Icarus
Zeta Destiny-
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Player
Judge
About Icarus
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Fleurs De Noblesse
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Character profile
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Full name
Raymond Hermes -
Rank
Fleur De Noblesse -
Gender
Male
Recent Posts
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The Lightning Strike was fast, but the Oriole was ready, aided by the shielding qualities of its Wings of Light, which absorbed the Seed suit’s projectiles with relative ease.
“Show me what, exactly!?” Apollo roared back as he abandoned the lance and evaded backwards. “That you’re just the lesser version of a mobile suit legend? With moves like that, I’d be inclined to believe you!” The Oriole, free of its somewhat cumbersome main weapon, reached for its pair of GN Sword 2s and combined them at the hilts into a beam glaive.
“A true hero is never without a backup plan! Now, let me show you—your demise!”
With a mighty flap of magenta wings, the Oriole shot forward blade first, aiming directly for the cockpit of Mu’s suit.
“In a single stroke, I will cleave through and reveal my own path to victory!”
--
For a moment, Icarus thought he had won—but he should’ve known better. Rare were the occasions when triumph came so easily, especially to him. The arm of the Barbatos shattered apart, the strike disabling its sword in the process, and Icarus let out a cheer that was quickly stifled by the Gundam’s tail blade lashing out at him, divesting him of his own sword.
No!
Icarus clutched the controls as his mobile suit rattled and shook around him. The enemy’s eyes turned purple and the Alastor’s pilot swore under his breath.
Yeah, of course they’d have those…
The Lupus Regent swiped at him with its claw, tearing a huge gash across the front of the Alastor that let the NPD combo into a series of more slashes as Icarus’s guard was broken. The Alastor was fast when it had the space to get going—but up close? It’s heavy armor could take a hit but going fast wasn’t an option…yet.
“I still have a trick up my sleeve, kid!” he cried as his hand’s flew across his controls and landed on the button he’d been saving for an emergency. “I can go beyond!”
A bright light flashed out from behind the seams of the Alastor, followed by a shockwave that stunned the Barbatos as chunks of armor flew out and collided with it. Where the Alastor once stood was now a much slimmer looking machine. This Gundam shot forward and sent a fist directly into the head of the Barbatos.
“I call this one Zeus, by the way,” The Gundam rolled off of the Lupus Regent, dashed backwards, and fired a single shot from its dober gun aimed directly at the cockpit.
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Icarus watched at the Barbatos juked out of the way in order to intercept the blast from Wade’s buster cannons, wrenching the controls of the Alastor to pursue it as quickly as he could while keeping out of the beams’ line of fire.
“That’s some fancy armor you’ve got there,” Icarus smirked. “Doesn’t look like a beam blade will do much, but even if it can’t cut you, this sword still has some use!” The Alastor brought the Excalibur Anti-ship sword back and then swung it like a baseball bat at the side of the Barbatos, driving its solid, weighty edge into the torso of the Tekkadan suit. “I know you IBO guys like to get physical, after all!”
--
Million had been busy fending off some of the incoming Zakus when Mu La Flaga, the Hawk of Endymion, engaged.
She had just finished slicing through one of the ill-fated NPD grunts when the Lightning Strike appeared before her, visible through the newly created horizontal slash in the Zaku.
“Wahh!” Million cried, reversing the XX00 away from the Gundam with as much thrust as she could muster. “Where the heck did you come from?” As the Strike charged its salvo, Million realized the grave oversight she had made in designing the XX00—it didn’t have a shield.
Oh crap!
There was no time to dodge either. This custom Strike was speedy and had taken advantage of her being distracted by the NPD grunts in order to close the distance and catch her off guard.
“It can’t be over for me that quickly—I can’t let these guys down!” Million clenched her teeth, watching as the beams released.
“Fear not, fair maiden!” a voice called out over her comms. “I shall shield you from this twisted visage of a hero!”
A great, pink wall interposed itself between the XX00 and the Lightning Strike, absorbing the full burst that had marked her suit for destruction.
“Huh? Huh!?”
--
Behind the golden shield of his mask, Apollo scowled. This fight had barely started and already he had to save someone’s ass. He didn’t even want to be here—he knew it was going to be a drag—but the bosses insisted, especially since Creed was here.
Worse yet, this Spider guy went and ruined Mu La Flaga.
Mu was his favourite and served as a template for the hero that Apollo played. A man who could make the impossible possible. The ultimate gundam pilot. So, when the Shooting Star Diver had seen this twisted version of his favourite character try to get an underhanded drop on one of his so-called allies, Apollo knew it was up to him to put a stop to it. He had activated the Oriole’s Minovsky Drive and spread its Wings of Light wide around the XX00, sheltering it from harm for the time being.
“Leave this one to me, madam,” he said to her, spinning the Oriole’s lance in its hands as he retracted the wings and arrived beside her. “I have a personal score to settle here,”
--
Million looked at the black gundam that appeared next to her.
“Uh, sure dude,” she said. She had no idea who this guy was but he seemed to be a role-player and he seemed to have some kind of grudge against the Strike. “He’s all yours,”
The XX00 pulled away, leaving the Oriole to stare down the Lightning Strike alone, watching on her cameras as the two units began their combat, Apollo’s gundam trying to push his advantage by getting in close with the lance. Feeling that the situation was in good hands, Million turned her attention back to the Zakus in need of culling.
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“It might get hairy in there,” Ray looked over at Amelia sitting at the terminal next to his as he placed the freshly finished model on the scanner. He had had to work fast to get it done in time for this mission, but together they made short work of it. The paint was still a little wet, but it was nevertheless combat ready.
“Hairy is my middle name,” Amelia said, setting down her new model as well.
Ray grimaced. “I certainly hope not,”
“Oh lighten up and get in there,”
“Right,”
--
“So…this is the spider’s nest,” Icarus said to himself as he and Million materialized in the space outside the massive, modified A Bao Qu. “I’ll admit, it’s impressive. A lot bigger than I thought it would be,”
“It’s nothing we can’t handle, Ick,” Million said, keeping pace with him in the XX00, her new gunpla. “Let’s link up with Wade—it says he’s here already,”
“Good idea,” Icarus scanned the space around him, looking for the Nu Origin. Instead, he spotted a new machine—a new machine that was coming under attack by a very strange looking Strike Gundam.
“Looks like we’re a little late, Mill—keep an eye open and follow me,” Icarus’s hands danced across the controls, gripping the thruster slide and pushing it to max. The rear vernier thrusters opened up and flung the Gundam towards his leader. Icarus’s grip tightened on the controls. The speed this new machine was unimaginable, faster than even the Tallgeese QUEST and with more armor to boot. So fast was Icarus’s new gundam that it allowed him to interpose himself between the Strike and the Hi-Nu Leader, absorbing the blast from the Strike’s cannon with its shoulder mounted shield.
“Sorry I kept you waiting, boss,” Icarus smirked as the smoke faded around his Gundam. “I had to get a few things ready. Now, what say you take the Strike and I’ll take that Barbatos over there?”
The Gundam reached over its shoulder, drawing its Excalibur anti-ship sword and pointing it towards the Barbatos Regent.
“Let’s squash this spider, Gundam Alastor!”
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Raymond looked at his bank account and sighed. He should’ve seen this coming, honestly, but he was still crushed to see it actually have come this far. Spider, he knew, wasn’t someone to be trusted. The man was a criminal, after all. But even criminals have honor, sometimes—but not Spider it seemed.
“Have you tried contacting the bank?” Amelia sat across from him at a small patio table, picking away at plate full of French fries.
“Sure have,” Ray sighed, putting his phone facedown on the table and then cupping his own face with his hands. Speaking through them, he explained that the bank said they couldn’t do much at this moment but would be investigating more deeply into the issue.
“That’s ridiculous,” Amelia said, folding her arms across her chest. “What about the cops?”
“Same answer,” Ray said, peaking out from behind his fingers. “But it’s the mob, Mel. I may as kiss my savings goodbye, otherwise who knows? It might be my ass I’m kissing goodbye instead,”
Amelia grew silent, sitting back in her chair as she looked at the man across from her wallowing in the depths of his despair. “You made a mistake,” she said. “We all make mistakes, Ray. You thought something had happened to your friend and you were in a bad way because of it,”
“I should’ve been smarter though, Mel. I shouldn’t have done what I did just because I was upset,” Ray ran a hand through his hair and groaned. “What’s the mob even doing running an operation through a damn online game, anyway?”
Amelia shrugged. “These creeps show up in the weirdest places. GBN is huge right now, so it’s only natural they’d try to get a piece of the pie, right?” but Ray didn’t respond, merely hung his head over his half-eaten hamburger and sulked. Amelia frowned. Seeing him like this was tough, after everything they had gone through together already, all the dark days they had left behind them. She worried that if they couldn’t get this sorted, then Ray might fall back into that pit of despair and never come back out. Or worse. He had come close before, too close for Amelia to let it happen again.
She finished her beer in one go and placed the glass on the table with a thud. “Here’s what we’re going to do!” she announced, flicking him on the ear. Ray bounded backwards with a gasp, grabbing his reddened lobe. “You and I are going to hit the town and I’m going to treat you to a wonderful day of retail therapy,”
Ray looked at her with a complete lack of enthusiasm. “I don’t want to put you out,” he said. “I’ll be able to make do until I figure something out,”
“You can’t even afford to cover lunch,” she said, gesturing at the food in front of them. “Just let me spoil you, okay? You’re obviously not okay and maybe spending a little bit of my money might make you feel better!”
“I…”
“No arguing!” she said.
--
Before long, the two had found themselves at the local hobby shop. Amelia had insisted that this be their first stop, as gunpla was a hobby they both shared. Ray, hunched at the shoulders, followed his more energetic friend around the store as she stacked a number of model boxes on top of each other.
“I’ve been working on a couple of ideas,” she said, peeking at him from over the top of a High-grade Legend Gundam kit. “What do you think about the Burning Legend? Half God Gundam, half Legend Gundam?”
Ray shrugged. “Wouldn’t you be missing out by not having both backpacks?”
“Yeah…that’s a good point. Okay, never mind, how about, like, the Double-X00”
Ray quirked an eyebrow. “What would that even look like?”
“Like a Double-X mixed with a 00,”
“I’d…be curious to see it,”
“Right! That settles it, then,” she said, putting boxes back on the shelves and racing down the aisle to find the two she needed, leaving Ray in the dust. Without her, his eyes wandered to the shelves. He hadn’t thought much about GBN in the last couple of days, and ever since building the QUEST, he had been a bit short on ideas. Besides, with the dire financial situation he was in, there was no point in continuing with the hobby.
But, as if on cue, Ray’s phone buzzed. There was a personal message from GBN.
I got him where we want him. Show up ready for a fight. Be advised my handle here is Hunter, so watch the friendly fire. Be ready for anything.
“Hunter?...Is this?” it seemed to be a message from Aker, but…what did it mean? Hope swelled in Ray’s chest. Maybe…just maybe…
His eyes darted up to the shelves. Maybe he could make just one last kit…
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Like the others, Wade was booted back to the oil rig, only to find Icarus in a somber state. He knew exactly how the Diver felt, in terms of being the one to bring others down in battle. However, the Fleurs leader never felt that about his companions. "That's simply not true." He responded to his friend. "You weren't in control there. It's not your fault." Whatever had happened though, it was time to stop. "But I'm not gonna let people ruin this game. I say we finish all of this once and for all."
Aker remained quiet, his right arm wrapped to grip his left shoulder tightly. Of the three he looked the most pissed off and exhausted. For a long while he said nothing and just looked at the two divers. But then Wade’s words struck Aker profoundly. He quietly responded, “are you prepared to do what needs to be done? Just how do you propose we end this?” There was a lot he wanted to say at that moment but bit his tongue knowing that his friends shouldn’t be to blame, at least not entirely.
Icarus looked despondently at Aker, who appeared wounded. He was still alive and for that the diver was eternally thankful, but he had almost forgotten that Aker couldn't just brush these battles off like he and Wade could. Icarus turned to his leader and frowned. "I could have said no and faced the consequences. I could have just never gotten involved in the first place. But I'm with you. I want this over with--I just don't know what to do..." he chuckled to himself, spitefully. "Look at me--I'm supposed to be the adult here,"
The fact that Aker was physically hurt signaled to the Diver that this needed to be done, but he was right. "I-I don't know, but no more missions. We need to contact these people or something. He clenched his fists as he thought about what each of the three has gone through. "Ah! I'm sick of this crap! I'm sick of you getting hurt, I'm sicked of you getting abused, and I'm sick of all of this feeling so real!" Wade pointed up at his Gunpla. "This Nu is flawed, and the only way I'm getting better is building a new one." Wade pulled up his menu, sliding pages open. "I'm gonna go work on that. Don't contact me until we got a lead on Spider and whatever's going on with you. I'll be ready for what's thrown at me." The Fleurs Leader felt enraged, seeing this as a sort of tough love, but seeing two people he called his friends in pain told him there needed to be a change.
Aker scoffed at Icarus’ response, but looked away as he winced in pain. When Wade spoke he then realized that this wasn’t a burden to be handled alone. As much as he wanted to go off on his own at that moment. Again he fought the urge to get preachy instead nodding. “Give me a week….” His eyes darted from Icarus to Wade and he nodded, “give me a week and I’ll find him. These hackers hold nothing sacred… to deal with him We’ll have to work on his level…” it was his polite way of saying that he would be doing shady things for their common goal.
Icarus looked down, his fists beginning to sting from the pressure as his nails dug into his palms. "I promise..." he said, unable to look at his teammates. "I promise I'll make this up to you both. Fleurs and GBN has helped me get back on a better path in life and I'm not about to turn my back on either. I know that with you two helping, we can figure this out," He looked up, tears in his eyes. "Whatever it takes, I'm with you!"
“Then it’s settled.” Wade Lincoln logged off right after, bringing himself back into the real world. He slammed his fists on the table, knocking over is figure as he left the room. “Fleurs De Noblesse needs a real leader. One with a kickass Gunpla too.”
---
When Ray finally logged off, he looked down at the utterly wrecked table and console in front of him through the haze of misty eyes. He quickly wiped his tears away as a staffer approached him, handing him a bill for the damages done. Ray looked back at the table. He must've been striking it for real when he was trapped in the Tallgeese and trying to kick his way out. Apologizing profusely, he accepted the bill, sighing at his misfortune when the staffer walked away.
Later, as he was walking home in the darkness of a quiet night, he thought about all that had transpired and all that was yet to come. They didn't seem any closer to freeing him from Spider's clutches, but his comrades seemed to have a plan--or if not a plan, an ambition. Ray pulled out his phone and saw several missed messages, most of which he swiped away. Then, he pulled up a certain number and pressed 'dial'. The phone rang several times before the call went through.
"Hey," Ray said, looking up at the moon. "Sorry I've been so quiet...a lot's been going on. I think we need to talk,"
-
Icarus could only watch as the Tallgeese engaged with the Noblesse, his kicking clearly useless. Aker fought valiantly but the QUEST fought just as hard, spurred on by the malicious energy of the Venom Drive. When his rogue mobile suit seemed like it had taken the initiative and began to really push the Noblesse into a corner, Icarus felt his breath catch in his chest.
I can sense your hurt, Aker…the betrayal you feel…
He let go of the controls, let his face fall into his hands as the cacophony of creaking metal and battle raged around him like hell’s own symphony. It was only when the Tallgeese rocked backwards from the impact of Aker’s sword did he allow himself to look up. His cockpit camera was filled with burning pink light and Icarus flinched hard when he realized what was happening. As the beam saber penetrated the cockpit, Icarus jerked backwards with a stunted cry.
In the hobby shop, Ray’s seat tilted backwards, spilling him out and almost taking the rest of the rig with him. He lay sprawled on the shop floor, visor half off of his head, and a nearby attendant rushed over to help him. Ray quickly waved her off, righted his chair, and settled himself back in just in time to see the screen display their victory.
The victory screen looked odd. No rewards, no congratulations, just the words “A winner is you,” before the divers were kicked back to their floating oil rig nest. The simulated breeze tossed Icarus’s long hair as he sat up. Across from him were Wade and Aker, behind him, their mobile suits loomed large on their platforms. Icarus turned to look at the QUEST and rose slowly to his feet.
Maybe I wasn’t ready…
His hands in the real world groped around blindly for the model and pulled it off the scanner. The QUEST disappeared from the platform, the space where it once stood intimidating in its emptiness. Icarus closed his eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath, before turning to face his teammates.
“I’m sorry,” of course those were the first words out of his mouth. What else could he have said. “I should have known he would try to pull something like this, that it’d be more dangerous that it first appeared…but…I couldn’t just…”
He looked down, his hands curling into fists as he tried to fight back tears. “I’m a weak link. A liability. I tried to get stronger but look what it cost me. Every time I think I’m on top, I get pushed back down and you don’t deserve to be dragged to rock bottom with me,”
-
The Tallgeese QUEST loomed menacingly above the Nu Origins as it fell to the cave floor, its energy expended, before exploding. The QUESTs cockpit cameras cleared themselves of the trolling purple haze that blinded its pilot just in time for Icarus to see what his mobile suit, regardless of his input, had done. His hands trembled as they clutched uselessly at the controls.
“Wade…” Icarus clenched his teeth. He felt awful. He had brought his teammates, his friends into this, only for his mobile suit to go berserk with no explanation. Icarus couldn’t image what was going through his leader’s head right now. Did Wade feel betrayed? Icarus tried to bring up his chat window but was met only with a restrictive sound effect that told him such an action could not be taken at this time. “God dammit, boss…I’m sorry,”
The QUEST turned its attention to Aker and Icarus felt his stomach drop. Wade’s machine being destroyed was one thing. His young leader might be upset but he was undoubtedly unharmed. But if Aker fell to the venom drive-infected Tallgeese…
“I can’t let that happen,” Icarus said, as the QUEST began to rev up its engines once more, spinning its battle blade in its hand with a flourish as it set its sight on the Noblesse. Icarus leaned back in his cockpit and brought his feet up before driving it as hard as he could into the control systems. The panel in front of his cracked and sparked and the QUEST seemed to jerk in response but it quickly righted itself and made its expeditious advance towards Aker and his machine. Drawing the sword back, it aimed to finish its opponent in one strike as it rocketed forward. Icarus, meanwhile, kept kicking the panel as hard as he could, hoping that if he couldn’t free himself or regain control, he might be able to disrupt the rogue QUEST.
-
The snake heads surrounding the Nu Origins were immediately disintegrated by the Fleurs Flash that Wade unleashed upon them. The Death Army were close behind them on the trip back to whatever hell they sprang from as Wade and his machine vaporized them as well. When at last the shining light of the diver’s special move faded and the Gundam set itself back on the ground, the Tallgeese QUEST turned its darkened gaze towards it. From some dark corner of the cave, the QUEST’s Squire platform returned to it, latching onto the mobile suits back. Within, Icarus wrenched at the controls, trying to wrest command back from the Venom drive to no avail.
“I can’t even open the damn cockpit,” he growled. “Hey, Wade, Aker, can you hear me?”
The Squire platform flipped up into its flight mode and flared its vents, which burned blue with heat as it lifted the QUEST a few feet off the ground. The Tallgeese gripped its battle blade with both hands and immediately shot off towards the Nu Origin, making an attempt at a swift lunge-slash-kick combo on Fleurs leader.
---
The Devil Gundam Monstrosity hit the ground, but the Noblesse had managed to get out of its way in time, evading the cruel fate of being pinned beneath the giant Gundam head. It hit the ground with a thud that reverberated throughout the cave, shaking it to its core and causing several stalactites to fall from above. The Devil Gundam then began to transform, the giant head splitting open and turning into a waist and a pair of chunky legs. The upper half of the Gundam’s true form folded out from the center, the eight spider-like limbs folding up onto its back and twitching menacingly.
The Devil Gundam Monstrosity, fully transformed, let out a roar directed to the Noblesse above it. The eight spider legs pointed themselves at Aker’s suit and shot eight purple lasers in the Gundam’s direction.
-
The ground beneath the Nu Origins began to crack and splinter as the Gundam Snakes began to pull Wade’s machine deeper into the rock. Two more burst out around him, shooting their mouth-lasers at the Origins’ armor. The beams that shot into the Nu’s armor, however, seemed weaker, as if the energy was being diluted amongst the various Gundam Snakes as they appeared. They were still dangerous of course, and would punch through the Nu’s armor if Wade didn’t do something about it soon.
--
The suicide unit stuttered and jerked before exploding in a burst of pink smoke, its inert parts clattering lifelessly to the floor. As the Noblesse sliced through the last of the Death Army units and considered its next move, something above it crept down silently on a reinforced strand of web. This mobile monstrosity was huge compared to the Fleurs mobile suits, comprised of a giant black Gundam head with four green, glowing eyes and eight metal spider legs. As it looked down on Aker’s mobile suit, it’s mouth opened like it’s snake headed minions, letting out a bloodcurdling shriek as it snapped its tether and began to fall towards the Noblesse.
--
Icarus struggled against his controls as the Gundam Snakes coiled themselves around the QUEST and brought him closer and tighter to the ground. The Tallgeese began to creek and groan under the pressure, the mobile suit’s joints popping in distress.
“Come on, come on,” Icarus growled. But nothing he did seemed to work. He was unable to get purchase in this position and was completely at the mercy of the Gundam Snakes. He craned the Tallgeese’s head up to try and find his friends and comrades on the battlefield and his gaze levelled on Aker in the Noblesse. But what Icarus saw did not fill him with relief.
“Aker!” he cried out, trying to warn him. But the massive mobile armor had already begun closing its trap, plummeting towards the ground, and the Gundam, beneath it. Icarus’s heart hammered in his chest as a cold sweat enveloped his entire body. His eyes flicked down to the now glowing purple button on his control console.
‘Venom Drive enabled’ it said. Icarus closed his eyes. That thing was the whole reason they were here, after all. If it could save the day, why not use it?
“Dammit, Spider,” he hissed as he brought a fist down on the button. All at once, Icarus felt a surge of energy course through his mobile suit. The Tallgeese QUEST’s thrusters came to life, burning yellow, then blue, then a deep and violent purple. The plume of flame obliterated on of the Gundam Snakes and the subsequent thrust broke the mobile suit free of their grip. The QUEST, a shining beacon of heat, arced upward through the cave, nearly reaching the top where the Devil Gundam Monstrosity made its nest before shooting back down.
All this time, Icarus found he was not in control. His attempts to steer the QUEST was met with negative buzzing sound and soon after, the view screen connected to his cameras clouded with purple. He was blind now, too, forced to sit in the cockpit of an out of control mobile suit.
The QUEST cratered the cave floor as it landed, battle blade in hand and radiating a menacing aura as the white armor turned pitch black.
-
As the Death Army units continued their assault, Icarus did his best to fend them off and answer Aker’s question at the same time. “I’m not fully sure when I’m supposed to use it, actually,” he grunted, slicing off the arm of one of the Death Armies with his battle blade. “There’s a big button on my console here that’s all grayed out though, so I’m assuming now’s not the time.” He glanced down at the button and frowned. It had completely replaced the toggle for his Trans-Am system. While that worried him, the ongoing attack from the yellow units was a bit more immediately pressing.
Icarus had just managed to slice one of the grunts in two, watching as it landed with a thud a little else before another two attacked him, grabbing onto the QUEST and attempting to drag it to the floor.
“I don’t think so,” Icarus growled. He detached the SQUIRE platform from the Tallgeese’s back and the AI-driven support unit took to the air, taking one of the Death Army units with it. Freed of the additional weight, the QUEST grabbed the remaining grunt and tossed it aside where it hit one of the webs and found itself stuck.
Icarus wheeled his mobile suit around to assist his team-mates in taking out the remaining suits. Wade and Aker had been managing without him though, having eliminated a number of the suits themselves.
These things don’t seem very tough…these can’t be what we’re here to fight,
Icarus was about to boost over to one of the remaining Death Army suits when the ground beneath him erupted and a fanged Gundam head on a snakelike body shot up from the stone. Before he could react, the machine had sunk its fangs into the armour of the QUEST, shredding it like paper and by latching on, sent Icarus and his machine crashing to the ground.
A distraction!?
Two more Gundam-snakes burst out of the ground and further pinned him to the floor.
“What the hell? Where are these things coming from?”
--
The beams sent forth from the Noblesse’s GN pistols ripped through one of the Death Army grunts and then another, leaving only one poor sucker to face down the much more impressive Gundam. With a loud, metallic groan like the grinding of gears, the remaining grunt ran headlong towards Aker and his machine, something deep within its core beginning to grow brighter and pour smoke out from its seams.
“Diediediediediedie,” the suit began to repeat in a squirelley electronic voice as it sprinted towards the Noblesse. “diediediedieDIE,”
--
Wade’s cannon fire made short work of the first Death Army unit, but the other two, undaunted by the loss of their comrade, continued firing on the Nu Origin with their club like rifles. One, seemingly wiser than the rest, had taken cover behind a cluster of stalagmites that was jutting out of the cave floor, laying supressing fire for its zombie-like ally as it stood in the open and fired with wild abandon.
Vibrations began to subtly shake stones loose from the nearby wall until, growing more and more violent until, at last, the surface of the wall erupted in a hail of stone. A Gundam-headed snake shot out from the rock wall next to the Nu Origin, its teeth bared. A powerful pink beam of energy lanced out from its open maw, aimed directly at the Origin’s rifle hand while two more sprang up from the cave floor beneath the Nu, hoping to twine themselves around the Gundam’s legs.
--
Far above the fighting in the bowels of the cave, the commotion and gunfire shot vibrations up the length of the webs that threaded their way up into the darkness. These vibrations, reaching the source of the webs, stirred something lingering there in the dark. It let out a low, rumbling hiss as eight eye-like lights pierced the darkness, four small, four large. With a groan, the thing in the shadows lumbered into a graceful, silent motion uncharacteristic of its size.
Topics I Participated In
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Noblesse Superior
Started by Hunter ·
How Things Could Be…
He didn’t understand why he ate. The food tasted just fine, enjoyable even. But why did he eat? Lounging back in his oversized office chair, Aker called out with a mouthful of food. “8 have you had any luck tracking this Spider creep down?”
The computer screen in front of the Psuedo EL diver flickered to life and the hacked AI replied, “Negative. The best I can determine is he is using some sort of filter when he logs in.”
Aker nodded in agreement; he couldn’t say he was too surprised by that revelation. “He probably logs into his own hellish hacked force nest too I bet. No dice tracking him down there…” he shivered at the memory of their last encounter. He took another bite of his apple as he looked at the screen. Could he get fat? If he kept eating, would he gain weight? He did loose the feeling in his arm before but was that merely a programming glitch or was he fully simulated?
Shaking the thought from his mind Aker leaned back forward to glare at the screen. “Alright… lets send out a message to Creed… Time for him to do a favor for me for a change huh?”
As he rhetorically asked out loud, he was already typing a message to his sponsor of sorts. Satisfied that he had done all he could do at that moment he stood up to walk, or rather float, along the halls of his spaceship to the manufacturing bay.
It still bothered him just how vacant the personal base was. It was after all a battleship of sorts and in theory should have been full to the brim with soldiers milling about. He came to a catwalk that oversaw the production line and he caught the railing to bring himself into a standing position over the silent behemoths in his hangar.
The Noblesse stood prominently in display; floodlights activated all around the machine. Despite the obvious attention the Gundam demanded, he couldn’t help himself as he spotted a darker machine in the corner being nearly completed. Aker narrowed his eyes as he studied the machine, still wondering if it was the best course to explore.
His reverie was interrupted as he got a video call from Marco Creed. Activating the screen, he asked, “So you got my request?” The middle-aged man didn’t look thrilled by the casual attitude the EL diver was giving him, but he still nodded, “Yeah, I did, and it is concerning. In a manner of speaking ZAPP was supposed to have the corner on gaming exploits in 1.8. This Spider fellow, well he isn’t playing by our rules. Needless to say, I’ve been… ‘permitted’ to give you unrestrained support in your current venture.”
The tone in which Marco said “permitted” wasn’t lost on Aker and he slowly nodded his appreciation. He was about to say something else when he felt compelled to ask. “Is… is everything alright?”
The older man looked around uncomfortably and sighed, “The board doesn’t like the freedom you’ve been given, they didn’t appreciate your ‘stunt’ of logging back in after you were here last… The point is… well… they’re worried… they’re worried about what you could expose.”
Marco gulped and nodded, “half of them want to pull the plug on you. Others want to pull your connections after you get knocked out again, study you… A few want to exploit your existence, tell the world and put GBN in a position to fully open 1.8 for the ‘freak show exhibition’.” The man looked disgusted at the choice of words.
Aker frowned and asked, “And what about you? What do you think?”
Marco allowed a soft smile, “I think you deserve your freedom… I’m just at a loss as to how you could secure that.”
Nodding thoughtfully Aker cleared his throat, “You know.. I often wonder about my existence… about why I do the things I do….” His eyes looked blankly ahead as if lost in contemplation, “I wonder why I feel the things I do… why I like the people I do…” a cold sneer grew on his lips, “And then I wonder why…” his voice trailed away as he shook his head. “Look… I need to find this Spider… at any cost…”
Marco gave a sympathetic smile and nodded, “It’s going to be hard to track down a hacker from this side alone… there’s a few new programs I can offer you which might help. If we work together, I think we can fish him out though.”
Aker nodded eagerly, “let’s get started then!”
--------------
It felt uneasy switching off his digital “mask” of sort. Part of him felt like he would suddenly be put in an awkward situation that could be dangerous. One option after another, Aker maneuvered his floating pane of settings and toggled the last switch. His entire person shimmered as his clothes changed from his Noblesse uniform to a Phantom Pain uniform he had worn awhile ago. It was still stained with blood on the breast and sleeves and looked smothered in soot and ash.
Despite himself Aker held his breath as he stood in front of his test machine. Together they were out in the middle of a field not far from the main lobby. A cool breeze brushed the grass and played with his dark hair as he looked around in alarm. There were no sirens or sounds of incoming mobile suits. Nothing that told him he was in for a world of hurt. Reluctantly he let out a sigh of relief. Once again, he had simply become Hunter. He went back into his options to dawn his black poncho and matching mask. “Alright… lets find us a Spider….”
A few moments later he was flying to the lobby. It had been months since he had pulled off his so called “Second Bloody Valentine Massacre”. Undoubtedly he would have a lot of players still pissed off at him. Perhaps it was his insecurity, but he swore he felt a few players glower at him as he passed by.
The GBN lobby at times could feel misplaced with time, often appearing to be daylight when he was tired and ready for sleep instead. Despite this, there seemed to constantly be darker corners one could find if they were determined. It was largely debated that some of the best hang out spots were in the darker pubs and clubs that GBN offered in the darker recesses.
Never the social type, Gabriel went to a shady club and walked up to a grungy looking bartender. The gruff figure gave him a once over and smirked, “you lost boy?” Shaking his head, the EL diver tilted his head to look around at some of the shadowy corners. “I’m looking for a man named Spider… know where I could find him?”
A few patrons paused their actions to study Gabriel and see just how serious this outsider was. The barkeep huffed, “Heh! You don’t find Spider, he finds you. If you wa-“
Gabriel was already shaking his head and raised a finger to silence the bartender. “You don’t understand…” he tilted his gaze then added, “Everyone is looking for me. I need to see spider now… otherwise I just might have to lockdown this establishment and wipe everything out.” His tone was matter of fact and he gazed at each patron who was looking at him.
Scrunching his face up the bartender replied, “Not possible kid, are you loony?”
Not missing a beat Gabriel cut him off, “Second Bloody Valentine… Surely no one else has stolen my log in lock trick, have they?” He was referring to an attack he had perpetrated; where him and Marco Creed hacked a Gundam Seed event and prevented anyone from logging out while they destroyed nearly all the gunpla there.
For a long while no one moved, no one said anything as they all studied each other. Gabriel’s mask made it hard for anyone to tell who he was even looking at. Finally, a door in the back of the room popped open, creaking loudly and a voice called out. “Get back here fast!”
-----------
“What do you mean you need my protection? What kind of idiot runs one of the most sophisticated hacking attacks in GBN history and not have a fallback plan for when things go bad?”
Shaking his head Gabriel replied, “The kind of idiot who didn’t think it would actually work! Look I didn’t come here to poke fun at myself, can you help me or not?”
The criminal crossed his arms and studied Gabriel for a long while then slowly stated, “what you’re asking for will not come cheap. And I don’t always take cash for my payment… do you understand what I’m suggesting?”
Gabriel nodded eagerly, “Hey you saw what I could do on my own, imagine what we could do together? That aside does that mean you’ll take me in?”
Spider waited a heartbeat before nodding, “Sure, I’ll have you stay at one of my private nests while I figure out a way to mask your log in.” Unceremoniously he brought up his menu and sent Gabriel an invite to transport to a new location. Together they both left the back room of the tavern and emerged moments later in a truly unique location.
Gabriel gawked around; he was begrudgingly impressed. Together the stood on top of an asteroid inside of atmospheric bubble. It was no normal asteroid however, for they were standing on a heavily modified version of A Baoa Qu. The dome they were inside was on top of the Gate of Zedan and prominent inside the dome was a rather large castle, reminding Gabriel of the palace the Zabi family would use on Side 3. Despite whatever criminal background Spider had he did seem to appreciate the finer things GBN had to offer. The next thing he noticed was four towering mobile suits at each corn and or the castle, or were they statues? As the pair got closer to the door, Gabriel could tell they were skinned with a stone texture. Shaking his head, he focused on what he had to do.
“Make yourself at home, have a seat in my lounge and I’ll be back in a few moments.” Spider offered as he gestured to the couch. Gabriel spoke up, “So, did you get all this by selling hacks like the Venom Drive?”
Spider paused at that comment and spun around to glare at Gabriel, “And…. How do you know about those?”
“How could I not? They’re the hot item right now for anyone wanting to get better at the game fast!”
A smile curled on Spider’s lips as if that notion satisfied him. He nodded then walked on towards the back of the room.
“you’re certain no one can trace me here?”
Spider twisted around to walk backwards and raised his hands up to shrug. “Relax, would you? This is my personal nest. I’ve installed some of the best security credits can buy; not to mention some top-notch hacks.” He turned around and waved a hand dismissively. “You’ll be fine just wait!”
Gabriel frowned as he sat on the comfortable couch and waited a moment to be alone before he brought up his menu. The fist thing he did was active the program he had used all those months ago which prevented anyone from logging out of the area. Then he sent a message to his teammates along with a pass to get them into the nest.
I got him where we want him. Show up ready for a fight. Be advised my handle here is Hunter, so watch the friendly fire. Be ready for anything.
Gabriel closed the menu after he sent the message and leaned back on the sofa putting his hands behind his head. He’d strike when the moment was right, but first he wanted to see this scumbag squirm as everything he worked so hard for crumbled.
-
A Tangled Web We Weave
Started by Judge ·
“...and remember everyone, mid-terms may be next week but that’s not excuse not to have your essays in to me on time. You’ll have some time to work on them next class, but I better not catch anyone using that time to slack off. Class dismissed,”
As Raymond Hermes’s students filed out of the room, abuzz with groans and chatter of their upcoming deadlines, the beleaguered English teacher sat himself down at his desk. He was flipping through papers when his phone buzzed and beeped with a notification. Ray looked down at the phone, quirked a brow, and then unlocked it. He scanned the message once, and then scanned it again, his blood running cold on his second read-through.
Son of a…
Ray practically jumped out of his chair, shoving his phone in his pocket and grabbing his belongings before charging out of the classroom.
---
“What the hell is this all about?” Icarus growled as he crossed the casino floor. The Force nest was garishly coloured and loud—a far cry from the Fleurs’ base.
Spider gave Icarus a slimy smile as he approached, spreading his arms wide in mock welcome. “So good of you to make it, Icarus. Pull up a seat, enjoy yourself,”
“Cut the crap, Spider,” Icarus said, eyeing the diver up. He was dressed like a stereotypical mobster, his cheap suit adorned with a spider-web pattern. He wore a black domino mask over his eyes, his long silver hair pulled back into a ponytail. “You and me were done. Fair and square,”
“You were done, or at least, you thought you were,” Spider’s eyes glistened in the bright casino light. “But my bosses and I had other things in mind. See we need you and your friends to do a little job for us. An easy one, a test of sorts. Accept and perform admirably, and we’ll cut you loose for good, no strings attached. Refuse, though, and…well, I think my message earlier painted a pretty enough picture for you,”
Icarus clenched his fist and grit his teeth. He wanted nothing more than to tell Spider off but right now the man across from him was capable of ruining his life and Icarus didn’t doubt that he was willing to do just that.
“Fine…”
“Good,” Spider smiled again. “Next steps then. In the next couple of days, you’re going to receive a package…”
--
And a few days later, Ray did, in fact, receive a package. As he opened it, he took a deep breath and cursed himself, his bad fortune, and most importantly, Spider.
--
The next day, he sent a message to his teammates to meet him at the Force Nest. He was sitting in the common area staring at a picture of the Tallgeese QUEST on a tv screen, growing increasingly more miserable as time ticked on. He had told Aker and Wade that this was an urgent matter, but had told them little more. He just hoped that they understood…
Other Characters by this Player
Roane MacMaster
- Red Frame Test Pilot
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- Zeta Destiny
- 13 posts
- Player: Judge
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About Advent Destiny
Advent Destiny is a roleplaying community that started life as SEED RPG on 4 July 2005. The community grew to become Advent Destin on 1 November 2006.