Aegis Team Base

[Jonny]

ENTER

Jonny lugged the various boxes in and out of various buildings. He then had to transport all four zoids - that was the Saberlion, Houndsoldier (Bare), Iron Kong, and Pteras into the Warehouse using the Gustav.
The base shield generator was soon up and running as well, and thus as a result were the automatic defense turrets, and the base-wide shield. Of course there was a 'door' that formed to allow access with permission granted by any of the team.
Odd, Jonny hadn't even properly unpacked when he'd had to take down the Blaze Team banner, and put up the Aegis Team's. Still he didn't care though, besides now it'd be easier to manage - afterall it was a pretty big base.
"So, what do you think?"

[Jonny]

Jonny then looked round to see that 1) Max wasn't standing there as he had expected 2) The Warehouse was gone, instead replaced by a factory and a Hangar - cool but annoying and 3) His point card had suddenly gained a 50 point increase.
"Geez, the guy could at least say when he's selling off my stuff. Next thing I know the Gustav will have disappeared on me. Though I must admit those movers are fairly impressive in their work."
He then considered the 50 point increase, maybe he could find something worthwhile at the shops. Not much was 50 points, but as they say - every little helps.
"Alright fine, I'll do a little shopping, and besides I might as well test out the Iron Kong." He said hopping into the huge ape zoid. It was certainly different from the Saberlion, but similar enough for him to get it moving. As he left the base went into full lockdown - noone was getting in without one of the access codes, and only each team member knew theirs.

EXIT

[Marcus Takumi]

(Okay, Max pretty much gave me the thumbs up to post here, considering I nearly died in the desert. XD)

<unconscious/enter>

Where am I? Is this... a dream?

Marcus was floating around now, in total darkness. His body like jelly, he really couldn't move any part of himself. He felt weightless, empty, filled with a sort of melancholy that not even the most emo of emopunk bands could match. No light was visible for miles upon miles of inky blackness, voices slightly filling his head before slowly vanishing to nothing. The last noise he heard was a loud and painful explosion.

Oh yeah... That's right -- Vee got trashed...

Slinking back into his mental darkness, he felt almost as if he was going to be taken in by Death himself, his cold grip was practically slithering down his spine now. His face was serene in expression, not a single wrinkle, bruise, or cut was seen. Was he really... dead?

<conscious>

A bright light filled the sudden void of darkness, which instantly transformed into the image of a well-furnished bedroom, complete with setting sunlight drifting into an open window, draped in red curtains. Marcus shot up, nearly screaming his head off in total confusion before wincing in agony; his body felt like it had been burned. Looking down at himself, he could see his left arm, thrown into a sling, and took notice to the sudden covering of his right eye and most of his face, as his attempts to shout were negated by rolls upon rolls of gauze.

Jerking his head downward in despair, he had recollected that his precious Rev Raptor, Vee -- the Zoid he had practically grew up with during the extremely limited training he did during his stay with his master -- had been totalled. Destroyed. Gone. Sorry I couldn't pull off a win, Vee... he thought, slowly forcing his right arm to move up to his mouth and tear off the gauze covering his lips.

Hearing the sounds of beeping, he looked towards his left -- an electrocardiograph machine. He was obviously being monitored now, noticing several IV injections leading to his left arm, and nodes being connected to an exposed, tan and slightly muscular chest. Flinging himself backwards into his pillow in frustration, he pondered two possible scenarios. One) was Marcus in a hospital? And two) would the person he fought -- the one with the Houndsoldier -- come in to brag and gloat his victory?

Turning on his side, ignoring the burning pain shooting up his right arm, he closed his eyes, trying to drift off to sleep. His optimistic personality had disappeared for the time being, as he really didn't want to deal with anyone at this point. He was too frustrated to concentrate on anything positive for the time being, and he probably didn't want to hear anything from the other boy; should karma bite him in the ass and allow him to show up in the room he lay in.

<fakesleep>

[xX Max Xx]

[/b] muttered Max to himself, referring to the Shield Liger he was piloting. He was actually surprised at how fast they delivered the Zoid, but surely he was happy about it. This was especially since the Zoid proved to be a formidable replacement for his Houndsoldier, which had been totalled in a match the day before. Max was in a training field of sorts, basically a wasteland with no one to hinder him testing his weapons.

He would thrust the controls forward, sending the Shield Liger into a highspeed sprint across the sand. Max would proceed to shift the controls, causing the Shield Liger to shift into a leap, landing rather smoothly before going back into a sprint. Shifting the controls once again, Max would make the Shield Liger leap forward, but this time he would make sure it landed on its front paws, using them to spin the Zoid's body around.

Once its feet were planted in the ground, Max would unload the weapons, testing a single missile on a nearby tree. Then he would do the same with the AMD Double-Barrelled Beam Cannon mounted on the Shield Liger's back as well as with the Anti-Zoid Double-Barrelled Beam Gun mounted on its tail. If one were observing from the sides, Max looked like a kid with a new toy, and that's exactly how the youth felt in terms of happiness.

Adjusting the controls, Max would make the Shield Liger lunge at a tree, first with its Strike Claw. The claw would bash through the tree, and Max would make the Shield Liger catch the falling upper portion with its Laser Sabres, biting straight through. The remaining piece of tree would find itself struck by the Shield Liger's Anti-Zoid Shock Cannon. Once done, it would triumphantly stand in place, emitting a roar.

"Phew," muttered Max, wiping imaginary sweat from his forehead with a wide grin on his face. "So this is the Shield Liger, huh? This Zoid's way too awesome. I dub thee... 'Mufasa!'" continued Max, the Zoid roaring upon being named as if denoting it took pride in the moniker. Turning it around, Max would make the Shield Liger sprint back to his team base. After all, he did need to check on his unconscious guest.

After some time of travel, Max would park his Shield Liger in the base's Hangar patting the Liger's control console before hopping out. It was a habbit of his that he developed while piloting the Houndsoldier, for Max always felt the need to let his Zoid know he appreciated it. Perhaps that was why he normally got positive responses from his Zoids in and out of combat, but either way he still had a matter to attend to.

Entering his teams barracks, he would slink into the room that he had left his unconscious guest in. Marcus was lucky Max could find a denizen in the area with medical training to patch him up, or he probably would have been a goner. Well, maybe that's a stretch. But at least now the guy could have comfort in knowing his wounds were treated. Max would knock, of course, before entering in, seeing the guy in his sleep.

"Eh, still haven't woken up? I hope it's not a coma..." muttered Max to himself, plopping down into a chair in the room. He would grab a remote nearby and turn on the wall-mounted television. Every room in the barracks had one, for both recreation and for when Max needed to reach his teammates. It was really just a large monitor, but for the sake of what it was mostly used for, everyone considered it a tv. He would breeze through the channels, volume tuned down to not perturb his guest.[/ul][/ul][/sup]

[Marcus Takumi]

Marcus' silence, to his dismay, was instantly erupted by the knocking/creaking of a door. Instantly, and as swift as a master ninja, he slammed himself onto his back so that he looked as if though he had never moved from his place before Max -- the boy from the day before -- had entered. In your face, creaking doorways! mentally whooped Marcus, imagining himself fist-pumping in victory against the noisy, wooden door.

He hadn't heard him fully, but he did hear Max muttering something about being in a coma, which Marcus had mentally conjured images of him beating the living hell out of the boy. I'll put you in a coma for destroying my Vee! raged Marcus mentally, making absolutely no face nor eye movements whatsoever.

All he could hear was the sound of a chair being pulled up and sat upon, shortly after, the sound of a low-volume television monitor being turned on. Damn it, this kid annoyed Marcus as of now; though he really didn't do anything wrong -- other than take his only Zoid away from him and send him into the hospital! Wanting to practically maul his face off at this point, the bandaged mechanic simply lay there, in coy patience, simply waiting for Max to either say the wrong thing or simply leave, hoping for the latter rather than the former.

All this kid did was flip channel after channel after freaking channel, as if he were using his mere presence to practically scream "I owned you, noob, and you can't do jack squat about it!" And to be quite honest, it got on Marcus's nerves. Ever-so-slowly, he clenched the right hand, which was invisible to Max's current vision, and clenched it into a tight fist, keeping his heart-rate purposefully calm so that the ECG machine didn't go haywire. Unfortunately, that didn't go so well, as it only slightly increased in beats -- from one blip per 2 seconds to one blip per 1.8 seconds -- not much of an increase. Mentally sighing in defeat, he had enough of this guy.

"What do you want?" sourly demanded Marcus, obviously agitated with Max's presence. His optimistic personality was completely buried at this point, and with good intention, too -- he nearly died, and his only Zoid doesn't exist now.

"If you wanna brag, make it quick. I'm starting to wish I had been in a coma."

[Jonny]

"Excuse me? But if anyone has bragging rights - its me!" Jonny yelled as his face literally appeared on every screen on the building, and could be heard from every direction. This was because before becoming the base for the Aegis Team, it had been the Blaze Team's, and as such Jonny had been the one responsible for hardwiring every square inch of the buildings, and had done the same to the ones Max had bought before leaving to find the Ultrasaurus. Needless to say he was back, sitting in the cockpit of the humongous Zoid as the shield around the base lowered to allow access. The Iron Kong was currently in one of the hangars on the Ultrasaurus, and had been completely fixed up after climbing up the mountains.

The zoid was huge, if not massive. It had several zoid hangars, a launching cockpit built into its long neck to send out little reconnaisance drones, though he believed it could be modified for zoid usage as well. Then there was the 360 Hyper Energy Shield, Radar, Communications Antenna, Hyper Killer Fangs, 360mm Linear Cannon (4), Eight-Shot Missile Launcher, AZ Six-Shot High Manoeuvre Missile Pods (2), AAZ 90mm Triple-Barrelled Pulse Laser Gun (2), AAZ 100mm Double-Barrelled Beam Gun (2), AAZ Two-Shot Manoeuvre Missile Launcher (2), and AAZ 120mm Beam Cannon (2). The thing was quite literally a moving Fortress. Albeit very slowly at only 50 kmh, but still a Fortress.
"I busted my ass climbing up a MOUNTAIN to get this thing, that and I've got to bring the crew up to speed after they've been frozen for nearly a century!" He said referring to the 8 strong crew that he'd pull out of the cryogenic tubes. 3 of them were female and the other 5 male, each one specialised in medicine, engineering, hand-to-hand, zoids combat, cooking, bridge commands, firefighting, and other rescue skills. They were few - but elite for what they were worth.

They'd even made new uniforms for themselves - since they were now working for the Aegis Team, as Jonny had invited them. The uniform was even being worn by Jonny himself: A Grey set of combat trousers with a Grey Jacket, and dark boots. The shirt was still a person preference however. It had the symbol of the team on the back with the name underneath it, and the owner of the uniform had their stitched on the front.
The Shield for the base came up once more as the Ultrasaurus barely fit inside. He was gonna have to expand it later. He turned his chair around, so that it faced the bridge, and looked at the three of the crew there. Thomas Gaiden, Nia Tembolt, and Alice Gracelight were monitoring the zoids current state.
"Status report."
"Engine finally copped out, Bill's trying to get it back up online though. Kinda expected it though - we may have been frozen but the Ultrasaurus was left to rust for WAY too long. Its gonna take at least a few days to get this thing fully operational again. Weapons'll take even longer." Thomas said as he brought up a live feed of the engine on the round table in the center of the bridge.

Bill Darren could be seen on it, sweating like a Pig being roasted in five separate ovens.
"A few days?! Try weeks! And even then thats not counting the weapons as you put it."
"Well then I guess if we got her help we might get it done in time." Nia suggested, if only she knew the reaction she was about to get.
"You mean Melissa? As in Melissa Hellder?! AS IN THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED ME FOR MY MONEY?! THEN ABANDONED ME IN THE DESERT?! AND STILL HASN'T EVEN ONCE APOLOGISED?!?!?!? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!??!?!?!?!?!?!!"[/u][/i][/color]
"No shes just the person who isn't out of luck when it comes to interacting with the opposite sex." Melissa - a beautiful 24 year old woman with a rather large bust and black hair - said appearing in a nightgown near the engine, examined it for a few seconds and said. "Give me two days - I'll get it done."
"Thanks Melissa, but ARE you ever gonna apologise to Bill?"
"Maybe." She said cutting off the connection. Before Jonny simply facepalmed, before returning to what he was saying to Max.
"And by the way - who's the emo?"

[xX Max Xx]

[/b] groaned Max, hearing the rather agitated sound of his guest. Standing to his feet and walking over to Marcus, Max would let out a sigh. It was somewhat of relief, seeing as the guy actually woke up but also out of irritation at his attitude. But he supposed it couldn't be helped if that was how Marcus decided to feel.

"I busted my ass haulin' yer ass here. You're not the only one who lost their Zoid in that fight. And I ain't talkin' 'bout leg damage either, my Houndsoldier went up in flames just like your Zoid."

Max would cross his arms, ready to speak some more before he found himself interrupted by the loud yell of a familiar voice. It was Jonny, who seemed to be back with a new Zoid. Wait, was that? How the hell did that kid manage to get an Ultrasaurus? Max would raise an eyebrow, not believing it as he spotted it behind Jonny in the Hangar. Scratching his cheek idly in somewhat of a daze, he turned back to Marcus.

"Oh, that's Jonny. And I have nothing to brag about, just an apology to make." spoke Max unto the slightly older male before him. His eyes would turn back to the screen, again distracted by the ruckus Jonny and the new team were making before returning his attention to Marcus, shaking his head a bit.

"I'm sorry for wrecking your Rev Raptor." apologized Max, sincerity clear in his voice. While he said it in a calm tone, his eyebrows would furrow and his mood seemed to be somewhat agitated as Jonny once again distracted him with all the stuff going on in the background. He was about ready to throw something at the television before he merely breathed in, calming himself to answer the question.

"His name's Marcus. I fought him yesterday in a match that resulted in both our Zoids blowing up. Hence the new Shield Liger." muttered Max, sighing a bit after explaining the whole scenario. Even though he told himself he couldn't let it make him depressed, he couldn't help but feel pangs from the loss of his Houndsoldier.[/ul][/ul][/sup]

[Marcus Takumi]

Marcus would somewhat sigh in a despairful tone, albeit slightly shocked, at the inclusion of another boy, seemingly more hot-blooded than he was. At this point, too many people were involved in the current "conversation" Max decided to start up, literally displaying his own sour attitude towards the bandaged boy -- though it was more out of a frustrated compasson, really. Upon hearing him say that he did make an effort to drag him from the bottomless recesses of the desert he was sure to die in, he simply lowered his head. "I guess I owe you thanks then... Minus the fact that you destroyed my only friend." he apologized and thanked Max, before slightly sighing, completely ignoring Jonny.

"I don't mean to be a total sap or start up a sobstory, but I never really had a lot of friends back in the day. Not many people want to hang out with someone as insidiously optimistic as I can be." he simply continued, his apparent anger towards Max slowly, yet surely, disappearing with each passing second. "Vee really was my only friend, so to speak. I only had him for about a week, but we had some sort of connection with each other -- kinda like you and Weiss. Oh, sorry." he continued, instantly apologizing after mentioning the late Houndsoldier.

Watching the boy known as Jonny Delwas "enter" via wired monitors (his face was the only thing present, mind you), apparently with a crew of his own, he simply sighed in regained frustration. Apparently, all this kid would ever talk about is some thing called an "Ultrasaurus", whatever the hell that was. "...Thanks. I guess." he slightly accepted Max's apology, once again ignoring the other human and his crew. Shifting out of bed, he tore off the electrical nodes, the bandages around his face, and removed the sling from his left arm, walking slowly towards a mirror that stood near the monitor. Viewing his face, he sighed in heavy relief -- he wasn't charred, thankfully, though his face and several parts of his body were red and slightly sore after the burns. Modern medicine had seen to it that most of the severe parts of his burns were treated, so he could be assured that his natural good looks would return in a matter of weeks.

"Well, if it makes me feel any better, karma struck back today; so I humbly accept your apology and I thank you on behalf of my ancestors." he finally smiled back his cheerful smile, slipping on his black tanktop, his black button up shirt, and throwing his back-length hair into a ponytail so that only the top of his head looked as if though it had been unkempt. "If you'll excuse me... I've gotta get Zoid shopping. Something tells me that Vee won't let me sit on my ass all day if I just go home." he had continued, heading for the door and slightly opening it before suddenly pausing.

A quick thought had flashed into his head, partaining to his destroyed Rev Raptor. Though decimated, he had recalled before he passed out that a majority of the cockpit that was Vee's head remained intact, and that the memory drive installed within his "brain" could still be there -- Vee wouldn't be dead after all! And Marcus still had enough energy to walk, let alone, run.

"Smell ya fools later!" he playfully exclaimed towards Max and the monitored Jonny before he had literally made a mad dash out the doors of Aegis Base, his left arm flinging limply backwards as he dashed ninja-style towards the desert he had previously escaped, knowing that it wouldn't be as hot as it was a few hours ago.

<exit>

[xX Max Xx]

[/b] sounded Max inaudibly, feeling bad after hearing the comment from his guest. Even he held a special bond with his Zoid, so he thought that he knew how Marcus felt when he lost it. Still, he couldn't help but feel the youth's pain. The Houndsoldier had been his only companion for the past few months as well and, up until he formed the Aegis Team with Jonny, the Hounsoldier was probably his only true friend.

Max couldn't help but to avert his gaze from Marcus, a hand reaching behind his head to scratch it nervously. As he did so, he would bite down gently on his bottom lip, his body language all leading one to assume that not only didn't he know what to say but that he indeed regretted his actions. But it wasn't like he could take back the damage that was done to Marcus.

"It's fine..." responded Max to the other male's apology, for he supposed bringing up his late Zoid was the best way for him to express the connection he had with his own. He watched as Marcus took off the medical ware that was attached to his body, extending a hand to stop Marcus. With a sigh, he would retract his hand, figuring he couldn't stop Marcus with words.

Besides, aside from the burns he would be fine. Max himself would sigh before Marcus's words resounded in his mind. What was he doing just sitting there? Weiss wouldn't be happy knowing he was just sitting on his ass moaping around either. With a valiant stand, Max would look to see that Marcus had already left. He would turn to the screen and give Jonny his signature point.

"You get yourself situated, I've got business to attend to!" called out Max, his usual smirk formed onto his face before he ran out. Leaving the barracks, he would head to the Zoid hangar, hopping into his new Shield Liger. He already knew that Marcus lost Vee because of him. The least he could do was help Marc in getting his new Zoid. Besides that, there was something else he needed to do.

He too had the sudden though flash in his mind, remembering that the explosion mutilated his Houndsoldier's body, but not the head. Perhaps he could get the memory console from the corpse of his Houndsoldier and install them within his new Shield Liger! Max would rev up the controls, a fierce determination in his eyes. He had to get to Marcus, for he hoped to share his idea with the slightly older male.

"Mobilize, Mufasa! We're on a mission!" called out Max to his Zoid, the Shield Liger responding with a roar. Finding Marcus would be simple, for he had left only but moments ago and the Shield Liger could certainly catch up to him in a matter of minutes.

[exit][/ul][/ul][/sup]

[Jonny]

Jonny watched as the others left - this was friggin ridiculous! What if the ZBC finally came up with a battle for them? He'd be the only able to respond... unless he counted the Ultrasaurus crew in on it.
Nonetheless though, he was pretty much by himself again. The crew of the ultrasaurus had their work, but he had nothing. At least until a message came in. Whatever though.
Maybe he could get some sleep, he needed it. With that decided, he went off to his quarters, and the sound of snoring was heard seconds later.