My shield flickers in a way which says that someone just hit it with an electromagnetic pulse. A decent guess, but my shield isn't all that vulnerable to EMP disruption. Sonic sensors… Aren't working. Damaged or wrecked, I don't know. This suit has a self-repair function, but it's not as good as a power ring would be.
Okay, activate flight and shift… I have a partial map of the room from a moment ago. I'll go up and left, away from Interceptor and Commander Scott. I… Don't know where the attack came from, though dominator habits suggests that there's a dominator in the room now and they're carrying some sort of multi-output gun.
A directed EMP, eh? Let's hope Interceptor and Commander Scott weren't caught in the line of fire before he moved. Anything that could
make an EMP wouldn't be fun for unprotected humans.
Don't know if Interceptor or Commander Scott are still alive.
"Gahkahkakhaak."
...I hope that's not one of them breathing their last...
Because I never considered creation a Dominion to English translator and adding it to my armour.
"Ak-ak akakh."
And of course they sound like the '
Mars Attacks' Martians to you? Then again, with their
mouth structure, that might be the only form of vocalisation they can
manage without translation hardware.
I don't even know how their intonation works. The speaker could be pleading for their life, offering a ceasefire or mocking us and I wouldn't be able to tell.
"Kakrkakrak."
Given their temperament, I suspect he's gloating because he feels in control of the situation. After all, you're blind, nearly deaf and
presumably depowered.
There's a flare of heat as probably-Interceptor takes a shot, and I'm still able to see heat but my sonics haven't come back yet which means that I'm stuck floating around until I bump into something.
"Blue Lantern to Orange Lantern."
And now shit's going down outside. Alan's going to have to
handle things out there.
"Internal. Go ahead."
"Got a small ship flying away from the facility. I need to do something about it?"
Probability of that being OL's guess about the leader caste making a break for it under cover of darkness? High, I bet.
"Most probable possibility is that it's some of the high caste dominators. If you can do so safely, detain them."
"Ah…"
...Define 'safely'? Because you can survive a
lot without
dying.
"Problem?"
"No, I can do that. I'm just wondering if you're being generous because we're not in our own universe."
I suspect if Commander Scott were fit to command, he'd probably have said the same as OL did.
"Generous?"
"Or is it just because you don't think I'd be okay with killing them?"
Well, you are a nice guy.
"It's because we haven't confirmed the target yet. If you had that big a problem with killing people who did things like this then you wouldn't be here. Incidentally, Commander Scott has children."
"Well, he did say that he remarried."
I don't think that's what OL is
implying, Alan.
And now the dominator groups are talking to each other. Sheesh. Another thing for the 'fix later' list on your suit, OL.
Which is the guy in here talking to the guys outside, neither of whom can see the hole I made. On the other hand, I can't tell where the noise is coming from because my sonic imaging system is down and my armour's default auditory system doesn't precisely transmit direction because it was designed for reliability rather than precision.
"We think one of them is here, being used to create this darkness field."
Let me guess, OL: You skipped on the directional surround sound feature because you prefer 2.0?
"Huh."
Okay, so I know roughly where the plug from the doorway is. Dominators are actually slightly weaker than humans, so if I pick it up and plug the hole that might actually give them some trouble. On the other hand, the noise will definitely relay my position. Alternately, I could drift around the room. That's actually a pretty safe option, with a low chance of actually doing anything useful. I could communicate directly with Interceptor's headset-.
Yes, like a giant tin-plated parade float. There's an image for you.
"Internal, activate headset-. Ah, quiet. Orange Lantern to Interceptor, that hit messed up my sonic imaging. Do you know where the target is? One beep for yes, two for no."
"Huuh huuh."
...That'll be a no. Well, 'Operation: Bobble About' is a go.
Darn it.
Optical searching it is, then.
Like trying to find your way around a dark house at midnight during a new moon. At least you don't have to worry about stubbing your toe on furniture.
I change orientation so that I'm facing the floor and plot out a search pattern. If the dominator hasn't shot again I'd.. guess that it's because they don't want to shoot their rescuers.
"I'm hunting them. I suggest moving around the room and trying to find the door they came in through."
Or he's assumed you've moved away from the door and has no idea where you are, but doesn't want to waste ammo or make himself a target by bracketing the room.
"Huuh."
Of course, I'm assuming that the dominator doesn't have a personal flight system. Based on how they usually equip their soldiers, that's not too likely. Dominator use aircraft, not soldiers with jetpacks. But I'm not sure if-.
Remember the old saw about
flying soldiers? I'd say they ascribe to that philosophy too.
I see a flicker of yellow.
I swing my right fist, knuckles hitting a yellow energy field, which flares-! Dah! My right fist is-! OwOW!
Oh, yeah, without the ring, no pain suppression or instant healing. Bet that's stinging something
fierce.
"Target located!"
Right fist gone, bleeding? Bleeding. In considerable pain!
What about the ring on it? I expect it's intact, since they tend to be rather
destructive when broken.
Dominator looks up as the yellow glow fades, weapon-.
Punch with left hand! Yellow field flickers and die, but gauntlet smoking. Crumbler non-functional, but power support working fine. Punch.
When in doubt, cast Fist!
"KEKH!"
The helmet fractures and the dominator wearing is drops to the floor! "INTERAL DEACTIVATE FLIGHT!"
Down but not out. And I doubt having a ton of armour drop on you will be any more pleasant than having it punch your helmet in.
I drop-. Fuck, missed, dominator scrambling away! I swing my left fist around anyway, hit something-
"KEHK!"
Well, that's rude, he's laughing at you! Give him a sound thrashing!
"ACTIVATE FLIGHT!"
-and float towards the sound of the squawking! Flares of heat-. Armour fine. SLAP SLAP!
Presumably Interceptor or the Dominator shooting at the noise.
Ooh, did he go for the goolies?
SOMETHING-! HIT MY HAND-STUMP!
"Upright!"
...
Ow. Man, you really are not used to pain, are you, OL?
Dominator shredded leg gun knock it aside-!
PSHOOM!
Hard to miss at that range...
Right shoulder armour melted head armour melted dominator lost hold of gun punch!
"Kk-!"
...But if he's close enough to hit you, you can hit him right back.
Dominator armour damaged but dominator alive. Flares of heat-. Error messages, armour internal systems being damag-ged!
Punch again!
Ooof, he is getting
mauled.
No, won't move! Side arm side arm emergency release-. Jammed. Can't-.
Grey shape Interceptor, grabs dominator leg? Blood. Covers hands. Points dominator gun towards source of shots.
Fires.
Damn, saved by the belle. And now it looks like you're going to have to ditch the armour, with that much damage.
