Super Hero RPG: Chronicles of Los Diamantes

[Godzilla Forever]

"Dammit!" Jackson shouted as the call ended. For all he knew, he could be walking into a trap if he did this.

"Something the matter, sir?" one of his thugs said as he entered the room.

Lynch glared at him.

"Well, I'm going to move our plans to tomorrow evening, instead of tonight."

"Any particular reason for that?"

"How about none of your ******* business?" Jackson growled.

"T-that's a good enough answer, sir."

"Good. Now go tell the others."

"Y-yes sir."

"NOW, GODDAMIT! NOW!"

The thug scampered off into the main complex to tell the others of the news. Jackson sighed and rubbed his temples. Hopefully this wasn't a trap... thankfully, Crunch and Buster will be coming with him, so if he dies, they'll die with him....

[C S]

"Zootra Razanga..." Galaak cursed in his native tongue, distant screams and yells reaching him within the stairwell. Patching into E-doch's readouts, he quickly knew the cause of the commotion. He let out an irritated snarl. "Endangering the lives of the natives, just for the sake of one criminal?!" He muttered, raising his arm, the wrist device on it projecting the orange sphere that the Ascatian would use to fly the craft. A display appeared on his visor, a feed allowing him to see from the cockpit of the ship as if he were sitting at the consoles within. With motions from his hand, Galaak turned his ship about and initiated its primary weapon systems...

The reporters had scattered and the police and other trained personnel promptly took cover behind the various vehicles scattered about the entrance of the building, their weapons ready and waiting for the order to attack the drone. Already, the story was being made by the journalists: "Secret Holden Corp Robotics Project Wreaks Havoc!" They were completely unaware that just over the side of the facility two large, jet black metallic barrels were aimed down at the drone. They were the only things visible on E-doch aside from various internal workings exposed when the side hull plates spread apart, allowing the twin plasma casters to get into firing position. With his sights set and calculated for a guaranteed hit, Galaak fired one of the plasma casters. The weapon went off with a deep electronic warbling, a pulsating purple and blue sphere crashing into the drone split seconds later, the ensuing blast vaporizing the robot and bathing the area with searing heat, the ground blackened as a result.The explorer wouldn't let any of the natives become victims in the operation because of the excessive force of the Cephians.

[dinoman666]

"What the..." Bate snarled. He had tracked the angle of the blast that had suddenly vaporized his scout to the top of the building. Whatever the blast was, it wasn't human, and it wasn't an infantry weapon. Falling back behind the building, he called Zakai over his radio. He wouldn't be happy about this...

[C S]

The plasma cannons slid back into place, stowed within the craft as the hull panels returned back into place with the mechanical hum, the sound drowned out by the various exclamations of the people below. The ship was once again hidden by its veil, escaping the prying eyes of the people below, their wide eyed expressions showing just how stunned they were at the whole occurrence. There was something extraordinary going on in their city, they knew that...

The projection flickered out of being and Galaak lowered his arms back to his side, letting out a gruff sigh. It was bad enough that the criminal had the new armor and possibly weapons associated with it; his pursuers were willing to use rash tactics that threatened to not only harm the civilians of this metropolis, but expose them to be marked as enemies of the populous. While they were vastly inferior when it came to technology, the number of the natives more than made up for it. It would be nightmarish if they became the center of a planetary hunt before the fugitive could be apprehended.

Shifting his focus from that possibility, Galaak continued down into the facility, coming to another locked door at the bottom of the staircase. Making quick work of it as the one before, Galaak stepped into the topmost floor of the facility. On his readouts, various energy levels were being displayed. There was a relatively high level of latent energy throughout the facility and it seemed to only get higher in one direction. The Cephian's energy signature, while obscured somewhat by the interference, was detected. And so, Galaak started on his way, reasonably cautious but bold. His Arc Accentuator remained on his back. While he doubted he could reason with the criminal, that didn't stop him from considering it. A little compassion and understanding could do wonders in a hostile situation, especially when the alternative was being fired upon without a second thought.

[dinoman666]

Kala found the source of the energy surge, that was for sure. The door before him was blown off its hinges from the previous explosion, and as he checked inside the massive chamber, he noticed that the door wasn't the only thing in disrepair. What used to be some sort of containment field in the center of the chamber, reaching up to at least a second level, was gone. Kala let out an electronic sigh. Whatever was here was no longer in a state to be collected by his suit, with the exception of residual energies stuck to his body. The Cephian half-jokingly wondered if that would be enough to restore his ship's power, then turned away, taking a few more moments to simply look around that alien structure...

Zakai fumed. "You idiot! We were supposed to be laying low! I expected this from Selk, maybe, but not you!" he snarled over his radio. "With all due respect, sir, I had no idea the Ascatian would be interfering already," Bate replied nervously. Zakai, to his credit, restrained himself. Anger wasn't going to get them anywhere right now. After a few moments to regain his composure, he replied, "Hold your position. I'm sending Selk and the second Trooper to assist. Wait for Kala to come to you this time. If the Ascatian hinders our progress again, however, I'll prepare our own ship to blow him out of the d*mn sky if I have too..."

[C S]

A while later, after heading down the abandoned building, Galaak came to the floor beneath the main structure where the scientists once worked. The once pristine and brightly lit glass hall was now dim, with a few fires burning in the various testing areas. Some walls shattered due to the partial collapse of this part of the facility while others were riddled with large cracks with several smaller ones branching out from them. It was a wonder that they didn't just fall apart by now, especially when there a deep rumbling from the bowels of the building. Even now it seemed the structure was destabilizing. As he followed the path, the explorer deduced the Cephian was heading for the area with the most residual energy. Said area was just overhead, the mangled chamber supported by metal beams and struts with various cables and wires dangling out from it. "So that is where all of this started..." He thought as he continued tracking...

[dinoman666]

Kala looked up at the catwalk above, which had mostly collapsed during the previous explosion. He was somewhat glad he missed it. Being at ground zero of something like that could have devastating results, and not just the kind that led to a quick death. Ignoring the feeling in his gut that he was being watched or whatever paranoid nonsense had just lodged itself into his brain, Kala turned away from the containment field. He would find nothing here, that much was for certain...

[C S]

The faint but rhythmic thunk of footsteps on the surviving metal walkways above him caught Galaak's attention. He looked up at the mangled housing for the generator and spotted the armored figure near it. In the blue haze of his vision, a white outline appeared, enclosing the criminal and marking his position. "Right then" Galaak mumbled to himself, looking across from him to try to guess where the Cephian would head to next. As his sights were set above, he didn't see the piece of glass ahead of him. He stepped on it, the cracking echoing through the testing area...

[dinoman666]

Kala froze midstep, his senses on high alert when he heard the slight crunch of glass. All his training kicked in at that moment, and his suit stopped scanning the facility for energy signatures. At least, not those comparable to the energy surge, anyway. That's when he picked it up. Below him, to his left, a single life form. He didn't turn his head to scan it more thoroughly to see if it was human or not. Instead, he calmly continued to walk towards the doorway, his bioscan still tracking the signature. Someone was following him, but he needed to find a way to make sure whoever it was wasn't hostile, preferably on his own terms...

[C S]

"Oh bother" Galaak thought as the fugitive started to head away. The element of surprise was lost, though he was hoping he wouldn't have needed it to begin with. Taking the fact that he wasn't being fired upon yet as a good sign, he continued to follow the Cephian's energy signature to a stairway that spiraled up along a wide silver pole. He started to climb it in the hopes of being able to talk face to face with the Cephian, whose label as a criminal became even more questionable. Once more, Galaak sensed something was afoul with the circumstances surrounding him...

[dinoman666]

Kala heard the approaching life form now as he or she climbed the alien-looking stairwell, which meant that he likely knew his chance at an ambush was long gone. The Cephian cloaked, disappearing into nothingness, and extended his armblades. He didn't want to use them, but he wasn't willing to take the chance that this new arrival was friendly...

[C S]

At the top of the spiral, the Ascatian looked around to see where the Cephian went, finding that the trail he was following went forwards a short distance before disappearing. Clearly the other alien had cloaked himself. In anticipation of a possible sneak attack, Galaak drew his staff from his back, holding it diagonally over the front of his body in a defensive stance, prepared to block a melee range assault from any direction. He was also on guard for a ranged offensive, but until he knew where the Cephian would be shooting from, he could only rely on his reflexes and taking cover...

[dinoman666]

"Drop your weapon," a voice growled from the darkness around Galaak. It was mechanically distorted, like that of all Cephians, and it was firm and commanding, though not overtly harsh, like Zakai's had been. "I do not wish to hurt you, but I will if I must."

[C S]

"I believe dropping my weapon would be careless" Galaak replied, his voice deeper and and more gruff than normal due to the helmet. He swung his staff about, returning it to his back. "You are curiously well mannered for a criminal" He added afterwards with a thoughtful hum...

[dinoman666]

"Criminal?" the voice said. After a few seconds, it added, "I suppose you could call me that, couldn't you? Or, at least, a Cephian would. I don't exactly know why an Ascatian would care." Kala did not yet show himself, refusing to be lured into a false sense of security by the alien, though it did give him some hope. At least he wasn't the only one with space-capable transport here...

[C S]

"I have exploratory goals in this galactic sector and happened across the energy trail of your ship while en route to another star. I came across your hunters shortly afterwards. I believe the debacle concerns the armor you now wear" Galaak said as another low groan echoed through the area. The building seemed to be mimicking his inner thoughts as he reeled about the irony here. The ones supposedly representing Cephian law were more hostile than their target...

[dinoman666]

"Is that all?" Kala replied. "I expected something a bit more... fantastical than that." He heard the groan as well, and practically felt it too. "As much as I would love to chit-chat, I suggest we both get out before this place falls down on top of us..."

[C S]

"Right then, we can converse back on my ship. I told your fellow Cephian that if I found you before they did, I would capture you. I think I will have to cancel that obligation until I sort this mess out" Galaak said, beginning to plan his exit from the facility.

[dinoman666]

"With all due respect, and as much as I'd like to leave this mudball ASAP, I don't think I can quite trust you yet," Kala replied. "Besides, I have a better idea," he added as he uncloaked, standing in front, and slightly to the right, of Galaak. "This place is full of alleyways. Much more private. And, if you do plan on killing me for... whatever reason your friends gave you, I can always find an escape route."

[C S]

"If you leave this place cloaked, they won't be able to find you, but neither will I. Leaving here uncloaked will result in them finding you and capturing you, as at least of them are right outside. With those prospects I would advise you come with me, for I am the only ally you have at the moment" Galaak said, his grim tone adding weight to his words.