16.2
[X] Plan Ice Pun
-[X] Target the Pirates with shields first, they're... not actually threatening, but not killing them immediately could possibly waste time for later.
-[X] Enthusiastically murder the rest of the Pirates
-[X] Have Rundas slam dunk us in Morph Ball form into the SAM Launcher for style.
"You know Blast Ball?" You ask Rundas as the two of you charge towards the SAM Launcher.
"Yeah, why do you-" He asks, confused for a moment as you shift into your Morph Ball form. "OH! Haha, you're full of surprises!"
The ground around you explodes as Pirates fire at the two of you, more impacting Rundas's ice armour than you due his now even greater in comparison size when you're suddenly launched into the air by a spike of ice erupting underneath you. Rundas's hand closes around your form as he takes to the air, a cloud of ice at his feet.
"You take care of that Gunner and Shield Pirates!" You say as he rears his arm back.
"Just those? Ha! I'll mop them up before you NOTICE!" Rundas yells as he whips you straight at the SAM Launcher like a softball.
"We'll seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!" You call back to him in a singsong voice as you sail directly into the barrel of the SAM Launcher, rolling down its entire length before hitting the auto-loader mechanism. You waste no time, the ball of energy that was your core flashing as you deploy several bombs. They detonate, warping and disintegrating the machinery around you yet at the same you watch the inside of the barrel light up, the launching mechanism activated. A kinetic force grabs you and launches you forward with tremendous force, sending you out of the barrel at projectile speeds.
"GET TO COVER!" You warn Rundas, and you catch a flash of Rundas diving into a churned up piece of earth as you shift back into your humanoid form, the SAM Launcher turning to aim its missile launcher at you.
The explosion was large enough that it knocked you from the sky, sending you crashing into the earth. A groan came over the comms from Rundas, along with a muttered "Too damn hot..."
Debris landed all around you, including the gunner pirates cannon with a limb still attached to it. You throw out your arm, snagging it with the Grapple beam and yanking it towards you as you scramble to your feet, the limb not coming with it. You grab it out of the air and immediately whirl around to unleash a torrent of fire on Pirates charging you.
"Sure mopped them up!" You grunt as you jump out of the way of a grenade before sending a torrent of energy bolts to rip the offending Pirates to shreds.
"I got the ones guarding the Launcher." A rather disgruntled Rundas responded, steam rolling off his body. He seemed to flex than with a burst of cold air blades of ice erupted from his hands.
Before you can retort a beep on your visor informs you the others had cleared out the other launchers and hooked up the Aries to your ship. "They're leaving, gonna have to fight our way back." You tell Rundas as you shift the massive cannon's weight.
"Can't hold out for a few minutes? Think I can set a new record." Rundas jokes as he charges into the Pirate lines, cutting a militia pirate in half with an ice blade. His tone then turns serious. "I'll fly us both back, how long that cannons got?"
"Almost... out... NOW!" You yell, toss the weapon away before it detonates. You then leap just as Rundas takes flight, and he snags you by the arm before tossing you onto his back.
"Think you can keep them off us?" He asks, head glancing behind him as a couple Aerotroopers join the pursuit.
To answer you switch to the Wave Beam, firing off shots at a rapid clip. "Hate to admit it, but your injured friends will be in serious danger if we don't get out of here fast. What'd you guys blow up?"
"Some wormhole space station connected to uh... a major base."
You sigh, firing off another burst of shots. "That sounds like it was fun, wish I knew it was here beforehand..."
"Didn't even step into it, just dropped a bomb and flew through the large wormhole when a fleet dropped on us. I didn't even get to see what was happening."
You scrunch your eyebrows, downing one of the Aerotroopers with a well-placed charge shot. Yeah, that sounds like it wasn't pleasant. You're pretty sure Rundas is like you and not one to just sit while the action was going on around you.
The two of you make it to the Aries, your ship had flown over it and used its Grapple beam to pick it up, the transport hanging dangerously from the teether. You'll have to go slow to keep it from dislodging. One of the hatches on the side was open and a Demolition marine with a large cannon was firing at the Pirate forces in cover all around the landing site. A marker above his head informs you that this marine was Lance Corporal Anthony Higgs.
"Rundas get on! We're leaving!" Anthony yells as your ship lifts the heavy transport into the air.
"On it!" He calls back, before holding out a hand for you to put a foot on. "Hope to run into you at base Samus, want to compare kill cams."
You nod. "Looking forward to it."
Rundas then jerks his hand up, launching you into the air like a shotput. You turn it into a somersault, landing on your ship and locking your feet to the hull as Rundas climbs into the transport below you. You might need to provide air support. The ships start climbing, accelerating to safe speeds when suddenly a voice comes over the comms.
"Hey, want to thank you for the rescue. A lot of my buddies wouldn't have made it without those kids." A man's voice speaks to you, who you rapidly realize is Anthony.
"Thank us after we get out of here. But I'm glad we reached you all in time." You reply, turning to look over the battlefield. A few ATC's appeared in the distance but they seemed to be veering off, yet you couldn't tell why.
Anthony for his part sounded shocked when he replied, before turning it into a chuckle. "Wha-Huh, you guys sure are full of surprises. Catch ya at base kid."
When he hears you grumble a retort to his "kid" comment Anthony bursts out laughing, causing you to grumble more before another voice, a man with a very scottish accent (probably Specialist Fearghas Mac Leòid) yell over the comms "-THE HELL IS THAT?!" Just as a gold bullet zooms past you at speeds even you have trouble following. You blink, was that a man?
Your other comrades and Dragon immediately come onto the channel, shouting the same thing in surprise and awe.
"SCION!" "IT'S SCION!" "SCION'S HERE!!"
Your eyes widen and you look back at the figure, who had closed the distance between you and the pirates. The ATC's you had seen veering off you realize were trying to evacuate personnel, with a few flying at Scion trying to keep him distracted. Yet they seemed to be doing nothing to him. Lightning struck the figure, yet still he didn't seem to flinch. He then did... something, you're not sure what. A gesture of some kind? All you knew was that in the next instance a blinding golden light caused you to raise your arm, shielding your vision.
When the light faded enough for you to see you realize that there were no clouds, no fiery tornado and certainly no pirates. Everything was pristine, a section of wilderness stretching to the horizon. Scion had changed everything, erased any trace of the Pirates presence. The only sign that they had been there was him, floating in the air above it, a golden specter visible even at this distance.
You watch him until he vanished over the horizon, not sure what to think of the impossible feat performed in front of you by the mysterious golden man.
But you had saved all of them, and now dozens of friendly aliens were here on earth. You at least seemed human to those who knew only your armour, even if they thought you were a robot. Outside of it you could blend in, you were born human after all. Someone like Rundas though? No one would mistake him on the street for anything but an alien.
So a press conference was immediately held, Commander Adam Malkovich presenting a speech to the world that the Federation was here to help. You missed it though, as everything that had happened since you killed Leviathan had worn you down, not helped by the lack of sleep. With the very real threat that the Pirates would retaliate somewhere after the severe losses they took in such a short period you had grabbed some blankets and dragged yourself into the Restore Station Room on the temple, having Dragon seal the door so you wouldn't be disturbed. Very acutely aware you hadn't changed your clothes or taken a shower since the morning of the Leviathan fight you shucked them, quickly washed in the small pool on the outskirts of the room and basically passed out on the floor, wrapped in your blankets, your last thoughts before sleep overtook you was wondering how the marines were dealing with being trapped in an entirely different universe.
You awoke several hours later as the door to the restore station opens and then snaps shut after several sets of feet walk inside. You lift yourself up with one arm, rubbing sleep from your eyes with the other to look at who had wandered in.
"Mmm, Taylor? Victoria?" You ask, blinking at your friends and weirdly a Work Robot. Taylor was carrying a stack of your clothes and surprisingly wearing a dress you strongly suspect Victoria picked out. It wasn't anything particularly fancy, but it seemed to be a higher quality than what she normally wore. She also oddly enough was wearing this world's version of makeup and had her hair tied back, something you also suspect Victoria was involved with. She looked good honestly, less like the beaten down girl you were used too even if she still slouched and looked profoundly uncomfortable being dressed up in any way that wasn't baggy pants and a hoodie.
Victoria herself was far more comfortable in the dress and makeup she was wearing, though like Taylor it seemed she had gone for something casual. It definitely looked like something she would wear when she would drag you and Taylor out somewhere and she wore it as well as she usually did. Certainly, she wasn't as well-dressed as she would be if she was going on a date with Dean. Though there was a far more meticulous care applied to it than normal, for a reason you weren't sure of.
The work robot looked exactly the same, and just stood there not making a sound.
"Good, you're awake. We need to get you dressed up fast." Victoria said, setting down a box she was carrying before grabbing your undergarments from the pile Taylor was carrying and tossing it to you.
"Why?" You ask, grabbing the clothes and awkwardly shuffling into them.
"Uh that Adam guy, Duke and Mr. Miller set up a casual get together thing to get us all used to... well to the Ali-uhm new people." Taylor explains as you get dressed. "Dragon sent me to get you a change of clothes and then Victoria attacked me."
"I just helped you pick out the proper dress!" Victoria retorts as she hands you your pants.
"You literally shoved me into it. When you first saw me and what I picked for Samus you looked like you were ready to throw me through a wall. I'm fairly certain my sweater is ruined now."
You blink.
"Because what I picked is better."
Taylor narrows her eyes behind her glasses. "Isn't this supposed to be casual? You didn't do this with Amy- Oh..."
"Yeah, why do you think I hadn't gone ahead yet?"
You look at the Work Robot. The Work Robot looks back at you. For a moment the two of you share a deep bond of non-understanding even if you're fairly certain the Work Robot was incapable of thought.
Finished dressing the work robot scoops up your old clothes and blankets with a telekinetic field and waddles out of the room. You go to follow it but Victoria stops you.
"Nope, you need to put on some make-"
"No." You say firmly. You didn't want to tell them but with your superior vision all makeup looked like they had smeared dirt all over themselves and you really didn't want to put any on your skin. You were pretty sure Federation makeup got around that with nanoparticles and the like but well you'd never tried it on due to living on Zebes.
"Okay, Okay!" Victoria holds up her hands to placate you.
"Wait, why didn't you not put makeup on me when I said no?" Taylor asked.
"Because you still let me~"
"Hrmm..."
After that, the three of you step out into the hall where indeed there seemed to be a rather casual party going on. You aren't sure how but Dragon had managed to get the work robots to carry around trays with drinks, nutrient paste, and some snacks. Most of the aliens seemed to appreciate it but a few only ate the nutrient paste, most likely due to differing biology to Earth's native life or just a general worry about eating something they couldn't identify.
The people attending had separated into two groups, adults, and youngsters. First Lieutenant Tencta was the only one not in any of the groups, instead, they were kneeling in front of a Chozo statue in prayer. The other artificial lifeform, Specialist Acal, was with the adults though seemed to slowly be edging away from Armsmaster who seemed to have brought some scanning device with him and had a predatory look in his eye whenever his gaze landed on the Nanomachine Swarm.
The younger group was also a bit rowdier than the adult group, with far more excited chatting and gesturing. It also had two Missy's.
Which group do you go too?
[] Adult
[] Young
[] Tencta
[] Write-in
-[X] Target the Pirates with shields first, they're... not actually threatening, but not killing them immediately could possibly waste time for later.
-[X] Enthusiastically murder the rest of the Pirates
-[X] Have Rundas slam dunk us in Morph Ball form into the SAM Launcher for style.
"You know Blast Ball?" You ask Rundas as the two of you charge towards the SAM Launcher.
"Yeah, why do you-" He asks, confused for a moment as you shift into your Morph Ball form. "OH! Haha, you're full of surprises!"
The ground around you explodes as Pirates fire at the two of you, more impacting Rundas's ice armour than you due his now even greater in comparison size when you're suddenly launched into the air by a spike of ice erupting underneath you. Rundas's hand closes around your form as he takes to the air, a cloud of ice at his feet.
"You take care of that Gunner and Shield Pirates!" You say as he rears his arm back.
"Just those? Ha! I'll mop them up before you NOTICE!" Rundas yells as he whips you straight at the SAM Launcher like a softball.
"We'll seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!" You call back to him in a singsong voice as you sail directly into the barrel of the SAM Launcher, rolling down its entire length before hitting the auto-loader mechanism. You waste no time, the ball of energy that was your core flashing as you deploy several bombs. They detonate, warping and disintegrating the machinery around you yet at the same you watch the inside of the barrel light up, the launching mechanism activated. A kinetic force grabs you and launches you forward with tremendous force, sending you out of the barrel at projectile speeds.
"GET TO COVER!" You warn Rundas, and you catch a flash of Rundas diving into a churned up piece of earth as you shift back into your humanoid form, the SAM Launcher turning to aim its missile launcher at you.
The explosion was large enough that it knocked you from the sky, sending you crashing into the earth. A groan came over the comms from Rundas, along with a muttered "Too damn hot..."
Debris landed all around you, including the gunner pirates cannon with a limb still attached to it. You throw out your arm, snagging it with the Grapple beam and yanking it towards you as you scramble to your feet, the limb not coming with it. You grab it out of the air and immediately whirl around to unleash a torrent of fire on Pirates charging you.
"Sure mopped them up!" You grunt as you jump out of the way of a grenade before sending a torrent of energy bolts to rip the offending Pirates to shreds.
"I got the ones guarding the Launcher." A rather disgruntled Rundas responded, steam rolling off his body. He seemed to flex than with a burst of cold air blades of ice erupted from his hands.
Before you can retort a beep on your visor informs you the others had cleared out the other launchers and hooked up the Aries to your ship. "They're leaving, gonna have to fight our way back." You tell Rundas as you shift the massive cannon's weight.
"Can't hold out for a few minutes? Think I can set a new record." Rundas jokes as he charges into the Pirate lines, cutting a militia pirate in half with an ice blade. His tone then turns serious. "I'll fly us both back, how long that cannons got?"
"Almost... out... NOW!" You yell, toss the weapon away before it detonates. You then leap just as Rundas takes flight, and he snags you by the arm before tossing you onto his back.
"Think you can keep them off us?" He asks, head glancing behind him as a couple Aerotroopers join the pursuit.
To answer you switch to the Wave Beam, firing off shots at a rapid clip. "Hate to admit it, but your injured friends will be in serious danger if we don't get out of here fast. What'd you guys blow up?"
"Some wormhole space station connected to uh... a major base."
You sigh, firing off another burst of shots. "That sounds like it was fun, wish I knew it was here beforehand..."
"Didn't even step into it, just dropped a bomb and flew through the large wormhole when a fleet dropped on us. I didn't even get to see what was happening."
You scrunch your eyebrows, downing one of the Aerotroopers with a well-placed charge shot. Yeah, that sounds like it wasn't pleasant. You're pretty sure Rundas is like you and not one to just sit while the action was going on around you.
The two of you make it to the Aries, your ship had flown over it and used its Grapple beam to pick it up, the transport hanging dangerously from the teether. You'll have to go slow to keep it from dislodging. One of the hatches on the side was open and a Demolition marine with a large cannon was firing at the Pirate forces in cover all around the landing site. A marker above his head informs you that this marine was Lance Corporal Anthony Higgs.
"Rundas get on! We're leaving!" Anthony yells as your ship lifts the heavy transport into the air.
"On it!" He calls back, before holding out a hand for you to put a foot on. "Hope to run into you at base Samus, want to compare kill cams."
You nod. "Looking forward to it."
Rundas then jerks his hand up, launching you into the air like a shotput. You turn it into a somersault, landing on your ship and locking your feet to the hull as Rundas climbs into the transport below you. You might need to provide air support. The ships start climbing, accelerating to safe speeds when suddenly a voice comes over the comms.
"Hey, want to thank you for the rescue. A lot of my buddies wouldn't have made it without those kids." A man's voice speaks to you, who you rapidly realize is Anthony.
"Thank us after we get out of here. But I'm glad we reached you all in time." You reply, turning to look over the battlefield. A few ATC's appeared in the distance but they seemed to be veering off, yet you couldn't tell why.
Anthony for his part sounded shocked when he replied, before turning it into a chuckle. "Wha-Huh, you guys sure are full of surprises. Catch ya at base kid."
When he hears you grumble a retort to his "kid" comment Anthony bursts out laughing, causing you to grumble more before another voice, a man with a very scottish accent (probably Specialist Fearghas Mac Leòid) yell over the comms "-THE HELL IS THAT?!" Just as a gold bullet zooms past you at speeds even you have trouble following. You blink, was that a man?
Your other comrades and Dragon immediately come onto the channel, shouting the same thing in surprise and awe.
"SCION!" "IT'S SCION!" "SCION'S HERE!!"
Your eyes widen and you look back at the figure, who had closed the distance between you and the pirates. The ATC's you had seen veering off you realize were trying to evacuate personnel, with a few flying at Scion trying to keep him distracted. Yet they seemed to be doing nothing to him. Lightning struck the figure, yet still he didn't seem to flinch. He then did... something, you're not sure what. A gesture of some kind? All you knew was that in the next instance a blinding golden light caused you to raise your arm, shielding your vision.
When the light faded enough for you to see you realize that there were no clouds, no fiery tornado and certainly no pirates. Everything was pristine, a section of wilderness stretching to the horizon. Scion had changed everything, erased any trace of the Pirates presence. The only sign that they had been there was him, floating in the air above it, a golden specter visible even at this distance.
You watch him until he vanished over the horizon, not sure what to think of the impossible feat performed in front of you by the mysterious golden man.
++++
The transport was unceremoniously dropped in front of the clinic, many marines on stretchers carried out by their comrades. The crash had been violent, several marines almost being killed while the rest were pretty much operating on drugs. The worst affected were the pilots, who lacked the armour to protect them. If it wasn't for Nightingale doing some emergency field surgery neither of them would have made it.But you had saved all of them, and now dozens of friendly aliens were here on earth. You at least seemed human to those who knew only your armour, even if they thought you were a robot. Outside of it you could blend in, you were born human after all. Someone like Rundas though? No one would mistake him on the street for anything but an alien.
So a press conference was immediately held, Commander Adam Malkovich presenting a speech to the world that the Federation was here to help. You missed it though, as everything that had happened since you killed Leviathan had worn you down, not helped by the lack of sleep. With the very real threat that the Pirates would retaliate somewhere after the severe losses they took in such a short period you had grabbed some blankets and dragged yourself into the Restore Station Room on the temple, having Dragon seal the door so you wouldn't be disturbed. Very acutely aware you hadn't changed your clothes or taken a shower since the morning of the Leviathan fight you shucked them, quickly washed in the small pool on the outskirts of the room and basically passed out on the floor, wrapped in your blankets, your last thoughts before sleep overtook you was wondering how the marines were dealing with being trapped in an entirely different universe.
You awoke several hours later as the door to the restore station opens and then snaps shut after several sets of feet walk inside. You lift yourself up with one arm, rubbing sleep from your eyes with the other to look at who had wandered in.
"Mmm, Taylor? Victoria?" You ask, blinking at your friends and weirdly a Work Robot. Taylor was carrying a stack of your clothes and surprisingly wearing a dress you strongly suspect Victoria picked out. It wasn't anything particularly fancy, but it seemed to be a higher quality than what she normally wore. She also oddly enough was wearing this world's version of makeup and had her hair tied back, something you also suspect Victoria was involved with. She looked good honestly, less like the beaten down girl you were used too even if she still slouched and looked profoundly uncomfortable being dressed up in any way that wasn't baggy pants and a hoodie.
Victoria herself was far more comfortable in the dress and makeup she was wearing, though like Taylor it seemed she had gone for something casual. It definitely looked like something she would wear when she would drag you and Taylor out somewhere and she wore it as well as she usually did. Certainly, she wasn't as well-dressed as she would be if she was going on a date with Dean. Though there was a far more meticulous care applied to it than normal, for a reason you weren't sure of.
The work robot looked exactly the same, and just stood there not making a sound.
"Good, you're awake. We need to get you dressed up fast." Victoria said, setting down a box she was carrying before grabbing your undergarments from the pile Taylor was carrying and tossing it to you.
"Why?" You ask, grabbing the clothes and awkwardly shuffling into them.
"Uh that Adam guy, Duke and Mr. Miller set up a casual get together thing to get us all used to... well to the Ali-uhm new people." Taylor explains as you get dressed. "Dragon sent me to get you a change of clothes and then Victoria attacked me."
"I just helped you pick out the proper dress!" Victoria retorts as she hands you your pants.
"You literally shoved me into it. When you first saw me and what I picked for Samus you looked like you were ready to throw me through a wall. I'm fairly certain my sweater is ruined now."
You blink.
"Because what I picked is better."
Taylor narrows her eyes behind her glasses. "Isn't this supposed to be casual? You didn't do this with Amy- Oh..."
"Yeah, why do you think I hadn't gone ahead yet?"
You look at the Work Robot. The Work Robot looks back at you. For a moment the two of you share a deep bond of non-understanding even if you're fairly certain the Work Robot was incapable of thought.
Finished dressing the work robot scoops up your old clothes and blankets with a telekinetic field and waddles out of the room. You go to follow it but Victoria stops you.
"Nope, you need to put on some make-"
"No." You say firmly. You didn't want to tell them but with your superior vision all makeup looked like they had smeared dirt all over themselves and you really didn't want to put any on your skin. You were pretty sure Federation makeup got around that with nanoparticles and the like but well you'd never tried it on due to living on Zebes.
"Okay, Okay!" Victoria holds up her hands to placate you.
"Wait, why didn't you not put makeup on me when I said no?" Taylor asked.
"Because you still let me~"
"Hrmm..."
After that, the three of you step out into the hall where indeed there seemed to be a rather casual party going on. You aren't sure how but Dragon had managed to get the work robots to carry around trays with drinks, nutrient paste, and some snacks. Most of the aliens seemed to appreciate it but a few only ate the nutrient paste, most likely due to differing biology to Earth's native life or just a general worry about eating something they couldn't identify.
The people attending had separated into two groups, adults, and youngsters. First Lieutenant Tencta was the only one not in any of the groups, instead, they were kneeling in front of a Chozo statue in prayer. The other artificial lifeform, Specialist Acal, was with the adults though seemed to slowly be edging away from Armsmaster who seemed to have brought some scanning device with him and had a predatory look in his eye whenever his gaze landed on the Nanomachine Swarm.
The younger group was also a bit rowdier than the adult group, with far more excited chatting and gesturing. It also had two Missy's.
Which group do you go too?
[] Adult
[] Young
[] Tencta
[] Write-in
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