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Post by Steinerman on Jun 29, 2010 1:20:53 GMT -5
Alexis nodded quickly, he was irritated and she had no wish to make it more so. Lacking modesty of any sort, she quickly clambered out of the pool and trotted over to the fire. Showing as she did so an impressive array of horrific scars along the entirety of her thin body.
With quick practiced moves she undid the pack and speedily slipped into the mismatched odds and ends she'd been able to scrounge up. "So, how have the Korin been? Thriving, I pray." She asked as she dressed, her clothing growing damp as she belatedly realized she should have dried herself before dressing.
A few moments later she stood, fully dressed and ready to move, the pack upon her back, and her posture poised and ready to be off. Though in truth all she wanted to do was curl up next too a fire somewhere and sleep for a month, she knew it wouldn't help to mention that she hadn't eaten in almost a week, or even slept in just as long.
She waited, her cold eyes staring up at the mech expectantly, ready for his instruction on where to move.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jun 29, 2010 3:13:48 GMT -5
Roas didn't dare avert his eyes off of Vister as she climbed out of the pool--as inappropriate as such an action was, she could easily pull some move if he wasn't vigilant. Besides, she was a Stamarian--what did he care? Certainly wasn't going to mate with one of her kind. The scars weren't too big of a surprise--Korin weren't taken prisoner, so the few who did would likely have a large set. They were all scarred these days. He himself had a split eyebrow thanks to getting too close to a soldier during a fight, and numerous other ones hidden beneath his clothing.
When she approached, he closed off the loudspeaker and disengaged the canopy locks, allowing the cockpit to open up forward to allow entry. One of the hydraulic arms was kept near the body to allow the woman to get in by using it as a step. Perhaps it'd be unwise to let her inside, but she couldn't take control of the vessel with the upper seat controls locked out. "Get in. We're doing well enough," he said of his own voice. "Teradia's been found, so last I heard, Jorin was establishing some sort of nexus there. But Stamaria's interested in it too, so they're making a push."
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Post by Steinerman on Jun 29, 2010 11:21:28 GMT -5
Alexis gratefully clambered up into the machine, she hadn't relished walking the entire way to...where-ever they were headed.
She listened in silence to the news of the Korin, it was good news indeed. But she was detecting hints of...hostility towards her from Roas. None were obvious, or even very strong, and her telepathy wasn't a see-all pass to the mind, not without a great deal of concentration, that was.
With a cursory read of his emotions and thoughts, she carefully began to understand a little bit of his wary behavior. She cocked her head up and to the side to get a good look at the man who'd found her. He was relatively handsome, with a fairly prominent scar parting his left eyebrow.
She smiled upwards at him, hoping her smile was still the one that put most people at ease. And not the one of a traumatized prison-escapee.
"Teradia, That's good news." An awkward pause ensued as her voice trailed off, she turned her head back down and closed her eyes to rest them a moment. Then she spoke softly, "So, boy. You have a problem with me, and it's been a little disconcerting to figure out. A moment ago when I was getting dressed, I expected revulsion, as I don't think I have a body worth looking at any more. But you were more revolted, it seemed to me. Due to my heritage."
Her voice stayed quiet and soft, no condemnation or anger apparent in it. "You hate Stamarians so much, I can feel it inside you. But know this, Roas. I didn't choose where I was born, and if the Korin will still have me, I shall continue to serve them to the utmost of my will. That might make us allies, or partners if the Harbinger asks it. Are we going to have a problem, you and I? I don't mind working with just about anyone, but if you truly can't stand me, then say it and I'll leave you alone for the rest of the trip."
She was perfectly content to leave off there, waiting for his response. When a very small part, lonely part of her seemed to take control for a moment."Because, honestly, I'd much rather have someone to talk too for the trip. I've been trapped in silence for almost ten years."
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jul 2, 2010 18:12:22 GMT -5
Roas looked back slightly, frowning--not enough for her to really catch her look. With a press of a button, the canopy of the Constructor swung back up and locked into place. "Just stay quiet and keep an eye out for trouble," he said curtly, starting everything back up in the machine in the process. "Stamaria's going to know you're loose soon so we need to get out of here. You'll have plenty of people to talk to afterwards."
As the mech reactivated, Roas turned it around, chewing up some dirt beneath its treads in the process, and made his way back down the path he'd made. "Its bad enough you left one of your jailers alive, but killing him is only going to delay the inevitable by only so much," he continued. "Seriously, if you're capable of killing one of them, why the hell would you do something as risky as letting the other one go? You're just going to get us all killed pulling a stunt like that."
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Post by Steinerman on Jul 2, 2010 18:20:29 GMT -5
Alexis rolled her eyes, though her escort most likely couldn't see it. "please, Roas. I'm not stupid. The Stamarians believe their little prison convoy is still in route to a prison several days away. If you get rid of the vehicle, or at least any sign of it, no one will know the location of my escape."
She closed her eyes and rested her head against what she supposed was a head-rest of sorts, though it seemed more metal than cushion. "I let little Vic live because he was a kid, a bit of a weasel and conniver, but just a nineteen-year-old kid with a job. The other man I had a grudge against. Vic...? not so much."
She smiled crookedly, turning her head upwards a little in an attempt to give Roas a glimpse of it. "Besides, if the Korin feel I shouldn't help, then I'll leave. And you'll never see me again. So buck up, boy. If you don't like me, tell your boss and have him deal with me."
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jul 2, 2010 18:27:23 GMT -5
"You really are out of the loop," Roas said irritably in response. "We've been hitting too many of their transports, so they have timed distress beacons set into them. They go off if the machines aren't kept moving during their runs after a few hours. Depending on how long you've been out of their hands, we might have Stamarians bearing down on us at any moment."
He soon caught something on the tuned radar tracker installed on his dash. "So you better pray that blip is Jerome and not some lizard-riding knight," he continued, frowning. "And if it is Jerome, you better hope that he managed to get the beacon shut off before it could give us away."
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Post by Steinerman on Jul 2, 2010 22:46:28 GMT -5
Alexis paused, she hadn't known about the beacons, the guards never mentioned it or even really thought about it. But a Stamarian Knight? An old, long-dormant part of her seemed to awake at the thought of true combat.
Not the pathetic execution of a rapist prison guard, but combat against an enemy of her old friends. An enemy who could possibly fight back. Her crooked smile took on a brighter tone, this could be extremely fun. Even in her weary state, she was confident that she could at least do some damage.
Part of her desperately wanted to prove herself to the Korin, more specifically to Roas. Something about his dislike of her was truly vexing, and she wanted to try and fix it, if she could.
The older, jaded part of her didn't really care what he thought. But for now, she decided that aiding him in a fight wouldn't be a bad way to make him slightly more companionable with her.
Her eyes closed again, resting. "If it is a Stamarian, kindly let me out of this deathtrap before you go off and fight him, I can't do anything inside this stupid machine."
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jul 8, 2010 2:33:41 GMT -5
"Not a chance, witch," came Roas' retort immediately. He didn't look back at her. "This thing can't open up on the fly and the moment it does in a fight, we're both dead. If you want to help, take control of the upper arms using your controls."
A quick command was entered into a small terminal, and the displays up top lit up before Alexis, giving her access to the two manipulator joysticks. He only gave her limited access; he still didn't trust her enough to open up full functionality on the machine.
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Post by Steinerman on Jul 8, 2010 2:48:55 GMT -5
Alexis glared down at the controls. "Roas," She replied sweetly. "I just broke out of prison after a decade of hell. I'm exhausted, starving and I have a massive migraine."
Her voice rose slightly as she vented some of the pain of her migraine through her voice. "I am not a mech-jock, and even if I were. This isn't a combat unit, this is a construction mech that's about three good kicks from death in an actual fight. If it is a Stamarian, you'll want to let me out. As I can't do anything but hinder you in here. But out there, I can melt his freaking brain." She snapped. The young man was asking her to sit back and put her life in his hands...a man's hands. And besides that, a man who honestly thought his machine could do well in a combat situation. She'd seen several mech-pilots like him, and most of them had died or been crippled when taking their construction units up against hardened Stamarians.
"now, can you bloody-well see what it is yet? Because if it's your Jerome friend, then we have nothing to be worried about." She asked, her voice back to its normal quiet self.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jul 10, 2010 19:43:12 GMT -5
"You don't listen, do you?" Roas growled back. "If I want to open this up, I have to stop the damn thing first. And when you're climbing out, they can easily dump a fireball or a grenade on us and kill us both! You're not getting out of this tin can until I know the area's clear."
Bloody HELL. Roas knew that when he got back, he really needed to find someone in the rest of the cell that could handle learning how to use one of these things. Dealing with these traitorous Stamarian women is not worth this, he thought sourly.
After pressing a couple more buttons on the dash, Roas looked back up. Soon enough, he saw their transport, parked alongside the prison transport. The hood of the prison transport was open, and Devon and Llane were both frantically working to disconnect the beacon before it could go off.
Roas slowed down his Constructor to a crawl as he approached; Ker looked up as he heard it and nodded once. Jerome lifted up a hand in greeting, and Roas came to a stop. Roas glanced back at his passenger as he disengaged the canopy lock and let it swing down. "There. We're here. After you, your highness," he said irritably.
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Post by Steinerman on Jul 10, 2010 22:34:32 GMT -5
Alexis wanted to leap out of the confines of the cockpit and the vicious emotions pouring off Roas. She would admit, she hadn't been terribly polite in that last little conversation, but he seemed angry at her because of something else, most likely the fact that she was born in Allondell.
The old, fiery monster inside of her wanted to melt his brain for that. But...she kept that monster in check. She had her own problems, and with a current vicious bias towards all things male...it made her judgment extremely suspect.
Though she wanted so badly to get away from the man above her, she couldn't just leap out of the cockpit, they were most likely jumpy. And she was exhausted, tripping over herself on the way out wouldn't look very good to the Korin.
Instead, she slowly stepped out with as much grace as she could put into it. Even in this state, she was easily able to make the move in a dainty, gentle fashion.
Once out, she immediately stepped to the side, not wishing to have Roas bumble into her back if he was going to get out as well. A quick scan of the surrounding group brought a pained grimace to her face...they were all men.
With a will of effort she pushed the rising fear back down and nodded at Jerome. "Right." She stated loudly to the group. "In case you boys didn't know, I'm from Allondell by birth. If any of you have a problem with that, voice it now or hold your peace. I'm not in the mood for more furtive glances and angry feelings, because frankly you can't hide thoughts from me, gentlemen. So...anyone have a problem with me that they'd like to voice?"
She glared back towards the mech and Roas, "Because I'm sick of your stupid bias against someone who fought and bled for your cause, just because she's from Allondell."
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jul 26, 2010 23:44:52 GMT -5
Roas ignored the woman and her barbs.
Jerome sighed, running a hand through his hair. He had been expecting something like this. Roas wasn't the best to deal with people, but he was the only one they could afford to send to come back with their charge.
"Look, lady," Ker spoke up. "We're all native Verivians here. We're all Korin, too. We can't just up and let go of our prejudices so easily, even for fellow Korin. Roas has more trouble than others do in that regard."
"We got it! Look out!" Devon shouted as he and Llane wrestled a large metal box from the prison transport.
The cockpit closed back up on his Dwarven Constructor, and Roas accelerated around the group towards Devon and Llane. In a swift move, the hydraulic claw on the mech reached up and grabbed the transponder, and in a second, smashed it flat.
"Well, that's the third crisis of the day taken care of," Jerome said as Roas returned his mech back into its respective trailer. "Close it up, boys."
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Post by Steinerman on Jul 31, 2010 15:20:33 GMT -5
Alexis turned ever-so-slowly towards Ker, her expression so cold that it looked as though it could freeze a volcano. "yes, well." She began, her voice low and dangerous. "I suggest you get over your prejudice quickly, young man. I've saved literally hundreds of Korin lives in my time of service. So stop treating me like the enemy. Because honestly, you wouldn't like me as an enemy."
She turned back towards Jerome, "It would seem you're in charge here. I honestly didn't expect to meet any Korin until I hit a city, so I'm at a bit of a loss on what to do. I suppose that puts me under your command."
"Anything I can do to help?" She ended with a tired, half-hearted smile.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jul 31, 2010 15:51:34 GMT -5
"That depends," Jerome said. He tossed a thumb back over his shoulder. "Think your magic can help us clean this place up a bit? The Stamarians are gonna come looking when their prison transport doesn't show up on time, and I'd rather not give them clues as to where we went."
"Yeah, we don't need another repeat of that research facility," Ker said snidely.
"I told you, that wasn't my fault!" Devon sputtered in outrage.
"Whatever, Devon."
"Shut up, ladies," Jerome ordered. "Ker, help them put that tin can back together."
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Post by Steinerman on Jul 31, 2010 21:46:49 GMT -5
Alexis nodded, something to help with. "What would you prefer? That the van disappear? Or that I put something in it's place? I can make this section of road look clear and ordinary, with no trace of the van. The illusion won't keep very long, but I can make it last for several days if you'd like."
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