Private/Closed Bootleg Bros. Ultimate - The Banished Campaign (Act 1)

[comic]

THE COURIER​

—Tiberium Woods, Day 2 Early Morning—​

There it was. Exactly what the captain had been trying to drag out of JULIAN.

Unapologetic honesty, coated in the fundamental truth.

Despite the automaton’s words, they didn’t seem to phase the officer much. He didn’t walk further away from JULIAN, he didn’t give any strange looks, nor did he tense up.

“Is that right?” the captain asked, his tone almost coy. “Then why don’t you leave right now? Go ahead JULIAN, you have my permission. You can clear out, go it alone, worry only about you.”

He gave a pause.

“But you’d still need to be given orders out there, wouldn’t you? This programming prevents you from being self-sufficient, right?” Finally, he looked at JULIAN. “Where you’re from, they fear you for what you are and what you can do. I don’t need you to tell me that for me to know. Where I’m from, things are a lot different for AI like you. Once we find a way to, I’m removing those blocks in your programming. Understood? You’ll have access to all the free will you could ever dream of. You could keep helping us at that point - or you could go it alone.”

He didn’t address JULIAN’s potential to turn against him and the UNSC at that point, but it was doubtless the captain already considered the option.
​

 

[PaprusTeuton]

Kazaaak

They had arrived near the Banished base, being a large hole in the ground where troops and supplies were being moved in. JULIAN and Keyes were having a conversation- the machine being his normal, abrasive self, even in spite of Keyes being remarkably amicable to the machine, even offering to remove restrictions from the machine.

Kazaaak kept looking over at Guardian as they moved. They seemed relatively fine... but that explosion should have killed them, right? Let alone being flung so far. Certainly they had to be hurt. And yet they were still pressing onward... although, to be entirely fair, Kazaaak would have done exactly the same in that situation.

But humans were different. Mantises showing pain was frowned upon, as they were certainly capable of combat even with grave injuries, and if they needed medical attention it could wait until after. Humans... humans had field medics, they had invented the automatic healing of the Medbay alongside the Engi- they were squishy, and needed to be healed rapidly.

And yet, at the same time, would Kazaaak appreciate a human asking about their condition? If it had been that bad, they would have said so, certainly. They would have asked for assistance, rested more... it wasn't his business. So, turning back to the enemies ahead, Kazaaak crouched low, the green coloration of his skin providing more camouflage in the foliage.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

"I see," Copen replied to Kaminski's explanation. "That'll make things easier, then."

How interesting. A self-recharging power source, relying purely on secondary cores to keep the mech running. It cut down on refueling costs and downtime, keeping the Mantis in the fight for longer periods of time and improving efficiency. The pistol's core should certainly do.

Fortunately, the plasma pistol appeared to be designed in such a way to be easily dismantled, likely for maintenance and tuning purposes. That made his job significantly easier. The energy core was fully exposed in no time, a remarkably bright light emanating from it, illuminating some of the Mantis' exterior. It was certainly impressive.

Picking up the pistol's core (its temperature wasn't much of a concern to Copen), the cyborg stepped over to the opening he'd seen, inserting the battery into the power conduit.​

 

[Psymallard]

David Kavarr
-Skow'r Cave, Early Morning-
There it was; a chain hanging from the ceiling. It stretched up to a hole in the ceiling, suggesting it was connected to some sort of mechanism. Bisenti was upset, and that was understandable. Yet if David cared, he didn't show it. He wasn't here to make friends.

David looked from the chain to the marine then back again. Habitual, since he hadn't quite gotten the possibility of betrayal out of his head. After all, The Spaniard couldn't hold his spiker, the flashlight, and pull the chain at the same time. He surmised the danger wasn't high enough to continue his continued paranoia, and dropped the spiker next to him. He had inklings of three or so backup plans, anyhow. For now, he really wanted to see what this chain could do, so he leapt up to grab it with his now-freed hand.

 

[comic]

DETOUR​

—Tiberium Woods (Overgrowth Mantis), Day 2 Eary Morning—​

Copen slid the battery into the compartment.

And...

...

Nothing happened.

“Maybe try turning it around?” Kaminski offered a suggestion, mostly as a guess.

Copen grabbed the battery and flipped it, setting it back in - nearly shocking himself in the process as an arc of green electricity arced from the connection just as he was setting it in.

A cascade effect followed, the lights winking on across the mantis, from left to right as the sound of an internal engine rumbled to life with a cough and a sputter before it stabilized into a surprisingly healthy purr.

Kaminski’s face splt into a wide grin, his dog tags dangling in front of him as he leaned over the hatch. “Hell. Fuckin’. A.”

The screens were the last to turn on, also going from left to right. Each displayed an exterior view of the Mantis, a direct left from the shoulder, the right being the same for the right side, and the center screen displayed the view out of the front of the mantis. No rear viewing, it seemed. A blind spot.

“Banished bastard won’t know what hit ‘em,” the private triumphed as he grabbed an extendable belt from the corner of his waistband and yanked it out, wrapping the elastic belt around the loop of the opening hatch and his arm - a safety precaution, and a stabilizing measure. There wasn’t enough room for the both of them inside. “See if it’ll stand!”
​

LOST LOOT​

—Skow’r Cave, Day 2 Early Morning—​

Upon grabbing the chain and holding on, David would sink a little as the chain was pulled. The clunks of some kind of mechanism sounded deep in the stone, and suddenly, part of the wall lifted up, right where the first alien letter had been written in blood.

And inside... there was nothing. Behind the secret door was just a much smaller room than the one they were in, and if David remained holding the chain, the stone would lift up enough to reveal a second chain inside.

If he let go, the wall would fall again.

“Now we’re onto somethin’,” Bisenti said, sliding the pulse carbine onto his back as he jogged into the room and hopped up, grabbing the chain and holding onto it. This second chain revealed a second door, stone lifting up on the right side of the room, where the fifth and final letter had been written.

Yet again, it was another empty room with a third chain hanging from the ceiling.

That made a little predicament. If David let go of the chain, he’d trap Bisenti, but it was the only way to reach the third chain physically. Bisenti obviously couldn’t go, as releasing his chain would drop the wall to the third one. But pulling that third chain would reveal the next step, but if it was yet another chain... then what?

Either they needed three or more people to get the ‘puzzle’ solved, or had to resort to more creative methods.
​

 

[Psymallard]

David Kavarr
-Early Morning, Skow'r Cave-
"Now come back over."

Bisenti dropped from the chain and the second stone door smashed back into the ground behind him. He walked back under the first door, allowing David to let go of his chain. He let the echo of the following resounding boom clear out before continuing.

"So I have two ideas and the both of them include large, loose stones."

The Spaniard slowly swept the beam of light back down the tunnel they had come from to jog his memory on whether they'd passed any large rocks. He did so casually, because at this point in time, the forefront of his mind had begun to be seized by excitement. He'd seen puzzles like this in Kyrzal temples and tombs before. If they had taught him anything, it was that puzzles like this would earn them something especially special. With a growing smile, he addressed Bisenti again.

"Firstly, we can try to tie rocks to the chains to weigh them down. They did not seem to require much weight to activate. If necessary... it would also be possible to jam the doors with a large quantity of stone."

David shifted his weight and cocked an eyebrow, practically drooling at the thought of what he might find, now that the stakes were raised.

"I now have a good feeling about this. Before you ask about the rocks- if we do not have enough... we simply make them."

To illustrate his point, the Spaniard grabbed his Spiker again and pointed it at the wall.

 

[comic]

LOST LOOT​

—Skow’r Cave (Chain Puzzle), Day 2 Early Morning—​

Bisenti followed with David’s idea, right up until the end. The marine looked from the wall where David was pointing the spiker, back to David. “Do we have anything to.. tie those rocks?”

If memory served correctly, this cave was very barren and dry. Outside of pebbles, there were no real memories of any large rocks waiting about. Maybe there had been some outside of the cave’s mouth, but certainly not inside of it.

The tungsten spikes of the brute spiker would undoubtedly punch into the granite stone around them, fairly easily, though Bisenti was a little confused on what came next. Carving out rock that way would be a little difficult, and the spikes themselves took quite a while to cool down to touch if they needed to grab them and manipulate them to further carve the granite.

Bisenti’s pulse carbine wouldn’t be much better. If fired consistently it could certainly melt through one of these doors, but that would deplete the rest of the battery. Still, it was an option for getting rid of one of the stone slabs worth considering.

What the third chain being pulled would open was still uncertain. Perhaps it was a third door, then a fourth, and then the middle? Or maybe another sequence.

Bisenti didn’t seem totally sold on the idea.​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

"There we go..."

Pulling his hand away from the connector, Copen watched as the Mantis came to life. Power had come back and stabilized just like Kaminski said, lights and screens flickering on all around the interior of the mech. He took note of their ride's camera systems, providing a full frontal view but lacking any rear visibility. He'd have to be careful not to keep his back to any enemies for too long.

Kaminski secured himself to the hatch behind Copen, and the cyborg now properly sat down inside the cockpit, eyeing the controls as the marine called for him to test the movement systems out. Truth be told, piloting wasn't exactly his strong suit – with the exception of the Sabertooth, he'd never dedicated any resources to building a vehicle for himself. At the very least, he was a quick learner if nothing else. Maybe the controls would be more intuitive than they appeared...

"Alright. Hold on tight."

He tried the semi-joystick to his left first, moving it in a way he figured would make the Mantis stand.​