DeviousMe

Spion's remaining traps fizzled out as blue lightning arced across them, frying the electronics. That wasn't good at all. And he doubted the strangely-colored man there could do much with but the single pulse rifle he carried.

"Fine, yall want the info? Then you'll have to take it from me!"

He raised his assault rifle and set the plants in front of the approaching Malta ablaze, then threw caltrops into the flames just for good measure. Fire always did a lot better when people moved through it slowly.

Now that he had a little cover in the form of a rapidly spreading inferno, he opened up with his rifle on full auto...

Vyachslav landed as softly as he could - with all the grace of a bulldozer.

Sorry about that. he apologized for the shudder in the ground, closely mustering the Malta agents...especially the one who was turning into a wolf-man.

Was this something the Council had set up? No, they hated the Malta, they wouldn't turn them into warwolves.

His thoughts were interruped as the agent dove for the portal, which disappeared just like his had done, face-planting into the grass. The strange voice did alos not go unnoticed. What in the world was going on here?

He decided to have a look about - a very large look - and reached for a compartment at his hips, pulling out a saucer-shaped object the size of a human head.

Go. And see for me.

The probe powered up with a hum and jetted away into the upper atmosphere. Maybe that would get some answers as to the 'where' part - but as he saw the Maltan curse even louder at his transformation, he couldn't help but think that the 'why' was a whole LOT more complicated...

((GAH, I can't resist either...))

A heartbeat sounded through the darkness. Or was that his head? Yeah, that was his head all right...and it hurt - a lot.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Vyachslav." he heard a familiar voice, "And don't worry, you didn't bite it."

His eyes snapped open. He saw a holographic screen in front of him. Sadly, it displayed only the words AUDIO ONLY - or it would have if the writing had been English.

He looked about the room, seeing metal walls pulsing with energy rising as high as he could see. The steady humming of sub-light engines echoed through the walls, instilling a sort of calm in the room. The grated floor lay at least five meters beneath him, and he could see many readouts on more screens that clearly displayed his vital signs. He had landed in the hospital again...

As he looked down at his black, metallic limbs, he noticed the many tubes and wires going into him. They felt cold, but also somewhat comforting, sending revitalizing energies into his form - the form of a six-meter-long dragon-like creature from a planet he had never told anyone the name of.

What happened? he 'said', reaching out with his mind to the person talking to him over the communications channel. His species had no vocal cords, and a mouth of razor-sharp teeth taking up more than half the area of his elongated face certainly didn't help with making spoken sounds. The only noise he could bring forth was a mixture of a screech and a hiss.

"You took on another Class 3 cruiser. I thought we told you not to do that anymore. Well, actually, you took on two: the first one you got...but the second one nearly got you. You should really pick your battles more wisely."

I should, shouldn't I? What do I look like? They sort of stuck me up here and I'm hanging from the ceiling. No, wait, there IS a bit of support here. But I can't really move. Damn doctors and their sedatives.

"See for yourself." his friend said, turning the screen into an impromptu mirror, "The only reason you're not seeing me right now is that I'm heading over there in a one-seater."

As his friend kept explaining what had happened while he had been out, he mustered his reflected image closely with his glaring-red eyes. Everyhing seemed to be where it should be - even his pitch-black armor had been completely restored.

He often found humans calling him a dragon simply becsue there was nothing closer in their imagination. But he was entirely different - he was much thinner, his arms, legs, tail and neck much longer than the mythical creature's. Not to mention his wings sat just above his shoulders, not on his back, and were composed of energy held tight by a seemingly delicate metal frame that resembled the bones in a bat's wing.

He remembered a time when he had been entirely organic...when his wings had not been energy and his exterior not black armor, but living flesh and blood covered in leathery skin of crimson hues.

But then he had made the same mistake as his brother - he had taken on a Class 4 battlecruiser.

When the ship he commanded had been sent to the brink of destruction, he had decided to try and save his crew. A natural space-faring creature, he had no need to breathe or maintain any specific exterior pressure or temperature. But even with the heaviest weapon he could carry that day, he had not suceeded - the enemy ship had literally blown him to pieces. Luckily, he had friends...very good friends.

Had he been any other type of creature in the known galaxy, his friends could have reconstructed his body from the ground up. Alas, his egentic makeup had been too complicated, and cybernetic reconstruction was all that had remained.

He looked back on that day now with mixed feeling - on one hand, he mourned the loss of most of his organic body. On the other hand, he felt strangely natural being part-cyber, not to mention the transformation had granted him more power than he ever thought.

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

Sorry, I let my mind wander. But tell me, is my brother comg too or..."

He was confused when the screen suddenly disappeared. The connection had been severed - but how? Then he noticed a strange sound. No, it was the absence of a sound. The constant humming of the engines he had heard the entire time had ceased. Something was terribly wrong...

An alert blared through the entire ship and compunded this feeling.

"Reactor core compromised!" the ship's computer shouted into the noise, "Containment field destabilizing! Evacuate immediately! Evacuate immediately!"

Darn it, this has to happen NOW???

A small explosion burst through the ceiling, sending bolts and other small metal pieces to the floor. He had to get out of here, sedative or not!

Lurching forward, he tore at the tubes holding him to the ceiling, some of them popping with great commotion and spilling fluids onto whatever they dangled over. When he finally cut apart the line carrying the sedative, he quickly found the numbness vanish. He had full control of his body again - and it felt good.

Just as he was about to take off, the blast door leading into the room burst into pieces with a sound of thunder, throwing flames and debris everywhere. Oversized insects in armed space suits streamed out of the opening, firing energy machine guns into the corridor.

"Stop her!" their leader shouted, "We can't let her get out of here! She has all the data from the mainframe! Stop her already! AAARRGH!!!"

A shot that was clearly a plasma beam had come from the smoking hole and drilled right through the commander. Vyachslav had a feeling he knew who the intruder was. As the plasma fire incinerated the insectoids one after another, he struggled to get free of the final cables holding him to the medical assembly.

When he managed to cut the last one, the assailant ran into the room - a humaoid that could have easily been mistaken to be from Earth, clad in a blue-gray powered suit of armor. The left arm had the same variable construction as the powersuits his friends made - currently, it ended in a plasma cannon.

Miss Dracan, I don't know what you're doing here, and frankly I don't care! But you're not getting out of here alive!

With that he slashed at the frame he stood on with one of his massive clawed hands. As he took off toward the ceiling, the frame plummeted to the floor, taking lines, cables, and tanks of volatile substances with it. The floor turned into a blazing inferno.

He simply basted his way through the ceiling, happy to see his missile launcher worked flawlessly. The stars opened above him, and he slipped through the gaping hole with the powerful current of air that was being sucked into the cold vacuum of space.

He took a look around and saw a familiar planet 'beside' the ship he now sat on. The odd signature of Saturn's rings was unmistakeable. Now he knew where he was. Sadly, the nearest base he knew of resided on Luna, the Earth's only moon - and that was much too far.

He surveyed the ship whose hull he stood on. He knew the designs well, and he knew where the portal terminal was located. Linking into the ship's computer, he found he had two minutes to get there - plenty of time.

That is, until an all-too-familiar gunship rose beside him, immediately opening fire. He pushed off from the hull, quickly rounding the larger ship with all the speed he could muster. Sadly, it wasn't nearly fast enough to escape - even wings that subsisted on cosmic energy had their limits.

But they were just fast enough to give him a slight lead. Arriving over the section he knew the portal terminal in, he tore his way into the hull and right into the portal room. The rings were active and spinning at a steady rate, the bright-white vortex in their middle signifying a clear passage.

Vyachslav checked the computers. The portal headed to Luna.

Suddenly, the alert took on a much more dire tone - fifteen seconds! To make matters worse, Dracan's gunsip blasted its way throguh the hull, covering the entire terminal with vicious plasma fire.

In desperation, Vyachslav sliced the computer apart, activating the terminal's many auto turrets. They identified the gunship as the larger threat and opened fire, driving the ship back as he made a break for the portal.

An explosion shook the room as he disappeared into the vortex, then the floor heaved up and spouted gouts of fire and debris upward. The ship's reactor destabilized, sending a detonation the size of a small moon into Saturn's orbit.

Vyachslav had escaped, but hadn't notcied one thing - at the last second, the white portal had turned pitch-black...

-----------------------------------------------------

Vyachslav jumped out of the portal and crashed into a tree, taking it with him as he skidded to a halt on his side...in grass??? There was no grass in the Luna base!

Where he heck am I?

He looked about, finding himself in the tall flora of a forest clearing. This was discomforting...and yet somehow soothing. The wind blowing through the many leaves created quite a calming rustling - until the crackling chatter of gunfire interrupted it!

Confused, Vyachslav scanned about, trying to find the source. And he found it soon enough, only it wasn't quite what he expected. A small reddish-pink girl was dodging behind trees to avoid the frighteningly accurate fire of...Malta operatives? What in the world were the Malta doing here? And why were they shooting at a little girl?

No time for that now!

With a single swing of his wings, he hurled himself into the air, then speared down at the girl, snatching up her small form entirely in a single hand.

Do not worry, little one. You are safe with me.

At least he hoped so as he gently placed her onto his back, then accelerated up again as fast as he could. Most likely he could've beaten the Malta...but first he had to find out what was going on here...

(Ok, long post here too, sorry, haha. I'll keep my futue ones much shorter.))

Spion kept a good pace, not running in order to seem unsuspicious, but also not wasting time. He noticed the three men following him when he turned a corner to a corridor that did NOT lead outside and they changed direction just the same.

Looks like I've been discovered. Probably Portal Corp's own security force.

They most likely hadn't blown his cover yet because they wanted to know who he was working for. Too bad they wouldn't find out.

He made many senseless twists and turns to put distance between himself and his followers, knowing the entire layout of the base from where the secret weapons caches sat to where the toilets were located. A photographic memory was definetely a good asset to any spy.

He reached the main gate well before them, checking out like any other agent on patrol, then quickly made his way into the nearby foliage and set a few traps. A few trip mines, two fields of caltrops, some poison traps here and there, and an acid mortar would distract anyone nicely, if they didn't kill them outright.

As he rose and started moving again, he looked at his little field. Everything was camouflaged to a tee, and he could already see his pursuers coming out of the main gate. They'd have quite the fun time when they entered the vegetation.

Removing his disguise and preparing to become invisible again, he suddenly heard a rustling. He raised his rifle, scanning about until he saw an oddly colored figure.

"Spion," it said, "I've been sent by Intelligence Officer Beckett. Here is my proof."

He handed the spy the capsule. Everything was in order - the message was in a code only he and the Kommandant knew.

"Ain't that nice of them?" Spion smiled under his gray face mask, "They even send me an escort back to base. And who would you..."

He was interrupted by a loud "PHOOMPH!"

The acid mortar he had placed had fired its first shell...

What an odd little...something or other...

Spion got back on his feet, making sure he still had the memory stick, then proceeded back to his mission. He could already see the last exterior door straight ahead. Three Portal Corp employees wearing their space suits were working on...something. Then again, when wasn't Portal working on something?

Spion hastened his pace slightly as he saw two heavies enter the hallway behind him. True enough, they thought he was Longbow - but he didn't really care to find out how good his disguise really was...

((So? The Malta seem to make everything more interesting anyway. Plus their Titans are awesome in the arena.))

Spion quickly dragged the guard's body around a corner and stuffed him in a storage closet, disabling the opening mechanism as soon as the door had shut. It would take them hours to get that open again.

The reason why he had taken the guard out, a very special security key, worked like a charm, opening every door into the Portal Corp section. Then he entered the main lab, strutting around like just another Longbow on patrol.

A quick look about found him a free computer terminal, away from the many scientists, who seemed busy anyway and didn't even say a word. Well, all the better for him.

The computer's security systems were rather difficult. Had he not managed to fish out three more security keys from passing scientists talking about techno-babble, he never would've gotten in. Security was tight all right.

As he downloaded the data he needed, his eyes took on a satisfied glimmer - oh yeah, this was juicy. This was more than juicy - it was downright spectacular!

He took a memory stick from the computer and built a file path to copy something useless - how about some song by the latest heavy-metal band? Yes, that would do nicely. He loaded this onto the stick, using this file path to camouflage what he had really accessed.

As he removed the memory stick, he saw a passing robot of some sort. He had seen these before - at least on paper. They were Longbow's newest creation. They often referred to them as 'heavies'. As he saw a few more of them patrolling about the lab, he couldn't help but wonder what they would do to someone who tried to get in here by force...

((Aww...I was expecting Ace to notice Spion sometime on his trips to the hospital. Oh well .))

Spion had managed to walk past every security checkpoint so far with his disguise. Nobody suspected a thing. And the hero he'd seen rush out of the hospital didn't even seem to notice him.

He finally found the section of the base rented out by Portal Corp.

Now let's see what's so juicy in there...

((Yeah, I know. But for now Spion's job is just a routine tech heist, so he got hired on by Fleischman directly. Of course, it won't stay routine for long as you know me... ))

Finally reaching base Beta, Spion was nearly out of breath. He had sprinted the entire way, which may not have been such a good idea.

Ok then, let's see what we've got here...

He pulled his binoculars again.

Some turrets, guards here and there, and...ack, heroes. Those might be trouble. Ah, there we are!

Spion had spotted a two-man Longbow patrol. Piece of cake. He stalked over to a mean-looking bush, being careful not to provoke it, and set a time bomb. That would get their attention.

It certainly did - and exactly as planned. Thirty seconds later, one of the Longbow was running into the foliage to see what was going on while the other radioed for backup. No sooner had the line of sight broken between them than Spion went to the next phase.

A sniper shot to the head took care of the Longbow. Now that he was closer, Spion could see he was a spec-op. Perfect.

He took the man's gun, copied his outfit onto himself with a holographic disguise stolen from Arachnos, then sprayed flamethrower accelerant on the body to detroy it completely. The fire instantly ticked off nearby aggressive plants, just as he had planned.

"They're moving in fast!" Spion shouted, copying the man's voice as well, "I need backup! I need backup!"

Seconds later, a large Longow troop arrived, quickly taking care of the plants with several flamethrowers.

"So what was it?" his 'partner' asked about the explosion.

"Micrometeor. Didn't burn up all the way, but it started a big fire on the ground. Made the plants REAL angry."

Spion had done his homework, so to speak. Such incidents were a common ocurrence around here.

After a few more explanations to the other Longbow, it was decided that his patrol duty was over for today, and he entered the base escorted by the very men and women who'd shoot on sight if they knew who he really was.

He quickly split off from the group and made his way to the section of the base occupied by Portal Corp. Now all he had to do was not run into a hero...

((Ok, just one more question then: are we keeping the zone static, or is it open to changes like geography, underlying sinister plots, etc.? Anyway, here I go...))

5th Clumn technicians looked up for a second as one of the teleportation pods hissed open. A tall figure clad in gray military clothing, an armored helmet and cloth face mask of the same tint, and a blood-red visor stepped out of the teleporter. He formed a gloved hand into a fist, checking to make sure everything was there it was supposed to be - he'd never trusted teleporters.

"Und wer oder was sollen Sie sein?" a 5th tropper on reception duty asked sneeringly.
(And who are what are you supposed to be?)

"Spion." the figure answered coldly.

"Wollen Sie damit sagen dass Sie ein Spion sind oder dass ihr name Spion ist?"
(Are you waying that you are a spy or that your name is Spy?)

"Beides."
(Both)

The soldier looked a bit perplexed, then he pulled up something on the PDA he carried, "Ah, ja, jetzt sehe ich Sie. Spion - Sie sollen sich bei Offizier Fleischman melden."
(Ah, yes, now I see you. Spion - you are to report to Officer Fleischman.)

Without a word, Spion went on his way, stopping a few times for directions. Finally, he found the door he was looking for. He kocked.

"WAS IST JETZT WIEDER LOS???" a voice thundered out.
(What's going no NOW???)

Seconds later, the door flew open and a fuming woman in a 5th Officer's uniform stepped out.

"Yes, and who are you supposed to be?"

"Spion. And you speak English?"

Fleischman calmed down significantly now. Finally something had gone right, "Ah? Yes, yes, of course I do. Come in. And you're late."

Spion stepped into her office, sparsely furnished with the necessities for running a military operation.

"Yes, I know. My last job took a little longer than I thought."

"Hero trouble?"

"Boss trouble. Wouldn't pay me for the goods. Tried to ice me."

"Don't you hate it when that happens? Well, don't worry, the 5th Column will be sure to reward you for your services. I take it you got the memo?"

"Yes. Portal Corp is doing something here and you'd like to find out what. I don't suppose it comes as a surprise that Crey is bidding on this as well?"

"Not at all. They've been after Portal's tech for years now. I wonder why they never succeed...but rest assured, we can top anything they have to offer."

Spion nodded.

"By the way, I usually have a policy of knowing whom I employ."

"Sorry, the mask stays on. After all, I've got a break-time identity where I don't want to be harassed."

"Understandeable. I suppose since you're already late we can make an exception there too. Now, as for the matter of your payment..."

"Not yet."

"Hm?"

"Not yet. It all depends on what I find out. I've got enough money, I do this for the knowledge. If it's juicy enough, you get a freebie. If it turns out it was a waste of my time you have to pay up."

"Oh, trust me on this one - Portal Corp is always juicy, hehehe."

"Good for you then. Well, I'll be off now."

"Good hunting. Oh, and just so you know - Longbow protects the base."

Spion left without another word. He had already known. Upon arrivng outside the Alpha base, he pulled out binoculars and spied over to base Beta, surveying the path to get there.

No travel powers here, hm? That ought to put us on even terms.

He engaged his deflector generator, becoming invisible to the naked eye as well as just about any other form of light from infrared to ultraviolet.

Still, it would be a long walk...

((I'm confused. Is this still a theoretical zone thing or did it turn into an open RP?))

"No, no, no, NO, and a thousand times NO!!! A bomb HAS to have a red wire, and only ONE red wire. Get rid of the others and do it again!"

Evil, evil goodness .

Love the design, of course there are a LOT of bugs, but hey, that's what we're TESTING it for.

The jail rocks, after I saw it marked on my map I just had to go bust the place up (nothing like pre-empting the police).

A design change I'd like to see, however, would be replacing Longbow with the PPD - I just like them better . But seriously, I suppose the Longbow ambushes make sense, PPD calling for anti-super backup and all (though I did notice they had a lot better stuff that Longbow does), but Longbow guarding the BANK? How'd they get the tip-off? A police Captain on patrol checking up on the bank as you 'just happen' to rob it makes a lot more sense to me then a Longbow Warden with his whole team in the vault.

Other than that, great job, I can see why I7 is so big.

(Lord Recluses's Throne Room)
Mako: My lord, Statesman is no more.
*Recluse jumps out of throne and dances about*
Recluse: Finally, I've awaited this day for counteless years. Now I will...will...
*Sits back down*
Recluse: Hm...now what?

Howdy all, our villain group, Dark Agency Terra Division, has been trying to expand for a while, but so far we've only managed to just over 20 people, few of whom play every day or two. Long story short, we're mainly looking for people who like to team, whether you like to get prestige, wear group colors, or just be yourself (though you may miss out on some rewards that come with that). We've got both casual gamers and all-nighters, and wereally want someone to team with quickly, especially for taskforces (which was the original intent for VGs anyway, before bases came along).

But a base we do have, and for those who like to gather salvage, the workshop is new but operational, and we've got plenty of power and control to go around.

We want to go adventuring, but it gets boring if you have to look for a committed team for half an hour every time before you start a strikeforce, so come on by and take a look around.

Send me a PM, post a reply here, or send a tell to my global, @acid zero, with the character name and when would be a good time for you to be online (try to give us about 3 days of leeway please). We really like to team, whether large or small, and if you join for that reason and that reason only, well, that's good enough for us.