[OLD] Arc I Hub: RISING Unit Base

"Ah, but would there be any semblance of them in history. You think they'd let that knowledge survive to reach the ears of those not involved...?"

"But then...how would I even know...? Unless... someone fucked up..."

"What would you say to that...?"

And she watched for any other reactions as she spoke the boy's name... with a "-kun "

Now her facial expression faltered. "Diamond?" she said, with a look belying a mix of confusion and worry. Almost on cue, Nero tugged on her shirt, revealing a large yellow jewel from his pocket as she turned to him.

Amari could only behold the gem in silence, her worry growing increasingly apparent with her frown. Kigo picked up on this, but knew he wasn't going to get any answers just waiting for her to speak up. "Yeah," Kigo affirmed with Nero's action. "That."

“I was going to ask about this myself, actually,” Nero joined in.

Amari continued staring at it in disbelief, "That..." she said, her dismay slowly showing itself, "Is most likely a Chaos Emerald..." She brought her hand forward, as if to pick up the Emerald. To her better judgment, however, she quickly drew it back.

His eyes narrowed, to bring up the topic she did was easy to chalk off as a coincidence, but this, this was something else. Only a few knew of his name, his real name, and who knew it were hidden from the public eyes. Anyone else would have to be another like him, someone else who was born from the same process. 

"The Spartain's training were considered some of the harshest ever known. Starting at an age no older than when they can first walk, they were forged to become the guardians of their land. Not just the men, even the woman were expected to be strong. And while the strong survived, the weak would more often than not die." Though his body still allied him, he still managed to lean forward, trying to get a better look at just who was in front of him. 

"Or, they'd try to run away."

The woman stood for a moment making no further sound. Just standing there and watching.

Until finally...

"There's nothing to hide about it. No one is listening, I made sure of it. You know full well I don't mean those Spartans," she took a step. The lighting on her face changed, only revealing a sliver of her face. Namely, her bright red eyes, "I mean the one that spawned you."

"Why have they allied with the E.L.A? If you yourself even know..."

A familiar feeling shot down the prisoner's spine. The same intent or feeling he felt before when something had surprised him that day... He never got to see it's real face, only the projection he imagined in his subconscious.

So it is a Chaos Emerald... Kigo thought to himself, having confirmed his own suspicions. Watching her pull away from it only furthered his own wariness of the jewel, but also piqued his inquiry. What did she know about this artifact? Deciding that he needed to know, he spoke up.

"I've heard stories about Chaos Emeralds in my travels," he began, "Artifacts that, when wielded by a select few, could bring out an immeasurable amount of power in them."

Amari still did not speak. Kigo took this pause as a concession for him to continue. "Throughout legends, some speak that this power brought about miracles..." Kigo hesitated; the jewel glimmered in Nero's hands, its gleam strong enough to attract any hungry eyes. "...Or catastrophes."

Nero, unable to keep his curiosity down, spoke up. "Chaos? You mean like..." His question was cut off by Amari, who assured him. "Yes, actually. I was about to get to that.” Kigo raised an eyebrow, but had no other reply.

Amari gave an exasperated sigh as she turned back to Kigo. "Those stories would be...correct, but they are more than just artifacts,” she began to explain. Pausing, she quickly asked, “Tell me, how much do you know about Ki?"

He tightened his fist as the feeling continued to grow, glared the woman back as best he could. She wanted something out of him, but she would have to do more than this to get it out of him. Much more than what most would imagine, and he had a feeling she knew this. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath, calming himself before he finally spoke. 

"The Spartains also had an oath, one they lived, and died by." he said. 


"I swear myself into the service of the state of Sparta and its Kingship. I will uphold the standards of the state, I will execute my commands to the best of my ability, and I will not desert my brothers. My life belongs to Sparta, subject to its laws, here I shall remain." 


And then finally, he went silent. 

Now she was speaking his language. Kigo cleared his throat, speaking as clearly as possible, "Ki is the driving life force of all living beings. It is acknowledged across all branches of religion and belief, but its basic definition remains the same," Kigo briefly paused, then finished, "It is the energy which resides in all of us, and links us to the spiritual realm."

There was a moment of silence. "Uh... at least that's what I've come to see it as," Kigo concluded, though with his conclusion came his own question. "But what does that have to do with this?" Kigo asked, pointing to the Emerald in Nero's hand.

Now the ball rolled back into her side of the court. She visibly relaxed, ready to explain the subject. Giving small lectures was something she was used to for Nero, and a comfort against her growing anxiety. "To be blunt, there is another energy that is similar to Ki, so aptly named: Chaos Energy. This energy flows through the world and the life in it to a much, much lesser extent than Ki." she stopped a moment, then picked back up, "But there are… larger stores of it. The Emeralds, to be exact,” she said, gesturing to the Emerald Nero now held. Kigo stared at her in silent awe. She continued, "The Emeralds generate a nearly infinite amount of Chaos Energy, and there are seven of them.”

Kigo looked at the Emerald again. He looked like he had more questions to ask, but remained silent, waiting for Amari to continue explaining. "It's important to note that despite the relatively small amount of it in the world compared to Ki, for those who can harness Chaos Energy, it serves effectively the same purpose. but it's… different, in some ways.”

"Different?" Kigo finally interrupted, his full attention on her words, "Different how?" Amari replied, almost eagerly this time, "For starters, it can be used to power machines if they are built for it,” Kigo glanced at Nero as Amari said this, but she kept on regardless, “Even more, it appears to react to the emotions of those who wield it. Sometimes in... potent, if not unpredictable ways...”

The feeling subsided. Xalia sighed and softened as she backed up.

"There is neither state nor king when it comes to that organization. The only standard is to be the embodiment of the ultimate evolution of man, if you aren't that you can never execute the command as you've already failed. There is none to desert, as your brothers are your very enemy. Your life belongs to the organization you've failed by being here, captured like an animal. As such you've already become an oath breaker, and thus you remain with the knowledge of your failure."

"But, you probably don't perceive it that way. And I know you probably won't give me much more unless I take more drastic measures."

She turned and took a step away...

"If you'll excuse me, I think I'll take my leave."

She slowly took another step, waiting for any other response.

"You say I've failed, and yet, what was my mission?" 

Just as Xalia's foot touched the floor, she paused.

"I was merely responding to that fake oath that has nothing to do with you nor that organization..."

"Well," she continued, reaching the door. She opened it and stepped out, "I'll see you later," for that moment, the prisoner saw the woman's face. Not that he recognized it much, "...my annoying little nephew..."

And the door closed.

Kigo briefly interjected again, "Such as...?” Amari could only shake her head in response. "I'm afraid I don't know much more beyond that," she said, her worry slowly returning. Kigo nodded. Amari looked up at Kigo again, "But in a nutshell, that's the short and dummied down version of it."

Now it was Kigo's turn to laugh. "You calling me a dummy?" Amari giggled at him, who just shrugged sheepishly. "Not at all..." Amari trailed off, as if she meant to say something more.

Kigo stared at her dumbly for a while, until he realized he had completely forgotten to introduce himself. "Kigo, Kigo Hu." He finished her sentence, perhaps a little louder than he had intended. She nodded with a simple "Ah, Kigo, then."

"Well, it's been pleasant meeting you, Kigo, but Nero's about to need some fine-tuning," Amari said. Kigo nodded. "Indeed. Thanks for answering my questions, Dr. Verbatim." She waved it off, "Not a problem. Just ask away." Kigo walked himself out leaving Amari to her work. "Well, he was nice," she said to Nero. The Android agreed. "Indeed. He's quite skilled. Without him we might not have completed our mission so handily." Although Amari smiled at his report, she tucked away the unease she'd been feeling ever since the Emerald was brought up...

Pondering on what Dr. Verbatim had told him, Kigo now had to wonder. How many of these Emeralds had the E.L.A. already found? The way that the good doctor reacted to the topic also made him uneasy. It was clear that whatever lay beyond her knowledge of them was... less than pleasant.

Lusk bathed in his own defeat.

Most of his body was submerged in his room’s water, as he gazed up in thought. A ways below him, a heavy metallic bat which resembled his signature horn had sunk to the bottom. He’d spent the past few hours training, and after his previous successful attempt at perfecting a new song, he’d begun a new sort of physical training.

Using the metallic bat he had specially made, he used rocks set to descend from the rooms waterfall as target practice, and the bat’s weight as the means to push his strength and control. Each rock was large enough that it would take a powerful and precise shot to shatter.

But each time he had jumped up to reach a falling rock, which he often struggled with due to the bat’s weight, he had failed in destroying it. Be it his aim and timing leading to a miss, sometimes nicking it, or his own strength failing to swing the capable metal through the air and stone.

He’d failed, completely. Now his body lay on the waters surface, sore and without progress. There wasn’t any use rising back to repeat the process, his limits were clear.

And being reminded of his limits was only familiar to him…and filled him not with a particular distaste or bitter feeling, but with questions.

Could anyone else in RISING handle this much? He was rather confident they could…

Would he be able to push past this limit? He wasn’t so sure…

Should he still be trying?

Hearing someone approach, Lusk kicked his feet through the water and drifted quickly towards the shore. As he reached it Fluut was stepping in.

“Going for a swim?” Fluut asked simply, Lusk gave a slight nod.

“Their effort in approximating our homes oceans has turned out well…” Lusk stated, slipping out of his wet pants and shirt and heading over to grab a spare.

“Quite.” Fluut agreed, “It’s nostalgic.”

As Lusk slipped on his new clothes, he pondered a certain detail. “Though…their is one glaring difference….”

Fluut grinned a bit, knowing of his friends complaint.

“The taste.”

Both Namekians gave in to a bit of rather human laughter, before gathering for Fluuts purpose here. Revealing a folder and handing it to Lusk, Fluut spoke up again, “The doctor and her partners have begun to worry.”

Lusk flipped through the beginning pages carefully attempting to read the English text. With some time, he concluded, “Over resources, then?”

“Indeed. I had these read to me, of course.” Fluut admitted….he couldn’t actually read. “All technology they have no time to “crack”.”

Lusk frowned, “So they have the technology, but can’t put a crack in it?”

“It’s apparently an expression.” Fluut revealed, looking sideways nervously, “I…learned the hard way…”

Verbatim’s annoyed rant still rang in his ears from his successful attempt to “crack” her only spare Power Resistor during her explanation.

“They simply have no time to figure out how the technology is built, and instead need it gathered for them.”

“Gathered? From where?” Lusk questioned, before flipping to the page with that very information.

“The E.L.A.” Fluut answered, as Lusk looked at some form of map, “One of the hostages freed in our last mission was able to give the location of one of their factories.”

“So a retrieval mission…” Lusk considered, “The two of us were assigned this then?”

“I was given the option to pick my partner.” Fluut replied, as Lusk handed the filled folder back to him.

“I see…” Lusk nodded, “The others must be weary, having just been off on their own missions--”

“You were my first choice.” Fluut interrupted, looking at the folders contents, only to confuse himself. Lusk was taken aback slightly. Fluut closed the folder quickly, wishing he hadn’t bothered.

“You’re the first I’d choose to have my back.” Fluut said, before feeling the need to explain, “Ah, it’s another expression--”

“Yes…” Lusk said, beginning to smile, “I think I understand it…”

-------------------------------------
OOC: Beginning is in reference to Lusk's failed training.

Fluut and Lusk had returned hours before and were currently resting up from their battles at the factory. The R&D team had thanked them for the work. There was also a team dedicated to the task of going through the various files the team managed to secure on the flash drive. Fluut was careful to mention that at one point it appeared someone else had been through the base, but a quick explanation from command alleviated his concern. If the mysterious interloper hadn’t attacked them, there wasn’t any reason to be especially concerned, yet.

Verbatim had mentioned something about “something extra” for Nero, which apparently required the CD as a ‘body’ for it. She’d indicated what he’d found on his own mission was something very important to Nero’s development in some way, but what way, Fluut couldn’t grasp. Humans were always far better at manipulating their technology than he was. So, instead, he chose to sit and meditate.

There was still Xalia’s suggestion to think over, wonder what she was thinking about… And the implications of the stronger, sleeker robot left Fluut in need of a session like this anyway. One where he could just clear his mind for a few minutes, before resuming his duties around the base. Or training some more. His fists, despite his…recent abuse of his new technique, were mostly healed by now.

Was there much else to be done? Most of the current problems the RISING Unit faced were solved…

Despite being back for awhile, Nero hadn't had much time for rest thanks to his latest round of rigorous testing. between that and the last 2 missions being nearly back-to back, all Nero wanted to do was "relax".He wondered if this was the closest he could feel to being "exhausted" slightly amused at the thought.

finally coming to his room, he opened the door and walked in for the first time in what felt like ages. turning on the lights and making his way to a reclining chair seated at the end of the room.

His room was designed intially to resemble the lab he was first activated in, the walls and floor resembling those in the lab exactly. A conscious choice to make the room seem a more comfortable and familiar environment during Nero's first confusing days of life.

during the months following, Nero had customized it a bit. bookshelves lined one of the walls extensively. and a computer sat on a desk in one of the corners. (though Nero had only limited access to the internet. so it wasn't very useful in his mind)

As the books might suggest, Reading had become Nero's favorite pastime as of late. he mostly read historical books out of curiosity, but he kept a few fictional novels on hand for the odd occasion he would want to read those.

finally getting situated. He grabbed the last book he had been reading off of the chair, and picked up where he left off.

after about 30 minutes, he heard a knock at the door....

"Oh my GOD everything HURTS!" Yesterday was certainly a very long and aggressive training session. Getting shot at and blown up for hours on end may have been too much too soon but given the current state of the war, Arashi wasn't left with much choice. If he desired real results he would have to take every aspect of his training to the extreme. Even if the draw backs didn't always seem worth it at first. . . .
Arashi was laying in bed trying to recover from the fatigue. He wondered when the next mission would be and where exactly it would take place. He hoped that it wouldn't be any time too soon since he needed the rest. So much had happened in the span of only two months. He had met people with abilities and backgrounds he believed only existed within the pages of the comics he read.

"Then again I guess i shouldn't be talking." He laughed as he looked at his bandaged Saiyan tail, realizing he could easily fit that same bill. Then it hit him; Arashi had not spent much time getting to know anyone within his own unit since he joined this operation. He only knew a handful of their names by heart and hadn't fought with all of them for all that long but even then, he didn't really know them that well.

"Hhhmm, I could try talking to Kigo. Wait! No, he's training around this time and those Namek guys just got back from a mission so they're probably tired as hell. No fucking way i'm talking to that ninja chick though! That just leaves . . .  .Nero!"

Arashi hopped out of bed with new vigor pumping through him! He still had so many questions about how Nero came to be and how he worked. More importantly whoever made him was more than likely a very spectacular individual! Arashi's body was still a little sore and every step felt like he was getting shot at all over again, but that didn't stop him from marching out of his room to find Nero. It took him a few minutes to get directions but soon he reached the Android's room.

Arashi knocked on the steel door asking "Nero! You in there? Ya recharging or something? If you aren't too busy I was hoping if I could pick your brain for a minute or two."

Nero was slightly taken aback by the shouting through his door...though Arashi's curioscity didin't surprise him.

"Doors Unlocked" he called from the back of the room. putting his book away for now.

"Oh? Ok!" Once he had realized that it was okay to enter, Arashi opened the door to greet his friend with a good morning. He looked around the room and noticed how "Sci-fi" it looked. He wasn't quite sure what to expect but once he took a good look it all made sense. After all what would make a better room for an Android than one that looked like a miniature lab. However what did surprise Arashi was the many books that were in the room. He had honestly assumed that Nero simply downloaded most of the things he knows off the Internet or at least something along those lines. He had never considered the possibility that an Android would take up reading. In the end that was yet another question Arashi would have to add to the list of many. “Hey dude! Sorry for showing up without really giving you a heads up but I don't exactly have your number ha ha.”Once the door closed Arashi decided to lean on the wall near it as he wasn't sure where to sit.

--------------------
Meanwhile...

There was silence. The naked woman had relieved the guard of duty, having volunteered to watch over the prisoner for a while. She watched her charge sit in his cell doing...nothing. Almost nothing. She could sense his power fluctuate ever so slightly. Mind training, no doubt.

She lowered her bag to the side, which was filled with the goodies she had just bought.
-------
Xalia purchased:
4 waters (cost: 4)
3 rations (cost: 210)
2 sports drinks (cost: 110)
and 2 first-aid kits (cost: 280)
Total Cost: 604.
Xalia's currency: 1000 -> 396.
-------
She took a step closer to the cell, "Hey, so called "Spartan", lets talk..."

A pause...

"You might be interested in what I have to say..."
----------------------

Meanwhile...

“That’s fine” Nero responded. “So, you were curious about something?”
“Yeah, I wanted to ask about something important . . “ Arashi walked toward Nero with a seemingly serious expression before replacing with one of pure childlike excitement! “How do you work?!”

“I'm...assuming you mean how my body functions?” Nero’s facial expression remained unchanging, though he was amused at Arashi’s changing so drastically.

“Not just that but where does your energy even come from?! My parents always said Ki can only come from living things.” “Oh? Am i not alive then?” Nero said, half serious.

Arashi paused for a moment, feeling as if he had just said something rather insensitive. He stuttered a bit while trying to correct his wording. “What? No no no, I mean i guess if ya wanna get technical . . . .shoot.” He kept scratching at his spiky hair as he pondered the subject. “Well . . . I was never good at science but maybe you could still be considered “alive” in some ways. You have any goals or interests?”

Nero had to take a second to think on that one. “Well. in the case of interests…” Nero picked up the book he had been reading earlier and showed it to Arashi “Reading about the world at large has been pretty interesting” “as for Goals...i was created to help resolve this war. As far as anything other than that goes...i don't know yet.”

“Woah . . . .you really are cool! Most of the androids I read about in comics are as advanced as you.” Arashi thought for a moment and then quickly realized something. “Wait . . . what exactly powers you? You’re way too strong for it to be just electricity running through your circuitry!”

“Ah, that” Nero said. And extended his hand outwards. Forming a small purple ball of energy in his hand. While it held itself together much like ki would, it was immediately apparent that it was slightly different, the purple energy radiated off of it like a flame.

“You were right in assuming i don’t run on Ki, but don’t assume Ki is the only kind of life energy out there, this is Chaos Energy.”

Arashi looked on in pure disbelief, for time he had finally understood what Nero was doing. The odd sensation he felt whenever Nero fired off any kind of energy attack. “Wait so can you like . . .control chaos? Or am I taking this too literally?”

“I don’t know why it’s named that either actually” Nero said, consciously giving a smile of amusement
“I've only learned more about it myself recently, the basics are that it’s another type of life energy, that while not as prevalent as KI..essentially serves the same purpose. It has a few differences though” “For one thing, it's not just people that can generate and use it. but machines and objects as well”

“Wow . . .that’s nuts. Dada was right, the world is bigger than I thought.” Arashi started to wonder what other kinds of powers and abilities were out there. More importantly, who or what were commanding said powers and just how dangerous were they.

“Another difference..” Nero continued. “Is that we know chaos energy is heavily responsive to the emotions of users and non-users alike,”

“Oh, well that makes sense. If it’s called “chaos energy” it should be pretty dangerous when someone in a bad mood uses it. Kinda like me when I had a bad dream and blew a hole in my wall when I was seven, but WAY worse.”

“...wait you blew a hole in your wall at seven?” Nero asked, intrigued and actually quite amused at the thought.

“Oh yeah!” He laughed seeming almost proud of his destructive action. “After that my parents said I wasn’t allowed to do my usual physical conditioning before I got my Ki control down. Wasn’t my favorite way to train but it got more fun after a few weeks ha ha ha!” Although he found the experience to be a fun one he didn’t plan on telling Nero about how many times Ki balls blew up in his face.

‘That’s..actually really funny!!” Nero said, trying to force a smile. “Seems you were pretty destructive even at a young age huh?”

Arashi noticed the smile on Nero’s face and to be frank it didn’t seem very real. Arashi wondered if Nero was just one of those androids who had a hard time showing more than one or two emotions.”Well . . . .my parents tell me power without control or a clear mind isn’t real power at all. Whatever that means, but I guess you could say i packed a punch when I was more on the small side. What about you? Where did you start at?”

Nero looked up in thought. “I was built to be powerful, but in the beginning i lacked skill or any knowledge of how to use my abilities. But i've grown since, ive had formal training and instruction. Miss Amari helped too, being the one that built me, it was only natural. there's also been some physical upgrades.” Nero then remembered the near-fatal encounter with the large sentry droid he had on his first mission. “But..it's important to note i still have..quite a bit of room for improvement.” he said,his eyes narrowing a bit.

Arashi’s eye’s flew wide open. As if he had just gotten the world's largest assortment of Iron Fist comics. He was so excited to hear that one of his “origin story” theories were on the mark but he noticed how Nero was somewhat saddened after admitting he had his flaws. Arashi walked up to Nero and patted him on the back with a large smile on his face. “That’s great if you ask me. Having flaws just means there is still more more you can do to improve! You haven’t hit your wall yet and neither have I!” He remembered the man who crashed into his life and set him on this road toward true strength. The frustration that came with feeling of utter uselessness and the fear of death being beaten into his very soul. It was all so terrifying yet even more so infuriating! After so many years of training Arashi had learned the hard way that it all meant nothing when faced with sheer unrelenting power.

“..thank you” Nero responded, he..actually felt better after that. It was hard not to buy into Arashi’s enthusiasm at least.

“Besides it was you who wiped that roided out blue monster off the map. Not to mention how you kept helping me out with the other robots and monsters we took out.Heck I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re tougher than me!” Though Arashi didn’t fully believe that statement he wasn’t going to overlook that possibility after what happened. The world is a big place and as far as he knew, chaos energy was better than Ki. That wasn’t going to stop him from competing to find out which was superior in the long run. “I bet if we keep working like a well oiled machine we’ll win this entire war!”

“I doubt it will be that easy, even the drones are a big threat given the right...circumstances”

Arashi raised up his arm and pat his arm as he winked at Nero saying “That’s what training is for buddy. Nothing worth having is easy to get but it’s all worth it after ya do! Give it time! One day we’ll be able to knock those suckers out in one hit! I’ll prove it to you soon!” Arashi thought for a moment; trying to think of a way to give a machine a sense of hope. After a few seconds he finally came to what he hoped to be a perfect solution. Arashi figured that if he wanted Nero to have confidence in himself as well as the potential of this team he would need more experience and knowledge involving the art of combat. That was where Arashi came in. “How about this! Why don’t I teach you everything I learned from my parents? Give you some more insight on how to really whale into a target.”

Nero was surprised by the sudden offer, not entirely sure how to respond. “Um..sure?” he finally said.

Arashi was happy to hear Nero agree to his little plan. He marched over to Nero’s door and motioned his free hand in a way that said “follow me” as he opened it. “Great! Let’s head over to the training room and on the way maybe you can tell me more about what else your mom makes.”


“Alright, sounds fine to me.” nero responded. And the two headed out.

Arashi and Nero walked towards the training room, the carnage of their past missions long behind them. In fact, the RISING base had fallen all but silent. The chaos of the naked woman had passed, the members were alive and whole, and generally, everything seemed to be in place.

Below, there was a tremendous crash, like an explosion, and almost immediately, the halls of the RISING base darkened slightly, red alarms sounding off with enough force to snap Fluut out of his trance.

“INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! ALL RISING PERSONNEL, TO THE FIRST FLOOR IMMEDIATELY!” A human voice boomed, sounding panicked and pissed, “THEY’VE BROUGHT… OH GOD… OH GHOO—”

There was the briefest sound of flesh being pierced, then the line went dead. Naturally, this was enough to get the RISING personnel’s attention immediately…

OOC: And so Episode 2 of the main story begins. You should all know where to look...