FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

[16:34 - 30 July - Battle Group 151 Extension Hanger, Sovereign Base]

Pebble floated out silently from the locker room in to the hanger, his foot paws landing with an even softer than normal pat upon the floor now dressed in a body suit of black under-armour as he surveyed the team.

They had all got ready on Nicholas' request and were all similarly kitted up, even Dex had changed to a fresh clean set that did a good job of hiding his purpling bruise. All but their tails and heads were reduced to dark silhouettes.

The small room they called a hanger was lit in low light. Three plinths lay either side of the room, control panels on the wall between each of them. Behind each of them a glass container with darkened frosting that hid their contents. Robotic arms lying dormant on the floor and hanging from the ceiling like technological stalactites and stalagmites. Circular underfloor discs dotted across the floor and the purple flame of Flint's tail were the only illumination once the door to the lockers slid closed behind the pink psychic cat's back.

"Pebble!" said J in his usual excited manner, bounding towards the feline and then walking backwards as the Mew Morph continued to float down the centre path between the plinths. "What's the mission then? Nick said there was trouble, they need us to take over?"

"Recall protection, looks like we aren't getting back Tamorna after all," replied Pebble as he made his way to the main control console at the end of the hanger and tapped at the panels, collecting the data files that had been sent down to them with the full parameters of their mission.

J's face had fallen, as Seraph lay a spiked paw on his shoulder in sympathy. "It's okay, we'll start getting back ground soon," she assured him.

"It's not that," replied the Rattata, "my trainer, my original battle group I mean, he was from there. It's a nice place."

"Not anymore," said Dex, motioning with his hand towards the screens and holographics Pebble was studying, all of them showing blown apart buildings and cracked ground.

J looked further crest fallen as Seraph shot Dex a look, the taller cat shrugged. "Better he sees it now then just as we're making contact with Rocket," he pointed out and Seraph gave a sigh of acceptance at that.

From the back of the group, there was the sound of stomping claws as Flint moved over to the control panel near to his plinth. "If that's the state of the place, I'm going to bring my toys!" he said, adjusting the stations configuration settings.

Pebble considered stopping him from getting carried away but the Charmeleon was right, better to turn up over-prepared to something like this and it wasn't like they could ruin the place more than it was. Only a few buildings still stood, the only strategic value of the town was its several hundred years old underground sewer tunnel network that Rocket had converted to a forward operating base. If they had captured that it would have been a major blow to the Team and a good foot hold for the league. Sadly, it seemed that was not to be.

"Everyone in to positions, every minute we take to get there we could be losing people," ordered Pebble, all of them nodding and stepping up on to the raised metal platforms. Pebble himself taking the fifth one and leaving one spare.

"Zero, load Extensions and immediately begin pre-flight," he called out.

"Roger, roger commander!" came a very synthesised sounding voice as lights in the room brightened, the glass panels behind them opened and the mechanical arms began to move around all five of them. A scanning arm first on each bay moving down across their bodies as they all held still.

After that they relaxed and held out their arms from their sides, J and Flint, and Dex and Seraph meeting eyes across the room while Pebble just closed his and listened to the equipment work.

The Extensions, armoured electronic battle suits, were some of the latest technology from the human engineers in the Nocet military for whom desperation was starting to tease out and force innovations in areas of technology hither to unthought-of. This sound of whirring servos and clicks of gears was some of the least natural things in the world, and yet the noises always seemed to help centre the Mew and calm him before a battle, knowing how well it would protect him.

The first sensation was a squeeze around his hips that ceased with a click at the front and back as a metallic belt was pressed in to place. It was followed by a flat backpack of sorts that reminded him of a Squirtle's or Grotle's protective shell pushed to the top of his back and was clasped in place, the collar at the back high to protect his neck. A linking flexible section of armour and cabling placed parallel to his spine, guarding it while linking the back plate to the belt.

With those main parts in place the robotic arms began to slowly encase each of the morphs' arms in legs in layers of padded armour.

For each of them, the exact gizmos and devices embedded within the armour was tailored to their roll and the colour of the external shell painted to their preference.

Dex had a fiery red that almost matched his own tail colour while Seraph had a more reserved silver grey. J's meanwhile was a verdant green that contrasted his own fur and Flint had a purple that complemented his tail flame. Pebble's own was a soft light blue.

As the shoulder pads clicked in to place, the base systems of their armour began to power up, little indicator lights lighting up all over the parts. "Hey, wakey-wakey commander!" came that voice again as Pebble opened his eyes and an anti-aliased set of pupils stared back at him.

"I keep telling you every time, you don't have to call me that Zero, we're partners in this," replied the cat as before him a porygon-z floated and bobbed in the air.

"Right-right! And I shall continue to follow programmed protocols Commander!" chirped the plastic skinned bird. "All other Extension Assistants are on their way! As are Flint's additional requisitions!"

Pebble quirked one ear and glanced across the hanger at Flint who had a bit more of smile right now at that news as a thick armour plate was being pressed to cover his chest and link to the armour on his back.

"Flint, exactly what did you request?" asked Seraph, her tail twitching just as tad, partly from the armour being applied to protect her hindquarters and partly from always being a little worried whenever Flint's requisitions actually got approved.

"Keep your ears on dears, you'll see," replied the smirking lizard as four small pneumatic tubes lowered from ceiling and from each there was a plonk as a pokéball fell from each and popped open with a flash of white light as the Pokémon in each materialised.

The Extension suits were designed around two ideas. Firstly, that the armour, machines and systems within them could protect, assist and inform the intelligent and powerful Pokémorph inside during a battle. Pressure from the Pokémon League on their design meant human made weapons on them generally weren't standard issue. They believed that a powerful natural abilities and energy wielded by a monster or morph was always going to be superior, especially with the way the minerals in the interwoven layers of the Extension armour helped focus and channel energy from the world in to the wearer.

The second aspect of the designs was that much as a trainers and Pokémon would work together on the battlefield, so too could a Pokémon and Pokémorph. In this case, each suit was designed with the idea that it could be inhabited, physically or otherwise, by an experienced partner Pokémon, an assistant to the morph. Linked with the suit, they could not only help micromanage its systems but use their abilities to defend and boost the Extension's wearer when they were otherwise engaged.

For J, the small form of Klep materialised from her ball, the klefki floating and giggling as she floated around his head and jangled her keys tunefully before clipping herself to a little loop made for her on the back plate of the Rattata's armour.

The ticking sound of clockwork began as Cogs, the klang rolled its self around to around the back of the charmeleon before a robotic arm reached down and lifted it up, slotting it in to a series of other gears on Flint's back as it spun quickly, and began to interface with the suit's systems in an analogue but efficient fashion. Alongside it, the robots were also clipping and holstering in to place a very large looking rocket launcher and several other smaller devices.

<You require my service again Madam?> came a slow and mournful voice speaking in the Pokémon language as dripping candles flickered with a ghostly flame from the form of a chandelure before Seraph.

"Yes Mortimer, I do indeed just please..." she began before shuddering as the ghost-type faded and became a light that passed through her body and spread out in to the suit before fading as the poor jackal shivered. "... go around... this... time... Uhghh..."

Dex snickered as he watched the Lucario whine before hissing and jumping himself as he got a sudden shock as three magnemite, the parts of a whole magneton fizzled and sparked behind him. He rose his paw and all three froze and were dragged in front of him surrounded by his red psychic aura. "What have I told you three?!" he yelled at the pokémon.

<Don't...>

<Play...>

<About?> came three very similar voices.

"Right, link up and dock already. I'm not in the mood today!"

He flicked his fingers and the three were thrown behind him again before the glow faded and the magnetic pokémon, Weber, Tesla and Farad, all clanked to stick on to the back of his suit.

Pebble reached out as the last element of the suits, a helmet, was brought down for him to take and fit on manually himself. Squeezing his muzzle and ears in to the given spaces for them before with a hiss and a click it soft sealed around his neck and its HUD sprung to life.

Before him Zero seemed to turn transparent and holographic himself before he winked out of sight and an image of him appeared in the peripheral displays of the helmet's visor. "Download complete Commander. All extensions..." The Porygon paused and there was a hiss-click as one late helmet was fitted in place and Seraph gave a thumbs up to the mew. "... report pre-flight complete and flight ready."

There was nothing left to say, they all knew what came next, what could happen, what might happen and what most importantly of all, what had to happen.

Pebble gave a nod to Dex and both their bodies began to glow as they both stepped in to the air. A mix of blue and red glows appeared around J, Flint and Seraph as the mew and mewtwo lifted them together.

There was a flash, snap and all of them vanished.