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Post by Nicholi on Nov 19, 2004 15:26:50 GMT -5
The helicopter approaches White Village. Nicholi looks out the window to see his home. The sun lights up the horizon and a serene light envelopes Anhelo Manor. All seems peaceful and calm. The helicopter makes its decent. It lands outside the manor gate, stirring up a cloud of dust as it comes to a halt. Nicholi steps outside, followed by Syrant and Whitakker. Thanatos and Kain ride up on Thanatos's motorcycle and come to a halt in front of the helicopter.
"It would seem that my home is safe. I need to attend to something. All of you go to the manor and wait, I'll return later."
Nicholi walks down a dusty road into the sunset, leaving the others behind at the gate.
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Post by Thanatos on Nov 20, 2004 18:52:07 GMT -5
Thanatos disembarked from his elongated motorcycle, watching as the helicopter he had been tailing was deftly landed by Syrant. It was particularly surprising that Syrant showed such skill in the piloting of a piece of machinery he had been introduced to only a few hours before, and a decidedly complicated one at that.
Skill approaching that of a Mark...
Making his way smoothly across the grassy ground to meet the helicopter as the whirring of its blades began to diminish, Thanatos waited patiently as the group exited the vehicle, the assassin carefully shutting the door behind them in a quirk of courtesy that was so very characteristic of him.
With Nicholi's words and subsequent departure, Thanatos silently strides through the elegant Manor gates, through the brief foyer, and into the main entrance hall, the rest of the congregation following close behind him. This entrance hall was painfully familiar--it was here, but three weeks ago, that 'Master Nicholi' had held the second trial of his deadly exam. There were memories in this place.
Beginning to work his way into the inner rooms of the veritable castle, Thanatos stops as he spies the look on Syrant's face. It is a look of uneasiness, a look of dread. A look completely unsuiting of a man who in most cases is so lacking in fear. Thanatos moves to stand beside him, speaking in a relaxed, quiet tone.
"What is it that troubles your faculties...?"
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Post by Syrant on Nov 20, 2004 19:14:38 GMT -5
Syrant's eyes shift back and forth as he examines the room.
"They're here..."
With that Syrant reaches for his guns. The doors to the manor slam shut. Even without much rest Syrant is prepared to fight once again.
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Post by Thanatos on Nov 21, 2004 16:55:36 GMT -5
As Syrant spoke, Thanatos drew a throwing dagger from the recesses of his overcoat, balancing it in one hand as he scanned the sealed entrance hall, poised and ready. He did not need to wait long...
The movements within the room are subtle at first, not even visible with the naked eye. A twitch here, a rustle there; nothing that might directly suggest the presence of the Mass. Yet things intensify quickly.
Faint footsteps can be heard from the thin hallways immediately connected to the entrance hall; an ear straining even harder might even hear the sound of a clinking gun, of a drawn blade.
Even as this progresses, silky strings of fluid black begin descending from the ceiling, seeping from the walls. By this time connecting doors are slamming open, revealing shadowed face after shadowed face. Thanatos shifts his weight slowly, taking careful aim at the leading Mass-possessed. Estimates place the advantage heavily in the opponent's favor.
And thus thus the sanctuary becomes a deathtrap...
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Post by Whitakker on Nov 21, 2004 17:32:31 GMT -5
*Whitakker walks further into the room, joining the two. Feeling, also, the dark presence in the room, he draws both of his sawblades, but does not activate them yet. He whispers a command to Skye, and the raptor silently takes to the rafters, eyes scanning the room for any adversaries. Whitakker cocks his head slightly towards Thanatos*
"...So, how many are there in this room alone, do you think?"
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Post by Syrant on Nov 24, 2004 19:45:37 GMT -5
As the room grows much darker with Mass, Syrant grips his guns tighter. Black figures begin to form out of the doorways and slowly move into the room. He turns to Whitakker.
"Not many...yet. I'm sure Nicholi's manor is flooded with Mass by now."
In seconds the Mass begin to fill the room. Syrant raises his gun on ready to fire at any given moment. He turns to the group.
"So what's the plan?"
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Post by Whitakker on Nov 24, 2004 22:05:38 GMT -5
*As he loads his guns with the last of his aegisite bullets, he speaks to Syrant*
"The plan is this: we run like the thingyens into the training room, and they'll follow. That way, we can fight them in a more controlled, contained enclosure. Then, we give 'em hell."
*Whitakker completes the reloading, and stows his guns away. He then draws his sword. With a sharp whistle, Skye flies down onto his shoulder, anxious for battle.*
"On three, we run to the room. One...........two.........three."
*Whitakker bolts to the training room, not bothering to look if Thanatos and Syrant are following suit. At this point, it was of little relevance...*
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Post by Nicholi on Nov 25, 2004 10:16:04 GMT -5
Nicholi turns down an alley and heads towards the building at the end. He comes upon a tall, apparently long forgotten, church. Nicholi opens the creaky old door and enters. He closes the door behind him. Nicholi walks down the middle aisle, passing by empty, dust covered pews and tattered books. He walks up to the front pew and sits down. Old hymns enter his mind as he sits in solitude. He reflects on the previous events that have occurred. He thinks about the loss of his sister to the MASS and the loss of Argis as an ally. Nicholi stands to his feet and walks over to a small table. On the table is an oak box with a lock on it. Nicholi reaches around his neck to pull out a small cross shaped key. He unlocks the chest and takes the contents, a ruby and sapphire set of cards, and then closes, and locks the chest. Nicholi turns around to face an open door.
“It would seem that I’m not the only visitor.”<br> Nicholi examines the rafters and dark corners of the dim room. He readies his gun, and awaits his attacker. The room is silent with the exception of a soft breeze entering a broken window. Nicholi concentrates on the quite, awaiting the intruder. The soft breeze ceases for a moment. Nicholi raises his gun and the brilliant white light appears and the gun shakes violently. The gun fires and strikes the unsuspecting target with great force. A large hole is blown in the wall and trusses begin to fall from the building. Nicholi races out of the building, before the ceiling collapses. He makes it out with little time to spare.
“It would seem that the MASS invaded more than that desert region. It’s just a feared. The MASS have begun their widespread invasion of this continent at last. I must get back to the manor at once. There’s no telling how much trouble my comrades are in.”<br> Nicholi dashes back towards the manor in a frantic rush. He turns a corner and bumps into a familiar figure. Both men get back on there feet and look at one another. Nicholi grins.
“It seems you’ve had a change of heart. We can discuss this later though. Right now we need to hurry back to the manor and help the others. I hope to have your cooperation in this ordeal Argis.”<br> Argis nods and follows behind Nicholi as they race towards the manor in hopes that the others, as well as Nicholi’s home, are alright.
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Post by Whitakker on Nov 25, 2004 16:41:36 GMT -5
*...Whitakker rushed into the training room, with most of the Mass-possessed posse in hot pursuit. He ran into the middle of the room, and the Mass-possessed filed into the room, and gathered together near the door, effectively blocking it off from Thanatos and Syrant's entrance, given that they were actually following. Whitakker silently cursed the lot, and assumed a battle stance. He swung his broadsword around a few times to loosen up, and then faced the mob.*
"Well, which one of you wants to die first? Come one at a time, or all at once, it means little to me..."*Whitakker positioned his blade, hilt at his right hip, tip of the sword across his left shoulder*
"...None will survive."
*A few of the Mass-possessed grin wickedly, and they all form a circle around Whitakker, who was standing in the middle of a starburst-shaped pattern in the middle of the room, as the attackers formed around the outside. Whitakker whispers a command to Skye, and he takes off to the ceiling, circling above the soon ensuing chaos. If one were to look at the scene from Skye's view, one would see a lone figure surrounded by some thirty-odd adversaries. Whitakker begins chanting the Edict in his head, waiting for them to make the first move. Finally, one of the mob stood out from the circle at Whitakker's left, wielding a pair of short swords. Whitakker grinned slightly*
"Pathetic..."
*The man(if you could call it that) bullrushed Whitakker in a flash, blades swinging in lethal patterns. Whitakker simply smiled as he saw a gap in the pattern, ducked under, and thrust his blade into the man's chest*
"...Cut..."*was all that Whitakker whispered as he dispatched the first adversary, silently, swiftly slipping back into the Dance. Another came at him with a spiked ball and chain. He met the same fate as the first, with a quick slash across the midsection.* "...Everything else is secondary..." *Yet another attacked him with two short axes. He was sent to his death with a brief block of his blades, and the sudden appearance of a blade protruding from his back.* "...That is your duty..." *And so it was, seeing that he could not be taken down one at a time, that the Mass-possessed began advancing on him in twos and threes.* "...your purpose..."*Whitakker chanted as the teams went down with only a little more effort.* "...your hunger..." *After going on for some time in this fashion, Whitakker had reduced their number to twelve. But the Dance was slowly sapping his energy. Though it would be a while before his performance would start to lag in efficiency, he could feel himself grow weary from death. What was worse, his opponents sensed it as well. Things did not bode well for Whitakker...
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Post by Argis on Nov 25, 2004 23:26:27 GMT -5
Argis dashes towards the manor and pulls out his Tanto, and graphling hook. Then places his Tanto in his hurt (left arm) and follows Nicholi. As Argis and Nicholi run to the gate to see about 7 Mass standing at the gate they seem preoccupied looking all in one direction. Argis looks at Nicholi nods Argis then jumps in the air a throws the graphling hook toward the man in the back of the group and yanks hard two prongs catch the man in the chest and is slung towards Argis and the man is stop by a Tanto though the neck Argis remove the bloody prongs and Tanto then throws a shurriken at the next mans head it connect the man falls forward Argis his graphling hook again and catch the man and drags him away the mass start to turn around Argis ducks as well as Nicholi the mass paying no attention to the missing comrades turns back around Argis looks at Nicholi and nods Nicholi smiles.
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Post by Argis on Nov 25, 2004 23:53:34 GMT -5
OOC Whitakker are you a idiot you can't just kill more than 20 mass in one attack not anyone ont the site could do that and not get hurt the mass are not idiots they would not go one by one in a line they would find a weak spot a use it to turn the tide of the fight.
Much as I hate to see out of character babble on the Mission thread, Argis raises a legitimate point with this post. "The Dance" seems somewhat overkill--although it might work against dimwitted human enemies, a key characteristic of the Mass is that they attack 'en masse' (get it?). They will function with perfect sychronization, and many of them use firearms. Even the undying Thanatos could kill very few Mass at a time, due to their incredible potency.
The rest of this post has been deleted, either being insulting or not refering to the ongoing Mission in the least. Something about Skye, you know the wrap. I'd suggest that Whitakker focus more on his balance in proportion to the rest of the cast, and that Argis focus less on attacking another individual's actions, although his post was somewhat warranted. -Thanatos
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Post by Thanatos on Nov 28, 2004 17:00:39 GMT -5
As Whitakker was instructing and subsequently beginning his blinding run, Thanatos was already carefully identifying and categorizing each of the Mass-possessed as they became visible. One by one physical characteristics and abnormalities were noted and stowed away for further use. One by one the things that had once been human gained life once more in the digital recesses that composed his vast mind, now being granted a chance to live on even as they so quickly perished in the harsh world they existed now.
There was something Thanatos found innately saddening about the extermination of mortal vessels that had once housed sentience, that even now retained sparks of clear individuality, however marred and controlled it oft-times was by the Mass invader. Even if these mortals had warranted this possession through immoral actions that had attracted the presence of the Mass, could this sentient life have not still altered its course?
Humanity was a peculiarity indeed--it was able to change its programming at a whim, something that Thanatos could never hope to achieve. And yet it took this near-divine ability entirely for granted.
Nevertheless, to ensure the continued existence of comrades that Thanatos was learning to truly understand and appreciate, lives that should have been of equal importance would be ended. One life should not hold prescedence over another...through his entirely logical machinations, Thanatos could see this clearly. Yet despite this painfully evident fact, Thanatos would hold one life over another--even as he willingly destroyed life for material gain would he destroy lives in the protection of other such lives.
So was a basic trait of humanity.
Thanatos flings the dagger into one of the most potent-appearing Mass-possessed, the man beginning his final descent to the marble floor as blood runs from his neck.
Male. Brown hair, blue eyes, 1.74 meters tall, weight 72.3 kilograms. Generic facial map #4, aged approximitely 41. Likely probability that individual has a family. Failure of fresh fluid passage to brain, severe loss of blood-- now declared deceased.
By now Whitakker has just rounded the corner, Thanatos flashing more blades into his black-gloved hands in miliseconds. With hope, the Mass will split its forces so that a majority of the Mass-possessed wiedling firearms will remain focused on Thanatos, giving Whitakker a suitable enivronment to devestate the Mass with his substantial abilities. Syrant's choice of locale is still unaccounted for, but rest assured, either way it is obvious that the fighting will not be easy.
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Post by Kain on Nov 28, 2004 18:22:12 GMT -5
Lost in the ensuing chaos, Kain remains perched over the doorway, hidden by his newly restored cloaking device. Though his energy core did not have the capacity to provide such leisure for a signifcant amount of time, those few moments were more than sufficent for him to make preparations for his assault. The entire layout of the manor as well as the location, physical attributes, fighting capacity, and weaponry of each Mass-infected assailant were readily available to him within a single second. The immediate threat was within the vicinity of the training room, where a small squadron of Mass with ranged weaponry would surely bring about an untimely death for Whitakker if they proceeded any further. His target now determined, Kain draws a single shuriken similar to the ones Argis wielded. However, this particular set had a decidedly deadly quality that differentiated them from all others. He holds the object for a brief period, as if it were a memento that held within it recollections of days long past...
*Kain drops from the ceiling, throwing the shuriken in a single fluid motion. The weapon hits its mark, piercing the cranium of one of the Mass-crazed henchmen. Upon doing so, the entire lot is engulfed in a blazing inferno. The fire was small and brief, however, never spreading beyond the boundaries of the now smoldering pile of flesh.*
As he glances over the corpses, he is forced to turn the cloak off to conserve his energy supply. The Mass make haste to surround him, providing Kain with no other option but to fall back on his melee weapons. He pulls out two small blades, slowly positioning himself into a more suitable stance. As the group tightens its formation, he readies himself for the ensuing attack.
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Post by Whitakker on Nov 29, 2004 19:41:53 GMT -5
*...He decided to come out of the Dance. Doing so, he took a better look at his situation. He could focus clearly now....* *The remaining Mass-possessed all took out their ranged weapons, if they didn't already have them out, and leveled them at Whitakker. Whitakker could see their fingers tighten over the triggers...about half a second...* *He quickly dropped to the floor, covering himself in his overcoat. The missiles of death rained down upon him. Whitakker had never felt such pain before, like a thousand hammers beating relentlessly on his body... And his figure went limp.* *Believing their quarry to be dead, they gathered closer to inspect their kill. What they got was a surprise...* *Whitakker leapt up from the ground and into the air, decapitating one fellow on the way up who stuck his neck out too far. Whitakker landed ten feet away from them, his coat showing heavy damage. But his coat was lined with aegisite, which made his coat nearly bulletproof. Sure, a few had escaped through the defense and had hit him in the torso and limbs, but he was still alive. Whitakker was hit hard by the torrent, and it took a lot of energy just to jump that crowd. He was in bad shape, his right arm limp, a few ribs cracked, and a broken left collarbone, not to mention several bullet wounds. He nearly passed out from the fresh burst of pain all over his massive frame. With his size, it was hard to miss hitting him with bullets.*
"...That was a cheap shot...", he said through clenched teeth. "You're gonna pay for that..."
*Whitakker sheathed his sword, which took a lot of effort, and pulled out his PPKs, both loaded with the remainder of his aegisite bullets, and aimed them at the crowd.*
"You have ten seconds t..." *Whitakker tried to finish his sentence, but the pain was too much. The last thing Whitakker saw was the Mass-possessed slowly coming towards him...*
...Then he slipped into oblivion...
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Post by Syrant on Nov 30, 2004 17:46:24 GMT -5
Syrant and Thanatos passed the entrance to the training room leaving Whitakker on his own. Thinking to himself that we shouldn't be splitting up. Syrant turns to shoot at the following Mass.
"I'm going to give Whitakker some back up. I'm sure you can hold your own."
With that Syrant jolts sidewides down another hallway. Syrant rounds the corner to be at the side entrance to the training room. Syrant turns to see that most of the Mass-possessed had followed Thanatos. Whitakker's voice could now be heard but suddenly stopped. Syrant bashes through the door to see Whitakker lying on the floor. All the Mass-possessed then point there guns at Syrant. Syrant slides to a stop. He looks at the guns and smiles. Syrant raises both of his guns at the line of Mass guns. The Mass warriors smile slightly as the pull their triggers. *click...click* They all look at their guns then looks up to Syrant.
"Looks like your out of bullets."
With that Syrant fires his weapons with deadly accuracy leveling the 'line' of Mass gunmen. Syrant reloads his guns and walks over to Whitakker and suddenly stops. A cold chill ran down Syrant's spine. He turns his head to see and shadow like figure walking into the room.
"What....it's you?"
The man smiles.
"Yes Syrant it's been a long time."
Syrant's eyes widen. As the man walk closer to Syrant, Syrant began to slowly back up. The man stops and smiles once again at Syrant.
"I'm sure you know everything by now.
Syrant's emotions go crazy with this and with a whisper.
"Why...?"
The man reaches into his jacket and pulls out a gun the looks exactly like Syrant's.
"Because it's in my blood to kill just like it is in yours...son."
The man pulls the trigger. Syrant tries to jump out of the way but take the bullet in the side of the stomach and falls to the ground. Blood quickly surrounds Syrant. The man smiles once again and turns to walk away.
"Finally I don't have to worry about you any more."
Once the man was gone Syrant rolls his head over. A single tear hits the ground.
"I was saving that last tear for the one day I would save my father, but now that I know that he is dead I won't be needing it anymore."
Syrant rolls over to a nearby wall and leans up against it, holding his side and waiting for help.
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