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[Keiya]

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Current date :- 3122
Current time :- 11:11
Journal entry :- 197
Location : Checkpoint 'Ultaris' - Colony in orbit above Titan

" I remember reading about the discovery of 'Particle 212' back when I was a teenager, barely thirteen. 'A new tool in our ever-evolving understanding of the universe!' they called it. It was the 212th alien discovery from another world - another world named Titan. The name was a bit of a joke, however. It wasn't exactly a particle, but more of a bio-organism that held the ability to alter the density and complete molecular breakdown of other elements. It was the Philosophers' stone in every true function. We, the human race, now had the ability to turn water to wine, oxygen to gold - it was astounding.

Particle 212 was deemed fit for public use in 2920, a mere 19 years after it's discovery and testing. It was used in everything from display screens to communication devices. It accelerated food production, allowed for the tools to be made to slow the aging of human cells, allowed us closer looks at how biology as a whole could be effected. It was amazing. Truly amazing. Even today it is still granting us understandings that we would have taken centuries to unveil - simply by allowing us a deeper look in-between the lines in a highly accelerated time-frame. Cities rising from dust in weeks. Floating colonies sprouting up around planets and moons in months. How it works? I couldn't explain it to you exactly. I'm not a scientist, just a Security Squad Leader floating above Titan where it was found. What I can tell you is that it's healed wounds in hours which would usually take weeks and it's slowed my aging to being virtually non-existent. Two-Hundred and Thirty-Four years I've been breathing...and it's all because of this little discovery that led to the invention of chemical compounds, augmentations, and tools used to hold the very fabric of life together.

You'd think that it'd be the end-all of war and violence...but obviously not. My magnetic-powered rifle has been fired many times, and aided with my enhanced vision it's never missed it's mark. The thing about Particle 212 is that it's non-renewable. It's lasts virtually forever, but we only know of one place to find it - Titan. There are other factions vying for control of it daily, both for economic standard and physical warfare. Fighting for it at both the political table and in the vast vacuum of space - it's why we're here.

I don't know why I'm recording all of this. Maybe it helps keep me sane after all of these years being alive. Maybe I need to pour out thoughts to make room for more since my brain should be filled with useless information by now. I don't know. What I am aware of is that we have a job to do - no matter who owns this damn rock. That job is to protect it. Only so many are allowed on the surface at once, and with every descent into it's harsh environment we are the escort. With every attempt to land on the surface without our permission, we are the deciding factor in life and death. Me and my force? We are the Grim Reaper, the bringers of death and enforcers of life he-.."

The recording is interrupted as the soft droning of a Phase II alert is activated. Lt.Seig Akai tosses his Journal Recorder across the bed and stands, already fully dressed. As his room pulses a soft blue in unison with the alarm, he smirks and runs a hand through his regulation breaking snow-white hair and paces towards the door. " Show time, boys and girls." He says as he activates his neural com-link with the rest of his squad.

[Corman2030]

Cullen, impatiently glanced at his Engineer data pad, checking to see how long he had been waiting. "How much longer do you people expect me to wait here," he said with his gravely horse voice. "As long as the investigators are with the suspect, you will wait to give your statement," said the young female guard on duty. At least she appeared to be young. It irritated Cullen to no end that age could no longer be determined by the untrained eye and it was a trait that he had not mastered yet. "You could not imagine how much productivity will go down, that I am up here wasting you time with you and besides, I really didn't see anything!" "That is not for me to decide, Mr. Naro. You will, please, wait quietly Sir!"
Cullen, steamed with with anger at being chastised, but knew better then to press the issue with the guard. After another hour had passed and Cullen had overseen the placement of 2 of his excavators, via network link with his Datpad, the Federation Investigators had finally come out. Wheeled closely behind them was the suspect, drooling, minor burns and clearly incapacitated, the Investigators had been using a shock field to "stimulate" the suspect. Cullen would always remember the smell of ozone and burnt flesh.
"We apologize for the wait Mr. Naro, but the suspect was surprisingly strong in will, if you would..." The inspector was suddenly interrupted by by station systems.
"Attention, Phase 2 alert is now in effect, general quarters." The soft voice of the stations A.I. was designed to convey a state of calm but Cullen knew better than to think that whatever was happening was serious. Phase 2 alert klaxons had now dropped from the celing to start their soft blue pulse.
"I'm sorry Mr. Naro but we are going to ask you to wait in a holding cell for your own safety." Stepping up to Cullen to assist him to his feet. "Keep your dam hands off me, you twit. I know the dam drill, and sure as shit don't need you help," said Cullen, standing to his feet and giving a hard stare to the investigator. "This way then," the investigator coward. Cullen followed the investigator to a spartan holding cell, holding no more than a plasteel bench and a latrine. "You will be released as soon as possible, sir." "Just get the hell to where ever it is you need to be!" Cullen turned from the door as it sealed and took a seat on the bench. Sliding his datapad out from his sleeve pocket, attempted to connect back to the system network but to no avail. Security lockdown was now in place, sure he could hack it but knew better. His intrusion into network could interfere with the Phase 2 response, now taking place, station wide. He decided to wait and compile a list of the work that he would need to catch up on when he was finally released.

[Keiya]

Walking calmly yet briskly and with direction, Seigs' feet stomped away at the metal floor as he proceeded out of the Barracks and into the Security sector. Approaching a narrow checkpoint built into the hallway, two reflective glass doors parted way just in time for him to pass through. Walking through the nullification port, his armor began to activate. He had always hated these things - however they had done their job effectively over the past several decades. As his armor began to spark to life and shift seemingly on it's own, the standard black and white armor plating of his squad took over his frame. Exiting the opposite side of the checkpoint, Seig never slowed, now guilded in sealed mutli-layered ceramic armor with only his head exposed.

"Sir. A phase II? " His neural com clicked, almost like a fizzle in his skull.

"Anders, you're still in bed aren't you?" Seig jested back at his squad-mate. As he finished his question, Anders and the other 5 members of his squad rounded the corner - all fully suited and armed. " I stand corrected." He smirked and proceeded past.

" We have a situation in the Security check ahead. Just to complicate things." A strong female voice stated from right beside him. Robin, his highest ranking, had moved up beside him and was busy tapping away at her projected datapad. " Apparently one of the head engineers is being held for questioning due to an incident with a suspect related to the explosion which was set sometime within the last hour and exploded precisely Two-Dot-Three-Seven ago."

Seig felt his eyebrow twitch as the word 'explosion' rolled so fluently from Robins' mouth. "Roger. You take the team to the hangar and get us drop ready. Anders - you're with me." At once, Robin and the Four others broke away in perfect synchronous down an adjacent hallway. Seig and Anders marched forward as the Security points' doors slid apart just in time to catch the smell of burnt ozone and lost bowels. His nose flared a bit as he proceeded into the point. Instantly his eyes caught the engineer seated in the holding cells and a smile crept across his face. Sweeping past the guards who watched in a sort of quiet awe - the R.e.a.p.e.r.s being rarely seen without their helmets, he rapped a knuckle on the cell door and arched a brow. "So - You're the culprit? Or are you just here for the free food?"

[Corman2030]

Cullen stood and made his way to the security hatch, looking through veiw port, he could see two men standing outside. Reapers, Cullen had never met one before but their reputation was outstanding. The elite strike force tasked with the protection of Titan.

Noticing the rank medallion fastened to the Rangers armor and addressed the senior man, "Lieutenant Commander, I would guess that this is a drill or you have much more important places to be, than harassing me."

[Keiya]

Hearing the gruff voice retort, Seigs' smirk grew wider. Behind him, Anders barked orders to open the cell at the security officer standing guard. With haste, the door unsealed and the pressure was quickly checked by the stations AI to ensure stability - as with every seal. Seig and Anders stepped to either side of the door with Seig making a 'this way' gesture. "You'll have to excuse the rush, but there's been a little bit of a problem on the ground and it just so happens to be my impeccable luck to find you here."

"Drop pods are ready." Robin clicked through Seigs' neural link
"Sitrep? Why pods and not a Maiden?"
"We're showing multiple hostiles on the ground." Robin said in a deliberately slow demeanor. She was getting excited. "They appear to be dug in per the readings we're getting from the security system. Full details have yet to be gathered."

"Roger. On the way with company." Seigs' eyes sharpened and his faux mask of friendliness dropped as he eyed the engineer. " You have a rat problem, and it turns out they have teeth. How familiar are you with the #3 platform?" His question held no sarcasm. The #3 platform was the most separated from the rest of the mining platforms on Titans' surface. Judging by the rank of the man in the cell, Seig was hoping that he knew things about the platform that he didn't.

[Draco Ny'ade]

as part of the team walks into the hangar so does Yong, he looks at the surroundings then asks the leader of the team "whats the alert about? i was doing something but now im being scrambled!"

prepares to sprint to his fighter/bomber

[Keiya]

An announcement echoes' through the security center -

"AI - Code name; Celestia. Announcement pending.
Time, Oh-Seventeen-Three-Dot-Two-One.
Confirm - Phase II alert. Silencing Alarm."

The alarm silences with the note of the elegant female voice that is the stations' Artificial Intelligence.

"Announcement Proceeding.- - - -
Phase II alert has been raised due to hostile presence on Titan Mining Platform #3.
All Security personal, report to your appropriate stations.
No actions have been granted to any station forces.
Reaper squad is lead. Operation Twelve-Thirteen is underway.
All stations will standby for Lieutenant Commander Seig Akai and his team for assessment.
Take no action until Reapers have landed. Repeat - Take no action until Reapers have landed.
All flight personal, please proceed to your stations and begin systems' Checks, preemptively.
Your cooperation is appreciated. "

Celestia kills the com link and disappears into the subsystems of the station as quickly as she came. The alarms for the Phase II do not come back, however, the droning blue lights around the station are left in place accordingly.

Flight crews and security squads begin forming up in the hangar bays, awaiting orders to drop to the planet if needed. From the right hand side of the hangar, two large mechanized exo-suits stomp across the bay as their seals vent atmosphere in systems-check phases in preparation of atmospheric drop. Be them having previously been asleep, eating, or working - all two-thousand of the stations inhabitants begin kicking into respective action bayed only by the voice of the R.e.a.p.e.r Lieutenant Commander.

[Draco Ny'ade]

*recives comms chatter on headset*

"looks like im your air support if you need me, ill be in a gunship to cover ya"

[Warmonger]

Android E220-F denotes a cycle to confusion, as his humanity parameters command. Then he boots his reserve sequences, and sends a binaric signal to the station AI. +Startquery. Celestia. Is. There. A. Problem. Which. Requires. Assisstance. Endquery.+

Powering his servo joints, he begins locomotion to the squad assemby point. Androids are required on every out of earth expedition and this case is no different.

Reaching the assembly point 'he' decides to vocalise a query.

"sergeant. Am i to provide assisstance on this expedition?"

[Keiya]

Celestia works away at the subroutines of the station. As locks are checked, launchpads are prepped, and defensive systems whir to life, she humbles herself. All of this has already been done - but keeping herself busy is a must. An AI with her level of processing capacity sitting idle for even a few seconds would be what she would relate to a humans' concept of a year is.

"Lt.Commander Akai. The station is on standby and awaiting your command. I urge that you get ground-side immediately. " Her tone had changed to a more familiar and human-like flow. She had worked closely with the R.e.a.p.e.r Lt.Commander and the rest of the squad as a whole on several occasions in the past. She could almost consider herself a part of the team and to be frank, no one knew each of the squad as well as she did. " Sensors are detecting what appears to be more explosives. Objective is unknown."

As she passes the information to Seig she picks up a ping at one of the communications firewalls. 'Huh~ So we have a scrub.' she ponders for a fraction of a nano-second. " E220-F - No assistance required. Please carry out primary functions."

====

Sgt.Pezquola eyes his men as he marches through the hangar bay. SC92-M1 slung over his shoulder, he clears his throat to begin his routine order-barking. Just as he is about to let his lungs erupt, a synthesized, though just barely noticeable, voice perks his interest. He spins around to face the Android and chews on the inside of his right cheek as he validates a response.

"I tell you what, circuit board. You make sure these men have their boots on the right feet and you'll be good" He shoots off in prime sarcastic practice. " Better yet, How good are you with planetary mapping?"

[Warmonger]

"computing..." E220-F quickly downloads some new subroutines. "I am up to date with all parameters and software regarding interplanetary and planetary geological and seismological and astrological mapping. To quote humans 'hell yeah I am!', though I must run a query. You call me circuit board but my physical make up contains no such archaic devices?"

He moves towards the drop pods, exquisitly checking that everyone's boots are secured correctly to their feet, and then waits to embark.

[Draco Ny'ade]

links comms to LT Commander nd preps gunship for takeoff "commander, arming engines ready for combat duty roles"

[Corman2030]

Listening to Celestia's announcement, Cullen registered an increase in heart rate that he had not felt in ages. A slight spike in adrenaline, his senses sharper, it had been more than a century since the last time he was in a combat situation.

"Well then, I guess it's not a drill." Cullen pulled his Datapad from his sleeve and quickly activated a holographic projection. Slowly turning above the screen was a 3 dimensional schematic of the #3 platform. " Not only do I have a detailed layout of the platform, it was one of my first duty postings planet side. I am intimately familiar with the facility." His horse old voice sounding a bit more youthful. "As long as my buisness here can be postponed, I will be a your disposal, Lieutenant Commander." He stepped forward and held out his hand to the Lt. Commander. "The name's Cullen."

[Keiya]

Sgt.Pezquola blinked in awe at the Androids' response to his sarcasm. Watching, unblinking, he brought a cigar to his mouth and bit into the end. "I'll be damn. We have a smartass robot on board."

========

Seig blinked as Celestia opened a link with him. Soaking in the information she relayed, he felt a lance of anxiousness race up his spine. " I see. Well, girl - Once we secure the engineer we'll deal with the ground. I'll take it from here. You just make sure home is nice and cool like I enjoy when I get back."

Celestia felt humor warm her sensors as she formulated a response. " As long as you finish your mission and don't leave it for the rest of us to clean up - as always."

Seig smirked and was about to respond as another link opened from the hangar informing him of the gunships ready and waiting. " Roger that." He shifted his eyes towards Anders as he replied to the pilot. " Do not take off until I give the order. We need to hit the ground fast - I don't want them to know what hit them until their dead.

His attention switched back to the engineer. As he watched him work the projection and layout of the platform, he smirked and took his hand. " Well, Cullen - You're going to be my map. We need to get to the core and secure it. The last thing we want is an unsecured exposure situation. " He looked over his shoulder at the security officers waiting for orders. " As for your 'situation' here... consider yourself relieved of a pain in the ass and falling into the frying pan. Ever hot-dropped in a singular pod?" He asked with enthusiasm as he turned on his heels and began walking off towards the R.e.a.p.e.r hangar bay.

[Draco Ny'ade]

"Copied Lieutenant Commander, we are running backup for you" flicks several switches and is rewarded with a low rumble of the engines kicking in, then a roar as they were prepared for a split-second takeoff

[Corman2030]

"Hot drop huh? Me and my Rangers dam near invented the sport."Falling in behind the Lt. with Anders shortly behind. Cullen glanced over to catch the eye of the female guard that had put him in his place and gave her a little wink and a smile."Yea, I did 16 years for the Federation Rangers before I was put out of commission, good times those were.

[Keiya]

" Good. Suit up and hit a pod. " He responded to Cullen. He couldn't place it just yet, but something about the man settled as familiar with him. "You may have invented it, but we perfected it." He added with a smirk.

As Anders, Cullen, and Seig neared the R.e.a.p.e.r hangar bay, Seigs' squad had already made preparations in just the few minutes he had given them. Two black and bone white clad rangers stood security at the Hangar entrance - Kayle and Gabriel. He passed by without acknowledgement besides the sharpening of his eyes as they held their stoic and almost machine-like poise.

" Pods One-Thru-Eight are prepped. " Robin sounded off from across the hangar.

Nodding, Seig paced towards his as he gave a whirling fist gesture above his head. The entire team began to fall into line and proceed towards their pods. He stopped and set a gaze on Cullen. "Yours is the pretty one that doesn't have a scratch on it." He smiled one last time, the augmentations in his eyes sparking to life as the dull red color of his eyes ignited in brilliant glow. A small sliver of alloy raced up the back of his head above his hair from the nape of his spine. In an elegant, meticulous, yet nightmarish fashion, the alloy began to unfold and entwine with itself in sheets and layers until it finally formed into a solid helmet with a single horizontal slit across the front. A small point of light activated in the center, whipped left and right, and settled on Cullen before giving a soft red pulse of stability. "See you on the ground. Make sure you survive."

As he proceeded towards the Pod, it's front access door sliding open for him, he spun around and fell back into it's comfortable embrace. The doors slid shut and met in a seamless seal before a large projected panel activated before him. " Celestia. Two-Zero-Five-Point-Oh-By-Nine-Five. I want a fifteen foot perimeter around that point. Guide is in and set us down. As soon as we hit, give the signal for the air support. "

The bust of Celestia appeared in his display - an elegant form of spiraling numbers, symbols, and archaic textures. Her long ghostly faint hair melded out of the screen as if part of a delicate circuit board, sparking information across it's strands. Every AI found an image suiting themselves in this age - they had moved far beyond the days of a voice and the lacking of personality. They were almost 'alive' most of the time - whatever that meant.

"Point acknowledged. Relaying packet information to all gunships." She closed her eyes and flickered for a moment.

"All flight personnel. Prepare for departure. Perform final checks. Once R.E.A.P.E.R.S are on the ground you are authorized to dismount. Use extreme prejudice. " Her voice boomed over the loud-speakers of the Hangar bay as well as the com links of all flight personnel.

Her eyes opened again in Seigs' panel and she nodded - hair flowing as if floating in water. " Message relayed. Pods marked to drop as soon as all have performed atmospheric checks for each individual. "

Tilting his head, he reached to grab the brace on each side of the pod. " You wou-" Before he could state the obvious, the pod lost all sense of gravity and suspended for a moment before it jettisoned out of the station at mach-speed. He gritted his teeth and gripped the brace as tightly as his hands would, the entire time watching the sarcastic smirk on Celestias' face as she preemptively launched his pod as 'payback' for his previous mention. Looking up, he watched the bottom of the station grow further away as more jettison points slowly burst into view - each pod launching as it's inhabitant gave the go-ahead.

[Corman2030]

Dam cocky reapers, Cullen thought to himself as his mind accessed the nural node implanted into the side of his head. Activating his Engineering enviro-suit with a thought and made for his assigned pod. The reapers definitely had the best gear, but Cullen had a few tricks up his sleeve as well.

A surgically implanted, armor assembly extended from the small of Cullens back. The technology was not his but he had improved upon it. A design of his own began to encapsulate Cullen, releasing blades of timantium that wrapped around his torso and made their way from head to foot. A mining gauntlet assembled itself on his left hand with his trusty datapad embedded in the forearm and a plasma cutter built on to the right. The armor finishing with Cullens head at his approval, unfolded his way up his spine to the top of his head, then extending up from the neck ring. Now enclosed in his vacuum capable suit, he was ready for the ride.

Cullen stepped aboard the pod and gave the ready confirmation to Celestia. "Celestia, get me access to the Lieutenant Commanders team neural communication frequency. Engineer clearance, Charlie, Oscar, Romeo, Yankee, 1-9-8-5.""Authenticating stand by." Celestia paused. "Access granted, Engineer Naro. Welcome to the shit." She said in a side that Cullen had never seen of the A.I. "Now where the hell did that come fr.."

Cullen's head was slapped back into his harness with a blast of acceleration. The pod screamed away form the station on pillars of fire. "I'm getting to old for this shit!"

[Keiya]

Seig felt his body jostle left and right as the pod punched through Titans' thick atmosphere. This ride never got boring to him - each time his as well as the members of his teams' lives were on the line and were just as easily extinguishable as a candle waiting to be dropped into an ocean. He watched the external temperature display spike several hundred degrees as the pod scorched through the protective bubble of the moon. As soon as it pierced through to the high-atmosphere of moons' sky, the temperature rapidly dropped to -200. Sheets of ice began to form on the outer layer of the pod as the heat soaked into the thin alloy melted the crystalline ice floating in the air. Soon the platform became apparent - situated over a large hydrogen lake. Room for error was small, but he knew he'd land on target. Celestia began pulsing the external air-thrusters, rotating the pod slowly and altering it's angle.

"Five." Celestias' voice echo'd.
"Four." Seig drew in a deep breath.
"Three." He tightened his grip.
"Two." He released his held breath.
"One." The reverse thrusters flared from the bottom of the pod.

The pod struck the ground with bone-shattering force, but in experienced fashion Seig slammed his right foot against the unhinging panel in front of him. Leaping forward, he immediately tucked and rolled against the first visible structure that focused in his helmets HUD'. He unslung the magnetic powered MTC-4500 and brought it to bear against his shoulder. In the distance he could hear the shouting of the enemy yelling to check out what the 'loud noise' was. He shook his head and exhaled. "Idiots." He said to himself. Tilting his head, he spun out from around the corner as his HUD switched to infrared - There. He squeezed the trigger and let the first tungsten coated round fly.

========

After successfully guiding the Lt.Commanders' pod down, she left a fraction of herself with the other pods, ensuring that they were equally spaced and on target. As she was moving about and correcting angles, she picked up Cullens' transmission. The sector pre-loaded with his pod gave it's mimicking response as she took a note of humor with it. 'And you'll land...here' She remarked as she angled the pod towards a collection of hostiles taking cover a few dozen meters up from where Seig had landed.

One by one she adjusted the pods - Robin, Kayle, Anders; Everyone was falling into place, literally. Just then she 'heard' the shot ring out from Seigs' com-link. It was time to watch the Reapers do what they did best - Annihilate the enemy.

========

Hearing the pods drop, he knew it was time to finish up. Haaru tossed the small device into the mining pit and turned on his heels, not bothering to watch it fall. Pacing forward, he relinquished the dead engineer lying on the grating before him of the sword piercing his spine with a wet, tearing audibility over the dusty wind and series of pod impacts on the platform. The sleek, curved blade of the sword electrified and pulsed, burning the blood from it's surface as it was carried down the platform. Haaru tossed his head to one side as a group of armed men fell into line behind him. " Time to Set everything in motion. "

[Corman2030]

The ride was short and Cullen was ready, guidance thrusters were now firing, it couldn't be long. Celestia began a count down from 5 as retro boosters fired to slow the decent. At impact, the decelerating pod, still hit with enough force to sink its self into the earth. Cullen reached out to activate the hatch and the door blew out in combat fashion. Finding his feet outside the pod, Cullen found himself standing in the wreckage of what once looked like a hastily build, bunker. Littered with the bodies of what looked like at least 5 men. This had started and was already picking up speed.

"Commander, this is Cullen! I'm in one piece and it seems my pod was used as an air to ground missile! These guys are toast, orders?