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Post by Edgecrusher on Jan 17, 2012 10:03:10 GMT -5
((Cambridge, Massachusetts; December 12th, 2027)) ((Time: 23:00 [11:00 PM])) Edgecrusher stood motionless on the dilapidated roof of a house that, obviously, nobody had put any thought to in a long time. The condition of the neighborhood was equally derelict; no light from any of the neighboring houses or above the pitch-black asphalt road that wound through the lawns like a snake in hiding. The only illumination came from about ninety feet in the distance - the direction on which Edgecrusher was so intently focused. The light flickered in shades of yellow and orange, and if one were to climb on the roof as Edgecrusher had, they would see that it was, in fact, a massive fire. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was ablaze with thirty pounds of incendiary compounds that the insurgent had placed inside it during the past week. Now Edgecrusher stood back and admired his handiwork. He saw the occupants running around the campus and screaming, crying; many people having lost their life's work in that fire... and they deserved it, each and every one of them. From his research, the former Navy SEAL knew that MIT had been supplying the nanotechnology used in Securitron's military cybernetics project against the test subjects' will. According to the public paperwork, it had been developed at MIT, though Edgecrusher had hacked into confidential files and seen that they'd taken it from an independent researcher... one of the Military Intelligence directors had paid MIT to take it and license it to them, allowing them to bypass the federal regulations on human experimentation. "And for that, you deserve what you got... each and every one of you," the cyborg muttered under his breath as a stocky man ran out of the building, on fire. Edgecrusher wondered briefly if the independent researcher knew what abominable things MIT had done with their stolen nanotechnology. He looked down at the exposed wires and cables protruding slightly from his burned flesh. Obviously, to look inconspicuous, he'd had to be there when the bombs went off. A man desperately fleeing the building just before a massive incendiary fire would look incredibly suspicious, and Edgecrusher needed to avoid the scrutiny... so he hid in a laboratory while the timer counted down, allowing the heavy steel door to take the primary wave of thermal expansion. Then he ran through the burning, collapsing hallway and out the front door with everybody else. As he predicted, they were too panicked to notice a cybernetic organism walking past them. Now, though, the metallic glimmer and the wires exposed through his right shoulder, upper arm, and along the side of his body to his abdomen would obviously give him away and regenerating the skin would take time. Being trained in tactical defense, though, Edgecrusher was keenly aware of this and had stolen a long coat from a student shortly before setting the timers. He put it on and closed the buttons, then jumped off the roof and landed silently in the grass. Without a second thought, the insurgent turned away from the burning institute, and ran. He didn't think about where he was going - the espionage agent would keep going, forcing himself, until he was far away from here. Preferably, out of the state. Then he'd find an abandoned warehouse to hide in while he planned his next move. For now, though, he simply ran into the wooded area along the street and waited, intending to get out of the area before the authorities found him.
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Post by Alison Texas on Feb 1, 2012 18:05:42 GMT -5
Tex was moving through the Massachusetts, headed towards Washington DC. She was exploring the East Coast because it had been a damn long while. She had been in Saudi Arabia the month before, and wound up in Baltimore thereafter. She was picked up by a strange man named Jack Hurst who worked for the NSA, and in return for the repairs and promised future maintenance for the Spartan Suit and biotechnology, Tex suddenly had a new occupation that would change her life forever.
She was mobilizing in her black Hyundai Santa Fe with heavily tinted windows so people wouldn't be giving double takes at her strange suit. Sometimes people undercover from the POE transported their fighters and scouts around, but she could also hang low if given the right vehicles, and she made it clear she liked being independent. As she got closer and closer to Washington DC with minimal breaks, the Freelancer noticed the smoke and fire fairly quickly. Her helmet was currently in the passenger's seat to make herself look a little more normal to passing traffic. It was hard to blend in with these suits, but it was that or not using it at all. She was dead set on locating NEST's base so ground crew could start studying the activity of the Cybertronians and humans that worked there or in its vicinity.
What she wasn't expecting to see along the way was something like THIS. She hadn't heard about the latest technological endeavors besides the ones she'd been a part of...and she certainly didn't think to put the two and two together at the moment to think it wasn't just an ordinary accident --- until she spotted Edgecrusher. Her eyes darted right to the exposed arm. Was he one of thsoe hybrids she'd been briefed on? Or someone like her? She knew there were other Freelancers and soldiers out there with her type of armor, but not someone that was also part cyborg...
Tex gave a double take and nearly nosed her SUV into a smaller car in front of her as she passed the man, and nearly stopped all together when the man on fire ran out of the building a bit ahead of them. {"What the fuck?"}
{Yes burn the weakling into ashes! Ashes to ashes, dust to dust! Sounds like my kind of place...} the 'other' voice in her head mused as the SUV lurched forward again.
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Post by Edgecrusher on Feb 1, 2012 18:32:55 GMT -5
Now Edgecrusher had a problem. There were too many people here; of course, people had to be nosy... They couldn't stay in their homes and go about their business with their historical institute burning down. That would be too easy. No, everybody wanted to stand outside and watch - or worse, panic - and even in the woods along the street, there were just too many people. Edgecrusher couldn't run the risk of being noticed. Many of the people here were MIT's students who had lived off-campus, and any among them could tip off Securitron.
The former Navy SEAL pushed past the group of gathering people, back into the street. He walked along the curb toward a nearby parking lot - right past Tex, not that he noticed - intending to hijack a vehicle and get out of the area.
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Post by Alison Texas on Feb 1, 2012 19:49:43 GMT -5
{"Be on guard, he's probably one of those hybrids.} Omalley pointed out as the man passed rather close to the vehicle since they were in the right most lane.
{"But Jack said the hybrids were teenagers, he's clearly not that young."} The red head debated about rolling down the passenger's window and threatening the man with a gun in order to demand what was up with his arm...she was far more interested in him than what had happened with the burning building at this point, though if she could kill two birds with one stone and get information about both, all the better.
Suddenly, an alert went off inside of her head and a loud beep sounded off from the helmet in the passenger's seat. O'malley had done a quick scan on their old 'wanted' list from the recent past when Tex was still a Mercenary. {"Primary target! He's still present on your old wanted list. Let's take him out! The killing kind! We should do this with a more subtle method, an explosion too soon would be too cliche! Let's do this with style. A red colored violent style with a flare of firey inferno, muahaha!"} O'malley suggested eagerly.
"All though I agree with the latter, we will not kill, if he is on my old wanted list, he is likely not a hybrid. Perhaps he could be of use to the POE's cause, he could be more valuable to us than any military or government entity wanting him back for duty. Besides I want to find out what business he had here at Cambridge." Tex replied, continuing to move the vehicle down the next block. She then parked the vehicle on the side in the next free parking space she could find before reaching for her helmet and rendering herself invisible with a cloaking device.
Tex darted out of the vehicle after locking it and waited near the corner of the building while invisible, waiting patiently to follow her new target. Thanks to ultimate stealth technology, it wouldn't be as awkward stalking someone.
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Post by Edgecrusher on Feb 1, 2012 20:27:39 GMT -5
Edgecrusher made his way to an inconspicuous white Toyota toward the center of the parking lot. He pushed a precision screwdriver through the lock and undid the latch, allowing him to open the door. The insurgent immediately noticed that the dashboard and center console were covered with fast food wrappers. "Disgusting people," he muttered before removing all the wrappers from the car and dropping them on the ground. He climbed into the car, shut the door, and locked it. Driving anywhere wasn't a huge priority right now; inside the car Edgecrusher was away from the eyes of onlookers. Besides, traffic on the street was crawling as drivers insisted on gawking at the spectacle of the burning building. For now, it seemed, the best option was to stay put and lie low.
Edgecrusher took off his heavy coat and more closely examined the wires protruding from his charred flesh. As far as he could tell, he hadn't sustained any internal damage; only his ability to blend in with the humans was at risk. Now that he wasn't occupying his control system's processing power as much by walking around, though, he could divert more energy to regenerating the skin - and that was exactly what he instructed his control system to do. Meanwhile, his organic brain was going over strategic information - after this, he was considering hitting a large software company in California that had supplied and supported Securitron.
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Post by Alison Texas on Feb 1, 2012 21:19:48 GMT -5
{"Does the data base yield any information on this guy's background?"}
If Tex had heard the name before, she didn't remember it now after her accident. {"Most of it is classified but it does show he is an ex Navy Seal, but the fact that he doesn't appear to be human suggests other things as well. Many military branches and organizations seem to want him alive. It would seem for whatever reason he has gone 'rogue', or something of the like. This guy could be quite interesting."}
But was he a hybrid or what? Tex was thoroughly confused, she was among the small handful of solders from the Black River unit which formed the Black Water Corporation who had experimented on biotechnology and Artificial Intelligence. Neither she nor her AI caught onto the fact that Edgecrusher could regenerate his damage.
Tex followed Edgecrusher silently, her steps light and her movement unseen with no flickering. She debated about how to approach him as she followed several steps behind. She could do something sudden to keep him on guard but that may give her a false impression, but she had to get his attention regardless. When she saw him hijack a vehicle she double timed it and moved to the front of his vehicle and turned visible when she saw the coast was clear.
"Sate your intentions stranger, that fire was hard to miss." Tex demanded as she used her voice filter to make her voice sound male, thinking about what else to say as she raised up her pistol which was a standard weapon equipped with their armor. She had no reason to be wordy here now that she was visible. Obviously she was here to investigate and inquire but not necessarily kill. She was concerned that Edgecrusher might be one of the hybrids and she would demand information even if she had to beat it out of him to get it.
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Post by Edgecrusher on Feb 1, 2012 22:05:25 GMT -5
Edgecrusher snapped to attention as soon as the figure outside his hijacked car became visible. His left hand jumped to the 9mm handgun hidden in a holster around his ankle, and his right grabbed the coat that he'd tossed in the passenger seat... though he immediately realized it was too late for that. Whoever this suited figure was, they had already seen his exposed cybernetic components. He kept a blank expression on his face, though his mind was flooded with questions. Who was this, an agent of Securitron? He wouldn't put it past them to develop some kind of high-end body armor like this.
"Who are you? How long have you been following me?" he said in a neutral voice, leaning forward a bit to keep one hand on the grip of his handgun. "You are not taking me back to Securitron. You'll have to kill me first, and they won't approve of you destroying their prize technology..."
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Post by Alison Texas on Feb 1, 2012 22:19:42 GMT -5
"Not THAT long, I passed the fire and decided to follow. So you're from Securitron, well that's better than what I originally guessed. I thought you were one of those hybrids..." Tex began to lower her weapon, showing that she didn't want to outright harm him unless another reason came up. "I was not sent by your former organizations, as I have probably never had any connection with them. I had to approach you in case you were one of them..."
Of course if Tex had still been a typical freelance mercenary, this would have gone down differently. But for now she was going to protect someone that originated on her planet. "You still in my old list of targets." Her pistol lowered only momentarily. "Securitron doesn't have involvement with the Cybertronians, does it?" If this guy seemed to be a threat she would probably outright kill him. She had little to no knowledge about Securitron, so it was fairly logical for her to ask that.
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Post by Edgecrusher on Feb 1, 2012 23:16:23 GMT -5
"Hybrids? What hybrids?" Edgecrusher responded. He did know what the Cybertronians were, thanks to his ability to connect to the Internet through his cybernetic control system and hack classified files. {"So, whoever this is, wasn't sent by Securitron..."} he thought. That is, if they were telling the truth. And it still didn't rule out the CIA, the military, or any one of a dozen organizations that supported or were supported by Securitron.
The renegade then heard what she said next. He paid careful attention. One never knew when the piece of information that would someday save their life might come along... Ah, this stranger had a copy of the government's target list. That made sense, and didn't surprise him. Every government agency was trying to find him these days, it seemed... trying to dehumanize him, keep him under their control and suppress him. Well, he wasn't going to stand for it. Being from the military, Edgecrusher was well aware that he belonged to Uncle Sam, but since he was experimented on it seemed the government had forgotten that he had rights as a human being. That is, if he could even be considered human anymore.
"Not as far as I know," he answered in response to the question about Securitron's involvement with the Cybertronians. "If they do, I never saw, heard, or worked on the project, and I haven't found any records of it in Securitron's corporate files." He did know, though, of other corporations - one affiliated with Securitron - that were involved. The cyborg wondered if he should tell his acquaintance about those companies, but decided against it, at least for now - never give to strangers more information than necessary.
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Post by Alison Texas on Feb 2, 2012 3:17:49 GMT -5
"I see...well that's one less thing for me to worry about." Tex snorted, realizing she was rather at a loss and dissappionted that it was now obvious the being she spoke to definitely wasn't a hybrid. As she had told O'malley earlier, the hybrids were all in their teens because they had been part of a government project. "But regardless, you're still a target so I'm going to watch you closely...however, you got lucky in the fact that humans are not my targets any more. Cybertronians and their hybrid offspring are."
She lowered her gun then, but did not change modes on her voice filter. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable speaking to men as a girl, but sometimes she liked to mess with them and when she did switch, their reaction was generally well worth it. Sometimes men took other men/male voices more seriously than female, so that was the main reason she usually stuck with a male voice from the start.
{"Oh dammit...looks like he could be on our side...so much for a good fight..."} The AI grumbled inside her skull.
Tex inwardly eye rolled at her blood and battle thirsty AI. If only she could give the AI to someone else or if he found one of the Troopers to go visit. She noticed he was checking out the current 'target', and she began to wonder if he would make an attempt to 'visit' him since he was evidently not human in the least. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one even though she certainly wasn't full cyborg like he was. To him, this black suited person would just seem like a heavily armored soldier, but the truth was that wasn't entirely so, and he would likely depart without knowing such facts.
What if he did come from the same supporters as those of the disbanded Black Water Corporation? What would that mean for her and her AI then? Potentially nothing, only that she might be lucky enough to get an ally in all this mess.
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Post by Edgecrusher on Feb 2, 2012 3:55:33 GMT -5
Edgecrusher kept his focus fixed on the figure ahead of him. He held perfectly still - not moving, not blinking, not shifting position, not raising his eyebrows. A typical person walking past might have thought he was dead. "Yes, I suppose I am lucky in that respect," he said, keeping his voice completely neutral to avoid giving any information, even unconsciously. "I certainly don't want a fight with an individual. I simply want to cut Securitron off from their funding and corporate help, and take them apart." It was entirely true; Edgecrusher couldn't care less what his old friends - or enemies - were doing as long as they left him alone. If he needed, he would kill to avoid being brought back to Securitron, but otherwise, he saw no need to get involved in the business of others. This one, though, might just have some useful information.
"These Cybertronians... why are they your targets?" he asked. There was little information about them in the file he'd hacked; just that they were extraterrestrial intelligent machines affiliated with a specialized military group. If there was something dangerous or otherwise undesirable about them, it might pay to know.
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Post by Alison Texas on Feb 2, 2012 4:10:29 GMT -5
"Many have diverted to Earth because of an on going civil war that has gone on for thousands of years...they took flight to Earth in attempt to retrieve an energy source, but things changed and several of them decided to stay for various reasons, not all of which I understand. They are still fighting each other and many of us think they have no right to be here. They are mingling with our kind and our government has put the efforts into making offspring with their latest technology. However, I have heard a few of the hybrids are naturally born as well." Tex shook her head, slightly unable to fathom such an idea of intercourse with an alien...she knew they had holoforms but it still sounded so awkward..."One of their leaders was found in stasis under the ice in Antarctica...of course some idiots apparently decided to experiment on them because of the energy they used, which known as Energon, it grants them life and the ability to transform in the complex way that they do, and it powers their weapons and technology...this Energon means everything to them. I want to learn more about them, and I've been on a hunt for their base of operations in the US...we know they have one in the Middle East but its not as active. The Cybertronians are divided into two factions: Decepticons and Autobots...there are neutrals, but they're a rare find."
Tex had to admit she was curious about her targets in a personal sense...she was very interested in how they transformed and interacted with each other. The red head certainly wasn't interested in anything more than being friends or enemies with them. And as it stood she presumed they were enemies because of how those at the POE had briefed her on the aliens' history. With so many knowing about their existence now, more were becoming uncomfortable with their presence rather than welcoming it for many reasons.
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Post by Edgecrusher on Feb 2, 2012 4:23:20 GMT -5
Ever so slightly, Edgecrusher nodded, keeping his face expressionless as he did so. "Ah, I see. You're one of a group who don't think Earth's resources should be shared with extraterrestrials," he acknowledged. "I can understand that. It's rather ironic, though... Mankind has dreamed for centuries about discovering life out there in the universe. Fantasized about it, wrote so many stories and hypotheses about it, and now that it finally happened, mankind rejects its long-awaited discovery." This sort of mass psychology, Edgecrusher found interesting. It said a lot about human nature... even if he wasn't sure what yet. Now that he was on the outside looking in, the no-longer-human experiment realized that human nature was completely different than it might first appear.
"You are expecting some of these Cybertronians to be around here?" he asked. It didn't concern him, but if there was an alien machine somewhere in the vicinity that this acquaintance was hunting, it was certainly worth knowing about.
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Post by Alison Texas on Feb 2, 2012 4:49:36 GMT -5
"Ironic indeed...we get so wrapped up in our own endeavors and then don't take twists and turns well. The Cybertronians are somewhere in DC...was passing through Massachusetts. I just recently got back to the US." Tex shrugged. "In any case, they are certainly our enemies, especially the ones that call themselves Decepticons. They have been the cause of the majority of the trouble, and it seems civilians are increasingly becoming unsettled over it. I'm getting paid good money, so I can't complain."
She was doing it for the money, not because she wanted to be a hero or just make herself known. Reputably, Tex was a sucker for money. She would make good use of the POE's offers until the tides changed, and she was keeping that in the back of her mind. If they wanted a killer, they had one all right.
Tex didn't think she'd hang around much longer, they both had their objectives and it didn't seem they were crossed. "You're lucky, you know. You're not the only one on a wanted list at least."
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Post by Edgecrusher on Feb 2, 2012 5:23:03 GMT -5
Edgecrusher didn't entirely know what to think. It was blatantly obvious how aliens staying on Earth, using human resources and causing problems among humans, could be undesirable. On the other hand, they might just be useful... if nothing else, for improving long-distance communications and information technology. That made him think, though... {"This alien technology; depending on how advanced it is, there could be a serious fallout if Securitron got their greedy hands on it!"} For that, the Cybertronians were indeed enemies, though in respect to their potential usefulness, they might be quite helpful at the same time. Edgecrusher didn't know, and he wasn't going to press judgment.
"Lucky... Not so much," he answered. "Lucky I survived the experiments they did to me, perhaps." He was indeed lucky in that respect. None of the other test subjects for the cybernetics project had survived. But at the same time, he couldn't see anything lucky about the people he was defending having tried to kill him, their having failed and only succeeded in paralyzing him, then assuming he was brain-dead and doing inhumane and agonizing experiments on him while he was conscious. And now he was just another piece of military technology that would be thrown out with the trash when he ceased to be useful. "Humanity just wasn't ready for something like me to come along," he said to no one in particular as he examined his exposed wires. "Evolution always seems to be one step ahead of tolerance."
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