Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) Lara raised her eyebrow ever so slowly. This… This thing is trying to interrogate me. Its attitude concerns me, it just might be hostile. Back away a tiny bit, Lara, just be. careful. Lara quietly backed away, hands still at her guns just in case. They moved from her normal pistols to her SMG’s. This thing looked much larger than she was, but maybe she could knock a few joints off so that it couldn't move, just so that she could get away for a little while. She stepped back just one more time. “ I have no idea what you're speaking of. Access code? What kind of computer game do you think this is?” Lara had no idea what to think about this interaction. Should she be afraid? Confused? Irked by the insults being thrown at her? All of these things seemed quite reasonable to her, considering she was just dumped here. “I was just tossed here, no idea where I am, and I'm just trying to get my bearings.” She had no idea whether this thing was friend or foe, but it seemed as though it leaned toward the latter. Lara had to be careful though. If she could just get away, what with this thing assuming it was in a computer or being tested or something, she would be fine. But if it decided to attack, she was screwed, and she would have no choice but to shoot. Decisions, decisions. She could always shoot it now and get it done with, but what if it had blasters? It looked like it had some advanced tech, and Lara didn't know what it would do to her if she shot now. … “Any moment now, and the intruders will be eradicated…. Good.” ... Tara liked Rai’s response. She liked how this girl thought, she was definitely reasonable. She smiled and nodded. “I like that idea. L-let’s keep going.” Putting the thing that replaced her phone in her pocket, she carefully hopped out of the boat. The ground was completely different from the beautiful, soft grass that she saw earlier. This was no doubt scorched earth, and the air was thick with ash. Tara missed the fresh air of the other area; this was undoubtedly unpleasant. But she decided to trek on; the air was decent enough to breathe in, at least for a little while. She noticed beasts in the distance- What were they? It was strange, these were shaped Tara had never seen before. She had no idea how to fight, what if they were hostile??? … The hordes of Grublins and Orcs and Trolls carried on throughout the Second Sector. They were on a mission- find those damned intruders and destroy them. … Waiting for his response, Han looked down at the little serpent thing that bobbed and chirped around. He raised his eyebrow at it, but he reached down to pet it. … “Alister!” “I feel… Bloody awful…” “Shh… Just lie still.” “I’ll see… I’ll see you…” “Alister, hold on!” “See you... in… Avalon… Hhhh….” — Darkness. But not quite? Is this Avalon? Did I go to Hell instead? Why am I breathing? Do we breathe in the underworld? Where… Am… I? “Ah… Hh…. Wha…?” Edited February 13, 2018 by Mikasa361 Share this post Link to post
Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) Sector 10 - Desert Anivia frowned, as best as a bird could, at the person's response. She didn't seem to care much that her Lord was wary of the border. "So we must be in the southwest, then," she hummed. "Well, no time like the present. I should find some shade before I melt." She looked over at the youngster to see if she would go with them. "Let's go meet Lord Grima." --------------- Sector 3 - Plains Lolek shrunk back a bit when one of the beings proved its alarming size by bending over. Now that its face was closer, it looked slightly familiar... That's it! It's the pattern of having two eyes above a mouth with vertical shear! He has seen that face all over the place! The being reached down and put a finger on the creature's head, then rubbed his head with it. It felt strange, but Lolek was also excited at the nonthreatening contact. A friend! He made a friend! He bobbed his head and nuzzled the entity's hand with a chirp, excited about the pets. He then decided the entity would like a hug; everyone likes hugs, right? So he shot up the entity's arm, wrapping his sinuous tail around its arm and nuzzling its shoulder, attempting a hug even though his arms were too short to reach all the way around. ------------------------ Sector 7 - Memory Loss and Trojans "Computer game? It's a simulation, you nitwit. You know this." Despite his harsh words though, Ionhazard was starting to have second thoughts. The human seemed to be playing dumb, but was he the one being dumb if she was telling the truth?... Since when did a human ever tell him the truth, though? She was still trying to retreat, so he kept up the slow advance, slowly pushing her to the back wall. Trapping her would give him an advantage should she try anything funny, and lower her morale enough to drop the act. Halfway to the wall though, he felt a ping, making him jerk upright and stop in his tracks. A ping? Where? Who was pinging him?! He angrily looked around, as if he could spot the source. I swear, if they're just messing with me... his thoughts grumbled. He waited for another ping, and upon feeling it he turned to his left, looking out into the cavern. So they had a server set up somewhere, did they? He knew what to do with that! He turned back to the girl, keeping her in sight in case she tried to get away, and dug around in his head for a moment. Somewhere around here was a nice little trojan the Archivist had cooked up, and he could just send an activated copy on its merry way to the server. All he needed was for the server to connect for a second, and... ...Wait. Was that IP...? How did the server have Elara's IP?! Oh hell no, he snarled mentally at it, no longer half-focused on the human. He threw up a firewall immediately and threw the trojan down the pipe... --------------------------- ...which made the entity, so intrigued about meeting Tyrael himself, suddenly collapse as if fainting. The open pipe connected far out into the depths of another sector to its source, which convulsed and violently woke up from piloting her Avatar. She fumed at the recognition of the trojan; she herself helped to plan that dang thing! Thankfully she still had the key to wipe it from existence, and the silver lining was that someone she knew was around here somewhere, but gosh dang it she couldn't remember anyone's name and didn't care at the moment! So she threw the trojan back down the pipe, waited for a response, then.... wait, what was she doing here again? It was very dark. A little bit purple, too. Wait, something hurt? What were all of these open signals she was connected to? The entity panicked when the source of the pain suddenly became very clear. No! There must have been an attack! I can't-! ----------------------------- Elara woke up with a start. Her name! She remembers her name! That's one thing off the list! Then she looked up at Tyrael, whom she recognized mere seconds earlier. She smiled at him and said, "Oh, you're very pretty! Reminds me of someone I know!" The smile faded when she realized she couldn't remember the person's name. "That's odd... usually I'm very good at remembering things. I at least remembered my name though..." -------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, Ionhazard was having fun spontaneously going into hibernation and having to fight his own trojan that he had just activated - his eyes going dark, tails falling over, pillars of exhaust dying with the thrum of the engine as he resorted to backup power - giving his target a sporting chance to escape as long as he was occupied with it. Edited January 10, 2018 by skwerl56767 Share this post Link to post
Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) As the giant ice bird was already asking all of the questions that kinda mattered, Flower wasn't doing much else than listening. When the birdie finally asked something to her, it took a few seconds before she noticed she was being talked to. "Oh, sure! I'd like to meet this Grima- wait. Dragon's Table? Does this have something to do with Tyrath? Because I'm not going anywhere near him or his followers." While saying this, her stance got just a little bit more wary. Tyrath was the king of all dragons. But that title was self-proclaimed, so were there dragons that did not follow him? Were there even any other dragons left? --- "Yes, let's do that!" Amber said, glad that Illidan didn't shy away from some investigation. "So uhm... any idea where we should start?" Feeling uncertain, she once again had to resist bursting into tears. No, Amber. You can do this. "Our best bet would be walking straight forward in any direction. We don't have any clue where to go anyway. I'd like to suggest trying to get as far away from the lava as we can. I don't know about you, but my body isn't exactly lava-resistant." --- "Well, I have never in my life heard of anyone with a double name. Sure, Celica was actually princess Anthiese, but that was a pseudonym. It's not like anyone would call her Celica Anthiese or any- what the hell are you doing?" The weird vermin was now running up Han's arm and... hugging him?! "Are you familiar with such creatures?" Saber remarked, raising an eyebrow. He's seen a lot of things in his life - terrors, ghosts, necrodragons, a monstrous creation of godlike power and even a real god. But nothing even remotely like this. Edited January 10, 2018 by Felixr2 Share this post Link to post
Posted January 10, 2018 [ Sector 2 - Rai ] It was hard to not notice the creatures in the distance. They weren't Risen, that was for certain, but they definitely seemed hostile. Under normal circumstances, Rai would jump in and attack them, but these weren't normal circumstances. For now, she was content to stay back and see how they moved, to try to get a feel for how they moved - that usually gave a tip as to how they fought. Then it occurred to her that Tara was defenseless. "Tara, what are you going to do if those things attack us? I don't see a weapon with you..." [ Sector 2 - Illidan ] Half-demon or not, Illidan was definitely not lava-proof; it'd still burn him badly if he did so much as dip a hoof in it. "I like how you think." He turned and started walking, stopping and turning back a couple of times to see if Amber was following. At one moment, however, he stopped and didn't start again. His Spectral Sight picked up the strangest creatures he'd ever seen. And they did not look friendly. "...we have company." [ Sector 7 - Tyrael ] How this entity knew of him was beyond him. She wasn't wrong that this place looked like the Burning Hells, but at the same time, it wasn't the Hells. All that talk of simulations and alternate dimensions gave Tyrael as much of a headache as an angel could get. The entity had pointed out the mess that had gotten on his armor, but the blood was not that of demons, that much he knew. After all, the demons he was used to had black blood. It was a little hard to tell in this lighting, but he was sure the blood on his armor was red. He was about to respond when he saw the entity collapse as if fainting. His surprise at being recognized quickly turned into worry. Then the entity got back up and spoke again as if nothing had happened. This was one strange place... "You remembered your name? Do you mind telling me what it is?" [ Sector 10 - Grimleal Cultist NPC ] The woman shook her head. "No, it does not have anything to do with this 'Tyrath' you speak of. We do not know who he is, I'm afraid." She then gave a smile as she motioned for the two to follow. "Maybe you can tell Lord Grima about him." Share this post Link to post
Posted January 10, 2018 NPC Beeheeyem; Sector 7 The alirn Pokémon glided across the Netherrack plains, hostage in... well, to use the expression, hand. The unconscious human had been saying things about another hunan. Beeheeyem had initally been planning to take the humsn back yo her boss, but had decided against such upon dpotying the figures in the fustsbce. She could terminate the unconscious human herself, of course, but sone fresked out ehen another humsn was in... oh. Perfect. She glided up to the female human with the guns (those looked useful) and the robot. I suggest you come with me. Or I'm going to kill my little puppet here, seeing as he'd not be of much use. And then I'll make you come anyways. Spotting the Flareon in the lava, she signalled. The response was easy to miss if you weren't looking - but now the Flareon was congirmed to be one of theirs. And they were getting ready. ~5~ NPC Plasma Grunts; Sector 5 The pair of Plasma Grunts patrolled around the abandoned buildings, a Liepard matching pace with them. Liepard's sttention was on one particular building, and the two grunts followed it. "Lie, Liepard." The feline Pokémon mewed before slinking towards... a girl in armour. Not Plasma uniform by any stretch of the imagination. The first grunt glanced at hus partner. Yup, the kid wasn't authorised. As one, the grunts approached, the second grunt taking a moment to send out a Deino. "Right, kid," the grunt with a Liepard ordered, "come with us. Resistance would be a bad idea - Unova is filled with our allies. And the boss diesn't like other people snooping around." The second grunt chimed in with "Kid, if you're with Sector 3, we've had enough of their antics." His Deino growled. "If you aren't, well. Only Team Plasma's supposed to be out here." Share this post Link to post
Posted January 10, 2018 [ Sector 5 - Hibiki ] Noises behind her caused Hibiki to turn around. There were two people with... What the heck WERE those? Obviously one was a cat of some sort, but the other... That wasn't the point. Unova? Was that where she was? These people didn't seem very nice, but at this point, Hibiki would take anybody who was willing to explain what was going on, even if it happened to be whoever was in charge. "Sector 3...? What is that??? I don't know how I got here... I don't even know what's going on. I'm more than willing to go with you - really, I am - but I'd like to know what's happening, at least." Share this post Link to post
Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) Lara froze. It was strange enough that the thing interrogating her stopped doing so, doing something else more odd, but then this new thing approached her- I suggest you come with me. Or I'm going to kill my little puppet here, seeing as he'd not be of much use. And then I'll make you come anyways. While it did not speak, she heard words in her mind. It was an odd thing to her, seeing as she had never seen something this peculiar. And yet she had done some odd things herself, such as using Mjolnir to stop the coming of Ragnarök, or coming face-to-face with an Atlantean god. This, however, was much more unsettling. Lara didn’t like it one bit, and she stepped back one step- until she saw who it was keeping hostage. There was no mistaking it- the shaggy fawn hair, the glasses, the Beatles-esque manner of dress… Those rings he bought after he saw some band member wearing similar ones… Lara froze again. Her heart caught in her throat. She let her eyes wander to see if that wound was still there- was it in his chest? Lara was unable to tell from here. "A-Alister...H-How...” She heard Alister groaning in pain and disorientation. H-He’s alive…. I-I can’t risk it. Not again. Alister, I refuse to fail you again. Lara bit her lip and put her guns away. This fight wasn’t worth the risks. She would have to find a way to outsmart her captor later, when Alister was safe. “Fine. Just lead me to where I need to be.” God help me… This is how it needs to be, fine. But I need an opportunity to escape… … Tara gulped, horrified that she was unarmed. “ O-ohhhh no. T-this is bad. I-I’m screwed- we’re screwed if we get surrounded! Tara shivered. “T-they’re getting close!!!” Tara crouched, hoping to whatever deities were around that she would survive- and Rai too. She seemed like a nice girl. … Kouji noticed the troops heading in the direction of the figures he saw. He picked up his pace a bit more. The closer he got, the more familiar one of the figures looked. He wasn’t too far when he saw why- that was his neighbor! Tara? Mr. Watanabe’s daughter? He saw her taking pictures of trees on nice, warm days. Sometimes he would catch her taking pictures of the same trees during the winter at every angle. Odd as she was, she was a nice girl, and seeing her defenseless like that scared him witless. Kouji took the ground running, whipping out the D-Tector. “Tara, hang on! I’m on my way!” … Han shrugged. “I haven’t seen one personally, no. But where I’m from, the galaxy has plenty of worlds. I wouldn’t be shocked if there was one of these little guys around.” He carefully pet it again. “As for the two names, it’s pretty common. I’ve seen creatures with one name, those with more than three...” Edited January 11, 2018 by Mikasa361 Coding?! Share this post Link to post
Posted January 14, 2018 (edited) Sector 3 - Plains Lolek enthusiastically accepted the pets with head bobs. The entities were still making sounds at each other, and the behavior told him they were communicating easily. Could he learn the communication? Did he even have the right mouth to do so? Lolek chirped, and in chirping he tried to string it out and add notes; it came out very sing-songy, but nothing at all like speech. He tried again, attempting to pronounce one of the being's words, but he was missing crucial consonants that he then failed to replicate the third time by clacking his beak together. Growing annoyed with himself, he tried to think of something easier. What sound combination kept coming up in the conversation that he could mimic...? He tried opening his mouth wide and producing the lowest sound he could, then experimented with making "L" and "N" sounds. "N" just made his chirps cut off as if choking, but "L" turned it into a hum. There were a couple of hums in the speech, but it was hard to decide which one to mimic. "LLlll.... LLLLLLllll..." he tried very hard to say. "ChirLLLlllln-g. WrLLLlln-g." Nope, poor Lolek still sounded too much like a bird. He rubbed his first forearms over his face in dismay. He wanted to sound like these people! How to do so though... he needed something. At the thought of needing something, he felt like there was something he could do about that, and in trying to remember what that would be his mind only cleared and he felt a bit hungry. Hm... food? He could go for some food. Lolek had seen creatures from his homeland eat, but he had never done it before, so he had no idea where to start looking for anything remotely edible. His tongue slid out to taste the air for anything that might come back as "tasty", but he only smelled the beings, their strange, colored extra-skins, and some grass pollen, as well as some other miscellaneous smells; nothing that jumped out to him. He nipped the extra-skin of the being he was perched on, to see if it knew about hunger too and could do something about it. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sector 7 - We're Okay on the Ledge Elara simply gave him a nod. "It's Elara," she said, "Or at least, it is for this form. I have another title, but other people tend to be embarrassed to call me that. 'Elara' is easier." She picked herself up, a bit confused about what had just happened. Last she remembered, she was standing normally. "Hm," she hummed dismissively, brushing off what appeared to be ash. She paused a moment to confirm that it was ash. That can't be good for my air intake, she thought, frowning at it and rubbing her fingers together. "Do you know a way out of here?" she asked the hooded being, "Or where we are? I don't remember being here, or how I came here... I can't remember much at all, actually. I must have damaged my server farm or something..." she muttered the last part to herself. ------------------------------------------------------------- Sector 7 -Great Timing Ionhazard had a thankfully-easy time of erasing the trojan and saving his memory banks from corruption, although he was infuriated that the tactic backfired. Well, if he couldn't make their servers blow a few capacitors or melt some resistors, he might as well shut off his wireless drivers completely. Heck, maybe the humans were dumb enough that the simulation was being filtered in through there. Unfortunately for him, the "simulation" didn't change one bit after shutting off the drivers, but something did change, and that was the focus of his target. As the creature of jointed metal came back to life, he saw that the girl was distracted by a strange... thing. It looked almost like a machine, except closer in resemblance to an etched terracotta figure, and clearly wasn't made of metal. It was shorter by the girl by at least two feet; it had an almost neotonous appearance that made him chuckle. "What devilry is this?" he asked calmly, "You humans must be out of your minds." He was completely ignorant of the creature's telepathic warning prior, but considering it was holding another human and appeared to be facing off with the girl, he was interested to see what hostility might come from it. Certainly this was just a simulated tactic to get him to trust something more mechanical-looking after it "kills" the girl, which he wouldn't believe in the slightest, but he could at least enjoy the show. "Go on," he growled, folding his arms, "do your little skit so I can deny whatever it is you're going to pull." In the back of his mind, he additionally wondered what was taking the Archivist or Mother Machine so long; they were usually quick about pulling Commanders out of traps, especially with as vital as the battle was. He started to doubt things a little bit, but quickly terminated those threads; that's exactly what they wanted him to do, was doubt! -------------------------------------------------------------- Arrivals in Sector 3 A small group of Valkemarian dragons alighted at the border of Sector 3. The cubic landscape should have been alien to them, but instead it merely reminded them of their first, confused moments in this land. A place where the rules were different, where there were no mana pools or crystals, or familiar natives, and the occasional misplaced mythical creature from another world. The newly-dubbed Halfnose huffed, wincing as the attempt to wrinkle his snout at the place resulted in pain. Curse that self-proclaimed queen...! He turned back at his 15 soldiers. Two Seragammas like himself, four Embers, one Hellfire that was impossible to keep in check, a scout Mint, a six-dragon band of Spitfires, and a lone Nhiostrife for air coverage. How was he going to bring back four times as many recruits?! That Vylainne must be out of her mind! Halfnose scowled, turning back to the mission at hand. It was time to start scouting the place and dragging Valkemarians back by the scruff, whether they liked it or not! Edited January 14, 2018 by skwerl56767 Share this post Link to post
Posted February 9, 2018 Amber was closely following Illidan, sometimes slowing down a little when something caught her attention. She would quickly determine it was nothing special and Illidan would then stop to let her catch back up. One time, however, she stopped to look as well as she could; she had a strange feeling something is wrong. Illidan stopped as well and seemed to be concerned about something. "We have company", he said. So her feeling was correct. Something was near. Told ya. Now, don't start bragging. Wait... why am I hearing voices? Everyone hears voices in their head, telling them what to do. What it takes to be a good person is knowing when to listen which one. I'm not one of those voices, though. I am very real. No. I'm not going crazy again. I'm not hearing anything. I'll just deny my problems and they'll go away eventually. I'm telling you i am rea- "I thought so too, Illidan. Any idea where?" ~~~~~~ "I errhh... think it's trying to eat your shirt. Listen. I don't know why you care so much about that thing and I don't give a damn. But if you're gonna keep it, it's up to you to take care of it. So ya better feed it something before it starts to chew your skin, or even worse: mine." Saber said to Han, as the weird thing was tugging on Han's shirt with its mouth. "And pray tell, what is that weird metal thing on your belt? Some sort of small steel club? What's the point?" Share this post Link to post
Posted February 10, 2018 NPC Beeheeyem - Sector 7 The woman stopped. Beeheeyem watched as she seemed to be... defeated. Oho. Apparently her gambit had succeeded. She motioned with an arm, flashing. Follow me. Beeheeyem turned to the machine. I invite you to folliw me, if you so wish. She left out the bit about telling Burakki about it if it fidn't come. Anither flashed signal, and Flareon was on the ready as Beeheeyem made for Burakki's base. ~5~ NPC Plasma Grunts - Sector 5 "So you ain't one of Sector 3's idiots then. Good. This is the region of Unova, dominated by Team Plasma. We're the only one alliwed out of certain cities. You following us?" The first grunt explained. The second grunt called Deino over, before pointing. "That way, kid." Unbeknownst to the girl, the grunts ere intending yo taje her yo obe kf the warehouses Team Plasma reserved for those with powers. If one looked up, they would see a white dragon overhead, a trail of red extending beyond it as it flew.... ~3~ NPC Plasma Grunts - Sector 3 "We have company." "Bugger." The lead Grunt eyed the fifteen dragons as his subordinates chattered. Someone hissed "Not so loud!", and he turned yo glare before returning his attention to the dragons. Sector 4's, he assumed going by how they were acting. They were looking fir denizens kf Sector 3. Or do it seemed. "We follow them. Poké Balls at the ready." Tge karge group complied, boots crunching on grass, foluage, small branches, and bushes. The lead Grunt groaned nigh-inaudibly. Share this post Link to post
Posted February 11, 2018 This was strange... something had suddenly popped into the subnet without notice. There shouldn't be a portal there. There is no portal there. There is no access point there either, so how come communication is possible? Oh, it's tapping the power supply. That's... impressive. This must be investigated. "Greetings, fellow machine. Could you explain how you managed to get here without a portal and how you were able to tap my power supply?" The bits were quickly sent to the foreign machine. It would be able to understand the message, certainly, since it even was intelligent enough to work around the security system and tap the wires. This also meant it should be able to reply. Share this post Link to post
Posted February 11, 2018 [ Sector 2 - Rai ] Rai scrambled for something to defend herself with. She didn't care if it was her sword or one of her magic tomes. Something had to take care of those freaks. Another voice made itself clear. A boy, no doubt; the voice was unmistakeable. It was good to hear that another ally was on the way. In the meantime, Rai alone would have to suffice. Ah, Thoron! This ought to make them scramble. Rai held a tome, with a yellow cover and what appeared to be an arrow of lightning on the front, in her left hand, and gestured with her right hand... but nothing happened. Not even a spark. Rai bit her lip. This was bad - not only had her Thoron spell not worked, but it meant that they were probably going to get attacked in return... She closed her eyes and braced herself for the worst. [ Sector 2 - Illidan ] Illidan grabbed Amber and pulled her close to him, drawing his wings closer to his body. He didn't want to admit it so openly, but Amber was the only ally he had in this strange place and he'd rather not lose her. [ Sector 5 - Hibiki ] Hibiki didn't want any trouble, so she complied and started to follow the pair and their... pets? They seemed like pets. Regardless of that, if this entire area was led by these Team Plasma people, then it had to be safe... Right? [ Sector 7 - Tyrael ] "Elara..." The name rolled off the tongue nicely. "I don't mind that it's just one of a few names you have. I think Elara is a lovely name." He then shook his head, responding to her asking if he knew how they got there or where they were. "Sadly, no. I'm quite confused as to where we are, myself... Though it saddens me to hear that you can't remember much." Tyrael had no idea what a "server farm" was, but memory loss was never a good thing, not in Sanctuary or any other world. Even a demon with amnesia was a sorry sight. "I hope you regain your memory someday. In the meantime, we should explore our surroundings and stick together. Perhaps we'll find a way out this way." Share this post Link to post
Posted February 17, 2018 Sector 7 - What Now? Ionhazard snorted -which was mostly just puffing out more exhaust - at the terracotta figure's words. Follow? Where?! Wasn't this a good enough setting for the drama? "Fine. I have nothing better to do, anyway," he muttered. He watched as the figure made a strange gesture with her arm, then began floating away with her hostage. The first woman had holstered her guns and started following, looking worried and calculating. Oh. So he wouldn't get to see a fight, then. He tried to hide his disappointment, moving to take the rear of the group and supposing he just had to wait for a bit. The long her played the game the longer he stalled these peoples' efforts, anyway; although the doubt was growing in intensity. Where the heck are the other Commanders? Why am I still here? he thought, Unless those bipedal vermin managed to pull off a proper teleport... As much as he hated the idea, it gave him incentive to humans more. Bloody creatures and being so adaptive... The terracotta figure led Ionhazard and the possibly-simulated humans down a well-memorized route, through reddened caverns and behind falls of lava. Every now and then the ceiling in the distance broke open into an ash-dusted sky, barely visible through the red haze, and down in the lava lake below small islands could be seen. After several minutes of walking a treacherously-narrow path - at least, for him, as the one girl seemed to be doing just fine of course - Ionhazard noticed that these islands were looking more square than usual... in fact, they had housing, and bridges between them! Buildings? Out here? Trying to mimic civilization? The Commander didn't believe it, looking back and forth between the distant islands and his guide. there was no reason for the humans to try such a creative tactic, not with the country being engaged in war. Maybe these were artifacts left behind by the Archivist? It wouldn't be the first time he hacked something, leaving benign hints of his presence for his allies while he struggled with all kinds of security protocols... With that thought, he then recalled the ping he received from "Elara". The timing of it was pretty stupid... so it could be her... but it could still be a ruse... but why would the humans try to trick him with a ping when he offered up secrets to this one lady, who was apparently stupid good at rock-climbing?! He huffed again as his train of thought was broken, watching the girl go up the rock face as though she had done it a thousand times before. Humans were dumb to think he would believe their boastful little stunts. Still, he kept his scorn to himself, stepping up to the higher, plateaued ledge, which terminated abruptly into a rock face. He stared at the wall for a second. This was a very sheltered area, out of sight from the lake with the buildings on it. The path the figure had taken them through was a maze of tunnels, so evidently it wasn't supposed to be an easy find. He wasn't sure why he expected the door to be bigger, knowing this, but wow, did these people really expect him to shuffle along his belly all the way to their little interrogation stage? How would he fit in there?! He stopped to try and look through the square opening in the wall. It was reinforced with bricks and otherwise faceless, but it wouldn't matter if he couldn't even fit. He looked over expectantly at the figure, his irritated gaze a more-than-sufficient replacement for his question. Sector 7 - In Another Place "Aw, really? You think so?" Elara would have blushed if she was capable of it. "Don't say nice things like that! You're too kind." She then frowned as the angelic figure was just as clueless as she was. It seems odd that, for all of the new people she would meet in a new place, it was one of the ones who was also lost. She tried not to get flustered again at the good wishes, prioritizing the need to discover their location first. "It's been a while since I've met someone as nice as you," she admitted. "I agree; we can cover more land if we work together. I... feel like I should know where we are, but something just isn't clicking right... I feel like I should know you, too. In fact, I recall-" The machine cut herself off, abruptly looking to the left. She didn't see anyone, but she definitely heard someone! "Did you hear that?" she asked the being, more intrigued than frightened by the disembodied voice. She turned and wandered off, looking for the person. "Where are you? Are you a machine too?" She paused, then added, "I don't recall taking anyone's power supply - Oh wait! Hold on, maybe you only understand binary..." Elara turned to give the angelic being a small wave, just to indicate her preoccupation, before trying to find a wireless link to the voice she heard; sending the bits would be easier than saying them out loud, anyway. Upon doing so, however, her excitement diminished: this person was very, very far away. Her new friend must think she's mad! She tried not to think about the awkwardness of that fact, shaking her head and hopping up onto a rock for better reception. It didn't really improve anything, but she stared out into the distance anyway, sending back to the entity: I don't remember how I got here. I'm surprised you can detect me from all the way out here, though. Are you a satellite? She briefly checked up on the angelic being to make sure he hadn't left without her. You're so far away I couldn't think of another explanation, nor how I could be taking your power; my chaos engine is running fine. Sector 3 NPC Update: The Valkemarian party didn't realize they were being stalked, instead only hearing Halfnose's order to split up and take back anything with four legs and a tail. The wyverns, already disgruntled by him taking the reigns, grumbled about the inaccuracy of the statement behind his back. Forced to pick up their paws due to the cubical design of the sector, each dragon left with one or two partners, each going its own direction. Halfnose roughly shook his head, huffing at the cooler climate. "Shall I watch the rendezvous point, sir?" his Nhiostrife subordinate asked, devoid of any enthusiasm. Halfnose squinted at him, peeved. "Do whatever you want," the Seragamma grumbled. The Nhiostrife simply blinked, before taking off and circling the area, on the lookout for anything unusual, not noticing the grunts in the nearby forest yet watching the treeline closely. Halfnose took the opportunity to rest, with no one else around but the older wyvern, flopping down onto the grass and wrinkling his snout. The wounds still hurt, but they had dulled to an aching throb. "Whatever happened to Jehumuh Desert..." he mumbled, thinking of Valkemare. "It didn't have crazy Ice Dragons..." Share this post Link to post
Posted February 20, 2018 Lara had thought she was rid of the crazy machine. It had decided to follow her and the floating terra-cotta creature… And Alister. She looked at the barely-conscious man, continuing to follow. If I could just figure out a way to get out of here, with Alister, I can get my bloody bearings in this world. However, that didn’t seem like it was happening any time soon. She had no idea what would happen if she attempted to grab her friend and bolt. It was entirely possible that they would both be killed, and what good would that have done for the both of them? A bloody load of nothing, that’s what. Thus, Lara bit her tongue. She didn’t want to ask any more questions that could put everyone in danger. She saw Alister stir a bit, but that was it. Perhaps he was recovering from his wounds, but how? When he died, he bled out horribly. Was it possible that he had been given medical attention when he was found? All of this was very perplexing indeed. Lara just hoped that she could get out of this safely. … Kouji shouted in dismay when he saw that the other person’s attack failed. He wasn’t there yet! Maybe had he— His lungs screamed in pain. He was over-exerting himself. Maybe if he could evolve— But then he saw something that shocked him immensely. What is Tara holding…? … No no no no no this isn’t happening no no no no no no no— Tara noticed the new device in her hands begin to glow. What the— … Kouji saw more of the device the closer he got. He was about four meters away, definitely close enough to see the device. Impossible, I thought— No way. He grinned when he saw the glowing. It was time. Kouji knee the word, but did his neighbor? He could see the anxiety practically radiating from her. Thus, since he was finally close, he shouted “SPIRIT!” ... The shouts frightened the ever-living hell out of Tara, but she saw the device glow in her hands. I wonder… She held the device forward and repeated, “SPIRIT!” -It is time.- Execute! Spirit evolution! Tara had no idea what was happening. Nothing was more confusing than what she found herself surrounded in next. It was as if she was being suited up in the strangest of armor- her body was being stretched and compressed in the weirdest places. She didn’t know if it was painful or awkward, and she felt as if she were suspended in time. How long did it take? Soon she found herself back in the real world, but what was this? She felt so… tall! Tara looked down at her hands, noticing a staff in her armored gauntlets— WHAT? She heard a faint “Attack! It’s okay!” Tara nodded. “Fox Tail Inferno!” … Han shrugged at the little creature eating his shirt. It wasn’t particularly nice, he would live. “On my belt? That’s a blaster. I use it to shoot things?” Share this post Link to post
Posted March 13, 2018 There was no response from the object. Which was odd, since it clearly had the means to communicate. "Don't try to hide. I know you're there, and that you can respond to me. I will give you one warning: respond to me if you don't want to be disintegrated." ~~~~~~ At first, when Illidan suddenly pulled her towards himself, she was frightened to death that her trust in him had been misplaced. She quickly realised, however, that he was trying to protect her from harm. A sudden wave of relief befell her, and she now felt safe being guarded by him. "How close are they?" ~~~~~~ "A 'blaster', you say? What the hell is that? And... how can even you shoot with that thing? It don't see any string to fire arrows with. Is it some kind of magical object?" Saber was getting more and more confused by every sentence this "Han Solo" spoke to him. How could you ever shoot something without a bow? It just didn't make any sense. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 13, 2018 [ Sector 2 - Rai ] Well... this was new. Apparently that strange device in Tara's possession was her weapon all along. Focus, Rai. You've been through far worse than this. She had to keep her focus... But no matter how much she focused, not even a spark would come out! Why wasn't Thoron working?! She fumbled through her things. Maybe a different tome would work... [ Sector 2 - Illidan ] Amber had asked how close these enemies were. Illidan looked around, focusing on his Spectral Sight. "...they're very close. I can't tell how many there are; they're too close together... Stay low and keep your mouth shut." [ Sector 7 - Tyrael ] "...hear what? I don't--" Elara was acting strange. She waved at him, signaling that something had her preoccupied. Whatever it was, Tyrael was very, very confused. He tried his best to keep pace with his new ally as she went off. He didn't want to lose her like he'd lost the bipedal mouse earlier. [ The Dragon's Table, Sector 10 - Grima & NPC Grimleal Cultist ] "Welcome, friends, to the Dragon's Table." The inside of the tower was marvelous, despite its rather scary exterior... but if it worked for these people, then beggars couldn't be choosers. A young man descended into the main hallway. He had white hair, fair skin, generally dark-colored clothes, and the most stunning red eyes ever seen. "Milord Grima! We have guests..." "Ah... How fortunate that they were taken in from the searing desert heat." He turned to the cultist. "I need you to make sure the northeastern border's guards are prepared. I don't want any surprises from Sector 5." "I am dismissed, milord?" "Yes, you are." The young cultist left. "I believe you've heard of me from my devout follower, but allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Grima, ruler of Sector 10." Share this post Link to post
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