At this current juncture, Ryan felt a bit lost.

There were stars and splashes of blue everywhere. Was it from him, or from the Frizonians. He didn't know. All he knew was that the world around him felt so..dizzy..so fast and cylindrical. Garbly shapes were moving back and forth, and somehow, he knew that his timing for being disoriented was completely wrong.

If didn't help when the gernades went off and gave him a bit of a flash shock Falling onto his back again, Ryan stared up at the ceiling..well where the ceiling used to be, and began to focus. Soon, black turned to steel grey, and blobs turned into rods, blades, spinning blades? A helicopter? Since when?

Holding his head, Ryan turned his attention to the shapes with color that began to space out. fuzz turned to fur, and ambiance to ice. Flashes to blasts, and then words finally.

Get out!
Hurry
..gernades
lift
teleport!!

The last word snapped his mind back into the thick of things, andbhe jumped to his feet, shaking his body out. "Ho holy crap how long was I out for?"

Time was running out. "Hey, everyone ready? If so, let's go!" He called, knowing that teleporting this many was so going to be felt in the morning. He often wondered why he had this gift, but he didn't contemplate it now, he had not the time to do so!

As the seconds ticked away. "Whoever wants a free trip out, get next to me!"

I hope this ends for the best...

OOC:
There seems to be a little confusion as to the nature of Ash's ship, so here are a few reference pics:
Here's the ship from the front.
Here it is from the side.
Here it is from the top and lastly
Here's how it looks in the air. The paint's a kind of space camouflage designed to blend in up there. The thing's capable of hovering and VTOL when it isn't too heavily loaded. My bad, I shoulda cleared up sooner how the thing looked. ;p

Kaze glanced back and forth between Kayla and Ash. With two minutes and counting to get out of the iceteroid, the chao had never really considered how she and the mech were going to get out of here in one piece.

She looked around quickly, there didn't seem to be any exits available wide enough for the Chao Walker to amble through. Spurred on by the sunlight, was starting to feel a little reckless. Perhaps, she thought briefly, that a certain robot friend's personality was starting to rub off on her.

"I think I need to get some exercise today," she spoke up, strapping on her sword. "My mech's not gonna move much, anyway, so it can be lifted outta here. I'll help clear a path."

The cockpit on the Chao Walker opened, and Kaze hovered out into the cold with her sword draw, her cyan eyes catching sight of Ash and Kayla as a smirk crossed her features. To anyone more than a foot tall, the chao's blade looked to be no more than an ordinary dagger.

"Well, shall we get going then?"

Kayla returned Kaze's smirk and cocked her cannon.

"Let's."

OOC:
Ye gads, short post.

IC:
Ash grinned as Kaze flitted out of her mech. "Fair enough then!" He quickly stabbed a button or two on his arm-comp, and a large claw-like grabber descended from the ship's cargo bay opening. "Then I'll take care of getting your mech out safe and sound. Leave it to me!" He craefully maneuvered the claw over, and it clamped down on the mech gently but firmly. Ash himself hopped up on top of it, hanging on firmly to the crane cable. "Last chance for anyone wanting an airlift, guys!" he announced, as the claw started to retreat up the way taking himself and the walker with it. The sturdy rope ladder still hung where he'd let go of it.
And as soon as I'm up in my ship, I can help keep the exits clear. Or blast open a new one if needed...

Ultra Sonic huffed as he watched a number of Frizonians prepare to crowd towards Ash's gunship. Others were preparing to either teleport or run back the way they came. Gyser and Kayla are going to run for it...Hukos and MoKat will teleport...everyone else will try and get on the gunship... The blue hedgehog casually grabbed Arikyrenne off of the floor and tossed her to Gyser. "Go! I'll hold them off."

"Foolish hotbloods! You won't escape! ICE THEM!"

The remaining Frizonian Elites unleashed a hail of ice, scattering under the retaliation by the gunship and the various weapons of the other forumers. As Ryan dazedly scrambled onto the gunship ladder, Ultra handed him his adamantium arm. "Hold onto it until I get back."

"Oooh..." muttered the eccentric man as he quickly clambered up the rope ladder. That cybernetic limb that had intrigued him so much earlier! "Gotcha!" Must look...at the shiny...

Hoplite Icepick, sporting a sizable dent in his head, roared as he clambered out of his mech. "DON'T LET THOSE CREATURES ESCAPE!!!" He would not be denied victory. So what if the icesteroid was lost; others had fallen all over the planet. If nothing else, he'd take care of these meddlesome pests!

Ultra sported his blaster and unleashed red lines of energy upon the remaining Frizonians. "EVERYONE, GO!"

Flashes of teleportation. Gyser and Kayla bursting off back through the tunnel. Ash and his gunship rising through the hole in the core room.

Now it was only Ultra and the Frizonians.

And less than a minute until meltdown. Frigid particles erupted from the core, the energy within heating up the surrounding area at a rapid pace. Eventually, the energies of the icesteroid core - the energies that had been sucking away at the ambient heat of the surrounding area, spreading like a plague - would reverse in the meltdown.

It wouldn't be pretty.

Ultra dashed about, avoiding the freeze gun blasts as he noticed everyone was finally gone. Okay, a few more seconds and then I'll...

A blast got his legs, pinning him to the wall. ...crud.

Hoplite Icepick chuckled as he and the other Frizonians crowded around the blue hedgehog. "Well well...one down...I'll give you hotbloods credit: you actually managed a decent fight. But even though you've doomed this icesteroid...there are others all over the planet."

Ultra mentally gaped. What?! MORE OF THESE THINGS?!

"Soldiers, ready!"

The Frizonian Elites aimed their freeze guns.

Ultra hacked up a frigid breath as he bones rattled with the chill. Great...not what I envisioned...

Pathetic.

"AIM!"

The hedgehog suddenly blasted the ice with his laser blaster, quickly bounding off the wall with a quick curl of the legs. Hoplite snarled as the hedgehog landed on the other side of them. "Fool! You won't escape alive!"

"Hmm. Loss of an arm...manageable. Temperature...warmer than the Sith training grounds."

The Frizonian Elites blinked. Why had this hotblood's voice suddenly...deepened?

"Your time is at an end." The hedgehog, eyes as red as blood, calmly gazed backwards. "Pray to whatever god you worship."

Jonathon Redley moved.

xxxx

The forumers quickly gathered straight down the block, with Ash's gunship setting down as Gyser and Kayla skidded to a halt by them. MDM and Hukos had teleported outside almost immediately.

Mobius Springheart frowned. "Ultra isn't here yet?"

CHOOM!!!

Meltdown.

Inside the central room, the core spontaneously melted. Energies roiled upon each other as the ice vaporized. Cracks splintered all over the icesteroid as steam erupted from within.

A blue hedgehog dashed out of the opening, cape fluttering behind him as steam rushed out of the icesteroid's lone opening.

Pressure rose within the icesteroid. The cracks became massive fractures.

Then...a sound like the crack of thunder, as the top of the icesteroid erupted in a burst of steam. Like a frigid volcano suddenly erupting.

The sides of the icesteroid began to melt down into water as all nearby clouds swirled towards the steamy vortex, coiling around each other as the unique energy of the icesteroid core unraveled...and then it dissipated in a thunderous boom.

Steam floated away, and sheer heat of the energy reversal continued to melt the ice in the surrounding area.

The blue hedgehog calmly skidded to a halt by the others....and Gyser paled at the sight of red eyes. Like at the ruins...!

"Yo!"

Ultra - eyes suddenly green - turned towards Ryan. "Want your arm?"

"...yeah, I would."

Gyser blinked. Green again...what the...?

And as the tension slowly lessened, Marcus calmly reached for his communicator. The crisis was over...for the moment. "Vector. Come in Vector."

Kayla fell to her knees in both shock and relief.

"We did it," she breathed, "We actually did it. And we all made it out alive."

She glanced at her cannon. The readout read five percent power.

"And not a second too soon," she said, "Thank Primus."

OOC:
Whoo hoo!

She knew she was taking a risk leaving her mech like that, but it sure was worth it as she watched the forumers take their separate escape routes and the Chao Walker airlifted from the iceteroid. Without another moment of hesitation, the chao followed the others making a run for it, easily dodging freeze blasts more easily despite the piercing cold.

She was barely fast enough to keep up with Gyser and Kayla as they made a run for it. It may have been minutes or seconds later-- she couldn't tell-- but soon she was outside again, glad that it was much less frigid. The sunlight shone stronger than ever.

Glad that's over, Kaze thought, looking back at the collapsing iceteroid as she hovered just behind the two hedgehogs.

"I don't think now's the time to settle down yet," she spoke again, sheathing her weapon. "I don't think this'll be the last time we'll see them."

She looked overhead to see the gunship settling to the ground with the other forumers. "And there goes my Chao Walker. Better go get it."

IC:
Ash had barely had time once he was aboard his ship to manoeuvre it away from the icesteroid before it started to succumb to the forces of destruction unfolding inside it. He smiled though as he now set the massive shape of the Delta Infiltrator down in the street nearby the former icesteroid site.
Thank goodness that's over! he mentally rejoiced.
A minute or so later and the ship was settled on the ground, it's engines idling with a low hum. A wide platform - the ship's cargo lift - sat underneath it, with Kaze's walker on it ready for her to retrieve. Thankfully it hadn't taken any damage from it's rather hasty retrieval. Ash now stood leaning against one of the ship's front gear wheels, pondering what to do next.
No doubt Vec'll have word for us soon, he thought. Somehow I get the feeling this is just the start.
TBC

Handing over the arm back to the blue hedgehog, Ryan quietly pondered about a few things. With everyone safe and sound, he took a reprieve, stepping back from the nexus of the group. His eyes were hurting, and his body pained. For some reason, the taste of adrenaline...of all the chaos going on seemed to heighten his control of the body. But now that the surge was gone, he felt restricted again.

No. Derek couldn't have helped me there. It was all me..

Shaking off the feeling of dread, he turned his gaze toward the still frozen city. Sure, they knocked out the asteroid, and the flash blaze allowed the buildings in this radius to thaw completely...but that didn't matter since they were still literally cropping up all over the place. An idea finally lit in the scientific mind, and he posed a question to the group.

"Hey! What did we just do?!?!"

..."Umm Ryan, how hard did you hit your head?" Ultra asked, affixing his arm and noting there was a notable warmth to it.

"No, seriously. What did we just do?"

"I dunno. Save the town from freezing?" Jason piped up-after grabbing his car and driving it back toward the group.

"Yeah, we did that. But I mean, what did we do in the icesteroid?"

"Uhh, I don't get what you are going for, but we stopped Hoplite Icewhatever his name was and stomped his resistance." Gyser noted.

....."So who's to say the rest of the Frizonians are doing that same exact thing right now?"

"What?" Kaze asked, confused by the round robin of answers... "Stopping our leaders and any other resis---"

The thought finally registered through everyone's mind. Ryan took a look toward their own "HQ", the SHQ Tower, which had a nice layer of ice building up it.

"I'm usually not one for being the go-getter...but we better make tracks....We better hope Vector can still contact us. I remember Vec saying that the Admins were using their power to stop from freezing, but that probably does'nt cover direct hits, ya know? Specially not a crocodile.."

"Not only that," muttered Ultra as he reattached his arm, noting the cybernetic components that linked with his nervous system. The metallic fingers flexed quietly. "But the leader of those Frizonians said that there are more icesteroids out there across the Mobius Forum. What's happening here is happening elsewhere."

THAT sent a ripple of shock throughout the group. MORE icesteroids?! "Oy," grumbled Mobius.

Marcus renewed his efforts to contact Vector.

Gyser gritted his teeth as he put Ari down on the ground. He recognised that look in Ultras eyes, and he did not like it.

The hedgehog remained unsure of how to act. For now, he would let Ultra be. He had proven to at least be quite useful, and if he did try anything, the fluroscent green one was there to stop him...

"The way I see it," Kaze began, who was now safely back in the Chao Walker and was slowly heading towards the rest of the group, "if we can't get in contact with Vector then we'd be on our own. I figure we may have to split into to teams, one heading to the tower and the other to find other iceteroids." Inside the cockpit, the chao crossed her arms. "The only thing is that it cuts firepower if half, and it may not be enough against an entire alien army. That is, unless we can manage to gather more forces on our side."

The mech started to pace back and forth, as the chao continued speaking her thoughts aloud. "Then there are the iceteroids themselves to take into account; we may have taken down this one, but the others are bound to be more heavily guarded, harder to get into. They may be expecting a surprise attack like before, and will most likely make sure to cover all their bases' weaknesses. What this will mean is that we'll have our work cut out for us."

"We also don't know how long the HQ Tower will hold out, and we're bound to encounter resistance there, too. I'm thinking more of those Frizonian Elites will be hanging around over there..."

The chao trailed off, still deep in thought. After another moment, the mech stopped pacing.

"I say we head to the HQ Tower. If that falls, then we're done for." There seemed to be a different look in her eyes that anyone standing close to the half-frozen Chao Walker could see. A fire seemed to have ignited and was burning so strongly that not even the cold seemed to bother her anymore.

Either that, or she wanted to keep moving in some sort of direction... it was hard to tell which.

Kayla stood back up as the realization that this might not be over started to sink in.

"If there are more icesteroids, we're gonna need bigger guns," she said, "Or a lot more fighters."

She glanced up at the sky, hoping that Dead End would return soon.

OOC:
I wonder when we're going to be able to bring our second characters in.

"Well, now that my brain is working at full speed, I'm sure we should move out." Ryan took a running start, and subsequently performed a backflip. Instead of landing where he jumped from, his body floated upward. Floating back to the group-half swimmingly, he looked down at Gyser and Ari. Sweeping lgance allowed him to assess everyones mode of transport.

Kaze had the mech. Ash had the plane, which could take the walkers..like Ari, Jin and Mobius...
But didn't Mobius come in a Jeep? Jason had a car too, if he remembered correctly.
That left the Hedgehogs, which was obvious how they'd get around.
Cyk was a flier, like him. Hukos and Mokat seemed able to get about just as well...

That just left...Marcus. Ryan stared at the lone figure, and figured he'd just hitch a ride as well. His lazy lofting floated him backwards, over Kaze.

"But there's no way I'm splitting up. I'll just float up here...."

There'd be a sound like a gunshot being done backwards, and Ryan'd notice Kairus appearing in a flash of psionic lightning, landing and dusting ice off of himself. "More of these things? Oh what in..." He put a hand to his face. Looks like he wouldn't be getting back to R&D anytime soon.

Too much time had passed. All that were near him, he hoped they were prepared. Teleportation is no walk in the park. As time ticked away, an invisible surge of aura was twisting around him and those he was preparing for teleportation.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1... "Ready?! GO!" the human shouted as the space surrounding him and the others was distorting space and matter, almost like it was ripping their insides out. Where would they land? Who knows?

OOC: Those around Hukos can decide where they end up. I can't come up with an idea of where Hukos' teleportion would make them end up. Also, he's going to pretty much be knocked out when they've arrived, cause teleporting itself is a very taxing power.

Jason massaged his forehead. The last five minutes had been a blur of hasty transportation from there to here, and his head was swimming from how frantic the pace of events had become. Already there was talk about teleportation to another place, and the hedgehog grimaced.
"Everybody, can we please hold on one moment?"
The chatter between the forumers as they debated their next course of action continued uninterrupted.
"Excuse me, people," Jason said testily.
Still, he went unheard. His left eye twitched with irritation. He pointed toward the park.
"Hey, look! It's Doctor FexusFan!" he shouted. At last, attention from the pack of forumers was garnered as they all turned toward the frozen park, and then followed the pointing finger back to its owner. Jason exhaled as he scanned everyone's faces for some semblance of attention.
"Right, it goes without saying that more icesteroids is a huge problem for us, and without HQ Tower, we're just playing soldiers against a real army. I believe Kaze has the right idea, but this is how we ought to implement it: those of us with swift transport, be it legs or cars or large aircraft, ought to scout the city and locate the other icesteroids. The rest of us should head to HQ Tower and see what's happening there. The scouting party should report to HQ Tower after they've completed their task, if the situation permits."
He looked dully at the forumers. Chill and fatigue were wearing on him.
"Well," said he, "questions or objections?"

"Question."

Ryan wafted over to Jason, dangling upside down with his legs crossed as if he was seated upon them.

"What will be the Communication between all of us, to ensure you guys heading to the Tower don't run into an ambush? Otherwise. I'm all for the idea."

OOC: Still here. Been a bit busy but I'm all caught up on what has happened.

IC:

Upon hearing Ryan's question, her ears perked up. So far she hadn't done much of anything to help the group out. She was small and tiny, so fighting was really out of the question and about the only thing she had going for her was that she wasn't really a burden to anyone. "Perhaps I could help. I don't know if you guys have any walkie talkies but I'm a quick flyer and would be hard to track, especially if there are more of those alien things around."

IC:
Jason's idea seemed sound to Ash - the Delta was big and fast. And more importantly, warm inside. He perked an ear at the question and Lena's suggestion.
"Hmm... I have some two-way radios knocking about somewhere on my ship I think, but they've got a range limit. Sega City's pretty big, so they'll only be of limited use." Then another thought struck him. "That said, each of us Mods has phone I'm pretty sure. I'll be able to go scouting in my ship so I should have no problems communicating with anyone with a phone, and I'll have an unparalleled view as well." Then he smiled. "Incidentally, if anyone feels like coming along with me to keep another pair of eyes up there, you're welcome. I could use the help... plus it'll keep you out of the cold too." He left it at that, waiting for any volunteers to speak, and for any other questions people wanted to ask of Jason.

OOC:
Advance warning: I may be a bit inactive until the 10th as I'm going to temporarily lose home net access. I should still be able to post from Libraries and the like though, so I should still be able to keep up after a fashion =3

Gyser cursed under his breath. Splitting up meant he might possibly lose sight of Ultra. And if Ultra was willing to leave people in collapsing ruins, he didn't want to think what he might to do someone else with the Frizonians around.

"...I'm against the idea of splitting up." He piped up. "We barely stood a chance against all those Frizonians when there was all of us. Can you imagine if there was only a few of us, and all of them?"

IC:
Ash glanced round at Gyser. "That was why he said anyone with swift transport, Gyse." he stated. "The idea's to see just how bad our personal situation is so we can formulate a plan of attack - not go splitting up and rushing in to get ourselves killed." He stretched a bit. The sunlight was certainly helping him feel more alert and awake. He smiled. "After all, he only said we should split up and scout. Not split up and fight." He stood up from where he'd been leaning against his ship's landing gear and climbed up the craft's in-built hatch steps. "I don't know about anyone else, but personally I find the idea sound, so I'm going with it." He shrugged. "Heck, maybe if I'm scouting from up there, that'll be enough. I'll be able to cover much more of the city in much less time than lots of us running around. I may not get as much detail on defenses and the like, but we'll at least have some idea of where we stand." Of course, if we hadn't lost contact with Modesty, I wouldn't need to... he briefly thought, but for now he banished that thought from his mind. Whatever the cause for that, it would have to wait - the Forumers down here right now were in more immediate need.
"I'm gonna go now." he stated clearly. "If anyone else feels like coming then feel free, but I'd recommend the majority of those who can fight heading to the Tower - it's been a bit long since Vec last said anything, so for now I'm assuming the situation's bad. That means they could use your help there most likely." He glanced around a bit at the assembled Forumers. "There're at least two Mods here. They'll know HQ Tower's layout well enough. Getting in there should be much easier - you'll be playing on home turf so to speak." He decided that should be reason and motivation enough, so he turned towards the ship's cockpit entrance. "I'll be in touch, guys." And with that he headed inside, the ship's engines already going from an idle whirring to a loud rumble as it prepared for take-off.

OOC:
Anyone that feels like going with Ash then feel free to head inside the ship right after he did. Next time I post it'll be in the air for scouting so's I don't need to worry about what Ash is up to for a bit ;p Also, Terg - check your PMs :3

Even though she didn't feel like a total burden to the group, she knew for a fact that putting off on fighting was in her best interests, and the groups most likely. Besides it was still far too cold and his ship offered something she sorely needed, warmth. "I think I'll tag along with him," she said, motioning toward Ash.

OOC: Got your PM, Ash, and replied.

Additional characters may be added after the briefing that'll take place when this Sega City crisis is over - the briefing that will illuminate the situation more clearly, the nature of the Frizonians, and where the other icesteroids are exactly. I'll make sure to clearly mark the briefing when it occurs.

IC:
With the collapse of the icesteroid in Sega City, things were starting to slowly warm up throughout the city. But with as much ice as there was, it was still very chilly, and would take hours if not days to melt...unless, of course, the heat process was sped up.

Meanwhile, inside the Tower, the Frizonian Elite team that infiltrated the Tower during the initial chaos had made its way up the long staircase, systematically taking over each floor as they climbed up to the control center where most of the Admins had gathered. The internal defense systems, remnants of Templar technology to ensure that the resting place of the Figment Keys would be kept safe, made heavy use of plasma cannons to counter the Frizonians' advance, but the Frizonians had fought countless battles across the stars and had frozen over other planets...a single Tower was no matter to them as they froze the defenses and moved on.

Vector tried activating the communication equipment again in his laboratory where he had barricaded himself inside, but he was getting sleepy with all of the cold going on, and the equipment was unable to get a signal through. "It's as if the cold is making it harder to get signals in or out. Maybe there's something else about these Frizonians we don't know about?"

Vector turned to the door, where another attempt by the Frizonians to batter through it made a loud clang of ice against steel. "That should hold them off long enough for help to get here...I hope."

The explosion from the icesteroid caught his eye out the window, despite it being blurred over by building ice crystals, and he got up the energy to pump his fist. "Yes! That takes out their base of operations in the city and the process that's been cooling down the city. Those forumers have done an excellent job...but there's so much work ahead, it's staggering. If only we could reestablish contact with Modesty, but I fear the worst..."

Vector walked over to another computer, a specialized one, and after a few taps of some buttons, he stepped onto a platform and an energy aura wove itself around him, shifting colors like a prism. The wall nearby opened up, and the Tergobot Mk. II came to life and stepped out of its docking bay, matching Vector's movements that he performed on the platform. "The best I can do right now is attract some attention and hope the forumers get the idea to come here ASAP." His voice came from himself as well as the Tergobot, a hulking blocky machine based on Tergonaut with orange and blue armor and a stylized head with a visor and backswept helmet spike. Tergobot aimed at the windows with his arms, which opened up in multiple spots to reveal an array of gatling guns, missile launchers, and energy cannons. A combined blast of all of these weapons flared out at once, breaking through the large picture window of the laboratory and sending a spray of bright hot flares out of it and over the city.

Vector was still cold, when he slapped his forehead. "I'm really, really stupid sometimes. I can hold out here longer than I thought, it just came to me." Tergobot went over to a drawer and pulled out an adjustable belt with two devices attached to the hip ends of the belt, and gave it to Vector, who put it on. After flicking a switch in the middle of one of the disk-shaped devices, there was a flicker around Vector's body, and suddenly he couldn't feel the cold anymore. "There we go...this AEGIS* won't protect against their ice rays, but it should let me stay awake at the least."

The flares burst out over Sega City near the Tower, clearly visible to all even in the daylight.

OOC: *AEGIS = All-Environment Geothermal Insulation Shield, a device originally designed by Vector to assist Justin Hobbes in his Segan digs in areas with extreme heat or cold. It keeps outside temperatures from affecting the wearer, allowing a person in regular street clothes to go inside a glacier or a volcano without requiring heavy, bulky equipment. It does not replace breathing equipment, however, so masks or similar devices need to be worn if necessary.

Ultra had been quiet for the most part, as the forumers debated their plans (some now preparing to take off).

Probably because he had been talking to Redley the whole time. Look, it was an accident.

I had to participate in a relatively simple melee.

I know, I know, it's undeserving of your talents-

I warned you. For challenge, sport, or money...I exist only to show my mettle in combat. The greatest assassin of the Archie Star Forum World...and those Frizonians were mere playthings.

I know.

Weakling.

Despite his distaste of the assassin's arrogance (even though it really wasn't; it was the truth. Redley saw the truth, and nothing but the truth...and he did not hesitate in stating it), Ultra couldn't help but cringe. That had really hurt.

You will be punished immediately.

Come on, we still have more to do! There's other icesteroids out there, more Frizonians!

I know. And if I am to make this waste of a day worthwhile, I will have to find a suitable challenge. Any invasion force would have higher figures, people of greater strength than the grunts we've faced. I will test myself against them and any technologies they have.

...you're serious.

You're taking a nap.

Just like that, the eyes shifted from green to red.

Gyser tensed up on impulse.

Jonathon Redley calmly examined his figure. I'll need to stop by one of the safehouses. Re-arm. Obtain visual equipment for the sake of proof when time comes for financial reimbursement. Find a straggling Frizonian. Head to the next icesteroid. The blue hedgehog gazed towards the HQ Tower, where a series of flares suddenly erupted.

It's Vector! He needs help!

These forumers are capable of assisting him on their own time. They only need to deliver a message. "Someone will inform Vector that I will need compensation for services rendered by the end of the day." After all, if no challenge presented itself on this day, he was NOT going to let all this time go to waste.

As several of the forumers shared perplexed gazes (with a few others wondering why his voice sounded deeper or why his eyes looked weird), Gyser stepped forward with a determined stride. "I don't think so pal, where do you think you're going?" As he reached a hand for the blue hedgehog's shoulder, Gyser suddenly found himself airborne.

He'd been tossed.

SMASH!

The neon-green hedgehog groaned as he pushed himself off the ground, his spines having left a small imprint in the brick building behind him. Redley quietly stared, his red eyes showing nothing but disinterest. "I suggest you stay here. You'll only get in my way."

And with a sonic boom, Redley burst off running.

"Ah, communication," Kaze said with a smile. "I think I have something to remedy that..."

She trailed off briefly as some she shuffled around in the mech for a moment. The cockpit once again opened, and the chao flew out, carrying some small earphone-like devices. Taking a few trips back the mech to retrieve a few more, she handed one to each of the forumers. "I was given a whole box of these from a friend a while back, and kept some in the Walker. They're a slightly older communicator models, but they should still work."

She was just heading to where Gyser and Ultra were when flares burst from the tower, briefly distracting everyone.

The next thing she knew, the other hedgehog had been thrown, and before she could even ask just what had happened, Ultra, who suddenly seemed like a totally different person, had taken off.

The few communicators she had been holding dropped to the ground as the chao headed right for Gyser, the bauble over her head forming an exclamation point.

"What just happened? Are you all right?"

-----------------------
OOC Edit: Just to add a small note, these communicators look similar to Bluetooth headsets and such.

Kayla took one of the communicators from Kaze.

"Thanks," she said, "This'll come in handy."

As she was putting it on, Gyser suddenly flew through the air and crashed into the ground. Ultra had flown off by the time Kayla realized what had happened. Kaze dashed over to Gyser.

'Great Primus,' thought Kayla, as she followed the chao, 'As if those other guys weren't bad enough, now our own people are turning on each other. What the slag is going on here?'

::A wave of unpleasant energy swept over Ryan, and he turned to see Gyser speed in front of Ultra. Words were exchanged-and teh subsequent motion of Gyser flipping through the air put Ryan on high alert::

Hostility? Damn it! Gotta keep things cool here!

::Gyser's groan was immediately responded to, as Ryan landed and blocked his eyes from the ice shards that flew back from Ultra speeding away. Moving with Kaze, Ryan aided in helping the fluorescent hedgehog up. Wobbly but alright, Ryan let him stand on his own but slid his foot into Gyser's smaller shadow, just to make sure he didn't try speeding after Ultra evil-man now.

A glance up, and those flares were assessed. But unlike everyone who were just watching the concurrent explosion, Ryan looked at their point of origin, and shook his head. Enough standing around.::

"Alright. Ash, get flying, see what you can. With Ultra on the run, it looks like we have another wildcard in the game. That came straight from the Tower, so we need to make tracks....

and who the heck am I supposed to tell about monetary compensation? We get paid for this? "

Kaze stared at Ryan, shaking his head at the dumb question.

"Ok ok, doesn't matter. But I'm going up the side of the building. "

Kayla considered following Ryan but decided against it after remembering that her fusion cannon was almost dead.

"Kaze," she said, "I need to go recharge my fusion cannon. If anything comes up, give me a call. Thanks."

She then dashed off to her hotel, praying that she still had some leftover energon cubes.

"No problem," the chao replied. "Be careful out there."

As Kayla left, she turned to the other forumers. "I don't think there's any more time to waste. We'd better get going if we want to get anything done."

Picking up the remaining communicators, she quickly passed them out and headed back to the mech once more. "Everyone head to the tower. If anyone runs into any problems, or if something comes up, just push the small button on the side. It'll send out a signal only those wearing the same kind of communicator will hear. This'll let us know someone's in trouble. Otherwise, I think we should keep each other up-to-date to some degree."

IC:
He didn't need telling twice. Ash's ship was soon airborne, carrying himself, Lena, and any other forumers who'd decided on coming along to be eyes in the sky. So it was that he had no trouble spotting the massive flares that burst suddenly from the HQ Tower. He frowned. "Unless I'm much mistaken, that's the same floor as Vector's lab...! If that's not a distress signal then I don't know what is." Quickly, he made use of the communicator he'd been given by Kaze. "Guys, this is Ash. That explosion from HQ Tower came from the floor Vec's Lab is on - probably from his Lab itself. I think things might be getting a bit tight up there!"
From this high up it wasn't too difficult to get a good look over most of the City. "Got some more news for you as well, guys. By the looks of things that icesteroid that we knackered was the only one they had - at least here in our City anyway. I think we should focus our efforts on the Tower, and quickly - by the looks of it things are hotting up in there. Metaphorically speaking..." He started thinking over the situation. They'd taken out the base of operations that'd been set up, so that meant there probably weren't many forces in the Tower. They of course probably didn't know they were among a minority now, so that gave the Forumers an advantage. One that could be exploited...
"Slight change of plans, guys." he said into the communicator in a tone that no doubt made Jason groan. "I'm gonna go cause a kerfuffle over there." he finished with a wicked grin. With that, the Delta's jets flared as it rocketed over towards HQ Tower. The ship's plasma cannons opened fire on the Tower, on low intensity. It wouldn't be enough to do any structural damage, but it was certainly enough to begin melting chunks out of the thick layers of ice building up.
Inside, the Tower shook slightly with the impact of the plasma bolts smashing into the ice. This slightly bewildered the Frizonians, and gave Vector the time to take a glance out of his blown-out window and see a large black gunship--which he was thankfully familiar with--blasting bits of ice off the Tower. That was all the reassurance needed that help was on it's way, and the Admin allowed himself a slight sigh of relief.

She didn't care much for Ash's display of firepower but at least they weren't on the ground fighting. "Aren't you a bit worried of the attention we might attract?" She asked. She hated being a worrywart but what if those aliens had something that could take out their ship? They wouldn't be much help to the other group then...

IC:
Ash grinned back at his small passenger. "Worried? Naw, not at all!" As if reading her thoughts, he continued. "After all, even if they have some kinda air support, it'd take a lot to bring down this ship of mine. And besides, if they had something like that, I'd have figured they'd have brought it in earlier when it might've done them more good. I mean consider this - we've taken out their main base of operations in our City and pretty much wiped out their forces in the surrounding area, as far as I can see. If there was a time to bring in additional support it was an hour or so back when we started attacking." He cast a quick glance around them anyway just in case. "If they do happen to have something though, then I'll keep 'em very busy." He glanced down at the ground to see how close the others were to the Tower now. "Trust me."

OOC:
Loving your avvie Torn. Souseiseki doesn't get enough love :3

Trust him? Well she could certainly try to but her nagging worries would still be around. "Okay, I just hope we don't have an unexpected surprises along the way. I don't know why I'm worried but I just am."

OOC: lol

Ryan nodded, and adorned the communicator from Kaze. Wiping his hair left and right, he affixed the small contraption, and waved joyfully, as if he was leaving for a trip. A hop, skip and jump off of Marcus' head, and Ryan was gone, shooting into the sky.

Once in the sky though, he watched as Ash's ship began making its surveillance. He however, had bigger fish to fry, and that was figuring out just what made him feel so....energized in the icesteriod. He began contemplating to himself.

It can't be Derek, the ego is still unconscious... Entropy can't be at play here...right? Man I hope not. But then, how did I teleport? Derek shut that part of this body off from me...so he had to be awake enough for me to be able to do that. Ugh I just don't get it. But whatever. I'll risk waking him up....later. We already have what seemed to be one body takeover going on. The group doesn't need two."

Refocusing back on his mission, Ryan skimmed the rooftops until he was on the SHQ tower block. Feeling the chill from the ice that partially encapsulated said building, Ryan didn't hesitate. His body rocketed up-a solitary dark spot amongst the crystalline blue Tower and the flaring white sky. However he had to change his trajectory when missiles began to rock the side of the Tower he was flying near! Lurching up and right, he barely avoided a flare.

Unphazed(but chilly), Ryan kept flying up, but came to an abrupt stop at the level where the explosives flew from. Staying a few away from the hole, he waited for everyone. No way was he going in there alone. But..just in case..

"Kzzt! Hey hey! Resident Flyboy here! I'm at the Admin level of the Tower. Just looks like twisted girders and what not here, I can't really make out anything. Oh and Ash, I don't taste well burnt, despite the fact I look like a slice of bread that's been left in too long. How long beofre you guys reach the Tower. Won't make a move until you guys do."

"I'm gonna go cause a kerfuffle over there."
This sentence was like the sound of a thousand mirrors shattering en masse to Jason. Before he could reply in the negative, the reverberation was felt through the streets of Sega City. Jason clapped his paws over his ears, wincing, as did many of the other forumers who had gone on ground level to HQ Tower. Jason first looked at the group with him to see if anyone had been shaken up by the explosion, and then he grumbled irritably, a vein at his temple visibly throbbing.
"Oi!" he yelled into the communicator. "It's one thing if Ultra is pretending to be Liquid Ocelot, Captain, but it's another thing if you're playing Lylat Wars over a building we're trying to infiltrate! I should only hope that the Frizonians don't bring out all their antiaircraft to the highest, nearest location to fire on you, because that's HQ Tower, and I can guarantee we don't need extra soldiers walking around that place!"
He heard Ash laugh on the other end. "Oh, relax, Jace. Where are they going to pull out that kind of firepower on such short notice? We obliterated the only icesteroid in Sega City."
"That is something I find troubling. What kind of paltry invasion force is this supposed to be? One icesteroid? We've tangled with their kind before, and these aliens always go all out, right? They completely overran Nintendo Town once. One measly icesteroid for Sega City is a jest at our expense. I fear there may be yet more on the way, whether from space or from somewhere down here where we aren't looking..."

IC:
He had a point, Ash supposed. But then again...
"Fair point dude, but think about it. It took way more of us to take out that icesteroid than it took to take out their forces in Nintendo Town that one time. Yes it was one icesteroid, but it was filled with a lot of well-armed and well-trained soldiers. We're lucky we're still in one piece. If you ask me, I'd say the reason they only sent that was cos they figured it was all they'd need. That, or it's because their forces are more widely spread - you heard what was said about there being more." Then he grinned to himself.
"I'm pretty sure this is only the tip of the iceberg." He smirked to himself at the inevitable groan that punctuated that comment before turning his attention to Ryan.
"Hi there Ryan. Best stay frosty, so to speak. I'm firing on low intensity to melt the ice, so it's gonna be a little wobbly there still. Don't worry though, I got a clear bead on you - you'll be fine. seeing as you're there, can you take a peek inside and see if you can see Vector or anyone else? I'm pretty sure that blow-out came from his lab window. He might be in trouble." Then he turned his attention back to Jason, and the other Forumers.
"I'd suggest you guys make haste to the Tower soon as you can. If we can take it back we can do a lot more about the weather - I'm sure the Admins'll be able to do plenty about it if they work together. And Vec probably has a plan, but the cold weather won't be helping him. And don't worry." He took a glance down to see where the quickest and clearest path from the icesteroid to the Tower lay. "I got your backs."

Gyser gritted his teeth as he got to his feet. Swearing loudly, some of it in local, some of it in his home language of Illarian, he glared at the spot Ultra had been. That was the second time Ultra had gotten away from him. He didn't have time to stew over it though. Everyone else was heading towards the Tower.

"I'll get you, you *******. Don't you worry about that."

With a green blur, he moved to catch up with everyone else. Frizonians first. Ultra second.

The Sailorness District.

Currently partially frozen. Most of the Sailorness Scouts were fashioning toys and slides out of the material. Sailor Evil was undoubtedly hatching a plot to take over the MoFo using shaved ice. But that's neither here nor there.

What was important was that Sailor Ultra currently wasn't home.

Jonathon Redley quietly entered the one-story house, bearing only one door and no windows. The assassin calmly walked into the living room...and opened the closet door.

Inside was another universe: Hammerspace.

To be short, Sailor Ultra had won a Hammerspace closet during a sweepstakes contest a few years back. It made storage terrifically simple, given the Box of Randomness (a television that randomly materialized whatever was on-screen at the time) that calmly sat in the corner of the living room. Since then, the closet had become a practical world in and of itself: a vast junkyard of a domain with outer space as its sky.

Which suited Jonathon Redley just fine, given how he had established one of his safehouses in here.

Nothing special, to be sure. Merely a secluded, sheltered spot where he could re-arm, rest, and obtain nourishment in relative safety. He had quite a few safehouses throughout Sega City in relatively innocuous places...however, given the invasion by the Frizonians, this was undoubtedly the most secure location.

The assassin soon found it; a small tin shed nestled between piles of chew toys and columns of Oxy-Clean products. Entering the shed, Redley glanced at the cot, the desk, the large bathtub, the repair tools clasped to the wall, and a small refrigerator. Grabbing a bottle of water and an energy bar, the assassin replenished his strength before pulling a small tank out from under the desk; it was large enough to fit his arm. He filled it with water from the bathtub and then set it on the desk.

Then he took his cybernetic arm off and placed it inside the tank. Then he pulled open a desk drawer, retrieving a bottle filled with blue-colored tablets. Using but one arm, he placed the tablet into the water as it began to dissolve. After shutting the tank, the tablet exploded in a burst of bubbles and particles, simmering throughout the entire tank.

An acidic solution, designed to clean and restore high-grade metals. Perfect for an arm of pure adamantium.

Redley calmly wet down a washcloth with warm water and began scrubbing the synthetic joints embedded in what remained of his left shoulder, warming the skin and cleaning the metal. Once this was done, he gazed at the tools affixed to the tin walls.

A fuel tank for the flamethrower. It would be placed just proximally to the wrist, right by the attachment site for the hand.

And last but not least, a taser repair kit. His cybernetic arm possessed the electrical weapon inside the superior part of the forearm, but the prongs had been damaged in his last 'mission' (sometimes, robots were more troublesome than they were worth). Once those two weapons were fully operational, he would depart.

Until the arm was done cleaning, Redley would have little else to do.

He settled for taking a warm bath to take care of some frigid portions of his skin, and to freshen up. A clean body free of grime could move about more easily. Plus, it reduced body odor; as far as he could tell, Frizonians couldn't detect by smell, by why risk it?

Calm. Silent. Methodical.

Jonathon Redley continued at his current pace, red eyes narrowed as he calculated his next move.

OOC: Just a quick OOC post to say that I won't have internet access for about a week due to a family vacation, so hopefully Ari can just tag along with the Tower group for now, and I'll catch up on things when I get back.

OOC: Wait, is the whole group headed for the Tower? If so, it'll defeat the current purpose of scouting the city, and I'll just let Kaze go on with everyone else.

OOC:
Seems to be that way Kaze.

OOC: The whole group, save for Redley of course.

IC:

xxxx

Redley quietly left the Sailorness District. He was cleaned and nourished. His adamantium arm was fully operational, with the flamethrower and taser back up to speed. His laser blaster had a new battery.

Time to search for Frizonians.

xxxx

At the HQ Tower, the Frizonian Elites currently attempting to storm Vector's lab were facing a bit of a problem.

The gunship attack had gotten their attention.

As had the destruction of the icesteroid.

They were not fools; whoever - or whatever - had destroyed Commander Icepick's icesteroid would undoubtedly head here next, this tower obviously being the hotbloods' central command structure.

If nothing else, they would take no prisoners. Let them lose their administrators. After all...it only seemed sensible.

Kill the head...and the body will follow.

OOC: Alright, then. I'll make my post catching up with the others after I see if I can do a bit of editting to my previous post. I suppose splitting up into smaller teams given the situation would have been out of the question to begin with. ._.;

OOC: I'm trying not to get too far ahead of anyone, since I think I'm the only Flier beside Cyk here..

IC:

Hovering and waiting was no good, as he could be shot down any moment by a rogue Frizonian. But courage and bravado wasn't his strong suit either, he left that for Derek.

"But Derek's not here now Ryry. So let's just go in and scout the place. Worse to worse, you can fly back out and hide." Huffing a few times, Ryan turned the communication device on, and slowly wafted toward the blown out windows of the SHQ Tower. His eyes looked for anything moving, but aside from the few pieces of Ice crystals that were reflecting light, there seems to be a complete absence.

"Hey guys. Ryan here. So far *Crunch* so good."

"Wh-what was that?" Torn asked, obviously concerned about any sound that may not have been from their team.

"Oh, yeah, I'm just stepping on glass here. The way I see it..the device used to cause this explosion must have came from inside the Tower...and then left. There's evidence of intense backfire as well as the frontal escape we witnessed. So, whomever or whatever caused this explosion was fast or armored enough to withstand the backlash. However...."

"However?" asked Jason, curious as to what he was seeing.

"I don't get it..."

"Stop rambling Porky and spit it out." Jin shouted over his communicator.

"...Well...if the firepower necessary to make that blast is up here and functioning-where the heck is it and why hasn't it come to meet and greet me yet? I HEAR nothing around me, that's what doesn't make sense. At this point, I don't think its safe to play chances with friend or foe...."

"I hear you there..." Gyser quipped, as he and the other continued on. "Hey...while yer up there, keep an eye out for the Tin-man, woulda?"

"Roger Gyser..." Ryan kept his line open, but all the others would hear would be a slight crunching of glass every now and again.

OOC: Sorry for not being here, real life is being a *****. I'm going to try and read up on the posts here and figure out what the hell is going on. <_

OOC: Sorry for not being here, real life is being a *****.

OOC: Meh. Same here. I hope I don't upset any apple carts with this...

IC:
A certain gray feline was one of the forumers who had given Ultra a perplexed gaze; she'd never known the blue hedgehog to act like a complete merc (or -jerk-, for that matter) and the deep voice had been a dead giveaway that something wasn't quite right with the former S.P.A. resident.

"Something's not right with Ultra...an' Gyser seems to know it, too." MoKat commented to her Dark Magician.
"Maybe he's picked up a Yami." quipped MDM as he took note of the direction Ultra had taken; looked like he was going to the Sailor District or the S.P.A. -- Sailor district seemed more likely though.
"That's not funny." grumbled MoKat.
"Wasn't intended to be. And I bet you forgot all about the phone until that Enforcer Fox mentioned it."
The feline growled as she reached into her Hair of Holding and pulled out the phone in question. "This phone? Whatever." She tested it before putting it back. The phone seemed to work; the same couldn't be said for her Moderator powers which had been malfunctioning ever since she had experienced that weird time/space distortion. MoKat hadn't approached Vector about re-instating them because she'd been way too busy lately to patrol the S.P.A. like she ought to; besides ShadowHog had done a better job keeping things from getting out of hand there anyways.

When she saw the flares erupt outside HQ Tower, MoKat's first inclination was to teleport into Vector's lab. She reconsidered this when she realized that there was no secure location to bring the crocodile to, and he might be in need of medical attention.

~"Arcadian warships have an infirmary, don't they?" the armored magician suggested telepathically.
~"Indeed. Let's join the others on Ash's ship then."
They boarded the Delta Infiltrator.

Sometime later...

No sooner than the cat had reached the infirmary, MoKat's Dark Magician telepathically asked, ~"What's a 'kerfuffle'?"
Puzzled, she replied, ~"How was that word used?"
~"Ash just said he was gonna cause one."
MoKat's mental response involved colorful imagery and physically impossible acts.
MDM was amused. ~"Reminds me of something Sailor Expletive said once..."
~"This isn't a good time to share! Come to me, Dark Magician!"
The magician appeared in a cloud of noxious purple smoke.
"Wait here." the feline instructed. "Prepare to cast 'Cura' when I get back." With that, the electric-blue haired cat disappeared. Seconds later, she re-appeared with a familiar green & yellow crocodile. Vector immediately brought his hand up to his snout in an effort to prevent hurling.
"Easy there, Vec." MoKat said as she guided the croc to a bed. "The nausea will pass. Heh. I keep forgetting that some people react badly to bein' teleported."
MDM cast a Cura on Vector, who then moved his hand away from his mouth.
"We're on Ash's ship, by the way. When you've recovered enough, I'll need to know three things. One: are there any more Admins trapped in the Tower? Two: Any idea how many iceheads have broken into HQ? Three: are the Figment Keys safe?"
The purple-clad magician raised an eyebrow at his boss. "The -what-?"
"If those invading iceheads get to the Figment Keys, we can kiss this world as we know it goodbye." MoKat pulled her phone out of her Hair of Holding and dialed it in an attempt to notify the others of the current situation.

OOC: *chuckles* I was never a Mod MoKat (though I did want to be one way back when). I was a law enforcer...but still just a forumer. 😛