Ann Landers never had to deal with these people [mini-fic] - Printable Version +- Drunkard's Walk Forums (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums) +-- Forum: General (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=1) +--- Forum: The Legendary (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=14) +--- Thread: Ann Landers never had to deal with these people [mini-fic] (/showthread.php?tid=4248)

Ann Landers never had to deal with these people [mini-fic] - firvulag - 06-17-2007 Based on a few comments made by Foxboy on night. Mechanon-01's dialog by Logan Darklighter ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PPD Special Investigations Division Status Report Officer: Heuristic Engramic Armoured Tactical unit Current Duty: Investigating the MacHine kidnappings. ---------------------------------------- Status: While evidence suggests the rash of kidnappings of MacHine family members and their associates was perpetrated by a faction operating out of the Rogue Isles, it is not conclusive as to the identities of the perpetrators. It is likely (78% certanty) that members of the criminal organization The Infamous were involved but we are not prepared to confirm particular identities. We have determined that the victims were transported out of Paragon City, most probably (87% certanty) to the Nerva Archipelago. The remaining MacHines and their allies have departed on a rescue mission. See attachement 1 for detailed list of all supporting evidence. We are continuing our investigation to determine answers for the following questions: - Are any residents of Paragon City were complicit in these crimes? - What is the purpose of the kidnappings? - What further actions might be taken by the perpetrators? ---------------------------------------- The slow-moving submarine crept carefully along between the rocks that made up the smallest of the Nerva Archipelago's islands. The Longbow officer in command breathed a sigh of relief as his pilot eased the sub into its customary berth, and turned to his guests. "We've arrived, and we'll be on the surface in a moment. Are you still certain you don't want any help?" Morgan MacHine shook his head in a curt gesture. "No, Captain. We can handle this ourselves. Besides we're not certain where in the Isles we'll have to go and we wouldn't want to jeopardize any of your long-term operations." "Well, I've alerted our bases here, if you do run into something big and nasty let us know. You've got the comm codes?" Morgan shook the captain's hand. "Thank you. We do, and we will. I don't think it will be necessary though." With that Morgan made for the hatch, where the others were waiting. While he and the captain had been speaking the sub had reached the surface and crewman was busy undogging the hatch. Bella laid a hand on Morgan's arm as they watched the others climb out. "Don't worry so much, Querido. We'll get them back." He covered her hand with his and they waited for their turn at the ladder. A short while later the rescue party was hidden amid the rocks, arguing over the best route to take. They, and the sub's Longbow guards were startled by a voice from above. "I'd advise against the ferry. The Arbiter drones they have guarding them are a nasty handful and surprisingly perceptive." They looked up to see Hexane perched on top of a tall granite boulder. "The pilots that run the helicopter line are much more bribable anyway," she continued. "The drones don't seem to understand the concept of favours." The villainess was about to go on when her lapels were siezed by a pair of small, but surprisingly strong hands, and she was yanked down slightly to look into the eyes of a very angry Minuet MacHine-Heisman. "Where. Is. Oren'?" she ground out. Hexane stared into Minuet's eyes for a long moment, and then tried to staighten up. It did not work, and Minuet's hands tightened their grip. "Yeesh, your hubby's fine. And so are the others, since you asked so nicely. Now would you ease up on the threads? I actually paid for this jacket, you know." Hexane straightened up again, this time succeeding in pulling loose from Minuet. She took a moment to fix her clothes while the heroes glared at her. "Like I said earlier, your best bet is the helicopter line. Just be polite, the pilots are Arachnos and it wouldn't take much to convince them the bribe wasn't worth it." Hexane stood and turned to leave, only to find herself face to face with Bella Fuego. The kunoichi blinked rapidly as the heat that suddenly poured off of Bella started to dry out her eyes. "Amiga, you had better start explaining," she said. "What's to explain? I was paid to make sure that they, and you, all ended up at the same place at a certain time. A certain time which is nearly here. So unless you want to be late, and I wouldn't recommend that, you have a helicopter to catch." Hexane held up a shiny folded piece of paper, and waved it in Bella's face. "This here is what we call a map. It shows you where you have to go, assuming you can read." With that Hexane tossed the paper at Bella and vanished into a cloud of ninja smoke. ---- Hexane handed the binoculars back to Mechanon-01 and pushed herself up off of the stone railing above the canal. "Well, they made it onboard the chopper. They should be arriving just in time to get changed." She began making her way to the nearby base portal. Mechanon-01 followed her, tracking the Arachnos flier as it lifted into the sky above Nerva. "OBSERVATION: I still do not see what the point of this meatbag ceremony is for." He paused for a moment, then continued. "STATEMENT: But I am looking forward to the close proximity of members of The Legendary to members of this organization. I calculate a high probability of unrestrained violence as a result of this course of action." Hexane grimaced, hearing this and slouched. "Normally, you'd be right but Nogi' called in I don't know what favours and some how got Ghost Widow to shake loose a handful of Arbiter Drones to keep things from getting too out of hand." "And we're doing it because Nogi' is paying us very well. Nogi's doing it, well let's just say it's part of her core directives. I can't explain it to you any better than that I don't think." Mechanon-01 trailed behind, it dismissed the vagaries of organics from its mind and began running a simulation of the ceremony minus the drones. Hopefully the casualty rate would be high, even if it was only a simulation. The villains arrived at the base portal's blue pillar and stepped though. One gut-wrenching movement later they were in the lobby of the Infamous' base. The normally comfortable room was somewhat crowded, with a large number of minions and henchmen standing guard over Hexane's guests. "Alright, they've taken the bait. It's time to go." Hexane crowed happily. The minions shiffted and began hauling the prisoners to their feet, herding them towards the teleporters. Hexane was amused to see the mixture of firm insistance and politeness that Honest Gentleman was displaying towards some of the female MacHines, and the glares he got in return. After a moment only Hexane, her retainers and one final captive remained. Hexane crossed the floor and crouched down in front of her. QB Kitsune stared back at the kunoichi, straining against the ropes and her gag. "Now, now there's no need to be so angry with me. I was completely honest when I said that the letter wasn't bobby trapped, and all my men were standing in the open, behind me. I also didn't do anything to you... then. The fact that I was distracting you so Misao-chan could slip up behind you, well that's another matter entirely." Hexane laughed again and took ahold off QB, tipping QB forward and balancing the hero over her shoulders. Hexane stood up and carried her towards the teleporters. "You should be grateful that you and Nogi' have the same measurements. You didn't have to spend all that time at Facemakers getting fitted properly." ---- The drone of the Arachnos flier's engines stuttered as the pilot dropped his craft down behind a stack of cargo containers. He reached for the radio. "Tower, this is flight 212 from Nerva, declaring engine failure. I've lost number two, and I'll be coming in low and hot." He listened to the tower's response and, apparently satisfied made his own reply. "Roger that Tower, ETA three minutes." Behind him Minuet MacHine steadied herself against the hatch. He glanced back and scowled. "We're here, all of you, get out." He pulled a parchment envelope from his instrument panel and handed it back to her. "I was told to give you this. Now get out." Min' accepted the envelope and hurried back into the cargo section of the flier. The door was open and the rescue party was dropping out under the cover of the cargo containers. Min reached the door and went through it even as the flier's engines roared and pushed it back into the air. It listed in an unhealthy manner, and accelerated towards the nearby field. Morgan watched it go. "Sabotaged their own engine. Crazy bastards." He turned to his sister. "What did they give you?" Min' turned the envelope over in her hands. It was sealed with wax, with a Japanese character pressed into the center. She took a deap breath and broke the seal. Inside was a single piece of expensive paper covered in elegant caligraphy. Min' pulled it out and read aloud. "You are cordially invited to the wedding of Mace MacHine and Chiyuki no Mori no Nogitsune..." ---- "Do you have any idea what this wedding, and its smooth, proper unfolding mean to Nogi', personally, culturally and mythically? I am doing everything in my power to make certain it all happens the way it is supposed to. I like Nogi', I do, but she's not the easiest creature to get along with at the best of times, and I have no desire to deal with a pissed off, bridal Nogi' much less a pissed off, honeymoon delayed Nogi'." "I'd rather slit my wrists than stick around for what will happen if this turns out anything like your wedding Mr. Heisman." Hexane glared up at Wide Reciever. "I was at your wedding, if you remember. With the exception of a frat-boy kegger, no party that generates that many sirens can be called a success." The kunoichi paused and looked thoughtful. "At least I think I was at your wedding. I seem to recall an open bar, but not much else." She shook her head and got back on track. "Anyway, the point is you will go in there, sit with your wife, and be damned polite and proper. And you will not damage that tux. It cost too damn much to rent as it is and I am not paying to have it replaced. Now if you will excuse me, I have to get changed." So saying, Hexane dropped a small smoke bomb at her feet causing Wide to step back, coughing. When the smoke cleared, the young woman was standing there in a traditional kimono, appearance marred only by the mask that covered the upper half of her face. She checked herself over, and then seemed to realize Wide was still there. A folded fan was thrust into his face for emphasis. "What are you still doing here? Get going!" The fan was then smacked over his helmet. "Go. And while you're in there, I suggest you think about how to settle things with Mayai. She is going to be seriously pissed with what I had Chiyuki-kun do to keep her from ruining this. Go! Go! Go!" Each command was followed with a further blow from the fan, and Wide wisely withdrew to find Min'. Hexane watched him go and smoothed out her kimono. Standing behind her, where they had been watching the conversation were Bella and Morgan. Satisfied with her appearance, Hexane grabbed both of their arms and began shooing them towards the wedding. Once they were moving she handed Bella an envelope. It was unsealed, and full of papers. "What is this," demanded Morgan? "Nothing much, just the reciepts for the wedding presents you lot got Nogi' and Mace. Which I expect you to repay me for, by the way. I'm not even charging you a fee for services rendered, so don't say anything about it." Bella accepted the envelope and tucked it away. "Should we double check to make certain this is actually what we got them?" "You do remember what I said about keeping Nogi' happy, yes?" Hexane rolled her eyes and noticed something up in the sky. "Ara, we're going to be late. Get moving." The kunoichi pulled a parasol out from somewhere and opened it above her head as she hurried along behind the heroes. A few light drops of rain spattered off of it as she looked up one last time at the rainbow overhead and the sunshower that was moving across the island. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ETA: Corrected Mechanon's behavior. That'll teach me to use a character when I don't have a handle on his personality. -- 50 Things Hexane has learned since joining the Infamous #20. I may not sing 'The Song that Never Ends' in Obsolete's presence. Re: Ann Landers never had to deal with these people [mini-fi - Bob Schroeck - 06-17-2007 Oh, that's priceless. I really like this. A couple little things need fixing -- she's tiny, but she's not "Minute", for instance -- but very well done. Looking forward to more. -- Bob --------- The Internet Is For Norns. Re: Ann Landers never had to deal with these people [mini-fi - firvulag - 06-17-2007 *sigh* I let it sit for a couple of days, re-read it several times, and I still mispell Min's name four times. Ah well, it's corrected now. -- 50 things Hexane has learned since joining the Infamous: #49. I may not provide covert funding to any red haired, budding mad scientists. a. Even if they dye their hair. b. Or are from an alternate future reality. Re: Ann Landers never had to deal with these people [mini-fi - Logan Darklighter - 06-18-2007 This is looking good. I only have one nitpick. Mechanon comes off as seemingly worried about the possibility of violence. On the contrary, he'd be looking forward to it. Any opportunity for unrestrained violence against organic "meatbags" is quite alright by him. Here's his background in case you want to use him further - Mechanon has utter contempt for organics. No one knows where he came from or who created him, if anyone did at all. He becomes insulted at the idea that humans might have built him, claiming that "I'd be worth millions of your man-years of development!" He took nearly complete control of NORAD in 1985 and almost managed to launch the United States nuclear missiles against the USSR to trigger Nuclear Armeggedon before the Freedom Phalanx stopped his robot army and Statesman personally smashed him into component parts. The pieces were remanded to the Zig and only studied under the most secure conditions. (Mechanon's components were in the Zig under the legal "fiction" that it was "incarcerated" there. This was in order to keep Crey Industries and other unscrupulous entities from getting their hands on the tech.) During the massive breakout from the Zig conducted by Arachnos, something triggered a long dormant self repair nano-mechanism in Mechanon's scattered circuitry and components, and his core form was re-constituted. He was not anywhere near full capacity however, and so allowed himself to be "rescued" by Arachnos. Before setting him loose on Mercy Island, Lord Recluse recognized him for what he was and had him deactivated. Recluse's techs managed to alter Mechanon's programming and put blocks and directives in place to restrict him in certain ways. In effect - Mechanon is prevented from carrying out any plan or course of action that would result in eradicating life on the planet. Certain targets he can not attack - including Arbiters and their drones, for example. Or any of the "chosen ones". (Other Player Characters) This has had the effect of altering his personality in odd and quirky ways. He STILL has contempt for organics and all life. He just can't actively do much about it. So he's compensated somewhat. Strangely, the change may have done more to make him more "human" than anything else could have. His personality has turned from utterly cold and unemotional to... well... snarky and sarcastic, really. And eager for lots of violence. Ever played Knights of the Old Republic? His verbal delivery is a lot like HK-47. He refers to humans and other organics as "meatbags". He'll even use that term in reference to other members of the Infamous. So, from the exchange above in the story, I'd see his reaction more like - Mechanon-01 followed her, tracking the Arachnos flier as it lifted into the sky above Nerva. "OBSERVATION: I still do not see what the point of this meatbag ceremony is for." He paused for a moment, then continued. "STATEMENT: But I am looking forward to the close proximity of members of The Legendary to members of this organization. I calculate a high probability of unrestrained violence as a result of this course of events." How's that? -Logan ----------------- "Wake up! Time for SCIENCE!" -Adam Savage ----------------- Re: Ann Landers never had to deal with these people [mini-fi - Evil Midnight Lurker - 06-18-2007 ...If I had any room left on Virtue, I'd build Foxbat just to play off of Mechanon. You're lucky I don't. ETA: Ah, heck with it, Conquest Fleet is dead in the water. I can always reroll Mindlord Rissvar on another server. --Sam "Foxbattleplan: I will break into the Champions' headquarters, soundly defeat those pathetic wimps, and take Mechanon's brain. Then I'll hook it up to the transporter on the Paramount set, kidnap everyone on Earth, and hold them for ransom!" Re: Ann Landers never had to deal with these people [mini-fi - His Lovely Wife - 06-18-2007 A very nice little story. Admitedly not how I pictured it all happening, but a very nice little story :-) -C- Re: Ann Landers never had to deal with these people [mini-fi - Ebony - 06-18-2007 Tiny nit: It's "The Honest Gentleman" if you're formal, "Boss" if you work for him, "Mr. Fagin" if you have his fingerprints (difficult), and "William" if you're intimate and have his fingerprints (damn near impossible; the man has as many alibis as he has custom suits, and there's no assurances that "William Fagin" isn't as much an alibi as any other name he gives).Ebony the Black Dragon Senior Editor, Living Room Games http://www.lrgames.com Ebony the Black Dragon http://ebony14.livejournal.com "Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."