OOC: sorry officer norman no vertibird re-enforcements for you. The hands birds are in the city were an event is happening that will be elaborated on soon for now though your on your own.

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Aston stood as he saw his victorious forces returning with what could be mistaken for a mishapen sentry-bot. He was quickly breifed as to why the armourd man was in front of him and of his unwillingness to talk. Aston laughed at this part, if there was anything Aston was better at than stratergiseing then it was torture. " Everyone leave, get him out of this armour and into a jumpsuit. Aron, Jacob Richard and McCinley you stay. you should learn from this. Aston tied the Red Hand officer to the rails of a staircase in a squated position, anyone who has held this position long enough can appreciate this as a method of torture. " You have a lot of medals my freind. The Red Hand would surely be demorilised at losing such a senoir officer. let alnoe your....unique battle armour." Aston had no intention of killing the man but it was best for him not to know this. " Richard get that metal rod and heat it in the furnace." Richard walked over and started to twirl the rod in the fire, only he had seen Aston do this before. " Did you know Norman that i come from a long line of showmen. Most notably the famous Leonard the Hannonball Hulse. he was a bareknuckle boxer, but that wasnt the limit of his capabilities, no nowhere near. he used to do a trick you see where he would take a wite hot poker, has to be white hot red hot would shrivel it right up. Anyway he would take this poker and he would lick it. You have to have your mouth nice and wet though first, nothing like fear to dry it right up. Anyway its been a while since I saw this trick and I was wondering if you would indulge me. Richard the pole. thanks." Aston lowerd the poker to his tounge and licked the end the white hot metal almost cool on his tounge. " took me years to be able to do that and talk afterward." Aston looked towards Norman " Open wide."

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well done with all the posts guys, this is getting legs. Tayroc, alteast his character sheet was imageinative.

OOC: This starts from a bit of a way back.

IC: Jacob nodded at the Vulcan messanger. Apperantely Aron and Aston made it into the fortress and had been attacked by a group of Reds in the Command Center. He replaced his magazines and checked his guns over before moving towards the exit. Not five minutes later he was in the central building. The place stank of blood, bodies piled high. Some were Vulcans and Cyphers, but mostly they wore the red and black of the Hand. Jacob waded through the bodies and spent shell casings for a while before coming to a staircase and furnace. It appeared as though this area was meant to be a kitchen of some sort. Broken tables lay scattered among the ruins of the room. Groans of soldiers breathing their last could be heard down the hall. It was a desperate cry of pain from men who had seen the end of their lives. And they feared it.

A loud yell sounded through Jacob's mind. It echoed down the stairwell that he was standing next to only a few seconds ago. What was worse was that it sounded like Aron. Jacob braced himself to the left of the staircase as a Red, presumebly high ranking, bolted down the stairs. Jacob flew from his position, holding his arm out like a bar, and feeling the throat of the man as he ran right into it. His momentum betrayed him as the man fell on his back. He barely had time to roll to his side and pull back into a corner before Aron came down after him. Jacob and Aron approached slowly, guns readied. He planted the laser from his P230 right on the man's forehead and was ready to move in for a takedown when he heard the clink of a grenade. He dove to his right as the explosion rocked the room. When Jacob managed to get back up the man was kneeling next to a wall, holding his head in pain. He rushed forward and whipped the man in the back of the head with his pistol.

Not ten minutes later Aston had caught up with them and had began torturing the Red. Jacob watched as the man screamed in pain as Aston's blows connected with his face and he placed a white hot slab of metal near the man in a taunting way. 'I hope this guy gets the codes soon, I've got a really bad feeling about our homecoming,' Jacob thought as he realized that the Reds in the city would become suspicious of anything that moved once they lost contact with the fortress.

OOC darn it I guess I'm just going to have to give you the codes...

It was absolutely terrible. The sound he had thought was reinforcements had given him hope, but it was just a false alarm. So this is it then, thought Norman. Perhaps if I give them the codes they would let him go. He was a high ranking officer after all. No that wouldn't do, the barbarians would probably just kill him. He shifted uncomfortably, his wrists were getting sore. Then he saw their leader, Aston get a metal Rod and heat it up until it was white hot his wrists would be the least of his problems. Franticly the colonel searched for a way out. There are too many to risk a direct escape guards were everywhere and they were all highly skilled. Just as Aston said "open wide!" Norman shout "wait no! I'll give you the codes!" he gave them codes all right, but not necessarily the right one. "91749" It would activate a gas chamber that would kill the person who typed in the code unless he had the override. It just might be the only way out, bargaining.

Aston was disspointed, he wanted to break this man. He reeked of all the problems the Red Hand caused the people of the wastes, he was profiting from other peoples suffering while hiding behind high spec armour. " Very wise colnel, but i wouldnt want you to forget the lesson you just learned." Astons voice was silky and condesending. without looking away from the Red he said " Jacob hold out our freinds palms." The senior Cypher officer obliged and Aston slowly layed the bar across the officers palms, the burning skin hissed and the smell of burning flesh pervaded the room. after 10 seconds Aston removed the bar leaving horrible burns in normans palms. " Aron bandage his hands and prep the men for dismantleing the bomb." Aron hurried off to his tasks. "Oh, and norman. If you have tricked me in anyway i gaurentee that you will be maimed in such ways that you will wake up angry that you are not dead. so if you wish to own up to anything do it now."

Aston was unsure the man could be trusted, he was scared there was no doubt about that But underneath the fear he wasnt broken, he still had a measure of pride and disgusting complacencey. Aston would send in a small recon unit of about five and intrust them with the codes, if there was any trickery then the loss would be cosmetic only. Aston turned to the Cypher officer he was starting to trust, he had a very dangerous breif and he fulfilled it, Aron was very attached to him that would be a problem. Aston saw the young rebel as a weapon, a weapon that the red hand would be very vunerable to, the one thing the Vulcans didnt have in comparisson to the hand was vertibirds, what better a remedy than gigantic flies, maybe the could form some sort of rudimentery bomber. " So Jacob, what do you think of the Vulcan force? we are always recruiting you know."

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very tierd, will correct in the morning.

Jacob laughed briefly at the comment. Seeing the Vulcan officer's peeved glare gave him enough reason to be serious. "I'm not really affiliated with anyone. You see, Cypher is just a means to an end, as Vulcan is too. My role in this world is to restore peace and order. Yours is to make everyone see things your way. And the Hand's is to eliminate any threat and clean up their messes." Jacob let his opposite mull this over before continuing. "Cypher was simply my first choice because it had the simplest and most feasable goals. Vulcan seeks to destroy the hand, Cypher, and change the entire world. I just want this conflict to end." Jacob glanced at Aron, and then Robert before moving on. "I am glad to be your ally, and I hope it stays this way. But if you don't think that I know the real reason why you want this station secured, you have seriously underestimated me." Jacob gave Aston a stare with all of the power he could muster. "You weren't like this back in the old days. Back when we were part of a team. Don't you remember Bravo squad? What happened to the Golden Boy of Airclaw?"


OOC: You do realize what else these bombs can be used for, right?

Things were not working out the way Norman had expected. Not only did he get burned they sent a recon team instead of going and inputing the code personally. These uncivilized barbarian mutants were everything the red hand stood against! Aston was a hypocrite, how dare he talk about knowing chivalry and honor! The bomb could not be lost for it was the one thing that could restore order and peace once again. It could destroy all of these mutants! However at the time being he was at their mercy. The alternative, wait no! I won't resort to surrender, I won't give in! Thought Norman. Then Aston said "If you wish to own up to any thing, do it now."At that point he realized that there was only one way out,death. Then Norman said to Aston,"I challenge you to a duel, I would rather die with honor now than to live as a coward!" Somehow now that he had devoted himself to the challenge, his fear of death was gone. Replaced by the anger to kill Aston. There would be no other option.

Aston looked at Jacob and rememberd, his old squad mate.Suddenly it all came flowing back, the raids the brotherhood and mateship, the vanquished foes and climbed mountains. They had both chaned alot and matured with age. Both of the old campaigners had that world wary stare that came with to much spilled blood. "He died in that raid alond with Yzabelle" Aston was about to say more when he heard the captives challenge. He turned around and felt an unbridled rage unkown to him since he beat the raider who killed his father to death. "A duel boy?..... if you knew what that meant to me i would strike you down where you stood. In the name of my father i accept your challenge but as a common curtosey, that quite frankly you dont deserve i will let your palms heal first. As you challenged me i will choose the means of combat, unarmed no guns. I wish to enjoy your death." In that mooment the Red Hand Officer crystalised into a manifestation of every cruel stab life had taken at him, Norman was the raider that killed his father, the soldier who murderd Ysabelle, the arms dealer who had betrayed him. Aston flung two darts at the wall either side of his head to illustrate his rage." he walked past Norman and punched him full on in the gut, the officer doublde over to the floor, " youre death will bring peace to the wastes and joy to my heart." the words were spat with all the venom of a radscorpion.

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OOC: Officer norman ill PM a vauge outline of the way the duel plays out, I decided not to kill Aston.

Meh, tayroc's ending was better

Norman saw a look of pure hate from Aston and knew that he wasn't going to be able to win without something short of the miracle. He threw a punch at his Jaw and that initiated the duel. Norman wasn't an officer for nothing though so he put a a decent fight. Norman was fighting for is life throwing punches,kicks, and elbows at Aston. However it wasn't enough, first Aston disabled him by breaking his arm with a well placed elbow. Then time seemed to slow as Aston pounded him hard in the chest and finished it with a good stomp! The fight seemed to barely last five seconds! If only it was a pistol duel! Norman felt something in his throat and coughed it out to find blood. Norman backed up and looked at the onlooking crowd. Every one of them was looking at him with what seemed to be disgust and hatred. Then he looked at all those who had died fighting. Was it worth fighting this hard? The answer was, yes If no one stood up against the forces of chaos and anarchy. Civilization would be lost forever. As he saw it, the Red hand was the upholders of law and order. So Norman stood up, blood was dripping from his mouth, his once proud and grand uniform was ripped up and dirty. The anger was gone from Norman, burned out. As he stood a feeling of calmness took over, he only felt regret that he only had one life to give for the Red hand. Norman closed his eyes and thought If this is the end, I know that I did my best to stop them.

OOC I feel like the odds are pretty much stacked up against me. :mellow: ok now is it just me? you may go ahead and pound my char to death, or not

the fight with Norman was quick, the rage that Hulse had fought for so long had burst out all at once on the one focal point of the Red Hand officer. Norman was quick and landed a few blows to Aston face and ribs but Aston was to pumped with adrenaline to alow the the man to fight back he began to pummel him breaking his arm with his elbow and downing him multiple times punching and kicking at the bloody mess of Normans face, the Anger still building within Aston, he went to finsh the fight with a quick blow to the neck but suddenly he felt arms on his back as he was dragged away from the fight, he turned to see who had denied him his victory and the blood he wished to spill. As he turned his feelings of anger and hate turned to betrayel and isolation as both of the men that at one point or another fought along side Aston as brothers Richard and Jacob restraind him. Aston tried to struggle out of their hold but they were to strong as a group, in a final act of desperation Aston threw a bone dart at Norman hoping for the best, but the dart just whistled past and embeded itself in the far wall. Aston's anger grew until he felt the blackness of the F.E.V induced coma deep inside him and he fell to the blackness.

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OOC: Norman send me a PM of where you would like your character to go from here, i try and give people as much control of their characters as possible on here and i would like your input. Does anyone know if Reidster338 still wants to carry on with this its been a while.

They left Norman on the side of a road with all the other survivors with a message, "The Red hand has been beaten in a major battle". Things couldn't be worse for Norman he had suffered humiliation at the hands of the Vulcan and Cypher. I will return! I will kill every last one!. There had only been four survivors, remnants of his unit and himself. Norman looked in a nearby puddle and saw the bandages on his face. He hoped that he would be able to see through his left eye when they remove them. Suddenly Norman a few vehicles that the red hand used to patrol the wastes! The burst of fearlessness that had taken over was gone now. He just wanted to survive the war and get his revenge.

3 hours later

After getting a few stimpaks at the infirmary and getting debriefed Norman was informed that there was still no news of Fort Constantine but news from Red Haven was slowly trickling through to the base he was at. Something big was happening and he couldn't stay still. " I need a company of infantry to mount up and get to Red haven now!" Whatever was happening he would be there. Then the matter of the Bomb he was guarding, Norman hoped that they wouldn't get through the door. The Battle was over, but the war was just heating up.

Im here but I havent had alot of time to post. :mellow:

Jacob stood around the corner from the blast door that hid the bomb within it. After two failed attempts to open the door, and several deaths, he was quickly advised to sit in a safe area. He wasn't given a choice, however. As he began to protest against the young Vulcan's "Suggestion", antoher snuck up behind him and had hit him with a shock stick. It was basically a rod of electricity that the Red HAnd had been using for close-quarters combat. Seconds after he was struck Jacob was back up and working faithfully on taking the Vulcan down. A knee to the groin and and elbow to the back of the head was all it took. He glared at the other one before stating simply "Don't try it again." He now glanced around the corner as the door's locking mechanism's whirred back and forth and shut down again. A small stream of fire burst out of the jets adjacent to it, again, and hit one of the Vulcan techs. He jumped, shocked, before running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Finally someone blasted him with some water, for the third time in twenty minutes. The stench of burning gas was heavy on the air as the tech reluctantly returned to work, muttering curses all the way. Jacob was supposed to be waiting for Aston and Aron to return from dropping that Red Officer somewhere.

It wasn't for another hour before the door finally opened slowly and troops began to proceed into the opening. Jacob immediatly halted them, telling them that they were to wait for Aston's return while he moved ahead. He grabbed the last two Cypher's and moved through the access way.
"Hopefully that lie will keep them off my back for a bit."
He moved through corridors, occasionally setting up small traps that would disable the Vulcans for a short time. When he had finally reached the Bomb room he removed the access panel to a warhead that appeared to be the bomb. He first removed the Anti-Mutagen that would eliminate the mutants in the wastes, then went to work disabling the bomb. The process would take him a while. He could only hope that he would finish before Aston showed up.

Aron and Aston were making their way back to Fort Constantine. They had just dumped of the Red Hand soldier after dragging him for about half a mile. Aron knew they needed to get back to Red Haven and figure out what was happening. Aron was thinking, hard. He knew the Vulcan wanted to use the bomb to make more mutants in the wastes, while the Cypher wanted to completely disable the bomb. They made their way through the blood covered grass towards the main door, avoiding bodies the whole time. They entered through the door and walked towards the bomb storage. Aron hadn't made up his mind. He thought both groups had pros and cons. Aron opened the door and walked through. The Vulcan soldiers were outside. Aron couldn't spot the Cyphers.

Then i showed up and set those [censored] nukes off and hit [censored] china ahahahaha lock pick 600 science 500 and repair 5000

When Norman arrived at Red Haven they discovered that there were widespread fires set by hidden Cypher and Vulcan troops. The vertibird hangar bays had been hit by a large explosion, so in response troops were sent out in the city districts to search for them. Then the Vulcans and cypher troops who hadn't been sent to fort Constantine got scared and struck out. The result was terrifying, all the city's criminals and scum thought the Red Hand was looking for them too so they started shooting. The entire city was in chaos. Seeing as there was nothing he could do except for wait, Norman went to high command to request a counter-attack on the Fort. As Norman was entering the city a angry mob got in his way so he ordered a volley to be fired over their heads. They scattered and left immediately and went to bother some other people. As he passed by a burning house Norman stopped and realized that it was his family's house! Norman ran towards it but all of a sudden in a large explosion rocked the house as the fire consumed it completely. Norman was in complete shock, he could even hear the screams. He let out a loud cry of anger. That's another wrongdoing the mutants had done to him! He sped to HQ quickly and commandeered several battlesuits and got an entire regiment! On his way out the quartermaster demanded to know what was going on and Norman simply just said "I have a job to do" and shoved him aside. Even with such a large force, the chance of victory was slim, the mutants had many superpowers of many types and variety. Only superior tactics would prevail.

OOC: bloody hell we do have some imageineative bunnies here today. Well done everyone for the contributions

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" What do you mean he went in alone, you were under strict orders to keep him secure until i arived and now he has unresticted acces to MY bomb!!!!!!!" Aston strode paset the private and started the walk towards the bunker. If Jacob had had enough time to remove and destroy both vats of the anti-mutigen then his work would be ruiend. The whole battle would have been pointless, Aston felt a rage wprse than that he had beaten out onto the red hand officer, how could Jacob his old teamate have betrayed him so. Dead Vulcan soldiers lay on the ground, Jacob had set off traps to slow his arival. Aston strode on traps didnt work on him as he simulated every hallway a million times a second as he went. eventualy his walk came to and end and he came upon the glorious sight of the two warheads, they were huge death radiated of them like a cool breeze. At that moment Aston was more sure of his convictions than ever before, these old weapons of war would be the wastelands salvation. Jacob had his back turned to Aston pointig a gun and barking orders at two technitions running around trying to remove the last vat. Aston walked up to about ten metres away from Jacob, the two gaurds behind him in tow. " Going against the wish of a supior commanding officer officer is insubordanation, this crime shall be punishable by death as it undermimes the concept of brotherhood and all AIRCLAW strives to achive. " his voice echoing in the cavernous room. " You have forgoten our first law my freind. I will give you a chance to explain your actions before I carry out the sentence." a voice came over Astons communicator, it was something about red haven and rogue troops, Aston was focusd only on Jacob. "Why?" the word fell from Astons mouth with confusion and hurt.

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OOC: Norman, could you hold back just a little and let the rest of us catch up with you, red haven is a clear plan of mine that will make the RP. cheers

Jacob looked back at Aston's troops, surprised that he had arrived so quickly. The sheer amount of stun traps should have held him back for an hour at least. It didn't matter now though, the wasteland was safe....-er. "Don't you remember the day that these bombs first fell? The day that THEY! Our ENEMIES! Released this POISON! Into our lives. Do you remember the hundreds of thousands of innocent people that lived in the outlying settlements? Of Which only 300 survived! Now that this area has finally begun to recover you plan to do exactly what we had fought against! We are supposed to be HEROES! Aston! What are we accomplishing in killing these people. You KNOW that the Virus has a very low tolerance rate. No experimentation on its structure could ever counter-act that! If you launched this bomb, there wouldn't be anyone left for your 'Government of 'Peace'!" Jacob looked around at the troops about him. He was ready to kill everything. Rage flooded through him, barely restrained. He closed his eyes and thought of his friends, and of his dreams. They gave him peace. He calmly added in. "Why are we fighting over something that will undo all of your plans before they even begin? When we should be fighting the threat that is still lying back in Red Haven!" He looked at Aston's fuming face, hoping that he would see reason. While he did this he put his hand into his pocket where a trigger lay that would detonate a small charge withing the shells of the bombs. It would end this threat permanently, but might also kill everyone in the room. Jacob didn't want to do it. He really didn't. But if Aston wouldn't give up on this foolish mission, then Jacob would have to for him. "Please, do what's right, old friend." And then he added in for a little measure of effect. "And by the way, you weren't my superior in AIRCLAW. I was one of the Original Five."

" AIRCLAW failed Jacob, we failed, I failed." his voice was filled with hurt, denials and truths felt like they were about to flood out of Aston but he didnt hold back. " You wouldnt know how it feels to have all you worked for in your life stripped from you, all the good in your soul vanquished and ripped away replaced only by the power to hurt." Aston felt the past explodeing out wards " And for all that power i couldnt protect her. " Astona anger evaporated replaced with remorce and sadness at the memories of Yzabelle. " All i wanted was to give others the chance to protect themselves, to be free from the pain i felt. " Aston for the first time in years felt a feeling almost alien to him, defeat. " You win Jacob destroy the vats. I just want the whole thing over. " Aston felt hollow inside, all of his doubts fears, regrets ripping past his defences, he felt tierd, old. " I am sorry Jacob I got myself caught up in my vision for the wastes and forgot what i was fighting for, will you still fight with us, the Hand wouldnt stand a chance against the full remnants of AIRCLAW" Aston felt lighter, younger. "Jacob i need to know one thing though, when i was in the coma i felt it when Yzabelle died. Did she have any last words or wishes? " Aston dismissed the soldiers and turned to leave.

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OOC: get readey for a nicer Aston. BTW the ranks aston was talking about were specific to that battle

Jacob clapped his old friend's shoulder in encouragment. "I believe that we have all lost sight of the true objective. While it would be nice to see a world that truly accepts all of us, mutant and non, I believe that we could and should find their trust through good, not evil. Seeing this change of heart I would be glad to join you in our mission." Jacob pointed to the Cypher techs that had been spared by the Vulcan's arrival and signaled for them to finish their work. " Let's get out of here. There is work to do in Red Haven." He started towards the exit, the smell of death and sulfur left behind. He turned back to Aston before leaving. "I'll be honest, I don't remember her that well. Her face has become vague to me over the years. But I do remember Ysabell's last words. She told us to tell you not to lose hope and to keep on fighting. She loved you more than anything Aston. Your decision today will make her proud."

Aron stood watching. A flood of relief spread through him as he realized Aston and Jacob would no longer have tense feelings towards another. He chuckled to himself, remembering his father talk to him about AIRCLAW. His vision flashed and then he was there. Inside the memory that had seemingly been locked away. Sitting in front of his father in the small three room dwelling in Rivet City.

"We had put up a great fight". Aron was sitting opposite his dad. Aron's father was an old looking man. His beard was covered in gray hairs. His saggy skin looked like his face was peeling of in little bits. "They were to strong. The virus spread fast and we couldn't prevent its effects. I was one of the few that didn't completely get exposed to it. But when it got to me, the pain was horrid. The transformation felt even worse as my body's cells were drastically exposed to the dangerous virus. That's why my face looks so scary." He choked out a stiff laugh and looked at me with his young eyes. "We had put up a great fight."

Now he was sitting in his bed, wide awake listening to the noises in the kitchen right next to him.

"You know it effected him!" yelled his mother. "Yes I know. But it doesn't mean he will ever get straight contact with the virus again. I'm not even sure there is any of the virus left." his fathers voice was weak, afraid.
"How can we be sure. You have no idea what could happen if he gets near it. He could go insane. Insane." his mother sounded more angry now.
"As long as he never ventures father than the river he should be fine. The brotherhood would never let it get near here."
"I can't risk it. We're moving to a safer place."

Back, again. They were packing up getting ready to leave. They would head back to Red Haven. To hopefully end the rebellion once and for all against the Red Hand.

Norman had underestimated wasteland. His regiment was lost in the area known only as "death sands" It was well named for the terrain was difficult to navigate and there were still a slow but steady amount of rads. Norman kept his radaway and rad-X to himself soon many people were getting sick. Naturally when the men heard of him hoarding supplies they came to him in a mutiny! "We're dieing here! Give it to us or we'll make you!" Norman was faced with no choice but to calmly take his shotgun out and blow the mutineers brain out! The rest of the rebels then surged forward, however their weakened state allowed Norman to backpedal and kill them one by one. Afterward the remaining troops in the regiment (a good 500 had sided with him) were down to 200 troops. We haven't even fought the enemy yet and we're down by so many! When the got back out Norman would remember that the wasteland was still a dangerous place to be.

OOC: very sorry guys but i may not be able to post for a while, im in rehabliltation after being hit by a car. im only up for very short periods at the moment not enough time to write properly. If its not to much to ask could NYAgohst please take over Aston for a while.

OOC: No problem at all. If you have any suggestions for Aston's behavior throughout any events thatmay happen, or a guideline for certain events, just send me a PM when you can. Get well soon!

OOC: hope you get better soon