Visiting the Big City (Glitch, Copland, Tock, Java)

Location: Above Riese City, a large mainly unexplored city in what is considered a ‘black’ zone

Glitch reached up and grabbed the hand hold as he lifted himself from the bench, the jostling motion of the wind running across the drop ships body jostling him slightly but he kept his feet under him. He checked his wrist ‘watch’, really his tablet shrunken down and strapped there, before looking around at the others in the cramped space and motioning for them to get ready. He had gathered these three after realizing his newest job was just a little too much for him. Rushing into the largest untouched city on Planet Z by himself was suicide, so he had gotten help.

“Five minutes before we jump so get ready.”

He was able to speak at a normal tone thanks to the insulation around them. They were in what looked like a V-22 Osprey, and in true Conduit fashion giant magnetic ram jets had replaced the two rotors on its real world counterpart. He would have preferred to arrive in his own vessel, but this was a strict no fly zone so he had been resigned to hiring local transportation.

Glitch did a shuffle step to the rear and slapped the big red button opening the rear door with a rush of air. No one was at risk of falling out as the floor instantly ‘grabbed’ its occupants but they would all feel the rush of air and change of pressure. He pulled out a thin Blade from one of his pouches and slipped it into a parachute deploy device. When it hit a specific altitude the soldier NPC’s within would spawn with parachutes and drop into the heart of the city. He had already put in the instructions for their behavior: Hold their position and make noise, lots of noise. Glitch nonchalantly chucked the device out into the air and turned around to face everyone.

“That should buy us a window of time.”

Looking over his shoulder he waited for his ‘it’s time to go’ sign, the cities university. While he didn’t have a specific location of where the package was he did know it was in the science building on the second floor. It was in a solid black case sitting in the open. He had no clue how the client knew this item was here, but his job wasn’t to ask questions. All he wanted to do was get in, grab the package and then get the hell out. Zombies creeped him out and he wanted to spend as little time on the ground in the middle of a heavy infection zone as possible.

Glitch did a once over of everyone as they got up, ensuring the autochute’s had been set correctly before he led the way out of the door, jumping and instantly closing his eyes. Glitch wasn’t a fan of heights, hell he would take a room full of zombies over jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft. The fact that he couldn’t possibly die because of the jump and the money he was making were the only reason his boots left that drop ship.

The sensation was nerve wracking, the feeling of falling sending his stomach into a knot. Logically he knew he was still sitting in his apartment, safe and sound from falling. Logically didn’t mean squat in this instance. It took everything in him to force his eyes open and begin to scan where he was going to land. Visibly the zombies were fairly sparse, though there was no way to tell how many waited behind the closed doors. He just had to hope the bulk of the infestation was in the city proper being distracted by the squad he had thrown in the mix.

The parachute popped half way through his thoughts, sending him into motion pulling out his assault rifle and screwing on a silencer. He took a couple shots at a few wanderers, clearing the sports field he landed in. Glitch kept his weapon and ready waiting for the others to land with him, firing sporadically at any zombie that seemed the least bit interested in his general direction, the soft exhalation of air from his rifle failing to alert any other zombie around.

Copland was at great ease on the osprey. He was used to flying at higher altitudes because of his air board....which had been deactivated on this planet. So much for just being able to zip over the heads of the things trying to eat you. He had switched out of his usual surfer/air board clothing set for the more combat ready 'supersuit'. He kind of wished that his cloak was a parachute too. The image of him landing on the ground like Batman made him smirk.

“Five minutes before we jump so get ready.”

The red and yellow cloak billowed towards the gaping hole that suddenly appeared in the floor. Copland watched the party leader drop a NPC blade down the hole. At least it wouldn't be just them. Then again, NPCs could be pretty dumb.

“That should buy us a window of time.”

Copland shifted so Glitch could check his chute. Hopefully the guy didn't rig him to be a decoy. He entered a few commands into Gadget, Copland's multitool, and ran a check of all his inventory. Everything was green. That was good. The Mainframer hadn't been on a zombie world in quite some time. He felt that giddiness knowing every other npc would be out to gnaw his face.

His boots clomped on the floor as the metal kept grabbing him. While waiting for Glitch to let gravity hug him, Copland donned his air board goggles. The gold rimmed eye pieces looked ridiculous anyway, but they didn't go with the supersuit he had on either. It didn't matter as their purpose was to make sure no zombie mosquitoes landed in his eyes. He got into jumping position and just leaned forward off the solid vehicle.

The familiar rush of air pushed his hair and cloak back. Without the air board to stop him from going too fast, Copland flexed his limbs to go into a controlled fall. Surprising, it was standard training for Mainframe fixers in case one found himself plummetting off a building because of a repair gone haywire. He did a few mental calculations and guessed where Glitch was aiming for.

His parachute popped as well and slowed his descent. Copland pulled the cords to land beside the Rogue Leader. With the odd thing instantly coming off him, he removed his ankh sword. One blade didn't need reloading. Two was just over-un-kill. He figured it would be better to save his bullets and crossbow bolts for later.

"Gadget, game stats." Copland referred to his doohicky to find out how many zombies were in the immediate area. It would also give him a pretty detailed mini map.

The hoverboard mode on her guitar was deactivated, so the instrument was just her wand. The thought of calling Peggy her "magic stick" made her giggle out loud, before she bit her lower lip, putting on her "serious" in game face. They were on a jolly quest, no so jolly considering the location of said quest. Planet Z was a damaged civilization, calling it "damaged" however was purely an understatement. Tock didn't often venture into this world, since she was usually in Rorgar. Snow-White sat up straighter when Glitch mentioned five minutes until they jump. She liked freefalling, but not without her hoverboard. She looked forlornly at her guitar, before standing. Despite the minor jostling of the bumpy ride, she carefully strapped the guitar to her back and picked up her crossbow, to make sure that everything was up to par.

Her leather padded armor clung to her petite frame as she straightened up, and grabbed onto a handhold. She was armed with her modified pistol and grappling gun as well. No matter how huge her mana reserve was for her casting, she still had to take extra precautions. Gloves concealed her slender fingers. The ki-bracelets gleamed, bone white with a sparkling gem on each. She looked a lot more modern than usual. She was known for her eccentric appearance, especially with her white hair cascading down her shoulders. Tock slapped on her goggles after peforming a quick inventory check. She almost resembled the comic cat woman, just without the head covering. Like Copland, she didn't mind the flight, but she was getting a little antsy. A blast of wind surrounded them, but didn't have the force to push them off balance. Good!

She watched the NPCs drop first, and checked over her personal inventory again. She had some antidotes and ethers, just in case she ran out of mana juice. Satisfied, Tock trailed after the group, goggles on, white hair whipping about as they neared the opened door. She hoped Glitch wasn't like his namesake. NPCs could get out of hand, and her autochut better work. She was placing her trust on a group she barely knew, but had seen around. In the beginning, as a virtual unknown, she might've partied with them in other worlds before they went on to do their own thing. Tock was more about artifact hunting, so she could eventually make profit, and then going on crazy adventures. She was more of a support character than she was on the offense. This was a good group, she could tell. Everyone had some special thing going on, and would be able to handle themselves well.

Tock leaped out and felt the surge of warmth along the tattooed wings on her back. She wouldn't be able to fly, since the enchantment was to help with her quickness and more "flighty" movements. The speed sent her hair whipping behind her, she was a stream of black and white, ruby lips pursed tightly together until her parachute popped out. The sensation was too realistic. Her stomach flew up to her throat, lodged there at the plummet. Lourdes hated freefalling rides, but couldn't help loving the rush of adrenaline. Tock was very much the same in this world, always traipsing into worlds of great risks, because of that rush.

The goggles helped Tock with getting a good look at what was below. As her descent slowed from the parachute catching air, she dropped slowly toward the designated landing point. Glitch began shooting after he landed, and Copland withdrew a sword. Tock immediately removed the parachute once she landed, guitar glowing with her power. Her heels barely made a sound as she stayed close to her group, and cast a shield around them. The invisible bubble would repel physical damage, but it was going to last five minutes top since she was going to cast "holy" on the walking dead coming their way. A glowing halo would appear above the targeted zombie's head, as if it was drawn from thin air, before a white beam of light cast down on them and sent their forms shuddering, before dropping into a smoking pile of ash.

Planet Z…a planet that she rarely ever visited and for good reason. She hated zombies and she honestly did not understand the thrill of killing the things. They were dumb, decaying, smelly, horrible looking creatures that should disappear back to the hell that they climbed out of. The more intelligent ones were a little more interesting to kill since you could say that you outsmarted a creature with a decaying brain, but how exactly would that be a compliment for you? She had attempted repeatedly to understand the wonderful adrenaline rush one received when a zombie dies (again) by their hand and it escaped her each and every time. So, she just decided to give up in her search for enlightenment of the joy of killing zombies.

Now, the only reason that she was on the forsaken planet with those who she did not completely know was the money. She had grown impatient once again and wanted to have another shopping spree. She needed it, especially with her mother wearing on her nerves once again. She rolled her eyes, irritated by the thoughts of her mother invading her gaming and work time. Angrily, she thrust those negative thoughts aside and thought more positively, mainly about killing stinky zombies.

" Five minutes before we jump so get ready," she heard Glitch say, the one who called her about this mission. She nodded in his general direction, acknowledging him, and then proceeded to glance at the other two occupants of the cramped ship: Copland and Tock. Her purple eyes scanned each of them. She believed that she had met both of them on separate occasions than this, but it escaped her at this particular moment. She would probably look back at her logs to see. Tock definitely seemed familiar with that white hair. It was so strikingly similar to her skin that one could not help but to notice and remember. She glanced back at Glitch, hearing him announce that a NPC would buy them some time. She pressed her lips together in disagreement, but remained silent. Even she, as outspoken as she was, understood that there was a time to speak and a time to keep quiet.

Parachutes were checked and the door opened as the party prepared to jump. Glitch, Copland, and Tock all jumped before she did. She looked out the door as they jumped and then eventually followed, sliding down some goggles in the process. The wind rushed through her loose braids and she briefly closed her eyes to enjoy the freefall. She would have to do this another time when there were not zombies that wanted to eat her face off running around like mad. Snapping her eyes open, the parachute deployed and she landed relatively gracefully.

Her hands covered themselves in flames as she started up her fire magic. Zombies hated fire while she excelled in controlling it. Talk about a win-win for her and the party. She grinned slightly and then returning to seriousness, she turned towards Glitch.

"What's your action plan, Glitch?" she asked him, zapping a single zombie with a tiny fire ball, turning him into dust.

Once everyone had hit the ground Glitch’s head was clicked into the next step by Java. He did one more quick sweep of the section he had been covering and then quickly removed his tablet from his wrist, pulling at the edges until the device had stretched to notebook dimensions. He tapped the top once to wake it up then quickly pulled up the map he had downloaded at the safe zone. it showed the university spreading around them and the rest of the city stretching off to the east. The device, without any currently satellite uplink, had to do a quick guess of the four members of the team before displaying there general position.

“Alright we are here, the package is in the reported to be in the Science building here.”

He taped a building not far from where they were.

“It’s in a black case similar to a brief case in one of the labs on the second floor. Once we have it we get out and beeline it into the city. Were heading to this building.”

He pushed the screen with his exposed fingertip, thanking whoever had designed his shooting gloves that they had chosen to keep the index finger bare. He tapped once more on a building about three miles from where they were, a red X appearing over it.

“That’s where the drop ship will pick us up. It’s the closest building with a helicopter pad that is at the right height to let the pilot conserve fuel for our return trip. The pilot is going out to sea to a Carrier ship stationed a couple miles off shore to refuel now, so he will be back in two hours. We have to do our best to be done by then or else he will have to sit there and wait, and I think we can all agree we don’t want that.”

He pushed the tablet back to its storage size, snapping it into his wrist watch and pulled the rifle back up from leaning against his leg. He met eye contact with each of those around him once, holding it a moment before moving on. Glitch had a fairly good working relationship with Copland, and Tocks and him had done a couple things together. Java was the new face to him, someone that had come well respected.

“I dropped an NPC squad back over the city. There holding a position right now, making as much noise as they can to lure as many of these things to them clearing them from where we need to operate. God only knows how long this distraction will last and I am fresh out of NPC blades so its all on us now. Lets do this quick and before we know it we will be back home a thousand credits richer each. Questions?”

He waited for any questions, answering them as they came before motioning for them to follow him across the field. Glitch motioned to the silencer at the end of the barrel of his weapon, demonstrating his wish for quiet weapons before swiftly taking down a decayed corpse shambling at them. They reached the doors of the building without any problems, and as he tugged on the big thick glass doors they wouldn’t budge.

“Locked.”

Copland was the only one who hadn't taken out a zombie yet. This didn't concern him, as he like to pull out the stops towards the end. He had no real magic to fall back on when he ran out of ammo. He was just glad that their little group had both a holy and a fire mage. And the holy mage was a good shot with a crossbow too. Copland had yet to see exactly how good this elementalist was.

Glitch brought up the city map, which Gadget quickly downloaded into its own memory stores. The keytool displayed a two hour countdown when the time frame had been announced.

"......God only knows how long this distraction will last and I am fresh out of NPC blades so its all on us now. Lets do this quick and before we know it we will be back home a thousand credits richer each. Questions?”

{And that's why I save my bullets.}

"Is this a majorly infected city, or are we on a lower difficulty setting?" Gadget could have just as easily answered that question, but Copland was trying to get more of a feel for the fearful leader. He really should have asked why the Navy didn't just send a team in....but then there'd be no need for the quest.

The quartet moved across the field. Copland caught Glitch pointing to his silencer. That was another benefit of using swords, no discharge sounds. His pistol looked like it had a silencer but it really didn't affect the sound, and his crossbow used mana which he didn't have to refill once he ran out. Glitch tugged at the doors and announced they were locked.

"Got it," Copland said as he stepped closer. Glass could be smashed, but smashing would make noise. He could cut the bolt with an energy beam provided by Gadget. Doing that would drain the keytool's power reserves and prevent them from locking the door behind them. "Gadget, lock picks."

The upper and lower buttons on Gadget's right hand side popped out a fraction of an inch. He slid the rest of the pieces to reveal two picks. Dabbling into his hacker skill set, Copland jiggled the tumblers into their unlocked position and turned the deadbolt to the side. He put the buttons back into place and opened the door.

"Welcome to College."

Tock couldn't agree more with Java on how much this planet stunk. She rarely ever ventured here herself, since the ambling, mindless, decaying mass was like a waste of mana for her, but the topside was the rapid experience points you can gain from just shooting up the undead. Her holy magic instantly repelled them, sending them into ashes. It was like tossing healing potions - they only succeeded in damaging them further. Her healer attributes worked at a greater capacity in harming the undead hoard, but she couldn't constantly used it. She needed to save the healing for her party, in case anything happened. Tock hadn't quite figure out how to heal a zombie bite, since that seemed a little more OP. She'd still have to check into the systems, and pull up logs regarding caster and healer abilities. It had to be somewhere, and she was most likely going to work for it.

The area seemed clear for now, but she could hear the moans and groans as the zombies dragged their way toward the living flesh of the four. No one had shed any blood yet, but their scents were what triggered their immediate notice. Tock smiled over to Java, appreciating a fellow caster - an elementalist no list with flames that sent zombies reeling out of sight. Fire, holy magic, and critical aims to the head permanently "killed" them.

As she, Java and Copland kept a lookout, Glitch drew up the map from his tablet. Wintry hues moved away from the temporary peace of their surroundings, so that she could get a look at what they were going to be doing, once inside. They had only two hours to retrieve the special item they were here for. Whatever was in that case was the reason for the fattening pouch of silver, coins, and whatever riches to be expected when they complete this. Tock beamed, looking forward to this mission despite her partial dislike to being around so many undead. This planet really did capture the post-apocalyptic feel... She shuddered at the thought, white-gray orbs glowing whenever she cast holy on a in coming group.

"Okay, black box. Science building... two hours." She shrugged, "that doesn't seem so hard." But even Tock wasn't sure about the difficulty setting. She just didn't like to stress about it and do her best to keep a relaxed position. Panicking usually led to mistakes, and her group seemed to have a really good head on their shoulders. "And keeping quiet is what I'm best at..." All she had to do was thicken the Barrier. "They'll last long enough." She said with a reassuring smile to Glitch. They were a pretty good team together, so there wasn't anything they couldn't handle...

The door turned out to be locked. She release the Barrier around them as Copland worked on unlocking the deadbolt. She snorted softly, "it's been awhile." She said. As support character, she volunteered to go first. Her form glowed with her healing abilities, her white hair was like a beacon of light for them to follow with the lights flickering overhead. Her palms were out, as she walked slowly, the tattooed eyes were ready to be used in case they needed to check behind lockers or walls. "I loved college. Good times." She said for idle chit chat as she glanced about.

Listening carefully to the plan of Glitch, Java looked on with an uninterested look upon her face, gathering her clam and hoping to cool off her edginess. Having studied the map before she even arrived onto the planet, she did not feel the need to actively look over the map. She glanced back here and there, especially when the red X was mentioned, but she mainly kept her focus on the surroundings. She did not wish to be even touch by a zombie, much less bitten by one. She grimaced each time she heard a moan or a groan. 'God, how I hate this planet,' she thought and returned her vision to the group as Glitch asked for questions. Copland asked about the difficulty level of the mission and Java had been wondering the same thing. Granted, she was glad that she was going to be paid quite handsomely by the end of the mission. However, it did not make much sense to assign this mission to only one person who had to assemble a team himself. Honestly, it would have been more logical to send a professional team to this planet, especially considering if the level was ridiculously high. Tock quickly interjected, saying that it shouldn't be too hard.

"I believe that you are being a little too optimistic while still being ignorant of the difficulty level," she stated matter-of-factly.

Java almost always looked on the darker side of things and things were never as easy as they seemed. Knowing their luck, they would run into a hive of the undead smelly things while entering into the science building. Wanting to know the actual answer for the level, she turned her piercing eyes in the Glitch's direction and waited for the answer. After receiving it, she nodded and they all started to trudge off towards the science building.

Glitch first pulled on the doors and indicated that they were locked. Copland then stepped up and skillfully unlocked using that little gadget on his wrist. Java nodded in appreciation once the doors silently opened before them and gave a rough chuckle as he welcomed them to college. Tock venture inside first, being a living light for the rest of the party. Java followed next, her hands still glowing and adding a soft red light to the white glow of Tock. She glanced around and noticed that they had arrived in some sort of student lounge with molded chairs, tables, and soda pop machines. She smirked at Tock's remark. She noticed that Tock liked idle talk even when the circumstances were not very pleasant. But to each their own, she supposed.

Looking around for the lounge, she noticed an entry to stairwell. She waved the group to follow and walked towards the door. It was a relatively heavy door, but it looked sturdy enough. The door had a small window that she peaked through, but the amount of dust on the other side prevented her from seeing anything. She pressed her ear to the door and heard nothing. She glanced over to the group and motioned someone to open the door. She raised her arms in a boxing like stance and scooted back from the door slightly. She had no idea how many zombies, if any, would be before the door. She took a deep breath and glanced at everyone to see if they were ready for whatever occurred.

"Is this a majorly infected city, or are we on a lower difficulty setting?"

“We are deep in the black. Other then the occasional pass by this city has seen no cleaning operations. While we are far from the heavy infection zones we still need to be fully alert.”

They worked quickly through the door, glad they made no noise as they entered the lounge area. He swept it quickly with is rifle as the girls went forward, making sure the room was clear before approaching the door Java found. He shouldered his rifle, the halls to tight for him to move around with it comfortably and effectively, favoring his holstered pistol. He screwed on a silencer and chambered around, flicking the barrel light on before putting his side against the door and holding up his right hand, the pistol pointed at the ground ready in his left.

Glitch counted down silently from 3 down to a solid fist before he threw his body weight into the door and brought his gun up, quickly scanning the darkened hall. His flashlight cut the darkness like a knife, the shadows rolling over to reveal a mess of broken furniture and discarded school supplies. Only a single walker was shuffling down the hall, its attention totally on Glitch. He took a deep breath, lined up his sights and put a small piece of lead right between the creature’s eyes, dropping it to the ground with a thump. He spoke as low as he could, the microphone in his collar picking up the sound and sending it to whatever radio system his team members had set up.

“We need to do this nice and slow. Half these rooms are open and God know what’s here with us.”

He took point for the hallway, his heart beat rising and the adrenaline seeping through his veins. He held back letting it flood his body, hoping it wouldn’t be necessary. He put his shoulder against the wall and began to walk/slide forward, stopping at the first door and pausing a moment. He pulled a mirror out of his pocket and creeped it out in front of the open class room. It was empty; drawing a heavy sigh as he quickly worked his way across the doorframe and to the next open door.

This time he found three walkers mulling around, the bones of two victims lay in the doorway. Glitch looked back and held up three fingers. He took another deep breath and burst into the room killing two of the walkers with quick shots, the third shambling closer then he wanted it. He unsheathed his sword, the Egyptian style weapon cleaving the zombies head off just as it got into arm reach. Reaching down he wiped the gore off of the blade with what remained of the creatures clothing and looked back at his team.

Things looked a little grim right now; hell how couldn’t it on a literally dead world. If the zombie presence kept growing at this pace they would be swamped before they knew it. They would just have to take their time and be methodical. Glitch made a concerted effort to not let those worries show on his face as he motioned for them to continue on. He just wanted to grab the case and get back out into the open, under the sun. He had no desire to be out here when dusk settled in.

"I believe that you are being a little too optimistic while still being ignorant of the difficulty level," the night-skinned woman said.

"Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine," Copland replied. He picked the lock and pushed the door open.

“We are deep in the black. Other then the occasional pass by this city has seen no cleaning operations. While we are far from the heavy infection zones we still need to be fully alert,” Glitch answered.

"I loved college. Good times." This came from his fellow archer.

The two women stepped forward and lit up the place with their auras. That saved the batteries on Gadget's flashlight command. Part of the fixer wondered if the vending machines were still stocked, but then he remembered expiration dates. Could digital bags of chips still expire? Maybe they had Conduit Twinkies. Wasn't that a Z mission.....give some guy named Tallahassee a Twinkie?

Maybe on the way back.

Copland followed the group to the stairwell. Glitch shouldered his way through the door and blasted a geek away. His voice rebounded in their shoulder comms, “We need to do this nice and slow. Half these rooms are open and God know what’s here with us.” Glitch approached a corner and used a survival mirror to see around it. Copland drew and activated a blade from his utility belt.

A silver disc the size of a clay pigeon, the one for shotgun shooting and not the quest item for a deranged elven artist, lifted off Copland's hand and went into a nearby room. It was empty, so Copland directed it back into the hallway. Glitch had already stabbed another zombie with a wickedly curved sword. The hovercam zoomed off to check the other open doorways. Gadget's screen showed a lifeless eye looking right back into it.

"At least one, second door on the right." Copland backed the camera up, and the walker followed. As did he. "That's it...come to Coppa." Grabbing the bottom half of his sword hilt, he swung the solid bladed Darth Maul weapon and chopped off the deady's head. He heard the death rattle from another one, so he tumbled and bisected that one. Unfortunately, the top half still moved. Copland readjusted the weapon and poked it forcefully between the eyes.

When they were reassembled, Copland sent the hovercam out ahead of them again. Having a scout that couldn't be killed would help out greatly.

Tock grinned, and batted her eyelashes playfully to the fire wielder behind her. Glitch gave them insight on their difficulty level. Her smile shifted to pursed lips, as she put into thoughtful consideration her optimism. "Ah, well, I guess we'll just do our best to not freak the freak out." She giggled at Copland's response. Once the locks were picked and the doors were opened, they were inside. Her magic immediately lit up her snow-white skin and radiant hair. Walking with her palms out, she was prepaed to attack with her Holy magic, or scanned the walls. She paused, and looked over to Java who was also using her fire to light up the way.

The lounge was clear, or it appeared to be, and she trailed after Java, toward the door with a window marked by grime, and a thick coat of dust. She could check the door with use of her tattooed eyes, but Glitch had the lead and well, he called the shots in this party. She stepped aside, hands glowing with the white magic. She barely flinched when he kicked open the door. He pulled the trigger, hitting a walker deep within the shadows that his light pinpointed. Slipping in behind him, Glitch used the mirror to check on anymore walkers. He signaled three and took care of them. Even in the silence, the hallway still housed more doorways, filled with surprises.

She was glad for the hovercam Copland had. "Time to open doors?" She asked before stepping on forward. She ambled down the hallway, and performed a backhand spring when she came across the next doorway, two down from Copland's. Her boots uppercutted a walker, completely tearing off the jaw. She landed on a crouch, and held her hands together. A white ring sliced through the air above the walker, and consumed him in white light, also taking with him another shambling dead. After that lightshow, she peeked inside the room.

"Looks like nothing here... say, you think they said anything about..." She stopped talking when she was interrupted by heavy chains rattling and dragging along the floor. "...Bosses." She finished quietly, and slowly took a step back toward her team. Her wintry orbs had a faint glow, looking like tiny spheres of light behind her goggles. Whatever was shuffling was large enough to drag that chain. She turned to look at them, and crouched slightly, as if she was ready for combat. "Your call, Glitch." She said as the support. They could face a boss, or move on to finding that briefcase.

Copland had earned himself a death glare as Java quickly turned her attention from the overly optimistic healer to the sarcastic Inspector Gadget. Her full lips frowned deeply, creases forming in her brow and around her eyes. She did not care for those who commented about her blunt speech. Yes, yes, she knew that sometimes others did not understand her honesty, but honesty was the best policy, was it not?

"If you want a little sunshine," she started, her French-sounding accent showing up. She raised her right hand and allowed the fire to engulf it. The bright red glow colored her eyes, adding a disturbing expression to them. "I can give you sunshine."

She lowered the glow of her hand and turned towards Glitch, who answered the question of the difficulty, saying that it would certainly not be a walk through the park. She nodded in approval, liking the challenge and feeling that the pay would be worth the danger they could encounter. And noticing Tock again, Java caught the smile and the batting of the eyelashes. She could not help but to crack a smile and shake her head a little. Despite the clashing personalities of these four: the fearful leader, cynical lone weapons man, the bubbly and too talkative healer, and Ms. Doom and Gloom herself, they seemed to be working rather fabulously together.

After her discovery of the door and their venturing up the stairwell, Glitch, Copland, and Tock all took out zombies throughout the hallway. Java remained towards the back, glancing in the direction from where they came. She did not want to get trap. She, like Glitch, just wanted to get out and get paid.

Suddenly, she heard the chains just as Tock asked about bosses. 'For the love of all that's good!' she thought irritably as the healer's voice trailed off. She gathered towards the rest of the group, her fists ablaze. She really hated this planet.

"Your call, Glitch," Tock nudged as the heavy footsteps and clattering chains came closer and Java could see the rather large shadow of the beast of a zombie approaching them.

"I say screw the boss or whatever the hell that thing coming is and just to concentrate on finding the stupid briefcase," Java said in an anger whisper, "We should only fight if we must!"

The sound of chains and shambling distracted him from any snide comment or witty ‘zombie killing’ catch phrase that had been pressure cooking. He looked down the hall at the right turn not 200 feet away from them as the unseen threat of the grisly boss came closer. He stalled a moment, body half out of the doorway as he stared at the wall wondering what the hell to do.

Wake up! You aren’t alone.

His voice was low as he spoke to the rest of the group. Glitch did his best to portray confidence to the others.

“The only path to where the case is is through whatever is coming down that hallway.”

He stepped up to just the edge, peaking around and pulling back quickly. The thing coming at him was seven feet tall and almost as thick. Its shoulders nearly brushed along the walls as it walked towards them. Chains dangled from each arms with blades clipped all over. The nice thing about Planet Z was 95 percent of the zombie population was the normal shambling want to eat your face kind. The other five percent were the super strong or superfast tough to beat want to eat your face kind. Welcome to the five percent club.

Glitch stepped away from the corner and reached into his rucksack pulling out two claymores. Quickly he flipped the legs out and set them on the ground pointing so when zombie hulk rounded the corner it would get a full double punch. He spoke as he worked.

“It’s the big and tough kind of boss. Shoot from cover and when it comes at you fall back. We get it into one of these rooms keep out of its reach, hitting and running.”

He pulled the activator pins and shuffled back, his rifle coming off his back as he crouched in the doorway of the room he had already cleared. There was no need to be attacked from behind while they were attacking this goliath.

“Just think, we get to split the loot four ways.”

Java was not amused. "If you want a little sunshine," she started, her French-sounding accent showing up. She raised her right hand and allowed the fire to engulf it. The bright red glow colored her eyes, adding a disturbing expression to them. "I can give you sunshine."

"Anyone ever tell you you're hot when you're in a mood," Copland said with a mock flirt. It was a bad fire pun now, but his humor became more spot on as time went by.

*

"Looks like nothing here... say, you think they said anything about..." Tock stopped talking when she was interrupted by heavy chains rattling and dragging along the floor. "...Bosses." She finished quietly, and slowly took a step back toward her team.

"I say screw the boss or whatever the hell that thing coming is and just to concentrate on finding the stupid briefcase," Java said in an anger whisper, "We should only fight if we must!"

Copland shrugged. "It could be guarding some loot that would make our mission that much easier." He tucked the double bladed sword away. There was something about the way those chains clinked that made him not want to be the group's tank. He pulled out his onslaught crossbow and set the dial for fire bolts.

“The only path to where the case is is through whatever is coming down that hallway.” Glitch moved cautiously to the next intersection. He then pulled some brick like objects from his inventory.

“It’s the big and tough kind of boss. Shoot from cover and when it comes at you fall back. We get it into one of these rooms keep out of its reach, hitting and running.”

Glitch pulled the activator pins and shuffled back, his rifle coming off his back as he crouched in the doorway of the room he had already cleared. “Just think, we get to split the loot four ways.”

"Loot loot, woot woot," Copland took up a firing position in the opposite room. The boss was a little over a foot taller than him, but it was built like a brick wall. "At least it's a big enough target."

The chains looked nasty, but the boss was limited in its swings by the dimensions of the corridor. They should be good so long as they didn't stand directly in front of it. Copland pointed his left fist at one of it's arms. "Gadget, cutter." The keytool's cogwheel shot off and expanded into a circular saw blade. It moved in a tight arc towards the chain in the creature's right arm (their left) and would boomerang back to land on the rest of the device. He didn't wait for the follow through. Instead, Copland aimed his steampunk crossbow at the shambler's head. He loosed a flaming bolt after he caught sight of the sawblade in the scope.

==Glichput: Do any of the chains get cut off, and does the bolt hit?==

Tock glanced over to Java with her goggled vision. She grinned sheepishly, "you know how video games are... there's always a catch."

"The only path to where the case is is through whatever is coming down that hallway."

She puffed out her cheeks, hands glowing with her inner light, prepared to cast Barrier around the three of them. Zombies didn't have any magical capabilities that would need her to use Reflection. Being around the wall, not within sight of that thing down the corridor was comforting, but only for a short while. She heard the chains, and she could pull up a mental image to what that thing might be look like as it dragged down the heavy iron rope.

She straightened up slightly as they had their discussion. Their voices were low as to not draw attention, and Glitch peeked around the corner to get a look at the beast of a zombie. "It's a Tank, isn't it?" She groaned. She liked fighting monsters as much as anybody, and looting items, but she expended so much mana taking down tank monsters. Hopefully with the team they were in, they'd be able to switch off. Java was also a mana user, so they wouldn't be wasting too much of their magic going back and forth.

"I bet," she said, "and aim for the head? I can distract it and you guys can hit him three ways with your best." She snorted softly at what she'd just said before shaking her head, "I can blind him temporarily with a flash magic. In the mean time, I summoned a barrier for each of you to absorb some of the impact." She hoped that they didn't get hit, the barrier at its best would last up to half an hour.

She watched Copland and Glitch take cover, but glancing to Java. "You good?" She asked the firewielder, before she crouched low and peeked around the corner in a very catlike manner. She might as well have a tail curled up at this point, and on alert like an exclamation mark. She pressed her palms along the wall, using her second set of eyes to watch the lumbering giant drag itself down the hall, chains rattling with blades attached to them. Copland made the first attack, causing a roar to burst forth as a respond. It staggered and shuddered since the chains were like an extension of the beast. She rolled out into view, and clapped her hands together.

"Close your eyes!" She shouted before a white flash suddenly filled the room for a second. Zombies being less attuned to the light would react violently, and thus be blinded for about a minute - but since this was a boss character, they had like thirty seconds to act fast. It reared back its head, clutching its eyes with agony as it ran against the alls, more or less blocking their path but also creating an opening for someone agile and quick to get through.

Shaking her head and attempting to ignore the fact that Copland had mockingly complimented her, Java regained her composure and returned her focus to the mission. Yet, she glanced once at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering if that flirt was all for fun at her expense or if there lied slight truth in it.
As they conversed in the hallway, the noise of the approaching beastlike zombie sent chills down her spine. She hated zombies, no matter the size or level. However, she especially detested the small five percent of zombies that could kill her outright without any effort. There was a reason as to why she did not take missions from this forsaken planet. The biggest reason was steadily coming ever closer to them.

Glitch and Copland made valid reasons as to why fighting the boss would be beneficial to the party. Java still did not like it and therefore, she said nothing but glared her eyes at the thing standing in her way of her loot. She would woot later once she had her share deposited into her account. Right now, she just wanted her and the rest of her party to survive long enough to grab the bloody briefcase and leave.

Suddenly, Tock exclaimed something about distracting the thing. Java snorted and muttered, "You're not making sense," at the same thing that the snow white haired maiden continued to explain that she could blind the zombie with her magic, creating a bright shine of white light. Once explained, it made sense and now, she was able to act. Glitch and Copland took cover, while Java went a little out of way and grabbed a classroom that was slightly closer to the boss. She groaned inwardly and frowned. She grumped a "Fine!" when Tock asked if she was ready. Her hands simmered lowly as she waited for the signal. Glitch set up a trap in order for the boss to get doubly punched as it rounded the corner. Copland sent out a circular blade of sorts and then a fire-arrow right after, surprising the beast slightly and giving Tock enough time to cast her spell.

""Close your eyes!" she shouted and Java followed her command, squeezing her eyes tight. As the glow died down, Java slowly opened her eyes to the noise of the stumbling and panic by the boss. She scanned the hallway, hoping for an entrance. Her dark eyes narrowed down around the creature's legs and noticed an opening.

"Cover me!" she ordered and raced towards the small opening she had spotted. The beast was still clambering around and feeling its eyes. She aimed her pointer finger into the shape of a gun and narrowed her fire bolt into a precise shot. She fired once and then twice and for a third time, heat rising in the hallway. The first two shots hit the beast's hands, and the third managed to hit towards the left side of its forehead, tearing off a rather large chunk of rotten flesh. A stinky, and rather loud roar echoed through the hallway as she slide underneath the beast. It noticed her disappearing underneath it, but it soon focused its attention on her team.

Once behind the beast, she quickly checked around, shot off a couple of stupid zombies, and began to attack the back of the boss' head, fireballs flying.

The beginning of any boss fight was always hectic, especially when it was an unknown boss that came at you without warning. Here in front of Glitch was a perfect example of this chaos in motion. Only moments after seeking cover the monster rounded the cover and Copland whipped a whirling blade right at it, the spinning weapon whizzing by him. Just as it hit its mark he could hear Tock go on about the protective shielding she had cast and then called out a warning. He quickly shut his eyes and covered his face in the crook of his arm just as the magical flash bang went out simultaneously with his traps.

He could hear the moans of pain, or were they just moans, emanating from the grizzly being bringing a slight smile to his face.

"Cover me!"

Without knowing why he was doing it Glitch brought his weapon up to his shoulder and sighted straight at the things head. Rhythmically he squeezed the trigger of the rifle keeping the recoil to a minimum and his sight picture precise. He trusted his teammate to act appropriately and he was disappointed when in his peripheral vision he watched Java slide under the beast, spewing fire balls at it from her hand.

For the next several minutes the small team waged bloody carnage against the mammoth zombie, Glitch pitching in with his rifle as the others relied on there combat strengths. It didn’t take long for the monster to begin advancing on them trying to get a swing or two of its own in. Luckily the spinning blade deployed by Copland had sliced the creatures only ranged weapon away. Glitch motioned for them to fall back as it advanced on them, sliding small traps under it as they did to slow the beast down and give them enough time to kill it before they were cornered. He trusted Java to continue to hit it from the rear hoping hr damage wouldn’t pull its attention from them.

Luckily the monster stopped and one last round of damage it fell before they had run out of hallway. The beast stopped moving completely and its flesh began to sizzle and melt away on its own leaving a puddle of ichor, a small box in the middle there prize.

“Copland grab the box and lets get moving. Open it on the way we should be nearing the classroom with our package.”

He stepped forward, slapping a fresh clip in his rifle and shouldering it before pulling his pistol and sword back out. The delay, while short, had motivated him to keep moving forward and make short work of the rest of the building so he could leave this damned planet behind him.

Java shook her head at Copland's ill attempt at humor. Aww, c'mon. Light...en up a little? Oi, tough crowd.

*

"...I can blind him temporarily with a flash magic. In the mean time, I summoned a barrier for each of you to absorb some of the impact." Tock narrated her plan.

{Can you blind a zombie? I always just assumed the 'knew' where you were at all times. That's how they could sneak up on you.}

"You're not making sense," Java grumbled. Copland paid no attention to it as he was already assaulting the Tank.

"Close your eyes!" This from Tock just a moment before the hallway turned into a lighthouse. Copland did his best with both hands on the crossbow. He could still see part of the flash through his digital eyelids. "Cover me! Java responded as she slid under the beastie.

More and more of the mini-boss' head was chipping away, but it was still moving towards them. Gadget returned followed the sound of the long chain coiling on the ground. Copland would have patted it, but was too tied up. I'm so glad I gave you that targeting patch. He fiddled with the dial on the crossbow's stock so that it clicked three times. Now that the bolts were set for Cold, the guardian changed targets from Head to Knees. He pulled the string back after each shot to keep the chamber rotating, for he didn't loot the repeating version of this weapon.

Arctic blue bolts lanced out at the tank. Ice spikes shot out of the wound tracts. The idea was to literally freeze the joints to keep it from moving. Of course as a boss, it would just slow it down. At least it gave Glitch more time to set up the claymores. Copland started to feel the edge of the hallway on his boots just as the creature finally keeled over. It sizzled and melted before their very eyes. If this were the Real World, Copland didn't want to know where the chest had be inside the program.

“Copland grab the box and lets get moving. Open it on the way we should be nearing the classroom with our package.”

Nice to see you getting your hands dirty, Fearless Leader, Copland quipped. He pointed his left wrist at the container. Gadget, autostow and itemize.

Concentric rings emanated from the cogwheel on the device and enveloped the chest. The chest lifted off the floor and shrunk as the rings invisibly pulled it in. A light flickered on the top right button, which Copland pressed. A vidwindow opened in front of him and kept the pace as they all moved to their target point.

Shiny, Copland said regarding the loot.

==I don't know how we want to figure out the Cracker Jack prize. Did you have stuff in mind, Glitch, or do we all come up with our own item?==