R.D.'s grip switched as he grabbed two spikes before they could impale them, using their momentum to be pushed out of the way. Earth energy lashed across the ground as R.D. yanked upwards, pulling Keiser and the chunk of ice and ground he held onto, up over himself as he flung him away.

R.D. flexed his muscles at tight as possible when Keiser's appendages latched to him, and immediately lashed out with Lumiya's might, and the very ice he stood on shattered beneath its onslaught as the waves of invisible force were launched at the same strength as Keiser's incoming attack. He let his muscles relax, leaving minuscule gaps in the bindings. Now with an opening, R.D. disappeared as he freed himself, and he leaped high into the air, as if flying. He swung his arm out, and the air with littered with explosions that erupted all around Keiser, creating a dazzling display in the sky.

(OOC: Oh my god, it's over 9000.)

"Yeah, I'm okay," came the mutter and gesture.

Before their eyes, the monster's limb developed another clawed hand, and it swung at Renais.

Caught off-guard, Renais barely managed to avoid the swipe, the claw nearly tearing into the lateral vanes of her hardened cooling coat. Before any counterattack she could've made, J's Radiant Ripper flashed out once at the elbow joint, then flashed out twice as he dashed forward, aiming this time at the creature's midsection before shooting off to the side.

A black and red spherical object appeared in Renais' hand. Pressing a button on its top with her thumb, the cyborg woman threw it right at the monster, aiming it so that the grenade would slip right inbetween its ribs and into its body cavity.

"Get down!" she shouted over her shoulder at Matt, taking cover herself.

"Fuck!" Matt shouted as he dived away, just as the grenade detonated, scattering silver gobs across the wall and floor at high speeds.

He allowed himself a few seconds before he lifted his head, turning back toward the mess. "...nice shot."

As the smoke cleared, J stepped forward, deactivating his sword and returning it to his gauntlet. Dropping to one knee, he scooped up some of the silvery matter from the floor with his hand, standing and bringing it to his face.

"No bone fragments. This creature seemed to have been made up entirely of this matter," he said, flinging the glob to the floor with a snap of his hand. "We should gather this material and return with it to the Kushinada."

Matt glanced toward the entrance to the room as he stood back up. "Let's just hope we don't run into any more of those things."

"Let's not stay any longer than necessary then," Renais said, reverting back to her normal form. She ordered the others to return, and gathered a few technicians to gather up the silver globules scattered in the armory, while the rest of the crew began storing the Vehicle Machine parts.

As Renais surveyed the area, she saw that carrying the gear onboard the J-Bird itself would be impossible. However, J said he already had an idea to deal with it, and had departed back to the warship.

Matt took up guard duty, more of a personal choice than anything. He stood near the entrance, peering back into the armory and out into the hallway, waiting for any signs.

He remembered the great claw reaching out from the rift in space, dripping silver flesh upon the earth.

After an two more hours of work, the tasks were completed. The silvery material gathered up in special containment vessels from the research section of Chasseur, and the Vehicle Machine parts stored away in the massive crates, loaded onto the backs of the giant transport trucks.

"Ma'am," one crewmember said, running up to Renais, "We're done. Everything's loaded up and ready for transport."

"Good," she said, raising her voice, "Let's go!"

Matt socked a fist into his palm. Good, they were done. About time, this place was starting to stress him out-

That feeling again!

Mmmmm. "...where's it coming from," Matt muttered, glancing back and forth.

Then his eyes shot upward-the ceiling!

Silver dripped down from the roof of the armory, reforming into more of the strange creatures. "RENAIS!" Matt shouted. "We got more company!"

Renais spun, spotting the creature again, only this time there was more of them. She growled in anger, readying herself for combat. Her eyes swept the room, locking onto a crate beside her. A quick browse of the French lettering on it caused her to lash out in a side kick at it, disloding its lid. Reaching in, she pulled out a long-barreled, silver-colored chain-gun from its depths and readied the weapon with both hands.

"Out of the way, kid!"

Grabbing onto the handle, she depressed the button on the back, and the multiple connected barrels spun rapidly before a second before suddenly coming to life, unleashing a torrent of bullets across the armory at the creatures.

The creatures' bodies easily yielded underneath the hail of bullets, countless holes torn into their forms, but those with the power to stand lumbered foward to attack.

Matt scrambled over to the box and delved inside, snatching the first pistol he saw. Aiming, he fired a clean shot at one of the monsters, blowing its head apart. "Ha HA! Gotcha!"

The deafening roar of gunfire drowned out Matt's shout as Renais swept the gun side to side, littering them with shells as she aimed now at their heads. However, the roar abruptly stopped as she expended the last of her ammo, the barrel spinning uselessly.

"Damn!" she seethed, taking the weapon and flinging it at the closest monster, knocking it back. "Eequuiiip!"

Once more Renais' coat transformed, causing her to stand out and the lenses of her glasses to combine. Leaping backwards, a pair of guns appeared in her hands, and she took quick aim, firing rapidly and detonating a skull-like head with each shot.

Despite their efforts, the monsters continued to reform as if nothing had happened. As one swung at Matt, he darted to the side and landed a straight blow that sent the monster flying back.

"This ain't workin'!" he shouted. "We need to get out of here!"

"Run!" Renais shouted, spying a box of explosives stacked up against a nearby wall. "Get to the trucks and get out of here!"

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Matt darted toward the truck, only to seize up and trip as a monster ensnared his leg. With a yell he smashed onto the floor.

"Dammit!" He swung his gaze at the silvery beast. "Fuck off!" His leg sreaked around to hit the side of the monster's skull, knocking it away as he scrambled back up into a run.

Reaching the truck, he crammed his upper body through the doorway and hit the ignition.

Edited by The Helldragon on June 16, 2008 at 21:32:21.

As the crew, on the trucks, filed out of the armory and into the passageway leading to the surface, Renais found herself being backed into the corner by the creatures, near the explosives. She blasted any that got too close, seeming unmindful of being cornered. When they were all too close for comfort, she suddenly leaped up, high above the creatures, and landed on top of the stack of crates. Kicking them down into the gathered monsters, she leaped off towards the exit, flinging a grenade behind her.

Using impressive speed, the cyborg slipped through the closing blast doors just in time, the doors shutting behind her with a shuddering halt. Seconds later, there was a tremendous explosion within the armory as the explosives detonated from her grenade, rocking the entire room. Pumping her legs, she ran up and jumped on top of one of the truck beds, among the secured parts, riding them as they escaped from the compromised Chasseur base.

((Sorry. Now that summer's heere I can promise a lot more regularity.))

"Still, that shouldn'ta... unless...." he trailed off. He tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Unless he's got her head in there! But I don't see how that coulda happened. Still, two minds in one head? That don't seem right."

~~~~~

"X," The voice called. "X. It's time you learned the truth. My truth. What I was. What I am. I cannot promise you all the answers, though they will come in time. I cannot give you peace either, and that too you will understand one day."

X blinked a couple of times. He stood back in the field, facing a white-robed man. Taking a moment he stared out at the mindscape. Monochrome again, but the tower lay in ruin. He turned back to the man.

"Sylvontis?"

The man nodded.

"What can you give me, then?"

"You will understand when I tell you."

He held the accelerator down and didn't feel like he wanted to let it go.

This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all, those fucking things were after him, he bet. Gotta be related to that claw he saw, but how many were there and would there be more? Damn it! This wasn't good!

His grip tightened on the steering wheel until it hurt.

It didn't take them long to escape Chasseur, and soon the trucks careened up the ramp and plowed a way through the snow towards the J-Bird, which was uncovered due to the heat its internals produced. As the trucks pulled up to the massive warship, Renais shouted orders. "Everyone, into the J-Bird! Don't worry about the parts, just go!"

Everyone was piling off of the trucks, making a mad dash for J's personal cruiser. Renais leaped off of the truck herself and ran to the door, hopping up onto it. "Let's go, Matt," she said, "We've got to get to the bridge so we can get out here. Move it!"

And with that, she threw herself off of the truck, running towards the J-Bird.

===NationStates General===

"At any rate, he managed to seal her up, so for now she's trapped," the warrior said, looking at the Troll. "Perhaps that can bide us some time to somehow... extract..."

He suddenly trailed off as voices filled his head. He understood none of it, yet he understood all of it. He could see the island, shrinking rapidly into the distance. And then he knew the way, how to get to the island, what he needed to do.

He brought a hand up to his head as his vision cleared; it had only happened for a brief moment. What was that? he wondered, his mind uneasy. He shook his head. "Sorry... blood rushed up to my head. I must be tired. What I meant to say was, with the Queen sealed inside of his mind, we can now find some of way extracting her from him, and destroying her permanently."

"Easier said'un done, pal."

They were interrupted by the return of X and Fass, the former of which now brandished a full and complete sword. Fass whispered something in the Troll's ear, who nodded, and then walked into the center of the area.

"Oi, you bastards, listen up!" He yelled. "We've some guests tonight. My guests. You know what that means?"

"FREE FOOD AND SHELTER!"

"No! Well...er...yes, but there was something else."

There was an awkward silence.

"Means?"

There was a sigh. "No trying to harvest their bodies for spare organs."

"That's right. We don't need Black Monday again, now do we?"

"No, sir."

Fass returned to the group and placed his hands on his hips. "This isn't unconditional, you know. I want something from you, first."

"What?" X asked.

"Face me in a drinking contest!"

~~~~

The portal opened and Tracer tumbled out.

"Did your little time-out do you some good, Tracer?" Remnant asked.

"Y-yes, m-m'lord. I-" He stammered.

Remnant raised a hand and silenced him. "I have a chance of redemption for you. You will seek the heretic once more, but this time you will kill him. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my lord!" Tracer lept to his feet and rushed out of the room.

Now, X. Remnant thought to himself. Show me your growth.

Organ harvesting? the warrior thought, uneasy now. Black Monday?

This was getting weirder by the second.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!" Matt ran as fast as he could toward the J-Bird, trying hard to ignore the weight of his armor. He stared right ahead toward his target-had to keep moving!

His eyes widened when the monsters formed in the distance, in a line flanking the J-Bird. Dammit!

Luck was on GGG's side, as Matt and Renais were the last to reach the J-Bird, but had managed to do so before the horde of monsters had reached them to attack. As the hatch closed, Renais felt as the thrusters ignited underneath the ship, signalling J's command to rise from the snows of Paris. "C'mon," Renais said, gesturing to Matt. "Let's get to the bridge and see what J has up his sleeve."

"Are we gonna scoop around and pick up the parts?" Matt asked as he followed. "We can't just abandon them here, not after all the work we've done!"

"You'll see," Renais said as she opened the door to the bridge. Up on the command deck, J wore a serious expression under the remains of his helmet and the shock of hair bursting out of it. As the two of them entered, the J-Jewel cyborg looked down at the two, seeming to ask a silent question.

"Everyone's on board," Renais said, "We're ready at any time."

Soldato-J nodded and looked back at the viewscreen. "Let's go!"

The J-Jewel blazed with reddish-pink light as it activated, synced with the power of the J-Bird. Thrusting his arm out, J readied that power, crying out, "Fuuuuuusion!" as he lifted into the air, twirling, with the two ends of his scarf spinning around him. At the height of his jump, he suddenly straightened, his arms extended out from his sides, his scarf hardened into the long, triangular green wings, and floated backwards into the wall. There was a flash of light as the design on the back alighted, and soon red light washed over the entire bridge for a brief moment as J disappeared within it.

As the J-Bird flew, it began to change. The front nose of the ship dipped downwards, separating slightly into what was unmistakably a pair of legs, while the tips folded up into feet as the beam cannons aimed forward. The green, lateral sections of the ship rotated upwards, aiming the darkened, hollowed section downwards. From the top of the ship, above the bridge, a crested head suddenly arose, its silver face framed by the green helmet adorned with a three-pronged J-Jewel, its eyes hidden behind a black visor. Long, angular arms emerged from the lateral vanes, thrusting them down as the metal hands emerged from the wrists. Crossing its arms in front of its chest, the transforming J-Bird spun in the air before flinging its arms wide, as J's voice cried out, "Plasma Wing!" From its back, ten long pinions made of energy exploded outwards, spreading alongside each side of the robot. The transformation complete, the new mechanoid roared its name out at the minuscule creatures below.

"J-Der!!"