Dust of the Ages (MK)

[GEAR]

OE 102: January 5th, 4:31 PM
Lagrange 5 Colony "Esperanto"
Pascal Military History Museum

A collective gasp went up from the crowd as the tarpaulin was pulled back.

Completed beneath, restored in all its splendor, the Guarlion once again stood proud, bedecked in the resplendent, heroic colors and regalia of its original unit. Flashes from cameras flickered in its crimson and gold paintjob, and a gentle hum of conversation began to rise in the room. Alongside it, various other machines from the Colonial independence wars had been refurbished and reconstructed, sometimes often from little more than scrap - no longer to stand guard among the stars, but to remain here... in a museum.

A page of history, once crumpled and thrown away, that had been rescued by those with more reverence for the past than certain others.

The crowd's reaction would no doubt please the man who had been specifically brought in to oversee its painstaking restoration - and of course, invited to its grand unveiling.

The L5 Colony known as Esperanto was a hub for the oft-neglected distant cluster, the de-facto capital where corporate taskmasters and governors mingled, united in their contempt for the meddling hand of the ever-present Directory troops. Here, anti-Earth sentiment ran high, and it was only natural that an exhibit such as this could only find a welcome audience among those whose thirst for freedom and prosperity had not yet waned since the last time their blood had been spilled. The assembled crowd was a diverse group, one made up of academics, veterans, military enthusiasts, and the general, curious public eager for a glance at a relic that their Earthside oppressors would sooner they forget.

Drinks were poured into small metal containers, and while it was standard Colonial faire - far from the most pleasant of drinks - it was only a short amount of time before the conversation began to flow more freely under the dangling lights above. It was far from an exquisite banquet hall - but despite the crowded nature of the renovated hangar that made up this segment of the museum, no small amount of attention had been spared in making certain that every inch was free of dirt or grime. While little food occupied the tables, they were, at least, clean.

 

[MKR]

A smile came over Nick's face as the Guarlion was shown, it had taken no small amount of effort to merely acquire all the parts for a Guarlion, let alone getting all the details right. Still, it filled the man with pride to see the machine being so well received. While it was true that this Guarlion was currently little more than a showroom model that too was an important thing to have.
He had seen it for more hours than he could count, but every time he looked at it it still impressed him. Sure the design was long dated but it was a piece of history, their history, and looking upon it was already a defiance to all that the Directory had done in an attempt to break their wills.

Nick took a moment to consider what all the various parts must have gone through during the independence war, at least six different destroyed Guarlions were used just to recreate this. A lone head floating through space, the original chassis of the right leg was found among scrap iron, seemingly used to repair a Gespenst a few decades ago. Each bit had a history of its own, the full extent of it he would likely never figure out but that didn't matter. Right here, right now. They had returned to their original form.

The smile would not wane from his face as he went off to the side for a moment to grab himself a drink.

 

[GEAR]

"Mister Mallor, I presume?"

A voice called out to Nick to his left as he poured himself a cup of the curious-smelling concoction that passed for Colonial moonshine. It was a man's, smooth and delicate, as if it had been engineered to be as such. Sure enough, the owner of it, as he materialized, was the picture of professionalism. Short brown hair was slicked back without an errant hair out of place, flawless skin, and sharp, curt features that put his age somewhere between thirty and forty - of course, these days, it was almost impossible to tell. His long coat, tie, and suit only added to the allusion, and as he approached, he extended a hand in greeting, offering a smile that could only be described as... corporate.

"Eduardo Casker." Said the newcomer, "I work for Mister Cicero… He's a fan of your work."

Alan Cicero was a name that would ring many bells in the Colonies. The genetically engineered inheritor of Aeon Corporation, one of the biggest arms and pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Earth sphere, whose savvy had brought it back from the brink of financial annihilation. Rumor abounded about him, but most particularly that he was a big supporter of separatist movements - but it was only in this moment that Nick might have realized that the aforementioned hearsay may have indeed had legs after all.

 

[MKR]

Nick would turn to the voice calling his name and standing there seemed to be what compared to the ideal corporate representative, right down to the haircut. "That would be me, yes." he replied to the opening statement, the man would put aside the drink he had just poured to shake the offered hand.

"Mister Cicero you say? It is a pleasant surprise to hear that." Nick said with a smile of his own. Unless this Eduardo Casker was lying, which he didn't seem to be, being able to confirm that a man like Cicero was indeed on their side in this was big.

After the handshake ended Nick would take the cup in his hand again. "I hope he is pleased with my results so far."

 

[GEAR]

"He's become quite the fan, actually." - Ed fished into his coat pocket, producing a small white envelope, which he offered to Nick. It had a wax seal emblazoned across its fold - a set of twinkling stars inset into its red contours.

"Mister Cicero enjoys the collection of antique mobile weapons... In fact, he asked me to explicitly attain your assistance in appraising some of them. He hopes that you'll consider it... a worthy use of your time."

Ed gave a polite smile. There didn't seem to be anything particularly off about the man, save for the strange stiltedness of his reactions, as though he were thinking quite carefully about each and every single action. Rumors abounded of mechanical men in the Colonies - agents of the Corporations custom built to replace otherwise unreliable agents in a chess game that rewarded paranoia in the face of common subterfuge.

Suddenly, without warning, the lights overhead flickered, and rumble traveled through the ground beneath them. There was a distant boom, and the murmur of conversation began to rise in volume. Ed, for his part, switched his expression to one of mild concern, furrowing his brow as he steadied himself:

"...What was that just now?"

 

[MKR]

Nick would take a moment to look over the envelope as Eduardo talked. The revolutionary amused himself with the idea of Eduardo possibly being one of those mythical metal men that were on the colonies, then the room shook. He looked up to see the lights flickering, looking to his conversation partner "Please tell Mister Cicero that I'd gladly give my assistance, now if you'll excuse me I am going to investigate the cause of that noise."

The envelope would find itself a new home in the inside of his coat and out of that pocket he took a set of keys and with them in hand began to rush out, first he needed to get his Armorlion and then he could go to find out what exactly was the cause of that explosion.

 

[GEAR]

As Nick made his way out of the Museum's hall, Ed followed behind, seemingly curious as well to the source of the disruption. The two elbowed their way through crowds of confused partygoers and academics alike. As he pushed his way through the revolving glass door at the front of the building, into the cool (albeit, recycled) night air, he was just in time to hear an ear-piercing shriek.

Overhead, something... vile loomed over the building. It hovered by no visible means, simply... Suspended, as if the very ground refused to touch it, for it was so grotesque as to be stretching the limits of the word.

It's features were deformed, like a sodden bag of rotten fruit left in the sun for too long, its purple skin having an offensive, slimy texture - it even rippled and curdled slightly, in such a way that hurt the eyes if they tried to follow its movements. A trio of gnarled claws jutted out of its sack-like structure in a triangle, gently twitching in the Colonial dusk, stained a dull brown. As the onlookers below began to cry out, it turned to face them - and Nick as well. In place of a face, it had three dark, distended, sunken holes, which nevertheless seemed to stare out at the world around it, as if it had been shaped in mockery of the terrified faces of those below it. The entire thing exhumed an aura of inherent... Wrongness, it's very existence offending the world around it.



"Zzzsshhaaaaaa…"

It let out a wet, distorted hiss, one that caused the window panes to rattle about them. Ed pulled up aside Nick, his own eyes wide with shock - no, he was rendered utterly speechless in the face of the strange creature.

 

[MKR]

Did the Directory find us and attack? Then why didn't they strike the museum first? he thought to himself as he ran through the crowd, with Ed following shortly after him he pushed through the door and immediately looked to the direction of the earlier explosion.

It was sickening, for a moment he froze as he couldn't help but try to figure out what he was seeing, an urge to barf hung in the back of his mind all the while. This... Thing, shouldn't be here, it shouldn't be anywhere. The only place a gruesome thing like that belonged were the hallucinations of a madman, but judging by the expression on Eduardo's face, he was neither mad nor hallucinating.

As the hiss came out of the monstrosity Nick shook himself out of the terror and pushed the thing's appearance to the back of his mind, more important was the fact that it was here. He tightened his grip on his keys, looking to Eduardo "Mr. Casker, might I ask you to have someone activate the Guarlion. I'll have my Armorlion bring weapons for it to use."

He didn't know what this thing was, he didn't know what it could do. But what Nick did know was that he could gain a numbers advantage at the very least.

 

[GEAR]

Ed turned to listen to Nick as he spoke, nodding in approval - but suddenly reached forward to grab the man by the shoulder with a shout as his eyes shot open, yanking him down to the ground - hard, as he yelled:

"Look out!"

Frakk!

There was the sound of shearing air, and the scent of particulate burning ozone as the creature's "eyes" lit up with a dark light - and the artificial night sky blossomed a distorted orange, as the Museum detonated in a blast of flame, debris hurtling in all directions. Perhaps the Guarlion was what had attracted the thing's attention in the first place? It was impossible to say, at this point.

Overhead, a missile lanced down, past the creature, as a pair of Colonial Lions finally made their presence known, screaming through the air on twin jets of fire. It sailed ineffectively past the creature, which stared skyward at the new arrivals, its attention now transfixed on them, ignoring the missile as it blasted apart a building behind it.

Ed groaned, and lifted himself from the debris, having shielded Nick from the blast. Pieces of concrete and chunks of wood and metal slid off his (now ruined) coat as he rose to feet unsteadily, asking the man beside him as he did:

"Are you alright?"

 

[MKR]

Nick's eyes opened in surprise as he was yanked down, then the smell of ozone set in. When the creature had done its thing and the debris had landed the feeling of disgust was gone, replaced by anger. The man would rise to his feet alongside Ed, "I'm fine." He said, looking to the creature for a second "But whatever that thing is, it is going down."

He pressed a button on his keychain and a nearby hangar door would begin to open, a heavily customized Lion beginning to be highlighted by the fire from the museum.

Nick would turn towards it and begin sprinting, he wasn't going to have this blasted to smithereens either. He'd pull himself up on the Lion's leg and pull open a mechanism on the chest, allowing him to step into the cockpit. Screens began to light up around the cockpit as a full 360 degrees view of the Armorlion's surroundings began to be displayed. The revolutionary solemnly sat in the pilot seat as the cockpit closed again and boot up finished, the Armored Module stepped forward until it was outside of the hangar.

"Two claymore volleys, energy at 100%, all systems green." The Armorlion began running down the street as its Tesla Drive activated, allowing it to take flight not all to different as a plane would, except with some more destroyed pavement.

First order of business, comms channel. He'd open the public channel and speak up "This is Nick Mallor here to assist in destroying the hostile, whatever that thing is it just killed everyone in the museum in a single blast, try to take it out to space where it can deal less collateral damage."
The two beam sabers mounted on the Lion's arms would light up as the AM advanced on the unknown enemy.

 

[GEAR]

Ed allowed himself to be waved off, stepping aside to allow Nick access. He gawked at the Armorlion's form as it was revealed. Such one-off prototypes were almost unheard of in the present day, especially under Directory regulation. Perhaps he had underestimated Nick after all?

"A custom Lion...!" He gasped, nodding as Nick steeled his resolve, reaching up to adjust his tie and smooth back his (now dirtied) hair habitually as he did so.

As he let the man go, Ed reached up to produce a small personal terminal from his pocket. Though its surface was now cracked (causing him to scowl), he thumbed a quick command across it's holographic surface, and glanced up at the creature, expression full of concern.

He only hoped he wasn't too late.

Meanwhile, overhead the situation was intensifying as the Armorlion shambled its way forward. One of the Lions came in low, railgun crackling - a bit too low. The monster suddenly lurched with speed that belied its appearance, its tripartite claws slashing forward in the air to puncture the Lion, snapping it effortlessly out of id-dive. It gave an unearthly gurgle as the Lion began to glow an eerie green, shuddering terribly as rays of energy lashed out of it and into the creature. The effect must have only lasted seconds - but afterwards, the Armored Module went limp, and the creature let it slip from its claws like so much refuse.

The remaining Lion spun around, and seeing the fate of its companion, opted instead to keep its distance, loosing another pair of missiles in the monster's direction. Thus far, it had yet to notice the new arrival even as it charged - perhaps the heavy armor plates were keeping its presence better concealed from... Whatever otherworldly senses it was using to hunt its prey.

 

[MKR]

No response from both the unknown monster and from the Lions, or rather Lion. A mental note was made to not get punctured like the Lion had been. However since he hadn't been noticed by the monster Nick pressed one of the buttons in front of him, causing the horn on the Armorlion to glow a faint white.

Most of the modifications on the Armorlion had been 'inspired' by a gespenst prototype, the claymores and the heat horn taken directly from it and modified to have extended range, the additional plating idea also coming from this prototype but Nick would've requested that regardless of which kind of Lion he had.

But that mattered little now, what was important for the time being was dealing with the enemy, the plan was simple: Insert the heat horn into the center of mass of that thing have the booster activate while having the two free hands of the Armorlion grab onto the lower appendages and with that push it out of the Colony. Now came the matter of putting it into action. The sabers had been disabled, the arms had extended outward. This was it.

 

[GEAR]

A pair of black rays from the thing's eyes caught the remaining Lion in its midsection as it tried to draw a bead on it, cutting it in half before it detonated violently. It was only then that it seemed to sense the approach of the Armorlion, turning inquisitively in its direction - but it was far too late.

Nick's strike caught it head on, the Heat Horn driving into the creature's gelatinous mass. It punctured clean through the back of the monstrosity, causing it to give a shrill shriek of surprise and pain. Its deadly claws extended inward - but were caught by the Armorlion's outstretched hands, leaving only its top claw to snap ineffectually at the back of the custom machine.

His plan was working - for now. The trick was to now get the thing out of the Colony - if he were to continue traveling in his current direction, fortunately, he would go directly through the docks - but whether the assembled personnel would open the hatches for him or not was uncertain - or if he could continue to maintain the wounded, screaming nightmare that writhed in his grasp.

 

[MKR]

A button had been pressed, the booster was activated and the Armorlion sped up towards the docks, additionally the legs would collapse downward, enabling the stabilizer wings so he could safely speed up despite the additional load. The comms were opened again, this time with the intent of connecting to the dock workers "Open the dock! Carrying a volatile hostile that has already destroyed two Lions and a building filled with people!"

As he spoke the Armorlion's head would move up and down inside the wound it had just created and the claymores in the shoulders would open, but would not fire yet. Now, if the monster got loose there were claymores primed to be buried in its back, if it remained stuck and the docks opened there would be less collateral possible and if the dock doors remained stuck, well. At least the monster was no longer in the civilian area.

 

[GEAR]

The Armorlion soared through the sky towards the gate. Seconds ticked by, and for a moment, it seemed as though his warning had been ignored. However, at the last moment, the hatch hurriedly pulled open, allowing the Armored Module into a long passageway. At the end of it, a second hatch opened, dispensing it into the spaceport. Curious onlookers turned as Nick rocketed past, their surprised expressions quickly turning into alarm as they beheld his writhing cargo.

In seconds, it had been carried free of the Colony, and just as well - the creature's "limbs" were pulling hard against the Armorlion, threatening to break free. Its eyes began to glow as it readied the same beam earlier which had destroyed the museum - albeit this time, from point blank...

 

[MKR]

A sigh of relief had washed over him as the hatches opened, he was free to use all the firepower he wanted to deal with this bastardization of life. But he had a;sp seen the creature's eyes beginning to glow, if anything was the mark it was this. Nick pulled on the brake as hard as he could, releasing the Armorlion's grip on the monster just before doing so, freeing his cargo of his grip, but as the laws of physics required, as the Lion braked the being kept moving.

On his control board Nick flipped open a protective case, two red buttons underneath. Slamming his fist into both right after having let go. "SQUARE CLAYMORE! FIRE!" the claymore missiles would release from both shoulders simultaneously flying over to their new, fleshy target.

Nick wasn't taking any chances, any regular machine should crumble beneath those missiles but this was not ordinary, so the sabers on the wrists would activate as the armorlion began circling the monster's position.

 

[GEAR]

As Nick suddenly braked, thrusters flaring as the Armorlion slowing its acceleration, its hapless victim was hurled free at terrific speed, a soundless screech echoing into the void as it tumbled back, beams lancing out from its eyes harmlessly. The claymores thundered out space, smashing into the wounded creature before it could right itself, pulverizing it into a blackened mass as explosions filled Nick's viewscreen.

When the smoke cleared, the creature was dead - having utterly disintegrated under his furious assault.

For the moment, it seemed he could breathe easily.

But then...

Warning alerts came up all across his console. In the distance, he could see, directly over the colony... A haze beginning to form. First one, then a dozen... Then hundreds, all around the delicate capsules containing human life. Within these distortions... Something began to wriggle, as if worming its way through the fabric of reality - and in a burst of black ichor, another of the dark monstrosities he had just vanquished made its presence known. The remaining distortions soon followed suit, dozens of the foul entities bursting forth into the world.

Panicked radio transmissions began to make their way across the airwaves, and he could begin to see the distant flash of gunfire as Colonial troops began to fight back - but there was no sign of the Directory. Where was the garrison?

 

[MKR]

The armorlion floated in space as the dust settles and nothing had remained, the sabers deactivating again as Nick cheered to himself in the cockpit of the Lion. He had done it! He saved L5! Not the Directory, their forces weren't even able to get a glance of this thing.

Of course, this excitement ended with the coming of the alerts came in, he had turned to look at what happening and horror would reappear on his face as he watched the monsters creep out of their... Rift. If he had more weapons maybe he could take out five more, maybe ten if he could sneak up on them again. But there would still be another twenty afterwards, maybe directory forces could take those on... Wait.
He looked around him, no guards, no contact over comms to turn himself in, the two lions had been colonials not directory. Did... Did they know this was going to happen?

He'd try to get in contact with someone, anyone on the colony. They needed to get out of there.

 

[GEAR]

The tide of monstrosities were never ending. Even as Nick flicked across comm channels, more were materializing. There was chatter about some... Disaster on the Moon, something catastrophic impacting the Earth, but it was difficult to make out. Around the Armorlion, several more of the... things... emerged. They began to drift closer to him, mouths agape, claws grasping soundlessly in anticipation...

But... Destiny, it seemed, had other plans in mind for Nick.

A bright blue beam punched clean through the nearest monstrosity, causing it to explode in a sphere of energy. Two more followed suit, clearing away those that tried to get close to him - and making a path to safety. In the distance, he could see a machine standing atop the Colony.

It was blue and grey, slender and somewhat organic compared to his own machine. Its red visor was a familiar sight in the Colonies, often seen on the Cupids used by the Corporate private armies - but this was no simple worker machine. Its large twin-engine backpack hummed with power as the Leonisis shot into the stars towards Nick, its long-barreled Heavy shock shooter cradled in its grasp.

"Seems like I made it just in time, Mister Mallor!" Said a familiar voice over the communications array.

Eduardo gave a winning, toothpaste-advertisement worthy smile and a faux salute as his image appeared in the top right of the Armored Module's screen. His machine continued raining death upon the interlopers as they began to scatter, jerking its head back towards its location.

 

[MKR]

What the hell was going on? Was this happening everywhere? He couldn't help but listen for a moment, shaking out of it as the beings appeared around him, the split beam collapsed out from underneath the Armorlion's arms. But to his surprise a path was opened for him, he wouldn't have cared who carved it for him, but seeing a familiar face appear was a relief. "Mr. Casker, that makes twice you've saved me in this short time." A smile would reply Ed's smile and so would the salute "You have my sincere thanks."

The claymore packages would drop out of the Armorlion and float off into space as they reloaded themselves. One more volley, got to make it count. Mallor thought while the cover for the dual buttons was put back in place. "But, we can't count on reinforcements from anyone, if my comms are anything to be believed this is happening on earth, on the moon and here. Should you be carrying enough ordnance to wipe of those monsters out I will gladly be the wall in between you and them, otherwise we need to try to evacuate the entire colony as quickly as possible." he stated matter of factly, firing the split beam at any monsters he passed, aiming for the fleshy masses.

"So, is this an extermination or are we trying to avoid being exterminated?"