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

Diablo1099_v1legacy · Aug 13, 2017

[hr]

"...This day just keeps getting better and better. Thank you for the heads up. I shall take care of it." Rugal remarked before getting set on the orders he was given (as well as the fact that he could look forward to something like this happening again).
But that's when Titania brought up something much more important: His daughter.
"!?!? Teri is-...Everyone back to the ship! NOW!" He barked at everyone on the ship right when he got a message.
Those communication rings, he never did find out how they linked their minds together but he sure as hell wasn't complaining once Garms words began to trickle in.
[color=356D60]"Alpha Rugal, we have a problem."[/color]
"Going to be a lot more specific. I'm told Teri is with a robot. Is it Viscus?"
[color=356D60]"We are with the Viscus, yes. But that is not the problem, for now. After the strange magic thing happened, Tear-ri's magic has stopped working. The Dimitri voice says it is similar to the prison, but with 'divine' instead."."[/color]
That-...that was not good, While he wasn't entirely 100% certain on how holy magic worked, he knew enough to know that if something could stop God from reaching his daughter, that was not good.
"Dammit...Get her back to the ship, don't stop for anything. That is an order. What's Viscus doing now?"
[color=356D60]".....trying to talk to some staff - I think he's trying to reverse the process? ...probably. I don't know tech things, so I'm not super sure."[/color]
Viscus was never known for being subtle or gentle, most likely what Titania was talking about when she brought up the Colonel seeing them as enemies.
"...Forget about him, I'll write the apology later. Just get out of the base and bring her to the ship. Take her to her room and don't let her move a muscle until I get there!"
[color=356D60]" I.. Will do the best I can. I also heard that one of our patients in the med bay has dis-"[/color]
"One fire at a time. Make sure she is safe. I know you won't let anything happen to her but whatever the hell just thrashed this place is coming back and I need her to be safe when it does. Going to talk to her myself. Teri...are you there?"

[color=0E59E4]"Oh! Hi Dad - you doing okay?"[/color]
Relief filled him for a moment when he heard her voice, prompting him to look around the room as everything seemed to be spinning out of control.
"...I was at ground zero when that blast hit...I'm currently at-...4 at the moment...out of a scale of 10. You?"
[color=0E59E4]"...Could be better, but I'm sitting around a 5 myself."[/color]
"I see...You were with Viscus. What's happening down there?"
[color=0E59E4]"He's trying to Batman some of the staff, he thinks he can reverse what happened. I'm going to try and get hi-"[/color]
"Leave him. My office. Head there, lock the door, if someone who isn't me answers, don't open. I have no idea what happened, only that it will happen again and I'm not taking any chances, not after what happened to you in Denver. Am I understood?"
[color=0E59E4]"Dad-...it's that guy with the really bad cybernetics. He went missing. He could die if I don't find him."[/color]
"And if you aren't safe when that next wave hits, You might die!"
[color=0E59E4]"And? The removal process is nowhere near done - he could be bleeding out for all I know right now!"[/color]
"My priority is you-"
[color=0E59E4]"And who taught me how to fight in this sort of situation?"[/color]

That...that is how you beat the King of Fighters, ladies and gentlemen.
"...I'm not going to change your mind, am I?"
[color=0E59E4]"Nope."[/color]
"...I know I seem rather upset right now, but when this is over, I shall be...extremely proud of you...Do what you need to do. I'll be making my way to the ship."
[color=0E59E4]"...Thank you, Dad. I won't do anything reckless while I'm out. Promise."[/color]
"Better not, I trained you better then that. Love you, dear."
[color=0E59E4]"You too, Dad. Now, time to get this hunk of metal to leave the chokeholds to the WWE."[/color]
And on that note, Rugal turned his attentions back to his own situation, quickly leaving the room and making his way back to the ship without another word.

Cloudtop Citadel
Engineering

Code:

[i][SWEAAAAAAAAR TO MEEEEEEEEEEEE!][/i]

[color=3897E0]

Code:

AI Dimitri

[/color] | [color=356D60]Garm[/color] | [color=0E59E4]Teri[/color] |

Code:

AI Viscus

| Lt. Abigail Martin

[hr]

Code:

[...]

Viscus didn't even so much as move, staying as rigid as a statue while Abigail's underlings began to surround him.

Code:

[You have studied the alloy of my armor in great detail. So you know for a fact that your weapons cannot affect me.]

He pointed out when they went to reach for their side arms.
That just left the railgun but he would take care of that as well, without breaking eye contact with his target, his shoulder minigun unfolded quickly before firing a precise burst right into the rather expensive prototype model Railgun, disabling it without harming the little girl about to use it.
Silence filled the room before the minigun folded back into Viscus's right shoulder, followed by a simple request:

Code:

[We are in a crisis situation. So lie to me one more time and I will dismantle you just like your staff dismantled my armor.]

Pulling her in closer, as well as increasing the pressure around her neck while his other arm went to her wrist, he then added

Code:

[And the Cleric won't be able to put you back together because the anomaly has rendered her [u]unable to use healing magic[/u]. I will ask you once more and once more only. Where. Is. The Data?]

After saying that, he began to slowly rotate his hand, as well as the wrist it was holding, until the discomfort was enough for him to get his information.

bluerocker · Aug 13, 2017

Cloudtop Citadel
Engineering
[color=3897E0]

Code:

[i]*sigh* "This is why [u]I[/u] am the one who deals with humanities..."[/i]

[/color]
[color=3897E0]

Code:

AI Dimitri

[/color] | [color=356D60]Garm[/color] | [color=0E59E4]Teri[/color] |

Code:

AI Viscus

| Lt. Abigail Martin

[hr]

Once Teri turned her attentions away from the conversation with Rugal, she saw that Viscus was only escalating the situation further - another gun appearing out of his person and the Lieutenant still being held hostage. Biting back a curse, Teri looked around the engineering room to find some kind of thing to distract or stop the mad robot - before text appeared on her Tablet's display -

[color=3897E0]

Code:

Your Ladyship - your staff is magic in nature, correct? Then I have an idea - Viscus has a weak point at the base of his neck. A strike, especially one with magical energies such as Sadei, should be enough to disrupt him and save the Lieutenant. Make haste if you wish to act now!

[/color]

[color=0E59E4][small]"Dimitri you're the best!"[/small][/color] Making a quick motion to call Garm over, the young Cleric mounted up on her noble steed before readying Sadei. Garm lowered himself to the ground and pounced, bolting ahead fast enough for Teri to make a surprise attack with her staff! Striking true at the robot's neck fast enough that Viscus could not react in time - the Lieutenant fell from his grip; leaving Teri to try and clean up the mess left behind. Turning to the Lieutenant, Teri dismounted from Garm and began to check the condition of her neck for any trauma, saying softly as she approached, [color=0E59E4]"I'm so sorry about that."[/color]

She looked to the other gun wielding women before starting her examination, and held up her hands as she said, [color=0E59E4]"Just so we're clear -I understand if you don't trust me after what my companion did; but I'm a doctor, so I'm just gonna check for any damage. If you don't believe me...Well, you have the advantage on me."[/color]

Garm, in the meantime, was very uneasy about what his charge just said, and spoke up, [color=356D60]"We need to get going, I got a message from Alpha Rugal saying that we need to get back to the ship as soon as possible."[/color]

Teri huffed as she began her examination, adding in a matter of fact tone, [color=0E59E4]"Dad also said I could find Adel - then we return to the ship. But before that, I'm gonna make sure this woman has no aggressive throat damage."[/color]

Diablo1099_v1legacy · Aug 14, 2017

[hr]

Today was really starting to take a toll on David's mental state, constantly hoping from one heightened emotional state to another in rapid succession.
Still, with the man he was about to kill actually having a rather good explanation for the situation, this took the wind out of his sails, least until he began to dwell on the fact that the party might be a trap.
"Oh great...first nice thing to happen to us in weeks and this happens...Alright, shit, ummmm..." He muttered before B.C. came up with the idea of them scoping out the party to the others, as well as pretending to be David's date.
"Oh, will you stop?! I already have someone in my life. If you really insist, at least pretend to be my cousin or something. I'm not throwing away what I got with Furiae for your ass. As for the party itself, guess there is only one way we are going to find this out. Come on, we if hurry, we can get there before the others do."
And with a clear purpose, David managed to shake off his raw state of mind and start leading his party to where Dolores's party was said to be.
"[sub]Going to fucking Amsterdam after this and I'm spending a month there, I don't care what the fuck happens to the world...[/sub]" He muttered to himself, looking forward to having a break after this next bout of madness.

The Rising Dawn
Bridge

[hr]

Diana | Hiryu | Blade

"Alright, I'm doing it. How can I contact you again?"

"When you have been judged, I shall find you and deliver news of your fate. For now, know that I will be watching you closely until that time comes. I will know where you are, what you are and what you are doing at every possible moment. Use this knowledge to guide your actions." Hiryu merely said before calmly walking away an-...disappearing?
Diana saw him walking away one moment and then the next, it was as if he vanished into thin air, freaking Ninja's man...
Once he had left the room, she was greeted with the sight of a green humanoid creature, wearing an outfit somewhat akin to the one that Hiryu did, as he leaned against one of the walls in the hallway.
"Huh...so you're the new girl?..." He mocked slightly dismissively as he walked in front of her, sizing her up before crossing his arms.
"Not sure what J or Sensei see in you. Maybe you'll prove me wrong, maybe not. All you need to know is this: I'm Blade and if you actually pass this trial, we'll be seeing a lot of each other. Now come on Rookie, need to regroup with the others." The young Strider said, quickly making the most of being the "Experienced" one for a change. (Even if he didn't realize what a bad idea that might be...)

Diablo1099_v1legacy · Aug 14, 2017

The Rising Dawn
Cantina

[hr]

Anjali | Adel

Anjali wasn't the only one who was a bit startled by all the racket and noise, something she'd come to realize as her wandering brought her to the Hanger Bay of the Rising Dawn.
The repair team had done a great job getting all the old G-Corp equipment out and fixing everything up.
That's what made the bloody trail on the floor all the more out of place as it lead from one of the hallways and towards a nearby transport ship.
Signs of life were found as a exhausted panting began to fill the air near one of the ships, coming from a young, bloody half naked man attempting to make his way to the pilot's seat.
"Com-...on...open...Open!" He grumbled as he tried to pry open the pilot-side door, most likely as part of an escape attempt.
Upon Anjali's revealing himself, he quickly turned around, almost collapsing against the wall of the Transport as he brandished a borrowed scalpel as a weapon.
His gaze seemed frantic as his limbs shivered, the operations he needed to completely purge his system of his "FULGORE" Implants yet to be completed but it seemed he was driven enough to try and escape before then.
"I'm-...taking this ship-...you should leave...now..." The blonde threatened, though a stiff breeze would easily defeat him.

Zepherus14 · Aug 16, 2017

To say the least, Nina wasn't overly pleased with watching Caim seemingly ignoring her and instead typing into his PDA. She was about to give him another piece of her apple crumbled mind only to be interrupted by the machine.

Code:

"Looks like there's a wounded civilian on site."

"I'll have you know, Naamah, this nearly naked librarian who is some sort of colonel said I was a- W-what are you doing?" Nina retorted back to Caim only to notice him approaching her side. In the condition she was in, she wouldn't put up much resistence to Caim slinging her arm over him. Causing little more than a second or two of delay, Caim would successfully stablize the inexperienced youth but not without Nina giving some final protest of her own. "Hey, ow! -Hiss- That hurts -Hiss- you know!" Nina winced as she attempted to pull away from Caim, largely causing the discomfort herself while vainly resisting him.

This would quickly stop due to two different factors. One being with something to finally support her weight, the last of that second wind gave out. She would still walk on her own but she'd happily lean into Caim a bit more to pass on some extra weight, the fact that she needed some recooperation time finally winning out. Secondly, Nina would notice a rather important fact she'd been ignorant of through her tantrum, she was cold. She wasn't on the verge of hypothermia by any means but being held close to Caim as she was filled her with a warmth and comfort that brought with it a brief sense of calm.

Phillip simply remained on Nina's shoulder opposite Caim, surveying the area of the new and old characters that they'd found. Given Nina's initial hostility, Phillip merely shifting his weight forward slightly to have a clear line of sight on Caim's face, small bulges underneath the chef's hat illuding to the additional mass hidden within it. The curling mass of tentacles made no visible threat to Caim, even making additional room for the father to support Nina with his other hand, but with his many years experience of combat one thing was sure. Phillip was watching Caim just as much as he was watching the noodle monster. There was no additional focus, no additional impact of the pervasive aura Phillip exuded, only a silent reply to Caim's own curiosity.

As Caim walked them closer to the half finished warmth spell, Nina watched scrupulously at the radiating star of healing. Having never played Dark Souls, memes alone would not give her any information on this particular radiant light. Phillip slowly at first reached a tentacle forward, but swiftly closed the several meters to the area and tested the waters. Flicking the tentacle back and forth a few times and allowing one of the waves to crash against his skin. Wherever it went, the radiant light seemed to be rended, wisps of magic trailing off and even the wave of healing energy appeared to be aggressively interrupted.

Nina would look up at Phillip as he retracted the tendril, nodding quietly. "Well at least it isn't 'real' fire, right?" She lightly joked, the damage to the warmth spell slowly repairing itself. Just as Nina was about to cross the threshold, Phillip leapt off her side onto the floor, apparently aware of his influence, while Nina did her best reaction of slowly sinking into a hot tub. She sprawled out on her back with a long sigh while Phillip poked at the outer edge. She was still upset sure, but this minor victory was a victory none the less. Healing her injuries meant that she could kick whoever's butt twice as hard after all, and she would be lying if she said this didn't feel wonderful.

Distracted by the different ways she could get back at her unknown assailant and the healing bliss, Nina didn't immediately hear Titania call her out. "...Nina and Phillip, you are both to calm down..." Nina's head tilted up as Phillip did a rather good impersonation of 'what did I do?' [https://media0.giphy.com/media/3og0IIzj2lEYh4r8DC/giphy.gif] with two tentacles pointing at himself. "What did she say?" Nina wiped her eyes, and after a brief pause, she immediately sat up looking to give Titania some lip until the words "in the main kitchens" were uttered. In a flash, Phillip had hushed Nina with a tendril to her lips and several worked to provide a thumbs up with her arm. She would resist at first, but would quickly settle down, whatever Phillip had said convincing her otherwise. She still gave Titania one hell of a nasty look though, glaring daggers even. 'Who the hell does she think she is telling me to calm down, I am calm!'

And then Titania left. "So... this thing portable, I just sat down and just found that cozy spot..?" She asked openly, eventually adding after some looks. "Alright let's get going, and Caim? Thanks for the help, it's... appreciated."

Silence · Aug 16, 2017

Cloudtop Citadel

[hr]

Mio

"Well, fuck." Mio said as she listened to the soldiers vanishing in the distance. She had not gotten any progress in any direction, neither to find her ship, nor to find a good time. She shrugged, wanting to decide on where to go next, as it dawned on her. This place needed a leader and a good captain! Really no contest there, from what she had seen until now. And what better way to start convincing people than the ship's crew. Even though it meant, she had to admit reluctantly, follow another person's suggestions.

So she walked down the hallway and found the elevator, got in and pressed the lowest button.
Ping.
And she had already arrived. Hearing people talk and making out a bulk of them, she did not care if she interrupted any of them. She put her arm on her side, letting herself appear like the captain she was, and said:
"Alright now. Everyone shut up. How much do you know about the place we are in? We need to figure out the best course of action.
One at a time, please."

[hr]

The Rising Dawn

[hr]

Diana | Blade

Diana looked at the green man, wrinkled her nose, and kept quiet as he talked to her. At least until she started to speak in his mind, every word causing a pulse of a headache.
Well then, 'Blade'. So you are showing me the ropes? she winked at him. Do not worry about me and this trial, I should be able to beat whatever you have beaten before, easily.
She got up, stretching herself and putting herself on display, just to find out how he would react to her appearance, then smiled.
Lead the way.

It was painful.

[hr]

The Rising Dawn

[hr]

Anjali

Anjali stared at the strange and weak man with big red eyes, unblinking, for a few seconds. Her god showed no feelings towards him, neither negative nor positive. So she walked closer. "Are you sstealing this vehicle? You do not really seem to be in shape for ssomething like this." Her voice was hollow, but without judgment. She tried a smile, her teeth still red from the meat. "You should rest, I think. There are big things going on, and you need to be in your best form to ssurvive them. Look at the ssky, doess it not look different?"

Texas Joker 52 · Aug 16, 2017

[hr]

At the mention of the upcoming party, the boy's demeanor seemed to change, laughing and casting a sidelong glance at nothing at all. But B.C.'s sharp con-woman's eyes narrowed a little as she recognized a knowing look when she saw it. There was something he knew that the rest of them didn't, and that was beginning to piss her off. But as he flipped out a pair of invitations and offered them to both her and David, she took them without a word. In fact, she didn't even glance down to inspect it as she used one hand to tap it against the palm of the other testily.

After he knelt to address the two dragon-kids, he stood and gave the Convict a pointed look. One that B.C. met readily with a suspicious glare and an arched eyebrow hidden behind bluntly cut bangs.

"Try not to feel so entitled. This is a military base. We have engineering uniforms and we have research uniforms. We don't keep a locker full of dress clothes. Mr. West knows the way out. Be vigilant. Who knows when you might cross paths with a white rabbit."

She gave him an elaborate shrug and smiled nastily, asking "What is this, Alice in Wonderland? Can't say I appreciate the cryptic warnings, brat. If you want us to avoid something, best you just tell us right-out."

Of course, she realized she was being a hypocrite in saying that, because she was very carefully omitting the fact that she was getting more and more tempted to humor this interloper or white rabbit or whatever they were after was, as opposed to helping Vihaan. She had no stake in any of this beyond seeing where the cards fell, and she was confident she could find a way out of any tight spot she found herself in, regardless of which side she appeared to back. All so long as she was the one who stacked the deck.

She was about to tuck the invitation in her hand into her halter-top when the girl who accompanied David and the two kids snatched it away and read it intently. With an irritated glare, the Space Convict placed her hands on her hips and opened her mouth to protest when the paper thief spoke first.

"No way, there's no way. This is Lola's handwriting... but it can't be, I saw Lola write all of the invitations herself. There's no way she could have made these!"

Promptly snatching her invitation back, B.C. shoved it unceremoniously into her cleavage without looking at it.

"Don't know who Lola is, or why that's significant. So lets hope it isn't a problem." she told her blandly, before she followed David out and away from Vihaan.

And he wasted no time shooting down her previous plan as he did, saying that he was already taken and that he wasn't about to jeopardize that for her ass. As she kept in-step beside him, she looked at him and shook her head.

"Have you never heard of a 'con'? Or a 'cover'? Listen honey, it's nice that you think so highly of yourself that you actually believed that I was using this as an excuse to go on a date with you, but it ain't so. You goody-two-shoes types are all too void-be-damned serious..." she muttered as they walked down the sparse hallway.

As they passed several elevators in the hall, B.C. could hear as one of the sets of doors hissed open behind them, and glanced backward in mild curiosity. She was about to ignore it when she heard a very familiar voice, one of the few she recognized since she had gotten to this backwater planet.

"Alright now. Everyone shut up. How much do you know about the place we are in? We need to figure out the best course of action. One at a time, please."

Skidding to a halt, she turned and made a beeline to the elevator in question, and when her head poked around the corner, she immediately saw the same one-eyed, one-armed, white-haired pirate girl that had been appreciating her tits in the World Marshall Prison. With that in mind, she immediately knew the best way to greet the closest thing she had to an old friend in this world.

"Mio! I didn't expect to see you here! It's me, Bombshell Carrie!" she cried out as she gave the limb-and-pigmentally challenged girl a hug from behind, pulling Mio's head into her bosom.

She looked down at her with a grin and cocked her head a little to the side.

"Sorry about bailing, but I really had to get out of there. The Rising Dawn is just so righteous it was stifling. What are you doing here?" she asked, a note of genuine warmth seeping into her voice.

Unlike everyone else that she had run into today, Mio didn't seem to ooze virtue or otherwise grate on her simply by being nearby. She couldn't say exactly why, but she got the feeling that Mio was a scoundrel after her own heart. Which meant that if she could find a reasonable excuse to ditch David and the others for Mio's company, she was probably going to take it.

bluerocker · Aug 18, 2017

[hr]

As Nina was deposited to the healing spell, and her subsequent thank you, the mute warrior gave a solemn nod, before being commanded by Titania to gather up the stragglers in the depths of the Citadel. Unsheathing his blade once more in case of trouble, the mute readied himself to depart, before he heard Angelus call over her shoulder,

"Don't do anything stupid."

With only a small smirk, the mute waved back to his red-wearing companion before taking a quick gaze at the strange girl and tentacle-creature he had encountered moments ago. Suppressing a shiver, Caim silently turned back towards his quarry and departed further into the Citadel, leaving Angelus to deal with her portion of the cleanup - which included a very clingy slime-girl. Creating a small fireball in her palm, Angelus flicked her wrist to levitate it into the air, the magical fire hovering above her head as she called to the rest of the group, "You heard the woman - all others follow me to the Dawn - and hurry it up!"

Leading the entourage at point, Angelus offered Hillary her other hand as she walked along, and continued the conversation from earlier, "It sounds like you've met a number of our other members. Teri and Garm are Rugal's family, his daughter and her faithful hound. Ton Ton and Cadolbolg on the other hand, are my children," she straightened herself ever so slightly, a ghost of a smile tweaking at the corners of her mouth, "My pride and joy, those two. They are not of my blood, but their talents are extraordinary. So much strength at a young age, I've no idea where they get it." She turned back to Hillary with a grin, no doubt brought on by mentioned the Cuties, and asked, "Though your reverence for this Penelope is similar to mine in regards to my children - is she family to you? Perhaps a mentor?"

[hr]

[hr]

Despite his smiles and reassurances, the two brothers felt more ill at ease rather than comforted by Vihaan's words and head-pats; the two shooting one another an uncomfortable expression as the group began to move back towards the Dawn (as well as regrouping with Mio).

As they continued their ascent, the two brothers began to 'sense' a strange sensation in the back of their minds,[footnote]Gameplay mechanics at work here. Pact partners can talk to other people who are in pacts - as well as help locate each other. Caim tracked the kids very easily through this ability.[/footnote] like they were being called for; from a distance - until a familiar figure with dark hair and a dark sword appeared around a corner. Breathing a sigh of relief, the man allowed his shoulders to slump as his PDA rattled off,

Code:

"There you are."

"Father!"
[color=15650D]"Mister Caim!"[/color]

The quiet warrior was assaulted by a lump of scales and feathers, as Cadolbolg bolted into Caim's arms (and in turn, carried Ton Ton with him). There was no protest from the raven-haired man, only a small smile flitting across his features as the duo found their way to his shoulders, Cadolbolg rubbing his face against one of Caim's cheeks and a happy trilling noise echoing out of his throat. Ton Ton, on the other hand, had already begun to relay the events that had transpired moments ago via pact-bonds; which in turn had Caim's features turn grim again, his attentions turning to the party before his PDA announced,

Code:

 "I've been sent to fetch all of you. The Dawn is leaving very soon, and we need to get on as soon as possible. Let's go, lest we be abandoned by the retreat."

bluerocker · Aug 18, 2017

NotYetForsaken said:
this dude wrote some things~

One, two, three flaps of the Prince of Darkness' wings passed as he looked across the landscape, his brows furrowing the more he took in. On a superficial level - things looked normal enough - the sky wasn't falling, a pleasant breeze was blowing, and the clouds were felted in an oh-so-puffy manner. Yet, Luke could sense something was... off, in that same uncanny sense one got when looking at china dolls, or that sensation of something darting away in the corner of your eye. A strange sense of malaise settled in his gut, before Lucifer finally decided, [color=eca222]"Well that tears it. If The Boss isn't going to answer, I might as well knock on her door."[/color]

Focusing on magical energy and rote, Lucifer concentrated for a moment before flapping his wings once more - and winking out of "this realm's" perception of existence.

The Outside was dark. Darker than he had ever seen. Where the horizons had once been filled with twinkling stars, pinpricks of light that represented distant worlds, now there was nothing but a heavy cloud of swirling dust. The scale was vast, far more unthinkable than he could have even begun to imagine. It stretched from one end of his vision to the other, an encapsulating shroud so large that to break it was unthinkable. Luckily, he did not need to travel normally. He summoned forth his magic once again and slipped through space-time, travelling closer and closer to the cloud of darkness on the horizon. When he reached the cloud itself, he felt it's presence. It was corporeal, solid, and opaque. He reached forward with his mind, trying to pierce the veil that had been cast around the world, but he found nothing. In a million billion miles in each direction, there was absolute oblivion. A darkness so deep that it was lacking in even cold or stillness.

Yet, there was something stirring on the other side. He could not sense what. But he could feel the movement, like the moon pulling the tides.

Lucifer inadvertently found himself swallowing, his throat suddenly feeling parched as a desert. What...what was this thing? This strange writhing thing beyond him. Where the hell was he even? This strange space between spaces (or was it even a space between those spaces?) wasn't something Lucifer was familiar with - and that was really saying something. Yet the question remained - should he attempt to push "further" (whatever "further" was at this point) in an attempt to "pass" this creature - and subsequently, back to the realm he presided over; or should he try to retreat, to go back and be a shield for those he cared about, even in light of the strange "blockage" himself and his dearest discovered not too long ago. On one hand, if he pushed "forward" and succeeded, he could pull in reinforcements - make the claim is stepping on his and the Boss' turf, a temporary alliance this side of Tomoya's insurgence. On the other hand, if he did not succeed in his push - what if he was captured by this "thing"? What would it do to him? What did it even want? Could such an alien thing even "want"?

Yet, the more Lucifer pondered, the more he began to feel a nagging feeling in his gut - if he were to return empty handed - what good would he be? How could he come back to a disappointed face and say 'I got nothing'? He was the Prince of Darkness - not a spring chicken who barely molted into his wings! He was the very angel who was entrusted to take God's command to rebel and lead the falling of a third of the sky's stars, the one who established "choice" and "will" in his realm! What was he doing to be quailing in fear, especially when he was seeking out the Boss Herself? Why should he fear the consequence of this risk? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

With an indignant huff, Lucifer focused on his magics once more, thinking of all that had lead him up to this point - and pushed.

Diablo1099_v1legacy · Aug 19, 2017

The Rising Dawn: Bridge Hallway

[hr]

Diana | Blade

"Okay, now apparently the people at the base we were just at were experimenting on-...something. I have no idea what but judging from that explosion a while ago, I think it went kinda wrong. So here's what we're going to do: The others are heading to some party thing so we're going to meet up there and find out what they know and, if needs be, force them to tell us and once we have that-"
It was really something, watching Blade try to make "Go to where everyone else is and ask them what the fuck happened" sound like some masterstroke of tactical planning.
Even if she didn't know how people acting as well as she did, it would be clear he was just putting on a show to try and gain some ounce of respect from her.
"-Then, we move in and we eliminate the source of crisis and once that's done? The Sake is on me!" He cheerfully chimed before leading the way to where this "Party" by this supposed "Dolores" was going to take place...

[hr]

The Rising Dawn: Hanger Bay

[hr]

Anjali | Adel

"...You don't understand...I need to get out of here..." Adel insisted, not really taking much notice of Anjali's advice as he tried to solider on, using the ship to support his weight as he backed towards the pilot's door, leaving a smear of blood and a bit of oil on it as he did.
"They-...They will find me again...They will-...make me their's...again...A-again-...." He started to repeat over and over before his eyes finally rolled back into his head and he all but collapsed on the floor.
"[sub]Can't-...let it happen...again...[/sub]" He kept repeating to himself as he tried to hold his head, as if his hands could protect him from what was happening to him.
"[sub]I-...I can hear him...he's trying to get back in...I need to leave...[/sub]" He rambled as he attempted to pull himself back on his feet using a pile of crates.
Whatever was happening to him clearly had him spooked...

[hr]

The Rising Dawn: Brig

[hr]

[color=6c1504]Bison[/color] | Wesker | [color=004d]Doom[/color] | [color=b4b4]Cortex[/color] | The Machoke Formally Known As Bruiser

[color=6c1504]"-I'M FUCKING TELLING YOU, I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! I can sense someone, someone I used to control...but it's REALLY fucking hard right to get a line though to him right now now!"[/color] The former Presidential hopeful shouted to his allies as he started at the steel wall of his cell, holding his hand out against it as if trying to control someone with about a much luck as you would expect.
"Mike, just let it go. That's a T-Minus containment collar around your neck, I made the serum that's stopping you from using your powers. If there was a weakness, I would know." Wesker remarked as he sat on his bed, starting to realize the possible downsides of being stuck in prison with his "Friends".
"And, lets just say, if, IF, you can somehow defeat a security measure designed by me and used for security against powered beings like you, how exactly does that help us? Getting out of the cells was never the problem, it's going so without just out asses kicked and thrown back in here."
[color=6c1504]"WELL I DON'T SEE YOU DOING FUCKING ANYTHING!"[/color]
[color=004d]"Bison, will you stop yelling? Doom is trying to have a nap!"[/color] A rather tired looking Doom asked from his bed, wiping some sleep from his eyes.
[color=6c1504]"NO! I'M NOT GOING TO STOP YELLING! YOU KNOW FOR A FACT MY POWERS ARE DRIVEN BY THE EMOTIONS OF HATRED AND FEAR! IF ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD ALL BE HELPING ME! DID YOU NOT HEAR THE EXPLOSION EARLIER?! I'M NOT FUCKING DYING IN ONE OF THE RISING DAWN'S "HEROIC ADVENTURES!"[/color]
Rolling his eyes, Doom instead just put the pillow over his hears and tried to get back to sleep, being in ill mood for anymore villainous mayhem for one lifetime.

As this was going on, The Machoke Formally Known As Bruiser was completely silent as he sat on the floor in a meditative trance.
The road to peace was going to be a long one for him and he wasn't going to let himself fall down the path of evil once more, even if it did mean he would never leave prison again.
While he was able to block out the noise and the yelling, something managed to get though: Scribbling.
His eyes opened for a moment as he stood up and glanced over to another cell, the one containing the infamous Dr. Neo Cortex.
"...Neo?...You there?..." he simply asked as he managed to make out the small man using the floor and walls of his cell as a blackboard, using a broken piece of metal in order to carve out a vast sea of math and estimates.
"...Neo, what are you doing?..." He asked again, getting no answer from the mad doctor but he didn't need it from him as he managed to make out a twisted mural to someone, only with her eyes crossed out, her throat slit and a number of stink lines.
"...You are still hurting about what she did...aren't you?..."

Once again, there was no answer, just a slight chuckle as he pick himself off the floor and looked at his masterpiece, everything was coming together and when the time came, Chrysalis would know just how royally she fucked up...

Diablo1099_v1legacy · Aug 20, 2017

[hr]

"Have you never heard of a 'con'? Or a 'cover'? Listen honey, it's nice that you think so highly of yourself that you actually believed that I was using this as an excuse to go on a date with you, but it ain't so. You goody-two-shoes types are all too void-be-damned serious..."

"Jesus Christ, you're as bad as Katya..." David sighed, adding another reason why he didn't want to go with that cover story: B.C. was quickly starting to get on his last nerve.
"Look, I know it's a con but even so, I ain't going to entertain something like that. You know how Governments are supposed to set things up so it doesn't even look like there is corruption? Well, imagine that with my relationship, only I actually have the spine and heart to be legit about it." He then rambled until Caim showed up and explained they were leaving.
"Ohhhh, good call. And, er...I know how this is going to sound but-...I think I *Might* have caused that big ass explosion earlier. One of the people at the base asked me to do an errand for him and apparently that reawakened the Old Ones or something. I don't know what's going on either, just you know that party Dolores was trying to set up? Apparently, someone named Alice there is at the heart of all this nonsense. I don't know entirely how but odds we'll learn more there then we will here. Besides, they'll have booze and I REALLY need booze right now..." David then explained before hauling ass back to the ship, seeming a big glad when B.C. found someone else to annoy...

BlackHarte · Aug 20, 2017

[HEADING=2]Cloudtop Citadel ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 10:00 AM[/HEADING][hr][HEADING=3]Lt. Abigail Martin[/HEADING]

Abigail put her hands on Teri's and held them at bay. "I am fine," she croaked. A few stray strands of hair rolled down her face and she brushed it back up with her fingers. She tried to stand up and shakily did so, leaning against the wall as she rose. She looked at Viscus and grimaced, "You people let such an unstable AI run free?" Abigail shook her head, "Such lackluster discipline must cause unceasing trouble."

She let the Cleric see her skin, bruised and angry though it was. Though it seemed as if she was not done any lasting damage.

The other soldiers gathered behind their officer, and that's what they were. Despite their youthful appearance and playful nature, they were soldiers as well as students and researchers. Their gleaming eyes and ruby lips were stretched into pensive glares. Abigail commanded them to lower their weapons with a quick wave of her hand.

"I'm afraid that we have reached the limit of our hospitality," Abigail leaned against the wall. Her eyes were steel, "please vacate as soon as possible. Take that machine with you."

[HEADING=2]Rising Dawn ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 10:00 AM[/HEADING][hr][HEADING=3]Lt. Dolores Selmy[/HEADING]

I yawned. There was some light filtering in through from behind the curtains, and the sheets were cold on my skin. I sat up and stretched, the cloth fell from my bare arms and pooled in my lap. My back hurt and my hips were sore. I must have been twisting and turning in my sleep, and the weight of my legs strained the muscles in my hips. I groaned, the air was cold. I reached over and grabbed my shirt and slipped it over me, taking care not to crease the silken cloth as I pulled it over my breast and stomach. I swung my legs over the bed and slipped carefully into my chair.

My name is Dolores Selmy. Everyday I have to remind myself that. I can feel the other voices nibbling in the back of my head. I had forgotten their names. All the better. I am Dolores. It means to suffer. My name is Dolores. It means to suffer.

I looked up and my face stared back at me in the mirror. Gentle sloping cheeks and a round chin, a button nose. Wide, wet eyes covered by a sheet of blonde hair. I brushed my bangs to the side and clipped it back with a pin. My skin was white, almost as pale as snow. My eyes were a bright green.

Today was the day of my party, but really it was more of John and Molli's party. I smiled. John had come up with the idea, I had just organized it. The man was something else, soft-spoken and unassuming, but an incredible intelligence agent. He had a ring made from the raw iron from Molli's first childhood project, a dune buggy that she worked on with her father. It glimmered in my memory, a dark iron laced with gleaming rivers of platinum and rose gold and crowned with a round polished sapphire to match Molli's eyes.

There was a knock.

"Are you okay?" Isaac said as he walked in. He was wearing his dress uniform, his hair was combed neatly back and his deep olive skin had been powdered lightly with some white dust. His face was twisted into a grave grimace.

"I'm fine Isaac, is something wrong?" I leaned back in my chair and covered my bare legs with a blanket.

Isaac walked in and looked at me in the mirror. The frame made it look like we were a couple in an old photo. "There's been a class 3 emergency," he said softly, "the Rising Dawn was attacked and your sister is missing."

I looked up at him. For some reason I couldn't seem to care. I knew I should be worried, frantic even. But right now I wasn't filled with anything. Not surprise, not fear, not worry. I smiled, "I'm sure Laeta will be okay."

"I didn't mention," Isaac began, his brow furrowed.

"Saren isn't one to get herself missing." I answered. It felt automatic, unthinking. Like someone else was talking for me. The day wasn't going to change. The party was still going to happen. "Would you kindly help me into the shower? It's cold." My name is Dolores. It means "she who suffers." What kind of father names his daughter that?

Zepherus14 · Aug 23, 2017

[hr]
The light of the newly born flame washed over Hillary's form, flicks of orange and yellow overtook the glistening silver's own colourations. Hillary's trust in Angelus' words prior helped to keep her from gaining some distance, but that didn't stop her from eyeing that flame none the less. Her head tilted upwards as she watched the flame come to rest atop her head like a glorified spotlight. Hillary's mood brightened once more as Angelus offered her hand to the slime, to which she happily accepted, lightly swinging the arm back and forth as they made their way to the elevator. Because she was under the impression Yona was the owner of the mace, and she didn't need it where she was headed, Hillary would have simply left it leaning against one of the walls in the open.

The story Angelus told Hillary of her two bundles of joy brought a smile to Hillary's face. Truth be told, Hillary's interpretation of family was quite a bit broader than most, and thus didn't much bat an eye at Angelus calling the turtle dragon or the stuffed gecko fish her children. In fairness it only went to show she'd done a fine job at raising the two to be as kind and helpful as they had. She only hoped the two children knew how much they meant to her.

"Though your reverence for this Penelope is similar to mine in regards to my children - is she family to you? Perhaps a mentor?" Hillary was then asked, to which she replied, placing her other hand to her chest holding onto her figurine[footnote]Which I absolutely didn't forget about when she was carrying that mace, nope! XD[/footnote]. "Penelope? I say she's family. Like family away from family? She's helped teach Hillary many things over our travels, show her how other people do things, and make sure she doesn't get into trouble." A sheepish smile coming across the woman's face. "Some of the others say that she's more of a nanny, but Penelope is very quick to say that's not true. "It's my duty to make sure everyone on this ship is cared for, Hillary is no exception!" she'd say." Hillary stated, wagging her finger with a slight inflection to her voice as she rhymed off one of Penelope's lines. "So... maybe she's a little of all the things if you think about it? But certainly a very good friend to Hillary~" Hillary kicked her legs out excitely.

As they got closer to the elevator, Hillary turned her head to the controls for a moment before confirming they were supposed to go up. With Angelus' approval, Hillary called the elevator and waited patiently as the group following behind to gather orderly. Once the doors opened, Hillary entered and was immediately met with a loud buzzer. She would look around confused a moment before realizing the problem. "Wait, Hillary's had this happen before..." She said as she stepped back outside and offered for others to board instead. She then looked down at herself reluctantly. "I guess Hillary needs to get that apple out of her..? Just wait a second." She begrudgingly stated as she started to cough with gusto.

NotYetForsaken · Aug 23, 2017

[[Main Scenario]]

[hr]

Glimmer of Hope

Code:

luke's story

[hr]

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Oblivion was absolute. There was nothing dark about this darkness, Luke found, as he traversed the eternal fog. The ancient stillness stretched on and on. He could feel nothing, not wind, nor cold. He could hear only the sounds of his own thoughts and as he weaved through unfathomable distances, he could not know for sure he was actually moving. There was nothing here, not even magic, for him to place his relative position.

For a million million miles it was pure nothing.

Then it came to a sudden end. It was that pull, that gravitational presence that guided him out of the grey miasma. He had lost it's faint pull when he entered the cloud, but it had been guiding him subtly through the barrier from the other side. Luke burst out from a world of nothingness into a world of something.

There was no sky, but there was a horizon. He was thankful for even that much. He landed. There was gravity here. And then he heard it - music. Long wailing pulls on an invisible violin, the heavy thrum of cellos, and even the soft trembling of a piano echoing through the air. There was air. Luke took a breath, the air was gently sweet, as if dashed with sugar.

If he didn't already know better he would have said that this was Paradisum, but this was not heaven nor hell nor purgatory. His feet shifted under him and he looked down. The earth below was moving as if water, thick waves of golden light swept toward the dark cloud behind him. That's where the music came from. As the liquid light ground against the thick grey walls of shifting clouds, it thrummed with the beautiful melody.

To him, this liquid light was solid, but as he looked out he saw nothing else upon the surface. It might as well have been a sea born of sunlight. Even further there were no twinkling stars, no other worlds, and not even a great burning light to illuminate the realm. It was just gold on one side of the horizon and and endless blue sky on the other. High above, some wispy clouds hung high in the false sky as some half-hearted imitation of a normal world.

As strange as this place was, he felt at ease. As if he belonged here. He took a step away from the wall of darkness, the only thing he could make out in the infinity. There was no curve as the horizon stretched out. This was no world, but an endless flat plane. He took a second step. The waves below his feet swelled as it crashed into the dark wall behind him, stripping some of the aetherial darkness off of the barrier and into the sea of light.

Then Luke felt it again, that pull. A pulse of attraction akin to love, but not right. As if a foreign entity had read about love in a book and imitated it. It felt undeniably wrong but, at the same time, not unpleasant. He looked for the source and he saw it come into existence right before him. There was no flash, no fanfare, no storm of feathers, nor glimmering portals. She was just there.

She couldn't have been older than fourteen.

Her eyes were red. Beautiful, shimmering like an ocean of blood. Her hair was white, and her skin was pale. She wore a sheer white dress over a thin petite frame, and through the fabric Luke could see she was no real girl. She was like a doll, unblemished skin, perfect and baby smooth from head to toe. She smiled, brushing away a long lock of hair. Though there was no wind her dress and hair fluttered in some false breeze.

"How do you do?" she said. Her voice did not sync up with her lips. Instead the song of the sea shifted to imitate her voice. She was merely opening and closing her mouth in an imitation of speech.

Diablo1099_v1legacy · Aug 24, 2017

Cloudtop Citadel
Engineering

Code:

[i][Error: 37][/i]

[color=3897E0]

Code:

AI Dimitri

[/color] | [color=356D60]Garm[/color] | [color=0E59E4]Teri[/color] |

Code:

AI Viscus

| Lt. Abigail Martin

[hr]

Viscus froze for a moment before twitching wildly for a moment, Sadei's energies doing much to knock his system out of whack long enough for his efforts to be undone.
While Abigail was spared his wrath, the tone of her voice and the general vibe of the room made it clear they had to leave and do so rather soonish.

Code:

[...You have made an unwise choice this day...]

The machine barked before standing back upright while Garm and Teri talked about their orders to return to the Rising Dawn.
It was then that the Cleric mentioned the spawn of Rugal Bernstein, something that greatly vexed the AI even more then the comments Abigail had made about "Allowing" an AI like him to act freely.

Code:

[I warned you he was a danger to himself and others...He's also still on the ship. While I am unable to remotely access the Rising Dawn's security from here, my estimates suggest he has yet to leave the airship. We are leaving now.]

Shooting one last glare at the Citadel staff, he merely picked up both Garm and Teri, one under each arm before adding

Code:

[You may expect a complaint at your Human Resources department for the unauthorized dismantling of my combat armor. You are lucky I am not allowed to kill you this day. Reflect on your conduct or I will return.]

His rather hallow threat delivered, the android then began to hover before flying directly to the ship, zooming though the Citadel's hallways with his two unwilling passagers in his grasp.
The Flight back to the Rising Dawn was a short but rather memorable one, while they might have both been used to flying with Angelus and other Heroes, Viscus was a lot-..."Faster".

Within the space of a minute, Teri and Garm found themselves being brought into an airlock on the western side of the ship, not far from the crew's quarters.

Code:

[The rest of the crew are now safely on the ship. It appears we are leaving the base due to the event. I will interface with our mainframe here and try to determine the cause of the event. You may resume your search for your "Brother" now...]

Viscus droned before leaving to attend to more important matters...

bluerocker · Aug 25, 2017

[[Main Scenario]]

[hr]

Glimmer of Hope

Code:

luke's story

[hr]

" 'Mother' is the name of God, on the lips and hearts of all children."

"How do you do?"

First memories were always the hardest to remember.

In one moment, there was nothing. In the next, he was bathed in a warm glow, as comforting as a hug and gentler than gossamer. He was granted a name - one difficult for human tongues to grasp on a whim, but it meant "Morning Star" or "He who bears Light"- and light, he bore. Everywhere he went, a light always seemed to follow, joy tinkling from a presence that was everywhere at once - a safe haven in an unseen gaze and source-less voice. A guiding principle, a hand that sowed, a direction to take.

The day he was given his duty, he would forever consider it the day he stopped being a child.

Lucifer shuddered, blinking back a strange moisture that found its way to his cheeks. Reaching up, he found that it was in fact, tears, flowing unbidden and without recollection of when they started. That feeling that washed over him moments ago, that comfort, it brought to the surface something Lucifer thought he had buried, and was wrecking havoc over his collected persona. However, it did not last - as something felt strange about it, false - an imitation, a flawed reproduction rather than the "real" he was reminded of moments ago. Longing was quickly overwhelmed by anger, boiling hot in his breast; reaching it's way to his expression, which at this point was reminiscent of an angry dog than a man.

Lucifer's wings flared out reflexively, flapping with indigence as he shouted to the doll-like creature, [color=eca222]"Don't play cute with me! I've come a long way to get here, and it's not for something so inane as niceties!"[/color]

A moment passed, the Morning Star's chest heaving like a pair of bellows after his angry declaration - a recollection of a gentle voice played in the back of mind, reminding him to keep to his manners during all dealings - before taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair in an attempt to smooth it out. After another moment, he exhaled, and looked back to the creature again, this time, his voice much more level as he said, [color=eca222]"...That a bit brusque, forgive me. I am known as Luke, and I am...'inquisitive' I suppose. Who..or rather, what, are you? I can tell what I'm looking at is only an avatar - a preferred form. It was more than a little obvious when the mouth wasn't actually speaking. Second - if you're anything like what I encountered on my way here - are you the one who is responsible for the imprisonment of the collective known as the Rising Dawn; and if so - why?"[/color]

NotYetForsaken · Aug 26, 2017

[[Main Scenario]]

[hr]

Glimmer of Hope

Code:

luke's story

[hr]

"Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night."

"Awadar?" she tried to say. The strings strained in the sea as it tried to replicate the hard consonants of Luke's words. She pouted and turned around, her feet dancing deftly on the surface of the golden sea. When she finished her turn her dress settled around her like flower petals. "'olle'dieb?" she tried again. She shook her head and took two steps back and two steps forward. She seemed to be frustrated.

Finally she opened her mouth to speak. To truly speak, with her voice, stemming from her flesh and blood. The music softened to make way for her voice, "a' nomae Uenia i. la nasa mae ayannala'a."

Luke's eyes narrowed at the seemingly innocent response - given what he had gone through to get to this place, he had the sneaking suspicion that this "Venia" was trying to pull a fast one on him; especially after what he had gone through just encountering the creature moments before. Unlike her little walk/dance across the golden sea, Luke remained in place, only shifting slightly to adjust his weight on the sea as he asked again, [color=eca222]"Alright, so your name is 'Venia'. That answers one question. But two more remain. First, what are you? You don't seem.... human. At least, not like any human I've encountered."[/color]

"Hmm..." Venia said as she put her hands over her eyes. "a' sumir fala oe a i. lugo pea ha ang'a." She made a motion with her hands outward like a parent playing "peek-a-boo" with her daughter.

[color=eca222]"That doesn't answer my question."[/color]

"'ogido ergo sum?" Venia tried again.

This was going nowhere, and while he was usually a patient fellow, Luke was feeling rather irritated by the evasive maneuvering around his question. It reminded him of a time when he spoke with a budding psychic who pointed out that Luke did the same thing when it came to Q and A - perhaps this was karma, in it's own way. Another thought that flitted to mind was a moment at the bar, when his patron smiled like a child who got away with stealing a cookie undetected, and suggested that he should be more direct with what he wanted, rather than treating conversations like a sparring match. Bad habits were hard to break, even moreso when you were in denial.

Refusing to relent, Luke answered, [color=eca222]"I didn't ask when you came to be, I asked about your nature - what are you? An agent standing in for someone? A diversion? Or perhaps you see yourself as god, and this is your domain?"[/color]

Venia cocked her head and laughed, doing another spin, "a' Uenia i," she said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

[color=eca222]""Forgiveness..? A concept personification?""[/color]

"Ahn," she said."a' ol mianni haeshi. pe'ire ua li ama'a, ludo'a awasa'a hima'a dohe'a. uedera ni noho, mi amo manda lorre - i felle hu'so mir ua. luga pea'a nya ang'a. pashi ous an'hi mosse... dolore maderi logi ang'a ai a' shihee."

[color=eca222]"Finally, a somewhat straight answer! Was that so hard?"[/color]

Luke took a moment to parse over what was said - and then drew pause. 'dolore' - baring the strange language his conversation partner was speaking in (though the benefit of being an Angel, excommunicated or not, was that regardless of one's language capacities, magic could fill in the gaps), he noticed that word in particular was of a language he did not need magic to understand; and thought aloud, [color=eca222]"Dolore...that was Latin. But why, when you weren't speaking it up to this point?"[/color]

Venia pointed at the wall behind him as the golden sea crashed against it, stripping sheets off the ephemeral cloud. "Dolore na shuberi, do dai aifa a' shodaia. Dolore loudea'a i. a' ei todoeia mediara"

[color=eca222]"Hmn... you say you want to help, yet you bring oblivion. Did someone wish for you to kill them?"[/color]

"su' ollo mejioru eng'ge, lou bashi ud nomair lathri moun i edo hrisse. suun'ollo biid na maer i gossiri mendre, hos' lanlanthri'shumi ha'ad i sha shaana ud es jori'i dendann. a' uenia i ud he ollo i a' shu massu udi ollo go nam ollo."

Luke gave a false smile, the same he always gave when he tended the bar, tilting his head with a faux sympathy as he would listening to any other sob story, [color=eca222]"Funny, I wasn't given the memo of the apocalypse. It's kind of important when it comes to my to-do list. Sorry, but I think you might be jumping the gun here. Try again in a millennia or two?"[/color]

"See," Venia said as she pointed to the golden shifting light beneath them. And as Luke looked, the more he began to see something disturbing in the shifting light. This entity had dissolved worlds. "Again and again," the string sang, "so how do you do?" Venia asked again, pointing at the wall.

It was at this point that Luke realized that she wasn't asking him how he was, but how he managed to breach the wall.

---

Titania settled into a chair at the command bridge and put on her floppy hat. When it came to playing the part of a Major, wearing her stupid floppy hat instead of her witch's hat is an important piece. The chair was comfortable, leather and stuffed with feathers for padding. The navigation map cast a soft blue glow on all the gathered captains.

Rhodes settled into the chair next to her, being the only other Major on board the dawn. The engineering captain Theiss, security captain Do, intelligence captain Donnell, and Rising Dawn Acting Captain Rugal Bernstein were the others around the map. The hum of the engines pierced the walls of the room deep within the Rising Dawn, monitors lining the walls and ceilings gave them a good view of the world around them. The Citadel hanger doors opened and the Rising Dawn lurched, tearing free from the docking arms of the Citadel drydock. The ship floated backwards before casting itself out of the Citadel, finished with repairs, but still somewhat beaten up.

Rhodes leaned forward, her comically oversized bust jammed against the table. Titania winced, putting a hand unconsciously on her chest in empathetic pain. She was somewhat glad for her modest figure, given just how impractical Major Rhodes seemed. "So what in the world was that back in the base?" Rhodes demanded, her accent peaking through in her fury.

The other captains looked at each other. They didn't know.

"Donnell, do you have any idea?" Titania asked, putting a hand on the table and switching the display to a strategic view of the immediate area. The Rising Dawn was now drifting toward somewhere in middle America.

"I have an inkling, but nothing concrete yet," she said. She looked away, a finger fiddling with her hair. She was lying. She knew exactly what happened.

Rhodes turned toward Rugal, oblivious or uncaring of Donnell's tell. "How about you? Could that have been a counter attack by your 'Bison'?"

Titania fiddled with the map some more, noticing the strange silence of the ship's micromachine caretakers. Did even they become injured as a result of that leyline collapse? Or was it the result of something even more insidious? All she knew was that something had changed in reality immediately following the event. Everything seemed off, just by a little bit.

bluerocker · Aug 29, 2017

Airship Rising Dawn
Hallways
[color=3897E0]

Code:

AI Dimitri

[/color] | [color=356D60]Garm[/color] | [color=0E59E4]Teri[/color]

[hr]

After waiting a moment till Viscus was out of earshot, Dimitri blithely quipped to his companions, [color=3897E0]

Code:

"Admittedly, that could have gone much worse than I anticipated. At least nobody was injured...mortally?"

[/color]

Teri sighed and rubbed her temples before mounting up on Garm again, [color=0E59E4]"We can make jokes about this later. Get back into the mainframe and search for Adel on the cameras, Garm and I will start at the med bay and work our way out from there. Also - if you could send a message to Dad that I'm back on ship, that'd be great."[/color]

[color=3897E0]

Code:

"But of course, your Ladyship. Anywhere in particular I should search?"

[/color]

[color=0E59E4]"Hmn.. Well, if I were trying to escape the ship, where would I go?"[/color]

[color=3897E0]

Code:

"Instead of the med bay, why not check the Hangar first? If he wanted to leave, that would be the most obvious exit point."

[/color]

[color=0E59E4]"....noted. Could you still send that message to Dad?"[/color]

[hr]

The Rising Dawn: Hanger Bay
[hr]

Adel | [color=3897E0]

Code:

AI Dimitri

[/color] | Anjali | [color=356D60]Garm[/color] | [color=0E59E4]Teri[/color]

With the power of logic (and a text message to a worried father), Garm and Teri made their way to the Hangar at breakneck speed - the Winter Wolf galloping with the speed of a horse[footnote]True facts! Winter Wolves have the same movement speed as heavy horses, by DnD rules.[/footnote], the duo found their way to the Hangar, Garm sniffing the air and voicing with dread, [color=356D60]"I smell blood...And something else- something Mechanical..."[/color]

[color=0E59E4]"That's gotta be Adel, keep looking!"[/color]

Without too much more effort - especially given that the young man was practically leaking the stuff, the wolf and Cleric duo came upon both Anjali and the very weak Adel. Teri dismounted with little effort, and gasped, [color=0E59E4]"There you are! You had me worried sick!"[/color]

Pulling out a set of medical tools and poultices, the Cleric bent down to Adel's level and gently spoke, [color=0E59E4]"Do you remember me? I'm the doctor from the Med Bay? I'm here to get you back there - you still have a lot of surgery that needs done, and moving around too much isn't going to do you much good. Let me try to patch up some of it..."[/color]

In the meantime, Garm turned to Anjali, and followed what he *loosely* observed from human tradition, [color=356D60]"Thank you for finding this human. My friend was worried this one was hurt, and hurt he is,"[/color] He tilted his head after saying this, giving Anjali a curious sniff as he asked, [color=356D60]"I haven't seen you before. When did you show up on the Dawn?"[/color]

NotYetForsaken · Aug 29, 2017

[[Main Scenario]]

[hr]

Glimmer of Hope

Code:

Deborah's story

[hr]

"Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,"

Deborah ran her fingers over the cream colored pages of the book as she woke the shifting runes. The golden light shimmered and the writing tore itself from the paper. They danced to an invisible song, swirling and weaving into the air, illuminated and animated by an unseen ocean. Deborah whispered into the space before her and brought the runes into alignment.

"Show me the others," she cooed, borrowing Titania's wild ancient magic to peer into the changing world of living language.

---

When Nina opened the steel double doors into the main kitchen deep in the Rising Dawn, she was assaulted by a plume of spices. Yet, despite the number of people in the massive kitchen, designed to feed 500, there was silence. Outside of quick footfalls and the singing of steel and ceramic, there was little noise. The staff here wore bright blue uniforms trimmed with golden ropes. They were clean cut, professional and moved swiftly and efficiently. Their insignia gleamed on their chests, two silver wings crossed over a knife. In neat letters on each of their uniforms they wore their names and the bold words "1021st Culinary Corp."

The counters and stoves were filled with pots closed and open with all sorts of meats and vegetables steaming within. A officer swept by the two heroes carrying a pot of thickened red sauce brimming with the fragrant aroma of roasted sesame, dried peppers, tomato, and pork roux.

On the far side some of the lower rank staff were helping a patissier prepare several trays of assorted tarts for baking. He cast a glance at Nina, his face hard and old, eyes narrow with crows feet and wrinkles. His lips were pulled then as his fingers flew over the trays, setting jams into the half-baked dough before his assistants dashed the top with a white whipped syrup.

There was a crash and a rumble as racks of meat were brought in from huge cargo doors near the end of the room. Three huge carcasses were strung up on the rack, beautiful beef, ruby red and with marbling visible even from a distance. A younger man walked up to them and grabbed a sheath at his waist, and in a movement faster than the human eye could see, he flashed a ceramic blade so long that it was more akin to a sword. Several thick slabs of meat sloughed down to the waiting pots of several younger cooks. The young man cleaned his ceramic blade with a thick black cloth and put it gently back into it's aerated sheath.

A middle aged Slavic man stood in the middle of the room inspecting some cuts of carrot woven into nets, flowers, birds, and sheets. His thick fingers held the delicate sculptures with an uncharacteristic dexterity. He put them back onto the plates of the cooks and sent them away. He turned toward Nina, now that he was not occupied inspecting the work of his subordinates, and cast to her and Phillip a piercing glare.

His thick black mustache bristled as he strode up to Nina and Phillip. He towered over her, and he spoke deeply as if his voice came ringing out of his chest rather than his throat. "I am Captain Avanovonov, and who might you be devshka?" He eyed Phillip too, untouched by the eldritch aura. He had seen far worse in his culinary pursuits.

---

Laeta kept pace behind David, sullen and quiet. Her footfalls echoed down the halls as she walked, head bobbing side to side and shoulders slack. Her mind was stuck, repeating the same loop over and over again. It couldn't be. There was no way. It was a mistake. Yet, the golden ink and smooth cursive belonged to no one else but Lola. She shook her head and she shook her head.

Her head hurt, he feet her, her heart ached. She wondered if Saren was okay, she wondered if her mother had been called into duty. And then suddenly she hit something on the floor with her foot.

"Gwaaaaaa..." came a halfhearted cry. She looked down.

"Vettya?" Laeta said. She bent down and picked up the armadillo-tortoise from the floor. His stubby legs palmed the air as he left the ground. The big head bobbed up and down. He "gwa"d again. Laeta looked amazed, she had totally forgotten that they had arrived with Losko and Vettya in tow. "Where have you been? Where's Losko?"

"Gwaa..." Vettya responded. He put his legs on Laeta's breast. "Gwa... gwaaaaaa..."

"You lost Losko?" Laeta put Vettya back on the floor where he circled her and then leaned on her ankle. "You were being chased by a young girl wearing lingerie?" For the moment her mood lightened, no longer weighed down by either Vihaan's revelation or of David's frazzled mood.

"Gwaaaaaaa..." Vettya said.

"She was looking for 'a white rabbit'?" Laeta parroted the armadillo-tortoise.

"Gwa."

Zepherus14 · Aug 30, 2017

[hr]

There is a big difference between a small cough or two and a full blown coughing fit, the disparity instinctually caused quite a few people to pause as they passed Hillary for the elevator. Looking at her, she didn't seem in distress standing up straight instead of hunched like one would expect. It was also far more gutteral than the normal throaty style, what would have been her diaphram clearly working overtime. While the first load of people went up and down the elevator, Hillary would attempt to silently reassure people she was fine, waving them down and a liberal use of ok signs. It would continue for a short time more until finally she stopped, and it that brief silence a quiet rattling sound could be heard. Similar to a round stone in a bowl rocking back and forth, the sound echoed from within Hillary.

Slow, breathy air passed across Hillary's vocal cords as she exhaled, her head tilting up. The rocking would continue, slowing rising until there was a 'taaaang' sound around Hillary's collar bone area. Mouth ajar, Hillary looked around a moment at the few waiting there and then turned around to face away from everyone for the last part. She'd push her hand into her mouth, and keep going until most of her forearm was in there, the slow whine of metal on metal audible throughout the whole thing. There was a brief rattling within before her arm started to pull back. Her neck would bulge slightly as a round sphere was pulled up through her throat. With a popping sound similar to a jar lid opening, Hillary's fingers would be now clutching a mirror like apple, little dents dotted the apple from her grip.

She would then inhale sharply, before turning around to present the apple to Angelus, "Ah, sorry Hillary didn't explain, but that's a lot for her to do, and we don't have lots of time. But now Hillary won't make the elevator mad anymore!" and as luck would have it, the elevator dinged and revealed itself. Hillary would go in once more, the alarm angrily buzzing at her. This time was different as Hillary stooped down and gingerly set the steel apple down, and immediately Hillary's feet started to take on the material and appearance of the vinyl floor of the elevator. Swiftly shifting across her about half way through the elevator buzzer ceased, putting to same any weight watcher's program with such a rapid drop in mass.

Once the change was finally over, Hillary stood back up, looking quite a bit different than she had before. The visage of a freshly waxed floor smiled back at them, a dark blue leaning to near blackness with a spattering of speckles coated Hillary's body. Gone were the two large ponytail buns, replaced with a short bob cut framing her face. An additional mass sat atop her head, distinct from her hair as it appeared to resemble a hat. Grooves appeared along her body; her mid neck and both shoulders, while a semi free flowing cloth started from her hips and traveled down a quarter of her thigh. Additional grooves were present just after her elbow's on the forearm as well as a similar position for her legs. Finally while her fingertips seemed to be largely unaffected, her toes had melded together into a solid mass, now looking more like a shoe or boot. With these in mind and the location she was in, Hillary looked the fitting image of an elevator attendant; appropriate outfit included with a hat, gloves, sleeveless dress, and low heel'd boots.[footnote]If this description wasn't enough, here's a picture of one such elevator attendant [https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/6/67/Elizabeth_render.png/revision/latest?cb=20160328034121] Hillary's current look is based on. [/footnote]

"Well what's everyone standing around for? Hillary remembers very clearly we need to get to the ship quickly." She announced, clapping her hands. "Please enter the lift if you would everyone?" She waved an inviting hand into the space.[footnote]Once they rode up the elevator, Hillary would take the apple and change back into the metallic Hillary, but she wouldn't swallow it until she was on the Dawn[/footnote]

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