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Why We Wear the Mask [Cas/Xros Hunt]
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Post by Metal Drive on Jan 13, 2019 5:26:39 GMT
They decided to head out late in the evening.
For Cassandra and Denryu, that was their best bet to move over such a large span of open land as the Network Plains. Even as the sun started to set over the horizon, the light still spread evenly over that smooth land, only faint shadows cast over the wide, rolling hills. Even though they couldn't see anyone around for miles, the two knew that they could be spotted at a moment's notice - which meant that they couldn't really be seen as themselves.
Thus? Denryu decided to forgo his theater mask, instead wearing a hoodie to, presumably, keep him warm on that chilly winter afternoon. To his left was a Reppamon, masquerading as his partner, and to the right was 'Alex' and her partner, a Biomon.
Neither were real, of course, but the disguises served their purposes well enough. Taking a look down at his Digivice, Denryu gave a nod. "Just another mile outward... I think I see a few trees over in that direction." That was probably it, he figured, but he wasn't going to rush over that last span of distance.
"Thanks for this." It was a simple trip so far, to be sure, but his current disguise worked much better while he was walking with another person!
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Post by Cross on Jan 13, 2019 5:39:22 GMT
"You're welcome. Thank you for inviting me." Alex murmured as the two strode through the shin length grass her head tilted to look up at the gradually purpling sky. Soon the grass would become wet with dew as the temperature dropped. Frost already beginning to paint intricate pictures upon the greenery. "It's been a while since I've seen the stars this clearly. New moon tonight so we should have quite the light show," She quipped, but her meaning was clear. No moon meant that while the stars would be clear as day hopefully they would not be. Giving them a better chance of finding and sneaking Falcon out of whatever bind he might have found himself in. "Hmm there goes the first star of the evening." The little medic hummed nodding towards the horizon as the rays began to slowly disappear over the edge as the pair ambled towards the copse of trees. Doing their best to look to simply be out on a casual stroll.
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Post by Metal Drive on Jan 13, 2019 6:16:24 GMT
"Hm? Ah, yes."
Stargazing. At least until they could figure that they were alone, it was best to simply keep character as they made their way to their destination. It still put Denryu on a bit of a back foot, though, scrambling his thoughts together to try and think of something to say! "Well... I don't get a lot of chances to see a sky this clear back in our world. Its... nice."
The tone was a bit flat, but the sentiment was 'nice' enough. Thankfully, it didn't seem like they were going to need to keep in character at all: as they approached the trees, turning around past the last hill, they were treated to a quiet sight...
... But one that quickly caught the eye. Blue pieces of metal were scattered about the ground, mixed in with the foliage - and they weren't just small 'bits' either, but sizeable shards, in some cases even bigger than their palms. It didn't take long to find the source:
The Mailbirdramon. (X) His left wing was in tatters, stripped down to the exposed support structure underneath, and his paint job was otherwise scratched to high heck. Just what had he gone through to be put in this condition?
"My word..." Guru stepped in close, as Denryu knelt down in front of the machine, waving a palm in front of its head.
"No response. It looks like he disabled his active functions to try and preserve... 'something'." But what? Why did he remain like this for so long? Was it just to hide his data signal?
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Post by Cross on Jan 13, 2019 6:27:31 GMT
"I was afraid of this." Cas murmured low under her breath as soon as she caught sight of the first chunks of metal though neither of them could quite be prepared for the sight before them.The twisted armor, the stripped down chasis, the scars and scratches. Beside her Jegan winces letting out a low hiss of sympathy as 'Alex' snapped into action.
"Do you have a D-terminal with you General? Plug it into his readout port and get me a status update on how our friend here is doing. 'Troy' I need you to began running a healing program on him. I'll scan him and ensure nothing internal is seriously damaged. If he doesn't wake up once we've gotten his power levels back up to fifty percent then we'll take him to see a contact of mine." The Medic ordered as the Biomon snapped out a salute and got to work as he encased the Mailbirdramon in calming blue light. The armor slowly beginning to knit together as Cas drew out her own scanner and began going over Falcon in detail.
"He seems to be responding to healing, but I won't be able to fix the more fiddly bits without assistance." 'Troy' cautioned though not to Cas's surprise. They could treat Machine Digimon, but only to a point where eventually medical had to be exchanged for technical.
"The one good news is he doesn't seem to have suffered any weather damage and his core is intact. Anything short of core damage we can repair with time and favors." The Doctor mused carefully monitoring the Digimon's power levels as she smoothed a soothing hand lightly over the poor creature's armor.
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Post by Metal Drive on Jan 13, 2019 6:46:22 GMT
Cassandra quickly had a handle on the situation. Giving a nod to the doctor, the masked trainer brought out his D-Terminal, slotting a cord into a port at base of the metal bird's neck. Soon after, that read-out began scrolling rapidly past Denryu's screen, the tamer flicking carefully through the report.
"Everything cuts off about four hours since the attack on Paradise." So he'd been out of it for that long? "Overheated system leading to automatic shutdown to preserve its form. Other than that, electrical shorts in the broken wing, general structure damage..."
... But then why did he stay shut down? As far as he could tell, there wasn't a reason for the MailBirdramon to be in this state. Was he just not chancing anything until he was found? As 'Troy' started to mend that wing, Denryu started to peer into other parts of the report. Nothing seemed off, no signs of corruption or code tampering -
...
"A downloaded message from Dreadnaught." The General blinked. "Given our work, such files are automatically filtered out after a few hours or so. But if he was trying to keep this in his cache..."
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Post by Cross on Jan 13, 2019 17:34:57 GMT
"I would suggest downloading it. There is a slim chance for a system reset when he boots up once more and it would be a shame for his work to be lost." The Biomon suggested though Cassandra was more concerned at the implications of such a message, but nodded her own agreement.
"Once he is awake he should be stable enough to move into your digivice without complications. I don't believe we want to get into detailed repairs out here in the open air." 'Alex' murmured glancing up from her own scanner to eye the sky looking for any pinpricks of movement between the scant cover the leaves came them. It wasn't uncommon for the planes to be patrolled and while she had a Plan B for getting them out of a talk with a digital officer she wasn't certain she wanted to field the awkward questions that would come with it.
"He may be a little confused when he comes too however. So I'd advise being where he can see you so he realizes he's with allies. We don't want him to hurt himself trying to fight us." 'Alex' advised gently hoping that the sight of his General would be enough to calm the injured Digimon down when it was time
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Post by Metal Drive on Jan 13, 2019 21:09:02 GMT
"Alright." He wouldn't argue with that, and it didn't take more than a push of a button - and about a minute for a bar to fill - to get that file fully preserved.
With that, he would pull back that cord, as they continued to slowly bring the MailBirdramon back online. Thankfully, there were no complications with the Biomon's nor Cassandra's methods, and soon enough, a light returned to the machine's eyes.
"Starting System... Checking for irregularities. Checking Drive Format. Testing Ocular Link-"
"We get the idea." Alex's guess was a little off, but the MailBirdramon could run those systems from the Xros Loader itself. A flash of light was all it took to return the machine back to its chip... but there was still the matter of that message.
"Might as well take a portal back, at this point."
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Post by Cross on Jan 13, 2019 21:22:57 GMT
"Probably safer at this point." 'Alex' agreed as she stood stretching out her limbs as she shook out her heads doing her best to get a little more feeling into her fingertips as she nodded at Jegan and the General. "We can get in contact with a mechanic from there." She added as the Biomon likewise straightened seeming a little put out at the sudden disappearance of his patient, but no worse for wear.
"Affirmative. Patient was in stable condition." Jegan reluctantly confirmed earning an arched brow from 'Alex' before she turned back to their companions.
"Care to do the honor?" She questioned her eyes shifting to scan the horizon once more fairly certain they were alone, but unwilling to give her paranoia a rest. If the message was important enough for Falcon to risk his life preserving then it wasn't something they wished falling into the wrong hands or being overheard by the wrong individuals.
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Post by Metal Drive on Jan 14, 2019 2:03:14 GMT
Their expedition to the Network Plains was rather short-lived, but considering Metal Drive, that was a blessing. Denryu set up that portal - perpendicular to a tree, so as to cover it from most angles of view - and would follow Alex, Troy, and Guru through the portal, before stepping through himself, to an alleyway in Tenebrous a block or two away from Metal Drive's base.
And with just a bit of careful walking... They would be right back in the basement of the Colosseum. Falcon, the MailBirdramon, would currently be recovering in a makeshift med bay, and Guru would retire to a common area, perhaps with another member or two from the team. That left Denryu, taking off the mask, and Cassandra, left to view that file.
There had to have been some reason Falcon was willing to go to such lengths... but what? Surely an advance raid sent by Luminas wouldn't have held too much sensitive information outside of that?
"Hm... I'll go ahead and run this through the iPad, I guess," Denryu gave a shrug. "You curious, or do you just want the summary afterwards?"
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Post by Cross on Jan 14, 2019 2:11:17 GMT
"I'm curious." Cas admitted as she disabled her holosuit and slid the little disc back into her infini-store for later use. Leaving the real Doctor to smooth her hands over her slightly rumpled jacket running her fingers through her hair lightly in a worried gesture as she glanced at Denryu.
"I'm concerned something might have happened to Dreadnought and if that's the case I want to get my network working on tracking him down as fast as physically possible. I've had them on the look out for all of you for a while now, but any information would help." The Doctor admitted, having grown rather fond of the Blimpmon after the Desert Incident.
"And Luminas is aware of me now. Perhaps not of what I am, but that I exist. We might as well see what we're dealing with." She added voice soft as she settled in for the wait.
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Post by Metal Drive on Jan 14, 2019 20:16:02 GMT
"I don't know how much information they'd have that we wouldn't already know. Its not like Luminas sent the brains of the operation to attack us."
Still, if this was something so important to be left behind, he'd trust that Falcon had a reason. At the moment, he wasn't able to simply ask the bird about the file, so Denryu would simply load it up, viewing the details as it started to load. "The recording's after Angel and I would have made our own exit... wait, it was a received file?" Alright, now this became both a bit more interesting and concerning - and it wouldn't take long for Denryu to bring the file up. Aboard the Blimpmon - Dreadnaught 2:36 PM.
The sounds of combat still echoed off in the background, Luminas' raid well in-progress overhead. Already, the base was in ruins: barred-off doors had been forcefully broken into, the base's entire ground floor, and even the first floor of the basement, had been fully swept through. Those that could have already made their escape above had already done so.
But the Dreadnaught was a different matter entirely. A portal simply couldn't be cut open inside the base, and with Emma as the pilot, they would depart from the island via a hatch drawn open below. The plan was simple: cut straight through their aerial defenses and make a careful escape through the portal.
... Simple, but impossible. In fact, the scope of the raid was far beyond then what either Emma or Dreadnaught hoped, multiple Angemon and a few higher-level Digimon already in pursuit.
"Of course its like this..." Emma's voice radiated with frustration, the spirit wielder in the pilot's room looking desperately behind the ship. The sound of bombarding fire radiated through the hull, the Blimpmon unable to get into position to use its main cannon. "Miss Emma! I-"
"Shut up, shut up..." She grit her teeth, D-Tector in hand, as she thought through her ideas. Perhaps Sakkakumon would be enough to break through the line? "Anything's worth a try, I guess... Dreadnaught. Open the lower deck!"
"A... Aye!" The machine gave its note of confirmation, Emma, taking the form of a Mercurymon, bolting out from the front of the Blimpmon. Directly behind was a corridor, a simple seating area, and at the far end, a room that would lead to the lower floors. Except, as Emma tried the back end of that corridor?
She found it wouldn't open. "Damn it... Dreadnaught, try it again, its jammed!"
No answer. "... Hey. Hey, answer me, damn it!"
"No." That one word echoed out - Dreadnaught's first, and only, word of defiance towards its owner. "What are you - I'll break the line! Open up, I can-"
"Do you think they don't know what you can do? You put it right on display in the desert!"
... No response. Not until a heavy hit on the Dreadnaught's side sent a reverberating echo through the ship's hull. "I... I don't care! I have to, for my brother, I can-"
"Emma. Use the portal on your own device. I can't open mine in this condition."
"No, you open this door! Dreadnaught!"
"I'm not letting you throw your life away!" That pitch even spiked the speakers on Dreadnaught's internal sound system! "Emma. From the very start, I've followed you. Your will, your brother's will. You've both been headstrong idiots at time... but your thoughts aren't wrong. And I've been more than willing to be your symbol, your weapon. For the sake of that, for the sake of your brother's vision. For your own ideals, you need to -"
"Shut up, just-"
"If you have any respect for your dream, then open that damn portal! Get out of here!"
"... DAMN IT, DREADNAUGHT! I'M NOT LOSING ANYONE ELSE-"
The ship let forth a terrifying creak, another sound of cannon-fire breaking out in the distance... and, faintly, the sound of a portal radiated forth, from inside the machine, before the recording cut out.
Of course, Cassandra nor Denryu would see the whole picture - merely the audio file playing from the recording. This... this wasn't a hopeful piece of information that the MailBirdramon thought to preserve, no. But their weight was felt, Denryu slamming a palm against the table, as he grit his teeth, his face wrought with sheer frustration.
They knew Emma was safe in London. But this? "... Emma didn't say a damn word about this." His tight fingers balled into a fist, as he shook his head.
There was no mistake what this recording was.
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Post by Cross on Jan 15, 2019 3:41:44 GMT
There was no noise. No gnashing of teeth or slamming of fists from the Doctor as she sat and listened to what could only be Dreadnoughts final-stand static filling her ears and mind as she stared out into nothing. There was no noise. Only the roar of the blood in her ears and that eternal eldritch stirring of the D-reaper through the furthest depths of their connection.
There was no noise.
Cassandra merely got very very quiet.
Dreadnought hadn't had a chip. There was no certainty to his loss as there had been with Phantom. The hanger doors had been stuck, the island from the series of events the General had relayed to her had crashed shortly after their evacuation after they set off the explosives in her lab. There was a chance...It would have been a horrible death, but...if he wasn't loaded...
Tapping on her D-terminal Cas pulled up a screen as a view of Tenebrous came up on the feed. "Char. I need you to get ahold of our contact in the Village of Beginning. We're looking for a small newborn machine type. The egg likely arrived a few weeks back so they'll have either just hatched or hatched recently and will likely show signs of...of regeneration trauma. Likely fearful of fire or loud noises, possible signs of claustrophobia. Compare data signals with the one we have on record and get back to me." Cassandra ordered her voice flat, not waiting for a reply. She knew Char would take care of it. She needed...needed to...
Rising from her seat she didn't touch Denryu, unsure what the General needed in that moment from her, instead she merely slid the tablet out of range where it was unlikely to be broken. "She likely blocked it out. Emma that is." Cas spoke unsure what else to say as she stood there feeling for the first time in a long time disturbingly helpless. Unable to take away the pain.
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Post by Metal Drive on Jan 15, 2019 5:02:47 GMT
Denryu was quiet.
All he could manage was that one comment in regards to Emma, but aside from that, he remained tense, silent, simply looking on at his clenched hand. Cassandra pulled that screen away, and even held a full conversation with one of the Medicmon, searching for what would be Dreadnaught's egg. Through it all, however, the General remained silent, the anger in his eyes briefly turning to that of sharp focus.
It was only Cassandra's last word that brought Denryu to attention. Emma likely blocked it out - she wasn't trying to hide it. Or if she was, she had done it for her brother's benefit. Even so, even with already accepting Phantom's loss, this was a hard pill to swallow. This wasn't even one of his own, but someone that had joined him of their own volition.
Someone that believed in them enough to sacrifice themselves for their dream. And it was that thought that terrified Denryu.
"Hunter. Phantom. Dreadnaught." He gave a blink, his voice oddly vacant, as he ran through those names - though, they were so much more than just names. "All of them believed in our cause enough to fight. Two of them held it as close to their heart as I would. You tell yourself in the start that there's going to be loss... but..."
He grit his teeth, shaking his head.
"That doesn't make this any easier."
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Post by Cross on Jan 15, 2019 5:36:37 GMT
"It doesn't get any easier." Cassandra spoke eyes carefully locked onto Denryu's face her pupils bare pinpricks leaving them to appear like bottomless crimson orbs. Logically the distant part of her mind that was more Reaper then human that hadn't screamed to a halt at the thoughts of darkness, enclosed spaces, heat, the scent of blood, and overwhelming crushing claustrophobic closeness until you thought the air would be strangled from your lungs registered she was having a ptsd attack.
"It doesn't get any easier." She repeats carefully not looking at her own hands the name 'Hunter' raking cross her mind like nails the grit and wetness of blood and data the last thing she can remember feeling with her hands...the only thing she's felt with her hands in so long as she remembers the slickness of the Meicackmon's core, the shattered roughness of Sorcerimon's. She can't wash the feeling away no matter how hard she scrubs, the scent of ichor cloying and metallic in her nose and she knows if she glances down her hands will be dripping Ŗ̵̣̲͍̟̬̣̪̫̪͛̃̓̃̔̓̅̍̋͘͝ȩ̴̮̎͑́͂̓͑̌̇̏͘d̸̡̞̯̫̟̼̃.
"You just~" The Doctor spoke voice halting and empty as she scrambles for words knowing she needs to respond. Needs to keep moving. Needs to stop thinking of the flashes of red, of dark closets, and too small bodies. Things that small shouldn't be able to bleed so much, but gunshot wounds are messy and there's blood soaking into her coat. She was a vet. Not a paramedic. She didn't know...She can't even remember their face anymore just Haru's imposed over their features softened to nothingness with trauma and time and Haru's are so sharp and clear. Like cut glass and fractured pieces of a mirror.
"You just keep going." She grits out and lets herself slide to the floor before she falls down and tries to breath and wrangle control over the panic flooding her mind.
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Post by Metal Drive on Jan 15, 2019 5:56:01 GMT
Unfortunately for Cassandra, Denryu was not in a position, mentally or even physically, to help the doctor in her current situation. If anything, seeing Cassandra's switch in tone only further pushed the General over the mental cliff that he'd already slipped by - more or less blankly looking on in horror as Cassandra struggled for breath.
Fortunately, however, they were not alone. Angel was the first to find them - and seeing the state Cassandra was in, it didn't take long for her to call for help, calling for Demon, Dagger, and 'one of those TV heads' to get in here as soon as they could. Angel, herself, would snap her claws in front of Denryu, trying to make him come to, as Demon - carefully - elevated Cassandra's head.
"Zaku. Keep eye on her." If he was able, Demon would carefully move Cassandra back up on that chair - as Angel more or less forcefully guided Denryu out of the room. Stepping on out, she swore under her breath. "Yeah, this is how we're rebuilding. C'mon, General..."
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