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+--- Thread: [10] Bardock - FoF Production Ruins (/showthread.php?tid=28752)
[10] Bardock - FoF Production Ruins - Burter Jr - 11-28-2005
Nothing visibly suspicious...
Still, worth checking out
[10] Bardock - FoF Production Ruins - Bardock - 11-29-2005
A grunt echoed in the silence as Bardock overturned a large slab of concrete. Amongst the chunk of rock and drywall, broken pipes and nests of severed electrical wires were scattered. Keeping his balance, the saiyan eased over a split-level pile of melted steel. He could see a slew of busted up computers, their contents beyond repair. So much for that. What he was looking for was the service shaft he had traversed in order to find the game?s power source with Bebi and the others so many hours ago. Obviously, the core had been damaged (if it was still intact at all), and thus ended the game. Reijin?s theory of encapsulation seemed to have less and less subsidy for every event that transpired. It was a good thing too, or else they would have all perished if their minds had suddenly been unplugged from an alternate reality. If Bardock could get his hands on the core, somehow make it operational again, he could send out a beacon that would attract Kao like a moth to flame. The youth would be grasping at straws to get the game online again, and carry out his father?s ?noble? work. If the sublevels had caved in, it might have damaged the control rods. The saiyan was no mechanical genius (hell, he wasn?t that smart at all), and if the rods were broken, he wouldn?t know how to fix them, unless he could find emergency replacements somewhere. The mission was dangerous. Bebi had warned that destruction of the power source would cause it to explode, initiating a chain reaction that would destroy the entire asteroid.
At least that would solve the demon problem, he mused sarcastically. Then he stopped, a crazy, abstract notion striking light in his brain. Why not? Wipe the slate clean. Blow the little fuckers to kingdom come. Of course, there was the matter of getting himself and rest of those that mattered to him off the asteroid, a concept that none of them had managed to figure out. Seeing that little obstruction as a bit of a problem, Bardock let the idea simmer on the backburner. It would always be an option, at least, albeit a chaotic, genocidal one. It could also be, as Bebi admitted himself that the information of such capabilities of the power core was indeed as false as the rest of the ?facts? he had stolen. It could even be that the power core was a mere ploy to yank them around by the collar. He supposed it didn?t matter. He had nothing better to do anyway, a thought that made him smile at the remembrance of the angel?s order.
A deep cold had settled around the ruins, reminiscent of the one that had shrouded his dream. Bardock breathed heavily against it, seeing the expelled air turn to frost before him. As he sorted through the rubble, trying to locate the duct, his thoughts turned to memories that crept up on him like they often did. A voice echoed in his mind, a voice that he knew to be his own.
?I?ll be back. I need to take care of some things first. In case that damned Brim does something before I get back, if ever you should need me, contact me on this. I?ll find you, I promise.?
But he didn?t find him. Goten was dead. How, when, he didn?t know. All he knew was that Kao had gotten to his grandson first. Goten needed him, and Bardock hadn?t been there.
?Listen, kid. You got a lotta friends. They?re prolly gonna help you find your dad. They?re prolly gonna take care of you until then. But I want you to know, I?ll take care of ya too. If you need me?you call me. I?ll come running.?
But he hadn?t come running. Burter Junior was gone too. The black-haired fighter didn?t even know his killer. Had it been Brim? Kao? Another player? Another promise broken.
I?ll find you. I?ll come running.
Where were you when they needed you most?
Bardock gritted his teeth and shunted the thoughts. He had faced his fears. He was another step closer to making himself whole again. He would not regress now. Now was the time to concentrate, to get the core running again, to find Kao, and avenge Kakarotto and Goten, and claim vengeance for himself. Nothing else mattered at this point. The others had chosen their path, and he would not follow, because he had not been asked. Bardock had learned that much. If no one wanted you around, don?t assert yourself, or you?ll look like a fool trying.
A feeling of relief flooded him. It wasn?t the service shaft he had found, but he had managed to locate a stairwell to an underground level. It was a good start. The walls were strung with a line of halogen lamps, most of which were broken, but some of which flickered on and off, giving Bardock enough light to navigate his way downward. Soon, his coal black eyes would adjust to the darkness. Time had crafted and refined his kind into perfect killers, and any hunter was benefited by the ability to see in pitch black. It wasn?t flawless sight; it wasn?t as daylight to him, but it was better than most species?but certainly not better than say, Jack, a demon who lived in darkness and saw as other creatures did not.
Bardock proceeded with caution. Things still lurked in the unknown, and he would have to be careful not to fall prey to them. His hearing compensated for anything his eyes could not interpret, and they were far more reliable in any case. Should there be a distinct smell Bardock retained the ability to sniff out trouble, again, not as well as his former demon comrade. His tail twitched in anticipation, the only sound ringing out the vibrations of his footfalls, which he quieted as much as possible while stealthily stealing through the hallways. This part of the production building had remained unharmed, the structure more, sturdy and better supported.
The saiya-jin wondered what was down here, other than the power source. He slipped around the corner of a corridor and came to a halt, eyes widening.
?What?the hell?is this??
OOC: Two. Burter can either give me an event, or I am capable enough to finish it on my own.
[10] Bardock - FoF Production Ruins - Bardock - 11-30-2005
Bardock peered into the room he had just run into, which was dimly lit by an eerie luminescence emanating from the back. He pushed at a door, a heavy, doubly thick steel door. There were bolts on the front, accompanied by several other security measures. Obviously, this was a very highly protected area. Bardock carefully took a couple of steps into the room. His boot slightly slipped on something. The saiya-jin bent down, careful to keep his guard up. Two fingers swiped at a syrupy puddle, feeling a strange stickiness on the skin. He rubbed it against the pad of his thumb to get a feel for the texture. It wasn?t?blood?he couldn?t identify it. No burning sensation, and no physical maladies presented themselves to show it was in any way harmful to him. He gingerly brought the fingers up to his nose, wafting the smell into his nostrils. Immediately, he scrunched up his face. It smelled horrible, but only if he brought it really close to his face. The fighter looked up, examining the interior. In the back, human-sized capsules lined the wall, full of some mysterious liquid, and all were lit. Each one was empty, yet appeared to be intact. The rest of the place almost looked like a sort of kitchen: steel counters were placed in rows, all of which were empty. Bar walked to one of the long, stretching tables, and attempted to yank open one of the drawers. It was empty. He tried a few more. They were all empty. The fighter grimaced?a dead end. And the place looked so promising at first. He meandered towards the end of the room, examining the capsules. The liquid bubbled and frothed, somewhere in the bottom roiling jets. There were tubes that connected the capsule with a monitor, all of which were dark, and inoperable after the saiya-jin made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to bring their screens to life. Then he noticed one of the tubes was leaking: a thin stream of the fluid had trickled out and managed to slime a path all the way to the door.
Odd, thought Bardock. The rest of the place is completely undamaged.
It didn?t matter. What really did matter was what the capsules demonstrated: power. Even if it wasn?t coming from the core, there was still a fuel source somewhere, and Bardock could use it. He pondered a bit about how effective his plan really was, and would he be enjoying himself more if he were whomping on some serious satanic ass? Eh. There would always be time for satanic ass-whomping. Kao, however, was rather elusive. Bardock exited the room, dismissing it of any importance. He headed down the other way, finding a plethora of doors, these ones very minimally secured. He didn?t recognize any of this. The power core could have been nearby, or it could very well be on the opposite end. The building was designed so similarly, he couldn?t tell, and it didn?t help matters that he and his son had destroyed most of the building. Bardock had strolled so far now that he had come to the end of hall.
Shiiit.
Now what?
He growled. There was a tiny, rectangular window on one side, the glass crisscrossed with mesh wiring. Throwing his shoulder forward, he attempted to force open the door. It wasn?t all that difficult. The door caved easily. Bardock glanced over his shoulder. The hall was narrow enough that if he were surprised from behind, a group would have to bottleneck through the door to get to him. He angled the door (now broken off the hinges) in the corridor so that a single person would have to either completely destroy it, or move it to get to the room. His hand fumbled around for a switch, and to his surprise, found one. Even more surprising, was that it worked?a dim little bulb shined over a storage closet. It wasn?t small, but it wasn?t big. However, Bardock saw opportunity. Replacement halogen lamps?ones of incredible voltage?were lined up in boxes along one side. Lights were simple enough to work with. It wasn?t a core, but it would do. He quickly strung them altogether, forming them into a gigantic light bulb. In doing so, he stumbled over a box in his haste, and heard the sound of glass breaking. He opened the cardboard flaps, and was amused to find it was a box of mirrors. Convenient. They might have been mirrors for bathrooms, for all he knew, but they worked well. He angled them around the cluster of halogen lights, stacking them carefully. After all the preparations were complete, he began to charge a bolt of energy. When the gathering was complete, he fired into the ceiling. A hole was burned cleanly through the material, disintegrating any pieces that would have fallen in. He ceased fire, and gazed up into the newly formed opening. He grinned. The night sky was staring back at him. A few broken wires poked through the fissure, sending off sparks. Tearing open the connector wires for the lamps, he tied them together, hoping it would work. Bright light flooded the room, reflected by the mirrors. Their angles were such that the light would beam upwards, sending out a noticeable beacon of white against a blanket of black.
Confident that the zombies had fled for good, Bardock felt fairly secure. He leaned against a wall, giving himself a time limit of twenty minutes for his nemesis to show up. It made sense he would be nearby if the last place he was spotted was the watchtower. If he didn?t show, Bardock would just have to look elsewhere.
It was just easier to try and have Kao come looking for him. There was nowhere in the universe the youth could hide from the wrathful saiyan, but it gave a certain sense of irony for the son of Brim to come stumbling upon his own demise in his search for retribution.
OOC: Three. If I?m not bumped, the discovery of the capsule room will play a part later on. I didn?t throw it in just for fun.
[10] Bardock - FoF Production Ruins - Burter Jr - 12-02-2005
END OF ROUND