2178/AWftF: The Final Dragon Ball

AWftF: The Final Dragon Ball
Date of Scene:	06 May 2015
Location:	Earth-4555 <DBZ>
Synopsis:	The final Dragon Ball has been traced to an underwater facility. A former Red Ribbon Army installation, the facility has more than a few secrets to reveal...
Cast of Characters:	20, 37, 38, 83, 546, 626, 663, 696, 768
Tinyplot:	A Wish for the Future

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Serori (37) has posed:
TODAY, ON DRAGON BALL Z -- The final Dragon Ball has been found! But can our heroes safely pillage it from its watery grave?! Find out in this, another exciting episode!

The coordinates given out by Serori (and confirmed by the Union's own operatives) lead to a pale strip of sand on the northern coast of a salty sea. Several mixed Confederate and Union troops stand idle on the beach beside Serori, and a curious collection of equipment, including a few personal submersibles still wet from recent underwater excursions. It's an odd gathering compounded by Serori's own unusual appearance. She isn't wearing her typical battlesuit; instead, she's dressed in some kind of close-fitting wetsuit that covers her body from neck to toe. Built-in gloves and webbed footwear complete the streamlined look.

Several looped objects are dangling from her right forearm. Necklaces of some kind? No, the straps would guarantee a closer and more secure fit than mere jewelry...

There isn't anyone or anything else in the area that might represent a threat. It's late afternoon, and the sky is patchy with partial cloud cover, but the sea itself is relatively calm.

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
    The gleaming silver scythe that suddenly buries its wicked blade in the sand beside Serori would probably be frightening if she weren't already familiar with its owner. As is to be expected from his appearance, the air around the weapon suddenly feels weighed down with an inescapable sense of dread, and shadowy tendrils seep out from the scythe to gather above it. Draping black robes are formed, as well as the priestly hood that sits over the head of a glaring, pure-white skull whose empty sockets seem filled with...not malice, exactly, but more a troubling sense of absolute /apathy/.

    A skeletal hand reaches out from beneath those robes to pull the scythe free, then vanishes again as the weapon settles on Death's back. The reaper's gaze sweeps over the assembled soldiers for an unsettlingly long period, his look alone enough to chill the blood, before he finally looks toward Serori. "Greetings," he rasps. "I trust my presence will not be minded."

Vegeta (663) has posed:
Vegeta brought nothing with him but a simple breathing mask for his mouth. Perhaps wearing a wet suit would be admitting that he can't defeat the sea. But he stands there with his arms crossed. He can't help but look over at Death, wrinkling his brow. "I hope you know that I find it incredibly tempting to fight Death itself."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Having heard that this mission was going to involve being underwater, Kyra did come at least somewhat prepared-meaning her usual leather belts and bandoliers are replaced with waterproofed ones. Her normal clothing is gone and she's opted for a bathing suit with a pair of waterproof-looking wetsuit-like shorts along with it. Though strangely enough, this doesn't seem to have deterred her from bringing her needlegun.

    On her forehead is a headband baring a circular apature in the center with a faint red glow around the edge. For those that recognize her well enough will know that this is, in fact, a camera.

    Kyra gives Serori a wary look before her attention is promptly drawn by Death. "Whoah. Death? /The/ Death?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Never in her entire life did the confident earthbender that she would ever agree to join a mission like this. An earthbender belongs on land, with dirt and rock underneath their feet. To think that they are going to dive down into the ocean... and she's doing so /willingly/.

    But then again, this is for Tony's sake... few things can ever be as important as this. Even so, it's clear that the blind girl is highly uncomfortable where she stands.

    Rather than wearing her usual clothes, she has opted for something far more simple. And while Toph normally seems to have a large presence despite her small frame, today she seems smaller, dressed in a black tank top and grey leggings that end below her knees. Though she does seem to have some metal bangles around her wrists.

    While she can't /see/ the ominous appearance of Death, she can't help but feel an ill sense of foreboding by having him here. Ugh.

    Normally Toph is far more confident, but right now she stands there with her arms crossed across her chest, digging her toes into the sand. She's silent, her expression blank, though her tense body language should reveal that Toph, the greatest earthbender of all time, the blind girl who is eager to fight and is quite loud about it... is not too comfortable with what they are about to do.

Cory (768) has posed:
    As usual Cory arrives via flight, rocketing over the terrain and coming to a fairly sudden halt above the group. She descends feet-first and plants herself down confidently near the others. The young woman's brightly colored red-orange gi is probably eyecatching, and totally inappropriate for anything dealing with underwater efforts.

    She's brought a breathing mask of Union design, it's just dangling from her neck right now instead of being properly fitted and worn.

    "So a Dragon Ball ended up underwater? Somehow not surprised... but this is the last one!"

    Eagerly she slams a fist into an open palm then adjusts her outfit.

    Vegeta and Serori both are both treated with a slight sideways glance. Wariness or something else, it's hard to say, but Cory's lips are pursed thinly through it.

Nox (546) has posed:
    Despite showing no interest whatsoever in the ongoing Reptilon conflict, or the politics of the saiyans, Nox still seems to have taken time out of his perfectly kept schedule to show up for the acquisition of one last Dragon Ball. It seems as if this isn't a significant departure for him, as he arrives without any kind of fancy submersible clockwork apparatus, or even mundane diving equipment of any kind; the obligatory cluster of noxines diving straight into the water ahead of him like a scatter of pebbles cast into a lake.

    He'd already lurked the sea floor around Oma island once before. Deep water holds no fear for a man made of metal and pure energy. The favourite reconnaissance and auxilliary power devices are likewise deliberately suited to any environment. If need be, they can seek out fish or aquatic vegetation to top up their batteries, but their main purpose seems to be to spread out in a wide, perfect circle to survey the area, and steadily communicate with sonar-like pulses of data between each other to prepare for . . . something.

    "Good day to you, monsieur Death." he says, already a little familiar with the field marshal's close friend, as well as /very much/ familiar with the concept he represents that had once loomed over him in his mortality. "If you really must, please save the fighting until /after/ what we've come here to accomplish. " he says offhandedly to Vegeta. He looks over to Kyra with something that might be vague curiosity, but despite his obvious recognition, she currently seems to be beneath any need to address her.

Cell (696) has posed:
     There's business that needs attending to.

     And business necessitates the presence of a businessman. Oh, sure, there are some people who like to conduct their business by remote, but that's not for the Red Ribbon Regiment's one and only (thankfully) Commander Green. No, Commander Green, the horrific bio-android Cell, much prefers his business up-close-and-personal - no matter what kind of business it is.

     Today, apparently, he also prefers it by committee.

     It's very apparent that the bio-android isn't alone. He drops down near the gathered Confederate and Union personnel, dressed in his very nice Red Ribbon Regiment tuxedo, with the armband and everything. A nametag under his pocket protector identifies him as Commander Green, and the cigar in his hand smolders with a pleasant odor. Serori and Vegeta, being Saiyans, might identify it as something meant to kill unpleasant smells.

     Then Android Sixteen lands next to him. The big Red Ribbon Android touches down and holds up his hand in a stiffly mechanical greeting, complete with his robotic voice offering, "Acknowledgement."

     The third member of Cell's little posse is a newcomer to most. Nobody here has likely ever seen the heavily-metallic cyborg, a somewhat older gentleman with a ponytail, a moustache, a pink robe, and a whole lot of metal. There's a Red Ribbon Regiment armband on, but there's no other logo.

     "Hi," Cell offers to the group with his usual jovial, cheerful disconnect.

     "Let's make this quick," the older cyborg observes, "I don't come cheap, Commander."

     "You're a high-class hooker in a low-class world, Tao," Cell replies cheerily. Tao grunts.

     "Please update mission objectives," Android Sixteen offers, "I will be able to function as an effective intermediary for group communication and tracking in the event that we are separated."

Noble Six (38) has posed:
    It should probably be noted that Noble Six doesn't really care for beaches that much. It's a long story, but she has arrived on this beach, because this beach is the one where the coordinates given out by Serori point. She is of course in full armor and has ensured the pressure seals are in place so that she can operate underwater.

    "At least when we get this we can finally get this thing over with." She mutters, as she looks out over the ocean. She is still not a happy camper when it comes to having to work alongside the Confederates on any objective, even if the objective is as important as this one. They have threatened, assaulted and destroyed to get the Dragon Balls and it took major losses on both sides before the truce was reached.

    And it was those major losses that made Six realize that perhaps some threats are worth putting up with the Confederates over. Though she does wonder why stop at just bringing back the people lost during the Reptilon conflict. Maybe the wish has to be limited in scope, or to a certain timespan. She doesn't know, though all of these thoughts run through her head as the visored helmet stares off into the distance, waiting for the full mission briefing.

Serori (37) has posed:
"Your presence doesn't bother me anymore, you know that." Serori flashes a quick smile and even a wink at Death. Either she's in a good mood despite the mission's critical nature, or she's determined to pretend the stress isn't a problem.

Let's get down to business.

Serori starts tossing those necklaces out to each person present; Death isn't given his own, however, for a reason that's quickly explained. "We're going underwater to a facility where we think the Dragon Ball is being held, and I'm not going to rely on each of you to provide your own means for surviving the experience. These charms will provide you with water breathing and swimming proficiency. You'll even swim much, much faster than you normally would. Your speech will also be kept clear. Except for Death, I insist on each of you wearing one of these, regardless of your natural ability. Er -- " She pauses in front of Nox, uncertain. " -- well, you're probably okay, too." The androids are similarly disregarded, but Cell's thrown a trinket he can either take or eat. The last charm is handed to Toph, not thrown.

"Oh -- these are supposed to give you some protection against the temperature and pressure, too, and as we're going several hundred feet below the surface, it's probably a good idea to be as safe as possible. I don't care much for magic, but it has its uses, hm?"

After handing out all the charms, she slips her own necklace into place, and tightens its strap until the charm is held secure and flat against her throat. As she does, she keeps talking, shifting her attention between everyone present. "You can still use your own equipment and powers, of course. These are magical in nature, and could fail, even in a world where magic isn't very common. I'm carrying a few extras in event of emergency."

Serori's eyes settle on Cell, then flick without concern across Android Sixteen and the less-familiar Tao. "Cell is with us because the facility we've found has obvious ties to the Red Ribbon. I promised him information about the loose ends left behind by his organization's previous collapse, and this may be one of them. I guess it might also be one of his existing resources, and we're being fooled into some kind of ludicrous trap, but at least if he's with us, he'll be close enough for immediate retribution if that turns out to be the case."

"Toph," Serori turns back to the blind girl, "You're with me until we reach the facility. I realize you don't need my help, but I promised to make use of you, and I intend to get you safely to and from our destination." Likely considering the need to give out similar reassurances to others who are present, she then gives a thoughtful look to Kyra, but must decide that nothing needs to be said; she looks away a moment later, keeping focused on the task ahead.

Now isn't the time to deal with Cory's estrangement, either. Serori will deal with the newcomer female later, after all this business is settled.

"If any of you want to leave anything on the surface, you're welcome to do so. These fine soldiers aren't going anywhere until we return. If you'd prefer to take a submersible, you can. Make up your mind quickly, though, because we're heading in -- follow me."

The water's cold; she shudders a little as the first wave rolls up to mid-calf. There, she waits for Toph to catch up.

Any questions to be answered will be addressed mid-swim. Serori dives into the sea, dragging Toph along, and gets on her way at a surprising clip.

Serori (37) has posed:
The water's cool, clear, and packed with wildlife. Schools of fish dart around in shimmering clouds. Larger creatures, like dolphins and manta rays, aren't uncommon past a certain point, though the reefs are where all the color and interest is waiting to be seen. Once those are behind the group, the scene grows darker. The water loses its turquoise clarity, gradually becoming a deep shade of blue verging on black. At some point, Serori produces a sphere of ki energy to light her way, but getting to her objective requires more than just good lighting. Without good GPS tracking, it'd be easy to get lost down here, where the landmarks are few and the darkness is total.

After a short time, something bright emerges from the depths. It shines like a distant, ghostly jewel before resolving itself into a well-lit series of interconnected buildings. Most are the same hemispherical shape of many capsule-style buildings found on the surface, but one looks more like a reactor than anything else. It hums with power; anyone who can detect energy signs of any kind will feel something emanating from the reactor.

Serori leads to a point of entry held secure by a few more mixed factional operatives. It's a dock built for large craft. The submersibles parked here look tiny in a facility meant to house huge supply transports and other like vehicles. THAT'S WHEN THE GIANT OCTOPUS ATTACKS just kidding, let's just focus on exploring the creepy semi-abandoned underwater laboratory.

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
    Serori just gets a dismissive scoff from Death. At least that's probably what that grating sound that comes from him is supposed to be as he turns his attention to the saiyan king present today.

    "Some other day, barbarian king," is Death's only rasping reply to Vegeta. At least he didn't say no, so maybe he won't be a stick in the mud about it later? Kyra gets his attention next, his judgemental glare leveled on the mage. "Yes, in service to Lord Dracula. I am the god who governs death, he who determines who lives and who dies. And yet, I am here for other matters." Doesn't seem interested in building a fan club. Nox, meanwhile, gets a level stare for a few moments before his own rasped response comes. "I suppose any day is a good enough day."

    Cell is given a long, steady stare when he arrives. The god certainly hasn't encountered Cell before, but Death has heard more than enough to know that 'Commander Green' is hardly someone to be trusted. He'll deal with him for now, though, so long as he doesn't present any sort of threat.

    The situation is explained, and Death says nothing, simply staring impassively at Serori in the meantime. Once everything has finally been detailed and the charms are handed out, they dive, and Death follows, his shadowy form slipping beneath the waves with his scythe still hovering behind him.

    His cloak billows around him like some grim octopus as he floats through the water fast enough to keep up with everyone else. The cold doesn't bother him, nor does the pressure or even the darkness; nothing seems to bother him, really, but why would it? Castlevania probably has worse than this.

    Once the reactor is reached, Death doesn't waste any time floating outside and slips in through the entryway. He'll endure any pressure adjustment chambers if he has to; it's not like it does anything for him, but routine is routine, and he is very patient. As soon as he can, though, he'll start moving into the facility on a search for the dragon ball, even if no one else has chosen to follow him. Let everyone else look up all this Red Ribbon information if they want.

Cell (696) has posed:
     Tao's breathing mask seals over his face as he looks at the charms, hiding his moustache. Cell looks at the charm, considers it, then tosses it back.

     He wouldn't be much good as a murderous killer bio-roid if he couldn't survive in the most horrible conditions imaginable. That's where people didn't look, and that's the best place to hide.

     And when they did come looking, you had the environment to use. Besides, he didn't exactly trust people easily, certainly not people he had a mutual level of distaste for. It wasn't personal. It just wasn't a thing he needed.

     Filling his 'lungs', such as they were, with cigar smoke, he drops into the water, with Android Sixteen and Cyborg Tao right behind.

     Tao and Sixteen swim quite normally, each of them providing floodlights from their eyes to light the way. They're quite bright. Beyond that, though, they swim like normal people, or at least people using ki to swim.

     Cell doesn't. He undulates. He weaves. He swims through the water like the water is a polite suggestion and he's an impolite houseguest.

     When they emerge, Cell snaps his fingers, dousing himself in a brief burst of ki. It dries his suit. Sixteen similarly dries himself off with a blast.

     Tao scowls and removes his robe, looking distinctly unhappy. He folds it up and stores it in a compartment, leaving behind a Red Ribbon Regiment tactical suit.

     "I'm charging for dry-cleaning," Tao complains.

     "Oh, no," Cell notes with his usual level of sarcasm - apparently it's *not* restricted to people outside Red Ribbon, "I'll have to pay a whole thirty dollars to the cat you use."

     "He does good work and I never find fur on my clothes," Tao counters.

     "And you don't find it at all strange that he lives next to an East City Takeout place?" Cell presses.

     "No," Tao smirks, "He's not a dog, after all."

     Cell barks out a laugh and takes point alongside Death, whom he has given exactly one glance before filing it away as 'something of interest at a later date'. This is, after all, a Red Ribbon Regiment facility. He feels not only some degree of ownership, but some degree of unwillingness to yield any interesting and pertinent data to his Sworn And Mortal Enemies Who Happen At The Moment To Also Be Upholding Their End Of The Bargain.

     Cell understands how the relationship works. The bargain goes on until it's not profitable for them both. Or until one of them pushes the lines too far.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "You seem a kind of /ominous/ choice to send on a Dragoball retrieval mission." Kyra responds, nonplussed and clearly put off by Death's dour mood.

    "Oh, huh." Kyra catches one of the necklaces from Serori, watching the Saiyan for a moment before putting it on. Of course there is always the thought of 'yeah this is the woman that ordered Lute to give me a savage beating to extort a Dragoball' at the back of her mind. But in the wake of what happened recently it actually mattered very little to anyone but her and she did believe Serori when she said the Confederacy wouldn't try to come after her like that again.

    She slips the necklace over her head, forgoing the Galiandan underwater breathing apparatus she has with her for now. It's kept handy, though, clipped to the shoulder strap of her bathing suit for easy access.

    She turns her head to view Nox-or more accurately, so her camera can view Nox-and mutters so it's picked up by the microphone on her linked to the stream, "And to your right we have Nox from such hits as 'I'm attacking your dome today'. Hashtag-just-joint-mission-things."

    She doesn't wait around much after that and strides into the water, sticking closer to Toph and Serori more than anyone else here. The majority of whom are honestly kind of creepy. Once they enter, she splits off from the group, motioning for Cory to follow her so they can go exploring. She doesn't seem too interested in plundering data.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The last time she had went underwater, there had been a waterbender with her who bended the water away from them, allowing them to move and to breathe. But without one here, Toph had wondered how they would do it. When Serori hands out the charms however, Toph seems slightly less nervous. The charm is taken and put on without any hesitance, and Toph nods once.

    Just hearing the words 'several hundred feet below' is enough to make Toph visibly cringe. And no, she does not want to imagine what it would be like if her charm would stop working.

    Cell is a wild card indeed, and the blind girl narrows her eyes. "/Are/ you going to trick us into a trap?" she decides to ask.

    There's no way for her to know which way is were once they are underwater. Whether she wants to admit to the fact or not, Toph knows she will be blind once she goes in the water and until they get to the facility. And while she has been in disagreement with Serori before, they all share the same goal here. And despite what Serori says, Toph /will/ be needing her help in order to get to the facility.

    To the water they go, and Toph inwardly makes a mental note to never huff at her swimming lessons. Though with every step she takes, as the water rises higher and higher up her body and she lets out a shudder, the blind girl looks as uncomfortable as can be. But she forces herself onward, her determination enabling her to keep up with Serori, reaching out to grab her arm before they dive underwater.

    Then there is nothing but sound and enveloping coldness that offers anything to her senses. Serori would no doubt notice that Toph is not about to let go, not wanting to be without a guide. But she does kick her legs and isn't a complete deadweight to pull along.

    It feels like forever has passed until they finally arrive at the facility, and Toph draws a deep gasp for air, as if she has been holding her breath for periods of time during their swim. Perhaps she did. "Finally...!" she exhales, then reaches up to wipe some of that wet hair away from her face. While most of it is set up in that bun, there's still a lot of it that is now clinging to Toph's face, a black, wet hairy mess. It does feel good to place her feet on something too, and she seems intent on getting a good 'look' at her surroundings as she concentrates.

Cory (768) has posed:
    Cory snatches the charm up but gives it a weird look. Eventually though, she slips it into place and tucks the breathing mask away. "Slimmer than what I brought. Alright then! Undewater it is!"

    Like a little kid she wastes NOOOOO time leaping waaaaaay over the beach and down into the water.

    A second Ki sphere joins Serori's when things get dark - she's not the only one with that idea.

    And she makes sure to avoid aaaaany Jellyfish thanks to some bad, bad prior experiences.

    Down they go to the facility, through the entrance... and back into pressurized civilization!

    Cory emerges from the docks and onto dry ground via a rocketing leap straight out, almost like a dolphin. She rolls on landing and promptly HIGH-SPEED SHAKES at... roughly the same time that Cell and his group are dealing with the water. They probably won't appreciate getting sprayed with water.

    They might also be mystified that anyone mastered that particular trick so well, but it works!

    Cory's hair is now a good deal less water-logged. The Gi however, that takes some wringing out which she proceeds to do while observing the others coming in.

    "Gotta second her there," the gi-clad Saiyan murmurs, shuffling over to Kyra. Cell's given a look he's probably seen far too often, one that says 'you creep me out.'

    She pokes Kyra on the shoulder upon reaching her. "WHAT is a hashtag?"

Nox (546) has posed:
    Serori surmises correctly. Though his body isn't terribly condusive to swimming, Nox neatly sidesteps that issue as well. With his sensor web of Noxines surrounding the general area, triangulating the movements of the Elites moving through it by physical presence and energy signature, he gets to sit pretty at the sand bar until they arrive at the doors to the facility, teleporting the entire, considerable distance in the blink of an eye. This skips the entire sightseeing tour inbetween, and so the beauty of nature is once again lost on him. Fuck nature.

    The eyes of his mask and the hole in his chest both glow eerily in the crushing blackness of the sea floor, but of the exact right colour that they remain constant even when filtered through deep water, illuminating the scatter of bubbles that are pushed aside to make room for his body. The reactor immediately garners his interest, getting him to focus his finely honed abilities to assess the scale and overall archetype of the signature, the cogs already turning as he files the information away for the immediate future. Emerging into the atmospherically regulated interior comes with no fancy drying motions. Whatever his exterior suit is made of, it really doesn't absorb water, a quick deluge of surface droplets rolling off of him into a puddle on the floor before halting altogether.

    "And the Dragon Ball could be anywhere at all in this facility?" he asks, already mentally attempting to filter the reactor out to search for smaller, more specific sources. "I suppose the dragon radar wouldn't be so precise, would it." He follows along with the main group for as long as necessary, but if he can't easily locate something that seems like it has a good chance to be the Dragon Ball, he splits off at the next junction, heading towards the reactor building without a word.

Serori (37) has posed:
The dock is the central point of convergence for several halls, three of which are blocked by garage-style doors hiding a few hangars. Cory and Kyra enter one of these to find it populated by several massive shelving units and even bigger crates. Three repair bays are also within, one of which still supports the dusty chassis of some kind of golf cart-esque vehicle likely used to transport people, not goods. The word MAINTENANCE is stamped on the side of the cart in green letters.

There is a communications and security hub overlooking the hangar.

The maintenance and storage hangar is freakishly well-lit; it's easy enough to look around. Another hall or two branches off from the hangar, and a lift leads to a second story of catwalks that may connect to another level of the facility. The catwalks at least lead to the security hub.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori takes a moment to make sure Toph is intact; everyone else is assumed to have had no difficulty making it to the facility. It's not that Serori is concerned, exactly -- the girl is tough, for a human child -- but a promise is a promise. Besides, she doesn't need Stark haunting her from beyond the grave or something. "Let's go this way. Six, mind keeping Death company? Cell, Sixteen, I'll send Vegeta with you. Tao, go where you like."

'This way' turns out to be a hall that ends in a ladder. Serori climbs it without hesitation, entering into a hall where the lighting it less obnoxious. Leading Toph, she starts down the hall, here and there nudging open a door to reveal living quarters.

Toph's unique seismic sense will be slightly more revealing. She'll be able to get the first clue that this repeating series of boring rooms is about to change whenever the hall ahead abruptly opens up into a wide atrium of some kind. The stench of greenery hits the air as both Toph and Serori round the corner to find themselves inside a vast hydroponic garden still somehow in good condition.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "It's an internet thing." Kyra tries to explain as she walks off with Cory, even pulling out her phone to demonstrate. She navigates to an app marked 'Wark' and pulls up the Galianda equivalent of a Twitter feed. Kyra points out the elusive hashtag to Cory, "That. One of those."

    Stepping into the room, Kyra looks around and whistles. "Looks like we might have to start checking crates. Good thing you're a big strong Saiyan! It'll be easy for you to pull those open." The white mage is cheerful as she pats Cory's shoulder. "I'll be right back, I'm gonna check the booth."

    Spotting the lift, Kyra heads for that so it can take her up to the security hub, which she will thoroughly examine.

Serori (37) has posed:
Cell's little party, meanwhile, has an advantage of intelligence. Sixteen may not have accurate schematics, but he does have similar schematics, and that's enough to lead him in what he thinks is the direction of the laboratory. Bypassing the hangars and the hall taken by Death, he leads Commander Green toward the facility's eastern wing, following a long, curving hall that's paned mostly by glass so as to afford a look at the outside sea life. There isn't much to behold, but the facility's lights do attract some curious visitors.

The hall proceeds to the facility's first connected structure. After a jaunt through an alarmingly-damp corridor no more than ten feet long, Commander Green arrives within a place designed for labor. This is no maintenance wing; this is a fully-equipped operation for research and development, or so they'll soon find out. A sign on the wall ahead offers two choices. Chemical engineering to the left, mechanical engineering to the right. Which way to go?

Noble Six (38) has posed:
    The SPARTAN had been following the group as best she could, water not her best thing to transit through but she had made it work with the truster pack. At Serori's suggestion that she partner up with Death, Noble Six turns to look him over.

    "They used to call me the Grim Reaper. I guess we get to see how I stack up against the real thing." She says, with a bit of a smirk towards Death, as she moves towards him, "Though I will let you lead the way. If something crazy jumps out and tries to kill you, I think you'll be a bit better equipped to not die."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Still dripping wet, Toph attempts to wringe some water out of her hair. Besides being cold and uncomfortable with being under water, the earthbender is okay. If there's something she has a lot of, it's determination. And she doesn't sit still for long, not when they have a Dragon Ball to find! The sooner they find it, the sooner they can make a wish! It's almost strange to imagine that it's so close...!

    So she isn't slow to follow Serori when she suggests they head down one of the hallways. And she has no problems climbing the ladder either, showing that she does indeed 'see' well without any earth around.

    As they walk though, Toph frowns slightly and points to the room ahead. "In there." What are you waiting for, Serori? Toph hurries ahead, looking a bit curious as they enter the greenery. Sure, it smells nice, but still... "It smells a little too fresh to be abandoned, doesn't it?" Toph asides to the Saiyan, a suspicious look on her face as she crouches down and places a hand on the floor, just to see if she can 'see' better. "Are there any automated processes going on, or... are there people here after all?" she muses out loud, suddenly far more alert.

Serori (37) has posed:
Nox and his posse of noxines, meanwhile, track the source of the reactor's activity. Getting to the reactor from his current location would be a challenge, if he didn't have his little scouts to suss out the right way. Down this hall, up this lift, across a catwalk above the hydroponic garden, down these stairs, into the next building over, continuing along, et cetera et cetera --

Oh. That's funny. There aren't any lights working in this building; in fact, power seems to be cut off completely. The automated door between Nox and his next stop isn't budging, even though its motion sensor appears to be active. Any attempts to approach the door and trigger its activation is met with an annoying BUZZZZ -- the universal sound of 'sorry, this door is out of service.' What's to be done about that?

Cell (696) has posed:
     "I'm going with the big ugly bug," Tao replies flatly.

     "You're such a good friend." Cell's smarm is maximum as he produces, and lights, a cigar, "This way. Come on, Prince of Assholes. We're off to find the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oxygen."

     "Query-"

     "No, he's not really a wizard."

     "Information updated."

     Cell chuckles. Then he stops chuckling as the group gets really down into the base, flicking his hideous bug eyes between Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. He takes a deep drag from his cigar.

     "Well, that's not good," he informs Vegeta, Sixteen, and Tao. The Commander inhales sharply, dragging in a lot of smoke, then drops the cigar and stamps on it. He glances at Sixteen.

     "What do we know about Ranta?"

     "He is not a wizard," Sixteen responds automatically, "Dr. Ranta's work is primarily in robotics. He is more likely to be found in the mechanical engineering lab."

     "Fine. That's the way we're going, then. Come on, short stuff. Keep up." Cell flicks his fingers at Vegeta.

Cory (768) has posed:
    "O-oh." Pretending to understand is not one of Cory's strong suits, but she tries! Tries and fails...

    On to better things though. Like strolling into a storage facility... "There's no chance a Dragonball would be in here is there?" Ugh. She is NOT looking forward to rummaging through crates and crates and crates, so for now she just hops past them, glancing at any labels, and investigating the cart. Poke poke...

    She brings bakc a finger caked in dust, and just starts rubbing them. "it's been HERE a while. How did a Dragonball get down here in an abandoned facility anytime soon? Did nobody use 'em for years?"

Serori (37) has posed:
Death drifts in silence through a secondary hangar packed with tables. The Grim Reaper follows with him, less quiet, but no less dangerous. The first door the pair finds reveals a clean kitchen. Dust layers untouched equipment, but the refrigeration units are empty of everything but water stored in plastic jugs. The freezers, meanwhile, are jam-packed with things that look to have been shoved into place with haste. Nothing is organized, and some of the frozen food isn't even properly stored to resist freezer burn.

Shameful.

Past the curiosity of the kitchen is a stairway leading up into quarters more executive in nature. Here, the sterile flooring gives way to extravagances like lush carpeting and warm wood paneling. Various office doors have had their nameplates stripped, and are locked against intrusion, but it's clear that this is where command over the facility had been conducted.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
"Are you a moron? Smoking in an underground base." Vegeta says as he continues to follow after Cell now. "Keep it up and you're going to convince me that you -like- having energy blasted through your brain." he threaten/warns as Cell berates him, but keeps walking anyway.

Serori (37) has posed:
The crates are labeled using mostly mundane indicators like UNIFORMS and CLEANERS. If this facility is concealing a terrible secret, it's probably not hidden among stacks of extra size nine shoes, or among the folds of boring brown coveralls stamped with the bright red logo of the Red Ribbon Army. Could this be what Serori meant by 'obvious ties'? It'd be pretty hard to sell this facility as belonging to anyone else, given the evidence.

Something curious she will find is that one crate appears to be untouched. Everything else is in its place, but this crate's out in the middle of everything, and not even opened and organized. It still has its shipping details stuck to it.

Kyra, meanwhile, is the first person here not to be troubled by a locked door. The security and communications hub is totally open to her entry. Dozens of blank television screens line the upper half of the hangar-facing wall; below them, a desk and computer terminals wait to be raided. Sadly, she'll notice that some effort has been taken to scrub these terminals clean. Some of the hardware is outright damaged. What terminals do power on might be uninteresting; then again, she comes from a place where computers are commonplace. Maybe there's some trick she can try?

Noble Six (38) has posed:
An unused kitchen, a shame. They don't really have time to stop for a snack, especially since everything is probably spoiled or ruined beyond the point of being edible. So Noble Six makes her way up the stairs, her shotgun at the ready as she clears her corners and rounds her way into the executive offices.

    The natural thing to do at this point is to check doors, slowly move her way through the hall. If a door is locked, she knows she could probably wrench it open with the suit's enhanced strength, but she leaves them closed for the time being. Best to clear what they can first and come back for the others after.

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
    Death just gives a flat stare to Six at that quip. "How remarkable are the presumptions of humans, to think that any could compare to me," he grumbles flatly before simply floating on down the hall. At least he doesn't seem to mind the Spartan's presence for now, no more than he minds anyone else; he just doesn't pay much attention to her. He does take point as requested, at least, and as they proceed through the hangar his chilling stare sweeps across to everything of potential interest.

    Unless someone's stuffed the dragon ball in the freezer, however, there doesn't seem to be much in the kitchen Death feels is worth investigating. The executive level, however, is much more interesting. Sure, the doors are locked, but locking doesn't do much good against Death.

    As he goes along, the reaper searches for the room of greatest apparent importance; surely there must be /some/ door that has a name tag of someone significant, at least one that hasn't been stripped off. Naturally, the dragon ball should be in the office of the most important person here if it's in any of them, right? Whenever he finds what seems to be the best he'll get on this level, his form fades away slightly, and he simply phases right through the door like a ghost to investigate the interior.

Serori (37) has posed:
"I don't know..." Serori mutters. Like Toph, she's put a little on edge by the discovery. The brief sound of Nox passing by above even gets her attention, though she relaxes as soon as she recognizes the source.

Nothing to do but explore, right?

Flying above the garden while Toph checks things out at ground level, Serori soon starts to piece together what could be going on in the facility. Between the day/night timers she finds stuck to a few tracks of wiring, and a configuration console hidden behind some massive cabbage leaves -- "I think there must be automated support for the garden. It has to still be working; how long has it been here, though?"

There's not a trace of rot to be found anywhere.

Toph's exploration and seismic sight eventually lead the earthbender to a confirmation of her theory: she'll sense, and then find, a few worker drones stashed in one corner of the bay.

The one in the back, however, is missing its head.

The one in the front has lost its arm. Only a twisted and blackened nub remains sticking out from its half-melted shoulder.

Nox (546) has posed:
    How irritating. Not only is it a pain in the ass to get to the reactor complex, but it appears to have been locked down as well, despite chatter over the radio suggesting that everything else is still active. The door itself isn't a huge obstacle so much as how the stupid buzzer gets on Nox's nerves remarkably quickly. He switches over entirely to his sixth sense as the lights go out, reading the power emenating from the reactor and its background interactions with the scenery around it to paint a complete, three dimensional picture of his surroundings.

    Laying one hand on the door, he forgoes the use of energy required to blast the lockdown to pieces and takes the more efficient route instead, drastically accelerating the course of the years in a semi-powered, underwater environment on the unlucky security barrier until artificially enhanced wear and tear causes something to rust through, short out, or plain fall to pieces. He keeps a token ear to the radio, but his main goal is the machinery itself, making his way inwards until he can determine which of the options Android Sixteen had presented is the likely culprit of his readings.

Cory (768) has posed:
    When Cory comes across nothing at first but bundles and bundles RRA uniforms that've gone untouched for ages, her first thought is 'blegh.'

    But on second thought, out comes a Capsule. She twirls and tosses the standard storage capsule, one that materializes... nothing terribly impressive. A large crate big enough to put on a table. She quickly stuffs the contents of various crates - dozens of uniforms and matching shoes and hats and other things lying around - right in. It's a mess, and it barely fits, but the only question is... just what the hell's she going to do with it?

    Maybe one day you'll know.

    "What the... why's this one laying around...?" Of course these efforts lead her to the unmarked crate which she promptly hoists and opens up for a look inside!

Serori (37) has posed:
To the mechanical engineering wing, huh?

Three sealed doors stand between Cell and his objective. The first one is locked via retinal scanner; that's easy enough to bypass whenever you've got the strength to knock a mountain off its foundation, right? He's probably got a more elegant solution, but either way, this is not much of a hurdle.

The second door isn't working. As Nox discovered, the red BUZZ deters further progress.

Beyond that -- half-visible through the second door's narrow pane -- the third door hangs at a loose angle, sporting a black blast of some kind along its surface. The scorching continues into the foyer between the second and third doors.

The lights beyond are flickering, the quick, arrhythmic flashes glinting off metallic surfaces in the lab beyond.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    As proved by Kyra's recent adventures in Deelel's world, she's definitely not some SUPER AWESOME HACKER. But she can recognize a wiped machine, which does differ slightly from a bricked one-which Kyra has experience with for unfortunate reasons. She gravitates towards the remaining powered terminals and starts messing around with it.

    She herself doesn't know much about restoring wiped machines so she does what any teenager her age would do on her world: ask a friend. When Lyria doesn't get back to her, she asks the internet Light Warrior's Wark feed.

    A few moments later, with her phone sitting next to her, Kyra is awkwardly trying, via command-line interface, to search for any prior system backup restore points.

Cell (696) has posed:
     It's worth noting that nobody from the Red Ribbon Regiment actually needs to breathe. Tao has a built-in breather, Sixteen isn't organic, and Cell has elements of Icer biology. He's probably not smoking out of habit.

     But as Vegeta threatens him, he chuckles. "Force of habit. I just can't get enough of that wonderful smell."

     "I've been meaning to ask, how *do* you make them?" Tao demands.

     "I figured out a synthetic a while ago so I could put 'em together. It's a filthy habit, but I just can't quit it." Cell's mandibles part in what is probably a grin, "It'll probably be the death of me."

     "No, someone will definitely kill you first," Tao replies idly.

     "It's true," Cell sighs, "I'm just so damned popular."

     "You go out of your way to annoy everyone who doesn't work for you, don't you?" The cyborg demands. Cell's horrible little insect chuckle fills the hall with its terrible buzzing.

     "I don't go *out* of my way. Besides, you could solve that problem by working for me for real."

     Tao scoffs, but doesn't reply.

     Cell's elegant solution for the retinal scanner is to have Android Sixteen burn through the door with a ki laser. It's much faster. Even if it triggers the alarms...well, hell, that might in fact bring them to the attention of the person whose attention Cell wanted to get.

     Cell stops at the second door as Sixteen begins to move it, carefully ensuring that he keeps any pressure on it where it is. Tao crosses his arms and taps his foot, impatiently glowering at the big green insect in the fine tuxedo. "Can we hurry this up? I've got better things to do with my time."

     "Like what?" Cell demands.

     "Killing people," Tao remarks.

     "Please. You can do that any time."

     Tao shrugs his robotic shoulders and looks at Vegeta. "So. You're the famous Prince of all Saiyans, are you? I admit, I hadn't expected you to be so..."

     Tao purses his lips thoughtfully.

     "Angry," he decides, turning his head back towards the door.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Unlike Serori it doesn't seem like Toph is caught off guard by Nox passing by above, instead she walks by the plants and inspects the area further, anything to give them a sign of where the Dragon Ball can be. Still, would it be in a garden? That seems unlikely, but... they might as well spread out and look. Some of these plants smell kinda weird, though most of them do give off a nice scent. Still, this is hardly the time for food.

    "I have no clue... this place is build with materials that don't rust, so it's tough to tell," Toph mutters slightly, but loud enough for Serori to hear her. "I do wonder when there were other people besides us here..."

    This doesn't bode well, with no obivous clues left here in the garden. Though as she stumbles across the robots, Toph does blink. How weird... did they work the garden or something? Toph turns and walks over. Maybe there are some clues or information on them? "Found some robots here! They aren't all that fancy, but maybe there's some clues here? I mean, some of them are broken... if the automated support works, shouldn't these too?" she asks, raising her head up towards where she heard Serori last.

Serori (37) has posed:
The door before Nox corrodes, rusts, and crumbles. The innerworkings go first, then the exterior, until Nox is able to force his way past with little effort.

The building ahead of him is severed from the power grid. His readings get him that much information; it doesn't tell him why. No physical damage appears to be affecting the standard circuitry, so it must be some kind of deliberate measure keeping this wing of the facility offline. His footsteps echo across a cold metal catwalk. It's almost like striding through some kind of void; there aren't even any safety lights to guide him on his path.

By all estimations, if he continues along this catwalk, he'll reach the reactor in no time. Another connecting hall, and he should arrive at the source of the facility's thrumming power.

Along the way he'll spot two dim red pinpricks shining out from the powerless building's absolute blackness.

Near the first two lights, two more appear, and two more.

Trace power sources -- so faint as to be all but unnoticed amid the general noise put off by the reactor -- start to be noticed.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
"I can't blame an abomination for trying so hard to have a soul." is Vegeta's response to Cell's enjoyment of the smell, full of venom. Then he wrinkles his brow as he focuses his gaze on Tao. "I hadn't expected you to be so rippable." he says in a threatening tone while gesturing toward Tao in a motion that suggests grabbing and ripping.

Serori (37) has posed:
Noble Six doesn't have much trouble surmounting such basic security measures as locks! Why, just a love tap from the SPARTAN is more than sufficient to bust into any of these offices. The first one she pokes her head into is pretty empty, but the second yields more interest. There is a desk here, with a computer, calendar, and various personal ornamentation still in place. Portraits and certificates decorate the walls, and a few books still fill the office's shelves. The man pictured is most often in a labcoat bearing the Red Ribbon sigil, but he's also photographed next to others, including some of the world's more famous figures. Doctor Gero is named. Doctor Briefs. Past commanders of the Red Ribbon Army.

Whoever this guy was, he might have been important.

The computer boots right up. Nothing is secured. The man's life is for the perusing, though there isn't much that's been logged here. His calendar dates back about a decade, and anything on the computer is just as old.

Personal logs, mostly. Nothing of importance.

Still...a quick download couldn't hurt.

Death doesn't have much to gain from investigating a computer terminal, not in the way Six does. His ghostly excursions pass by one or two more offices, yielding nothing, until he reaches the end of the corridor and comes to a room that should have been secret. The door to the escape hatch is half-shut, half-broken; inside, a very cramped space continues in a straight line to another connected building. Delightfully, someone's mummified remains are to be found about halfway along the passage's length. The man died in uniform. His chest cavity has been blown out by some kind of incredible force.

Noble Six (38) has posed:
    While there probably isn't much in the way of intel from these computers, it wouldn't hurt to get it just to be sure. She plugs into the computer and moves to download everything she can onto an external disk.

    The report from Death on the radio makes her hmm a bit to herself as she checks the dates on the files. Eleven years would sound about right for the age of the computer, but she wants to verify it.

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
    A body? Now that's interesting. Death's form solidifies again as he comes near the corpse, and like a funeral shroud his cloaked shape settles over it to examine its nature. Cause of death is easy enough to tell, given the gaping hole in his chest, but what about /time/? The reaper's bony hand extends out from his cloak to hover over the hole, and he spends a few moments getting a sense of how long ago it was since life left what is now a mummified shell.

    Eleven years? Interesting.

    With that out of the way, Death floats up again and decides to continue down the hall to the next building, likely where this man was headed before his unfortunate demise. There should be something of interest there, shouldn't there be?

Serori (37) has posed:
The unopened crate Cory hoists has to be pried apart. It's remarkably well-sealed, secured, and the interior packaging ain't just peanuts. Inside...

Limbs. Arms, legs, hands, joints, all fabricated to exact specification, all featuring precise and detailed articulation. All of them -- every single one -- made of some kind of alloy that even Cory has to concentrate to crush inside her grasp.

She's no engineer, but she probably knows enough about anatomy to understand how exact and humanoid all these body parts really are. The detail is incredible, as is the resiliency.

THANK SHIVA FOR THE INTERNET. Or Gilgamesh or whoever. Wark's community leads Kyra down the right path; with only a few strokes of the keys, she's able to pull up and activate a system restore point. After a few minutes, she has endless hours of security footage and logs to peruse. Some are corrupted, but the highlights come through clearly...

Nox (546) has posed:
    Red lights in the dark. That seems vaguely menacing, not in the least due to the fact that none of them are bright enough to constitute emergency lighting or alarm flashers. If they'd been completely invisible before, that means that whatever they are attached to was shut off, which also means they must be completely mechanical in nature. With discussions of a battle having taken place earlier on the radio, there's really only one question left: are these station defenses that were set on standby when someone locked the door as an additional means to prevent intrusion, or are they external to the facility and were locked inside this particular section of the compound on purpose.

    Neither question is really all that relevant at the moment however. Rather than fighting completely in the dark, Nox snaps his fingers to let off a spark of unstable temporal acceleration that causes the air a short ways from him to burst into flame, powered by a continual, low-demand stream of magic rather than actually consuming anything flammable. It should light up the area well enough to fight in, if it should come to that. Still, he doesn't move to strike the first blow, summoning Aiguille to his other hand with a kind of resigned calm. No sense smashing things up on the off chance they turn out to be security cameras after all.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori drops down to inspect the robots alongside Toph. "That's not working damage. I mean, there's no way a cabbage blasted off the face of something like this." The robot's chassis makes a loud PONG kind of noise whenever Serori flicks it. "Look, I didn't even dent it, and a move like that should obliterate most Earth robots. These things are made for hefty work. If the Red Ribbon Army had enough resources to expend these materials on gardeners..." She frowns, and starts toward the next door, following after Nox's general direction from a different route.

It's not far before Toph and Serori also run into an angry buzzy door. Annoyed by the hassle, Serori opts to just kick it open. Toph might appreciate the brute force. Or not, because the newly-freed door goes skittering into the darkness, where it comes to a screeching halt against...something.

Dim red lights shine back at Toph and Serori.

The dismembered door comes flying back at them with the speed of a racing DOOMTRAIN.

Nox, meanwhile, floods the depowered building with light that's dazzling after so much darkness. The sudden radiance reveals much about his current whereabouts. He's in a place of industry. One wing of the undersea facility had been dedicated to research and development, to the tasks of engineering that would lay the building blocks for the future of the Red Ribbon Army; here was where those building blocks were to be assembled.

Mechanical soldiers. Androids. Many are complete, their humanoid bodies fully stuck together into working form, yet many more are still in a state of half-completion, hanging off racks and from hooks like pieces of butchered meat.

Anything with a functional head turns its dimly-glowing eyes toward Nox.

That's when the energy blasts start to fly.

Serori (37) has posed:
Several red lights throughout the facility flash on all at once. An alarm begins to pulse, and a monotonous man's voice breaks out: "Production wing breached. Initiating Ranta protocol. Reactor overload imminent; evacuate the facility at once. Countdown: five minutes."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Not unless they were working with monster cabbages or something," Toph mutters with a frown. Which is highly unlikely. And Serori is right that it is made of sturdy material too. "They were swimming in cash, huh? Just what were they doing down here, and why did they really have to evacuate...?" And what do they not know about what happened here yet?

    Just where is the Dragon Ball?

    Brute force is something Toph doesn't disapprove of in most cases. Though the moment she hears the door crash into something, her eyes widen and she immediately falls into a defensive stance. The door is flung back, but Toph throws her arms forward, and the door screeches in protest as it twists midair... and is thrown back at their attackers. "I don't like this one bit!" she calls to Serori.

    And the overhead radio and alarm blaring makes her eyes widen in horror. "Oh... crud!" No. This is not happening, not /now/!

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    HAIL DOOMTRAIN, Engine of Innovation!

    Kyra sets aside her phone again as the Light Warrior's Wark feed is enthusiastically slammed by people that want to be involved in the audience participation section of Diving for Dragonballs. In moments, she becomes immersed in pouring through security logs and footage, trying to piece together what happened down here. It takes time but she's able to pull together a pretty decent story, which is passed on to the others throughout the base. Only thing that really seems to be missing from the logs is /what/ exactly caused the alarm, breaches, and power problems in the first place.

    "...probably the same thing that wiped all those security logs to begin with." Kyra murmurs, pulling out a second phone from one of the waterproof pouches on her belt. This is a normal smart phone purchased in Urbania which has the advantage of probably being compatible with the computer system here via the small USB cable she's brought along to connect the phone to the computer. She'll copy all the logs and security footage onto that before booking it out of the security hub.

Cory (768) has posed:
    When Cory eventually does rip the thing open... PROSTHETIC (android?) limbs go flying everywhere! "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

    It's HORRIFYING at first glance. She actually shields herself from the assault. They all bounce off harmlessly though and leave her staring utterly bewilderedly.

    After the initial shock wears off she grabs one of the arms and uses it to scratch her back. Assuming it does nothing weird she then tosses it into her capsule-crate.

    "What the hell's up with this? Pros-thing limbs? Are these robot parts?"

    She does take the time to examine them closely, but she unfortunately has little appreciation for the detail. If she was given one that LACKED such detail she'd probably complain though!

    Or well, she'd probably notice.

Serori (37) has posed:
Vegeta, Cell, Cyborg Tao, and Android Sixteen proceed into the mechanical engineering wing.

It is the disaster scene many expected to have found long before now. Mummified bodies litter the floors between heaps of twisted scrap metal and scorched craters. The deceased Red Ribbon soldiers still grip their firearms in their lifeless hands. Beyond the line of the fallen, a good dozen completed androids stand in loose conformation, some damaged, most not. The way they stand around makes them look almost...bored.

Until their heads turn toward the intruders, anyway.

Though a few androids have been grafted with human tissue, most are far less interesting in design. It's weird how you notice the little things whenever you're about to face down a small army of sociopathic killing machines.

The androids fling themselves at Cell, at Tao, at Sixteen. Two others dedicate themselves to Vegeta, energy blasts warming in their hands before firing with lightning speed and frightening accuracy. Their power output is not nearly enough to rival Seventeen and Eighteen, but given time and development, these could represent a significant threat to Earth-4555.

Nox (546) has posed:
    Unfortunately, that's pretty much exactly what Nox had expected. The 'Ranta protocol' is an nice little additional touch though. Were he someone else, the xelor would probably consider just abandoning the place to let it blow and salvage the Dragon Ball from the wreckage. After all, the things are supposedly indestructable, and the /Confederates/ at least have the means to escape the blast radius. That's all that really matters. Unfortunately however, Cell wants the doctor alive, and said doctor appears to have made the grave error of attaching the countdown to an escape timer.

    Having been fairly prepared for the eventuality of being shot at by the preceding display of ominously glowing optics giving away all of the firer's positions, Nox has an end location pre-calculated for when the blasts come flying at him, fizzling out of the air an instant before the incoming fire converges into the kind of detonation that someone would normally want to be very far away from if they didn't want to be obliterated, likely replacing the unnatural fire with a much brighter conflagration of burning wreckage.

    Rather than wasting the energy required to engage and eliminate so many durable targets however, he decides to simply leave the cleanup to everyone else, and go for the task at the top of the bullet list. In the wake of Nox's teleportation, a dozen of him seem to fizzle into existence in a straight line, giving off enough of a power signature that the androids should recognize them as legitimate targets. The illusions then begin an admirable job of distracting the android army, zipping around the room with faked teleportations over and over again to keep them busy with the attention-intensive task of trying to shoot them down one by one. They don't have any real substance, so being hit once is enough to dispel them. They mostly exist to buy time for Nox to make his way to the reactor core itself.

    There's no way Nox actually knows how to shut down a reactor without any knowledge of what kind of reactor it actually is, but the reason he conducts himself with a total lack of worry should be blindingly obvious to the informed. As he arrives in the final room, he claps his hands together and lets off a shimmering wave of spatio-temporal disruption that saturates it from wall to wall, locally freezing the reactor process, and the timer attached to it, completely. The clock won't tick down a femtosecond until he has a reason to drop the spell.

Cell (696) has posed:
     "Please. There's one of you and three of us, and I suspect that if you started anything, your friends would sigh and acknowledge that that's the sort of thing you do," Tao waves his hand.

     "Besides," Cell reminds Vegeta, "Tao is technically my employee. And you know what happens if you violate our little treaty."

     Kyra's report elicts a brief grunt from Tao, Cell holding out his hand, and a brief exchange of more zeni than Vegeta has probably ever personally seen (mostly because he doesn't seem the type to care about money) from one of Tao's storage compartments. The money vanishes into Cell's mouth a moment later.

     It *also* proves that Red Ribbon Regiment has a private radio, which is probably less than surprising. That, or they're using telepathy. Both are equally possible - Cell is full of useful tricks.

     As soon as they come under attack, Tao drops forward into his Crane Style, prepared to defend himself. He dodges to the left, narrowly evading a blast catching him in the arm; blackness smolders around his shoulder from the nearness of the strike.

     Cell, meanwhile, bats the blast to the side with his bare hand with an almost casual motion, a trail of ki behind it. Sixteen simply stoically takes the shots through noncritical locations, with damage racking up quickly.

     Cell moves in front of Sixteen a moment later. "Do me a favor," he tells Sixteen as Tao launches into a critical strike at the pressure points of the human-shaped machines.

     "Affirmative. I will attempt to propagate GR-0 code to these machines," Sixteen confirms, "Please defend me until that is possible."

     "Easy for you to say," Tao growls as he dodges another strike by the skin of his teeth.

     "Yes," Android Sixteen replies, "It is easy for me to say. Stand by. Beginning propagation."

     "Try and propagate the code to the base's AI," Cell adds, "But I don't think you're going to have time for that, and these are slightly more pressing."

     "Don't break my toys, Vegeta," Cell adds casually as he bats another attack away, nonlethally. He's not used to fighting defensively, but he doesn't want to smash these things - he wants them for himself.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
"Three of you means more for me to smash." Vegeta says right before the assault begins, and he's surrounded by an aura of blue-white energy. He fights and tries to hold off both things with as much strength as possible, delivering punches that try and damage them on purpose. Probably out of spite for Cell.

Serori (37) has posed:
Six takes what she can from the computer. Between Kyra's discovery and her own, the full story of the facility's fate should be easy to piece together on some other day. Now's not exactly the time to be solving puzzles, is it? Not whenever the reactor is threatening to overload. She's wise to pack up and haul ass to Death's location. He's not very far ahead, so it's easy to catch up.

The narrow hallway Death proceeds to explore continues to carve a convoluted route to the facility's opposite end. It will take awhile to reach the hallway's conclusion -- long enough, in fact, that both Death and Six should start to wonder at the total lack of reactor overload.

The hall comes to an end in the upper wings of the reactor building. Blazing fluorescents replace the comparably dull lighting to be found in the hall itself. What the two find is some sort of rear escape hatch. There is evidence of a submersible having been stored here, and opening the hatch does allow access to the sea.

Another narrow door from the escape area leads into the reactor proper.

Serori (37) has posed:
Kyra's theft of the security logs goes smoothly. Maybe later, she'll get a chance to check out some of the footage, too?

Seeing Kyra take off to the stated rendezvous should get Cory in motion, too. Together, the two race toward Serori's location in the manufacturing wing, where the fighting first broke out.

If only a few completed androids are enough to hassle Cell and Vegeta, how much trouble can be expected from several dozen half-finished androids? Enough that the Nox clones, Serori, and Toph are having a difficult time getting control over the chaos. Toph's sheer determination and Serori's speed are major assets in this battle, but without a doubt, getting a White Mage and a Time Patroller into the mix will be a major help!

"C'mon, 'bender!" Serori urges Toph to get it together. "Nox has the reactor under control -- now let's focus on surviving against /these/ things!"

Legless androids drag themselves toward Toph and Serori, powering and firing energy blasts from their eyes and mouths. Mostly-finished androids rocket across the facility at high speeds, forcing melee confrontations. Serori takes a few hits, but dishes out in kind. No doubt Toph's doing what she can to hold her own, too!

Cory's greeted by this sight as she comes roaring into action. The pickings are many. It's clobberin' time!

Serori (37) has posed:
Meanwhile, as everyone's threatening to blow each other the fuck up, Android Sixteen does something unexpected. Something subtle. Something devious. Focusing on whatever shit programming led to a robot rebellion, he starts to unwind the issue at its very core, and to gently insert his own ideas into the holes he leaves behind. What he starts to create is a patchwork union between his own subroutines, and the subroutines implanted by Doctor Ranta's men. It's not perfect, but it's enough to start putting some androids into an immediate state of frozen confusion.

Several power down to idle states, even those in the manufacturing wing.

Noble Six (38) has posed:
     Catching up to Death is now Six's priority, as she moves quickly through the hallway to get to him. The announcement of the self destruct is an issue, but if Nox says he has it, as much as Six does despite the time mage, she'll let him do what he wants. They haven't found the Dragon Ball yet so they'll have to hurry.

    Pulling up behind Death, Six looks at the corpse that he'd found, "Any idea what killed him eleven years ago? Just so we know what to be on the lookout for." The door to the reactor is in front of her, she frowns. They could go down there but she doesn't know how much help she could be to disable it.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    At least there's something down here that Toph can bend, even if it's mostly their enemies! And since they aren't technically alive, then Toph has no problems using her bending on them either.

    The girl frowns when Serori calls out to her, twisting her arms to the side in order to focus on bending one of the androids... and smashing it into the others around it. "What does it look like I'm doing, colonel lady?!" she half snaps, clearly not about to step down. Some of the energy blasts hit her, and while it clearly hurts, Toph doesn't stagger much, and she does manage to evade some of the shots too. Melee is something she doesn't mind either, and if any androids get close, then they are bound to learn just how dangerous the little teenager can be as she grabs onto the androids, letting out a fierce cry as she does her best to bend it apart. The metal is new to her, and while it does take more effort, more time to bend properly, it's not like Toph is about to let any punches and grabbing stop her, no matter how much it hurts.

    "We need to get moving and find that Dragon Ball! Any ideas?!" she calls over to the others, then works on sweeping the area with one unfortunate droid who gets to go flying!

Serori (37) has posed:
The reactor.

Nox can't make sense of the power source he's been tracking, because it's nothing Earthly he's encountered before. Neither nuclear nor electric nor geothermal nor nothing else standard, the power behind the reactor is something far more pure, complex, and if it isn't bleeding edge, it could very well be otherworldly. How long ago had this planet unified? It's been only two or three years, hasn't it? The timeline makes no sense for this power source to be anything but native.

Entering the reactor imparts immediate understanding. So, this isn't something so strange after all. Unique, yes. Unfamiliar...no.

Seven gleaming red stars shine from within the orange crystal forming the reactor's burning heart.

The energy radiating from the orb is divine in nature. Created by the planet's own god, the Dragon Ball confers a bounty of power never to be found anywhere else. And there it was, waiting to be taken. Waiting to have its bounty tapped.

Five minutes is a lot of time...

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    When a potential nuclear explosion isn't looming over everyone's heads, Kyra will gladly view a few hour's worth of video. It sounds like whatever happened down here was /wild/. She runs into the garden area to see that Toph and Serori are fighting off an army of vicious androids. Unlike Cory, Kyra doesn't rush into anything and hangs back, letting the Saiyan with her steal the android attention while she gets to work with some much needed support spells:

    "You get a Shell!" Kyra points at Toph, "And you get a Shell! And you get a Shell!" She spreads the white magic-this spell in particular one that reduces magic damage, cast with the thought that it'd help out against android energy blasts. "I don't know! Maybe we need to get out of this room and go a different route unless we wanna fight androids all day!"

Serori (37) has posed:
The GR-0 virus continues to propagate. More and more androids -- those not beaten into submission by their opponents, anyway -- start to shut down. The base AI is indeed a tougher nut to crack open, but maybe Sixteen can learn enough about it now to be useful in later attempts?

Hey, whatever happened to that countdown, anyway? Has no one noticed that the monotone voice hasn't given any further warning, despite the continuation of the alarm sequence?

The noxines give Nox everything he needs to understand the flow of power. He may not be able to discern how it's harvested without significant more study of the reactor technology, but he does come to understand the way the overload sequence is designed to work. Harvest power, initiate feedback loops, instigate a total system destruction -- unless the power has somewhere to go, somewhere else to be dumped outside of those feedback circuits, the overload could happen within seconds. Or minutes, as scheduled. There does have to be /some/ chance for the facility crew to get away.

Now he could just take the Dragon Ball, but...

Two androids remain actively locked in battle with Vegeta. One, now missing its arm, starts to charge a sizeable blast. The second one runs interference, wisely attempting to keep Vegeta engaged while its partner prepares something devastating. The power levels spiking are enough to warn Cell and Vegeta that permitting the attack to succeed might not be a good idea. Blow a hole in the facility's wall, and the whole thing will become an underwater tomb, not only for those stuck inside, but for Ranta's work as well.

Another android drops down from a catwalk on the upper level. It's aimed itself directly at Sixteen.

Nox (546) has posed:
    Judging by the racket from outside, Nox is fairly certain that the androids will be kept busy for the forseeable future. He at least estimates that Serori can manage to not die for a few minutes at the minimum, which should be plenty of time, subjectively defined as that may be with its acute sideways progress within the bounds of the reactor room. With the spell in place, he begins investigating the power grid properly, dispersing a cloud of noxines into the machine's workings to properly survey its mechanical and electrical components and to get a good idea of what it runs on. Even just the basic category of power it draws on should be enough to crack it it open and neutralize the reactor mass if worst comes to worst.

    What he finds is pretty far down on his list of expectations. He had vaguely entertained the idea of a Dragon Ball being the power source, but what he had seen earlier suggested that they were rather modest containers of energy until all seven were united for the summoning of the great dragon. This proves otherwise. It is a pleasant surprise.

    Taking advantage of the ample time provided by his allies fighting tooth and nail against the synthetic army, Nox employs a certain something he perfected for dealing with the Shajem of Terra Majora, incidentally helping Elliana in the process. The cluster of noxines regathers, swirling around each other into a rotating belt of glowing blue lights, before divulging their power stores into a single, shimmering line that traces a complete circle through the air, and stretches a translucent membrane through space, swiftly breached by the enormous, golden-bronze needle of a clock hand. The device is a little too big to fit fully into the room, but the portal is enough for it to make contact with the reactor housing, and then push straight through by applying innumerable tons of pressure on that single point. Once it clinks against the orange crystal inside, the air rings with a whining, electrical crackle.

    The building flickers with the garish cyan strobe of the reactor's active energy supply being sucked right out of it, defusing the overload as a distant secondary concern to how much raw power there is to harvest from the device.

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
    Such trivial things as 'reactor overlords' seem to mean little to Death, as the reaper simply continues on his way down the hall. At least Six is given a glance of acknowledgement, but that's about it; for the most part, the reaper is focused on his goal, social interactions and the safety of his group be damned. They can probably take care of themselves anyway, right?

    "Some beast or person of incredible power, likely," is his response to Six's question. The door is briefly examined, but Death doesn't need to look at it for very long to understand the end of that story. "It hardly matters much now. Supposedly this entire place will soon erupt, so I would suggest that we find the ball and leave. This reactor, however, has me suspicious, judging by the Master's initial encounter with these..."

    Off he goes, wandering down toward the reactor to join Nox. Perhaps his ally could use some assistance with extracting the dragon ball? Exactly what he and Six could /do/ there is questionable, but it seems like the best course of action so far.

Serori (37) has posed:
Suddenly, THE VOICE returns!

"Reactor overload imminent. Four minutes, thirty seconds remain."

That's odd.

Vegeta (663) has posed:
"Damnit!" Vegeta immediately jumps onto the one trying to distract him, reaching out to grab its head, then starts trying to smash his own forehead into the android's rather viciously. "I haven't forgotten about you!" he yells at the one charging, and tries to pick up the first one and smash it into the other repeatedly. Cell may have jokes about going ape, but this is no time for Vegeta to worry about it.

Serori (37) has posed:
Here's a quick one for Death and Noble Six.

Entering into the upper levels of the reactor reveals a strange sight. There's the reactor. There's Nox. There's a portal, with things sticking through it. There's Nox doing something at the reactor, and there's the flickering lights.

Oh, is that the Dragon Ball? What's Nox doing, anyway?

Cory (768) has posed:
    When Cory comes swooping in, she's engulfed in what look like crimson flames! WHOOOOSH, straight out past Kyra and slamming one of the rampaging androids into a wall. But jsut as quickly she's decked hard and goes skidding back towards the door. She goes spinning through the air but recovers with a pulse of invisible Ki, felt by others mostly as wind.

    "Well this explains why I couldn't sense anything! This explains all the limbs!"

    Which she does have. In a capsule.

Cell (696) has posed:
     Indeed, Sixteen's primary propagation of the GR-0 where the base is concerned is focused on testing weak points rather than overwhelming programming. The big android's been focused primarily on shutting down the immediate threats, but the testing of the base is still a priority.

     When the countdown starts up again, he moves his virus towards the reactor. Usurping control of the reactor functions is an overwhelmingly more important thing.

     The android that falls for Sixteen, therefore, goes unnoticed by Sixteen - but not by Cell. Cell's tail snaps around the android like a noose, snapping shut and jerking it into the one powering up its attack. That's followed by Cell simply grabbing a number of objects around the room with telekinesis and flinging them into the androids at high speeds - enough to disable, but not to destroy.

     Tao sort of blinks at that.

     "Hurry the hell up," Cell snarls at Sixteen.

     "I am hurrying," Sixteen replies, "Attempting to take over destruct protocols."

Noble Six (38) has posed:
    Entering the reactor room, Nox has everything pinned down inside of the reactor. But inside of the reactor is their target. The dragon ball. Noble Six frowns a bit as she looks into the reactor to where it is resting.

    "I am going to go in and get it." She says, as she looks to Nox and Death, "I don't know how high the radiation levels are...I am not going to assume that either of you are immune to radiation, so you may wish to clear out of the area."

    She turns back towards the reactor and moves towards the hatch that will lead inside, "You will most likely have to drop your magical field for me to enter. I assume this will restart the count down."

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
    While the reaper's skull-visage can't really shift, the impression of a frown seems to settle on his features as he takes in the dragon ball's location and Nox's work on it. Well, his suspicion is confirmed, at least; now it's just a matter of getting it out of there.

    Which Six helpfully volunteers for. Death casts her a brief glance, then simply shrugs his shrouded shoulders. "If you believe you have the ability to do so, then get it, so that we can leave this place. We should inform the others, in any case, so that they can begin to make their way out as well."

    Death's gaze shifts aside to Nox. "Unless you have a better idea of how to handle this situation? What exactly are you /doing/ to it?"

Serori (37) has posed:
Toph's metalbending is remarkably successful. The androids are made of a stubborn material, but she's waaay more stubborn, so pretty soon, they're turning into crumpled-up tin cans. The major downside is that she has to think an awful lot about human skeletal anatomy and function if she wants to get the best results; crumpling a knee, for example, is way more crippling than trying to smash the skull of something that's lacking a brain. Let's hope she doesn't find that too troublesome.

Her toughness augmented by Kyra's excellent use of Shell, Toph's even able to take more hits than she should be able to as a normal-but-tough human girl. These robots aren't lying down on the job, after all!

Except that one, but he's missing all his limbs, so all he can do is lay down.

Serori's in the fray, too, but her timely kicks, punches, and cautious ki-blasts are slowing down. Why? Because half her foes appear to be going to sleep, and that is incredibly confusing.

Satisfying, but confusing.

Cory's flaming meteor of an entrance sure gets some attention, though. Many of the surviving androids turn to fixate on the newcomer saiyan, and they attack her mercilessly. Working together to separate her from her allies, they use energy blasts to herd her movements, until they can try to put her into a truly vulnerable position. More and more energy blasts begin to pummel the young Time Patroller. Does she have the wits to get out of this situation?!

Kyra, in the rear of the group, attracts the least attention...but a moment later, something cold and metal grabs at her ankle: another legless android, somehow slipping by unnoticed.

Serori (37) has posed:
THE VOICE returns, as creepily monotonous as ever.

"Error initiating Ranta Protocol. Countdown failure. Reactor failure."

Sixteen's work, or Nox's? The next line reveals the truth of that.

"Defense protocols disengaged. Resume standby status."

Serori (37) has posed:
The power flowing from the Dragon Ball is incredible. The Horologium could easily intoxicate itself if given regular access to something like this. That's the nice thing about divine relics, isn't it? Their traits are beyond human understanding, and beyond Earthly measure.

This source, however, is finite. It is but one Dragon Ball of seven.

It might become much more finite in a real hurry, if Six has her way.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Being in the back row does offer Kyra a good big picture view of everything. For example, she can see that the Androids are starting to act strange, some simply stopping where they are without even being hit. Could this be because of that virus that Cell's android companion mentioned briefly-

    Something grabs her ankle. "Gah!!" she yelps, looking down to see the zombie-like android clinging to her.

    Flailing, Kyra puts her other foot against the android's face and pushes against it, trying to pry her ankle free. "Cory! Toph!" she calls out to them both before relucantly adding, "...Serori! A little hand over here would be nice!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Okay, it's not fun to imagine what it would be like if these were real people. But the blind girl didn't come down here to hesitate. They are here for the Dragon Ball, and they will not leave without it! And if she needs to crush up humanoid shapes in order for the others to find it without being disturbed, then so be it.

    "Thanks for the shell!" Toph calls back to Kyra even as she continues tearing up the androids into various shapes. And for every android it's easier, mostly because she's getting used to the alloy they are made of. Even as she gasps for breath, she hears Kyra's call for help, and instinctively the earthbender turns around, throwing her hand out towards Kyra and tightens her hand into a fist, aiming to crunch up the android attacking her ally. It's a good thing she's grown as skilled with metalbending as she is with earthbending.

Nox (546) has posed:
    "Or here's a better idea." Nox replies to Noble Six. "Since I said I was handling it earlier, you can appreciate the fact that someone who actually knows what they're doing is working here, wait for them to finish, and then march on your merry little way without getting roasted alive. I know you're only a little wind-up army doll, but it shouldn't take a scientist to figure this out." Truthfully, it monopolizes most of Nox's attention to keep his work going in regulating the power flow, making sure to take the energy that the Dragon Ball has saturated the machine with rather than trying to draw something out of the wish-granting device itself.

    Having neatly avoided taking any damage and arriving at such a considerable power source has made this a pleasant day for Nox, and so he makes no overt moves to stop the spartan unless she decides to ignore him and wade straight in while he's busy. If she tries to remove it before he's done, then he will make adequate motion to prevent her, but at the same time, if she waits until the last bolts of lightning have finished racing up the clock hand's length and glow has faded from the receivers, he won't make any moves to stop her either.

Serori (37) has posed:
Vegeta's application of forehead-to-robot proves remarkably effective. He, as he ever does, uses brute force to get to the heart of the problem, and this time he succeeds. Cell might not be too happy to see Vegeta destroy yet more valuable android soldiers, but it's better that than a giant hole in the side of your sealab.

Serori falls back to Kyra's side while frantic radio chatter brings her up to speed on the situation. It sounds like the Dragon Ball's been found -- so, why the hell are they still here?

"It's time to pack up and get out. Nox, you've got time to finish your part, but the rest of us need to get moving. Cory, Toph, with me. Kyra, keep close, in case any other aggressives show up. We're moving back to the exit point. Six, stay by Nox for now; I doubt I could order you away, anyway." Serori turns to be sure Cory's managed to handle her threats -- of course she would, she's a saiyan! -- and then begins to lead the way back through the facility.

"Cell, we've prevented a total self-destruct of the place, so there should be a great deal here for your organization to absorb. I understand we've got some computer back-ups to dig through ourselves, and that's all I need for the timebeing. Nox's exposure to the reactor should prove to be informative, too...so, I feel confident in handing this place over to your control. We're taking the Dragon Ball, of course."

"Death, if you don't mind seeing to it that our extraction of the Dragon Ball is completed successfully...? Six deserves a suitable escort."

Serori kicks a fallen android out of her path. As she hits the hydroponics bay, the air goes all misty; she realizes that the watering system has been activated. One of the automated gardeners is at work, pruning dead leaves from the produce.

She shakes her head, and continues on her way, muttering a separate request into the Confederate-only frequency.

Cory (768) has posed:
    "Oh crap--" What did Cory rush out into? A bunch of androids surrounding her, that's what. Androids whose powers she cannot sense. Neither their presence or their threat level is obvious and that knowledge is worth both a thrill and a spark of fear.

    As often is the case however, Saiyan battle exuberance wins out over common sense. "This many might be trouble..." And even though that's the case, she's grinning.

    The grin's blown away by all those shots though. It quickly transforms into pure FREAKOUT when several of them bash into her and knock her around like a pinball. her extremely resilient outfit actually starts ripping here and there from some of it, to say nothing of the effect this has on skin.

    What's worse, her body's already stressed from the Kaioken...

    Like that's going to stop her!

    "HuuuuuuuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! Let's try a KAIOKEN TIMES EIGHT!" Because the five she was in just wasn't good enough.

    Somehow or another the aura just grows even more intense, puffing outwards a few more feet. Every visible muscle on her ripples, bulging every so slightly to adjust.

    She has wits, oh she has wits.

    She'd just rather handle this the old-fashioned, fun way.

    Utter brute force!

    What better way to handle this then, than to combine the two?

    Pushing her speed for all she's got she ducks in low, under the shots, and goes for the nearest Android. This one she deals with using a tripping leg sweep. Slipping behind, she then delivers a solid kick that sends him flying the opposite direction if all goes well. This has the advantage of counter projectile warfare and causing formations to hopefully break up and make the way for a more chaotic brawl-a-thon through the numbers!

    Yeah, no way is she getting through THAT unscathed...

Noble Six (38) has posed:
    The SPARTAN frowns behind her helmet, glaring at Nox as she crosses her arms over her chest. But she does speak up, "Sure, no that's fine. Don't let me use the suit of power armor that's hardened against radiation to go into the reactor and get the Dragon Ball without issue."

    But she'll wait until he's done with whatever it is he's doing, "Though I would request you pick up the pace, because being near you makes me feel sick."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Thanks to Toph, the wandering, grabby android is forcefully removed from her via aggressive metalbending. Kyra's all too glad to take a few steps backwards out of the room proper now. "Thanks, Toph!" she calls back to the Earthbender before Serori makes it known that everyone's getting out now, dragonball found.

    "Alrighty then! Let's get out of here." She'll gladly stick with Cory, Toph, and Serori as they move back to the exit point. Seems she has no desire to be left behind here in this underwater deathtrap.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    They have it!

    When it becomes clear that they have found the Dragon Ball, Toph lets out a breath she wasn't aware that she was holding in. They have all of the Dragon Balls, and now...

    They still aren't out of this situation yet, and even if the androids are dropping down around them, the blind earthbender won't allow herself to relax until they are safely on land. And perhaps not even then. When Serori orders them out though, Toph gives the Saiyan a firm nod of her head, then she rushes after her, bare feet kicking off of the metal floor as she follows closely behind Serori and along with Cory and Kyra. "I'll handle them if they do show up!"

    No, being left behind here is not tempting at all, so Toph sticks close to Serori, mentally preparing herself for the trip back up to the surface. Ugh.

    Tony damn well better appreciate the horrible stuff she has gone through for him when he comes back!

Serori (37) has posed:
Utter brute force is very successful in demolishing androids, all told.

Cory's ratio of brawn to brain is like the magic formula in Dragon Ball Z, or something. All that kaioken, all that determination, all that focused brutal outpouring of energy -- yeah. It's satisfying, isn't it, to rip enemy androids into tiny bits of shiny shrapnel?

Nox (546) has posed:
    "You misunderstand me. I couldn't care less whether you get yourself messily killed or not. Your suit is completely irrelevant. What I care about is finishing what I'm doing before you jam your ignorant little fingers into it like a magpie after a shiny object." Fortunately, Nox finishes in pretty short order, leaving Noble free to take what she came for. "I'm sure you'll do an admirable job escorting it out however. Your thick, neanderthal skull must be excellent protection against energy blasts." Dismissing the needle and closing the portal, Nox folds his arms behind his back and begins floating out of the room, following the trail of carnage. He doesn't simply teleport out just in case the spartan somehow drops dead on the way back and he has to take the Dragon Ball into Confederate hands.

    Well, he can dream.

Cell (696) has posed:
     Cell doesn't care if they take the Dragon Ball. The Dragon Ball is ancillary; it's not something that even registers on his radar as an element of the mission. Managing to take control of the facility was a mild bonus; he was going to tear it apart and scour it for anything useful, then blow it up, anyway. A base that someone else knows about isn't a safe base. It's a liability.

     "Sixteen, continue propagating GR-0 until these androids are under our control," Cell orders, "Then secure the base and prepare to move supplies."

     Tao mutters something under his breath, nursing an injury. Cell flicks his eye over to Tao.

     "No, you don't have to help me clean up. You can get out of here if you want."

     "Thank God," Tao replies, "I'm going to go find something more entertaining to do."

     Cell dismisses him as Sixteen sits down and resumes his work.

     <<Find anything of use in this place, salvage the remains of the androids the others destroyed, and then prepare to blow it up.>> Cell orders Sixteen over the private radio, <<I want these androids rewritten in twenty-four hours.>>

     <<What do you intend to do with them?>> Sixteen inquires. Cell's mandible presses tight together.

     <<I thought I'd expand the family a little.>>

     Sixteen is silent for a moment.

     Cell flicks his eyes over to him. <<What?>>

     <<Will they be my children or my siblings?>>

     Cell stares at him.

     <<It is a pressing concern. You have called me your brother numerous times. Adopting these androids and repurposing them will make them your children. However, as they are born from the GR-0 protocol stored within me, this means that they are also my children, partially.>>

     Cell continues staring.

     <<This raises concerns.>> Sixteen admits.

     <<I wonder if Seventeen and Eighteen are as bizarre as you are.>> Cell produces and lights another cigar, taking a deep breath.

     <<We will find out.>>

     <<Yes. Yes, I guess we will.>>

Dracula Vlad Tepes (83) has posed:
    Normally Death would simply wander off, content that the dragon ball will be attained and taken back to holding, but...Serori has requested that he stay behind to ensure its successful extraction and also escort Six out of the building. So, with a great sigh like a chilling breeze wafting through a silent graveyard, he endures the bickering between Six and Nox and simply looms nearby in gloomy silence.

    "The childish bickerings of mortals never cease to grate at me." Okay, aside from that muttered complaint. Do you really expect him /not/ to complain about a situation he's forced into?

Noble Six (38) has posed:
    Six snorts when he turns and walks off. She half considers grabbing him and shoving him into the reactor, but she has no idea if he's weak to radiation. Besides, killing him in the middle of a joint operation would undoubtedly get some of the more Confederate sympathetic members of command on her ass, and she's dealt with that enough.

    She pops the hatch to the reactor and steps inside, shields flaring up as the radiation hits them, but holding as she moves in to grab the Dragon Ball. It's simple enough to fetch it and bring it back out of the reactor. She does take a little time to look at it as she's bringing it out. Who would have thought something so simple looking could cause all this trouble.