OOC: Just putting in a post here to mark my place so I can post again and move things on. Excellent work, everyone; we've got some neat teamwork going on, and everyone's getting a chance to show off their stuff.

I'll edit in my new post later today as soon as I'm able, so try to hold off posting until then (I estimate it'll be up around 2-3pm Mountain time). This will be the intro to the boss fight. And once you successfully beat the boss (cross your fingers!), it'll be time for debriefing and exposition on the plot.

OOC: Lack of postage makes me slightly lost. Quickie post for now, will edit later. Sorry, I don't want to be left behind any further than I already am. I hope what I've got here is okay for now. @_<;

IC:

"Not good, not good, not good!"

Kaze kept focusing her fire on any remaining Frizonians that popped up here and there to fire upon the group. This effort was set back slightly as she had to maneuver the Chao Walker to avoid falling ice chunks, but the chao resumed in earnest. She didn't feel really great about gunning these aliens down, but it was better than being frozen. Being cold was bad enough.

She hastily followed the rest of the forumers towards the guarded door as the path cleared...

OOC: Placeholder post. I'm waiting for Mobius to continue onward before I continue. I haven't forgotten about this rp.

OOC: I'm posting this a little later than I thought because I didn't count on certain things delaying me between coming home and getting onto the computer itself. But here it is, with references to music tracks at certain points as well as a picture of the boss.

IC:
The Elite Frizonian troops were blocked off by the broken pieces of the icesteroid's frame; they were divided into small groups, unable to assist each other as the forumers advanced.

"To the death!" shouted one of the troopers as he aimed his freeze ray through a crevice in the iceteel girders.

"Have it your way," remarked Marcus the Third casually as he dodged to one side, pulled the pin on a thermite grenade, and tossed it over the barrier. There was a flash of intense light and heat, and then there wasn't any resistance from that pocket of Frizonians any longer.

The forumers quickly picked their way through the remaining troops until they were all melting puddles, and then regrouped in front of the big door that proved the last barrier on their way to the center of the icesteroid.

Marcus coughed into his hand politely. "Excellent work! Now, MoKat, I believe your Dark Magician using Firaga, combined with Kayla's fusion cannon and Ultra's blaster, should be able to melt us a way through this door. You will all have to concentrate on a single point and open a hole; I will use my rifle's laser sight to guide you."

He backed up a few steps and aimed his rifle, activating the laser sight which put a red dot near the base of the door. "All together now...and concentrate your fire on my mark...now!"

The hot yellow of the fusion cannon along with Ultra's crimson blaster bolts and MDM's fiery orange Firaga all mixed together to quickly melt a semi-circular opening large enough to accommodate the group. The blue-white ice's edges turned a frosty gray after refreezing on either side of the forumers as they entered the cold fusion core room of the icesteroid, which was dome-shaped with several computer panels and readouts circling the room. In the center was a glowing white core with what looked like energized snowflakes expanding out from it, a core set in between the points of two icicles, one on the ceiling and the other on the floor. This room was easily the coldest area on the icesteroid, and frost was already building on Kaze's mech as well as any other metallic surface that the forumers had brought with them.

(activate/play "Liberion's Duty" - Mega Man X Command Mission)

And standing in front of that core was a large walker, with two long legs and feet designed to cross snow and ice, a pair of missile racks and a four-barreled gatling gun. Sensor units on each shoulder bwipped and bleeped as the walker took a menacing step forward; it stood several feet above the head of the tallest forumer. (Frizonian Freezer Mech Mk I)

"So you've made it this far, have you? You will go no further! Your planet will be frozen and your lives will end like snowflakes on lava! You are dealing with Hoplite Icepick now!"

Active Boss System (ABS)!
Introducing BOSS!
Frizonian Freezer Mech, Mk I
Equipped with two freeze missile racks and a heavy gatling freeze cannon, the Freezer is also immune to weapons fire from smallarms; its armor is simply too thick and reinforced. However, its weapons have a limited arc of fire, so it needs to be facing its opponents to be able to hit them. It's a pretty big machine to be walking on only two legs, so enough teamwork could trip it up.

But Icepick already had several troopers hide among the computers as well - with orders not to attack unless Icepick is taken down. If discovered, they will all immediately attack. They are Elites with heavier weapons and armor than the regular troopers. Add this to the extreme cold of this room, which will make pretty much everyone suffer from chilling/shivering, and this will be a harder fight!

Any more data can be read at the picture link. Here we go, Boss Fight ON!

(activate/play "Epsilon's 1st Movement" - Mega Man X Command Mission)

OOC:
Man, oh, man, Terg. You're going all out here.

IC:
Kayla stopped firing and stared at the mech in awe.

"Oh sweet Primus," she whispered.

'How in Sega City are we supposed to defeat that thing?'

She glanced at her fusion cannon and sighed.

'Only twenty percent left,' she thought grimly, 'I hope that'll be enough.'

She turned to the other forumers.

"Anyone have any ideas?"

IC:
Ash grinned, a certain show he was fond of coming to mind. "Yeah, I have one..." He took a deep breath. "Aim for the knees! As a rule those things have weak knees!"
With a slightly more thoughtful tone, he added "And don't cluster together. Keep moving! Let's use it's size to our advantage!"
Before he could offer any more helpful tips, the mech's gun started whirring and the sound of missiles being launched was heard.
"Scatter!" was the last helpful thing he yelled, and it was more a command than a suggestion as the missiles thundered toward the ground. He frowned as he dove aside. This was going to be tough. Glancing the mech up and down, he could see that it wasn't too badly made - about the only discernible weaknesses he could really see were that it was two legged (and may well have weak knees as per the apparent rule) and that the cockpit was well shielded... but quite recessed into the body of the thing. Which would mean that the Frizonian piloting it wouldn't have as good a view of the battlefield as the forumers he was trying to obliterate. He glanced around at the others as they avoided the initial assault, and watched to see which group the mech would go for, and which forumers were noting the weaknesses inherent in the mech that he was noting himself.

Ultra Sonic blinked. Well.

A somewhat more formidable foe. Try not to disappoint me.

Feh. The hedgehog ran a hand over his adamantium arm, grimacing at the layer of frost settling over it. Cold...VERY cold. Though the cybernetic components merged seamlessly with the muscles, nerve, and bone tissues in the arm, there was a definite possibility of the metallic components freezing over...and then frostbite. Not fun. Well...only solution is to move. A lot.

Then Ash roared. "Scatter!"

Ultra immediately took off running.

And slipped.

Ow.

Jason had been in the back of the group that was now confronting the Freezer Mech Mk I, and seeing its capabilities had certainly given the hedgehog reasonable trepidation about approaching it. Armed with only a sword, there was hardly much that Jason could do, even if he were at the top of his game in creativity and innovation.
"Scatter!" came Ash's impassioned cry. Missiles zipped through the air, explosive hornets zeroing in on the forumer resistance. As the forumers scrambled in all directions, Jason took a slightly more unusual route than most, running straight toward the mech. The frigid gatling gun opened fire on the scarlet hedgehog, but its range of attack was easily passed by the fleet-footed Jason.
Now what, genius? Jason mused to himself, standing just inches away from the large mech, too close to be struck by the machine's weaponry. The mech moved forward, contriving to step on him. Had it been a good day, Jason would have sprinted away, but the frosty temperature was wearing down his ability to act and think quickly, as his mind was turned to the single point that, It's too sodding cold in here!
Jason simply rolled away to one side. The cold air was also thin and oxygen was not as forthcoming as he would have preferred, so he tried to keep his focus on moving and breathing.
Someone better put my time distracting this thing to good use, because I'm coming up empty on better ideas...

"....Meh. Screw it." Gyser shrugged. He had stood at the back of the group, feeling useless as the high-energy weilders had broken the door down, and now, here they stood. Face to face with the frozen mechanical behemoth. "It's decoy time!" Moving himself into a fighting stance, the hedgehog motioned to the Freezer Mech.

"Oi! ***-face!" He yelled out, gaining the attention of the mech. As it turned to face him, Gyser turned around and spanked his own rear end. "Kinda looks like you, don't it?" He remarked with a grin.

"Now guys, it's distracted. Please do something before I become the sexiest popsicle you've ever seen..."

Ultra grumbled as he got to his feet, rubbing at his adamantium arm. Shivers began to run up and down his spine; it was just too cold, even with his fur. We have to take care of this quickly...!

Taking note of Gyser's...'distraction', Ultra immediately took note of Ryan, standing on the opposite side of the Freezer Mech Mk I. Hmm. Perhaps it has the same weak spot as the ED-209 from RoboCop.

His metallic hand shot through the legs of the monstrosity, sliding along the other side. "Somebody grab it!"

Kayla grabbed onto Ultra's arm as it shot through the mech's legs.

"Now what?"

Ryan had blacked out for the moment, as everything fell into a world of scientific wonder. Computers that ran unaffected by the frigid temperature were all his mind whizzed about. But he knew he would have to help out everyone in order for him to investigate this technology.

But..he wanted to touch them!! As the Mechanized dilemma began to start its foray with the fighters, Ryan was too busy walking toward what seemed to be a trap. Reaching a panel, he turned his back to the group, wondering if he could do anything to do the obvious in this area, turn up the heat! Taking a moment to look at whomever may have been nearby, he noticed Kaze was starting to freeze up. Mobius was over to the side as well, staying alert enough not to get struck by missiles.

"The hotblood walks toward us. Do not move unless he sees us"

Ryan, oblivious to the Elites that were merely inches away, turned his back to them, flying through different options. The Core of this place was desperately close, but if he tried to make it explode, they may not all make it out, even with the few super speeders and his shadow shifting. Nixing that possibility, Ryan quickly gained an idea. But he would need a few free hands to do it. Turning back toward the Mech, Ultra's command got him thinking.

(Too late DL.)

Ultra mentally grinned. A fast hedgehog. Perfect! "RUN!"

As one, the two hedgehogs burst forward in one giant leap, with as much speed as they could muster.

The Freezer Mech was pulled off course by the sudden pull, its aim suddenly being pulled away from a mass of forumers.

Hoplite Icepick chuckled within the mech's chilly cockpit. "Fools...you won't be able to do anything!"

Kayla gave Ultra a concerned look.

"Ultra," she said, "I don't think it worked."

She knew there had to be a way to stop this monstrosity, but she didn't know what it was.

'Hopefully, someone comes up with a plan quick,' she thought.

She shivered for a moment.

'I don't know how much longer we can take this cold.'

(LMAO! I thought you meant Grab the mech. Ok Makes more sense now!)

Watching as the giant fell backwards, Ryan snapped his fingers, his mind whirling with his own idea.

===

Hoplite was unphazed by his mech's falling. Sounds of motors began to reverberate in this icy hall, and the mechanized giant began the slow process of righting itself. The main cockpit area-equipped with gatling gun-began to sit upward, poised and started to fire at Jason and Gyser. Both quickly dove out of range, the bullets shattering a few of the computer screens to the west wall. Cyk seemed unworried as a hail of bullets flew his way next-as a telekinetic shield fizzled with every hit. The metal casings dropped to the floor like gumballs out of a machine.

Sliding to a stop about a foot from the back of the mech-completely out of view, Ryan stood, and waved to Cyk. Cyk knew what that meant, and allowed Ryan to relay a message to everyone telepathically. "Sorry for making you a telephone Cyk, wont happen again!" As he spoke, Ryan grabbed the ground, and seemed to tug and pull at it, the darkness obeying and stretching.

"If someone can get it to shoot a missile, I'm sure I can give it back. But like I'm saying, I can only do this once."

OOC:

It has arms? Where?

In my mind-where candy can kill rabbits >>

But thank you ::Edits hastily::

The chao's fear mounted as the ice crept its way along the mech's surface. If she remained inside here for too long, she'd freeze to death...

Even as the forumers scattered at Ash's command, the frost was already taking its toll on the Chao Walker. The movements sluggish, which in turn started to make it harder for Kaze to control. It was hard enough trying to avoid missiles and fire from freeze rays and bullets without the legs becoming stuck.

She swore aloud. Never before had she been in such a tight spot. There must have been something she could still manage to do with this Chao Walker, something before it ceased functioning...

Then came Ryan's message:
"If someone can get it to shoot a missile, I'm sure I can give it back. But like I'm saying, I can only do this once."

"A missile? Wait a minute!" Kaze exclaimed. "I think... I think the Chao Walker can shoot an energy-based ones instead. I don't think it's that powerful, but maybe it could do some damage still. It may be a long shot though, it's freezing up really bad here. The only other thing I've got is the Zap Laser, but it'll drain all the power out of it."

Ryan continued pulling on the Walker's shadow, extending it farther than what seemed to be naturally possibly by any means. It looked more as if he was pulling a giant piece of taffy up from under the robot, but he knew what he was doing.

Hearing the voice of Kaze shout back over the gunfire of the Mech as it struggled to stand up on its own two feet, Ryan grinned and flew up a bit with what little energy he had. "K-Kaze, go for the energy missile. Charge it up into w-w-one large blast if you could. I-I-If anyone has any other l-l-l-aser blast that can be fired too, let it all out in my direction!"

Looking over toward Gyser, Ultra and all the other hedgehogs, Ryan watched carefully. He saw as well as they did that the Mech could still shoot its missiles, but the gatling gun was not on a swivel base, meaning it couldn't hit anywhere to the left or right of its short arc of motion. Gyser kept teasing it and diving out of the way, as Ultra kept trying to waste its missiles.

What caught his eye was Marcus though. Marcus was hanging slightly back, near the computers. Granted, Ryan didn't really get a chance to even talk to him, but the guy was always so proper. Ryan just found that weird.

Kayla perked up at 'laser blast'.

"Hey, Ryan," she called, "Will a fusion cannon suffice?"

"That'll work too! Anything you have...."

Ultra shrugged. Eh, why not. He's been Mr. Idea today. The blue hedgehog dove under the mech's legs as the gatling gun fired icy rounds, aiming both his blaster and palm cannon at Ryan.

Red and green bolts flew as Kaze's Chao mech charged.

MoKat examined the mech and grinned. Although the machine had been built well and was heavily armored, it had several design flaws, beginning with the gatling freeze cannon. If such a weapon cannot rotate, it's pretty much useless. ~"Dark Magician, spam 'Blindga' on the pilot until it sticks." she commanded. The gray feline didn't bother waiting for a reply as she teleported. MoKat re-appeared at the front of the canopy, then shoved her generic Madness Ore katana into the spot she judged would most likely jam the cannon. Satisfied when the turret was no longer able to rotate, the cat with the electric-blue hair teleported and re-appeared between the two missile bays.
"Design flaw #2: no attacks will be able to reach me here..." her thoughts were interrupted when the mech swung wildly to the right, knocking her off-balance. MoKat dug her claws into the canopy to keep from sliding all the way off of it and had started to slice at it with FlameBlitz when she realized she was face to face with the pilot. She glared at the icy alien and examined its eyes to see if it had been blinded by her Dark Magician's spells. The feline then teleported away.

The smaller Mech in the area aimed over at Ryan, their pilot still kind of unsure how this was going to work. But, with the amount of ammo flying at the weird darkman, Kaze felt that this may have been a legitimate idea after all. Ryan smiled, as all the multicolored blasts from Ultra and Kaze came soaring right for Ryan. Searing from the left side, Kayla's Fusion cannon emitted a hefty blast of its own. Ryan welcomed all three barrages with a unique reaction.

He jumped, pulling the shadow upward with him. The blasts from the three fighters were sucked into the shadow, and their collective halo could be seen as Ryan stretched the shadow over the mech's legs.

Standing on the left side of the mech now, Ryan forced the shadow into a waving motion. The blasts of the three battlers suddenly slammed out as fast as they flew in, hammering and battering the mech's legs. Ryan continued to beat the shadow until every blast was out.

Inside the cockpit, Hoplite IcePick cried out in anger, as his mech's main mode of transport suddenly groaned and bent under the extreme barrage they were now undergoing. Things didn't get any better when Kayla's super blast took off the right leg right at the knee. Ryan didn't avoid that however, and was bashed straight across the room. Sliding to a stop, Ryan stared with a chilly glare in his eyes.

He landed right near the reactor, completely dazed and confused.

"Snowflakes!"

Even after completely obliterating half of the mech's right leg, Kayla continued to fire, until she saw Ryan go down. She rushed over to him.

"Are you okay?"

Ryan glanced up and uttered a single word.

"Snowflakes!"

Kayla blinked in confusion.

'Uh huh,' she thought, 'I don't know if that's good or bad.'

"Snowflakes?" the chao repeated nervously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jason's teeth were chattering too loudly for him to hear himself think. After retiring to one side to let the others antagonise the Hoplite's mech, Jason had snuck to the side of the room to tinker with the computers. Admittedly, he was not nearly as technologically savvy as a number of the others in the group, but they were also otherwise engaged at the moment.
Um, here we go. Okay, adjust temperature...uh, sheesh, where's the thermostat on this thing?
Something prodded Jason's side. The hedgehog mechanically turned his head to face a Frizonian glaring meaningfully at him, jabbing a freeze ray gun in his side. Jason smiled meekly.
"Eh heh, just making sure we're staying frosty here, you know?"
The Frizonian narrowed its eyes.
"Oh, c-c-c-come on...don't look at me l-like th-that," Jason chattered in the cold. "Are you telling me it's cold en-n-n-ough in here for you? I'm boiling!"
The Frizonian gestured for Jason to back away from the control console. Jason casually complied, hands up as he retreated from the computer. That was when the hedgehog slipped and hit the ground. The Frizonian was about to reach down and hoist up Jason by his collar when its hands were greeted by the swinging lash of Jason's feet in a helicopter kick, sending the gun sailing away and skating across the floor. The hedgehog sprang to his feet, his sword at the ready.
"Alright, Chilly Willy, take a hike," Jason growled. The Frizonian held its hands up slowly before pointing an index finger over Jason's shoulder. Jason's head turned, to see Frizonians emerging from hidden nooks and corners of the room like shadows coming to life in a nightmare.
"...sod."

After making sure that Ryan was okay for the most part, she looked around the room.

She almost wished she hadn't.

Frizonians were appearing from everywhere. As if the mech wasn't bad enough, now there was an entire battalion of Frizonians coming out of hiding. Kayla felt her stomach drop hard.

"We are so screwed," she stated.

"Lallaallalaa reactors shoot snowflakes and twizzlers are mouth gummyness. Water is H2O as Ice is to gas....."

Ryan was just speaking in dizzy riddles due to the happy concussion he received. Still, he sat up thanks to Kayla's awful nice gesture of making sure he was alive. He might have been able to help , but right now his vision emulated quadruple of anything, and his nose was dropping blue fluid upon the icy floor-that froze near instantaneously.

"Smell!" A finger went to Kayla's nose, after it had been wiped on the side of the reactor. "Icy Steam!"

Ultra would've sweatdropped if he didn't fear his sweat freezing. Meh...glad Ryan's so giddy. Now there was only the matter of...Frizonians...?

Lots of them, appearing out of the woodwork now that Hoplite's mech had lost a leg and had been rendered inoperable for the time being. "...great." Ultra rued the fact that his arm's internal flamethrower was out of fuel...he'd have used it before now otherwise. Stupid Redley and stupid work and stupid late-night jobs...

Fire is quite thorough in disposing of unwanted corpses.

That's nice. Ultra winced as he flexed his arm; the joints were starting to freeze up. Couldn't have that. "Oh well."

PSSSH!

As Ultra clambered onto the mech, his arm was manually unlocked from its artificial socket; moments later, the arm fully disconnected, leaving Ultra to hold his cybernetic arm as a bludgeon. "It'll have to do..."

That's when Hoplite Icepick suddenly opened the mech's cockpit, scowling as he pulled out a person freeze gun. "Foolish hotbloods...no matter what you do, you will all freeze here!"

Then Ultra bashed him in the head with his adamantium arm.

Before Kayla could react, someone's voice yelled out, "D-DUCK!"

The hedgehog did as she was told, making sure that Ryan was out of harm's way as well. There was a brief moment of gunfire, then, as she looked up, two or three Frizonians collapsed into a heap on top of one another.

She turned to where the Chao Walker was standing, only to find it and its pilot looking downright terrible. The mech was almost half-covered in ice; even the gatling gun arm was frozen in place now, stuck outright where it had aimed. Kaze was trying to keep a straight face, but was visibly shaking and shivering. Her eyes were half-closed, as though she were trying to keep herself from falling asleep.

"I d-don't know how m-much l-longer I can s-stand it-t down here," the chao said, her voice shaky, "b-but I'm not about to l-let anyone g-get h-hurt."

The icy temperatures chilled to the bone, and all Arikyrenne felt like doing at this point was to curl up into a ball as tight as she could to try to keep warm. However, such was not an option at this moment, and the sudden appearance of more Frizonians was not a welcome sight.

"…W-What now??" she asked, though even as she spoke, she did what she could to prepare for another frigid battle. Beneath one fore-paw, a small sphere started to form, crafted from psychic energy. Arikyrenne could feel the energy waver as she herself shook from the cold, but she willed herself to maintain focus. She knew that every second in this room brought her closer to becoming a four-legged, feline popsicle.

Kayla grimaced as the cold finally began to affect her. A quick glance around told her that she wasn't the only one in this particular boat.

"S-slag," she muttered, "It's s-so s-slagging c-cold."

'I don't think I could transform even if I wanted to,' she thought grimly, 'We're in desperate need of a miracle here. If we don't figure something out or get any extra help, we're dead.'

It was thought that she really didn't want to entertain.

OOC:
We're in quite the pickle, aren't we?

IC:
Meanwhile, off to one side, Ash was keeping one eye on the battle and another on the high-tech computer watch strapped to his arm. Any moment now... c'mon, we're freezing here...!
He smiled then, as he heard, only just over the noise of the battle and the mech and all, a dull roar from outside. Above, more accurately. He yelled a quick warning.
"Guys, heads up! It's about to get a little warmer in here!" As the words left his mouth, he pressed a few buttons on the computer, sending a set of commands to what was outside. There was a high-pitched whine of energy, followed by a solid THWUMP, and something hit the icesteroid very hard, causing a few icicles to fall from above. There was another impact, and then another... and suddenly, a sizeable hole melted into the roof, letting in glorious sunlight. This was partially obscured by a huge black shape hovering somewhere outside - more accurately, an Arcadian Heavy Blade class gunship, belonging to one Ash Fox. The shape moved out of the sunlight though, letting in much needed light - and more importantly, warmth.
That should even things out a bit! ...now we only need to figure out how to take this place out of commission...

OOC:
That help? :3

Kayla was roused out of her cold-induced daze when icicles started falling.

"What the..."

The icesteroid shook violently as something outside was ramming it. Suddenly, a fairly large sized hole melted through the roof, letting in the much needed sunlight.

'I have never been so grateful to see the sun,' she thought with glee.

A huge gunship descended into the icesteroid. Kayla stood still for a moment, bathing in the sunlight.

'Now this is what I'm talking about,' she thought happily.

She looked at the surrounded Frizonians and was highly amused at the looks of horror they all wore.

Kayla took the merciful lull to make the hole Ash so kindly made bigger, letting in even more sunlight, particularly above the almost frozen Chao Walker.

"I hope this'll help, Kaze."

Faith restored and much warmer than before, she leveled her cannon at the Frizonians.

"Time for Round Two!"

OOC:
Yep, I believe that'll work.

OOC:
Quick note on the ship - it's not actually descending in to the place - it's too big to be able to do that through the hole it just blasted in the roof.

Basically, the ship is roughly one and a half to two times the size of a B-2 Spirit and has some pretty good armaments. But all it can really do from it's current position is shoot holes in the roof and possibly airlift people to safety.

OOC: I've been waiting on Mobius to post for a while before I went on ahead, but... do you mind if I just skip that and have Hukos head towards where some of the others are?

OOC:
Oops. I must've read your post wrong, Silver.

Kairus looked up, the psychokinetic energy shield producing enough heat to keep himself warm, its faint, reddish glow being some form of indicator. He looked as the gunship hovered over the hole in the ceiling. Why in the name of anything didn't someone think to do that FIRST? Ah well.

He looked out over the Frizonians remaining, the KO'd commander...and the very heavy mech. Heavy...very heavy...very inert...mecha. A wry smile crept across his mental face. "Ultra! Off the mech! Now!"

There'd be a groaning of metal as Kairus made a gesture with his hands, the left holding something invisible down while the right made a tugging motion. As if on cue, the mech's left leg began to groan and twist under an unseen pressure until....snap. Off it came like a green twig, sparking and leaking whatever the Frizonians used in place of hydraulics or pneumatics. Wielding it telekinetically like a giant baseball bat, Kairus would then proceed to slam it into the nearest bunch of Frizonians he...or the leg...could find.

OOC: You probably should @ Hukos.

IC:

"Yeah, this'll do just fine." Grinning, the chao maneuvered the half-frozen mech directly under the hole filtering in sunlight, aiming the gatling gun at any Frizonian that dare moved. She knew she couldn't stay in this spot for long, but hopefully the Chao Walker would thaw off a bit and some functions would be restored.

During all of this, Marcus had managed to get close to the cold fusion core. Though his entire uniform was frosted over by the cold, and his breath formed little icicles in the air, he took out a small explosive device from his backpack and attached it to the base of the cold fusion's pedestal, setting it to detonate.

"Get that hotblood!" shouted one of the Elite Frizonians, and a squad of them shot at Marcus, their ice-cold white beams rippling through the air.

But Marcus was gone in a blur of green and purple, leaving only a frozen pointy block of ice where he had just been standing. The next moment, Gyser landed next to Kaze, setting Marcus down.

"My thanks to you, Gyser," thanked Marcus.

"And thanks for the grenades," replied Gyser.

The Elite Frizonian squad that had attacked Marcus were aiming their guns down at the grenades scattered on the ground around them, but the grenades detonated, blasting them to bits of shattered ice and sending cold body parts everywhere. A severed arm landed directly in front of Arikyrenne and MoKat, which twitched once before laying still.

"That takes care of those ones, but we've got two minutes to get out of here before the cold fusion core goes into meltdown - literally," said Marcus as he smiled at the other forumers near him. "And we've still got those Frizonians to deal with before they freeze someone and they get stuck inside the icesteroid when it goes up."

OOC: Start playing your Metroid Prime 2 - Escape! tracks now - the time limit is two minutes and counting to escape the icesteroid safely!

"Only two minutes?" said Kayla in disbelief.

She glanced at the remaining Frizonians and then at the forumers trying to escape the icesteroid.

"I'll help hold these guys off!"

She aimed her cannon at the Frizonians and started shooting.

Jason's nostrils flared. He looked sceptically at Marcus, as if he just noticed the man standing there.
Two minutes, he says. What that means is he's prepared to blow this place up without so much as an exit strategy. Impetuous blonde...
"Can I just throw something out here for consideration in the next hundred-twenty seconds we have until detonation?" Jason called out. "Why don't we just run like hell?"
Marcus turned mechanically to face him. The hedgehog had seen expressions like that many a time in court. Jason came to the conclusion that now was not the time to start an argument with someone.
"Listen here, Blondie. Grab that Frizonian in the mech and let's hightail it. We don't have time to waste, understood?"

**A thump, followed by a small yelp**

Arikyrenne automatically scrambled back in horror, little cat claws scraping against the floor, as she realized that what just landed before her was a severed Frizonian arm! The yelp had been what had come from her mouth as she had made the realization. As the arm made its final twitch, Arikyrenne managed to both calm herself down a bit, and regain focus on the orb of psychic energy that she had created earlier.

Upon hearing Marcus, however, she immediately flung the psi orb in a semi-random direction, aiming not to hit anything in particular, but to create at least a small distraction to buy some time to escape.

"Two minutes?? We have to get out of here!"

OOC: Note to self, Keep up with this. ><;;

IC:
"I don't think we should stand around talking about getting out, I think we should get out! C'mon!" Silver threw a couple of fireballs back at the remaining Frizonians, and began running toward the exit.

OOC: Okay, I hope you don't mind, but with the lack of Mobius posting, regardless or not whether he gets involved, Terg said its alright if I have Hukos warp to where the others where as if he knew what was going on. Because technically, he's still at Mobius' last post (A long way back.). Just for clarity, he's around Marcus just as this is said.

IC: What?! You've got to be freaking kidding me! Oh wait, I have teleporting ability, but I just can't take myself...

"Hey! Guys! I can teleport, but only a few people... like maybe three people not named Hukos, plus, I simply don't have the stamina required to do that kind of thing for a whole scale escape. So, first come first serve!" The young human screamed at anyone willing to listen.

Kayla fired off a few more volleys before making a beeline for the exit. She paused by the Chao mech.

"Can you get out okay?" she asked.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Gyser couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Ahhh... I knew there was a reason I came along..." He uttered.

Holding out his arms, Gyser tried a quick head count.

"Three with Hukos, one, maybe two small with me.......... Arrgh. Math make head hurt." Gyser whimpered.

IC:
Two minutes, huh...?
Ash looked up from where he stood to where his ship was still hovering at the hole it had blasted in the roof. Well... I can certainly get out in that time. But what about others? He glanced over at Kaze's mech when she heard Kayla's inquiry. "The gal's got a good point, Kaze. Will you be able to get out, or will you need a hand?" As he waited for a reply, a sturdy rope ladder was already being lowered from the ship, and he grabbed hold of the end of it before glancing around. "Oh, and anyone else who can climb a ladder--fast--and doesn't mind taking the risk of possibly being shot at whilst doing so... here's your exit!"
He held the ladder firmly for anyone who felt like taking that route whilst thinking quickly. His ship had a crane and a tractor beam, either of which would probably be suitable for lifting Kaze out in her mech if needed. The only problem would be timing...

MDM had stopped spamming Blindga and switched back to casting Firaga the moment the Frizonian troopers had popped up from behind the computers. He mentally slapped himself; he should have figured the Freezer Mech wouldn't have the aliens' last line of offense. Out of the corner of his eye, the Dark Magician saw MoKat appear near Marcus the Third.
~"Sloppy. That ain't like you, girl" he thought to her.
MoKat's mental reply came. ~"Cold's getting to me. The big hole helps though. If I had known Ash had an Arcadian Heavy Blade class gunship, I would have asked him to use it a lot sooner."
~"Any idea which one of those computers controls the giant ice-maker?"
~"Nope, but I can find out if you can keep those ice-heads off of me." MoKat teleported, re-appeared, and retrieved her generic katana from the downed Freezer Mech. The gray feline vanished again, then re-appeared at one of the computers. Startled, a nearby Frizonian swung the barrel of its weapon toward the cat, only watch half of said barrel fall to the floor after FlameBlitz had sliced it off.
A swift kick staggered the alien into another console. MoKat teleported yet again, and then re-appeared near Arikyrenne.
She heard several grenades go off and looked around for the sources of the noises; a severed arm then landed directly in front of the two cats.
MoKat was tempted to quip, "Heh. That's -one- way to disarm them." but Marcus' message got her immediate attention.
"Two minutes. Lovely." she thought sarcastically. "I could just teleport out, but I can't bring -everybody- with me!"
A familiar voice commented in her head, ~"We could help Kayla clear a path, then teleport out. Hukos can teleport people too, by the way."
~"Sounds like a plan. Let's go with it."