Chapter Two: Into the Maelstrom

[Purr]

Toph quickly uses her radar, external cameras, and even the good ol' Mark One Eyeball to look around for any sign of what might be giving her the creepy feeling. "Ladies, ever get the feeling that you were being watched? I've got that feeling now, and its giving me the heebie jeebies. Looking for any targets now, but in the meantime, I strongly suggest we move; sitting still never has suited me well."

Nothing shows up on radar, cameras, or the eyeball and yet it is there.

"Wha?" Shirley's Red Baroness turned about as she scanned the area too. Her GU-11 at the ready, the machine's sensors reached out into the night. Moments later, she responded, "I've got nothing. Maybe you're being lined up by a sniper? Toph, lead the way deeper into Milton. Keep us low and quiet."

 

[Psychie]

Feeling even more nervous, Toph replies, "I have nothing, either. But its there. I can feel it. Moving out." Keeping low as she can, the pink haired pilot moves her mecha through the streets of Milton, being careful not to run into buildings or step on something that would compromise their position.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Hercules watched as Mario scrabbled at his belt for his water canteen, his fingers pawing ineffectively at it.
"Wait, let's get to cover first.", he replied.
With little ceremony, he sat Mario down on his backside, scooped up his weapon, placed it across the downed tanker's knees then scooped and carried him 'damsel in distress'-style, his powerful arms behind the Italian's back and beneath his knees. With him carried thus, Hercules jogged over to where Booty was keeping the giant guard under armed guard. Once there, he lowered Mario to the floor, unhitched the water bottle and held it to his lips to allow him to drink.
"Take it slowly, pull your head back when you're done drinking.", was all he said.

 

[Purr]

Short instrumental mood music. =)

Spoiler

"Nightstalker" from the Ghost in the Shell Motion Picture Soundtrack. Because it fits. =)

Elinor's senses were often close to the machine she was flying, so much that sometimes she was able to tell what her Valkyrie was telling her before its sensors lit up on her HUD. Yet here, in the dark Floridian night, she was able to discern something out of place in the too-quiet town - a shadow that did not belong to her or her fellow A.S.C. pilots. It was the first sign of life she had seen in lonely Milton.

As the T.AS.C. Wild Cards took concealment and cover from the Scavengers by using the stores and shops, Elinor's gaze was suddenly drawn to a gray, dreary greenhouse some 40 feet in height and about 100 feet in length. It was across the street some 50 yards away from her. The greenhouse was covered in glass that was dirty around the vertical edges of the building, but as Elinor noticed, the windows above on the ceiling were clean allowing the sun's light in the day to shine through. This much was evident by the leafy greens there inside the greenhouse. Elinor could see rows of plants, unkempt and disorderly to some degree, but alive, unlike just about anything else in Milton.

This is where Elinor saw the shadow - something was inside the greenhouse. Its entrance was too small for a Valkyrie in any form to enter, but not so for the smaller AJAX veritech. In battloid, it might enter just fine.

One thing gave cause for trouble however - the Georgian farm-girl could not for the life of her identify what was creating the shadow. Except that it was larger than a human, she could hardly discern any other details. In fact, Elinor could not prove in her mind whether the shadow in the greenhouse belonged to a human at all. Then it was gone, vanishing ghostlike into the gloom inside the greenhouse...

*​

Moar mood music.

Spoiler

"Blood Makes Noise" by Suzanne Vega (because it's a great song about one hell of a migraine).

With him carried thus, Hercules jogged over to where Booty was keeping the giant guard under armed guard. Once there, he lowered Mario to the floor, unhitched the water bottle and held it to his lips to allow him to drink.
"Take it slowly, pull your head back when you're done drinking.", was all he said.

The armored Zentraedi warrior continued to sit in his chair as still as the computer screens he was facing. The light from Hercules's plasma blast had gone but the memory of his ghastly visage remained, at least for Cpl. Booty. The large Jamaican dutifully continued to keep his crosshairs on the giant while also keeping Herc and Mario in his field of view.

As Hercules gently laid Mario down, it seemed that even Mario was beginning to understand just how much trouble his body was currently in. The water Hercules provided felt like a godsend to Mario's body. At first, Mario's instincts created in him a great desire to take in the cool refreshing liquid hurriedly, but Mario knew better than that.

As the moments went by, Mario's body began to cool down. He needed more time to rest, but now he was getting it. Just a few minutes to rest. His breathing was less labored. He began to see a little more clearly and hear a little better too. Best of all, the shaking in his hands lessened though it did not disappear. Still... the terrible migraine was in full swing. It was like a bomb had exploded in the young Italian's mind. Mario could almost literally feel the blood in his head pounding creating a hateful noise of sorts that would not go away. He still tasted the blood from his trickling nosebleed.

To have a dose of headache reliever of any kind... to Mario's tortured brain... right now, just two of those little pills would have been worth even more than a promotion. Just to make the pain go away.

While Mario continued to rest and with Booty and Hercules on guard, the three had a chance to act as they pleased. The quiet of the enormous room was awe-inspiring as was the cloaking darkness that concealed far corners and walls. Only the computer lights and the protective screen displayed much light at all.

 

[Kaerri]

Elinor slid into concealment with the others, keeping her eyes wide open in response to Toph's intuition that something was watching them. That alertness paid off just as she got into position. "There," she called quietly over the radio. "That greenhouse, 50 yards out across the street. The one with a clean top, an' plants growin' in it. Somethin' just went in there. Not sure what, but I think it was bigger 'n a human, even our Greek buddy." She continued to watch the greenhouse, adjusting her sensors in hopes of catching another glimpse of whoever -- whatever -- had gone inside.

 

[Psychie]

When Elinor pointed out the greenhouse, Toph turns her attention over there, but makes sure that she doesn't turn her weapons in that direction. No need to announce that they are looking that way. "I might be able to fit though the entrance and get a closer look in my Ajax. It doesn't look like the Valks are small enough to get inside without causing major damage to the building."

 

[Sherwood]

Mario lies back, trusting in his comrades to keep him safe as he recovers. Dear Lord, my head is hurting! I've never had a hangover like this before. Deep breaths, Mario. Deep breaths. He closes his eyes to shut out the light, trying to meditate and let the pain pass. "Guys, I don't know how long I'm going to be out of it like this. The only thing I can think that could have caused this is trying my Traversing on both doors so close together. Herc, you'll need to be careful so that you don't get hit with a whammy like this, too. I just want to know what the hell that Zentraedi over there is doing. Why is he just sitting there?"

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Once depositing Mario to tend to himself, Hercules went prone and trained his HPW at the door that Booty had indicated. Without taking his eyes off the entrance, he nodded at Mario's advice. However he still had the bad feeling about this mission he'd had back at the Big Bunker. We're still learning about these abilities, their strengths and limitations. We shouldn't be having to do that learning in a live combat situation.

 

[Purr]

Mood music.

Spoiler

"99.9 F" by Suzanne Vega because it's a calming song about heat and emotion. Kind of dreamy, really. =)


Partial lyrics:
You seem to me
Like a man
0n the verge of burning
99.9 Fahrenheit degrees

Pale as a candle
And your face is hot
And if I touch you
I might get what you've got

Mario did not become alone when Hercules strode away; there was a little metal feline's tail just at the edge of the young Italian-American's vision. The tail moved curiously about Mario's aching body. In moments, Mario opened his lids and saw two mysterious golden eyes staring back into his own. MechaKitten may not have been fuzzy or furry but he behaved so much like a normal cat that it was sometimes easy to forget he was made of metal and not flesh. MechaKitten crawled lightly upon Mario's chest and lay there calmly, eyes halfway closed, tail resting beside his body.

There was something comforting about the cat's presence, that is, if Mario were the kind of man comforted by the closeness and affections of the feline variety. Certainly, the kitten had no aspirin, but his gentle purring seemed to have a calming effect all its own and Mario's attempts at deep breathing and meditation were in no way impeded by it. In fact, if Mario liked cats, the serene, authentic purring seemed to be aiding Mario's rest in some invisible way.

Without taking his eyes off of the gigantic alien Zentraedi sitting in his equally-gigantic alien chair, Cpl. Booty walked toward Mario passing by Hercules as he did. Booty noticed MechaKitten but said nothing, choosing to allow MechaKitten to continue to aid Mario in whatever way he may. Down here in enemy territory with enemies waiting above and cut off from all aid, Booty surmised that they could use all of the help they could get.

Booty knelt so that he was facing both Mario and the Zentraedi. Then he began his own cursory examination of his teammate. There was curiosity and concern on the huge Jamaican's face but it did not last long. He relaxed. Then he chuckled in jest in an attempt to cheer the younger fellow in the way that soldiers do. "Mario mon, you lookin' like what came outta me backside and inta de toilet dis mornin'." Booty removed his right gauntlet and produced his own canteen. He used some of the water inside to clean the sweat away from Mario's face. Mario was in little position to stop him.

Between Mario's resting and relaxing and these acts from his teammates, Mario's heart rate began to finally fall back to normal. His chest rose and fell but without the forcefulness it had after the jump jet attempt. Yes, the migraine was there, oh was it there, but all of the pain and discomfort seemed to be making it way to a place where Mario could work with it. Perhaps in another minute or so, Mario would be able to take action again on his own.

*​

I just want to know what the hell that Zentraedi over there is doing. Why is he just sitting there?"

Instrumental mood music.

Spoiler

"Mass Effect Theme" by Jack Wall and Sam Hulick for the Mass Effect Original Soundtrack

Meanwhile, Hercules having covered both doors to satisfaction found his eyes straying to the Zentraedi warrior. The stillness of the giant was unsettling but now Hercules, like a godling before the titans of legend, found himself at the feet of the enemy that had destroyed most of his planet and his people. He found his gaze drifting up, up, and up. The Zentraedi wore a thick form of armor that resembled hard ceramic and metal marked red and black with strange alien symbols he did not recognize. The symbols all seemed to be the same but their meaning was lost on the Greek warrior.

It was as close as Hercules had ever been to a Zentraedi. Perhaps it was this that brought an important piece of evidence to his watchful eye - Hercules noticed then that the Zentraedi was not breathing.

Close now, closer than Cpl. Booty had been, Hercules also noticed the stiff-looking chair the Zentraedi was sitting in - and the gaping hole in the back of it.

His feet, pulled by the ethereal chain of curiosity, took him a short distance around the chair until he could see the front of the gigantic corpse. There, barely lit by the flashing lights and glowing buttons of the enormous computer terminal, Hercules got a good look at the Zentraedi's chest covered as it was in the unusual heavy armor - and the other gaping hole in the front of where his heart used to be.

There was no sign of blood or further damage anywhere. Just that awful look on the warrior's face frozen in death. Seeing it this way, Hercules now knew with absolute certainty what that expression meant and what all-consuming emotion the Zentraedi had filled him on his way to his death. For a warrior, it was altogether worse than crumbling humiliation and far more dangerous than simple sudden surprise...

It was fear!

Hercules noticed too that there was something scrawled, etched perhaps, into the wound above the armor. Someone or something had written a message in Zentraedi on the chest of the luckless body.

But Hercules could not read it.

*​

"Somethin' just went in there. Not sure what, but I think it was bigger 'n a human, even our Greek buddy."

Shirley's voice was quiet, her tone incredulous. "What the-- Bigger than Hercules?"

"I might be able to fit though (sic) the entrance and get a closer look in my Ajax. It doesn't look like the Valks are small enough to get inside without causing major damage to the building."

Shirley responded to Toph. "Do it."

"Elly," Shirley used the nickname for Elinor without realizing it, "cover Muppet but not in Battloid or in prone position - instead, pop to Guardian mode - the profile is lower and you're not a sitting duck." With that, Shirley gave the command and her own Valkyrie brilliantly and nigh-instantaneously shifted and twisted, shrunk and widened with the power of protoculture until it was in the half-jet, half-battloid configuration veritech pilots called Guardian mode. With her black GU-11 gun pod in hand, Shirley watched her fellow Wild Cards's backs and kept a close eye on everything that was not the greenhouse.

The greenhouse itself seemed strangely inviting. The front doors had been slid wide open, large enough to neatly fit an AJAX in battloid mode. Those sad-looking gray aluminum walls were high. Its windows were many but all of them were blackened with time and gunk save for those upon the ceiling. Those had somehow been made clean or clean enough for light to pass through down onto the hundreds of plants below. Inside the greenhouse, Toph could see the haphazardly-arranged rows of leafy plants, so tall and wild and green that the branches and leaves often mingled and mixed so that they created great reaching gardens and wide lawless parades all throughout the greenhouse. It was as close to a jungle as one could get inside of a town as dead as this...

...and somewhere inside was the mysterious something that Elinor had seen.

 

[Psychie]

Toph maneuvers her Ajax towards the greenhouse, keeping her eyes open for any signs of movement. "Even though we have a potential target in here, don't forget the scavs out there. They'll be hunting us, and we are just slightly outnumbered. Keep your eyes open, ok? I'm moving into the greenhouse to investigate."

Doing her best to keep from smashing the place, she moves in slowly, using all of her mecha's sensors to try and locate any possible targets.

 

[Sherwood]

Mario looks up at the big Jamaican and lets out a rough laugh. "Um, yeah, thanks for that, Booty. I gotta say, you don't look that good to me, either." He takes another sip of the canteen and rests his head. "Damn! I've never had pain like that before. But, I'm starting to feel better; soon I'll be able to hold my own weight in the squad again. Thanks for keeping an eye on me, guys." As he rests, he idly reaches up an rubs Mechakitten's head, feeling the mechanical rumble of its purr in his hand.

"So, any movement or anything from our giant friend over there? What is he doing? Anything?"

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Following his gruesome discovery, Hercules relaxed. If only slightly. This foe was dead, but someone else had killed him.
"Status green.", he said into the squad comms he shared with the other tankers, "This Zeek is an ex-Zeek. Took a shot to the chest that went through him, his armor and the chair behind him. We need to find those VHTs ASAP. Mario, what's your sitrep?"

 

[Sherwood]

A huge wave of relief washes over him at the report from Hercules. "Well, that answers that question. I am getting better, should be back to fighting trim in another minute. Herc, any idea on how long that Zeek has been dead? Is it a matter of a few minutes, or more like days? Any clues as to the identity of the opponent that took him out?"

 

[Purr]

Mario looks up at the big Jamaican and lets out a rough laugh. "Um, yeah, thanks for that, Booty. I gotta say, you don't look that good to me, either."

"Dat's de spirit, mon!"

Booty grinned down at the smaller Italian-American. He had yet to meet one of that blood that lacked fire in his belly. "You lookin' like you got yo breath back. Let's be gettin' you on yo feet." Booty put his canteen away. Then he squatted and helped Mario back to his feet slowly. At first, Mario's brain protested with sharp jabs of pain, but they passed. Mario was able to rise back to his feet and though his back rested against the base of the giant computer, there was likely a very good feeling when Booty returned his laser cannon back to him without Mario having to reach for it. Right now, the distance from Mario's head to the floor seemed far, but nothing compared to the distance between his own aching head and the lifeless Zentraedi's.

Mario then noticed that the shakiness from his hands had gone. His nerves were his own again, but one glance at his jump jet sent an involuntary shiver down his spine. Something in Mario's body told him that should a firefight go down, taking cover would be better than mobility right now. His breathing was steady. He still tasted blood in his mouth despite his intake of water.

Mario felt a gentle pawing on his left. It was MechaKitten. The currently-quiet little fellow did not weigh much and so his crawling around on his left shoulder was little more than a mild distraction. There was a strange look in the bitty beastie's eyes - those golden orbs watched Mario very carefully for long moments.

Instrumental mood music.

Spoiler

"New Worlds" by Jack Wall from the Mass Effect 2 Original Soundtrack

"Herc, any idea on how long that Zeek has been dead? Is it a matter of a few minutes, or more like days? Any clues as to the identity of the opponent that took him out?"

When Hercules did not answer, Cpl. Booty stepped forward. The Jamaican armorer and mecha engineer had questions of his own. His eyebrows frowned and his face scowled at the sight of the titanic corpse sitting before them. Booty then called upon his own knowledge and experience to aid them. He marched over to get a clearer view.

He declared. "Fat Booty ain't no CSI mon. Fat Booty be Mecha-makin' Mon! Ain't no betta!" Booty examined the hole in the chair with his scope and naked eye. Then stalked toward the corpse to get a better view. There was a bright flare of light and a soft whooshing sound as he activated his jump jet. In one brief moment, the big fellow was launched from the floor up to the dead warrior's lap. He examined thoroughly. After long moments, he spoke again over the squad radio, his thick Jamaican accent sounded intrigued.

"Fat Booty knowin' him guns. He know how dey do dey killin'." He pointed. "Entry wound in back. Exit wound here in de chest. But look here!" He pointed at the computer screens and controls opposite the seated Zentraedi. They were undamaged and unmarked. "Fat Booty thinkin' a weapon powerful enough to blow big hole in Zentraedi wit' one shot would also be penetratin' to da computer, no?" He pointed again. "But ain't no damage dere."

Then he looked to the warrior's armor. "Dis here be de exit wound. What'choo see? De armor burstin' out dis way. It lookin' burned." He examined the chest and lap of the corpse. "Ain't no blood runnin' here. So, not a projectile. Plus burned mean it ain't no particle beam cannon. Him insides mebbe cauterized." He put his hand to his chin. "What RDF or ASC got dat can punch through dis chair, his back armor, his whole body, his front armor wit' de funny writin' on it, an' nuttin' beyond?" Booty shook his head. "Not even APFSDS round from VHT can do dis... Booty don't know what it was, mon."

He pointed once again, this time toward the floor on the other side of the corpse. "An' what is dis? His helmet! On it side. Not placed. Mebbe dropped? What'choo boys thinkin'? " Again Cpl. Booty was forced to shake his head.

*​

"I'm moving into the greenhouse to investigate."

Doing her best to keep from smashing the place, she moves in slowly, using all of her mecha's sensors to try and locate any possible targets.

Toph stepped into the gloom of the strange greenhouse, the mechanical feet of her AJAX crunching along the gravelly earth with every step. Rare was the AJAX that moved more gracefully, for Hiroshi's daughter did an admirable job of maneuvering inside. She struck nothing and therefore nothing was smashed.

For a moment, the dark Milton sky disappeared from her view as she walked beneath the entrance overhang but as she entered the greenhouse proper, she found the glass above to be as clear as if it were washed that very day! Unlike the grimy ugly windows covering the four walls of the building, the ceiling provided a breathtaking view of the Floridian nighttime clouds lit by the moon almost as clearly as if she were outside. Great, hulking leaves sprouted from nearly every place covering the inside of the greenhouse. Every walkway, every set of stairs was congested with wild vegetation so thick it was nearly impossible to see the very tables the dozens and dozens of plants were perched upon. Toph also noticed hundreds of droplets of liquid upon the plants. Not only the plants, but the earthen floor, walls, and almost every piece of furniture the young pilot laid eyes upon.

As such, Toph noticed one thing very clearly - this all made for too many hiding places for whatever was in here.

Now, there is a point in life where a friend will tell you something. You, believing your friend while wanting to believe in your friend, will take this information and go with it until you have reason not to. Right? Toph was told by Elinor that something was in here. But nothing moved. Nothing stirred. Only the plants made motion whenever a soft breeze from the other side of the building that Toph had entered had touched their healthy leaves. Toph was perceptive. Highly perceptive. So much so that she was the undisputed champion of hide-and-seek when she was a child; a title that had never been taken from her all these years - and she saw no signs of life besides the vegetation anywhere in the odd greenhouse.

So there comes a point that, no matter how much you trust your friend, that moment of doubt will pop in your head as your imagination begins to ask logical questions. Questions like, "Did Elinor imagine it?" "Were the shadows playing tricks on her?" "Maybe whatever was in here was here, but it left out the back when I entered?" It was that kind of moment. Toph's natural born senses had failed to pick up any sign of life in here. Duty was telling her to relay back to her fellow Wild Cards that this was all a "No Find" and to go back trying to find a way to help the boys. Boredom, for the first time since her entry began, reared its sullen head in the back of Toph's brain to the point even her Zentraedi blood had to acknowledge it. Unconsciously, she began to sigh and let her guard down.

So, of course, that's when the strangest thing of all happened to her right there inside the greenhouse... =)

Toph had just turned her AJAX to leave when the weirdest buzzing and clicking sounds began to come alive - not on her displays, not from her ears, but from inside her very mind! Odd rubbing sounds like two pieces of bones being gently massaged together joined these inner noises. Together, they were like nothing the Jeet Kune Do artist had ever heard in her young life. The noises were not overly loud nor were they disconcerting beyond the fact that they were there. Instead, they combined to a soothing sort of sound, not unpleasant, but also strangely persistent.

It was at that moment that Toph began to see symbols inside of her brain. Clear symbols that reminded her of letters in the alphabet! The Zentraedi alphabet!

Spoiler: The Zentraedi Alphabet

(Image credit: Pinterest)

These symbols came in total silence. They entered her mind as surely as if Toph had seen them with her own eyes.

PnOOOOOOgzzz aktkakt mblma GAMGAM

Then the lines were gone. They existed now only in Toph's memory. But a moment later, they came a second time.

lLllLL eCkzymmeeee KQqpapPil RsUx

Again, these "words" attempted to form but faded away as quickly as they had come. It was on the third try that Toph began to see symbols that, at last, she recognized. In Zentraedi, her mind's eye read:

Success! Communication established. Zentraedi CORRECTION Meltrandi language - correction established per Mistress Neqel.

This One addresses creature in unknown fighting skin with query.

Query: Are you Meltrandi?

What seemed like a vast moment of silence passed between Toph and whatever this was...

...and then it was Toph's turn to act. =)

 

[Psychie]

Toph can feel her blood run cold at the sudden mental contact. What the hell?!? Telepathy? From who? Or, perhaps, what? With her senses keyed up to the max, she scans the greenhouse for any sign of what might be sending this signal to her as her mind races. Neqel. That is the name of the other missing ASC crew. Ok. Perhaps this is not an enemy. Lets try playing nice. She answers out loud, her voice echoing in her helmet, and at the same time, she tries to project her thoughts back at the sender. "My mother is Meltrandi, my father is human. My name is Toph Kirin. Who or what are you?" Toph makes sure she has her microphone still open, so that the other Wild Cards can hear her talking to . . . something.

All the while, she keeps her fingers close to the trigger of her arm mounted pulse cannon and her hands on the throttle, just in case this turns out to be an enemy.

 

[Sherwood]

Now that Mario is able to stand unaided, he moves slowly to look up at the body of the dead Zentraedi. "Booty, you know more about the effects of weapons on a body than I do, so I doubt that there is anything that I can add to what killed him. But I can see some writing carved into the chest of the dead guy. From here, I can catch only a glimpse of what looks like Zentraedi symbols. Anyone see a way for me to get up onto the desk without kicking in my jump pack? I don't think my head could handle the sudden jolt quite yet. Maybe I can climb up?" He looks around, trying to see a way to investigate the writing and see what is currently on the screen in front of the dead man.

 

[Kaerri]

"Elly," Shirley used the nickname for Elinor without realizing it, "cover Muppet but not in Battloid or in prone position - instead, pop to Guardian mode - the profile is lower and you're not a sitting duck." With that, Shirley gave the command and her own Valkyrie brilliantly and nigh-instantaneously shifted and twisted, shrunk and widened with the power of protoculture until it was in the half-jet, half-battloid configuration veritech pilots called Guardian mode. With her black GU-11 gun pod in hand, Shirley watched her fellow Wild Cards' backs and kept a close eye on everything that was not the greenhouse.

Elinor nodded, accepting the nickname without comment. "Yes'm," she replied, changing her own Valkyrie to Guardian and shifting position slightly so that she and Shirley would have complimentary (rather than identical) fields of fire, but keeping her own line of fire focused on the greenhouse and anything that might be threatening Toph from inside it, leaving outside threats to her squad commander.

Toph's odd radio transmission focuses Elinor's attention further on the greenhouse. Clearly she was talking to someone, and that someone wasn't them, and that meant contact -- and by her words, contact with the unknown, whether it was the thing Elinor had seen or something completely different. Elinor hoped it was what she had seen. There were way too many people and things floating around this "abandoned" city as it was.

 

[Sherwood]

Mario eyes the desk with trepidation. The thought of trying to get up there to see the writing for himself fills him with dread. "Hmmm. Booty, do you have a camera? That way, you could take a pic of the writing, and then bring it down to me to see what it says. While you are up there, take a quick look at the screen and see if there is any actionable intel on it and take some photos of that, too, for the Colonel to look over when we get back."

 

[Purr]

Mood music.

Spoiler

These scenes provided to you by INXS performing "Communication". =)

Lyrics:
Light beams from outer space
Drifting to your satellite
Your dish responds

Communication disinformation
So entertaining
Blood money blood money
It's wild in here
There's a girl on the floor
She's gonna blow this place apart
Gonna take us all, all away

Communication disinformation
So entertaining
Blood money blood money
It's wild out here
You should see the light
From the crown of the king
The king of the night

Spinning metal blue satellite
Your dish responds

Communication disinformation
So entertaining
Blood money blood money
It's wild out here
Situation's alright
Gonna keep up the lies
And our version of life

I won't leave this dirty place
I'll stay here 'til the end
The lights are on
So action man
Show us the truth

Communication disinformation
So entertaining
Blood money blood money

There's a war out here
There's a bomb on the floor
Gonna blow this place apart
Gonna take this show away

She answers out loud, her voice echoing in her helmet, and at the same time, she tries to project her thoughts back at the sender. "My mother is Meltrandi, my father is human. My name is Toph Kirin. Who or what are you?" Toph makes sure she has her microphone still open, so that the other Wild Cards can hear her talking to . . . something.

Toph's rescan of the greenhouse produced nothing. The Japanese-Meltrandi was surrounded by a jungle of green healthy vegetation averaging about 10 feet in height all over the inside the pre-war building. Some of the plants hung from the ceiling but if whatever Toph was talking to was on the floor, it had an incredible amount of places to choose for concealment from Toph's keen eyes and ears.

Again, delicate symbols formed into Toph's mind creating a response.

Creature in unknown fighting skin now designated as "Toph Kirin" per Toph Kirin.

Toph Kirin is offspring of Meltrandi and human? How is this possible?

A long moment passed. And then...

Your claim contains elements far-reaching and alien. This One desires proof but not without reward. Toph Kirin must appear from her fighting skin and display her bare face. In return, This One shall display the form that belongs to Self in response to Toph Kirin's query: "Who or what are you?" Then we may proceed further.

This is not an attempt at subterfuge. Our purpose of contacting you reaches beyond ourselves and includes both those whom you have sworn fealty to and those whom we have sworn fealty to. This One has come to help us both. Will you comply with Self's humble request?

The request was simple enough - Toph was to pop out of her AJAX and remove her helmet. In return, whatever was communicating with her would appear before her, revealing itself. Strangely enough, there was a human saying that described this kind of agreement though that particular saying implied intimacy of a sort.

"If you show me yours, I'll show you mine..."

*​

Shirley knew something very weird was going on in the greenhouse but damned if she knew what it was. So she kept listening. She wanted to ask Toph details but given Muppet's actions, Shirley reached the conclusion that perhaps Toph was in no position to yet provide them. To Elinor, she said, "Cygnus Two, you see anything unusual in there?" Meanwhile the Red Baroness had its electronic sensors wide open and aware - if anything showed its face behind Toph and Elinor, Shirley was certain she would spot it.

*​

"Meeew!" MechaKitten complained. He wiggled his paws and reached up toward... the up. Clearly, the little fellow wanted to be with Cpl. Booty to see what he was seeing. But an idea visited Mario that made the information come to him.

"Hmmm. Booty, do you have a camera? That way, you could take a pic of the writing, and then bring it down to me to see what it says. While you are up there, take a quick look at the screen and see if there is any actionable intel on it and take some photos of that, too, for the Colonel to look over when we get back."

Mario was no longer slurring his words. Though his head was a mess, he could think clearly enough.

There was a pause. Then Booty replied. "Yah, mon. Fat Booty gotta smartphone. You gonna hafta tell what all dis crazy stringy writin' mean - it all lookin' like chicken scratch to me!" Booty snapped off a few shots of the chest area and its message. Then he did the same of the computer screens. There was plenty of Zentraedi language to see but he did not stop there. He played with his smartphone for a moment. Then he set it down near one of the warrior's knees. With hustling feet, he ran back to the chest area. There, Mario could see Booty in a masculine pose beside the gaping hole in the warrior's chest. Booty's smile could be seen from here. Then the smartphone flashed a few times.

"OHH YESSS!! Reggie gonna be lovin' it or Booty is a black Italian!" Booty scooped up his smartphone and stepped off the corpse's gigantic armored thigh. With a bright burst of light and soft whooshing sound, his jump jet slowed his descent and the Jamaican touched down to the nigh-impenetrable floor gently. Then he clicked on the smartphone and showed Mario one of the grisly pictures he had taken. MechaKitten purred and examined the screen with great curiosity.

It was a good shot. It included the Zentraedi's twisted expression so very odd on a creature made for the sole purpose of battle - fear. Most of humanity believed Zentraedi were downright incapable of that emotion unless approached by culture. In battle? It was an unknown thing to the warrior aliens. Except here.

The message seemed to be cut into the warrior's heavy armor. The Zentraedi words indicated the cavernous hole that had torn through the heart of the warrior from behind - and that message had the power to chill the very soul.

It read: "Look here! An opening in your security! Ha ha ha!!"

 

[Psychie]

Speaking in Zentraedi, Toph says, "I understand your request for you to visually examine me, and I shall agree to it. But, this examination must be quick; I have many enemies in mecha out in the city, hunting for me. One moment, please." Switching back to English, she quickly says over the radio, "LT, I'm in contact with something in here, communicating mentally with me. It is asking if I am a Meltrandi, and wants some kind of visual confirmation that I am what I claim. I'm going to go ahead and open up my cockpit. Wait one."

Lowering her Ajax down to one knee. Then, Toph opens up her mecha's cockpit and pulls off her helmet, shaking out her pink hair. Hopefully this is not some Meltrandi killing machine that is just waiting to get me vulnerable.

 

[Sherwood]

Mario looks at the photo taken by Booty and lets out a bark of laughter. "Heh. Someone has a sense of humor. It says that there is an 'opening in their security', indicating the hole in the chest of the soldier here. Also, if you look at his face, you can see he's scared. What on Earth is capable of inducing fear into a Zentraedi soldier like that? Normally, these guys would walk into the gates of Hell with a loud battlecry and not blink twice." He shakes his head slowly, feeling puzzled. "We need to move out, now that I'm able to be upright without passing out in pain. Lets pick a door and move out. Personally, I vote for the door to the left."

 

[Purr]

"We need to move out, now that I'm able to be upright without passing out in pain. Lets pick a door and move out. Personally, I vote for the door to the left."

Cpl. Booty stared at the corpse distrustfully. "Booty wonderin' if'n de Zentraedi even knew what hit him."

The A.T.A.C. Wild Cards moved away from the unhappy corpse and soon found themselves feeling much like children in a nightmare where everything in the world was big - except them. They approached the blast door on the left. Like all things here, it was dark and enormous and alien in an unnerving way. Nothing should be so large, your senses seemed to tell you.

As they reached the door, the portal in no way responded. It was as if the human soldiers were beneath its notice. For the door did not open upon their arrival and the realization of their being trapped inside this room was becoming more and more real by the moment.

*​

Switching back to English, she quickly says over the radio, "LT, I'm in contact with something in here, communicating mentally with me. It is asking if I am a Meltrandi, and wants some kind of visual confirmation that I am what I claim. I'm going to go ahead and open up my cockpit. Wait one."

With an expression filled with doubt, Shirley shook her head. Something was in Toph's head? Communicating with her? What did they call that again? And it was asking if Toph were Meltrandi? Well, any Meltrandi was bigger than Toph's Ajax so why ask that? And above all, why in the heck was Shirley not on the radio, she asked herself. 1st Lieutenant Shirley Mackenzie was a braver woman than she knew, an accomplished singer and close air support pilot, and now leader of a group people just as whacked out in the skull as she was. But whatever all that meant, it in no way prepared her for a First Contact situation.

Shirley reached for the radio.

*​

Speaking in Zentraedi, Toph says, "I understand your request for you to visually examine me, and I shall agree to it. But, this examination must be quick; I have many enemies in mecha out in the city, hunting for me. One moment, please."

Lowering her Ajax down to one knee. Then, Toph opens up her mecha's cockpit and pulls off her helmet, shaking out her pink hair. Hopefully this is not some Meltrandi killing machine that is just waiting to get me vulnerable.

Toph was in a combat zone. She knew this. Her teammates knew it. Her commanding officers knew it. Somewhere out there was a number of Scavengers that wanted to put various terrible things in her mouth because of her extensive and skilled use of it on the radio earlier. Her fear of being caught wide open here was quite justified.

So to drop her Ajax down to one knee and pop the top hatch was, militarily speaking, tantamount to suicide. Her instincts said one thing while every drill sergeant she had ever known was likely screaming in her head, "WHAT THE FUCK, SOLDIER?!" Still, she pressed on.

As Toph rose out of her Ajax, there was that feeling of freedom, of being outside her cockpit where she could see the great grand greenhouse with her own eyes. Then she touched her helmet. Pppsssshhhht! Her megasuit decompressed and recycled air flew out into the night for a moment. She smelled and tasted the freshest air she had had the pleasure of enjoying for a long time. One breath and there was a sensation of happy rejuvenation. Removing her helmet and shaking out her hair only added to this feeling. And still she detected nothing amiss with her five senses - but now her gut was telling her that she was far from alone in the Milton greenhouse.

There was a sense of silence that was thicker and richer than the green leaves all about her. She was being watched for certain. And then... contact resumed. It was the thing in her mind.

(Mood music)

Spoiler

"I Love You Always Forever" by Donna Lewis (a.k.a. Jewel).

Chorus:
I love you always forever
Near and far closer together
Everywhere I will be with you
Everything I will do for you
I love you always forever
Near and far closer together
Everywhere I will be with you
Everything I will do for you

Toph Kirin... You are... made up of that which we adore!

Though this was transmitted as written words into Toph's mind, Toph had the sensation that these words were told with the deepest reverence, the most awesome of truths.

Humans and Meltrandi can bear offspring! How the galaxy shines at this discovery! The Queen must be informed! Dear Mistress Neqel opened our minds to the idea of Meltrandi and humans co-existing, but you are living proof. You have our gratitude and more.

There in the greenhouse underneath the ghostly light of the moon that gazed down through the pristine windows above Toph's bare head, there came an odd light. Toph looked down and a little to her right and there it was, a pair of green glowing somethings there in the wide and tall greenery that surrounded her like a small forest. They reminded Toph of a pair of eyes. Then the twin lights faded and something in front of Toph began to change. It were as if the greenery were altering its own colors, become redder, more orange, a bit of gold here and there. In those colors were thin, graceful shapes all merging into one picture. Then Toph realized that this thing, whatever it was, had been pretty much in front of her all along. Her eyes had not seen it for they had been looking for differences in the brush, things inside the brush, that which did not belong.

This belonged. And in compliance with their deal, it dutifully showed itself to her.

Spoiler

This except with the addition of a large bulbous hump of sorts on its lower back. Everything else, including the little fingers, is accurate.

(Image credit: Davesrightmind - DeviantArt)

Elinor saw it too. It was not 20 feet from Toph. A short leap and it could get her. It was about 10 feet tall and wide though it seemed to be sitting in a way that made it seem small or possibly non-threatening. It had not moved at all. The wind blowing through the leaves had created motion but this creature seemed to be patience and camouflage incarnate. Traits of a born hunter.

Now that Toph saw it, it tilted its head and winked at her, for it possessed eyelids. Despite its alien physiology, there was something dangerous yet harmless about the creature. Now Toph's own Xenobiology training was knocking on her door, hat in hand. It was also carrying a briefcase it wanted her to see the contents of.

(For Psychie)

Spoiler

A freebie, but also a no-brainer. If you would like Toph to call upon her education in xenobiology, just give me the dice colors you want in Fat Gandalf's. If not, that is certainly your call too. =)

It continued to communicate. Ally Toph Kirin has asked, "Who or what are you?" To which query would you prefer an answer to? A moment of thought passed. The creature turned to look at Elinor's watching Valkyrie in guardian mode. Self additionally hopes the two humans with Toph Kirin will not attack This One or Toph Kirin. They are clearly human. Query: are these allies of Toph Kirin or do they hold you in servitude? If the latter, shall we together crack open their carapaces and devour them? This One offers for Toph Kirin has made mention of humans hunting for her. This One also offers because, while often poor-tasting, humans are crunchy and have been deemed worthwhile sources of protein.

 

[Sherwood]

Mario looks up at the closed door. "Well, shit. We have the option of trying to blast a hole large enough in the door to squeeze through, but that will make a lot of noise and use up a lot of our ammo. We can try the other door, look for some air shafts or some other way in, or Herc can try to Traverse the door open. After what I went through, I don't dare try to use the power so soon. Lets look around for a way to open the door."

He then begins to systematically search the room, looking for ways to keep moving.

 

[Psychie]

Toph looks at the alien creature with a mix of amazement and shock. "My god! I've never seen anything like this before! This is . . . amazing!" She sees Elinor out of the corner of her eye, and holds out her hand towards her. "Don't shoot! I don't believe that this is hostile to us. I don't know why I think this, but I'm pretty sure that this creature is going to help us out." Directing her attention to the alien, she says, "The two humans with me are allies and friends, so please do not attack them. There are, however, twelve other humans out here in assorted mecha that are definitely not allies, and they would most likely attack you on sight, so do not let them see you. Do you understand human speech, or just Meltrandi? Or does it matter, since you seem to be able to communicate with your mind?"

While all of this is going on, Toph puts her helmet back on and buttons up the Ajax once more.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Assured that Mario was now back on his feet and combat-ready, Hercules rose from his prone position, his weapon still trained on the door.
"If there is no alternative, then I shall attempt to Traverse the door. You'll need to talk me through it, though. You've had more experience."
He, too, performed a sweep of the room, looking for anything that could be a door control or alternative exit route, an air vent, maintenance hatch, anything.