her bare arm, and seeped into her every pore in her skin. Her entire body was overcome with an unbearable amount of pain, and she fell forward, face first. If it was possible for a plant to laugh, then the Del Lily did so. Tenshi looked up as high as she could, and could just barely see the lily's head moving back and forth as if it were taunting her. It was laughing at her.
The pain passed relatively quickly. What's wrong? she thought. Am I dead?
Tenshi opened her eyes. She was staring at the grey, steel floor of the Control Tower.
"Guess not..." She whispered. "Ugh...but...pretty close to it, it would seem..."
She tried standing up, but thought better. She remembered the lily that 'killed' her. It must think I'm dead. I better not move for a while. Tenshi lied there for what seemed to be an eternity, and her strength finally came back to her body. She stood up, a bit shakily, but stood just the same.
"That," she said. "Won't happen again." She stared coldly at the plant in front of her. Seconds later, she stared at it the same way, only this time it was dead. Tenshi had always been the fastest. She smiled.
"And this is only the second floor..." She didn't care about that though. If anything, she was glad it was only the second floor. She lived for the challenge of the fight, and that's exactly why she took these missions. Not for money, for glory, for fame. She did it for fun. It's not fun if there's no chance of dying. She thought.
Time to move on.
--to be continued--