The Escapist Avatar Adventure: An Open RP (Now Re-Opened!)

[NotYetForsaken]

[[Secondary Scenario]]​

[hr]

Maiden's Wish

side story

​

[hr]

"Never ask for anything, but desire everything."​

Vihaan ran his fingers through his black hair and grinned. "Good," Vihaan spun around and put a finger on David's chest, "for there are some things that I need from you Mr. David." The jewelry on his uniform jingled as he moved. His gemstones seemed to catch the light from the forge and glow a soft pink. "You are in quite a privileged position to be on the Rising Dawn." Vihaan fished around in his robe and pulled out a USB stick.

The forge seemed to quiet, the air cool, and the dust stopped drifting. The world around them seemed to be locked in time. Vihaan handed the USB to David, "In your ship, there is an old walled-off section of the vessel. It'll be hard to get to, you'll have to go into uncharted areas, but within the old cabin, there's a weapon's lab that's locked away and sealed. Plug this into any computer there and wait for the program to finish. Once it's done running, get it back to me."

The world around them burst back into life. "There's some important data we need before our project can move forward. I'll tell you now in good faith. We're looking for information on forcing exotic matter to stabilize in our world, and the Rising Dawn, with how many extra-dimensional travelers it's collected, it the prime subject for our analysis."

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

[HEADING=2]The Rising Dawn Adventures[/HEADING]The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Rising Dawn: Cloudtop Citadel
King Leoric | Nadalia | [color=8a2c0f]Joshua Graham[/color] | Peter Moore
​

Leoric caused more then a few heads to turn among the staff of the Citadel.
Sure, their job description practically involved "Being willing to deal with weird shit all day" but a walking Skeleton was a new one for the bucket list.
"...Strange...where are all the men?...Are they out on deployment?..." He asked out loud, soon staring at the staff almost as much as they stared at him, making a few of them rather uncomfortable
He was a bit worried he was over-shadowing his friend's return to form, least until they both ran into Peter and a strange man in bandages.
"...2013?....It's really that far into the future?....Hm." Leoric mused, recalling the year in his home realm to be somewhere under 1300 (then again, his perception of time as always a bit off-kilter since he "Died")
"Well, I thank you for your offer but I'd rather stand. I am King Leoric, former monarch of Khanduras, current monarch of the Rising Dawn. And my comrade the Iron Queen Nadalia whom you already know. I wish to speak to the commander of this keep, I have several questions relating to the security of our borders I wish to ask him." The Skeleton king then remarked, clearly unaware of how many female members of the armed services were on site.

The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Cloudtop Citadel
​

[hr]

Cloudtop Citadel: David West, Vihaan, Janet

"...Really? You want me to put out on the first date? We didn't even have dinner..." David asked in a annoyed but clearly sarcastic tone.
Classic spy move: Befriend someone and get them to do your bidding, something he knew something about even before he began dating a super Ninja-Spy bombshell.
His gaze turned to the USB he was holding, it seemed normal enough but if Die Hard 4.0 taught him anything (outside of the fact that John McClane doesn't get paid enough), it was that computers were crazy in the right hands.
"...Alright, I'll ask our support AIs about it. They'll want to scan this before they put it on our network. Last think I need in my life is Katya wondering why the internet isn't working, you get me?" The sniper remarked before putting both his USB and Mr. Boozy 2.0 into his jacket.
"Though that does beg the question, if it's just data you are after, why not ask them instead? They'd know more about our systems then I would, I just shoot people for a living. Oh, and unrelated but damn son, your pick-up game needs some work. I mean, the sweet suit is a plus but it only gets you so far..." He then asked in a mocking tone, hoping to incite a bit of laughter from present company.

 

[NotYetForsaken]

[[Secondary Scenario]]​

[hr]

Maiden's Wish

side story

​

[hr]

"Never ask for anything, but desire everything."​

The boy admiral took several steps back and spun around, his cloak fluttered in the breeze he made and shed the ash and grime that had stained it. His footfalls sounded like chiming chords, the soft bend of the cloth of his boots kicked up a circular winds that wrapped around him, blowing embers high into the rafters above them. The ringing of the forge echoed loudly and clearly. Vihaan Valduur cleared his throat and ran his hand across his eyes. The crown around his head burst into golden brilliance and his irises took on the same heavenly light. He grinned, shining as if wearing liquid light.

"It's a good question you've asked," Vihaan said, letting his show settle around him as he approached David. "But it's the wrong question." He put a hand on David's shoulder. "If it was so simple, I would have indeed already asked. The question you must ask is rather, 'what is stopping you from using public data?' and the answer to that is very complicated."

Janet laughed, "And that's there is why the ladies around here are so sweet on the boy. He's got charisma when he wants."

Vihaan gave Janet a grin and a thumbs up before turning back to David and looking him right in the eyes, "Don't panic when I tell you this but, the Rising Dawn has long since been compromised. Your AI, your staff, even some of your heroes, they've all been affected by this phenomena we're trying to prove exists."

No matter how dense David was, he felt the sincerity in Vihaan's voice. It wasn't his magic, nor was it his speech. Rather it was something that appealed to his instincts. His gentle smile, his trusting eyes, even the sound that his jewelry made as he moved. It was calming and relaxing.

"The data that we need to mine from the weapon's lab is so rare and so sensitive that should anyone other than yourself know about it's existence, the waveform we need to observe could become overwritten," Vihaan straightened David's shoulders, "You are special, normal beyond measure. Despite being on the Rising Dawn, you are a native to this world, born and raised a human. You haven't felt... off, tormented by the unnatural times passing through this world. You are dumb, dense, and painfully mundane. You are the only person that can do this." The admiral smiled, "I know you can do this for us, my trust rides with you, David West, and so do the hopes and desires of everyone in this base."

---​

"Yooohooo, King Leoric!" Hanna called out from her perch in the hole in the Canteen roof. She grinned and pointed at herself. She was twenty-something, blue-eyed, blonde-hair tied into a ponytail that still fit snug into the belt-loops in the back of her pants. Beautiful, but fit with strong arms and hands familiar to metalcraft.

She jumped and landed next to the Skeleton King. She put a hand on his forearm and ran a finger between the clean dry bone. Hanna whistled, "So that's what it feels like. I've always wondered what you felt like."

Peter seemed rather distraught at her sudden appearance. "Is that what they call a uniform around here?" he said, rolling his eyes.

Hanna pulled on the knot keeping her shirt from snagging on her work belt, "What, you wanna see more, skyboy?"

"I want to see less," Peter snarked. He shook his head and turned to look out the windows of the Canteen.

Hanna leaned back and cracked her back with a good stretch. "Whatever the case, if ya want to be seeing Colonel Isami, I can lead you to 'er. Played Diablo all the time when I was a kid, it'd be an honor to escort the real deal around for a little bit today."

 

[Sithmorack]

AA Verse | Cloudtop Citadel | The Rising Dawn | Canteen
King Leoric | Nadalia | [color=8a2c0f]Joshua Graham[/color] | Peter Moore​

[hr]

Again, Graham barely even heard the private's words as the "shadow" came and deposited his drink on the counter. A lot of questions were running through his head right now. There was no way this was the Capital Wasteland. He had been across most of it and there had never been anything like this. In fact he doubted he was even on the same world. The technology, the people, the greenery, even the cleanliness of it screamed of a new world. He was confused but almost pleasantly so. He just needed to collect himself for a minutes and...

And it looked like the private was having problems of his own. There was an odd silence coming from the man but before Graham could so much as utter a word they were met with another person. She was clean like all the inhabitants here but there was something else. A certain warmth that covered something else, a certain cold dark, it was incredibly strange. That didn't even touch on her mannerisms. Her articulation was strange to say the least but he didn't particularly mind that.

This feeling was put off for now as he realized that she was rather nervous. He got that from time to time whether it was his bandages or his infamy. His posture relaxed as the private replied for him. His calm demeanor came back as he processed new information until he saw a walking talking skeleton. This time his mind didn't really say anything as he simply stared at the thing. He had seen many skeletons in the Wasteland but none of them ever walked or TALKED. He was then informed it was the year 2013. That was why everything was so green. This is what it was like before the bombs. In all actuality Graham had never studied when exactly the bombs had dropped but from what he had heard it was around this time. A new worry began to set in his stomach as he thought about what this place could become.

He needed to protect this place, this world, from ever becoming like his own. Whether this was a new world or just the past he didn't know or care, he just knew he had to protect it. A calm determination washed over him as he finally caught up to speed on what the private had said. It was a few moments before he replied, [color=8a2c0f]"Maps, records, history books, anything you can find would be invaluable to me."[/color] He appreciated the private taking the time to introduce him to the Rising Dawn.

Finally he turned his attention to the woman, Nadalia, if he remembered right. He had been quite rude to her up to now. He decided to correct that as he replied, [color=8a2c0f]"excuse me, I was elsewhere when you began talking. I've had a lot to take in these past few... Hours."[/color] He was unsure how much time had passed since he had been on the ship. At least an hour he supposed. [color=8a2c0f]"My name is Joshua Graham, it's a pleasure to meet you. If you would be so kind, please join our conversation. It has been enlightening so far.[/color]"

He spared a glance towards the blonde woman that was addressing the private but ignored her as she was more interested in the skeleton.

 

[Zepherus14]

He helped out a bit

And she helped out even more!

The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Rising Dawn: Cloudtop Citadel
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[hr]

Cloudtop Citadel: Hanger: Rugal, Hillary, Ton Ton, Cadolbolg, Teri, Garm

To Rugal's relief, Hillary would set him down gently shortly after he replied to her celebration of her new look. Although Hillary didn't skip, hop or bound for joy, she definitely continued her frolic in her glistening euphoria. Put simply, imagine if a woman got the perfect dress, how they would react to wearing such a lovely garment. Turning and posing to see every curve and look they can? Now make that same dress a gift, even better right? All in all, Hillary was having a very good day now, so much so she didn't notice Teri and Garm approaching.

"Ah, there you are. Hillary, this is my daughter and the Rising Dawn's chief field medic Teri Gravel, along with her compaction Garm. Come, we were just about to ask the commander of this base if we can help this one get home. She suddenly ended up here recently and I'd like to get her back to-...to her-..." Rugal introduced the woman and her companion, Hillary's eyes were finally peeled away from herself and spot the very large doggy. "Oh! Hello there!" Hillary waved over to the two approaching. "It's very nice to meet you-you..." Hillary started her introduction when a thought dawned on her, making her pause for a moment.

"...Teri, dear, has something happened to you? Your Aura it feels-...different..." Rugal remarked.

Teri tilted her head in confusion, (a motion mirrored by her canine companion, to Rugal's amusement) before making a little "Hmnn...". Her brows furrowed in thought as she answered back, [color=0E59E4]"You know, it's funny - I don't really 'feel' that different; a little lighter I guess? I remember the last thing I did, after some busy work in the Med Bay was that I went to my room and meditated for a little bit. I've been so busy after the whole incident with the Prison, I hadn't really given any alone time to Big G and..." [/color]

She stopped there, trailing off before perking again; a lightbulb practically appearing above her head as she answered, [color=0E59E4]"That's it! I hadn't spent any time really talking to the man upstairs, so that must have changed something!"[/color]

Garm nodded after his charges conclusion, adding in, [color=356D60]"That would make sense. We fought a lot in that prison, so we've both gotten stronger, no doubt. From what I've seen, you've been doing a lot better since we've gotten back, a change I approve of."[/color]

Following this, the rather large wolf sniffed at the air near Hillary, his ears perked inquisitively as he examined the strange new being, [color=356D60]"A new member, huh? The Rising Dawn pack grows every day it seems..."[/color]


By this point, Hillary had slowly turned her head over to Rugal, this look of deep guilt across her face. With her finally distracted from her own looks, she finally remembered that being metal meant she'd just become far stronger than she normally would. Now in all fairness, she didn't feel any stronger, but this was one of those things she'd worked on to remember while on the Laplace. She didn't know why Rugal hadn't said anything to her, but with that look from her, Rugal understood without saying a word. "Please, I used to headline the King of Fighters. And they have actually allowed people to bring guns into the fights." He boasted, his words putting Hillary at ease once again. "You must be very strong then indeed. But Hillary will be much more careful to not do that again!" Hillary answered back with gumption.

Teri, on the other hand, had finally broken out of her little reverie and made note of the metallic space alien. Gasping loudly, she exclaimed, [color=0E59E4]"Oh, Where are my manners?! As Dad said, my name's Teri, it's nice to meet you, Hillary! "I can't say I know terribly much about alien anatomy; but I'll do the best I can if you find yourself in a pinch."[/color] She extended her right hand for a handshake, the sleeve of her robe falling back to reveal an interesting assortment of equipment underneath. What started with a gloved hand, which bared a silver chain with a cross dangling from the wrist. This continued with a hardy looking bracer covering her forearm, up until the darkness under the rest of the sleeve. It was a sharp contrast to the young woman's clothing, which looked more akin to a priest's vestments; colored sky blue and white. However, despite this contrast, her expression was friendly; a sentiment shared somewhat by the canine she sat atop of; who was making himself busy sniffing Hillary for anything unusual.

Hillary would reflect Teri's cheerful expression both literally and figuratively. Be in lack of knowledge of wolves or simply being overly friendly, Hillary didn't seem to be worried about Garm, letting out a giggle as he continued sniffing at her. "Hehe, okay doggy it's nice to meet you too~ Your name's Garm right? [small]Now how did Timea say...[/small] Oh!" Hillary made a fist and slowly moved it towards Garm's nose for him to sniff at like dogs normally like. "Now for Teri's turn." She reached an arm up to shake Teri's, Hillary's hand having zero give making it feel like Teri was doing shaking a statue. Her grip was also quite loose. "That's not too much right?"

In the meantime, Ton Ton and Cadolbolg watched this scene unfold quietly, before Ton Ton asked the question that was on their mind, [color=15650D]"Pardon me for asking, but how exactly did you do that? That...Skin shifting thing? It's very unusual; even for a place like this one..."[/color]

Finishing the hand shaking for now, Hillary looked back to the two little ones. "Skin shifting thing?" She asked, head tilting before her eyes widened and she looked back down at herself. "OH! You mean this? This is just something Hillary does when she's not in Garton... That's the town Hillary grew up in, slime all over the place. Hillary got told on the Laplace it might be how she eats, but she doesn't think that's right. Hillary doesn't eat lots of things she changes into after all. What's important is whenever Hillary touches a lot of something, she'll change into that something, so because of Rugal's metal apple I look like this now~" Which despite wanting to keep her focus on her hosts, her attention was absorbed back into her lustrous body, coos and giggles included.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

[HEADING=2]The Rising Dawn Adventures[/HEADING]The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Rising Dawn: Cloudtop Citadel
King Leoric | Nadalia | [color=8a2c0f]Joshua Graham[/color] | Peter Moore
​

"...Clearly, the years have eroded things like manners..." Leoric muttered in a displeased tone as Hanna apparently seemed to "Come onto him".
There were so many things wrong with that, even before you get to the part where he was entirely bone and demonic magic.
Luckily(?) for her, She then made a far more grave error: Speaking of the Lord of Terror himself.
"Played Diablo all the time when I-"
Before she could finish, Leoric swung his mace upward right though the table, upending it and knocking poor Hanna to the ground.
"WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?! WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICSVEL1-iB4][footnote]Warning: Extremely Cringey waste of millions of dollars[/footnote] He shouted as he towered over the Private, holding his mace right before the woman's throat like a sword.
"Ohhhh, I understand now. You are just like Lazarus. Come here so I may bring your head to your dark master MYSELF!" He then roared before nearly crushing Hanna under his mace as she rolled to safety.
What then prompted was a rather strange scene as he chased her around the canteen, upending tables in what was once a threatening manner but in reality, the only thing that was missing was Benny Hill music.
"Stop running! You're only making it worse for yourself! Ha-...Get back here! Stop you Wretch!" He panted as he chased after her around tables and people getting food, unaware of how silly it looked.

The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Cloudtop Citadel
​

[hr]

Cloudtop Citadel: David West, Vihaan, Janet

"...Okay, was the part about me being dumb, dense, and painfully mundane really that important for the sake of your speech?...I mean, you've sold me but really?...That last one is bullshit. I date a ninja for crying out loud..." David muttered in a dumb, dense and painfully mundane way as his tiny ego was bruised by Vihaan's cruel words.
Still, David was starting to come over to the admiral's words and he had a point: What if there was something up with the ship and it's crew.
"...Alright, sir. I'll accept this mission, just so long as you agree to my terms. You might not know them too well, but those guys are my family at this point. I'll get your data but if any of your "Research" so much as scratches one of them, you'll find out just how "Painfully Mundane" bullets being inserted into your body really are..."
And with that, David spat into his hand before offering it for Vihaan to shake, an old Irish custom for deal making said to symbolize having "Clean hands" in relation to the agreement.
"...you don't have to spit as well if you don't want to, I know people find it weird and gross, but such is the way of old customs." The sniper then remarked as he fiddled with the USB with his "Dry" hand.

 

[Zepherus14]

This gal helped out a whole bunch!

[HEADING=2]The Rising Dawn Adventures[/HEADING]The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Rising Dawn: Library
Nina Zaczoltski | Phillip | Molli and John | Naamah
​

It wouldn't take long for them to drift down to the flying Dawn, Phillip using his tentacles to reach outwards to the hole and worked to pull the two in with him. "Oh hey! We made it!" Nina exclaimed excitedly from the ceiling as she noticed they appeared to be in the library they were looking for! "Slow and steady, but we got there in the end! Isn't that right?" Nina laughed, pretty chipper for almost falling to her death.

Grabbing the library shelves like a ladder, Phillip would pull the two down to the ground, allowing enough distance to stop them from simply being pulled out of the hole in the ship again. Once her feet were firmly on the ground, Nina blew a sigh of relief and stretched her arms out before giving her hair the once over and adjusting some clothing, free fall does a great job of ruffling clothing. "Well we're finally here! Now time to find my hat!" she proclaimed as Ruby guided her to the lost and found, where low and behold the treasure they'd long searched for was found!

The hat [http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/wrfrench/HatCapNewsboy.jpg][footnote]It'd look fairly close to this, probably with a bit more cloth than leather.[/footnote] in question was visibly old and well used, but still in good condition regardless. The way Nina picked it up off the pile and dusted it off, it was clear even with Nina's questionable mental state, she cared about this article of clothing quite a bit. A scutinous eye would spot something stitched into the inside portion, the flap in the inlay covering what it might be.

A voice cut through the howling winds that invaded the library, "ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE THIS IS!" The bookshelves rustled as a storm of a little girl came barreling into view. Her loose gold jeweler rattled together as she ran, the sheer cloth veil she wore over a head of long dark brown hair whipped in the wind as her black scarf and wooden staff followed haphazardly in her footsteps. Whoever this scantily clad girl was, she was awfully upset. 'What even is that sound..? Did, did someone leave a window open in here?! We're on an airship! Why would you have windows?!' Sticking a finger in her ear.

She ran up to Nina and clutching her head screamed at the young woman, "You no respect for the sanctity of this place have? You just come crashing down through someone's head at will? Half a mind to jail you Naamah has!" Her black scarf raised it head and glared at Nina with a singular green eye. Phillip who was sitting on Nina's shoulder's would mirror the scarf's glare with his own, eyes not included. Nina didn't immediately turn to face the irate woman however, only once Ruby tugged on Nina's sleeve did she turn around to notice Naamah, clearly confused why this woman was yelling at her.

"Colonel, colonel, please calm down!" Molli said in between breaths after she finally caught up to the pint-sized colonel. Molli gasped for breath and stood up, curly red hair falling over her face. A man entered the library not long after, well dressed and well groomed. "Ah... christ..."

"The Colonel is quite fast despite her small size," John said casually, "let me pull up a seat for you Molli."

"Thanks John," Molli answered before she collapsed onto her knees.

"What for yourself do you say!?" Naamah pouted at Nina.

"I'm sorry for her rudeness, John said as he helped Molli into a chair, "the Colonel is quite on edge ever since she got back from Denver. There was a lot of damage done to both the ship and the crew, and it weighs heavily on her mind."

"Definitely," Molli added, "we both nearly lost something very dear to us. We," she motioned to herself and John, "and her." she motioned toward Naamah.

"Naamah an explanation, an apology, and compensation demands!"

"Lord have mercy..." Nina groaned, using one hand to rug her temples. Nina held up a finger to Naamah as a 'Just a moment' before turning to Ruby "Honestly, I was hoping to take you back to your fam jam, but... Well I'm getting the feeling this'll take a bit longer to get worked out. So to save you a long winded, but... constructive discussion, you wanna just head out and we can meet up later for some magic lessons or something?" Nina asked Ruby, which after a bit of consideration, she conceeded she didn't want to have to deal with Naamah. She looked pretty upset after all, so with Ruby heading back to her room Nina turned to Naamah.

"So she's a colonel?" She addressed Molli, disbelief practically dripping from her voice as she pointed down at Naamah. 'Trying to be swindled by a Gypsy posing as a Colonel... What a day.' "Alright look, I don't see what right you have to shout at me like that, but from the place I'm standing, I'd imagine you're the one in need of some apologizing. I find libraries quite pleasant, even helped with Ruby's mistrust of libraries only an hour ago. And I have not crashed through anyone's head, far from it. The only thing I've crashed through recently was my home, and that was only because Eddie the Sped felt it in his best interest to smash through my house!" Nina crossed her arms.

"But hey, you two are right, everyone's probably a bit on edge. I for one was feeling rather flabbergasted I managed to misplace this." Tipping her hat as she placed it on her head. "So, how about we all just take a deep breath, and maybe Molli or... Joe was it? Or John, sorry!" Nina corrected herself as she looked to Phillip a moment. "Right so John, could explain things a bit more calmly?" Nina requested, trying to set an example for Phillip on how arguments should be handled.

John leaned back onto a table and nodded, his soft brown curls bobbed lightly in the breeze coursing through the library, "It is so," he said, "it would please me to introduce Colonel Naamah Blackheart from Rising Dawn High Command. She's not in any direct command of a division like other officers of her rank, instead she's one of the chief officers in the Intelligence department."

"And how you the hole above us explain?" Naamah cried as she pointed at the jagged opening leading to the outside. Several black sinews were trying to reach each other from each edge, hoping to close the breach in some capacity. 'So that's where the window is! Weird place for a skylight?'

"The little Colonel is also a technopath of some sort. None of use are too sure on the details, but she has some sort of connection with the ship superstructure itself," Molli added. She pointed at the black sinews between the hull's superstructure, "Those things are like a living creature and they help make impromptu repairs when the ship is damaged. It's not unlikely that Colonel Blackheart sees the organism as another 'person.' With all of the heroes coming through hull breaches, it's also likely that's what Colonel Blackheart sees as 'breaking through someone's head.'"

Naamah continued to move about angrily, waving her arms and running around in a small circle.

"She is also the Chief Librarian for the Rising Dawn. Not just this ship, but the organization as a whole. This place however," John motioned toward the Library as a whole, "is where she spends most of her free time."

"Nonetheless, since you are a civilian, if you would come with us we can arrange for you to be taken home, and if necessary we will provide you with a check for the damages done to your place of residence." Molli offered.

Naamah stopped ranting and glared at Molli, "Are you truly so ignorant? She not a civilian is. She a hero is!" Naamah pointed at Nina, "It fate herself that was that on this ship her put. Just at her look!"

This last comment from Naamah caught Nina off guard. A hero, really? Nina gave the pint sized colonel a dubious look. "Thanks for the compliment, I guess?" Clearly not following Naamah's train of thought. Heroes after all had super powers, fancy costumes, gadgets and gizmos, flashy cars and a meriad of adoring fans. Even with her being accepted to live here on the Dawn by Ryan, and his warning about not going out on a mission; she hadn't really thought in earnest about being a hero. Thinking back with saving the crowd of brainwashed fellows, dealing with the missile, attempting to help Nadalia, that whole run from the bugs; she'd thought of it as just being helpful, but it did have a bit of a heroic flair to it. Regardless with the information dump out of the way, Nina did have a plan forming in her noggin, one that had a smile curl across her face.

"But you did give me an idea. So! Those black things don't hurt right, if Phillip helps to connect them, he'd be alright, right? Phillip's been wanting to get back home to check if we can get any of our stuff back from home. Ryan already gave us the go ahead to live up here already, but had to take care of some other things on his own." Nina stated, following with a clap, Phillip moving up a bit more to perch on Nina's shoulder proper clearly interested. "So how about this? We help get that window or whatever closed, we came through a portal Ruby made, so that's clearly the work of someone else's, and then we take a trip down to Denver to my place, gather our swag, and see how it goes after that? Not sure how much of it'd be left, but I can't sit back and let it all go to the dump, [small]least of all the unmentionables...[/small] So what do you say, we got a deal?" She asked, presenting a hand to shake, shifting it from Molli to Naamah unsure who'd really be the deal maker here.

 

[BlackHarte]

[HEADING=2]Rising Dawn: Canteen ------------------------------------------------------------------ 02:15 AM[/HEADING][hr][HEADING=3]Lt. Dolores Selmy[/HEADING]

We settled into a state of uncomfortable silence. The red light cast by the low-power light above drew awful shadows across all of our faces. I moved uncomfortably in my chair. "I... I'm sorry for bringing any of this up. Let's leave it alone. There's a time to cross this river, but it shouldn't be today." I looked at Katya, and her expression seemed kind of far away, hard to place, lost.

Laeta walked over and leaned against my chair, "Awful night it's been hasn't it?"

Saren gurgled a half-response from her face-down seat at the table.

"You can say that again, you drunkard piece of trash," Laeta chuckled. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around me again. It was comforting to feel her familiar soft warmth. It was clear that out of all of us, Laeta was the most like mother. Strong beyond human belief, yet still warm and caring. Not to mention that out of all of us she looked the most like mother.

PFC Hanna Coors landed on our table. Our eyes met. She smirked and jumped off, long strands of her golden hair fluttered behind in her wake. Laeta pulled me backwards so fast that I almost fell out of my chair.

And then everything was flying through the air. Bottles and drinks landed on the floor in a spectacular shatter of broken glass. Katya dodged backwards, angry if not shocked. Saren slumped onto the floor unable to move, covered in shards of broken glass. "Stop you wretch!" bellowed Leoric, the Skeleton King. His mace broke tables and chairs as he dragged it along behind him. His heavy footfalls shook the ground as he followed Hanna as she weaved over tables and chairs in a display of acrobatics unique to the 121st engineering division.

I felt Laeta pull away. She was next to Saren, lifting her up and dusting the shards of glass from her body.She tore open her jacket and ripped open the fishnet shirt underneath. Saren's naked skin was bathed in red light, but the darkness that ran down from her collar bone was unmistakable. Laeta bent down and wrapped her lips around the wound, sucked and spat a mouthful of fresh blood onto the ground besides her. Then she pulled Saren off the ground and dusted off as much ground glass as she could manage in the darkness before setting Saren in my lap.

I held onto her lightly, the skin on her chest was an angry red, stained slightly by the still flowing wound underneath her collarbone. "Saren..." I held her face with my hand gently, "how badly does it hurt?"

Saren stirred, the alcohol was dulling her pain, but without her keen senses it would be impossible to assess the damage to her frail and sensitive body.

"I'll be right back," Laeta said. Her voice was dripping with venom of the same type I often saw in father's words. She walked forward two steps and then vanished.

"Leoric!" she bellowed, appearing before the Skeleton King. She kicked a foot outward and caught the gap between Leoric's plackart[footnote]top half of the breastplate[/footnote] and his fauld[footnote]the thing around the waist directly below the breastplate[/footnote], Laeta twisted her body and grabbed Hanna by her belt and pulled hard. "Hanna Coors!" She threw both of them down on the floor with a horizontal spin. When she landed Laeta popped her arm back into its socket and twisted her knee and hip back into place.

Hanna stared at Laeta, shocked by her sudden loss of momentum. Leoric likewise sat on the floor with his great mace settling some feet away from him.

"Honestly," Laeta growled. Her eyes gleamed violet in the red light, "both of you should know much, much better than to be doing these sort of theatrics in an area with glass and weapons."

"Could'a given me whiplash right there," Hanna said as she recovered from her hard landing.

"You're an adult, you need to behave like one," Laeta chided. Then she turned to Leoric and put a foot on his chest and leaned forward, "and you are a king. Act like one." Laeta walked back toward Saren and me and picked up Saren.

"I'm going to take her to the infirmary to get this wound properly cleaned. God knows what'll happen if her ampules become infected." Laeta turned to leave, Saren unconscious in her arms. As Laeta left, her silhouette against the light coming in from the door reminded me of someone else. Long brown hair flowing behind her, the subtle bob of her hips, and confident clack of her heels. I had taken my eyes off of my sister for a mere four years and in that time she had grown into an entirely different league of human than I was. Despite everything, I was jealous of her. Of all three of us, she was Mustafia's true daughter.

[HEADING=3]Pvt. Peter Moore[/HEADING]

Peter was more than just flabbergasted at what happened. He stood up from his chair and brought their table back to proper place before sitting back down. He knew Hanna well from his time in Cloudtop Citadel, and he knew her playful and irresponsible nature, but such reckless and dangerous behavior was beyond even his anticipation. He could do nothing but watch as the two cat-and-mouse players got manhandled by a young woman.

He turned toward Graham and cleared his throat, "Yeah, I," he paused and cleared his throat again, "I'll get some maps and records to you as soon as I can."

 

[BlackHarte]

[HEADING=2]Rising Dawn: Library ------------------------------------------------------------------ 06:42 PM[/HEADING][hr][HEADING=3]Lt. Molli Faust[/HEADING]

John, the sweetheart, smiled and took Nina's hand. "Given Colonel Blackheart's petty anger towards you, I'll oversee all of the activities you will be participating in today." John swiped his bangs to the side to reveal his glimmering blue eyes. He let got of Nina's hand and put his hands on my shoulder. I smiled. My heart had calmed down now from the dead sprint that Colonel Blackheart had lead me across the Rising Dawn the moment that the breach occurred. It would not be a surprise if the Colonel decided during repairs to strip off the entire ceiling of the vessel.

"If you follow me, Ms. Nina, I'll lead you to the hanger where we'll send you down to Denver." John smiled kindly.

[HEADING=3]Airman Cecil Olpich[/HEADING]

Cecil ran his hands over all of the switches in his new VTOL, 311-C to make sure everything was set for take off. He was transporting another young, blonde, woman. He coughed uncomfortably. His age was slowly catching up to him. Too many smokes, too much meat. He could feel the tightening in his chest as he pulled the lever back to start the VTOL's engines. The last time he had anxiety this bad was back in the Arab Spring conflicts. He remembered the young woman he let off in Denver the first time, the Lieutenant. He had heard she did not return well, and that made him sick to his stomach.

311-C pulled out of the hanger as Lieutenant Langley stood waving on the observation platform. They took to the air and spun away from the Rising Dawn back toward the smoking ruins of Denver. The ship they left looked awful, thick black burn marks ran the course along her armor belt. The three turrets along her broadside were still smoking from the prolonged barrages. The rest of the ship was marred with small puncture wounds left by enemy flak and kinetic weapons. The rear thrusters glowed weakly as it forced the ship along toward the mountain range in the distance.

The journey took thirty minutes at cruising altitude before they started to make their descent into the ruined city of Denver. As they broke the cloud cover, another airship was lingering over the city. It was huge, dwarfing even the Rising Dawn in scale. Long, flat, and fit to the brim with auxiliary docking arrays, the Stormglaive was drifting above the city in standby as hundreds of specialized VTOLs, some piloted, some drones, descended into the city to initiate repairs.

The Stormglaive buzzed into his communications systems. "311-C, this the Stormglaive admiralty. Please indicate yor pilot number and your purpose in this airspace."

Cecil flipped the switch on his headset and set the engines to a gentler output, "T0104, requesting landing permissions in Denver. I'm delivering a hero to her previous place of residence." There was a pause as two drones arrived in parallel to his VTOl craft. They ran the length of the vessel before breaking formation and returning to the city below.

"This is Stormglaive admiralty. You have been registered under Stormglaive data registries. You are free to land now. Stormglaive admiralty out." The voice clicked off of the communication channel. Cecil let out a sigh and took the VTOL down toward the coordinates on his GPS.

He turned around and looked at the young woman, Nina. There was something off about her, something unsettling. The entire flight that feeling of anxiety never left. He really needed a smoke after this mission was over. He flipped several switched and set down the VTOL on top of the roof of the scarred apartment building that was specified.

"Alright, we're here. Watch your step on the way out, and I'll be leaving in an hour, so be back here before that."

 

[NotYetForsaken]

[[Secondary Scenario]]​

[hr]

Maiden's Wish

side story

​

[hr]

"Never ask for anything, but desire everything."​

Vihaan spat in hit hand and grasped David's hand firmly, "I'm glad that you've come to the right conclusion." The winds around Vihaan began to die down and the stifling heat of the forge began to bear down on David once again. Vihaan put his other hand over David's mimicking the motions that Dolores had done earlier in the night, "And I hope with all my heart that by the time this is over, no damage has been done to anyone," he paused. "Bar one." He let go of David's hand and took several steps back.

"Come, I will lead you back to your ship. You have only twelve-some hours before everything goes to hell in a handbasket once again," Vihaan started to walk into the main machine shop of the forge, beckoning David to follow, "and it would be quite unfortunate for us, but for me in particular, if our ace-in-the-hole wasn't quite ready for her maiden voyage."

 

[Zepherus14]

[HEADING=2]The Rising Dawn Adventures[/HEADING]The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Denver Ruins
Nina Zaczoltski | Phillip | Cecil
​

It hadn't been overly long since she first arrived here, and HO-BOY did it look totally like a dump now. Thankfully the explosion that'd rocked the final battle for Denver was largely perpendicular to Nina's housing complex so the block's buildings had helped to buffer the full brunt of the blast wave. This still didn't stop practically everywhere else to be covered in a large wave of debree. At least they were able to land on the roof. "Hey thanks for the lift! One hour right? Sure thing!" Nina confirmed she'd heard Cecil right over the engines, offering him a fist bump and updating her phone before hopping off the VTOL. Phillip had been in Nina's duffle bag for the trip, having seen the pilot prior something told her he might have taken issue with the noodle monster. Once she got inside the stairwell however, she didn't wait to let him out, Phillip practically bursting from the bag on his own.

Nina reflexively snatched an escaping tentacle in turn as Phillip dangled in place. "Woah woah woah! I know you want to get to that food as fast as your little legs can go, but there's probably glass and broken everything everywhere. You don't have your tetanus shot yet, and I-" Nina stopped as Phillip tried pushing at Nina, swivelling as best he could to try and break free from his dangling hold. "Hey! I'm serious here! Tetanus isn't something you can scoff at mister. You get that and buh bye any chance of every cooking alongside Gordon Ramsay!" And just like that Phillip stopped his thrashing, just hanging there for the moment, pointing a distinct tentacle up to Nina's face. "Oh ho ho, just try me! You'll be the best cook when you are stuck like this. [http://www.deadseriousnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Stuck_Face.jpg]" Phillip immediately pulled himself up to Nina's arm, and quickly pulled himself over to her shoulders and made himself fairly small to boot.

Eventually getting the door open to her apartment, the place was totalled like really really totalled! All the windows were shattered, multiple pieces of furniture across the floor, and speaking of, the floor by the window in the kitchen was completely obliterated thanks to Eddie. Not to say that it'd looked much better prior, as if anyone had followed along with Nina they'd have seen the place had looked pretty ghastly from the start. [https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/162/417062984_04727ecf7f.jpg] The fridge thankfully was far enough into the building to have avoided direct contact, but the floor clearly was barely supporting its weight. Not that Phillip cared as he hopped off Nina by the doorway and started to swell up to his full size. He then plucked the fridge up in its entirety, lifted it up over himself and allowed it to sink into him. Despite the size difference, the fridge appeared to have fully disappeared within him, even when he shrunk back down.

Nina grabbed a broom from her storage closet to at least give Phillip a path into the apartment so that he could stand there worry free. His tendrils able to reach the vast majority of the apartment if he extended them far enough. Once Phillip had better access to the rest of their home, Nina set to work collecting what she could salvage from her wrecked house. Grabbing some cardboard boxes she'd meant to throw out ages ago, she set to work packing as much as she could manage while Phillip grabbed some of his spice racks. Pictures of family and friends, a nice assortment of clothing, her hat collection, a half can of febreeze she'd wished she'd had earlier, a can of Raid! which she's also wished she'd had earlier, her money stash, that nice coconut shampoo conditioner she'd managed to get in bulk, and [small]the unmentionable that were mentioned quite a bit it seems[/small] were all packed up as she set them down for Phillip to swallow up. Once she'd finally satisfied her need to protect their things from the unnamed looters that be, she went back to the doorway for one last look. "You know... this is where we first met? I walked in, found you watching Food Network on the old television I'd forgot to turn off. Hehe, ya it was rude of me to throw that colander over you... It's sad to leave this place, don't you think..?" She spoke, wiping a couple tears from her eyes as they came before looking down to Phillip and smiling. "Heh, ya you're right. The kitchen is a total mess, you wouldn't be able to make anything with it in this state. Come on, I'm alright! Let's get back to Cecil, can't keep the poor shmuck waiting up there." She ordered, taking in a deep breath through her nose. She picked up the one box Phillip had refused to intake, and started making her way back up to the roof.

Now Cecil in that hour wait had had a well deserved pause from the anxiety he'd experienced, but as the hour grew to a close it quickly returned. This time however, he knew where it came from as Nina threw open the door to the stairwell. Huffing and puffing, she'd carried the heavy box, her duffle bag and Phillip up the long flight of stairs, the elevator having long lost power in the battle. Phillip being fully visible this time around, Cecil wouldn't have to wonder what was causing this pit in his chest as he knew that THING! was the cause all along! "Ugh, S-sorry I'm late! *Wheeze* Phillip.... tetanus... heavy-porn... Gimme a sec!" Nina called out to the man as she sat herself down on the cardboard box and wiped her brow of sweat. "Oh fuck me..!" She facepalmed as she realized Phillip was out in plain view. "Don't use that word by the way, it's a no no..." She then pointed at Phillip. "He's cool, he's with me!" She called out to Cecil again.

 

[BlackHarte]

[HEADING=2]Rising Dawn: Canteen ------------------------------------------------------------------ 02:20 AM[/HEADING][hr][HEADING=3]Pvt. Peter Moore[/HEADING]

I remember Hanna well from my childhood. Our homes were right next to each other and our rooms faced each other. She used to come over all the time just to tease me, all the time too. Whether it was after school or during summer break, whenever I came home she'd be waiting for me on the stone wall the divided our properties. She was always wearing the same blue overalls with her long hair tied neatly at the belt loop. It was simple back then, the summers were hot and the winters were mild. She was always there.

By the time we were in middle school she had started hanging around inside my house too. She's always be lounging around my room as I worked reading. She liked science-fiction mostly, always talking about how one day we'd live among the stars. I had to laugh. Head in the clouds, that Hanna.

I paused. Looking at her now, she wasn't all that different. She still wore a joke of a shirt with denim overalls - albeit she looked much better in them than she did back then. For a girl, she was really different from Rachel. The had dispositions that clashed often. Where Hanna was tomboyish and athletic, Rachel was soft spoken and deliberate. Though, looking back at it now those two fought so much that they could have been sisters.

The summer right before we left for college, I remember now, quite clearly. She was sitting on the wall between our houses, long blonde hair tied at her waist in the loops of her belt. Denim overalls hanging loosely at her hips and wearing a white shirt that was just transparent in the summer sunlight.

"Hey Peter," she had said, tilting her head as she finished off a icepop.

I looked up at her and shrugged, "What's up?"

"Do you remember how we met?" she asked as she slid down onto the wet grass. The sprinklers had just finished spraying as the sun hung low on the horizon.

"No, not really," I said, "I just assumed that was always knew each other. Why do you ask?"

"Well shucks, that blows three ways to Tuesday," she put the icepop stick in her mouth and leaned against the wall with her hands resting on the back of her head. "I mean, I was had just gotten to thinking, we'll be breaking paths soon enough right? And we've lived next to each other for so long."

"Where are you going with this?" I asked as I took a seat next to her.

She paused for a while. She took a deep breath. "Well," she started, "I was just got to thinking that..." she turned her head away "I just got to thinking that."

"Yeah?" I craned to look at her face. She kept avoiding making eye contact with me. "You were just thinking what?"

"I was just thinking since that I couldn't remember the time that we met," she spit the stick out onto my lawn, "it'd be a real shame that the last thing I'd remember would be when we had to say goodbye. Y'know, for good."

I laughed, "Yeah, we've been together since forever. I know what you mean. I can't imagine what'll be like being so far away from you. But I'm sure that when you get to Massachusetts you'll make tons of new friends real quick. You're smart and beautiful and friendly as they come."

"That's not what I mean Peter," she said.

I was confused, "Then what do you mean?"

Her lips tasted of raspberries. When she pulled back I could see the tears wet on her cheeks. I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks. "What," I stumbled for words. My heart beat like hell in my chest and my legs felt just a little numb.

"You really know how to keep a girl waitin', y'know?" she smiled sadly, "I can't bear to think that this will be the first time I'll be without you, y'know?" She paused and brought her knees to her chest, "and y'know, I'm not so great with talkin' about things like this, I don't know how to feel y'know? Because, y'know, I'm not like most other girls around here. Always been a bit... off y'know. Been that Coors child and the tomboy y'know. Never been a proper lady. Couldn't ever been. But, I had you goin' for me, y'know? Can't say when I noticed the ache, but I've felt it long enough now." The tears rolled gently down her cheeks as she spoke.

I didn't know what to do. I had never, not that I'd not ever, but I had never really thought about Hanna that way. Yet, I couldn't help but also feel something tugging at my heart. Not quite the same yearning that plagued Hanna, but a guilt or a shame or something of an unfavorable sort. It felt bad. That much I could understand at the time.

"Y'know?" she finished. I had zoned out of the last few minutes of her speech, but now she was looking at me with eyes near to overflowing with her tears. The sun glimmered off of the drops on her cheeks and made her look like she was crying diamonds.

"Well, I uh..." I stammered. I looked for words to express how I felt, but I didn't even know what I felt. It was sudden, odd, strange. I knew deep down that I loved her, but in the same way that I had loved Rachel. Though my mind kept wandering down to the taste of raspberries lingering on my lips.

She looked at me and leaned forward, gently putting pressure on my arm with her body. The way she felt was different than from when we fought or wrestled. There was something tangibly different in her. Her lips were so close to me again. "So y'know, let's not make this a sad memory." She put her head on my shoulder, golden hair smelling a mix of aromatic fruit, oil, and sweat. "My name's Hanna Coors. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"My name is Peter Moore, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"And now that we've met, I can say goodbye, y'know?"

Peter's head hurt like hell. The air around him seemed to fill with a terrible static. By the time he recovered, the pain had subsided into a dull throb at his temples. He stood up and shook his head, "I, uh, I'll go get what records I can from intelligence." As Peter left the Canteen, he passed Hanna as she got up from the floor. She smiled at Peter and turned away. She's different from what I remember, now that I think about it. Her outward personality was spot on, but she missing the subtle refinements of her intimate personality. Maybe it was a front for service, but it seemed altogether wrong to him. Why did he think that he knew her from Cloudtop Citadel?

After Peter managed to scrounge some books on world history from the Library, he noticed a young woman wandering the halls immediately outside of the hanger looking quite dreadful. He stopped by the woman, a lamia by the looks of it. He adjusted the books in his grip and looked over the girl, giant tail notwithstanding, she didn't seem like she belonged in this world. Her skin was too flawless, her eyes were too big, and well... her bust was probably breaking some law of physics.

He tapped her on the tail with his foot, "Um, excuse me ma'am, are you lost or something?"

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

[HEADING=2]The Rising Dawn Adventures[/HEADING]The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Rising Dawn: Cloudtop Citadel
King Leoric | Nadalia | [color=8a2c0f]Joshua Graham[/color] | Peter Moore
​

".....SHE STARTED IT!" Leoric shouted as Laeta and Saren left the canteen, pausing to consider what she had said after his little display.
Who was she to lecture him? Does she not know the threat of Diablo and the rest of the 7 prime evils? Had she not seen the devastation they had brought down upon him, his kingdom and his people? Unless she too was part of this conspiracy...
Picking himself off the floor and readjusting his armor, his skeletal gaze glared at Hanna, showing hatred that computer technology from 1997[footnote]I know the release date was December 31st 1996 but because that day is New Years Eve, it's basically 1997. Unless she managed to sneak away from whatever new years events the Coors family had planned to play it[/footnote] couldn't emulate.
"...This is not over, She-whore of Diablo..." He growled at Hanna before picking up his mace once more and marching out of the Canteen, keen to report to the Colonel of this base that there was a Traitor in his organisation. (Having missed the memo on the Colonel's true gender what with the whole "Smite the Demon Whore" thing.)

Such was his desire to leave his humiliation save this entire vessel/keep/possibly entire world from Demonic corruption, he didn't even bother using the proper pathway to the Colonel's, instead opting to "Wraith Walk"[footnote]"Leoric separates from his body, becoming Unstoppable (immunity to disabling effects) and gaining Movement Speed. When Wraith Walk ends, his body jumps to his wraith."[/footnote] there.
His soul (or what was left of it) soon arose from his old bones, causing all life to leave his body as his spirit made a bee-line for the "Waiting Room" David had met her earlier in.
It would be quite a shock for anyone working there when the Mad King began to reform right in front of them.
Marching right up to the receptionist, he then barked "King Leoric of Rising Dawn for the Colonel of this keep. I have learned troubling information in relation to one of his servants..."

The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Cloudtop Citadel
​

[hr]

Cloudtop Citadel: David West, Vihaan, Janet

"...Whoa-hold up. What's happening in 12 hours?!" David paused as Vihaan more or less confessed that something bad was going to happen.
"...Man, no one fucking tells me anything..." he bemoaned before giving Janet a quick salute-style motion and following after the Admiral.
Pocketing the USB as he caught up with Vihaan, he then asked "Shoouuuuuuld-...should we try and get everyone off the ship first? Maybe say that we're spraying for rats or something? Just if it's really THAT bad, then it might be best if the likes of Blondie (Rugal) and Sir Murderface of Slaughterdom (Caim) are on the same page. Hell, they might think *I* did it and, I mean, I could take them both but-...that doesn't mean I want to, you know?..."
Their conversation was halted by David stretching his arm in front of Vihaan, stopping him in his tracks as they let a specter of Leoric pass though the walls of the base before them like a passing flock of ducklings.
"...Think that's the New Guy, Emperor Leopold or something..."

The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Rising Dawn: Cloudtop Citadel
​

[hr]

Cloudtop Citadel: Hanger: Rugal, Hillary, Ton Ton, Cadolbolg, Teri, Garm

Hillary's antics were most amusing to Rugal as he let the "Children" mingle.
While the constant influx of "Travelers" was rather stressful for those on the Rising Dawn, moments like this one, of seeing the excitement of both their own crew and visitors as they learned more about each other, made it somewhat worthwhile. (Though he still personally wished they would knock first).
His mind then turned back to Teri's statement, confirming his suspicions that she might have grown stronger or "Leveled up" thanks to recent events.
He wasn't sure if the others felt it, but the passive Holy and Ki energy radiating from his daughter was rather impressive now for someone her age.
It brought him back to a simpler time, long before his bids at world domination and his change of heart.
Wandering the world in an unending quest for the most powerful fighting masters in the world with nothing more then a pair of combat gloves and the clothes on his back.
The isolation, the harsh training and yet so-...peaceful...

[color=0E59E4]"...Dad?....Dad?..."[/color]
"...hm? Oh, apologies, I must have zoned out for a moment there. *ahem* Now then, Me and Hillary still have a meeting to attend to. We hopefully shouldn't be lo-"
Rugal was interrupted by a alert on her daughter's tablet, prompting her to pull it out before a frantic rush of modulated, yet very angry sounding Spanish began to blare out of the device.
"...Que?"
The caller ID was Viscus and the live feed featured the POV of one of the Citadel's security cameras as his armor was stripped and dismantled by the staff there out of such a lust for technological curiosity.
And the android himself was now little more then a disembodied head cycling though a mix of languages after one of the staff damaged his voice module.
"...Hm....I think he's bitten off more then he can chew...Teri, would you mind helping him while I bring Hillary to the Colonel? I think you and Dimitri might need to put Humpty Dumpty back together..."
The AI apparently heard that before rapidly cursing in Germa-
"He-HEY! Watch your tongue, there are children on this end of the line!" Rugal then protested, actually understanding what he meant that time...

 

[Zepherus14]

The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Rising Dawn: Cloudtop Citadel
​

[hr]

Cloudtop Citadel: Hanger: Rugal, Hillary, Ton Ton, Cadolbolg, Teri, Garm

"...Hm....I think he's bitten off more then he can chew...Teri, would you mind helping him while I bring Hillary to the Colonel? I think you and Dimitri might need to put Humpty Dumpty back together..."

"Humpty Dumpty?" Hillary's head tilted, unaware of the nursery rhyme reference. She wasn't talking directly to Rugal as he scolded the robot for his poor choice of words, not that he could be blamed for thinking she was. Direct eye contact was a difficult concept to confirm with Hillary after all, but as she turned her head back to Teri it would appear she held Hillary's attention. She did look disappointed in a sense, feeling like she'd hit it off with Teri. "Hmmmmmm.... Okay, I'm wish you could come with us so we could talk more! But your Dad's has been really helpful so far, I wouldn't want Hillary to waste this opportunity to help her. Maybe if it takes a bit for Hillary to get back to the Laplace, she could maybe have a visit with you again? We could pet Garm, or trade things that make people feel better, or tell each other stories like the time Hillary first ate bread!" Hillary suggested, cupping her own jar line with a hand this big goofy grin on her face. "We could even get a bunch of candies~"

"Until then, good luck and I hope you see Hillary soon, okay? Bye bye!" Hillary waved her goodbye and waited for Rugal to take the lead for their journey forward.
[hr]

Despite Hillary's attempts to keep her footsteps semiquiet, being over a ton made that fairly difficult. At least Rugal wasn't going to lose her despite the occasional Citadel works greeting them to see if Hillary was some new sort of tech. "So Rugal? Hillary was surprised to find you had family here, that way you can see them often, and not be so far apart. Is Teri the only one here, or are there other Bernsteins Hillary might run into?" The gleaming woman asked him, a simple question sure but one that had multiple outlets to respond to.

 

[NotYetForsaken]

[[Secondary Scenario]]​

[hr]

Maiden's Wish

side story

​

[hr]

"Never ask for anything, but desire everything."​

The secretary looked up at Leoric with the same amount of disinterest and mild contempt as she showed every single outsider to arrive in the Citadel. "The Colonel is currently in a meeting with another visitor at the moment." The secretary clicked a few tabs on her intercom board and pulled out a clipboard and handed it to Leoric. "She has been notified that you are in the waiting room. Fill out the clipboard and take it up when you meet with her."

The intercom pinged.

"Oh," the secretary mused, "the Colonel will see you now. Go ahead and head up." The secretary popped a piece of bubblegum into her mouth as she watched the Skeleton king leave. She flipped two more switches as soon as Leoric left earshot.

"Lieutenant Linendoff, the Colonel wants the Desire Drive prepped to be activated by tomorrow at 15:00."

---​

Vihaan turned around as Leoric's bones passed behind him. "No, if you try to stop the event, you'll only cause the effects to worsen. I implore, do not share the nature of your mission with anyone." Vihaan turned back as soon as Leoric finished passing and swept out into the hangar array with David in tow.

"You are working to save your friends but do not harbor any feelings of mistrust, lest our problem discover your true intentions. To put it in a layman's terms, we will be quite fucked."

 

[BlackHarte]

[HEADING=2]Rising Dawn: Hallway ------------------------------------------------------------------ 02:40 AM[/HEADING][hr][HEADING=3]Pvt. Peter Moore[/HEADING]


Peter forced a laugh. He wasn't actually quite sure if the lamia named Miia was joking. Then there was an awkward pause. Guess she wasn't. Peter moved forward, undeterred by Miia's behavior, he remembered some of his classmates back in college acted the same way. They were probably all part of some sort of hobby culture or something. "Please follow me then," Peter said, "I'm heading back to the Canteen on a delivery."

The journey was short and uneventful. Though it was pretty difficult to shake the awkward atmosphere that Miia carried with her as she slithered behind him in cautious silence. When Peter got back into the Canteen he walked briskly over to Graham's table, trying his best to avoid eye-contact with the sulking Lieutenant, and set down the books before Graham.

Peter ran his fingers through his hair, "There you go, all of the atlas' and records the intelligence department said that you'd need to get caught up with the goings on." He picked up the first book and tossed it t Graham, "World Atlas, its got maps and countries." He placed the second down from the stack, "Historia. Big book of history, you'll only need the modern bit near the end." Then he motioned to the rest of the stack, "Rest of these are just things about the modern age you'll need to catch up on. Technology anthologies, environmental situations, political context, things of that nature."

That being said, Peter turned around and spoke to Miia. "Now we have to deal with you, Ms. Miia. Since you were on this ship before, do you can any recollection of any identification information, like a room number or something?"


[HEADING=2]Denver: Residential Complex --------------------------------------------------------- 08:00 PM[/HEADING][hr][HEADING=3]Airman Cecil Olpich[/HEADING]

By God Cecil had seen things in his time. Death, famine, plague, and others, but he could not place his unease of that squirming creature that the young lady held. He held back a cough in his throat and turned around. Were all blonde-haired girls these years have horrible monsters following them around?

"Wel- welcome back." Cecil said. He put his hand over his mouth and coughed. "We'll take off immediately."

As soon as Nina secured herself into the cabin, the VTOL shot off toward Cloudtop Citadel. Above the Stormglaive lingered in the sky as if suspended by threads of moonlight. The blinking lights that lined it's massive hanger arrays looked like rivers of stars, ebbing and flowing with the glimmer of drones and VTOLS.

The radio crackled to life,

"This is Stormglaive Admiralty, 311-C come in."

"311-C reporting in." Cecil said, clearing his throat of some heavy phlegm.

"311-C please be advised, we are detecting some exotic-matter on-board your system."

"311-C rogers, can confirm reading is from a friendly source."

"Stormglaive Admiralty rogers, fly safe, over and out."

By the time the VTOL touched down on the Cloudtop Citadel dry dock platform, the night was already well into the small hours of the morning. Cecil leaned back and his the lights in the main cabin. "Alright girl, we're here." he said gruffly. The flight had taken much longer than he had hoped. The fierce northerlies coming down the side of the rockies had made their route awkward and slow. But with little fuel to spare they had reached the mountain top base more or less in one piece. Cecil's upset stomach notwithstanding.

He opened the cabin doors and then got out himself. He smiled. Cloudtop Citadel was looking much better than he remembered, and even now at such an early hour the furnaces and machinery whirred away, commanded by passionate young women. "Take care now," Cecil said as he wandered off, tired. "Don't get into too much trouble."

 

[Zepherus14]

[HEADING=2]The Rising Dawn Adventures[/HEADING]The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Denver Ruins
Nina Zaczoltski | Phillip | Cecil
​

Having gotten what she came for, Nina would spend a decent amount of time taking pictures with her phone as they flew. Despite the dark skies, there was still enough light to make for some decent pictures, selfies included as long as Phillip wasn't in the shot. Oddly enough, the pictures that caught a glimpse of the noodle monster would be fraught with artifacting, picture tearing and overall poor quality, not that Nina seemed to mind. The Stormglaive's twinkling lights definitely would covet a decent chunk of Nina's picture taking while in Denver, honestly making her look more like a tourist than the hero she was presumed to be.

The flight back would be pretty uneventful except for one little noteworthy moment. See when Nina misheard

"311-C please be advised, we are detecting some exotic-matter on-board your system."

Now obviously they were detecting Phillip, perhaps on their way in the eldritch scanner was having a java update, but Nina was shocked that they'd somehow be able to identify the contents of the remaining box she was carrying. 'Honestly, that's an invasion of privacy if I ever heard one..! What do they care if I brought my collection..?' She crossed her arms in annoyance. "311-C rogers, can confirm reading is from a friendly source." 'Pfft, friendly source he says! Ya, absolutely nothing but family friendly content! Like they'd really buy that...' Nina gave Cecil a skeptic look until the voice on the coms replied.

"Stormglaive Admiralty rogers, fly safe, over and out."

'No freakin' way! They actually bought that!?' Nina couldn't help but smile and give Cecil a proud thumbs up just in case the Stormglaive was still listening in.

[hr]

The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Cloudtop Citadel
Nina Zaczoltski | Phillip | Cecil | Pvt Kristen
​

Given the extended length of the trip, and the busy day Nina'd had thus far; it was no surprise she'd nodded off in the later part of the return trip. Curling up as best she could in the chair, arms around Phillip like he was a teddy bear, Cecil'd hear her mumble softly to herself as she dreamed. Phillip silently read from a blank cover, ebony black book that came from within him, clearly a fast reader at the speed at which he flipped through the pages bound within. The contents hidden within due to Cecil's angle and aversion to Phillip's presence.

When they finally landed, Nina stirred to greet the new day's night, Phillip briefly closing the book as Nina stretched her arms. "We're here..?" She yawned loudly, trying to dust the drowsy look from her face, and looking to her phone to gauge how much time had passed. "Take care now," Nina looked up passed the cockpit to see Cecil already on the move, prompting Nina to struggle to undo her safety belt. "Don't get into too much trouble." "Wait Cecil!" Nina shouted as she clumsily got herself out of the ship, and ran up to the weary pilot. "Phew, I know you're probably super busy, like- Wow this place is huge, like really really big! Anyways I'm getting side tracked, I wanted to say thank you for flying us out there and everything, definitely couldn't have done it without you!" She thanked the man before leaning towards him to whisper. [small]"Truth be told, I'm also trying to set a good example for Phillip, impressionable youth and all, try and instill those good life lessons. You know what I mean."[/small] Her eyes however finally pick up on Cecil's fatigue and unease having dealt with Phillip for as long as he had, perhaps he was naturally weak to Phillip's influence. "You look, really crappy, that can't be airsickness right? Hold on a sec. Phillip?" She turned around to Phillip who was still in the VTOL. "You wouldn't happen to still have some of that banana ginger stuff you made for Mr. Seeder last week? Cecil looks like he could use some."

There was a pause before a jar slowly pushed itself part way out of Phillip's mass, and before they knew it Phillip had extended a tentacle out with the jar open. A few double swirling candy like this [https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSu0b3Zs7yUFzsvW2Qs0FVeghOGNBnld4IPNxzmiiAO04lDVIJ7JA] rattled in the jar for Cecil to take, a swirl of yellow and orange with flecks of what seemed to be ginger within. "Try one of these, it's pretty good for stomach pains and tastes pretty good too![footnote]And it actually was quite good, and although simply being away from Phillip would be a simple solution to his issues, the candy was a banana papaya ginger mix, and would have some benefits on its own.[/footnote]" She insisted, but regardless of Cecil's decision on the matter, she'd start heading back to the ship to get her things and Phillip.

Once she was all gathered up, Phillip's book away and on Nina's shoulder's, she stood in the hanger area trying to decide where she should go next, a woman's voice cut through the steady sounds of the citadel. "Ms. Nina, Ms. Nina!"

Spoiler: Nina and Phillip

Pvt. Kristen Elvenwald

Kristen called out as she ran down the hallway dodging other staff members doing their duties. It looked like the young woman had just not long returned from an excursion back to Denver. Kristen was glad, the fact that Nina was here and alive meant that there was one less thing that could break the Lieutenant's fragile heart.

Kristen caught up to Nina and had to fight back a sudden wave of unease. She took a few steps back and thrust out her hand to give Nina her letter.

"From- from the Lieutenant!" Kirsten screamed. Sweat beaded on her forehead. The urge to vomit was increasing. That must be the monster that she keeps in that dufflebag. "Pl-please take it! I need to leave immediately!"

'That Naamah was a Colonel, so who's this?'"Uh- HEY!" Nina mulled over this new information as Phillip snatched the letter with lightning speed, several tentacles dancing back and forth in a slow sway. "You don't just take things from random people! ...Even if it is for a, party? Let me see that!" Nina commanded, not putting down her box of dirty things as Phillip produced a tentacle with a toothy maw at the tip. It bit down, teared the envelope open, fished out the letter and held it open for Nina to read.

Spoiler: The Letter as read by Nina

"Dear Nina,"

"I am First Lieutenant Dolores Selmy. I would like to cordially, oooo fancy, invite you to a celebration party tomorrow at 15:30. It would make me very happy if you could come. There will be good food and some entertainment, well now I understand why you were so enthusiastic about this letter. Let's see, oh and Dress to impress!"

"Signed..."
'Blah blah blah'​

She looked back up to Kristen, who had taken a couple more steps back after delivering the letter.
"Hold it right there!" Making sure Kristen didn't manage to slip away from her just yet. "This LT Selmy certainly sounds impressed with us, whoever she is. Well, it'd certainly be a good way for us to get to know more of the crew, like you for example. You seem to know my name, but I have literally no idea who you are." She frowned, suspicious to her need to leave so fast. "As much as I'd like to accept this, there's a couple of things that'll need to be settled first."

"First, is Phillip allowed to accompany me for this party? If he isn't then I'll have to decline her request right now. Second, could he help with any of the food prep? As you can tell, you've peeked his interest, and I'd be lying if I didn't say the party would benefit from Phillip paying a visit to the kitchen. And lastly, we'll need to know where this party is and where we can get some shut eye? I had a nap on the plane, but today had been a Long day, and this place is built like a maze for mazes. Is there another room like what Ryan's got, cuz that would be perfect?" Nina yawned.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

[HEADING=2]The Rising Dawn Adventures[/HEADING]The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Cloudtop Citadel: Colonel's office
King Leoric | Colonel Yona Isami
​

"Ah, your loyalty is noted." Leoric happily chimed, blissfully unaware of the true feelings the secretary had for outsiders as her blew a bubble behind his back.
He wasn't entire sure what to expect when he walked though those doors but he did his best to maintain his air of authority as he did so.
"Ah, would you mind telling the Colonel I have some important information for him. I believe one of his underlings has pledged her loyalties to a lesser power..." He spoke to what he assumed was a servant who was-...sitting alone in this office...without any hint of the Colonel...
"...Forgive me, but I was told that the Colonel was available to see me? If he's too busy that he requires a servant to pass on his message, I understand. But considering the nature of the threat I wish to warn him about, I'd rather have an audience with him in person..." He reiterated as he stood there, holding his mace before him like some kind of cane to bring about his best side for when the Colonel-the Colonel who ran this base- got back from whatever Colonel-y things he was going.

It was then that his eyes(?) drifted down at Isami's desk, seeing her name plate as he showed her what a frightened human skull looked like.
"....OH-....oh, High Heavens! I-...forgive me! I was not expecting the colonel of this keep to be so-...so-.." His spectral voice rambled as he tried to think of any term or compliment he could deliver that would be enough to spare him the wrath his ill-informed words had wroth.


".......................Fertile?"

That-...was not it.

The Escapist Avatar Adventures | Cloudtop Citadel
​

[hr]

Cloudtop Citadel: David West, Vihaan

"...See, while I'm sure you have a good reason behind it, I mean, I get why Classified Information is Classified. But now that you are putting it in "Layman's terms", you see my concern, right?" David remarked, silently wishing that he never got involved in all this.
"Alright, alright, I'll put the thingy in the other thingy. Christ, I swear if this is just some kind of Hazing thing you guys do to newcomers, I'm going to beat your head in..." He sighed as they soon reached the Hanger level once more an-
"Hey there, Handsome!~"
"Oh for the love of- not this shit again..." The Irishman cringed, silently swearing off Cat-calling for the rest of his days after this experience.
"Gah, and they only start when I actually have a girl-friend. Such bullshit..."

 

[NotYetForsaken]

[[Secondary Scenario]]​

[hr]

Maiden's Wish

side story

​

[hr]

"Never ask for anything, but desire everything."​

"Fertile, huh?" Yona put her smokestick down on the ashtray on her desk and stood up. Her jacket slipped off her shoulders and pooled on her chair. Her eyes were a brilliant cold blue and her hair fell in long copper strands across her shoulders. Wisps of smoke rose in swirling strands around her face. The amulet at her hip began to glow brilliantly, "I have not seen an undead since I was a child. I lived in a small hamlet off of the Red River, it was a quiet place full of a gentle people. They were farmers, nothing more, nothing less. They reaped wheat in the autumn and raised herbs in the winter, stored what they needed and sent what excess they had down the river to Candor."

She unbuttoned her shirt down to her navel. Another amulet hung between her breasts, a soft glowing gold etched with a full-bodied sunburst. "When I was five summers old, an undead horde swept through the north. They were raised by some vengeful necromancer that brought the mage school to ruin. Our grain stores were destroyed in the fighting. Pitying us, the Church of Eden sent its Paladins to give us aid. The Church is not so altruistic however, and the Paladins offered aid only to children and on the condition that they would be surrendered to the Church as pages."

"The township would not survive the winter. Those fool enough to stay in their mountain homes starved to death. Those that left died in the journey to stragglers of the undead horde." Yona pulled her dagger from her bag, "It is ironic that when I am so close to seeing my home once again, another undead should show itself before me. It is as if Eden himself would test my resolve." The dagger glowed brilliantly and it's handle grew out into a shaft of light. Her dagger had become a spear wreathed in golden flame.

"Come, undead. I will show you how fertile I am, and how worthy I was to have received the seed of the Order. I will show you my devotion, my body, and my virtue." Yona took two steps forward, "Return to eternal rest, oh Wretched Undead."

---​

When David reached the old cabin of the airship, he felt suddenly ill at ease. The hallways were small, dark, and reeking of neglect. The area had been sectioned off by heavy blast doors, each marked with precautionary signage stating "Condemned. Turn back. Weapons Testing Fallout." Yet when approached, the doors slid open for David as if heralding his arrival with a grim greeting.

This part of the Rising Dawn was... strange. There were rooms and doors as there were above, but rather than simply be abandoned, it was as if the rooms were some sort of perverted shadow of those he recognized. Doors with names of heroes written on their tags, each all but scratched out in a mix of manic metal rakes or smeared in layers of dry blood. It felt like he was in a nightmare.

By the time he got to the "weapons lab" that Vihaan had specified, he felt thoroughly ill at ease. The door here was properly barred. Wrought with chains and barricades. Through the crack in the steel door he could make out the scene within. The machine Vihaan wanted was within, of this he was sure. But the smell of iron - dried blood caked on the walls and door like a copper moss - unsettled him.

Everything in nature told him simply, "turn back. Go away. Never return." Something unnatural happened here. Something horrible.

To enter he would have to edge through the gap in the door slowly. There could be no fast escape.

 

[Silence]

The Rising Dawn
Med Bay
Morning

[hr]

Diana | Jenny​

To Jenny's surprise, Diana did not resist. In her mind, she turned back into her normal self, the beautiful woman in the jet black minidress, and spoke: "I would not do that, if I were you. But you have won, and a deal is a deal, so I will point you to the right drawer. Not that one." It was a recent memory, one that Jenny opened. One of being a great dragon, and being shot at by missile after missile. One of crushing and chewing people who were half metal, and an awful taste and stench coming with it.

Diana pointed to another drawer. "You should take this one." the words 'Violet' formed in front of it, and she opened it. Jenny could feel disgust, arrogance and lust coming from it. Hatred, but without a specific target. And the memory of toying with a guy who did not know what he was in for. Slight amusement, but mostly born out of boredom. This was not something a good person would do. But it was the memory of not being in Diana's mind, but being in another mind, in Violet's mind. And putting some of the fear and hate Jenny could feel in Diana's mind in this other mind, targeting certain areas, areas used for lust, and twisting them with surgical precision.

"You should be able to fix Violet with this. I think his original memories are still intact, I just put a layer on them. Don't be surprised if he is a bit thirsty, after. And you might ... erase his memory of me, but keep the fear. That should keep him safe.
Now, you are strong and have earned my respect. I will not bother you, and if someone is under your protection, I will not harm them. Are we done?"