When a mind snaps - [Open]

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

Splicer had been chilling in his pad when the announcement was made. Another day, another psycho on-board the ship. It was sort of ironic that it was one crazy AI taking over the resident crazy AI, one messed up overlord for another. Regardless of what the deal was, it was time to suit up and get shit in gear.

"I'll be heading out guys, keep the fort safe!" He was ready in a matter of seconds, armor, weapons and explosives... But there was something amiss. Besides feeling a wicked migraine, he had gotten no response from his friends.

"What? Did I do something?"

No answer. He walked over to the doll that had been sitting in front of the computer screen. "Hey, dude, don't worry, I'll fix the rig soon enough." No answer. "Fine then, be a fucking douche Miggy."

He turned and frowned, looking at where the other two had been at. Alice brushing Lil's hair. "You two too?"

No answer.... Lil would never not talk to him... He took long, hurried steps towards the doll and picked it up. "Lil... Lil, can you hear me?" No answer.

A cold fear gripped his body for the first time in decades. That feeling of cold dread that he felt that day, the day they died. But they didn't die! They were here with him weren't they?! They escaped that planet! They survived and they were on board Stacy with him!

"Talk to me damnit! Lil! Alice! Mig?! Anyone?!!!" The silence that permeated through the room was only broken by the heavy breathing of the mask.

"No... nononononono NO!" He couldn't lose them, He couldn't fail them. Not Lil!

Stacy... And now this other fuckwad Shodan.... They did this. THIS WHOLE FUCKING SHIP DID THIS!

There'd be hell to pay. Everyone had betrayed him, he could hear them. Laughing. After all he tried to do for them... Especially that nut and bolt sucking bitch.

Splicer, no. Agent 779 loaded up on his stash of explosives and weapons. It was about to become a lot more heated in this place.

[[OOC: Here you have a black ops specialist gone berserk! Who also happens to have a mighty fine stash of explosives and weapons and is now convinced that the crew, and especially the ship, have betrayed him. he's currently attempting to add nice, new vents to Stacy with random explosive charges all through the City. Go on an easter egg hunt to deactivate them, or run into a bullet from his high powered sniper rifle! Or just go fight him during one of the times he's placing one of his bomb packets! Either way, he's extremely dangerous to the crew right now. Needs to be stopped!]]

Comments

The City

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi was astride the HDC, well on his way to areas of more heated battle when he heard something whistle through the air. Was that a sniper bullet?

It was.

"Splicer!" he shouted, banking his bike around. "What are you doing?"

[They can exchange a few shots and Splicer can get away to wreak more havoc?]

Sounds good.

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

Not bad for a traitor. "Sorry, I'll make sure to go for a hundred points next time!"

Of course, the way the City was placed, the echo bounced off the buildings as he re-aimed for the next shot. Sure enough, he didn't have his augmentations, but he still had decades of training.

"Jus' make sure to give my regards to HAL 2.0"

And then another shot was fired.

Re: Sounds good.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Look, we need to work together on this! We're fighting robots, remember? Pull yourself together!"

Splicer's bullet missed by inches as the bike swerved into a turn. Zouichi dismounted in a flash, disregarding the chips of cement ricocheting off the wall of a nearby building as the round hit brick. In a flash, he aimed his gravity pistol upward, using the bullet's trajectory to estimate Splicer's location -- and aiming slightly lower.

He didn't want to kill Splicer. But taking out the floor under him would give Zouichi a chance to disarm him.

Zouichi fired just before ducking behind a nearby wall. The gravity shell took out a large, sudden chunk out of what he hoped was what Splicer was standing on.

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

It landed right on the mark, sending the sniper to the floor below, but not before a little extra debris was sent heading Zouchi's way.

"Merry Christmas traitor~"

What's that Zouchi? Is that a thermal charge? Why yes, yes it is. Better bounce a bit!

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

HE THOUGHT THEY WERE BROS, MAN.

Zouichi dove, making a straight line for Splicer's position. No time to lose. He aimed his mini-grappling device at a nearby building, fired -- the device's needle hit home right below the roof, allowing him to use the wire retraction mechanism to pull himself upward.

Once he was there, he simply dropped to the ground where Splicer had fallen, hunting for the rogue sniper. If Splicer had access to explosives, his time was short. Very short. No point in talking to him; the name of the game was taking Splicer down hard and (hopefully) without killing him.

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

THEY ARE! BUT NO MENTAL DAMPENERS MEAN BAD THINGS COME OUT AND TAKE OVER!

But the floor he landed on had no trace of the sniper. However... Zouchi had forced him to leave his roost... and the special care package was was neatly nudged... somewhere in the building. The loud beeping sound that echoed through the building once the debris stopped dropping gave hints that it was nearby.

As for Splicer's location... that was still to be determined.

[death_adept]

Following the reports of a hostile sniper in the city, one of the crew no less Jalith was quick to move. From rooftop to rooftop he moved rapidly, even with the weakening of some of his cybernetics and augmentations, Jalith had been an expert assassin and sniper even before his induction into the Officio Assassinorum.

His spy suit obscuring his form with its chameleonine surfaces, though they stuttered slightly as he moved the dampers providing some manner of interference with their systems. The sensors of his spy mask scanning for signs of the sniper. His own rifle slung over his back, a harness slung full of the weapons he had procured many left from his days as an inquisitorial agent along with his Exitus weaponry.

[OOC: One Vindicare Assassin beginning to hunt Splicer, though you can have him get away if you need to of course.]

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

Of course a trained sniper wouldn't have left his roost without defenses. Especially ones who were bred for assassination and infiltration. When you know how to strike, you know how to defend... for the most part.

He didn't know who exactly was coming for him, he believed entirely that the entire ship had turned their backs on him and as thus had prepared to face the entire crew and wage Trans War One if he had to.

If one were to follow the trail, they'd notice intricately placed triggers along some rather intricate use of the surroundings.

Not enough for full defense, no. This sniper would be placing his care packets all over the place, so most of these were for alerting him and moving along so he could finish his special delivery.

[OOC: All assassin on assassin action is welcome! Ezio appears out of nowhere.]

[death_adept]

For one trained by the temple Vindicare of the Officio assassinorum he knew well the ways of a sniper, for Jalith it was as much a part of him as breathing.

Thus when the Vindicare spotted the first of the triggers he knew he was closing in. Those triggers he could make his way past he did so quickly and gracefully. Those that he could not simply move past he worked quickly to disable. His training in setting up such systems proving its use. Though he knew that if the other had rigged the triggers to alert him if they were disabled the opposing assassin would be alerted to his presence.

Nevertheless the assassin moved rapidly in toward the Sniper's position.

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

Alerted he was, and it had to be someone highly skilled. He knew there were incredible people on board Stacy and the thrill of the encounter almost made him excited enough to seek. But he had much bigger fish to fry, that didn't mean he'd be careless and let his trail be followed. An encounter was unavoidable considering the person or creature following him was well trained.

He'd switch to light weaponry instead of his large rifle and set up a perimeter around his area of minor explosives and a few triggers. He'd hate it if he lost another care package, so he'd engage and only retreat if his mission to end Stacy had a chance of being compromised.

He lay against the wall, blending slightly with the shadows thanks to his gear, awaiting for his hunter...

[death_adept]

As he closed in on the location he followed the trail of defenses towards the Assassin slowed somewhat, growing ever more cautious.

His hands closing on two stub automatics, both with under the barrel red-dot sights, drawing them silently as he closed in, knowing that a smart sniper would set up extra defenses around his immediate area, particularly if he was not going to move.

Guns up as he moved into the area, alert for triggers his spy mask scanning over various spectrums as he searched for his target. His own form blending in with the environment as he stalked through it. It would take a skilled eye to detect him, but then a skilled eye made a good sniper.

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

It was the air, the different in the surrounding area and the shifting of certain details that put the sniper on edge. The person hunting him wasn't just anybody, it was someone skilled in possibly the same trade as he. That made him more dangerous than most of the crew.

Steadying his stance, Splicer triggered one of the charges near the disturbance area manually to smoke out the intruder and ready to let loose a barrage of ammo onto the assailant.

[gunspluscells.livejournal.com]

Aya had somehow escaped that damned maze and the AI who kept promising cake. Jesus christ on a stick, that was harrowing. Now she felt a little bit closer to Chell after it.

But what a mess she came back to! Suddenly there was something called Shodan running around disrupting the ship. It took Aya a moment to realise what was wrong. Suddenly she felt like she couldn't move as quickly or for as long. Then she realised that all her Parasite Energy had been sapped and her mitochondria had been depowered. Well, this was a sensation she hadn't felt in a long time.

Time to business though. Parasite Energy or not, Aya was still trying to find someplace safe. She moved through The City as fast as she could after arming herself.

But she would cross Splicer's path directly whether she liked it or not.

(( hope this is okay with you, if not just send me a message and I can change stuff ))

More than fine and welcomed!

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

Splicer had just finished setting up a charge when he was vacating the building. He heard footsteps outside and propped his rifle against him in order to let them pass and take them out from behind.

There was no code, no way to do things, everyone was an enemy right now and that included what sorry sap had ventured into his hunting grounds.

However, as soon as he stepped silently out of the building, he caught sight of a familiar figure and stopped for a moment. His finger already in the trigger and her head on his sights...

It was Aya... She was new wasn't she? she disliked the AI... she wouldn't have... she wouldn't have been here long enough to be under the influence of that mechanical bitch... wouldn't she?

He hesitated, not being able to pull the trigger, for the time being anyways.

"Aren't you a little too out in the open during this whole shitstorm hun?" he called from far, still wearing his Spectre Armor and rifle at the ready, but not aimed directly at her at the moment.

[gunspluscells.livejournal.com]

That voice! Where was it coming from? Aya was on high alert so out came her guns at that voice - her handgun at her side in case she needed to fire. More a defensive measure than an offensive one. She had been so out of it for so long that she didn't recognise that it was Splicer.

"I get out of that damned AI's maze and into a shitstorm." She eyes the person in armor carefully. "Forgive me for being disorientated."

And as if to drive the point home.

"I'm not out for blood, I'm getting the hell out of here."

Because this man was holding his gun out in a way that she wasn't comfortable with.

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

"A way out of here huh? Ain't we all after that? Sweet release from this twisted vortex of bullshit that's spewed onto us on a daily basis? Mission after mission with no direction? Not even a spittle of an answer to all the questions while more and more questions keep piling up unanswered? Yeah, I can understand that..."

Splicer aimed the gun a bit lower, taking a less threatening stance.

"I'd suggest somewhere outside the city." he said casually, not wanting to give too much away as to him being one of the reasons the City was not safe.

[gunspluscells.livejournal.com]

"Look, the only reason anybody deals with that bullshit is because somehow they believe that's how they'll get back what they value. That's all anybody wants. Nobody enjoys it - but think of the bigger picture. That's all you gotta do."

Aya's still not letting go of her gun. There are grenades on her person in case she needed them. But diplomacy was always a better option - less carnage that way. And Aya's quite keen to avoid carnage at this point because she's not in a state to take any bullets.

"Who are you though? Aren't you in the same boat as me if you know all about this stuff?"

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

"Me? Naw, bitch took what I had already. Let's jus' say I'm here to repay the act."

As for Aya... he had no ill will towards her. Or at least, he didn't feel any at the moment. There was something about her that was making him separate her from the enemies and the rest of the 'traitorous' crew as he would think in his current state.

[starbolts]

Starfire couldn't remember ever being more afraid in her life. She was powerless here, hardly able to fight at all, and the attacks were only getting worse. She'd spent the whole day hiding when she wasn't running, and on one of her frightened peeks outside, she saw her old friend.

But something was clearly wrong. She called out to him, too worried about the robot army to risk coming out---though she didn't yet realize that she was calling the attention of the bigger risk.

"Shadow!" she yelled, using the old name.

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

The triggery response was to be expected, Splicer had turned and only avoided blowing the girl's head off at the last moment when he pulled up and the powerful rifle round went upwards instead of towards the girl.

He stared at her momentarily, his head hurting for a moment as he did his best to muddle through his memories unaided by his usual restraints.

'Shadow'... something about that made him less aggressive... Something particularly fond in his more recent memories.

"What are you doing out here...?"

[starbolts]

Starfire shrieked, falling back behind the little window. She held up a little sheet of metal when she peeked up next, straining to lift something she was once able to toss easily.

"I am resisting the destruction of our home," she said simply, still slightly afraid of him. "As you are?"

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

"Somewhat..." if by avoiding the destruction of their home meant that he was out to kill Stacy and Shodan in one swift, massive, explosion, then yes.

"You shouldn't be out here... Where you not able to find a safe area? The City is.... compromised." By both him and the robots.

[starbolts]

"I could not escape in time. Without the joy of flight, I am lost," she admitted, warily coming into the open with her large pipe in hand. "I do not know the streets very well from the ground---ah!" she yelped, positioning the pipe in front of her when she heard a noise.

[Media Library Hall]

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

A little foot, followed by another, and the rest of a small, female body fell out of a vent in an ungainly heap. Sherry felt like she'd chosen a perfect moment. Most of the robots were in other places now, and she didn't hear them.

She just... had to get to her mom and dad now. Somehow. A shiver raced down her spine in fear, but Sherry didn't have time to acknowledge the churning in her belly. Standing up and brushing off her plantsuit, she turned and started down the hallway quickly and quietly. First to the lifts, then to the City, then to the school. And hope that nothing found her inbetween.

But what about Vega? Sherry worried her lip and edited her plan to include the hanger.

[expendable-mind.livejournal.com]

During her walk through the City, Sherry must have taken a wrong turn, because right now she was facing the end of a rather large and high tech looking sniper rifle.

Splicer had enough sense left in him to not pull the trigger immediately, instead, the ominous lights from the mask stared at the young girl and he slowly lowered his rifle.

"This ain't the right place for a girl to be wandering." his voice was cold, unlike his usual relaxed and warm demeanor, but he had to wonder just what she was doing wandering these streets alone.