The Grand Test (Ziye)

MKR

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#1
"Signal lost" a screen warned the DEI personnel. Indicating that for some reason DEC Harvester 05 had for some reason cut contact with main base. Something that required hasty investigation and seeing as the Great Axion had already departed if someone wanted a fast response, the answer was clear.
The Calion was to be called in, its speed and response time tested with a simple order to investigate the issue.




Inside the DEC forest a lone Axio modified purely to harvest DEC as its drills had not being made for self defense, though from the damage on them clearly having been used for such, lay in a most precarious situation. Its arms destroyed and scattered across the ground as the main chassis was held in place, suspended by two DAMON.
The DEI, despite all its human rights flaws, did take caution to stay away from the DAMON somewhat and they had been sure there had been none of them in the area as their harvesting began once more. Yet here they were. The dimensional intruders that now plagued the Middle East.
A third DAMON crushed one of the drills under its foot as its horn like protrusions and mouth began digging and the machinist could see his life flash in front of his eyes. Though curiously the DAMON seemed to delicately begin dissecting the Axio, keeping the cockpit and pilot unharmed as metal was pulled out and put in front of the beast's feet. Seeing DAMON cooperate wasn't unusual, but to this detail?

Though that was not the only curiosity about these monstrosities. As their normally technicolor DEC had adopted a light shade of purple. Their eyeless faces either not caring or not showcasing these oddities as they looked as brutal as any other of their kin.
As the seconds ticked by, one of the two DAMON holding the Axio aloft regularly scoured the horizon. Seemingly looking for something, or perhaps they were waiting.
 

Ziye

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Feb 15, 2019
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#2
♪ Before the Demise

"This's gonna be a cinch. We're just gonna cruise right on in, it'll be a quick fix, and..." The pilot of the Calion conversed with herself while en route to her given destination. Her hazel eyes kept a rigid watch of buttons and displays over what was going on outside. Ziye was certain she knew everything she needed about controlling the suit she had contributed so much towards the design of. She was just.. new to it all. The girl felt like she was a long way from where she thought she'd be right now...

"..But plans rarely go the way we want them to, huh?" She muttered to herself, staring blankly at the sight of monsters in front of her. She was already nearly upon the scene before suddenly jerking to attention, pulling up and over to reassess her approach. She fumbled with the controls a moment before calming herself, easing the pair of Tesla engines as she approached with caution.

"Hey hey hey! Anyone who can read, copy. We've got three.. uhm.. DAMON, who are helping themselves to the Harvester buffet! Can anybody read?" Ziye called out over the radio to anyone who may be nearby, scanning the scene for every detail she could gather. They had the remains of the Axio in their grasp.. that was certainly strange. The terrain wasn't ideal, but she could plan her route safely. Her armaments were limited, so she couldn't waste opportunities, if it came down to... She shook her head, waiting a tense moment for a response, eyes wide as she watched the scene.
 

MKR

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#3
"This is base, I read you. What kind of DAMON are in the area?" The response came over her comms in reply.

Around them the 'normal' scenery of the DEC forest's outskirts was on full display the glassy ground with massive protrusions of Dimensional Energy Crystal growing on obsidian black branches as far as the eye could see leaving little room for the living among this forest of death and its DAMON denizens. Little light dared grace the environment though not as badly as deeper into the forest, as towards its center the emerald lightning struck down for Ziye to behold.

The DAMON scouring the surroundings looked around once more. Staring at the flying unit for a moment before letting out its iconic, yet dreaded, roar. It seemed the monsters had noticed her presence and had the expected murderous glee any DAMON ever had demonstrated. Their toothy mouths curved in an almost grin like fashion.
In unison it and the other that held the Axio aloft began pulling the unit in two, the previous care they had shown for it gone in an instant as even the one examining the insides turned to violence against their prisoner. Dangerous creaking of metal telling the tale of destroyed joints and bent steel as the Axio split open in two far from perfect halves.

Like predatory animals the three split ways as the last DAMON finished the job on the pilot within the other two began moving towards the Calion's flanks the dark almost hellish greenery of the forest sometimes obscuring them ever so slightly and once it was done, the previously ever so careful DAMON turned its eyeless gaze to the Calion and began advancing towards it in a straight line.

It seemed these murderous monstrosities had tired of playing with the Axio and the new toy quite intrigued them.
 

Ziye

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#4
The rookie pilot relaxed in her seat as the voice came over the comm, taking a deep breath to organize her thoughts. The Calion turned to circle around again, trying to keep the monsters in its focus. Just in case she needed to open fire. Ziye's mind ran with thoughts and questions.. What were the monsters doing here? Was the pilot still alive? Were they afraid? Afraid, like...

She hadn't witnessed the DAMON in such real terms until just this moment, leaving her unsure of how to answer the question. And she had to keep mind of her controls.. And off of her questions.

"Well, they're.. They're the ugly kind. Long necks, ugly faces. Covered in--" Her eyes strained to focus before widening suddenly. The sight of the Axio's cockpit being torn in half so roughly, so unceremoniously, stopped Ziye's thoughts dead in their tracks. She remained frozen in her seat, soaring past the sight of the DAMON scurrying away in the aftermath of their carnage. It was only the Calion's quickening proximity with the crystal floor below that jarred her out of her daze, jerking the controls to level her flight with the ground. She whipped the Calion around and accelerated back toward the scene.

Her face contorted as her emotions flared at the sight of the former Axio. Her heart raced almost as fast as her thoughts filled with questions about the pilot.. their family.. the people depending on them.. She quickly scanned her surroundings again, flicking at buttons and controls absentmindedly as she rapidly came in on the tail of her first DAMON of choice.

"Where.. are you headed, friend? It's tree time.." she mused to herself as she opened fire. Four missiles launched from the unit racing towards the DAMON, and then past it. Their targets in actuality were the DEC-covered tree ahead, planting themselves into the gleaming stone before erupting in a bright and violent explosion. Ziye considered from the Calion in pursuit to hope that would be enough, but not for very long, immediately following the explosion with a volley of energy blasts aimed directly at the monster.

She soared past, panting as her reddened eyes were locked on any remaining sign of the beast.
 

MKR

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#5
The Calion's missiles shot out and over the DAMON, curving back up towards the 'Fruit' which was so readily harvested in this garden of demons. The DAMON had reacted just a fraction too slow, as it began a leap to supposed safety a sea of fire and released Dimensional Energy washed over it bludgeoning against its body.
It launched the small monster out of its path and towards the Calion, only but barely alive as the fast MA punctured the wounded beast with its concentrated fire leaving it motionless on the desert floor.

"Okay, that narrows it down to two types. Are they standing upright or crouched down?" the base responded as Ziye continued her assault.

It seemed the other DAMON intent on flanking her was left in the dust, vanishing among the trees. But a roar would call her attention to the third DAMON, the one that had killed the pilot now trailing behind her in a sprint having seemingly learned from the mistake of its peer as it stayed out of the immediate vicinity of DEC trees. Purple energy cascading out of the DEC on its hips and from the tips of the 'horns' mounted on its shoulders as its sprint halted and it used its fierce legs to leap upwards, ascending in an arc with a collision course for the Calion aiming to embed the horns into the Calion.
And should the beast fully succeed in its plan it would drag the flying speedster down to the ground, slamming it into the glassy surface below before holding it aloft and causing a detonation from the energy in the tips of its horns.

Regardless of the outcome it seemed the DAMON had little appreciation, or acknowledgement, of her puns. Or her intent to come out of this alive for that matter and now that she had begun moving away from the harvesting area the forest grew thicker once more. Giving the pilot plenty of volatile ammunition should she not care about the lives of the DAMON either, or the reaction her boss would have upon hearing she had detonated several trees worth of DEC.
 

Ziye

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Feb 15, 2019
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#6
The Calion quickly pulled around again as it's pilot's eyes remained on the body of the first monster until it was clearly and evidently motionless. She wasn't sparing any thought to the cost of the materials she was detonating, or very much for the conditions of the Calion either. Despite this being a test run, the test pilot's mind was far from the job she was initially assigned. All Ziye was focused on now was making sure the DAMON couldn't hurt anyone else. She wanted to make certain they couldn't tear apart any more families.

A small, surprised grin crossed her face as she noticed the next DAMON display such clever tactics. She couldn't help but imagine it was trying to lure her away for whatever reason, but she obliged the amethyst beast regardless. Ziye's eyes widened as she watched it take to the higher ground with it's sudden leap, eyeing the sprouted horns it was clearly aiming towards her AM with. At what felt like the last moment, she quickly turned the Calion upwards in an attempt to avoid the oncoming horns.

"It's sorta--Augh! It's both? They're bipedal.. but their posture is terrible!" She called back out to the questions with a grunt as she braced for the shock. Her breath left her for a moment as she felt the Calion begin to pull toward the earth. In a burst of desperation she quickly fired up the Tesla engines to full, carrying the DAMON back up into the skies with her. She offered her counter to it's strategy to take her down with an unending barrage of blasts from the Calion's gravity cannons, aimed at it's hopefully tender underbelly.

"No.. Thanks.. PAL! I like it up HERE more! The air's so FRESH!" Ziye quipped as she glared up at the demon, continuing the fire for as long as the monster was attached to her unit.
 

MKR

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#7
The DAMON on the Calion slammed its horns into the frame of the unit, barely capable of keeping balance as it was assaulted. In fact its attack choice was peculiar it seemed more intent on disabling than killing currently. Which, considering this was a DAMON, was far from the norm.

Down on the ground the first DAMON finally had the Dimensional Energy it used to sustain its presence collapse in on itself and like any other of its kind imploded on itself. A single shard of sickly purple DEC rocketing into the air from the pressure and then swiftly had gravity enforce its will on it not even nearing anything resembling the Calion's height before plummeting back down to the ground and onto the glassy ground.

"Basic DAMON then. Lets see... The Calion should be more than capable of disposing them all." Base responded. "Let alone the fact that any reinforcements sent would not be there in time. Good luck in the worst case you will be easily able to outrun them." It seemed there would be no assistance from the DEI.

Luckily for her however, the DAMON finally slipped as it tried to stomp the Calion's wing and began plummeting to the ground far far below. It let out one final defiant roar as it plummeted striking the ground with all the impact gravity had imparted on it, cracking the glassy floor as it lay motionless. Which in turn left Ziye alone with the last DAMON, the one hiding among the forest now. Out of sight but her seemingly out of reach.

Emerald lightning curved down and up further into the forest, just bordering on what could be considered in sight, its light cascading off the DEC below and for the briefest moments illuminating a frame of what could currently only be described as a purple Dino DAMON with better posture from this distance the beast merely standing there as if gazing at the battle unfolding. Though as the lightning faded so did the creature vanish back among the darkness.
 

Ziye

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Feb 15, 2019
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#8
Ziye let out her held breath as she watched the assaulting DAMON slip away from it's grasp on her unit. She stared absently a moment at the glittering mess the monster had made of the ground before coming back to focus. She quickly began checking her systems and condition, noting with brief distress that the assault of it's horns had left noticeable impressions on her unit's upper wings. Her flight was still stable, but she thought it best to be cautious of her maneuverability.

Her gaze darted back toward the forest again, scanning for any sign of the last monster. Her confidence was boosted after having downed two of the strange, purple beasts, determined to finish off the last one as well if she had any sort of chance. But she just couldn't find the monster... Her mind raced with ideas on how to lure it out, hovering just above the trees as she hovered above in a repeated, circular pattern.

"Mango reporting, two are down. Just one left." she reported while she waited. The next flash of green light caught Ziye's hazel gaze. It was much closer than she could have expected, causing her to suddenly scream into the mic. Her attention was stolen fully by the monstrous silhouette hidden inside the storm. Her mind battled the options. She couldn't let the monster get away.. But was that any different of this new presence?

Ziye reminded herself of her original mission. She was here to explore the cause of the Harvester disappearance. It was far too soon to assume the wretches below her were honestly the cause of the accident rather than the symptom. She stilled her breathe, giving the forest below one last, defeated glance before flying forward towards the sight, hoping to gather more information.

"...One more thing. There's this.. storm. Green lightning. Like Maleficent is out here or something. Also.. there was a figure. It looked.. upright." The pilot began to report over the radio, eyeing any details she could gather to help the report.
 
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MKR

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#9
As Ziye approached the lone figure, another thunderbolt struck further back in the storm. Illuminating it from behind. Here she would see the creature at last.
It almost seemed to narrow its upper set of eyes at her for a split second before reeling back and roaring, its roar deeper than any of the DAMON she had faced earlier, distinct unlike the others of its sort.
But what set it most apart from any other DAMON, even other Dino DAMON, were its wings a feature no other DAMON seen before had. And the almost mech like face on its chest. It stood out as a dark purple, contrasted by the technicolor DEC and obsidian trees. It had camouflaged it in the dark but now that Ziye knew where to look the distant watcher was easy to trace.




Yet, one thing she would observe in the target of her investigation, it seemed less like the Dinosaurs the Dino DAMON got its namesake from and more draconic in nature. Nevertheless the similarities between it and the Dino DAMONs were numerous, the size and general shape alongside the jutted out shoulders and tail made the comparison easy.

As it leaned backwards in its roar its face was illuminated by a purple light, which it bit down on. Four half moon like energy beams sprouted from the ball at the impact and began heading towards the Calion though their accuracy was to be questioned. It seemed less targeted at the mech and more at her surroundings with only one of the four going directly for the AM. The first things these energy cuts would collide with would cause the energy to materialize into a deep purple crystal which would enjoy a short burst of growth, both inwards and outwards before exploding.

Though not a second after it had launched its attack the monster began advancing on the Calion, its claws digging into the glass surface below with each step as its yellow eyes traced its new prey.
 

Ziye

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Feb 15, 2019
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#10
The test pilot continued to study the form and figure of the monster hidden within the mist, slowly becoming more worried by the sight she was witness to. She wondered, was this thing like a leader for the DAMON she had been fighting so far? Or was this just another threat?

The brunette let out another sharp cry at the sight of the sudden assault of beams shot generally at her. Ziye desperately tightened her grasps on the controls as she pulled the Calion hard upwards to avoid. As she held the controls well past her unit rattling in the attack's wake, her eyes widened at the sight of the surrounding terrain exploding in bursts of purple crystal.

Ziye let out a small breath as she witnessed the first volley aimed at her end, though her breath hitched again as she felt herself succumb to gravity. Sure enough, in her desperation to dodge, she found herself suddenly freefalling nose-over-tail, engines failing to cover the weight of the Calion while the wings were poorly positioned to carry it. She clenched her teeth as she reached forward to adjust the thrusters, turning the wings over their bend to finish her flip.

The Calion steadily began to spin out of the freefall it earned from such a strong pull upwards, nearly completely sideways before the Tesla Drives fired off again. Ziye tightened the turn, as best she could on the injured wings she had sustained earlier, barely finding herself horizontal again a breathe above the crystal floor as she steadied out her Calion. She quickly accelerated away from the behemoth behind her.

"Feck run feck run feck run.." Ziye cheered herself on as she pressed the engines to their fullest.
 
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MKR

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#11
The exploding crystal on the surroundings was met with more green lightning curving up and down above the two, adding to the cacophony of explosions and thunder Ziye had heard during all her time in this part of the middle east's new tree-less forest. Though her foe halted in its steps and as the Calion fell the draconic DAMON watched it descend with the eyes on its chest, which also traced her as she made her swift turn.

The beast took the opportunity of Calion slowing down to turn to spread its wings, taking off itself as the Calion sped up during its descent right as the last beam cut seemed to almost boomerang back and barely overshot the mobile weapon, landing on the ground behind it and detonating, giving the Calion's escape the backdrop of a detonation.
As this happened the DAMON went straight up with three flaps of its wings hovering for a split second before engaging in a glide, riding the momentum to gain extra height and finally go over the DEC forest below.

Embers trailed from its mouth as it followed the now fleeing Calion and as both reached the edge of the area they were in, hailed by the opening the Axio's bits yet rested in a stream of fire came out of the purple DAMON's mouth, aimed at the Calion's thruster in the middle of the machine though it would not be on a direct collision course instead, provided Ziye did not avoid it outright, it would begin grilling the top of the thruster and the roof of the Calion itself.

Luckily for Ziye, despite the DAMON having entered a glide the Calion even in its damaged state still went noticeably faster and as they came to the opening and the beast exited the more intense part of the storm it began to slow down. If it was because the winds were no longer carrying it or because it intentionally slowed down was unknown.
But it also hailed the end of the fire stream as the DAMON ceased its glide and observed what the Calion would do now.
 

Ziye

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Feb 15, 2019
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#12
"Calion is being pursued by Indominus Rex! Big purple dragon, on... On wings." Ziye cried out over her radio as she did her best evasion attempts on her damaged wings. The Calion glided swiftly up and down, mixing in vertical evasion sparingly in the mess. The pilot stared carefully at the controls and the cameras, easing her tension while the smoke began to rush up.

She gave the wreckage of the pilot she was meant to rescue a sad, short glance. She had barely come back to focus by the time the light had rushed towards her position, looking back towards the face of the monster chasing her, almost without surprise. By this point, she'd stopped counting her luck. The Calion took a weak pull to the side in attempts to avoid the attack, thankfully just clearing her airframe of the blast.

The girl studied her systems again, noting the increasing damage. Her upper wings were heavily torn. Her left wing had sustained damage leading to threatening the stability of the unit's flight.. She could see she had the distance and the speed. But, one more shot could be her last. Ziye closed her eyes from within her suit, trying to think of her safest option..

Her hazel eyes flashed open, Ziye grasping her controls carefully. She tugged her Calion into one last sharp turn to the right, wearing into the last of her wings, before giving the unit a harsh turn. Missiles and shots sprayed from what was left of the unit's wings, raining down on the terrain around with energy shots, shrapnel, missiles, and whatever else the frame of the Calion cared to spare in the maneuver. A barrage of glitter lifted from the terrain below both covered the Calion's sudden reversal of direction, as well as her next choice of move.

"I'm gonna put you out of my misery! Sonic Cutteeeer!" Ziye shouted out to herself as she pushed the Calion's acceleration to max, the sheer pressure of the air around her nearly turning into a blade. The blade of her path was boosted by the force of the explosions behind her, and sharpened by the shape of her unit itself. Though she mostly just wanted to find her escape, she desperately wanted to leave this demon with a souvenir.
 

MKR

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#13
The man over the comms finally seemed to be able to reach Ziye once more.
"A big purple dragon on wings?" He answered as if he didn't fully believe it himsefl "Record footage and leave the area at once, we'll send a more prepared team to deal with it." From the sounds of his voice, her contact person wasn't about to let the discovery of a new citizen of the DEC forest go unwritten, let alone uncaptured.

The beast itself had stopped above the empty area, looking with its draconic head to the Axio while the one on its chest continued to track the Calion and now that she was turning around once more and readying a charge, the draconic head too looked back at the still living foe. In something which could almost be described as annoyance it flapped its wings as the numerous volleys of artillery impacted them it seemed unphased holding its arms forwards as its wings continued to rhythmically flap.

The sonic cutter would be met with the crystaline hands of the purple DAMON, as the sheer speed of the Calion pushed the two back towards the storm. Yet the beast held on furiously flapping against the force it endured, grasping the two wings of the assailant with its three clawed hands and once it had solidified its grip. In that moment Ziye came face to face with the beast, the two yellow eyes of the draconic head looking straight into the cockpit as its mouth grimaced and a deafening roar came from it.

The DAMON twisted around, throwing the calion away like a discus and for good measure, tried to slam the side of it with its tail at it was sent off. It had had enough of the DEI unit's shenanigans and sent it back in the vague direction of home. Though the task to do so had not been free, hairline fractures had formed in the crystal that constituted its fingers and arms.
Nevertheless it continued hovering where it had been pushed, watching the Calion to see if it would once more try that trick or if it would try once more.
 

Ziye

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Feb 15, 2019
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#14
Ziye considered the request that aired over the comm, flicking at her controls to make sure everything was being recorded. "Yeah.. Wings. And two heads.." she spoke over the comm absentmindedly, focused on her final attempt at an attack maneuver before she planned to make a get-away. She was starting to feel confident in her handling of the Calion, even despite all the damage she was taking. As she was snatched out of the air by the monster, though, she let out a sharp gasp.

Her prototype was no match for the power of the DAMON that now had her in it's grasp, though that didn't stop her from giving it her all. The Twin drives flared their fullest, hoping she could manage at least an injury on the monster, if not pry herself to freedom from it's grasp. Ziye desperately stared at her systems, hoping the Calion would hold up as she forced the machine to give the monster it's all.

"Lael.. ma.. sorry. Looks like I might be.." she murmured to herself as she locked her hazel eyes on the giant yellow gaze of the monster. She flinched, cut off by the roar of the monster, clutching to her seat as she felt the whole unit tremble against the noise. Her eyes were locked shut long after she was sent freely flying through the air. She almost didn't notice her freedom in time, gasping again as she fumbled to fix the tumbling trajectory she was launched into. The white unit barely leveled out above the horizon, engines firing back to life as what was left of it's wings adjusted to make up for it's poor shape.

"I.. I'm on my way back. Made it out of the area... I think I'm outside of it's range." Ziye called out over the comm in disbelief, eyeing the status of her Calion carefully. She silently hoped it would hold together long enough to make it back.
 

MKR

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#15
As the Calion vacated the premises, the flapping quieted down as the purple DAMON descended to the torn Axio, the final DAMON coming out of the DEC forest as it touched the ground. The two eyed one another for a moment before the flying monstrosity pulled open the remains of the DEC harvester.
A moment passed, the simple DAMON in the meanwhile sorting through the parts arrayed on the ground before picking out two and carefully placing them in its mouth.

As the small DAMON finished its search the one that had sent the Calion flying reached into the back of the Axio, grasping an item and pulling out a fairly large metal construction, which had remained mostly undamaged. Had anyone been around to see they would've realized that the larger DAMON had just ripped out the entire aerial DEC harvesting equipment preserving all the necessary parts for it to operate and absorb all the DEC particulate in the air while the smaller one had picked out the controls for said harvester and the comms system.

The larger of the two held out its free hand, taking the two items from the smaller as its dashed off afterwards and with one final check if the Calion was truly gone, took off once more and headed towards the forest from whence it came. Its intent for the items unseen and unknown.




With tall, purple and draconic no longer in pursuit and the rest of the area being cleared of DAMONs the trip back to the DEI, despite the taken damage, was safe and swift. The man on her comms spoke up once more as she announced her supposed safety.

"Alright, make your way back and we'll look over the footage you've collected of that thing." He said, while trying to sound sympathetic the enthusiasm was ill concealed and glaringly obvious and so once the Calion had returned two crowds would gather, one familiar group to observe the damage to and performance of the Calion and another of nearly entirely unknown faces. Scientists who came out of the DEI's woodworks to hear about this new creature. Each ready to give the creature a name and join the likes of Dylan Couch as the DEI's elite scientists with earth shattering discoveries.

Then again, the actual person who discovered the purple dragon also had that opportunity.
 

Ziye

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Feb 15, 2019
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#16
Finally within the safety of the institute, Ziye slowly opened her exit from what remained of the Calion after it's test flight. The pilot clung tightly to the cord that lowered her carefully to the ground with one arm, while her other hung at her side. She glanced out at the crowds that had shown up, trying to gather her own thoughts in regards to the test flight and what had happened as a result. Her mind went to the Axio and the pilot she had failed to save.. She shook her head, trying her best to focus.

Once her feet were on the ground, she immediately reached to her other arm, holding it in a shaky grip. Her whole demeanor seemed shaken and unstable as she tried to keep herself steady. After a long pause in front of the groups, she slowly reached to her helmet, pressing a button to release the visor in front.

"Th--.. She's a f-fast one... G-Good thing.. too. L-Lot's of data in regards to.. flight patterns. The drives will need.. some adjusting. A-- Anything else..?" she struggled to speak in front of the group. She hadn't noticed the number of unfamiliar faces until long after she finished speaking, causing her expression to slowly change from shaken and stressed to confused and concerned.