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Post by Myrdraxxis on Aug 5, 2017 22:18:30 GMT -5
Neither Myrrdin nor Prathus made any indication that they heard the input from their respective teammates as the two field commanders stared each other down. Myrddin couldn’t get a read on the Ahv and his trigger finger was starting to itch. His eyes darted over to Miguel, then the others. He sighed, an action that put Prathus on edge for a moment before the human relaxed. “Sona?” He looked over at the information broker. Sona eyed the Ahv soldiers (only a handful remaining at this point) and shrugged.
“Couldn’t hurt to have more guns between us and whatever is happening to the people here.”
Prathus slowly nodded. As loathed as he was to admit it, this mission had gone terribly, and his squad would not be able to perform adequately on their own. “Agreed. We will press on into the heart of this place together.” He barked a quick order to his men, eying Vyn for a moment. The other Ahv had a tendency to act independently and suddenly, a manner dangerous for a soldier. On the other hand he was one of the most talented men Prathus had. “I assume you humans know where to go?”
“I will in a moment.” Sona said cheerfully. Mikki grumbled over the open comm channel. Meanwhile, Myrddin was sizing up the new arrivals and taking stock of their group. Miguel was fine, not that he expected any different. Jason had kept up well, cementing Myrddin’s growing suspicions about the man. He tried to hide it, but Jason was military to the core. Not in and of itself suspicious, but something about the man was off. Not that Myrddin could afford to call Jason on it right now.
Cale and Kayla were also unscathed- in fact Cale looked outright bored. The two newcomers were the ones that drew Myrddin’s attention the most. One was a young man (wait was he missing an arm?!) with a military bearing much like Xeres. The other was a young woman doing her absolute best to remain unseen, something unfortunately futile in the narrow, crowded hallway. “So you two were on that ship that crashed outside?” He asked the man. “And right into a warzone, too. Rotten luck.” He glanced at Tio’s missing limb.
“Okay, we’re good to go.” Mikki said, drawing Myrddin’s attention. “There’s a dormitory further down this tunnel, with an off-shoot that leads to the main lab. Their records are hard-locked so I’ll need to be connected to it directly to access.”
“We have a destination then.” Prathus said. He did his best to keep discomfort out of his voice. Human AI, or artificial intelligence in general, was a foreign concept to the Ahv. A concept that many found to be profane mockery of life. Prathus wasn’t sure where he stood on the issue, but relying on a disembodied alien voice did not set him at ease.
“That’s not all.” Mikki continued. “The few working camera feeds in this place show me that there’s more people down here.”
“Survivors?” Sona asked.
“Or more of those guys outside.” Myrddin added.
“Can’t tell. There’s a few just wandering the tunnels and labs. I’d be ready for the worst.” Mikki advised them. Sona nodded.
“Let’s get too it then. Those delicious secrets won’t find themselves.”
The group set off into the digsite, advancing with caution. The Ahv soldiers took point, their heavy weapons and generally thicker armor serving a buffer to the group. It was a long, tense walk. The lighting in the tunnels was failing after lack of maintenance, leaving their path bathed in low flickering red light. It was also utterly silent. No sounds from further in the site. No machinery humming distantly to keep the scientific facility running. Just absolute stillness. A frozen silence that sent shivers down Myrddin’s spine.
Just how long had this place been like this? The colony had dropped out of contact only two weeks ago, but from the looks of things, this place hadn’t seen repair or use in months. Myrddin glanced around, rifle clutched tightly in his grip. The colonists outside had rushed to defend this place with a terrifying effort. Something must have happened to the scientists in here, and then later broke out into the colony proper. As they advanced through the musty tunnel, silence only broken by the sound of their boots striking the metal flooring, one thought struck Myrddin. ’This place is more like a tomb than a lab.’.
“Contact.” Someone whispered.
As one, the team froze. In unison the three Ahv in front dropped to one knee, giving those behind them a clearer shot. Further down the tunnel, the path branched off in two directions. From the right tunnel came a shambling figure. A person, half-bathed in the hellish red lighting. “One of them?” Myrddin asked.
“One way to find out.” Sona muttered. “Hey buddy!” she called, the sudden raising of her voice shattering the silence. The person jerked to a stop and then lifted their head, as if just now seeing the large group. A primal fear rippled through Myrddin’s chest at the sight. By all accounts the person- a scientist based on the white lab coat they were wearing, was normal-looking. Save for the jagged, unnatural teeth that jutted from its mouth like knifes or the milky-white, slightly luminescent film over its eyes. Sona’s gun wavered in her hand for a moment, as the thing stared at her. Then it opened its jaw, lips bleeding from the massive fangs cutting and tearing into its mouth far too small for them.
The noise it made was dismayingly human. A soft, weak cry that began to build, becoming a wavering, unsteady wail. Unhinged and unrestrained.
“Orders?” One of the Ahv whispered tersely. Then the scientist-thing charged.
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Post by Mizagium on Aug 6, 2017 17:48:07 GMT -5
Myrddin was right about one thing: Xeres was military to the core. Years of retirement and being forced to play babysitter to a spoiled princess had not dulled his instincts. He’s summoned some personal wards over himself as they went, becoming more and more uneasy. He cut the distance between him and the main party, no longer comfortable trailing. Something was wrong – very wrong.
Then the scientist-thing appeared – and charged.
Xeres didn’t immediately hear anyone or anything else. “Get down!” he heard himself shout. He jumped forward, shadow-stepping up through the main group to the front, and threw a series of hard over his side facing the monster. Trying to lose as little momentum as possible, Xeres lunged out of his last shadowstep into the creature.
Fear ran cold in his blood, but he screamed in answer to the thing and kept running. He felt it regain its footing and start to slow. Xeres planted his feet and shoved hard, amplifying his push by shattering the wards. It threw the thing back enough that he could bring his rifle to bear and start to unload.
He thought suddenly of Rigel – and force himself to stay in the moment.
She’s a big girl. I trained her well enough to get out of trouble.
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Post by Calefrun on Aug 20, 2017 15:15:35 GMT -5
“Damn it.” Mariko swore under her breath. The guy talking to Tio had said “you two.” Evidently she hadn't stayed out of sight as well as she had hoped. Giving up on hiding, she stepped forward towards the group, keeping a hand on her weapon.
Then the scientist-thing attacked. The twins watched as Jason quickly dispatched the enemy, though by the end of the exchange, Cale was scowling.
Noticing this, his sister asked, “What's up? Is something wrong?”
Scratching his chin, he muttered, “Outside, these things just looked like monsters. But up close... I'm not sure, something isn't right here. Something other than there being pseudo-zombies at an excavation on a remote planet, I mean. Keep your eyes peeled.”
Kayla nodded. She wasn't sure what he was talking about, but she'd learned over the years that if Cale was being serious, there was cause to be as cautious as possible.
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Post by Damien on Aug 24, 2017 1:55:08 GMT -5
Miguel stood there in terror, unable to think of what to do. He'd seen a lot of disturbing and horrifying things in his time as a soldier, but this took the cake. He shakily drew his gun, keeping a few defensive spells on the tip of his tongue, ready to cast at a moment's notice.
Vyndaen, on the other hand, appeared completely unaffected by the goings-on. The only thing he felt was surprise at how quickly the one human managed to react to danger, taking out the scientist monster with such quick reflexes that there could be no doubt that he had been a soldier at some point.
"That gunfire will likely draw more of them to us," he said. "Everyone should make ready for combat. Ready your weapons and spells. This may get messy."
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Post by Myrdraxxis on Aug 26, 2017 22:33:46 GMT -5
“Agreed.” Prathus said, hefting his own weapon. He stepped over the remains of the human scientist and continued forward, his cadre closely behind. Myrddin did so as well, though with less stoicism than the Ahv soldiers. He eyed the body with trepidation, attention suddenly drawn away by Sona as the woman crouched down, examining the corpse.
“How bizarre.” She muttered, her helmet’s camera snapping a few pictures for later.
“Basic scans show rapid biological growth and enhancement of several organs and muscle groups.” Mikki said. “This guy was packing two hearts, and so much extra bone density it’s amazing any of those shots killed him.”
“We need to keep moving.” Myrddin said quietly. Sona nodded and stood. They could collect data when they were sure this place was clear. Myrddin followed after the Ahv, clapping Miguel on the shoulder reassuringly as he strode past. The other man looked shook up. Not surprising. Myrddin could feel his damn hand shaking. ’Maybe this job was a mistake?’ he wondered. He Jumped up to the front of the group, taking point alongside one of the Ahv. He needed to focus. Keeping your head on straight was what kept you alive when shit hit the fan. He’d seen worse, Myrddin assured himself as the team continued down the right hallway.
The tunnel continued for several yards before ending abruptly at a closed hatch. The eldritch red glow of the red emergency lights flickered in faded in several places, and one of the wall grates had been torn open exposing the electrical innards within. In fact, now that Myrddin looked closely, there were bloodied scratch marks all over the wall. A shiver ran up his spine and he glanced back the way they’d come. What had that thing been doing here?
“Next room is the dormitories common area.” Mikki said. “Multiple signatures on the other side. Be ready.”
How much longer were they going to be down here? It was a question that had been repeated so many times that Professor Dane no longer bothered to keep track. It was a question he’d privately wondered as well, but at least he kept his thoughts to himself instead of whining like some of the other so called “scientists” here. Hmph. Half of these hacks weren’t worth the paper their PHDs were printed on. Dane sighed and thumbed the switch for the water cooler, filling his cup for the fifth time today. Or at least, that’s what he tried to do. Instead the cool liquid splashed over his hand and Dane stared at it for a moment, abruptly realizing that he wasn’t, in fact, holding a cup. “Bloody hell.” He muttered, turning away from the machine and wiping his hand on his coat. Peter would have laughed his arse off at that. Dane hadn’t seen much of the man lately. Then again, he didn’t talk to many of his compatriots lately. No time to talk when there was a job to do.
A discreet glance around the common room showed that no one had seen his blunder, the other three scientists taking their break too absorbed in their own tasks. Small mercy. ’Much too tired. Making stupid mistakes.’ Dane thought.
They had been working at a frenzied pace, ever since the Great Breakthrough. Sleep was minimal and meals were often served in the labs now. Dane strode over to one of the nearby benches- sidestepping one of those odd red spots that had been popping up on the floors lately, and sat down. He signed and forced himself to relax. Unbidden, a tune floated through his mind and he began to hum. It was such an infectious song. It was best to keep thinking positively about things when morale got low, or fatigue set in. He stopped humming but the song continued, worming languidly through his mind.
Most of the complainers had shut their traps when the vault had been discovered. Now solely focused on their work, as it should be. Or gone. A few had started complaining more after the vault had been cracked open and the secrets within revealed. They hadn’t lasted very long though. Dissent wouldn’t be allowed, not with work this important. It was something He had made quite clear when they’d sealed the exits. Couldn’t be disturbed. Not when there were others that needed to be woken up. It was nice to finally do some work that had a real purpose to it. The NAF hadn’t really expected much when they stuffed Dane and his team down in these tunnels. A few mineral readings here, some samples for terraforming and whatnot. Typical pre-terraform colony work. What Dane had been sued to for the past few years. Then they’d found the ruins. Oh, that had been exciting. The NAF had suddenly given them more funding and equipment and told them to keep digging. So they did. They kept digging when the first vault door had been breached. They kept digging when the food had run out. They kept digging when He’d started singing to them. When the dissenters taken apart to make up for the lack of food. They’d kept digging until their equipment broke, and they’d been forced to use their hands. And even after their hands had broken. There was so much to discover here!
An almost blissful smile swept across Dane’s face at the thought and-oh dear, now there were more of those red stains on his coat. Where did those keep coming from? He scratched his cheek and felt the skin come away with his hand-that’s annoying but it shouldn’t prevent him from working-
The doors from the outside tunnel hissed open and everyone in the room froze.
A group of strangers were standing in the hall. Outsiders? How did they get in? No, that was wrong. No one should be in here. They couldn’t hear the song. Dane stood, absently aware that his comrades had done the same. “Who are you?” He demanded. “How did you get in here?” This was wrong! All wrong! They would let those damned colonists in! Those abject failures who couldn’t even listen to Him without running-no! No no no no no no nonononononono
Myrddin stared in horror at the thing that was gibbering at him, shredded lips flapping uselessly as air hissed from its ruined mouth. It was much like the scientist they’d killed outside, as were the other things standing in the room. At least, until it stood up and one putrid arm split in half, boney scythes forming from its shoulder joint. The other former scientists begn changing as well, each one’s body breaking and twisting into even more horrific parodies of themselves until they barely even resembled people. One leaped over the table, random boney spikes protruding from its skin and a long serpentine, barbed tongue protruding from where its bottom jaw should have been.
“What in the hell-“
“Kill them! Open fire!” Prathus shouted over Myrddin and wasted no time in doing just that. The screaming, that damn screaming, could be heard even over the gunfire. Myrddin shook himself to action just in time to Jump out of the way as one took a swipe at his head with one bony claw. He raised his rifle and put a round into its head. It staggered, then kept coming.
“Oh hell.”
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Post by Damien on Sept 11, 2017 0:33:04 GMT -5
Miguel was in a terrified daze. It wasn't brought on by the fact that he had just witnessed death or anything like that. He was a soldier. He'd seen people die more often than he'd like to remember. But this...this was different.
The thing lying at their feet looked vaguely human. Vaguely being the operative word because its body had been warped and mangled almost beyond recognition, but it still retained enough humanoid quality that one could tell it had been a human.
Yes...it had been human...at one time or another...
Dios mío, he thought, is this going to happen to us? Are we going to become monsters? Is it safe to breathe down here? I don't want to become one of these things! I'm not ready to die! I'm-
Myrddin's hand appeared on Miguel's shoulder, bringing him back to the present and out of his horror-stricken mind. He blushed a bit in embarrassment at losing his cool and almost freaking out. He looked towards his friend and ex-commanding officer and could tell that, though he had that look of concentration on his face, he wasn't exactly feeling to good about this mission either.
He had known Myrddin for a long time. They went to the academy together and had been in the same cabal for their entire military career. After spending that long with a person, one picks up on little quirks that belie their true feelings. In this case, it was the scrunch between Myrddin's eyebrows. He always did that when he was either worried or thinking intensely on something. But since Myrddin always squinted a bit when thinking, Miguel knew his friend was worried, just like he was.
He took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down more, and then he smiled a bit. He was glad Myrddin was here with him. If anyone knew how to keep Miguel's racing mind in check, it was him, and Miguel wouldn't have it any other way.
Shortly after, the group arrived at a sealed door leading into the dormitories, according to Mikki. With its suggestion that they ready themselves, Miguel leveled his aim above the heads of the Ahv, who had dropped down to give those in the back line of sight to the hostiles that would be behind the door, and readied a few spells, all of them mind-affecting magics in some capacity. In a way, he was about to perform his own experiments.
The metal doors slid open, the hiss of air startling Miguel a bit...as well as more of those...things...that were inhabiting the place.
"What in the hell-" Myrddin started before he was interrupted.
"Kill them! Open fire!" Prathus shouted over the man and wasted no time in doing just that.
Miguel fired a few rounds at the oncoming monstrosities, but his attention was brought to Myrddin just off to the side of the group. He had blinked away and shot one of the abominations directly in the head. Miguel thought that would be the end of it.
...until the thing started coming for Myrddin again.
"No!" he screamed, terrified of what would happen if the being were to get a hold of his friend with its jagged talons. At the same moment, he raised his hand, arm fully outstretched towards the fast-coming horror. He muttered a few arcane words, and a flash of purple light emitted from both his eyes and those of the alien thing. In what seemed like but a second to those looking upon the scene, the monster fell to the ground, shrieking with a wail any banshee would be proud of and grasping at its head with its horrible claws. Eventually, the thing stopped screaming and lay lifeless on the floor.
I guess these things still have some semblance of a mind for me to take advantage of, he thought to himself. He decided to discuss the findings of his psychic experiment when the rest of these things were dead, with the main thing being that these monstrosities were being controlled somehow.
For the time being, he decided to use some of his bardic magic to manipulate the sound being emitted by the scene, creating a dome of magical "silence" around them. The sounds within the space were muted to the point that shouting voices would be perceived as a loud whisper and the screech of the creatures as nothing but a slightly annoying buzz, while the sounds outside the space would be perceived as normal, allowing the group to hear the approach of more of these horrors and preventing a proper ambush.
He then continued to fire at the oncoming monsters while occasionally employing his mind wrack spells.
Meanwhile, Vyndaen was blasting each and every abomination that came his way with what essentially equated to beams of concentrated solar energy, immolating them and turning their bodies into ash.
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Post by Mizagium on Sept 11, 2017 17:33:18 GMT -5
Nightmares. These things were nightmares. This place was a nightmare. This entire adventure was a nightmare. It was time to stop accepting it, and time to start breaking out.
He reached down deep and summoned his shadow magic, more than he had done in a long, long time. The abyss opened on the floor of the common area. “Get back,” was all the warning Myrddin, Prathus, and company got before the bottom dropped out of the room. Tendrils of shadow wriggled free of the new carpet and darted this way and that, ensnaring as many of the horrors as possible.
They screamed, they thrashed. Some broke free and continued to advance, but many were caught the thick, black mire Xeres had summoned. And he pulled. Xeres sank to the floor with the effort, trying to alternate between maintaining the integrity of the bindings, while opening the abyss floor deeper and deeper. Some of the things sank below, but a disturbing number stayed afloat.
The Bottomless Pit was an Abyss Corps technique, one that was supposed to only be attempted by an entire squad – not one lone fool. And an old one at that. And for strangers! What had gotten into him?
One in particular was coming closer.
“Go,” he grunted. “Leave – or kill them! Or something! Anything!”
Xeres’ vision started going dark. It was too much effort. He was going to sink into the mire with these things. No, that wasn’t just his vision. A pool of his own shadow spread out to encircle him, and he felt the bottom drop just a little. What was happening? Was he losing control of the magic? Was it some kind of bleed or reverb from the stress? That didn’t seem right, but then he’d never done thing alone before.
He blinked away the spots and the wooziness to see the lead horror – the one Myrddin had shot in the head earlier – the one that was resisting the most. It studied him and the Bottomless Pit with something like intelligence. No human, but not animal, either. Something strange and alien. Misshapen limbs searched around for...something. It and it’s kin jerked as bullets and magic slammed into them.
And then, the unmistakable sensation of triumph. The thing knew it had found whatever it was looking for. It bend down low, barbed tongue flailing about – and dived below the surface.
Xeres release his hold on the Bottomless Pit spell, suddenly sure of what was coming. He turned towards Myrddin, unable to rise. “You have to tell her,” he shouted, almost incoherently. “Rigel. I mean – Rhea – the – the girl. Please tell her I’m - “
The barbed tongue snaked up through his shadow and latched around his neck. Xeres was pulled down, down into the darkness. He resisted, but two bony, nightmare claws thrust forth and dug into his body. The old Martian screamed as his flesh was torn apart and he disappeared as if snatched by an alligator. Only then did his own shadow disappear.
The Bottomless Pit remained, but it was no longer worsening. The gruesome things were starting to break free and resume their advance. From somewhere deep below, a man continued to scream.
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Post by Myrdraxxis on Sept 12, 2017 18:28:22 GMT -5
It was chaos. All firefights were, really. Myrddin knew all too well that disorientation of sound, movement and pumping adrenaline that made combat a storm of chaos. This was worse. This was frantic. The primeval instincts of everyone howling in collective panic as monsters screamed their bloodlust and charged.
“Keep firing!”
“What abominations are these?”
“Mikki, where’s our exit?”
The shouting layered on top of itself into a haze of noise and gunfire and inhuman screeching. Myrddin didn’t hear it. He was too focused on the writhing mass of shadows where nightmares crawled, and where he could still hear Jacob screaming. ’Fucking hell.’ he thought, and then someone slapped him in the face.
“Myrddin, wake up!” Sona shouted, putting a burst of bullets into one of the monster’s faces. Faces, as in plural. The man’s face had split in two, an extra pair of eyes and nose bulging out past the large distended jaw of its face. A few seconds later that visage dissolved into meat as Sona blew it away. “The heads! They don’t get up if you shoot the head!”
Which was easier said than done, Myrddin reflected as he followed the woman’s advice. It was hard even finding the heads on some of these things. “This isn’t working!” he shouted. And it really wasn’t. Despite a few of the beasts now being dead, many more were getting right back up. Myrddin watched one of the Ahv scream as a barbed tongue darted out of the shadows, spearing him through the stomach. Myrddin’s eyes were drawn back to the abomination. The one that had been coming for him. The one that had killed Jacob. The thing’s eyes were locked onto Myrddin. It was time to leave. They couldn’t go back, of course. There was nothing back the way they’d come except the labs (and Myrddin REALLY didn’t want to think about what could be trapped in this place’s creepy science labs), and the exit, with the screaming hordes outside.
“We’re pushing through!” He shouted, and in that moment, the abomination leaped at him. It never reached Myrddin. Instead it shrieked and writhed in midair as a storm of lightning assaulted it. Sona shot another burst of electricity from it, then ceased, shaking her arm as smoke began to waft off of armored sleeve. “Dammit, overcharging my suit is NOT a fun experience. We gotta go, guys!”
“Forward then!” Prathus shouted. His remaining soldiers could only keep shooting, Despite the losses and the utter nightmarishness of the situation, the team had in fact been making progress with suppressing the used-to-be-scientists. Those that survived the assault, and Jakob’s spell were gathering near the center of the room, shrinking away from the gunfire and watching with chilling intelligence in their eyes. Myrddin felt a chill run from his skull all the way down to his feet and back as that lead creature held him in its gaze.
There was another door on the far side of the room, battered and broke, but open. Where it led, Myrddin didn’t know. Anywhere but here. Prathus’ team was working its way around the edge of the room, still keeping a steady stream of fire on the abominations. Myrddin and Sona followed, careful to avoid the abyssal spell that dominated the room now. Myrddin didn’t recognize the shadow magic that Jacob had used, but he was pretty sure his spacial spells wouldn’t let him out of it so easily.
Even as he thought that, he saw a clawed hand rise up from the darkness, pulling a form shakily from it. One of the creatures, freeing itself from the trap. They could do that? Myrddin felt his heart sink, a feeling that only got worse when the lead abomination spotted it as well. The creature slowly dipped its head towards its comrade, freeing itself, then slowly raised it to look at their group. It was smiling. That’s the impression Myrddin got. Its face was a hideous caricature of dead flesh and exposed fangs, but some, somehow Myrddin knew it was smiling at him.
“Go! Go go go go!” His voice grew more frantic as he yelled, pushing Sona forward.
The team reached the other door and burst through, breaking into the hallway beyond. They didn’t stop. The moment they left the room, they all simultaneously broke into a run. Away from that damn horror show. From the the creatures were undoubtedly following them. The echoing scream that drifted towards them confirmed that fact. Myrddin spared one last backwards look at the room, squashing the feeling of regret and guilt as he ran. He'd lost people before. Now wasn't the time to grieve over it.
Sona pulled something from her belt and clicked a button, producing a soft electrical whine and then dropped it behind her. She did that several more times. Myrddin didn’t bother asking what they were. He got his answer a few moments later when the sound of small explosions and shrieks of pain reached his ears.
“Where are we going?” Someone asked as they ran, heedless of the dark corridor.
“The dormitories were between the labs and the digsite itself. The ruins should be down this path, several hundred more meters.” Mikki supplied the information, voice clipped and toneless. “I’m attempting to lock down the bulkheads as we go, but something is keeping me out of this section of the facility.”
Oh great. That sounded just perfect.
“What could possibly be doing that?” Sona asked, voice shaking slightly. Something about that, the fact that something could keep Mikki out of any computer system at all, scared her more than those creatures back there.
“Inconclusive.” Was Mikki’s terse reply.
“No sign of any more of those things.” One of the Ahv whispered as they went. “How many humans were there in this place?”
“A little less than a hundred.” Sona was the one who answered. “Most were security or maintenance staff or excavators.” She paused. “I didn’t get a good headcount of how many were in the dorms.”
“Way less than a hundred.” Myrddin said, voice grim. There was silence after that. Most focused on running. Keeping ahead of those things. Sona’s mines wouldn’t have stopped them for long. There were several twists and turns to their escape route. Some side tunnels branched off into other parts of the facility, but they kept running straight. Then, all of the sudden, the hallway ended. They were no longer surrounded by metal walls, but by a large stone cavern. Several still-operating work lights flooded the cavern with light. The excavation. The beginnings of it, at any rate. A winding path led down into the digging, past chipped rock faces towards the far wall, where strange alien architecture rose up to greet them.
“The ruins.” Prathus breathed.
They were actually rather simplistic. Large, rectangular obelisks and pillars stuck out of the rock, half excavated and forming a large building that almost seemed to grow out of the cliff.
A single, maw-like doorway sat in the center of it all, inviting them in.
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Post by Calefrun on Sept 20, 2017 20:33:28 GMT -5
When all hell broke loose within the labs, Kayla had joined the others in gunning down as many of the former scientists as possible. It had given her some measure of relief during the chaos to see that her brother had put away his sword, switching to a rifle and keeping as much distance between himself and the monsters as he could.
She was also surprised by how well the newcomers had handled themselves. The tall guy (it occurred to her that the pair had never introduced themselves) had the look of a soldier, so it made sense that he could hold his own in a fight. The girl, on the other hand, didn't look like anything out of the ordinary - her skittishness and apparent affinity for keeping to the shadows aside. And yet, when the nightmarish creatures had assaulted the group, the girl had employed her firearm with deadly accuracy.
As the party approached the entrance to the ruins, Kayla looked to Cale and saw that he was still scowling deeply, and appareared to be muttering to himself.
"Guess you were right," she said, her voice echoing slightly within the cavern. "I don't know what the hell those things are, but the farther away from them we get, the better off we are."
He grunted in response. "It's more than that. Something about them... the way they look, and the way they move... Don't let your guard down. I don't know what we're going to find in those ruins... what they found in there, but I'm getting the feeling that we might just be walking out of the frying pan and into the fire here."
Mariko followed along with the rest of the group, sticking close to Tio. As they proceeded towards the ruins, she kept her weapon drawn and swept her eyes around, scanning for any sign of hostile movement. After everything it had taken to get away from Earth, there was no way she was going to let herself die here.
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Post by Damien on Sept 30, 2017 17:56:49 GMT -5
Miguel stood beside Myrddin, the proximity keeping his mind from racing once again. He had just seen the group's shadow mage get engulfed in his own spell while the horrors behind them had managed to get out. He didn't know what they were going to tell Rhea (or Rigel, a name the older man had let slip). He didn't know how she'd react. Though he didn't truly know the man, he felt he had to push through this, to survive this nightmare, if only to make sure Rhea knew what "Jason" had done, that he'd lost his life trying to save them.
Pushing aside the thought of telling someone that their "uncle" had died fighting those abominations, he looked about the chamber they were in, taking in the sight of the protrusions coming out of the walls and floor, as well as the gargantuan door in the center. He'd never seen or heard of anything like this outside of old books and songs about adventurers and treasure hunters. He was thrilled at the prospect of finding new things, adding it to history and lore, but he was also terrified.
Clearly what they had just fought and run from were puppets of sorts, if his delve into their minds in order to shatter and destroy them were anything to go by. And whatever had been controlling them was likely there, through that door.
Waiting.
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Post by Sariel of Tevet on Nov 24, 2017 11:56:41 GMT -5
Tio, being the slowest of the group (turns out it is pretty difficult to run with just one arm), caught up to the rest of the group. He sunk his staff into the sand so it was about chin height and leaned forward against it to take a quick breather.
"So uh...are we gonna talk about whatever the hell that just was? Or are we gonna just jump right into this ruin? I'm ok either way."
The truth was, he wasn't ok at all. Jason had the mark of a military man, takes one to know one, as it were. Tio had seen quite a few mage squadrons given massive amounts of power by the NAF, knowing full god damn well that it would eventually just become a kill switch for them. Mages weren't meant to handle that much power, and watching Jason taken down by his own spell was unsettling enough without a lab full of scientists being consumed by whatever was going on in there. He wasn't sure what exactly happened to them, but Tio was quite certain that whoever hired those scientists likely knew what would happen to them. Just like how whatever commander gave Jason that much power knew it would eventually take him.
Everything about this entire situation made Tio uneasy. It was exactly everything he was trying to leave behind when he escaped from Earth.
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Post by Myrdraxxis on Nov 25, 2017 19:52:14 GMT -5
Myrddin took stock of their crew as they paused to catch their breath. The adrenaline began fading, leaving behind that familiar shaky feeling that turned his limbs numb and his mind racing. 'God, Jacob was-' He stopped himself. Later. “No idea what the hell that was. The…scientists I think?” He answered Tio. The kid was shaken, it was obvious. But hell, so was Myrddin. Should have never taken this damn job. “Just what the hell did they dig up down here?” the question was quiet, mostly to himself as he craned his neck to look around the cavern. “Any luck cracking into the site security. Mikki?” Sona spoke up, largely for their benefit Myrddin supposed. The techomancer’s AI wouldn’t need to vocalize its thoughts to its master save to inform everyone else. It made him wonder what else Mikki wasn’t sharing with them… “No.” Mikki’s response was clipped. Irritated? “I’ve never encountered anything like this before. My probes are being rebuffed at every turn. It’s no simple security system. No recognizable AI ID patterns though.” Sona muttered something in Japanese and then said, “Well, we can’t exactly go back the way we came. Not without forcing our way through. And I certainly didn’t plan on leaving empty handed after everything.” “Failure of our mission is also unacceptable.” Prathus spoke up. He and what few remained of his team were gathered near the entrance, weapons trained on the yawning darkness. Only a handful of Ahv warriors were left, but they seemed to bear the losses with stoic silence. Myrddin had never run into the aliens before so he wasn’t sure how exactly they handled deaths among their people. “I say we press on.” Myrddin felt Sona’s gaze on him and shrugged. “I guess we go in.” He said, the words sending dread shooting through him. For some reason he really had a bad feeling about going in there but… “I’ll take point.” Dammit mouth. Why did you always do this. He raised his rifle and tooka few tentative steps into the ruins entryway, his helmet’s low-light filter providing him with some light. Out of the corners of his eyes he saw the Ahv forming up to follow. Odd folks, but damn good soldiers. The ruins began with a narrow hallway lined by dark shapes that Myrddin couldn’t quite make out in the dark. Nothing lunged out at him from the cervices so he continued onward down the tunnel. The room beyond was circular in shape, and littered with more of the large black obelisks at seemingly random points. Those weren’t what caught Myrddin’s attention however. It was the dozens of monsters that stood motionless within. Myrddin jerked back into the hallway, hearting hammering in his chest. He heard the sharp intake of breath as one of the Ahv soldiers spotted them as well. After a few moments of nothing happening he peered back out into the room. Nothing moved within the chamber. There were at least fifty of the abominations in there. Warped forms gathered in groups around the obelisks -which now that Myrddin looked closer, were glowing with faint red lines crosscrossing in geometric patterns, utterly ignoring the intruders. They were awake, that much Myrddin could see. Lidless black eyes were riveted to the stone pillars with rapt focus. Myrddin glanced over his shoulder. Sona was just behind him, peering into the chamber. She took in the scene and then paused. Myrddin followed her gaze to the opposite side of the chamber where another door stood. He looked at then at Sona and shook his head. There was no way they could get by all of those things. He and Miguel could Jump across the chamber with ease but the rest? They fell back to the tunnel. “Thoughts?” he quietly asked the group. --- The shooting had stopped some time ago, leaving the surface of Xanadu in a tense sort of silence. Krupinski had locked down the ship and set her down several miles from the colony. After that he’d retreated to his cabin to do what he usually did. Which was sulk with a good bottle of rum. Hiro found the man’s habits strange, but it wasn’t his place to question his captain. Instead, the escaped clone found his book and settled on the bridge, keeping himself occupied while waiting for any messages from the ground team. Meiling was off tending to the various small problems that always seemed to appear without reason on a starship, and Fu was off doing…whatever it was that she did. The martial girl, Rhea he thought, was -last he checked, pacing the halls in agitation. Rhea didn’t like him. Or the other Triplets. That much had been apparent to Hiro the moment they had met. He wasn’t too bothered by it. Such sentiments were common among Normals and Hiro could sort of understand where such people got their feelings on the subject of clones from. Many had, in fact, told him. Very loudly. And violently. He was an even tempered person, and bore such things with grace, unlike Meiling who just pretended not to notice, or Fu who responded to hostility in kind. ’I should keep those two away from each other if I can.’ he thought, scrolling through his book. He continued to read for another few minutes and then stopped. He set the datapad aside and stood, frowning. Something was wrong. He was no mage, but every instinct in Hiro was screaming at a sudden profound wrongness suddenly overcoming him. He strode over to the comm. Module on the wall and keyed the general line. “Meiling, do you see anything strange in the lower decks?” He never got a response as a moment later the power in the ship flickered and died. Something was very’ wrong. Hiro ventured out of the bridge, slowly moving towards the main hold when Captain Krupinski came storming out of his cabin, swearing. “Sir, something is-“ “I know something’s bloody wrong.” The cyborg snapped. A small pistol was clutched in one hand. He shoved another pistol towards Hiro, which the clone caught with a small fumble. “Whole power grid is out. Hit too fast to be on our end. Technomancy, gotta be.” “Are…are we under attack?” Hiro asked, tensing. “Go find the others.” Krupinski said in response, glowering down the dark hallway. “Hurry!”
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Post by Damien on Nov 28, 2017 20:32:40 GMT -5
"Thoughts?" Myrddin asked.
Miguel looked at him and could tell they were thinking the same thing. They could blink across, but the others would be left on this side of the cavern. Thoughts went by him in a blur as he tried to figure out some kind of solution to their problem...
...when he had a light bulb moment. He felt it was a triumph. A huge success, I'm sure, he thought.
"What about portals?" he asked in a hushed tone. "You can I can just blink across, sure, but I can set up a portal between here and the area near that door. We can bypass this room completely without letting these demonios know we were even here. I'm pretty sure the distance between here and that doorway is within range for my limited ability with spacial magic."
Vyndaen, however, wasn't so sure about the use of a portal created by someone that just said they had limited ability with the kind of magic that they wanted to use. "Are you sure that's wise?' he asked. "Have you ever used spacial magic to create portals before? And have you done so for the number of entities you're trying to ferry through? A myriad of things could go wrong, including full spacial displacement. I, for one, enjoy continuing to exist and would like not to be lost in a spacial void somewhere, or rather nowhere."
"Have I used portals before? Yes," Miguel responded. "For this many people? No, but if we have to, we can make two portals. I can get a few of you through one, blink back, and set up another set for the second group. It would take a little longer, but I would hope it would assuage your fear of my lower skill level with this particular school of magic." He looked at Myrddin with a kind of "back me up here" look.
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Post by Mizagium on Dec 7, 2017 21:58:45 GMT -5
Princess Rigel hadn’t done much more than sulk since being left behind, as spoiled young royals are want to do. The thought crossed her mind that she could be practicing her various magicks. Not that she needed any practice with arcane – really she should be focusing on chora- and chronomancy, but Xeres wouldn’t have approved of that in this situation. There were too many non-Martians, too many people who might raise eyebrows at so young a girl being able to cast such advanced magic.
But she would protest, saying something like ‘But Xeres, I’m not just a girl, I’m an Olympian.’
And he’d say something like, ‘And that, above all else, is why you must be cautious. If you were ever discovered, you would be placed in greater danger than even I could protect you from.’
And she’d say, ‘I can handle myself. Like I said, I’m an Olympian.’
And they’d go around like that for a while before either giving in or putting his foot down – and which would inevitably relent and storm off somewhere to brood. The thought made her smile – then shake her head. Why was she thinking about him like that? She was mad at him! How dare he leave her behind! This whole thing was his fault, after all. He’d taken them off schedule, put them aboard this foreign ship with these weird foreigners. And then he went running off with these weird foreigners to investigate some weird something something…something!
Ugh!
She stamped about the room, glad no one could see her. It wasn’t befitting a princess – and Olympian – to pout and throw a tantrum, but dammit, what else was she to do? Go talk to the crew? Please. They could keep their weirdness to -
The lights went out.
“Oh, great,” she commented to the darkness, rolling her eyes for her own benefit. “Absolutely ridiculous.” Something about the darkness made her voice her thoughts aloud, as if the shadows themselves could muffle her words.
“That’s it, I’m complaining.” Emergency lights flickered to life, casting soft red light and long shadows. “I’m still complaining,” she muttered, and left the room in long, purposeful strides.
She found the hallway little better. The odd light screwed with her sense of depth, but she pressed on, muttering about superior Olympian eyesight. Despite her superior eyes, she came upon a stairwell suddenly and nearly vaulted over the railing.
Something clanged somewhere below. Rigel froze, irrational fear rooting her feet to the bulkhead. It was just…an engineer. Or something mechanical. Yeah, that’s it. But the ship seemed eerily still and silent, hence the lights going out. And aside from her own complaining, she hadn’t actually heard anyone else on the ship for a while. A dozen horror holovids replayed in her mind, and, despite the numerous lessons she should have gleaned from them, she raised her voice and called into the depths.
“Who’s there? Come out now! I am not in the mood for games!”
Was in her imagination, or was something moving down there?
“I’m serious.” Even she could hear the tremor in her own voice. She was caught between pride and instinct then. Every perfect muscle in her body pulled her away from the stairwell, every base primate instinct cried out that danger lay ahead and to flee, flee! But her Olympian pride barred the way, declaring that whatever lay ahead had challenged her honor and should be confronted. Olympians don’t run or cower; they stand and conquer.
Arcane magic surrounded her, constructing a dozen short spears of magic and that hovered behind her. If they were arrows on a bow, the tension drawing them back would have been enough to snap the bow.
Pridefully, stupidly, Rigel started down the stairs.
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Post by Calefrun on Dec 10, 2017 17:48:49 GMT -5
Cale thought about Miguel's suggestion. "I should be able to get my sister and I across okay," he said, keeping his voice low. "At the very least, that's two fewer people that you have to worry about transporting."
Mariko scowled, further darkening her already disconcerted expression. Firefights, monsters, and now untested portals. Every time she thought that things couldn't get any worse...
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Post by Myrdraxxis on Dec 13, 2017 20:14:33 GMT -5
“It’s as good a plan as any.” Myrddin whispered, peering back out into the chamber. The monstrosities within hadn’t budged an inch, thankfully. “I’m worried about our exfiltration. Unless there’s another exit from this dig site, we’re going to have to fight our way out eventually.”
“We’ll deal with it when the time comes.” Prathus responded, voice betraying nothing of the anxiousness he must have been feeling. Or at least, Myrddin thought he must be. Myrddin certainly was. Then again, who knew with aliens? He simply nodded and focused across the chamber at his jump point. Blinking was simultaneously easy, and very difficult. A simple spell to execute, but required exact focus at the moment of casting. If you got distracted at the last moment it could screw up your trajectory. At best. At worst well…he tried not to think about it. With a sharp exhale he blinked across the room.
The moment he used magic was the moment everything went wrong.
The many obelisks, before only faintly glowing, low lit up in hellishly red light. The abominations all throughout the room began to shriek, wails echoing off the walls as they shuddered in place. Myrddin landed in place and began backing towards the door. “Oh, that’s not good.”
As one, the once-humans began to stand.
When Rigel reached the bottom of the stairs, a hand reach out of the shadows and grabbed her roughly by the shoulder. Then, before the martian girl could cry out, she was yanked roughly aside, away from the stair case. Less than a second later the space Rigel had occupied was riddled with bullets. “Get down you idiot!” Fu snapped at Rigel as she pulled the girl further away, ducking down behind one of the storage crates litering the floor. “You trying to get shot?”
Fun grimaced and peaked over the top of their cover, only to quickly dart back as rounds whizzed over her head. She’d had to ditch her hiding spot to keep their passenger from getting killed, and now her cover blown. Wonderful. “Can’t see them.” She muttered, ducking low.
“-onfirmed. Two targets.” She heard a synthesized voice say. Dammit, of all the times to leave her pistol in her room. There was a small weapons locker in the cargo hold…but the entry hatch to that was across the room and-She dipped her head out again. The room appeared empty, save for the oddly shimmering air in several spaces.
Cloakers?
Who the hell were these guys?
“Moving to sanitize.” The unidentified voice said from thin air. Shit.
“We gotta run!” Fu told Rigel. “Do uh…some weird magicky shit, draw them off!”
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Post by Mizagium on Dec 21, 2017 21:17:08 GMT -5
Rigel tore away from Fu with an indignant HMPH! How dare she accost an Olympian like that? And weird magicky shit? Of all the insufferable - Rigel had half a mind to leave this woman here to die just for the insult. But only half a mind. Right now, she really didn't want to be shot to death. Olympian genetics or not, bullets were bullets.
"Fine," she hissed. She couldn't do arcane, the luminescence would these ghost solders right to them. Well, not if she projected it, but that's not really a solution. But then, she didn't need a solution right now, just a distraction.
The answer came to in a flash of inspiration. Rigel peeked out of cover like she'd seen Fu do - just enough to judge the distance between them and the far wall, behind where she assumed the cloaked soldiers were. She didn't wait to see if they saw her. Once she ducked down again, she immediately worked her magic.
She conjured a swirling distortion on the wall using spacial magic and nested a knot of arcane magic at the core. It wasn't contained, and started emitting arcane bolts immediately. Mixed in with the spacial distortion, the bolts fired off quickly, randomly, and at varied intensity.
"We have to run," she told Fu. "I haven't tried that trick before and it, ah, could just explode if I wasn't precise enough." This time, she seized the other's arm and tugged her out of cover. "Move!" She bolted for what she presumed to be the way out.
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Post by Calefrun on Dec 23, 2017 18:10:18 GMT -5
"Oh shit!" Without wasting any time, Kayla took aim started firing at the abominations before they had a chance to react. Not sure what else to do, Mariko joined her.
Cale conjured his sword once more and charged towards the nearest obelisk, slashing anything that stood between him and his goal. Upon reaching the structure, he began striking it in an attempt to bring it down. "No clue what these things are, but they're part of whatever's going on here. What's the worst that could come from destroying them?"
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Post by Damien on Dec 23, 2017 18:37:26 GMT -5
"¡Joder!" Miguel growled. He began casting the spell to open up the entry portal on the floor in front of him as quickly as he could. As soon as he finished, he turned to Kayla. "Mija, I need you to put up some kind of barrier on this side to protect the portal and everyone else." He then addressed the rest of the group. "When I get the exit point set up, I need everyone to go through one by one. I can hold the portals open and only one other spell, and that'll be a barrier on the other side." He turned back to Kayla specifically. "When they're through, drop the shield and come through yourself. We'll get your brother as soon as we can, te lo juro."
Without waiting, he blinked across the cavern and began casting the exit portal, going as quickly as he dared. Cálmate, Miguel, he thought, no lo jodas... As soon as the exit point took shape, both ends lit up, shining a bright magenta. He held his concentration on the portals and quickly cast a barrier of arcane energy in front of him, forming to fit into the opening of the alcove that held him and Myrddin. This will work. It has to!
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Post by Myrdraxxis on Dec 25, 2017 18:13:07 GMT -5
Sona wasted no time in jumping through Miguel’s portal. She still wasn’t used to this brand magic, spacial warping across distances in a way that made her stomach twist. This time though, for better or worse, she was far too panicked to worry about her gut. Myrddin glanced quickly at the technomancer as she appeared by his side, then right back to staring at the suddenly thrashing room of monsters separated from them by only a thin layer of magic. A moment later, the Ahv soldiers filed through.
“We won’t be able to outrun them when the shield drops, Miguel.” Myrddin said, voice nearly lost under the cacophony of screaming. Sona shuddered involuntarily. She noticed something though, looking out at the creatures. The ones near the obelisks that Cale was destroying had stopped. They still moved around, but were only thrashing in place, utterly ignoring Cale or the others and instead lost in their own madness. Something about those pillars. The moment Myrddin had used magic it had set them off, but if they were destroyed…
’Mikki, got anything on those?’ She sent the message through her implants.
’I didn’t until they went crazy. All of the sudden I’m getting more electronic feedback than I’ve ever seen before.’ The AI responded. He actually sounded strained, which worried Sona just as much as the creatures outside. ’It’s giving me the same feedback loop of gibberish that the security systems were, but it’s….moving. Twisting. I don’t…’
“Don’t worry about it for now.” She accidentally said out loud, drawing a look from Myrddin. ’Just keep trying to send a message to the ship.
“It looks like those pillars are directing the monsters somehow.” Myrddin pointed out. Sona wanted to roll her eyes because yes she knew that, but then remembered that It had only been a few seconds in real time since then, so she couldn’t really feel all that superior to the mercenary. Her brain just fired off quicker cause of all the implants. Plus, behind her helmet, Myrddin wouldn’t see the gesture anyway.
“Yeah. So good news: destroy those obelisks and we might make it out in one piece.”
Bad news: There were a lot of those obelisks.
“We can’t afford to just hold them off and run.” Prathus spoke up. “We do not know where this path leads, and they will overwhelm us once the shield drops.”
“So we go for the pillars?” Sona posed the question. Myrddin began to nod but the alien cut off his response.
“Some of use go for the pillars.” Prathus corrected. “My men and I will aid in destroying them Our weapons are suited for the task. Continue onward and find the exit. We will join you once the task is done.” He sounded confident of that, but Sona heard the note of finality. Or she thought she did. Alien emotions were hard to read. Either way, Myrddin was looking to her for her decision.
“Right. We do that. Good luck.”
“To you ask well humans. Try not to take too long.”
“Cale! Kayla! Staying or going?” Myrddin yelled. --- Fu took off in a spring the moment Rigel moved. The room was filled with the cries of alarm from invisible forms as the sudden magical bolts tore through the air. One struck home onto something and detonated, followed by a loud cry. She jumped over a stray bolt of magic as it zipped by her feet, muttering a string of curses in Chinese (maybe? She’d learned them from Meiling so Fu wasn’t too sure) and reached the entry hatch to the cargo hold just as something else did. She collided with it and yelped. A figure materialized in front of her, garbed head to toe in black. A black uniform and black plate armored sections with a featureless helmet that leered down at her short form. Who the hell were these guys? She didn’t get an answer to that question. Instead she got a punch to the jaw that sent the clone reeling. The soldier (with that lok, these guys couldn’t be anything else), levelled his short stocky rifle at her and Fu jammed her eyes shut.
Instead of the loud ’bang she expected to hear accompanying a gunshot, there was a wet squelching sound followed by a low grunt of pain. She opened her eyes back up just in time to see the soldier drop with a slim blade buried in the seam of his neck lining.
“Get up, Fu.” Meiling said as she stepped out of the hatch, around Rigel. “We gotta go.” Fun nodded, eying her, then the fistful of knives clutched in the other girl’s hand. A bullet impacting with the wall just past her ear spurred Fu’s movements faster and the three women piled into the hatch and the cargo hold beyond. It wasn’t a big space, but there was more cover in here for sure, along with most of their weapons. Most importantly there was no other way in.
“Just who are these guys, Mei?” Fu asked as she ducked behind a container. There was a pistol and several shotguns laid out. Meiling must have opened the cache already and gathered up her knives right when the power went out. Sometimes that girl was a little too prepared for a fight.
“No idea.” Meiling ducked around the corner and hurled a knife out. She didn’t wait to see what happened to it. “They cut us off from the outside then broke through the main hatch. Whoever they are they’re professionals.” She paused. “And probably not OCU. One of them was swearing in Russian.”
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