Torontreal - Transportation District

 

        Located within the heart of the more densly populated areas of Torontreal is the legendary Transportation District, where the Omni-Transport Depo's can be found. Zoomtubes and shuttles launch in all directions, heading for various parts of the city, taking citizens and people across the massive lengths of Torontreal within moments. Highways, multi-level, zig zag through the skies and surprisingly enough, traffic is always light here due to the sheer number of omni-roads scattered all around.

 

 

 Contents:                               Contents:                     

 Flame Hyenard [RF]                      Storm Owl [Standard] [RF]             

 Bolero [Wreck Brahma] [RF]              Bravura [M]                           

 Quantum Kitsune [Triad_kitsune] [M]

 Crystal Joe

 

 Shuttle <1>:              Teleportation Area--Torontreal

 Shuttle <2>:              Central Canada

 Northwest <NW>:           Torontreal - Commercial District

 West <W>:                 Torontreal - Western Business Zone

 East <E>:                 Torontreal - Eastern Business Zone

 South <S>:                Torontreal - Southern Downtown

 North <N>:                Torontreal - Northern Downtown

 

It's evening in Torontreal. It has to be sometime, anyway.

 

For a bustling metropolis, things are pretty quiet. People are just going about their business peacefully ... even a small cell of Skinners that have been uncovered in an auto repair shop in the Transportation District. The Mavericks have their location and numbers, and a strike force has been selected, briefed, and dispatched.

 

Not all parts of the metropolis are quiet. Storm Owl is here in Torontreal on business. The Commander of the Repliforce Battleplatform flagship Fortress V (say that five times fast) steps out of the shuttle that departed the teleportation area mere minutes ago. The crisp cold Canadian winter air slams into him and every other passenger disembarking. Much grumbling is heard from Storm Owl's fellow travelers - about the cold, about the strife in Russia, about the chilling tale south of the border in Oklahoma, about anything - but the war bird ignores the various comments, instead focusing on pushing his way through the thick crowd consisting of Reploids, men, women, and cyborgs. It is a colourful group, and despite his Repliforce regalia, Storm Owl blends in relatively well. Normally the master of the skies would simply fly to his meeting, but this is one of those times when discretion is needed. Storm Owl is just another face in a crowd of anonymity.

 

If anyone of the skinners were paying attention they would notice that the ground is vibrating a little bit in rhythm as the group of Mavericks, led by the X-Hunter Violen, approaches. Granted, some of the skinners do notice but they just take pride in believing that it is caused by that garbage that they try to pass of as music. However, after a few more beats, they begin to notice it is getting louder and they seem to have a very large Maverick at there front door. Violen grins and says to his comrades, "It appears that I found my inspiration for my new piece!" His mace then flies to life, smashes through the wind with an F sharp and begins smashing whatever it can, causing a D flat, C, F, D Flat, C, and so on.

 

Hyenard was here on Storm Owl's business? YEA RIGHT. Hyenard was running defense, staying out of the general sight was the key for him as well. Granted, he was rather easy to spot in a crowd, but right now, the three Hyenards look like they are simply waiting around for a cab. NOTHING TO SEE HERE FOLKS.

 

Quantum Kitsune hangs back a bit from Violen. She sees no reason to be at Ground Zero for when Peter Porkchop here draws some enemy fire. Spread out, don't all get hit by one explosion ... that's the ticket. Fortunately, since Violen is about as subtle as a frisky dog at a leg convention, every civilian with a brain in his head is getting WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY clear of the impending battlesite.

 

        Bolero, unlike his comrades, already completing his part of the mission. He's seated at a train station just down the street from the garage, in human form still, reading a newspaper. Administrative duties are such a hassle to him and being sent here to get replacement parts for Repliforce's favorite hackers and their respective computers is just downright degrading.

 

Once Violen introduces the group and makes a convient entrance, Bravura goes to work, dashing past the big man and right towards the nearest human. Bravura reaches for his the hilt of his sword, theres a flash of light and the human slumps forward, never even having a chance to raise from the chair he was sitting in. The next human he stabs in the leg instead of killing, making the man scream in time with Violen's rythm. Sweet sadistic music.

 

A civilian is smart. Civilians are stupid. The crowd including Storm Owl is some distance away from the auto-shop that's most likely going to be destroyed rather soon. Like a ripple caused by a stone in a pond, panic begins to spread outwards, becoming uneven the further it travels. By the time the news of the sudden attack reaches Storm Owl, the war bird has already patched into the local police broadband, receiving data from several hundred different feeds all at once. The crowd begins to run from the battle site, but Storm Owl remains still, absorbing all of the information at an alarming rate. Finally, after about thirty seconds have passed, the Major abruptly spreads his short but sturdy wings and rises up into the air. "This is Major Storm Owl." He transmits over short-distance Repliforce broadband. "There is a hostile Maverick sighting within the Transportation District of Torontreal. Any units available should respond. Coordinates follows." A steady stream of data, including the location of this sudden Maverick assault. Storm Owl is already on his way, soaring through the bitter cold skies towards the auto repair shop. "One Maverick identity confirmed: Violen." Quantum is hanging back, and Bravura didn't start the slaughtering until inside the shop.

 

Violen laughs as the music that is pouring forth from his mace is beautiful to his ears. His laughter stops though when he hears the screams that he did not cuase. He looks around and sees that Bravura is in fact the one causing the screams to be issued and they even work with the music! Violen is very impressed and says, "Excellant work! You are good at this. He continues smashing stuff with the screams coming in at the right pictch and timing with the other notes (which shall not be listed for the sake of spamminess.) "Hey Quantum! Why don't you make yourself useful and do something!"

 

Quantum Kitsune appears inside the building with a red flash of light. "I am ... I'm actually getting down to the important business and looking for the basement access, so we can do the *real* job of saving the Reploids. You know, the important part." That definitely seemed directed at Bravura somehow. Quantum, of course, comes under assault by a worker with a tire-iron ... who simply meets a swift kick to the solar plexus and doubles over. After that, it's ransack time as she starts knocking over chairs and furniture, looking for the access hatch.

 

        Bolero sighs and facepalms as he hears Storm Owl's pronouncement. "I know I'm going to get chewed out for this... But I might as well make the most of my time." he states, standing up slowly. He quickly moves against the tide of civilians, finally leaping into the bushes. He arises once again, as Wreck Brahma. The Bull storms calmly toward Violen, Bravura, and QKit.

 

Bravura pulls his sword from the man's leg and tosses him aside, still alive but the way he's bleeding, probably not for too much longer without medical care. The white and blue Maverick spots a worker dumb enough to go for a gun setting on a counter, with a flick of the wrist and dagger pins the worker's offending hand to the counter and he replies to QKit, "Making an example of these scum is important." However he stops what he was doing to help search with Qkit.

 

Storm Owl arches an optical brow at Bolero's reply. He doesn't push the issue, though, as it's probably just emotional nonsense and Storm Owl has far more important thing to worry about. Below the war bird, the crowd continues to scatter in all directions like ants from a kid with a hose. "I have arrived on the scene, Commander." He reports to Bolero, letting the superior officer take over with the organizational efforts. Swiftly, the tactician touches down outside the auto-repair shop. His talons grip the pavement as he slowly steps towards the new entrance. The Mavericks are inside by now, but Storm can see movement deep within the shop through the smashed window. If they're perceptive and keeping a watch outdoors, they should spot him as well.

 

        Bolero nods slightly at Storm's report, "Good. What's going on inside the building?" he inquires calmly, storming slowly toward the building. Slowing him down, beyond his great size, is the fact that he has random civilians to keep from stepping on as he goes. Oh and the Mavericks may well notice the ground shaking with every Wreck Brahma step as he draws nearer the garage.

 

Quantum Kitsune feels the shaking, but assumes it's Violen's size 98 flipflops doing the deed. She just sighs at Bravura, but declines to argue. Arguing with most Mavericks is like participating in the Special Olympics; even if you win, you're still retarded. "What-ever," she intones in a Valleygirl tone, stopping to tap her chin. "Let's see ... if I were to hide a secret base access, where would I hide it ..."

 

Violen notices the ground shaking, but he thinks it is just him, he is smashing everything in sight after all. He finishes up another line of the music and decides that the two Mav's are enough to look for things, and besides, looking for stuff was never Violen's forte; he tended to lose things much more often than find things. Since Kitsune and Bravura are busy looking for stuff, he decides to turn to turn around to see what else there is to make music out of, since this piece is not done. As he turns, he sees Storm Owl and becomes excited and yells to his companions, "Hey guys! Guess what! We have company! The Replifarce Turkey has decided to pay us a visit!" He then says to the Commander of the Repliforce Battleplatform flagship Fortress V, "Do you want to help us find the skinners?"

 

"Undetermined." Comes Storm Owl's quick, efficient reply to Bolero's question. It would seem that the two high ranking Repliforcer are the only ones available to fend off against this latest Maverick-fueled trouble. The war bird looks up (and up!) as the Special Operations Commander makes his arrival. He ignores the shaking that Bolero's presence makes, standing as tall and ready as he always does. It's clear the owl is letting Bolero take the charge here. Storm Owl may be a superb Commander, but he's also a fantastic soldier who follows the plans of others quite well. From within the shop, Violen can be spotted shouting back out to him. Storm Owl ignores the idiot question, and his twin wing mounted wind generators begin to power up to combat status. The stern-faced Reploid gives Bolero a 'well?' glance before returning his focus on the shop, and Violen within.

 

Bravura sighs as he looks around trying to figure out where the entrance might be hidden, he's not much for looking for secret entrances himself. The man that had been pinned to a counter by Bravura's dagger finally regains some composure and pulls the dagger out of his hand and tries to run. Sadly for him he doesn't get very far before another dagger finds its self buried in his neck severing the spinal chord, the mans dead before he even hits the floor. Bravura also notices the presense of Storm Owl and realizes that the quaking isn't coming from Violen, "Well, we might get to have some real fun after all." He begins to slowly walk towards the front of the building and shouts to QKit, "Keep looking for that entrance.

 

        The Spaniard looks to Storm and nods. "Take the little one." he states calmly as he bends over to pick a dumpster. He takes careful aim through the smashed-in garage front and ahems, "You three are all under arrest for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and miscellaneous other misdemeanors and felonies." he intones. "Consider this a citizen's arrest." he adds quietly, coughing slightly. He keeps forgetting he doesn't work for the UN anymore.

 

Quantum Kitsune turns to look at Bolero. "Actually, old chap old bean old top," she intones, assuming a faux British accent and waggling a finger at the Spaniard, "Right now, we're just being good citizens ourselves. Notice that nobody's croaked around here but these schmucks?" She casually scoots the guy she decked out a window into the alley for something resembling safety ... he might not have been in on the operation. "Y'see, you might wanna check the basement before you lay into us too hard."

 

Violen looks up at the new arrival next to the turkey and says, "You don't scare me!" He then pauses as one of those precious few thoughts hit him about how Bolero would be perfect for finishing his piece. He is just about to voice this opinion when Kitsune voices hers. Granted, it is not what Violen wanted to say, but he is willing to follow along, "What she said." If one is paying attention, they can hear soft notes being played as violen taps his mace against the floor to continue his piece until Bolero makes his move.

 

Quantum Kitsune also sits pretty knowing that she'll get off lightest if the three of us get taken in. She has no kills on her record. Thus, smugness.

 

"Aye sir!" Storm Owl declares, raising a fist and pointing it through the cracked window. There's the slight hiss of rushing air, followed quickly by a potent blast of cyclonic air being blown from the war bird's hand, through the destroyed glass window, and towards 'the little one'. Despite the chaos that this act of war is no doubt going to cause, Storm Owl calmly and quietly asides to Bolero, "We have an arrangement with the United States, sir. Our defence here is entirely legal." Hey, Bolero's been out of commission for some time now.

        Regardless of whether or not his attack strikes the secret-entrance-searching Bravura, Storm Owl flies through the hole Violen caused in order to confront Bravura before she can attack any other 'innocent' civilians. Shooting Quantum a glance, Storm Owl retorts in his holier-than-thou monotone, "Irrelevant. Your presence here, coupled with your actions, justifies our response."

 

Storm Owl strikes Bravura with his Cyclone Storm attack.

 

Bravura is caught up in Storm Owl's cyclone and bounces off a few rather hard objects before the wind finally dies down. Jumping back to his feet the moment the wind subsided enough to allow him to stand, the maverick sword's charges towards Storm Owl, "Our actions are the ones justified here, these creatures are the real villians here." As he runs towards Storm Owl he grabs hold of one of those big red tool chests that are so common in autoshops and swings it at the bird like a bat.

 

Bravura strikes Storm Owl with his Bash attack.

 

Bravura says, "Oops, fowl ball."

 

Bolero blinks at Storm Owl, about to point out that Torontreal is a part of Canada, not the United States, when the Owl jumps the gun and charges in anyhow. "Oh. You're looking for the Skinner den? That's in the garage five blocks over. The police should be raiding it right now, as a matter of fact." he intones calmly. At which point the dumpster he picked up is launched at Quantum Kitsune. The Spaniard has had limited contact with data on her fighting style and at the moment, he realizes she's the biggest threat to him and Storm Owl taking out Bravura (a relative unknown) and Violen. Who he damn near took out the last time they did battle.

 

Bolero strikes Quantum Kitsune with his Large Miscellaneous Object attack.

 

Storm Owl has no plans on letting up on his assault. The localized wind continues to rip around furiously, knocking repair equipment and supplies off of the walls and sending them flying towards Bravura. Storm Owl is expecting Bolero to handle Violen and Quantum Kitsune. Some damage to the garage itself is an acceptable loss. "Incorrect." He retorts to Bravura. "There are legal means of prosecuting criminals. A raid is not one of them." The wind continues to roar, but unfortunately one of the tool chests that wasn't quite dislodged by the storm is acquired by Bravura and, after he navigates the wind storm to get in close, swings for Storm Owl. There's a loud ~CLANG~ as Storm Owl is struck violently. The wind jolts and halts, momentarily disrupted due to the creator's injuries. Storm Owl falls backwards, but remains aloft in the air. If Storm Owl gets the joke, he doesn't show it, instead focusing on the combat. Swiftly, the war bird swoops towards Bravura. His mobility is severely limited due to the confines of the garage, but Storm Owl does an admirable job. If successful, the tactician attempts to grip onto the Maverick with his sharp talons as he performs his fly-by and fling him into the far wall.

 

Storm Owl strikes Bravura with his Talon Crush attack.

 

Quantum Kitsune blinks. Foolishly, she turns away from Bolero. "No, no ... there's one here too. Maybe they're part of a chain or a linked cell. If I'm wrong, I definitely owe someone a major apology." She then turns back around, preparing to continue her explanation when she takes the Dumpster square in the chops. The huge object flies backwards with her spackled to it, out the back wall, through the work area, and out the garage doors into the rear parking lot.

 

Quantum slowly stands up. "The defense," she starts, before falling over face-first. "Rests."

 

Violen's mace continues to tap as the music continues to come to him. He does not mind that Storm Owl and Bravura are battling around him, so long as they agreed that they were not fighting. Besides, he is having fun with this particular piece of music, but as luck would have it, as one phrase ended and he was working on how to start the next, a dumpster goes flying past him into their lawyer. He watches as she exits the building in a destructive manner and says, "I guess someone just volunteered to start the next phrase of my new composition!" He then charges with the mace spinning over his head, and when he is close enough, it flies forward to strike with a strong F sharp.

 

You strike Bolero with a solid hit from your Flail attack.

 

Bravura is grabbed and tossed, smashing into of the walls, plaster falls down around him as he pulls himself free from the endention left behind. Grunting the blademaster pulls out his sword, the Varia blade, which at present looks like a fairly normal hand and half sword. Bravura lunges forward with surprising quickness and makes a backhand swing at Storm, aiming to his rotund gut.

 

Bravura strikes Storm Owl with his Slash attack.

 

                        *F-sharp*

 

        Bolero blinks a few times as there is suddenly a mace implanted in his midsection. The Spaniard emits a loud and painful sound as he stumbles backward from the hard hit, looking down at his partially caved in midsection. He rubs his tummy and growls, "You think that's something? Get a load of this." he snarls, the hump of his back suddenly peeling back to launch a huge sphere of... Something... skyward. His right wrist ejects a beam emitter that he snags with his left hand and aims it skyward. There's a momentary pause before chain-links of black gravitic force form between the emitter and the sphere.

 

        Wreck Brahma whirls the olympic hammer around a few times before swinging it at Violen. "Let's get something straight, Piglet. You don't have a silly ol' bahr to come to your rescue. So consider yourself my breakfast meat tomorrow." he intones as the weight sails around athletically.

 

You deflect Graviton Hammer from Bolero.

 

Like a Reed. Storm Owl never did really get the hang of that defensive maneuver taught to him at the Wise Monkey Dojo. Despite being in the air, Bravura is quick enough to approach in on the war bird and plant his blade across Storm Owl's belly despite his amateur defensive parry. There's a stunned grunt as the tactician's air-support suddenly gives out, causing him to stumble and land in the middle of the waste-strewn garage. There's a bright rip along his lower torso. It would seem that Storm Owl's armour is not terribly thick there. Storm Owl glances towards Violen and Bolero, spotting how Violen appears to be getting the upper hand on the Special Operations Commander. Not wanting to be in the middle of a room with that long flail being flung around at a madening pace, Storm Owl rushes for cover, backpedaling away from Bravura and his damn varia sword. As he does so, there's a golden-orange flash of metal as a long dagger's blade appears in the war bird's hand, drawn from one of his wings. In one fluid motion, the blade is flung towards Bravura, aimed at skewering him in the throat.

 

Storm Owl strikes Bravura with his Feather Missile attack.

 

Violen is pleased the the note struck as it did, but before he can continue with the music, he finds himself confused as he has no idea what Bolero just said. "What the heck is a Bahr?" he thinks to himself. He then notices the large hammer type thingy that bolero is swinging over his head and decides that that is not something he wants to experience so he starts swing his mace and manages to time it just right to stop the attack and get the right note for the rest of the song too (which happens to be a C sharp if anyone cares.) He then says, "I may not know what you just said, but I know how to take you down." He taps his mace quickly on the ground a bit to finish up that phrase and then bellows two notes at the same time which are only a half-step apart thus causing dissonence that most people find to be unappealing. (C nature and C sharp)

 

You strike Bolero with a glancing hit from your Dissonance Blast attack.

Bolero is temporarily disoriented by Violen's Dissonance Blast attack.

 

Bolero blinks, rather stunned that a pig, A GIANT PIG, just deflected his olympic hammer with a mace. He blinks a few more times and finds himself assaulted by sonics. Fortunately for the Reploid Master of Sonics, this tickles. Unfortunately, it tickles a lot. Bolero's temporarily distracted by tickling.

 

Violen taps his mace a few more times on the ground before continuing his assualt. His music is very important to him and this is turning out to be a great piece; in fact, he might even submit this one as the new Maverick Anthem. He is just about ready to start the next line of music and so he leaps towards Bolero and attempts to get a good solid C Sharp out the mace as it impacts the Repliforcers stomach again.

 

You strike Bolero with a minor hit from your Bash attack.

 

Bravura doesn't even attempt to defend against the dagger thrown at him, it merely pings off his armor, not even managing to cut all the way through the realitively thin neck armor. Chuckling to himself the maverick blademaster stalks forward, moving in on the cover seeking Storm owl, "Hmm, I feel like rotisserie tonight, which means I need a chicken to skewer, guess you'll have to do!" Bravura pulls his sword back and serges forward, once he's right on top of Storm Owl he thrusts his blade forward, aiming straight for the center of the bird's chest.

 

Bravura strikes Storm Owl with his Thrust attack.

 

Bolero is bashed in the stomach, again, but this time it doesn't hurt quite so much. He grunts as it knocks the wind out of him, though in a moment he's back to speed. "Oh. This is so not your lucky day, Violen." he intones angrily as gravity completely swamps his form. The Brahma reaches out to grab Violen by the neck and then full body slam the piggy into the ground. Pressed ham anyone?

 

You deflect Slam from Bolero.

 

Storm Owl arches an optical brow as Bravura's armour deflects the thrown blade seemingly easily. "That 'joke', Maverick, is very old." Storm Owl replies. Indeed, he has heard it many times. Were he another mech, he'd comment on the lack of originality that the blademaster displayed. But as it stands, Storm Owl doesn't care about foolish jokes - only on ending this fight as fast as he possibly can. Storm Owl's wind generators finally recover from the slash across his belly, but before he can utilize them to blow Bravura away, the war bird winds up getting another blade in his torso. The sword lodges itself square in his chest, digging in deep. There's a wheezing sound from Storm Owl's vocal cables from the sheer pain, but controlled as ever, he remains focused on his task. With the blade still in his chest, Storm Owl reaches out and grabs Bravura tightly. His wings flex out, and Storm takes to the air, attempting to bring the Maverick blade slinger with him. Using all of the skill and training taught to him by the world's best aerial tactician, Storm Owl and Bravura are propelled towards the far wall, building up more and more speed until it's a terrible velocity. All this in the relatively small confines of the auto-garage. At about the three-quarters mark, Storm Owl lets go of Bravura, letting momentum (hopefully) take him the rest of the way to the wall.

 

Storm Owl strikes Bravura with his Storm Eagles Training attack.

 

Violen is not as weak as he looks and considering that he does not look too weak that is saying something. As he finds himself being lifted off of the ground by the large Bolero, he struggles a bit and manages to free his neck as Bolero starts to fall. However, Violen does not try and get away from the falling form, but rather miraculously manages to climb onto Bolero's back. He figures with an opponent this big, he isn't going to have much chance jumping over him normally so he takes this opportunity to do it. "Actually, I think it is your unlucky day," he says and just before they hit the ground, he jumps up to get more height and try and land feet first on Bolero's back. Granted this does nothing really according to physics, but Violen doesn't know that.

 

You strike Bolero with a solid hit from your Stomp attack.

 

Bravura is sent flying yet again, this starting to become a theme apparently. This time the maverick smashes clean through the wall and out the other side. For several moments theres nothing, then the blademaster appears back in the hole he made, he leaps up, spinning in mid air so that his feet come to rest on the cieling. At this point Bravura engages his hyper system, kicking off the cieling and accelerating at an insane rate in Storm's direction. He attempts to grab hold of the fowl fiend and use his own momentum to carry Storm head first into the ground below.

 

Bravura strikes Storm Owl with his Smash attack.

 

        ... Okay... Next time Bolero says that catching pigs is easy, he's going to think back to this and go '... DAMN IT!' No, seriously, he will. Violen just kind of squirms out of his grasp and climbs onto his back. Bolero emits an angry roar of pain as SuperHam crashes into the small of his back, smashing his stomach back flat again. He rolls to throw Violen off and shoves himself to his feet, reaching behind him to grab the hilt of his sword. A sword that conspicuously was absent moments ago. He draws it quickly the 25' of bastard sword blade forming as he draws. No, it's not a beam weapon. It's a sword composed of billions of nanites. Nanites intended for two purposes and two purposes only.

 

        1) Slay Bolero's enemies.

        2) Power up Bolero's internal repair systems and make some spot repairs.

 

        "This town ain't big enough for two giants. There can only be one and I intend to be the Duncan McCloud of this story." he snarls, whipping the blade around in an attempt to cleave through Violen.

 

Bolero strikes you with a solid hit from his Parasite Sword attack for 26 units of damage.

Bolero drains energy from you.

 

Violen finds himself being shoved off of the tall repliforcer and as he regains his balance he, taps his mace a few more times. This piece is almost done, and there are only three notes left, but before he can get around to playing them, he finds that Bolero has once again showed his superior intelligence. He finds himself confused and muttering to himself, "Who the heck is Duncan McCloud?"

 

Well, he did not find the answer but he thinks it might have something to do with slashing people because that is what just happened to him. He doesn't like it but he thinks he knows what to do. He opens his mouth and sings a perfect C sharp yet again.

 

Storm Owl is really starting to feel the effects of Bravura's attacks. Once more, his famed agility is unable to keep him away from the sword master. The close-quarters here simply isn't Storm Owl's normal terrain. Were this out in the open where the war bird could just blast the Maverick from afar repeatedly without having to worry about being assaulted in melee... well, that would be a different thing altogether. Storm Owl's stern face becomes deeper as Bravura rises after that last attack, charging in towards him. The Major doesn't stand a chance, and is struck square by the maneuver, twisted around, and sent head first into the pavement flooring of the garage.

        At this point... we must remember something - the oh so secret basement below the floor. Storm Owl crashes through the concrete, causing much of the floor to collapse (look out, folks up there!). A thick cloud of concrete dust fills the air, obstructing whatever is below. Crucial seconds pass, and Storm Owl does not rise.

        But just before one might think he's out for good, there's the hum of his wind generators, and then a frightening blast upwards. Carefully calculated to Bravura's last projected location, the concentrated wind strike rips through the floor, spewing concrete in his direction. Another wind blast quickly follows, also seeking out the Maverick master of the blade. Finally, Storm Owl himself rises up through the collapsed floor, a Repliforce avenging angel sent to protect those who are not deserving. His armour is battered, his slash and gouge in his belly torn open by the crash, and his wings tattered. With an air of finality, Storm Owl sends yet another cyclonic strike towards Bravura.

 

Storm Owl strikes Bravura with his Cyclone Cannon attack.

 

You miss Bolero with your Note Toss attack.

 

Bolero swings his sword back around and sheathes it once more. He growls lowly as he feels self-repair doing a very, very minimal amount of work inside of him. The Spaniard sighs and shakes his head, that'll have to do. He slams his hands together, focusing the thundering shockwave at Violen's C-sharp, cancelling it out quite handily. The Spaniard then brings his hands up and down, hammering the ground once. He presses his palms to the ground and roars, "GAIA CRUSHER!" At which point some rather gigantic piles of rock start streaking up out of the ground to collapse on Violen... Hopefully.

 

Bolero misses you with his Gaia Crusher attack.

 

Violen's bewilderment continues as not only did his attack have no effect, but now the sky is falling... or actually the earth is falling from the sky... it all happened so fast, it is confusing to the poor pigs brains. But through all this confusion, one thing, one overriding thought, one all important idea is prevailing over all else in his mind, "RUN!" And run he does. He is not a particularly fast pig, but it is possible that his lack of scientific knowledge allows him to break rules he does not know exist; rules like him being able to avoid being struck by an attack such as this. Whatever the case may be, he does avoid it and smashes his mace on the ground for a resounding G sharp, the second to last note.

It is quite apparent that this pig has had enough running around avoiding large Repliforcer's attacks and thinks this nonsense and this musical piece has been going on long enough. As a result, he charges towards Bolero one last time with his mace swinging above his head. If one has a good imaginiation and squints a little, he looks like that guy from Braveheart when they are charging the red coats at the Alamo or something like that. Ok, so you would have to squint a lot, but the point is one very nasty C sharp is aimed right at Bolero's bull head.

 

You strike Bolero with a minor hit from your Guided Mace attack.

 

Bravura didn't exactly expect the floor to give way on him so he's taken a bit by surprise when it does. This leaves the blademaster offguard when the cyclone blasts come, dealing a world of hurt to the poor Maverick, who only wanted to avenge the deaths of the reploids brutally slain at the hands of Skinners. But Storm Owl will have none of it apparently. By the time the dust settles poor Bravura isn't looking so hot. He grunts to himself as he staggers back to his feet, "This fight isn't worth my time traitor." With that Bravura tries to slip away, ofcourse, its going to be pretty darn hard run away from the bird boy.

 

Bravura retreats from the area swiftly, leaving him open to pursuit or parting shots from Storm Owl.

 

                        *WHONG* *C-SHARP* *WHANG*

 

        Bolero is knocked head over hooves and into the ground. It's just a bit more than he can take at this point. <<Storm. I'm pulling out. Sustained too much damage.>> he radios over the local broadband. At which point Bolero slams the ground, creating a fissure and starts to pull himself into the hole in the ground. <<Big Pig's all yours.>>

Bolero retreats from the area swiftly, leaving him open to pursuit or parting shots from Storm Owl, Bravura, and Violen.

 

Violen laughs as Bolero turns tail and runs, "That's what I thought!" He then laughs a little more, then inhales deeply and bellows with startling force...

 

You miss Bolero with your I'm A Little Tea-pot attack.

 

Storm Owl doesn't need any of that faulty logic going through Bravura's mind. He'd have a whole wealth of things to say. Deep within the basement, Storm Owl's sharp audio-sensors detect Bravura's comments, and the sound of running footsteps. Excellent, the Maverick has been defeated. In another situation Storm Owl would be all too happy to strike down the fleeing swordsman. Unfortunately, Bolero has been forced to withdraw as well, leaving just Violen and the Major here. The war bird knows all too well what the results of /that/ confrontation would be.

        Within seconds, Storm Owl has created a new plan as he descends once again into the basement. Starring through the concrete dust of the bottom level with his sensors, Storm Owl detects the two remaining skinners down here, huddled and dreading what will happen if Violen comes here. Most were killed in the initial Maverick assault before they could retreat down to the basement, it would seem. Storm Owl advances towards them both.

        "You two are coming with me." The Captain commands. "If you resist, you will die. If you attempt to flee, you will die. If you interfere with my actions, you will die." Whether he is actually threatening them, or merely pointing out that Violen will kill them is anyone's guess. There's been enough death here, and Storm Owl swiftly grabs onto the two lone survivors, crudely holding them about the waist. It would be most uncomfortable for them. Thankfully, Storm Owl does not hold a grudge against these barbaric criminals. Looking up through the hole he and Bravura caused, he projects another blast of air upward, this time striking and blowing open the ceiling of the garage. With little additional warning, Storm Owl streaks upwards through the hole at an alarming velocity.

Storm Owl retreats from the area swiftly, outdistancing all pursuit and parting shots.

 

Violen radios to Bravura, <Now that wasn't so hard was it? Go find Kitsune and take her back to Berlin. I am just going to finish this building off and then head back.> He begins to get ready to blow it down like the big bad wolf, but then remembers something, <Oh, since you will be there before me, could you put together a nice warm mud bath so it will be ready when I get back. I could really use one.> He then huffs and he puffs and he blows the remains of the old autoshop down.

 

================================= Repliforce =================================

Message: 14/17                     Posted        Author

AAR: Skinner Cell Attacked         Fri Jan 14    Storm Owl

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        Storm Owl's upper body appears on the screen. You should probably get comfortable. His head has a few dings in it.

 

        "Major Storm Owl reporting. At 2232 hours local Torontreal time, three Maverick combat units begun a raid on what was evidently a hideout for a skinner cell. The cell was located in the transportation district in an automotive repair facility. An attachment containing the initial investigation into the cell's organizational set-up is included with this report. The Mavericks were identified as Violen, Quantum Kitsune, and Bravura. Commander Bolero and myself were the lone Repliforcers able to respond to the assault."

 

        "In the initial Maverick attack, nearly all of the skinners currently at their hideout were killed. Two were able to retreat to a secret basement bunker, hiding and awaiting rescue. Cmdr. Bolero and myself begun our counter-offensive, and his actions removed Quantum Kitsune from the equation very early on. I engaged Bravura and, eventually, drove him from the field of battle before he could do any further damage. Unfortunately, Violen was able to severely wound Bolero. The Commander escaped under his own power, however."

 

        "During the course of the battle, I discovered the location of the secret bunker-" Storm does not elaborate how, "-and the two skinners within. Despite what damage was done to Violen, I calculated a mere 29.5 percent chance that I would be capable of defeating the X-Hunter. Given that, I took the logical alternative and retreated from the field of battle along with the two skinners."

 

        "Reports indicate Violen destroyed the rest of the garage before departing. My medical records, along with Cmdr. Bolero's, are attached to this report. The two skinners are currently in custody, as charges will be laid against them for their crimes. Given the nature of their capture and the brutal death of their companions, I imagine their sentence, once found guilty, will be light. I also expect further arrests will be made as the identities of any skinner not at the hideout at the time of the assault are discovered. Storm Owl out."

 

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================================== Maverick ==================================

Message: 12/23                     Posted        Author

One less group of skinners         Fri Jan 14    Violen

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Violen's portly frame appears on the screen as he says the following,

 

"Quantum Kitsune managed to find out where a group of skinners were hiding so she led Bravura and me to them in Torotreal. Once there, we made short work and great music out of the ones we came across until Boleroe and Storm Owl showed up. Bravura managed to keep Storm Owl busy for most of the time, but Kitsune was laid out by just one attack from Bolero! I then had to deal with Bolero by myself, but I found that he went down rather easy and he was very condusive to making music with. In the end, both of the Repliforcers retreated and we were victorious. We managed to kill all but two of the skinners. Those two were taken away by Storm Owl. It was a good mission, but I did not like the fact that Bravura disobeyed me by not preparing the mud bath I requested. Whoever his superiors are, please look into this. Violen out."

 

As his image fades, he starts playing the piece of music he wrote this battle. It can be found at:

http://www.geocities.com/violen_m3/Violen_050113.mid

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