The Adventures of Rajada: page 6

"Rajada," G-MO continued, "I don't think you get it. I just saw you take out a dozen armed thugs without a weapon, single handed, while being held at gunpoint over some... thing that you seem to think has to be kept secret from your friends and business partners. A secret that nearly got all of us killed. We require an explanation."

"Ahhhhhh, I know," Rajada relented, "it... would just be so hard to explain the situation. If I show you something, will you swear to keep it a secret?" G-MO nodded, then glanced at RTSPlayer. "Don't look at me," he retorted, "I still don't know how any of this stuff works, I couldn't blab if I wanted to." Rajada smiled, satisfied. "Well, first off, you should know that a lot of the action today was just a bunch of fog and warpzones." "I knew it," RTSPlayer interrupted, "every magician ever, just fog and warpzones." Rajada looked at him quizzically. "Yes, well, the fight wasn't real, a lot of it was illusion, holograms, err... cloaking devices." "I guess that explains why it looked a little faked- wait, you have a cloaking device? Did you ever think the Nerf league might be interested in that?" G-MO asked, shocked. "I have a prototype cloaking device that is not ready for public use yet. It works a little too well when used for more than a few seconds. We still can't find Ed."

G-MO looked around at where they had been walking. He had noticed the transition to the outdoor areas again, but he had hardly realized they had walked out into a huge, fenced off area of the desert. The thick, electrified fencing disappeared into the horizon; the area must have been hundreds of miles wide. "Testing grounds, sometimes you don't want to detonate a large explosive device indoors." Indeed, some of the sand was scorched, but most of it had been healed over by the ever-shifting desert sands.

Rajada walked them out to a large patch of sand covered cement not too far from the entrance and gestured at the ground. A thin armband on his wrist lit up, and a door in the cement opened, revealing a dark staircase into the depths of the earth. Sand piled on the first few steps as Rajada extended his arm into the blackness. "Gentlemen, this way." All three of them met at a landing not too far down the stairs. "The elevator will take us the rest of the way."

As the elevator slowly trundled downward to some unknown destination, Rajada passed the time talking about the minute technical details of this section of the facility. How it had been difficult to find a suitable location for such a deep excavation. How he had filled the outer wall with layers of stone, concrete, metal, and shock-absorbing materials. When the elevator finally stopped moving, they stepped into a large, open room full of idle computer banks. The whole place looked like NASA mission control from the sterile white walls to the dozens of chairs littering the aisles. But there wasn't another soul in the room besides the three of them. One huge, metallic door stood out against the back wall of the room.

Rajada approached the door and input a code on a nearby control panel. The door slowly began to open. Rajada turned back to his friends to continue speaking. "Nobody in the facility knows about this area but us. I intend to keep in that way for now. These computers allow me and any other trustworthy persons to access facility functions remotely. And this," he gestured towards the half open door, "is my last line of defense." G-MO stood agape. RTSPlayer broke the silence. "What... the graffiti?" Rajada spun around to see a message burned into the concrete behind the slowly rising lift in the empty shaft. NOT FAST ENOUGH! "Son of a- It was all a distraction!" Rajada drew a Scattershot and peered up the shaft. Shaking his head, he exclaimed "Back up the elevator!" The three of them dashed for the elevator.

As the doors opened, G-MO looked at the staircase to his left. "Wouldn't the stairs be faster?" "No," responded Rajada, "they spiral around for several stories. We have to get to the top and hope they don't get the engines primed before we get there." G-MO looked around inside the elevator, then whipped out a Secret Shot. With a few blasts, he crumpled an overhead panel. RTSPlayer stopped sheltering his head and screamed "What is wrong with you?!" "We need to get to the surface faster, boost me up, we can climb the cable. Without hesitation, Rajada boosted him up though the hole and G-MO helped the others up. The cable was oddly perfect for climbing, it had been made with built-in rivulets that served as excellent footholds. They all began to climb, G-MO first, then Rajada, and last RTSPlayer.

When they got to the top, G-MO forced the doors open and jumped out onto the concrete landing. Rajada awkwardly flopped to the ground behind him, and they both took off up the steps. G-MO only saw the device for a brief moment before the bay doors of a large transport closed around it. He couldn't identify it, but it was covered in metal and guns. Rajada stood beside him. "AH! That thing is way too tough for our guns!" "Uhh guys?" RTSPlayer called from inside the elevator. "I'm stuck! Hello?" The elevator was coming up quickly now, and RTSPlayer's pants were snagged on a bolt, still half inside the elevator shaft. "How can we stop that thing?" G-MO asked. "I don't know!" Rajada replied. "It loos like a flying ball of armor!" "Guys!" RTSPlayer called again, "I have a- guys! I can-"

The ship was already flying off as RTSPlayer was pushed up by the elevator. As he neared the top of the shaft, he gave one last yank and came loose. Diving headfirst towards the concrete, he tucked and rolled, drawing his weapon. He quickly took aim and fired out the hole at the top of the stairs. A super fast ball of plasma screamed past Rajada and G-MO, blowing them down. The force of the shot also knocked RTSPlayer back and he skidded through the doors of the elevator just as they fully opened. He slammed into the back wall of the elevator and sat there, gun smoking. Rajada stood up to see the engines of the ship in flames. "Did I... did I hit it?" RTSPlayer asked groggily. As the ship plummeted like a stone to the desert below, Rajada turned back to RTSPlayer. "Yes, you hit it with my untested, EXTREMELY dangerous, highly experimental blaster that you appear to have stolen from my testing labs." "Whoooooo!" RTSPlayer exclaimed weakly as he held his hands high above his head. The gun dropped with a clatter to the floor.

"It's just as well I suppose," said Rajada as he picked up the gun. "This thing only had one charge in it, the first shot always melts the internals." G-MO helped RTSPlayer to his feet and they all walked up the final flight of stairs to the desert. The flaming wreckage in he distance was clearly visible, burning against the afternoon sky. The ship's hull may have been impermeable to the most powerful weapons, but it couldn't stay together under the force of its own mass when it hit the ground. "That thing you saw, by the way, entering the ship, it was the N.A.B.S. Neurologically Activated Battle Suit. It's a sort of mech, piloted using a neural interface, and stocked with powerful weaponry and shield technology. Someone wanted it, badly. We have to find it before they get it up and running. That thing has shields that can withstand 10,000 hitpoints, and armor just as capable." "we're going to need guns." G-MO said. "Let's go back inside and get some." "No," said Rajada, "I have a better idea."

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