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Post by Tom on Aug 1, 2013 22:21:13 GMT
Virgil Gyre stood in the QA firing range, he had a selection of guns ready before him, a set of ear defenders and some goggles as well. He had spent the best part of two weeks learning how to safely operate and maintain a range of firearms with a QA instructor; this wasn't easy for a man who hadn't even laid his hands on a black powder weapon let alone a modern gun. This was his first time in the firing range and he was a little apprehensive about it, especially after his instructor had made him watch a two hour film on the dangers of mishandling any firearm. Virgil picked up a Glock 9 pistol, loaded a magazine into the gun, took off the safety and aimed it down the range at the target mannequin. He spent a good hour working his way through all the various guns, firing off thousands of rounds of ammo until he was finally using an M60 heavy machinegun.
***
Dante Black casually strolled through the corridors of the QA whistling a happy tune as he walked. He knew that hanging around the portal room during his down time would pay off, now all he had to do was find the right quester. Most people would be off on various quests but he remembered Virgil mentioning something about going down to the firing range at breakfast that morning so he decided to go off and find him. It took Dante a lot longer then he thought it would to find the firing range, he felt sometimes like the corridors and rooms were able to change around at will just to mess with people. Eventually Dante walked into the firing range to find Virgil in one of the booths firing a massive machinegun; clearly his Talent enabled him to absorb a large amount of recoil from guns. Dante slowly snuck up on his friend, taking care to stay outside of Virgil's field of vision. Just as he was about to grab his friend, Virgil whirled around, gun in hand and aimed it at Dante's head. Seeing who it was, Virgil lowered his gun and chuckled. "Sorry Dante. Guess I still get a little twitchy every now and again" He chuckled Dante took a moment to compose himself then smiled at his friend. "I take it the training is coming along nicely?" Virgil made the gun safe and laid it down on the table along with his safety gear. "Yes it is for the most part but it's still a little odd using guns after spending so much of my life using swords but I guess I will get there in the end and it is a good way to kill time while I'm not questing" "Actually I have a little adventure in mind if you're interested?" "Always. What's the quest?" "It's not a quest per say; it's more a chance to help out one side in a fight for their lives. Basically a variant of Earth exists where gigantic aliens of unknown origins are coming to the Earth through a kind of portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, anyway these aliens are referred to as Kaijus and to combat them the human race has developed giant robots known as Jaegers. Now each Jaeger requires two pilots in order to operate effectively. What I am proposing is that we go to this variant, become Jaeger pilots and beat up Kaijus for a while" Virgil looked stunned, this was a very ambitious idea, no matter how fun it sounded; they could both end up in a lot of trouble. "Oh come on you're pulling my leg Dante. There's no way in hell that we could get away with this" "But what if we could? What if we could join the fight for humanity's survival? They need us Virgil and who are we to deny them our help?"
***
Dante and Virgil stood side by side facing the portal generator. "I still can't believe that you managed to get us clearance to go to this variant" Dante stood there with a large grin on his face. "Well nobody from here has been to this variant before and as we have nothing but good intentions in mind it was relatively easy. We just need to supress our powers and not take any weapons with us" They both stepped up to the portal. "I hate not having any weapons on me" Virgil admitted "Don't worry; we'll soon have a giant robot to smash aliens around with soon" Dante chuckled
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Post by Tom on Aug 2, 2013 18:50:35 GMT
Dante and Virgil emerged on a street close to Sydney Opera House. They couldn't see the ocean as they was a gigantic concrete wall, surrounding them as far as they could see. "What is that thing meant to be?" Virgil asked "The wall of life; they constructed it to keep the Kaijus out of this area" Virgil looked up at the wall. "Does it work?" He asked. Dante was about to answer when a series of loud klaxons sprung into life all around them. People started running far away from the wall, it looked like they were heading for a series of emergency bunkers. Both questers just watched the people flee then sat down on a bench as a number of helicopters flew overhead. "Did a couple of those look like news helicopters to you?" Dante asked Virgil shrugged; he still wasn't sure what a news helicopter was. "Sorry forgot that you are from a different time. Well if they're news helicopters then we can do this" Dante pulled a tablet computer out of his pocket, fiddled around with it for a few moments then held it so Virgil could see the screen as well. A breaking news broadcast showed live footage from one of the news helicopters as it filmed a Kaiju, which appeared to have some kind of ridge on it's head that resembled an axe blade; the Kaiju kept smashing the ridge into the wall. "That thing must be, what, three hundred feet tall?" Virgil asked "Yeah I'd say so" "What about these Jaegers then; shouldn't one be here to stop it?" "I don't know; I think this is the first time the wall has actually been tested so they may be holding the Jaegers back to see how the wall fares against a Kaiju" Dante looked around them then at the wall. "Come on; let's find a better vantage point" He said to Virgil
***
After almost an hour the Kaiju finally broke through the wall. It clambered down into Sydney Harbour amongst a waterfall of ocean water. The ocean waters cascaded down into the waters of the bay while the Kaiju started tramping its way into the city centre. Virgil and Dante were stood atop a skyscraper watching in awe as the Kaiju stomped past them. From the other end of the street came a white robot which was about 300 feet tall as well. "It's a Jaeger!" Virgil exclaimed happily Dante spared a look at his tablet computer. "Apparently it's called Striker Eureka and was developed here in Australia" Striker and the Kaiju met in the middle of the street. The Kaiju charged with it's head lowered so it's axe ridge went first. Striker was able to dodge out of the way down a side street and smashed a fist into the side of the Kaiju's head. "That punch must have been at over two hundred miles an hour!" Dante commented The Kaiju whipped its head to one side and was able to catch Striker with the side of its ridge. Striker fell back for a moment but soon recovered and punched the Kaiju again. The fight went on for nearly twenty minutes until Striker unleashed a number of missiles from inside a hidden set of launchers that were contained within its chest. The Kaiju fell to the ground dead and Virgil looked at Dante with a massive grin on his face. "Okay now I want to join up as a Jaeger pilot!" Virgil announced
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Post by Tom on Aug 5, 2013 13:20:00 GMT
"So where do we sign up?" Virgil asked "Not here and not now. I think we should go back a few years in time and join the fight then" "Won't that interfere with established events though? You know the QA rules that we all must obey" Dante sighed "I know it's just at this point there aren't many Jaegers left, well four to be precise; I overheard someone talking about it as we made our way through the city. If we go back in time though there will be more Jaegers around to pilot and we can be of more help to people" Virgil thought about it as they made their way downstairs. "Okay fine we go back in time and sign up to be Jaeger pilots but if the QA comes gunning for us, I'm blaming you"
***
They called for a portal and after a quick trip back to QA Headquarters they emerged in Wellington, New Zealand. They were close to a shop so Dante purchased a newspaper and started to flick through it. "Looks like we are eight years before the construction on the Walls of Life started. The Jaegers are being churned out of factories all over the world at a rapid pace. I think we've arrived in the right place and time" Virgil looked around them "Where do we start?" He whispered Dante pointed to a large recruitment poster outside. "Oh right, there then"
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Post by Tom on Aug 5, 2013 20:18:25 GMT
A drill sergeant walked in front of the crowd of prospective applicants; he was wearing a military uniform and carrying a large wooden staff in one hand. "All Jaeger pilots operate in pairs, in order for a pair to qualify they must demonstrate drift compatibility and to demonstrate that; well things are about to get rather physical"
Virgil and Dante got dressed in training clothes along with the others and given wooden staffs of their own before being led to a set of mats that had been arranged to form a combat area. All applicants sat on the border of the mats to await their turn. "Do we take it easy on them?" Virgil whispered "Nope. We win my friend" Dante replied quietly. It was an elimination competition with the winners staying on; Virgil and Dante were the third pair up to face the first pair who had were effectively dominating the competition. The combatants bowed to each other then assumed ready stances. Virgil and Dante both expert sword fighters held their staffs more like swords.
***
Two hours later Dante and Virgil were sat in the locker rooms having emerged victorious over the rest of the competition. They were breathing a little hard but they weren't completely knackered. The sergeant walked into the locker room and stood in front of them. "You two are some of the best prospective pilots that I have ever seen. I want you both in the Jaeger program" He told them He shook hands with both questers then left them to get ready to leave. "Well we're Jaeger pilots now buddy" Dante said happily "Don't we have to finish the program first?" Virgil asked "Details, details. Come on let's get cracking with this"
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