08-13-2015, 09:56 AM
Drake watched the distant volcanic eruptions of the Ashen Plains with distant interest as he soared over the soot-choked plains. He was quite glad to have the hermetically sealed, climate controlled cockpit of the UNIbike to cruise in, as opposed to the poor saps that had to actually walk through all this crap. Drake did have to avoid some of the more dense clouds of ash so as to avoid damaging the UNIbike's engine intakes, but otherwise it was a pretty smooth flight.
Jeltz's instructions had been rather vague; assist in eliminating the bandit threat to the plains. Obviously this was because Jeltz wanted things in the Ashen to be nice and calm whenever he decided to mount his assault on Volvagia's lair, but what exactly was meant by the word 'bandits'? Rogue Primes? Random bands of idiots blowing shit up? There was no exactly telling what Drake was going to run in to out here in the wastes. That being said, Drake did see signs of trouble along the road he was following from high above. It looked as if there had been a battle that had taken place, and he had also seen a few abandoned vehicles, half buried in lava. It was a path of destruction that easy enough to follow.
As Drake kept following the road, it eventually turned alongside a massive lake of roiling hot lava. The UNIbike's sensors picked up movement on the surface of the lake, and a moment later, the screen's HUD targeted a slow moving skiff of some sorts that was heading towards a rather...well...it was a fortress. Pretty much as stereotypical fortress as could be imagined. Either way, these were his targets, or, they were locals who would know about what was going on.
Drake couldn't exactly swoop down to investigate, however. His UNIbike wasn't insulated against the convection from the molten rock like the lava skiff was, so he would have to wait until the group disembarked to find out. As such, he contented himself with circling them from high above, keeping an eye on them using the UNIbike's magnified optics. He could see their faces turned up to see him, watching him with a great deal of suspicion. He couldn't blame them exactly, though they were certainly an eclectic bunch themselves. In fact...well they were most likely primes from the looks of them. Except for the Koopa. Probably.
It was in this instant that the UNIbike's systems registered another mobile contact. Drake turned to look at the beacon just in time to get a face full of ugly. A dragon was diving at him from five hundred feet at seven o'clock high. It was an oafish looking, brown-scaled beast that flew with all of the grace of projectile vomit. The smuggler's piloting instincts immediately kicked in and he pulled the UNIbike into a sharp climb to meet the predator head on. While the vehicle didn't have any armaments of its own, Drake could more than make up for this with his own skill as a pilot. The two cruised passed each other in a vertical merge, at which point Drake rolled over into an inverted loop and mirrored the dragon's dive pull-out before opening the cockpit on the UNIbike and summarily plummeting through the sky. The smuggler stuck his arm out directly in front of him to control the rate of descent before pressing his thumb against his pointer finger twice to command the UNIbike to track his descent, which it did with obedient precision.
The dragon, having since reacquired its control, was beating the air furiously to regain altitude. It spied the vulnerable target that was Drake and paused mid-air as it switched targets. Drake smiled a crazed grin as the dragon sped towards him, matching his falling velocity, its jaws wide open to snatch its succulent prize. Drake quickly ripped plasma derringer out of his satchel and twisted upside down in mid-air before firing two volleys into the dragons maw. The creature roared in pain and streaked past Drake as it shook its head, giving the smuggler a chance to switch to holding his gun in his mouth and snag the creature's wing join with his powerful hand as it streaked past. The beast shrieked in fury as Drake clung to its back like a pleather-clad limpet. Using his legs, Drake was able to hold on to the dragon's wing arm long enough to spike his katana into the joint, causing the brown monstrosity to buck wildly and shake itself free of the human pest. The UNIbike was instantly on top of Drake, and the smuggler remounted his mechanical savior moments before belly flopping into the molten rock below.
He quickly pulled up as the dragon pulled over to continue its pursuit. Drake was about to end the fight when the beast shot a goddamn flaming boulder from its mouth, of all things, and pegged the UNIbike in its right thruster. Drake worked with the damage and pulled the bike into a tight right-hand roll, using the yaw thrust to make a mad dash towards the lava skiff that was still puttering along. Miranda, Zack, and Colonel all got into a ready stance as the shining black vehicle screamed towards them, belching smoke out of its right side. As it streaked overhead, Drake quickly dismounted with a rear somersault and landed squarely in the middle of the skiff's deck in a low crouch. The UNIbike continued to fly past, spinning out of control until it smacked into the lava lake with a momentous explosion.
Drake slowly stood up, only to see several weapons pointed in his direction. He adopted an annoyed expression.
"Yeah okay. One moment, alright?" he said in his gravelly voice. He turned around slowly to watch the dragon flying away with a roar of triumph before using his thumb to tap his pinky once and pointer finger twice. Drake then held his hand up into the air and snapped his fingers, causing a bright flash of light to burst from the dragon's body. Whatever explosion had just been triggered was enough to blast the brute's right wing off of its body, sending it plummeting into the lake of molten stone as well. Serves the damn thing right. Drake wouldn't be able to get another UNIbike until Jeltz saw fit to make him one, and who the fuck knew when that would be? Whatever. Time to deal with these clowns, whether they were bandits or not. Seeing as how he was pretty much disarmed at the moment, however, Drake rose his eyebrows at the metal-masked chick.
"I'll take your questions now."
Jeltz's instructions had been rather vague; assist in eliminating the bandit threat to the plains. Obviously this was because Jeltz wanted things in the Ashen to be nice and calm whenever he decided to mount his assault on Volvagia's lair, but what exactly was meant by the word 'bandits'? Rogue Primes? Random bands of idiots blowing shit up? There was no exactly telling what Drake was going to run in to out here in the wastes. That being said, Drake did see signs of trouble along the road he was following from high above. It looked as if there had been a battle that had taken place, and he had also seen a few abandoned vehicles, half buried in lava. It was a path of destruction that easy enough to follow.
As Drake kept following the road, it eventually turned alongside a massive lake of roiling hot lava. The UNIbike's sensors picked up movement on the surface of the lake, and a moment later, the screen's HUD targeted a slow moving skiff of some sorts that was heading towards a rather...well...it was a fortress. Pretty much as stereotypical fortress as could be imagined. Either way, these were his targets, or, they were locals who would know about what was going on.
Drake couldn't exactly swoop down to investigate, however. His UNIbike wasn't insulated against the convection from the molten rock like the lava skiff was, so he would have to wait until the group disembarked to find out. As such, he contented himself with circling them from high above, keeping an eye on them using the UNIbike's magnified optics. He could see their faces turned up to see him, watching him with a great deal of suspicion. He couldn't blame them exactly, though they were certainly an eclectic bunch themselves. In fact...well they were most likely primes from the looks of them. Except for the Koopa. Probably.
It was in this instant that the UNIbike's systems registered another mobile contact. Drake turned to look at the beacon just in time to get a face full of ugly. A dragon was diving at him from five hundred feet at seven o'clock high. It was an oafish looking, brown-scaled beast that flew with all of the grace of projectile vomit. The smuggler's piloting instincts immediately kicked in and he pulled the UNIbike into a sharp climb to meet the predator head on. While the vehicle didn't have any armaments of its own, Drake could more than make up for this with his own skill as a pilot. The two cruised passed each other in a vertical merge, at which point Drake rolled over into an inverted loop and mirrored the dragon's dive pull-out before opening the cockpit on the UNIbike and summarily plummeting through the sky. The smuggler stuck his arm out directly in front of him to control the rate of descent before pressing his thumb against his pointer finger twice to command the UNIbike to track his descent, which it did with obedient precision.
The dragon, having since reacquired its control, was beating the air furiously to regain altitude. It spied the vulnerable target that was Drake and paused mid-air as it switched targets. Drake smiled a crazed grin as the dragon sped towards him, matching his falling velocity, its jaws wide open to snatch its succulent prize. Drake quickly ripped plasma derringer out of his satchel and twisted upside down in mid-air before firing two volleys into the dragons maw. The creature roared in pain and streaked past Drake as it shook its head, giving the smuggler a chance to switch to holding his gun in his mouth and snag the creature's wing join with his powerful hand as it streaked past. The beast shrieked in fury as Drake clung to its back like a pleather-clad limpet. Using his legs, Drake was able to hold on to the dragon's wing arm long enough to spike his katana into the joint, causing the brown monstrosity to buck wildly and shake itself free of the human pest. The UNIbike was instantly on top of Drake, and the smuggler remounted his mechanical savior moments before belly flopping into the molten rock below.
He quickly pulled up as the dragon pulled over to continue its pursuit. Drake was about to end the fight when the beast shot a goddamn flaming boulder from its mouth, of all things, and pegged the UNIbike in its right thruster. Drake worked with the damage and pulled the bike into a tight right-hand roll, using the yaw thrust to make a mad dash towards the lava skiff that was still puttering along. Miranda, Zack, and Colonel all got into a ready stance as the shining black vehicle screamed towards them, belching smoke out of its right side. As it streaked overhead, Drake quickly dismounted with a rear somersault and landed squarely in the middle of the skiff's deck in a low crouch. The UNIbike continued to fly past, spinning out of control until it smacked into the lava lake with a momentous explosion.
Drake slowly stood up, only to see several weapons pointed in his direction. He adopted an annoyed expression.
"Yeah okay. One moment, alright?" he said in his gravelly voice. He turned around slowly to watch the dragon flying away with a roar of triumph before using his thumb to tap his pinky once and pointer finger twice. Drake then held his hand up into the air and snapped his fingers, causing a bright flash of light to burst from the dragon's body. Whatever explosion had just been triggered was enough to blast the brute's right wing off of its body, sending it plummeting into the lake of molten stone as well. Serves the damn thing right. Drake wouldn't be able to get another UNIbike until Jeltz saw fit to make him one, and who the fuck knew when that would be? Whatever. Time to deal with these clowns, whether they were bandits or not. Seeing as how he was pretty much disarmed at the moment, however, Drake rose his eyebrows at the metal-masked chick.
"I'll take your questions now."
And, we dream of home I dream of life out of here Their dreams are small My dreams don't know fear I got my heart full of hope I will change everything No matter what I'm told How impossible it seems We did it before And we'll do it again We're indestructible Even when we're tired And we've been here before Just you and I
Don't try to rescue me I don't need to be rescued
Don't try to rescue me I don't need to be rescued