DARTS - Digimon Assault Response and Tactical Advisement Sector

[GreyCat]

"Ah, wow," Kazu said, holding his hands out to catch the falling data as if it was fresh snow. The light show almost made up for the near death (okay, probably an exaggeration) experience they just when through. Almost. He really hoped that this little incident was not what the creators of this scenario, though predicament was a better word for it, had in mind when they conscripted the failed gizumon for the job. But, it was enlightening. Terror inspiring and nerve racking, but enlightening all the same. Leor padded from behind his rock and sighed with relief. He liked to fight, but a berserk, laser-shooting, out-of-control, steel plated robot was not his idea of a good time.

Kazu jumped onto the rock he was behind to survey the damage. Yep. There was a lot of it. He bounded off the rock and offered his opinion on the incident. "Good news; we killed the robot. So, good work I guess." He stumbled over a loose stone as he approached the junk pile that was formerly their foe. ad news; we let it wreck a good amount of the room doing it. We might want to cut down on the collateral damage next time. Worse news; this was a failed adult level experiment. As is weak. We need a better plan."

Leor sniffed at a piece of metal that got blown from gizumon during or after the battle. He looked at it then at the main body and frowned. "Hey Kazu, do you think that this thing was expensive? Will they be mad at us for breaking it that badly?"

[The Warden]

After the lovely explosion, Hiro peeked out from behind Gizumon. LT-403 was gone, all that was left was a shower of data. 'Woo hoo, you guys did it!' he cheered, it was very half-hearted.

Gizumon was making an unusual clicking sound, it was the rhythmic sobs of crying. Hiro patted his partner's metallic hull. 'Cheer up Gizumon, it was defective anyways. The kindest thing to do was terminate it' he said kindly, not exactly the best support.

Gizumon whailed loudly, causing Hiro to recall him back into his leash. He walked and rubbed his temples, his scrunched up eyes watching the data float about. He heard what Leor had inquired and it needed an explanation. 'No, frankly this was the best thing for that Gizumon. It was defective, it needed termination. They used you EGLs as an excuse to do so. A proper adult level Gizumon would have terminated you all incredibly fast' he explained.

[Spartan919]

Kai watched the data fall, and his mind turned, strangely, to Rena. [i]Is this what would happen if Rena were to be destroyed?[/i] He turned to look at her, and saw that wonderment filled her eyes as she stared at the raining data. [i]Not that I'd ever let anything this serious happen to her. I'd die before sacrificing my partner, even if it were to be for the good of the mission.[/i] He shook his head. Thoughts like that were probably what earned people things like 'termination.' He huffed at that. Deciding to try and cheer himself up, he walked over to Rena. Not needing words, he engulfed her in a hug, breathing in her scent and comforting her, though she in no way needed it. Then, he turned to see what reaction the others were going to follow regarding their victory. He saw that while some of the humans seemed cheered, most of the EGL's, it seemed, looked like they weren't too happy. [i]Is this not what they wanted to happen?[/i] He glanced again at his Renamon, but saw no indication of anything but victory. Confused, he decided to confer with the others. He sidled quickly over to Emiko. "What's going on with our partners?" he asked her quietly.

[Hotaru987]

Emiko looked on her face not changing, but her body tensing up as if she was about to start running any second. She was glad that the fight was over because now she would be able to lay down while her headache - which was steadily becoming more painful - came. When Kai walked over she tried to not let anythig seem off - though he didn't know her long enough to really see her behavior as abnormal, or thats what she believed anyway. Hearing his question she glanced over at Tsunamon who seemed to simply be staring at the data still falling to the ground, the data almost resembling sparkling dust. "I...D-don't know..." She mumbled her voice strained and even quiter than normal. "M-maybe......Thay a-are simply....Fasinated b-by...The d-data.." She tried to speak but the pain was quickly starting to shut her down. It was time for her and Tsunamon to leave.

[Spartan919]

Kai noticed, quite quickly, that Emiko was in pain. He rushed over to her, and grabbed her to prevent her from falling. From the motions she made, and the way she kept wincing, he guessed that she had a really bad headache. Though he had no idea what could have caused it ([i]Who knows? Maybe it's genetic or some crap![/i]), he could tell that she needed help to get rid of it. He turned to the others, who seemed not to have noticed yet. He caught Yukio's eye. "I'll be back. I'm just going to take Emiko to her room." Not explaining more, he nodded to Rena, who quickly came over. As she gently lifted Emiko into the air, Kai gave her a hard look. "I don't care what you've got to say, you need to get out of here." With that, he nodded to Rena. The two (three?) hurried out of the room, and quickly made their way to the elevator. Once inside, he began mashing the button to take them to their rooms. As he repeatedly tapped the button, though he knew it would do no good, he asked Emiko, "Are you okay?"

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Arachnimon smirked as he and Gala saw Yukio trudge down the hall that led to the main lobby area, maintaining this smirk as he jumped back over the counter and walked back to Gala's side.

[color="#0000FF"][b]"Took him long enough,"[/b][/color] Arachnimon stated, before chuckling briefly, [color="#0000FF"][b]"And here I was thinking this guy wasn't such a gullible idiot after all..."[/b][/color]

[color="#FF0000"][b]"Please, you can't call him a gullible idiot,"[/b][/color] Gala told Arachnimon, only to realise that Yukio was standing right in front of the two of them, [color="#FF0000"][b]"Even better, shut up."[/b][/color] Gala said this last sentence much more quietly.

[i]"And what, are you intended to do, here?"[/i]

[color="#FF0000"][b]"Nothing much,"[/b][/color] Gala answered, without paying even the slightest attention to any reaction that Yukio might have, [color="#FF0000"][b]"You know, get my new leash, maybe try to meet these Inverse Project guys that [i]apparently[/i] would like to might us... why they'd suddenly decide to play hard to catch is beyond me, but anyway..."[/b][/color]

[Hotaru987]

Emiko didn't answer - or rather - she couldn't answer the question. It was common that her headaches would hinder her speach pattern, thus rendering her unable to talk. Instead she only grabbed her head tensing more, as she suffered through the pain silently. It was a worried Tsunamon that answer Kai, "I doubt it...This happens sometimes, and we never know when. Her headaches aren't usually that bad and she can be back up in about an hour...But sometimes they get really bad and she cant even move, or talk." He was going to say more, and talk about how it happened but wasn't sure if Emiko wanted him to know. She hated when people knew about her problem.

[GreyCat]

((remember the door's locked Spartan))

"Terminated you all incredibly fast, now there's an incredibly cheering thought," Kazu said as he hopped over rocks. Seeing a gizumon break down in tears was... interesting to say the least. Okay, alright. it was downright funny. He he to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Laughing would definately not be the right reaction. Not when it would have been clear he was laugh [i]at[/i] the gizumon and not [i]with[/i] it. Leor was happy, now that he was sure that he had reassurance they wouldn't get punished for the number they did on the bot, and darted about, pouncing at data. "Hiro, you certainly have a way with words," Kazu said as he squatted on a convenient rock. He mused over the battle as he watched Leor antics.

"You realize we need a lot of work, don't you?" Kazu said with a greater amount of seriousness that his earlier statement. "While we all survived this training, Tsunamon took a couple good hits. Leor got hit pretty good too, and that was just a charge up for another attack. We only won be pressuring it. And this was weaker than an adult. Possibly not as clever either." He plucked a rock from the ground and tossed it lightly in the air. "If we don't do better tomorrow, the inverse project will be the inverse of a success. And if this project dies, it will be because we die too..."

[The Warden]

Hiro nodded knowingly. 'That's why I'm here. Gizumon and myself do not have much of a use in overall combat. We're here merely to destabilize the targets so you have a greater chance of success. This battle for me was a field test for Gizumon's Gizu Laser. In an actual battle, we'd be overseeing the fight a short distance away; gaining battle data and locating weak points to destabilize in order to severly weaken it. One example would be Greymon. The best shot at it would be in a clear street with tall buildings. That would prevent it from dodging and allow for a clear shot at its legs. It's bulky, and thus its legs would be the weakest point. I am concerned about this newcomer, as we have no battle data on it. But, the faster we can observe and locate a weak point, the longer you guys would have to live. But, I'm sure you guys would come up with something. If this thing is less intelligent than Angemon or MailBirdramon, it won't be able to think straight. That could allow us to trap it and force it into minimal movement. Overall the potential of the encounter changes. But, if you Tamers think smart enough, the outcome will remain the same' he answered.

[Quiksilver]

Rika spent a few moments examining the snow that was falling down, before striding over to Coronamon to check if he was okay. He was, at least that's what he said, but Rika knew Coronamon had a few cuts and bruises on him. However, in other regards, he seemed to be fine.

Rika began to breath easier- her main worry had been that Coronamon would have gotten hurt. "Good job, Cor." Rika said happily. "Why don't you have a nice sleep." Without waiting to hear Cor's answering cheer, she accessed her Leash and pulled Coronamon into it. She had been sitting on her haunches as she had examined her Digimon, so she got back up and surveyed the room. Yukio and two of the other Tamers- Kai and Emiko- had disappeared, where, Rika had no idea. But Kazu and Hiro were here, discussing something quietly in the other side of the room. Rika began to walk over to the duo, and managed to catch the end of their conversation; they were discussing something about Digimon weaknesses.

"I doubt we'll be smart enough to take down a Adult EGL with Kazu here..." Rika said wryly, flashing a quick grin at Kazu to show she meant it as a joke. "But what if we [i]did[/i] encounter an Angemon or Mailbirdramon?" she said, turning to Hiro. "What would we have to do to win, then? Personally, I support 'run like hell' tactic, but I have a feeling Yukio and the higher ups wouldn't like that tactic too much."

[Hydra of Ages]

Leiko dusted herself off briefly. She glanced at the descending Data, and checked her Leash- like usual, it was siphoning the result of their latest conquest, ostensibly to bolster Kunamon's power. While normally giving more power to a DABO would be a good thing, after this painful lesson, she could only figure that they would need any advantage they could get. And looking at [i]how much[/i] data was there, she figured it would be a very nice benefit- it could take minutes for their Leashes to finish eating everything that had been packed into that Gizumon.

Maybe that was the point- they were recycling the Data they used to make whatever that thing was by giving it to the Inverse project.

"We probably will be," she said, approaching Hiro, Kazu and Rika. "After all, Commander Kudo told us it was the strongest Emergence they'd detected yet, didn't he? Stronger than Mailbirdramon? After this, I'm sort of worried how we'll be able to take it down..." she muttered, glancing at Kunamon- who was just starting to get feeling back in her legs now that she was being filled with data again.

She paused, and looked around. "Where did Yukio go?" she wondered outloud.

-

Yukio was not amused. But then again, he never was.

"You are significantly late. I specifically called for the entire unit to assemble over forty minutes ago," he said curtly, totally ignoring Arachnimon's presence. "That is inexcusable, given today was the preparatory assignment before the first trial of the unit- however, you would have been unable to participate in any case, lacking a Leash."

He turned and started walking down the corridor. "Follow me. You will meet the Inverse Unit, which I will then dismiss until the time of the Mission later today. You will afterwards receive your leash and preform rudimentary tests until I am satisfied you will not prove to be a liability in their first true combat setting."

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

[color="#0000FF"][b]"Me, a liability?"[/b][/color] Arachnimon scoffed, [color="#0000FF"][b]"You really think I could possibly be a liability?"[/b][/color]

[color="#FF0000"][b]"It's possible, Arachnimon,"[/b][/color] Gala answered, [color="#FF0000"][b]"Especially if he just keeps handing out obedience tests. In that case, I'd rather actually BE the liability."[/b][/color]

[color="#0000FF"][b]"Touché."[/b][/color] Arachnimon agreed with Gala on that one, [color="#0000FF"][b]"Besides, even if we do get kicked off the team, we can always take the lone wolf approach."[/b][/color]

[color="#FF0000"][b]"I hope so,"[/b][/color] Gala stated.

Neither of the two really cared that Yukio was there to overhear the conversation as they followed him. Perhaps they had the conversation anyway to test his reaction to it.

[The Warden]

Hiro shrugged casually. 'Being powerful doesn't mean you're smart. Nor does being smart prove you're powerful. It could possibly be a coincidence of MailBirdramon and Angemon's strengths following their respective intelligence scales. This newcomer will be devastating if it does indeed prove intelligent enough, or it might not be. Until then, we can hope for a doppy beast who happens to be wielding Daddy's chainsaw' he answered.

[Hotaru987]

Once the elvator opened up Tsunamon lead Kai and Renamon to Emiko's room, then told Kai that Emiko's key card was in her back pocket. After the door was opened Tsunamon bounded in side and silently watched Emiko as she curled up into a tight ball once laying on the bed. She always did that, in an attempt to shield herself from everything around her. Tsunamon wished that he could do something for her but knew that there wasn't anything that he or anyone could do to make the pain go away. With a sigh the EGL sat at the foot of the bed. The room itself was small, and pretty plain with no sense of individuality to it. The only thing that seems to be different from the other rooms were the bottles of pills sitting on the night stand. It looks like at least half a dozen.

[GreyCat]

"Okay then," Kazu said after he stuck his tongue out at Rika in response to her jab. "Next time we fight a strong enemy, [i]you[/i] come up with the clever place to take it down. I'll hold my tongue." He pantomimed pulling a zipper over his lips and turning a key before tossing it over his shoulder as if he were chucking it.. He noted that everyone else was putting their partners in the leashes, but Leor looked comfortable were he was, curled up as his feet, listening to the conversation, so he let him be. Not like it was going to hurt the guy or anything.

"If all else fails when we meet our friend later," he said after a moment, dropping the silence act, "We can just take it down with the best secret weapons we got; silicone tofu, watered down cough syrup and," he glanced smugly at Rika before continuing, "Fighting spirit!" Hey, if she could jab at him, he was going to jab back.

Leor looked up at him with a pained expression. "I thought you locked your lips."

"Shush. 'Sides, the zipper never works anyway."

[Quiksilver]

Rika simply raised an eyebrow. "Like it's so hard to figure out the best plan for attack is to hit someone is in the eye [i]when they are firing lasers from it[/i]." Rika then heard Kazu's next statement and made a face. In her best Yukio impression, she said, "Honestly, you are so immature." Turning to Leormon with a smile on her face, she said, "You know, Leormon, I'm liking you much more than your partner right now. At least you understand how a zipper works..." Rika turned and smirked at Kazu. Oh, if they were going to play this game...

[GreyCat]

Leor smiled happily and puffed his chest out proudly at Rika's comment, then ducked his head under a paw. Whether he was really shy or just acting it, who knew. Either way, Kazu pinched his ear tightly.

"Fine, if you must be that way," Kazu said, with an extremely smarmy version of a smirk. "While I concede that 'aim for the eye' is a simple, yet extremely effective, tactic, coming up with it while under laser fire isn't as easy as you would make it out to be." His smirk broadened and he scratched at his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "And I don't seem to recall you suggesting any tactics. Hmm, nope, no comments from you." He smiled and threw his arm over her shoulders. "But don't fret, I take care of you," he waved his free arm to the distance wall as he did, almost wacking Hiro with his hand as he did too. "I'll protect you from all those scary DABO and suggest the clever ideas so you don't have to."

[Hydra of Ages]

The day progressed as usual from that point, with most of the members of the Inverse Unit living in a sort of apprehension until the departure time arrived. Yukio didn't return to the training room, having been occupied testing Gala and Arachnimon's suitability to partake in the mission- and while he did, finally, give them permission to join the battle, it was with the utmost hesitation. Gala's new leash had been reinforced with multiple layers of data-pregnant steel once more, in order to prevent any 'accidents' that might befall it in the future, and Yukio had taken care to place the two on his permanent watch list.

For her own part, Leiko had eventually drifted back to the library after Kunamon recovered and she had eaten. For whatever reason, she found herself reading [i]'Horror at Innsmouth'[/i], which hit a bit close to home once she had become aware of the irony. After all, the emergence they were going to be sent on was a coastal one, so one could assume it had to be some sort of amphibious creature.

The announcement of their departure came an hour earlier than expected. Leiko packed up and headed towards the main elevator in the center of ETA Complex, the only public link to the surface of Aogashima, and the way to the launch pad. She nodded at the guards, flashed a couple code cards and had her identity confirmed before she was allowed to enter the steel-lined elavators that funneled her up to the top, and presumable, towards her destiny.

On the surface, she took a breath of fresh air and glanced around; she was the first to arrive. Multiple black hellicopters were stationed, motionless on the black tarmat, but the stoic figure of Yukio stood by only one in particular. Leiko had to resist the urge to swallow in nervousness.

[Hotaru987]

Emiko didn't know when or how but she eventually fell asleep in her room. Her dreams made up of nothing but blackness. A deep and dark emptyness that seemed to have no end and no begining. It was simply there. Emiko awoke to a voice over the intercom announcing that it was time for the Inverse Project to depart - which she noted it was about an hour or so earlier than expected. With a sigh she stood, and took a quick shower and everything else she needed before getting dressed. It was still the same button up shirt, but this time she wore a black skirt with dark blue pants undernieth, as well as a green headband that matched her eyes. She wore the same sneakers as before, and her red ribbon around her neck. With a quick glance around she left her room, and headed to the departure point. When she arrieved she saw Leiko was already there, along with Yukio standing next to one of the many helicopters on the deck.

Like before she nodded once to Yukio in greeting and did the same to Leiko, before staring straight ahead not a single expression on her face. In face it matched Yukio's own expression, vaccant and uncaring.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Gala and Arachnimon soon followed, roughly several minutes apart. Unlike Leiko, who appeared to be nervous, Gala had nothing to worry about. As far as he was concerned, Arachnimon could defeat anything. Arachnimon himself wasn't so sure.

[color="#FF0000"][b]"How's that new leash fitting you, Arachnimon?"[/b][/color] asked Gala.

[color="#0000FF"][b]"It isn't,"[/b][/color] Arachnimon answered predictably, [color="#0000FF"][b]"And that's just saying as if I was terrified of speaking out even the slightest thing wrong with it. So who's gonna make some kinda dramatic entrance into this world?"[/b][/color]

[color="#FF0000"][b]"Whatever it is, we'll beat it,"[/b][/color] Gala reassured him.

[color="#0000FF"][b]"Better not be Shellmon,"[/b][/color] Arachnimon stated, [color="#0000FF"][b]"You know how I bragged about all those Adult Levels I've beaten down? Shellmon's not one of them."[/b][/color] Arachnimon shook his head.

[GreyCat]

It was time. All their training boiled down to this. It was the culmination of the establishment of their team. The sole reason they were here. And he needed the proper attire. He searched his room. Brown slack; dirty. Jeans; dirty. Dress trousers; dirty. Shorts; ugh, filthy. Jorts; Good God! Where the hell did those come from? Jorts properly destro-disposed off, he settled on a black pants with two red bands on the end. A black shirt complemented the top. Now, for battle, a simple hoodie wouldn't do it. Not, he had a long coat he was saving for this occurrence. Black, like the rest of his clothes, with a flame pattern on the base. Emblazoned on the back, a large smiley with red triangular shades and smirk. His battle smile pinned closed at the neck. His favourite part; the heavily starched collar. Yep. To top it off, he pinned an armband to his left sleeve, proudly displaying Fighting Spirit.

He put Leor in the leash, figuring that he was pushing the envelop enough with his outfit without having Leor strut about. He still had a bit of trouble at the elevator. Though his card checked out, one guard didn't want him going out in, as he put it, that ridiculous coat. The other agreed. Said it was too extravagant. Already testy and apprehensive about the whole thing, he punched them. Soundly. Well, one was a punch, the other was a knife hand to the throat. Apologizing hastily, he slipped into the elevator to escape retribution. "Stupid, stupid." he chastised himself. The stress was getting to him. Several floors later, and several meditative breaths later, he stepped out unto the surface with as much cockiness as he could muster. He looked around and groaned. "Uh, Rika isn't here yet. Who else am I supposed to annoy?"

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Arachnimon noticed a blood stain on the new arrivee's hand. Perhaps the person got into a fight with one of the guards, although it was hard to tell how he could've possibly done so... at least without him starting the fight.

[color="#0000FF"][b]"Huh, looks like someone got his hands dirty,"[/b][/color] Arachnimon spoke to himself, [color="#0000FF"][b]"Wonder why I didn't do the same to that bastard that put this thing on me in the first place."[/b][/color]

[The Warden]

It was the moment of truth, which was downright terrifying. Hiro needed his own preparations. Thus he returned to his lab, where he proceeded to gather the things he needed. There was a spy glass he'd need for close observation, that was added to a pocket on his coat. There would also be those flash bombs he 'saved' from being discarded to the trash. 'What else?' he mumbled, scanning the room.

'Ah yes' he declared, power walking over to one of the shelves lining the back of the room.

He grabbed his laptop and stuffed it into it's satchel, which was resting next to it. Confident in his preparation, Hiro left the safety of his lab for the elevator down to ETA, where from there he made his way past two guards. He flashed his card to them, and didn't try to question why one had a large red mark on the side of his face. The elevator seemed longer than usual, and the wait filled Hiro with apprehension of this mission. [i]'I could die'[/i] he thought, leaning on one of the walls.

The elevator stopped at the surface, and he squinted his eyes at the sunlight beaming down on him. It had, been a while. The many black helicopters were waiting for him. Though, it seemed that some of them were there already: subjects Leiko, Kazu, Yukio and Emiko. The others were still not here yet. 'This is quite nerve racking' he said aloud.

He winced, why couldn't he have a functioning inner monologue when he's nervous?

[Spartan919]

Early in the night, when Emiko had fallen asleep, Kai had quietly made his way to his own room, after recalling Rena to her Leash. Entering the room, he fell onto the bed, exhausted. He had, it seemed, made no great exertions, but the training Gizumon had taken an unexpected toll on his body. As soon as his body hit the bed, he fell asleep. He slept for some time, not caring whether he might have missed anything important. Kai felt strange sleeping on the bed; he hadn't slept on it in ages, but he was sure that Rena was glad for a short respite. She needed it; she had battled hard. [i]As long as she battles harder,[/i] was his last thought before drifting into unconsciousness.

Something woke Kai up, but he could not know what it was. He heard Yukio calling all members to a helicopter. Kai sighed, never a moment of rest. Deciding against a shower, he exchanged his older clothes for a cleaner outfit: black slacks, with his belt and black shoes, and a black button-up over a white t-shirt. He stared at himself in a mirror for a moment, studying his eyes, before leaving. He entered the elevator, and quickly made his way. Once he reached it, he saw that there were others present. He nodded to them all, and instinctually made his way over to Emiko. "How was your rest?" he asked her softly. He was afraid to bring up the headache, in case it was something personal.

[Hotaru987]

Emiko was in her own little world when Kai walked over to her asking her how she slept. She simply looked at him as she tried to figure him out. She couldn't understand why he was so interested in her. Not only did he talk to her but he saw her to her room, and even waited until she was asleep before leaving - or at least he was still there last she remember. No one had ever taken so much interest in her before....Emiko quickly came back to reality and nodded slightly to Kai. "Yes...It was fine. Also I want to thank you. For, you know, helping me yesterday." She said this quieter than normal, so quiet Kai would have to lean down to hear. "I would appriciate it if you didn't divulge this to the others...I am already a liability during battle, I do not need the others knowing."