Welcome to Gaia! ::

Szon remained silent in the APC. It was clear that he had no intentions of leaving the vehicle.

"Hmm...I GUESS I'll practice. I wanted to go..."

Raleigh nodded unhappily. "Looks like it's just you then, Kethlean."

Felicia shrugged. "It'd have to be either Alex or myself, and neither of us can maintain our shape or stealth for long enough. One errant slip and we'd be toast."

She nodded. "I'll be careful." She took one of the radios, and nonchalantly entered the zone, searching for abnormalities.

"Hmm...the zone looks pretty advanced...I hope they don't have radio jammers."

The Zone was advanced, indeed. It appeared as a utopian futurized city, incredibly distinct from the spartan ruins that many of its counterpart Zones had become. Cars and trucks operated fully, as did stoplights and street lamps. No rubble was in sight, and even the alleyways were completely free of trash. The rampant use of circuitry was quite apparent; the very sidewalks seemed to glisten with the distinct tinge of silicon.

It was not entirely without strangeness, however, as Kethlean learned when she encountered her first denizen. He was a relatively well-built black man, with his head shaved and casual clothing on his strong frame. His skull bulged, however, with jacks and wires. Moreover, his eyes were a disturbing reflective chrome, and his hands and neck were equally metallic. He appeared to be no less than a robot from the neck down.

He looked askew at Kethlean, as did the woman with four cybernetic arms in addition to her human ones, and then the mohawked young man whose lower body was replaced with a large and visibly munitioned tank, and even the silent infant whose rattle appeared to be a cybernetic extension of its own right hand.

One and all, they looked her over, but none made a move toward her...yet.

The residents didn't get any more friendly as Kethlean moved further in.

After a few moments, a familiar sound came into audibility in the air behind her. It heralded the arrival of the fast-moving flaming flier.

As it flew overhead, every citizen stopped in their tracks. One second later, they were drawing weapons both external and unveiled internal and drawing beads on the overhead object. The next moment saw a hail of all types of gunfire, leaden and laser and missile, heading skyward at the unknown flier.

Raleigh, who had also jerked around at the sound of gunfire, shrugged. "I hope so."