03-04-2010, 10:17 PM
In a dingy apartment only a few blocks from what had once been Bruce’s Bar n’ Grill, Sergeant Piper Juunanagou of the 101st Sentinel’s shimmered into existence amidst her normal panache. Realizing full well that her failure to apprehend the Pizza Boy Killer would relegate her back to desk work, the blond medic tossed her large bag of supplies onto the nearby bed and let out a heavy sigh.
“Sumbitch,” the soldier groaned as she trudged across the miniscule apartment and entered the dingy, undersized bathroom. Placing her palms on the sides of the stained sink, the woman took a long, hard look at her reflection before reaching over to grab a nearby rag. After splashing some water onto the coarse cloth, Piper began to rather unpleasant task of cleaning away the grim and dried blood that had managed to cake itself across her face. The fact that there was no soap in the skanky little apartment only served to further irritate the woman and dash her hopes of ever feeling clean.
Maybe I can tell them I accidentally dropped the anomaly into a vat of acid? [i] The thought brought a smile to Piper’s face as she pulled away the rag and stared down at all the nasty red, brown, and black stains that now saturated the formerly tan-colored cloth. [I] Well that was really effective. The woman thought as she looked up to see that she still looked like the victim of some gangbangers.
Discarding the stained rag, Piper yanked the apartment’s only towel off its rusted rack and used it to hastily clear away the rest of the grim from her face. Unfortunately, what was underneath the dried blood, dust, and dirt was a lovely patchwork of bruises that would certainly prevent the woman from getting a prom date anytime soon. As she stared at her bruising, a little voice of madness in the back of the woman’s head wished that she had been fighting the Pizza Boy Killer. After all, at least then someone could be paying for the number done to her face.
“Oh well,” Piper groaned as she balled up the towel and tossed it over her shoulder. “Spilt milk,” she added beneath her breath as she flicked off the bathroom light and moved back into the main room of the scant apartment. After summoning her other bag from across the room, the blond unzipped the large backpack and fished out her medication. Once she’d popped her dosage, Piper snapped the lid back onto the orange container and let it roll off her palm and back into the bag.
“Guess I should report back…” she muttered as she looked down into her bag and tried to see if her phone was visible. When she couldn’t see it, Piper plunged her hand down passed the change of clothes and the other assorted supplies before her fingers bumped into her phone’s protective rubber sheath. A few seconds later, the woman’s hand emerged from the bag with cell phone in tow.
Sliding the front panel up to reveal the number pad, Piper quickly dialed the number for the other Sentinel stationed in the vicinity. His job was to serve as the woman’s liason back to headquarters. That way, if Piper was being tracked or traced by anyone, they wouldn’t be able to connect her back to the Sentinels—just one of the irritating ‘hush-hush’ aspects involved with being in a semi-secret organization.
“Hello, Private Gertrand? … Hello?” Despite having dialed the correct number and having full service, Piper was hearing nothing but white noise through the line. “Damn it,” the medic said with a groan as she slid the phone shut. Before she had much to stew in her frustration, the door to her apartment was ripped off its hinges.
Turning sharply, Piper pocketed her phone and clenched her fists as a pair of human-sized robots marched into her apartment. The automatons were comprised of a shimmering silver alloy and walked with a robotic gait. Their heads were dominated by a red disc that probably functioned as their sensory apparatus. What got most of Piper’s attention, however, were the needles extending from devices beneath the robot’s forearms.
“You will come with us now, Sergeant Juunanagou” one of the robots said—its ‘voice’ broadcasting from somewhere inside of its head. With a frown, Piper glanced at the words etched into both of the robots’ chests—U.R.K.L.E. mk I. Perhaps it was some type of acronym or model designation? Either way, the woman wasn’t going to stand around and wait for the response.
Glancing down to her backpack, Piper plunged a slender hand down into the main compartment as the robots began to slowly advance across the small room. Behind the pair of automatons, the woman could hear a chorus of heavy, clomping footsteps approaching her room. Understanding that she was about to have more company, the soldier drew the Derringer from her backpack and put one of its bullets through both the robot’s crimson ‘faces.’
Sparks, shards of glass, and a few bits of broken machinery erupted out from the shattered faceplates as the two Urkles collapsed into twitching heaps of metal. Wishing she hadn’t lost her regulation handgun during her scuffle earlier in the day, Piper discarded the pocket pistol and proceeded to telekinetically flip her mattress off the box spring and up against the wall where her door had been.
Glancing down at the weapon she had stashed under her mattress, the woman summoned the shotgun into her outstretched hand. With one hand, Piper pumped the weapon and proceeded to level it with the mattress that now stood as her makeshift barricade. The footsteps in the hallway suddenly came to a stop in front of her apartment, and suddenly—without much of a forewarning—a circular saw erupted through the cloth and quickly cleaved down the length of the mattress.
Frowning heavily, Piper waited for the sundered mattress to topple inward before she opened fire on the robots standing behind it. The buckshot obliterated the automaton’s faceplate and sent it careening forward—its gleaming, metallic limbs locking up as affected by some robot form of rigor mortis. Behind the foremost robots, its compatriots marched in over its broken husk, and despite their best efforts, none were able to get through the doorway without suffering a fatal dosage of buckshot.
As more robots were trying to force their way through the front door of the apartment, Piper noticed that the room had suddenly grown a little darker. Frowning, the woman pivoted and fired at the Urkle hovering outside her window. The floating robot twitched violently before it plunged out of sight. From her bathroom, Piper suddenly heard the whirl of saw blades, and with a quick glimpse, she verified that she’d be having company on both sides within a few moments.
Think, think, think, think!
Dashing toward her window, the soldier snatched her bag of supplies and proceeded to leap out her second-story apartment. With an explosion of light particles, the woman popped out of existence mid-plunge and rematerialized on the roof of the complex. Dropping her pack of supplies, Piper quickly pulled out all of the clothes until she reached the ammunition cases at the bottom.
As the soldier rushed to reload her firearm, she listened as several of the robots took to the air. The small propulsion units on the bottom of their feet whirled loudly as the relentless automatons pursued the elusive Sentinel. Discarding an empty box, Piper scooped up another handful of shotgun shells and stuffed them into the front pocket of her jacket. With a smug smirk, the blond pumped the first round into the barrel and waited for the next wave of her attackers to come floating up into view.
Unfortunately, all her preparation wasn’t enough to prepare the woman for the giant, electrified net that enveloped her from behind and sent her hurtling to the ground. With a dull thud, Piper slammed into the concrete and immediately felt the air driven out of her lungs. A beat after her impact, the net surged with enough electricity to pacify the woman’s frantic struggles.
“…Shit,” the blond groaned weakly as one of the robots casually walked over to her and stabbed her in the neck with one of its forearm needles. Almost instantaneously, she lost all feeling in her extremities and proceeded to lapse into complete unconsciousness.
“Sumbitch,” the soldier groaned as she trudged across the miniscule apartment and entered the dingy, undersized bathroom. Placing her palms on the sides of the stained sink, the woman took a long, hard look at her reflection before reaching over to grab a nearby rag. After splashing some water onto the coarse cloth, Piper began to rather unpleasant task of cleaning away the grim and dried blood that had managed to cake itself across her face. The fact that there was no soap in the skanky little apartment only served to further irritate the woman and dash her hopes of ever feeling clean.
Maybe I can tell them I accidentally dropped the anomaly into a vat of acid? [i] The thought brought a smile to Piper’s face as she pulled away the rag and stared down at all the nasty red, brown, and black stains that now saturated the formerly tan-colored cloth. [I] Well that was really effective. The woman thought as she looked up to see that she still looked like the victim of some gangbangers.
Discarding the stained rag, Piper yanked the apartment’s only towel off its rusted rack and used it to hastily clear away the rest of the grim from her face. Unfortunately, what was underneath the dried blood, dust, and dirt was a lovely patchwork of bruises that would certainly prevent the woman from getting a prom date anytime soon. As she stared at her bruising, a little voice of madness in the back of the woman’s head wished that she had been fighting the Pizza Boy Killer. After all, at least then someone could be paying for the number done to her face.
“Oh well,” Piper groaned as she balled up the towel and tossed it over her shoulder. “Spilt milk,” she added beneath her breath as she flicked off the bathroom light and moved back into the main room of the scant apartment. After summoning her other bag from across the room, the blond unzipped the large backpack and fished out her medication. Once she’d popped her dosage, Piper snapped the lid back onto the orange container and let it roll off her palm and back into the bag.
“Guess I should report back…” she muttered as she looked down into her bag and tried to see if her phone was visible. When she couldn’t see it, Piper plunged her hand down passed the change of clothes and the other assorted supplies before her fingers bumped into her phone’s protective rubber sheath. A few seconds later, the woman’s hand emerged from the bag with cell phone in tow.
Sliding the front panel up to reveal the number pad, Piper quickly dialed the number for the other Sentinel stationed in the vicinity. His job was to serve as the woman’s liason back to headquarters. That way, if Piper was being tracked or traced by anyone, they wouldn’t be able to connect her back to the Sentinels—just one of the irritating ‘hush-hush’ aspects involved with being in a semi-secret organization.
“Hello, Private Gertrand? … Hello?” Despite having dialed the correct number and having full service, Piper was hearing nothing but white noise through the line. “Damn it,” the medic said with a groan as she slid the phone shut. Before she had much to stew in her frustration, the door to her apartment was ripped off its hinges.
Turning sharply, Piper pocketed her phone and clenched her fists as a pair of human-sized robots marched into her apartment. The automatons were comprised of a shimmering silver alloy and walked with a robotic gait. Their heads were dominated by a red disc that probably functioned as their sensory apparatus. What got most of Piper’s attention, however, were the needles extending from devices beneath the robot’s forearms.
“You will come with us now, Sergeant Juunanagou” one of the robots said—its ‘voice’ broadcasting from somewhere inside of its head. With a frown, Piper glanced at the words etched into both of the robots’ chests—U.R.K.L.E. mk I. Perhaps it was some type of acronym or model designation? Either way, the woman wasn’t going to stand around and wait for the response.
Glancing down to her backpack, Piper plunged a slender hand down into the main compartment as the robots began to slowly advance across the small room. Behind the pair of automatons, the woman could hear a chorus of heavy, clomping footsteps approaching her room. Understanding that she was about to have more company, the soldier drew the Derringer from her backpack and put one of its bullets through both the robot’s crimson ‘faces.’
Sparks, shards of glass, and a few bits of broken machinery erupted out from the shattered faceplates as the two Urkles collapsed into twitching heaps of metal. Wishing she hadn’t lost her regulation handgun during her scuffle earlier in the day, Piper discarded the pocket pistol and proceeded to telekinetically flip her mattress off the box spring and up against the wall where her door had been.
Glancing down at the weapon she had stashed under her mattress, the woman summoned the shotgun into her outstretched hand. With one hand, Piper pumped the weapon and proceeded to level it with the mattress that now stood as her makeshift barricade. The footsteps in the hallway suddenly came to a stop in front of her apartment, and suddenly—without much of a forewarning—a circular saw erupted through the cloth and quickly cleaved down the length of the mattress.
Frowning heavily, Piper waited for the sundered mattress to topple inward before she opened fire on the robots standing behind it. The buckshot obliterated the automaton’s faceplate and sent it careening forward—its gleaming, metallic limbs locking up as affected by some robot form of rigor mortis. Behind the foremost robots, its compatriots marched in over its broken husk, and despite their best efforts, none were able to get through the doorway without suffering a fatal dosage of buckshot.
As more robots were trying to force their way through the front door of the apartment, Piper noticed that the room had suddenly grown a little darker. Frowning, the woman pivoted and fired at the Urkle hovering outside her window. The floating robot twitched violently before it plunged out of sight. From her bathroom, Piper suddenly heard the whirl of saw blades, and with a quick glimpse, she verified that she’d be having company on both sides within a few moments.
Think, think, think, think!
Dashing toward her window, the soldier snatched her bag of supplies and proceeded to leap out her second-story apartment. With an explosion of light particles, the woman popped out of existence mid-plunge and rematerialized on the roof of the complex. Dropping her pack of supplies, Piper quickly pulled out all of the clothes until she reached the ammunition cases at the bottom.
As the soldier rushed to reload her firearm, she listened as several of the robots took to the air. The small propulsion units on the bottom of their feet whirled loudly as the relentless automatons pursued the elusive Sentinel. Discarding an empty box, Piper scooped up another handful of shotgun shells and stuffed them into the front pocket of her jacket. With a smug smirk, the blond pumped the first round into the barrel and waited for the next wave of her attackers to come floating up into view.
Unfortunately, all her preparation wasn’t enough to prepare the woman for the giant, electrified net that enveloped her from behind and sent her hurtling to the ground. With a dull thud, Piper slammed into the concrete and immediately felt the air driven out of her lungs. A beat after her impact, the net surged with enough electricity to pacify the woman’s frantic struggles.
“…Shit,” the blond groaned weakly as one of the robots casually walked over to her and stabbed her in the neck with one of its forearm needles. Almost instantaneously, she lost all feeling in her extremities and proceeded to lapse into complete unconsciousness.
Quote:Vad's Whimsical Whimsicalisms: Men. Good stuff there.
![[Image: Viper-Mini-Sig-Piper.png]](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/ThundercatsHO/Viper-Mini-Sig-Piper.png)
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning,
but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

