The Kul'Shar Legacy, Part 1: Arrival
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*** OoC ***
OK, Avatara's online-time is a bit limited at the moment, so I'll try to get something moving here. The problem is there are a few questions that only his characters can answer, so I'll probably have to manipulate them quite a bit to get this to work - and I still feel a bit like I'm 'shooting in the dark' with them. Avatara, if I get anything seriously wrong, let me know and I'll try to fix it.
*** BiC ***
"It's going to be a bit hard to mount an ambush, isn't it?" Wolmark queried. "I mean, we've changed directions quite a bit, and they're still on our trail; they must have some means of tracking us."
Phinral sighed. "You're almost certainly right. Either they have portable equipment that can track our bio-signatures, or - more likely - the sensors are built into this structure, all over the place. Either way, they'll know exactly where we are."
Wolmark had no idea what Phinral meant by 'bio-signatures' or 'sensors', but he understood the gist of what he was saying. He filed the terms away for future reference.
Xenar looked around the group. "Only three shock rifles and two phasors between us," he commented - he didn't consider the various swords, staves, daggers and shuriken worth mentioning. "You people are going to need some better weapons, if we're going to get out of this alive."
"Perhaps not," Flynn replied, deep in thought. "At least, not yet. Since they can track us, we can't ambush them; but perhaps we can surprise them another way."
"What do you mean?" Xenar demanded, sharply.
"I mean, your weapons are exactly what they expect to face - so we won't use them, not at first." He smiled, and his eyes took on a devious gleam. "We'll fight the Cytheran way!"
The rest of the group looked at each other in confusion.
"Look, you wouldn't last 5 seconds against them with just your swords!" Phinral protested. Everyone else, even the Ronin, nodded in agreement.
Flynn ignored him, and turned to Moonshadow. "Can you teach Leandra and Wolmark that fireball spell, and any other offensive magic you think they could handle? They should be able to get more power out of the fireball than you can."
Moonshadow frowned as she began to realise what he was planning. Nevertheless, she moved aside and beckoned the two Ronin-mages follow. Wolmark complied, but Leandra held back.
"Flynn, there's something you should know," she said. "My mana isn't recharging very quickly here, and I can't use elemental magic at all. Wolmark and I will probably only manage a couple of shots each at best, then we'll be drained for some time afterward."
"Can't be helped," Flynn sighed. "We need your top effort now; we'll just have to deal with the consequences later."
Leandra nodded, and joined Moonshadow and Wolmark. Moonshadow began to give them the requested instruction.
"There's one or two more things that might surprise them," Flynn murmured, drawing the diamond sword. He have the ruby on the pommel a half twist, and nodded in satisfaction as he felt the tingle of electrical energy. He switched it back off, sheathed it, then tested the diamond quarterstaff, finding it had also retained its charge.
"Kwon, Ranari, can you estimate how much time we have left?"
"If they maintain their present speed of approach, we will have almost twenty minutes," Kwon replied. Ranari nodded in agreement.
Flynn nodded. "I'd estimate Moonshadow will have those two up to speed in about fifteen, giving them five to get into position. That should work fine. In the meantime, the rest of us should probably go and select our positions."
The group nodded, and they moved off back up the corridor they'd followed to reach the storeroom; even Hergat followed grudgingly along behind.
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Major Trius frowned over the display. He didn't like the way that group had located their equipment so quickly; they'd been checked for any advanced technology such as tracking devices, but most of them were too primitive to even know what a tracking device was. Still, their equipment was equally primitive, and the few advanced weapons they'd managed to acquire would just make it more challenging.
"Captain Orden," he spoke into the enunciator. "The criminals are returning in your direction. They appear to be attempting an ambush."
His statement was greeted by a burst of laughter from the speaker. "And I thought this was going to be a boring exercise! At least they're showing more guts than that last group, even though it's going to be over so quickly."
"Take care to leave a few of them alive, Captain," Trius responded. "Especially the females."
He broke off communication, and leaned back in his chair. In a rare moment of indulgence, he began to visualise what he intended to do to that pretty elf...
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Orden edged slowly up to a corner. Around this bend, he knew, was a twenty metre corridor, ending in a four-way intersection, two paths of which had been blocked by a jumble of wreckage and machinery. That was where his quarry awaited.
He held a fibre-optic scope up to the corner, and examined the view on a small screen. He almost laughed at what he saw. He nudged his first lieutenant, and showed it to him. The display showed two people - a man and a woman - standing at the end of the corridor. The man was armed only with a crystal sword, and the woman held a crystal staff.
"They must be the bait," he murmered. "They're sacrificing them in the hopes of getting a shot at us. Stupid primitives!" He checked his power scanner; there were no active weapons anywhere near, except those carried by his team; before any could be activated and reach firing potential, his men would be on them.
He activated his com unit. "Rear forty, hold up here. We'll call if we need backup, but maintain scan for weapons. First sixty, advance at the ready."
He stepped around the corner, followed by fifty-nine other men. They advanced slowly along the corridor, alert for any sign of a threat. The two people ahead of them gave no sign of concern; they just calmly watched their advance.
Orden began to get nervous. There was something about their confident gaze that disconcerted him. As he reached halfway down the corridor, the swordsman raised his weapon, pointing it in their direction. "I call upon you to surrender!"
Orden laughed out loud. "I won't give you that luxury," he called back. "I'll kill who I want, and take who I want - and before we're done, those we take will wish we'd killed them!"
A smile passed fleetingly over the swordsman's face.
A brief flash of bright light was all Orden had time to see, before the lightning bolt rived away his life.
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I came, I saw, I wrote the travelguide! -
Major Trius frowned at the visual screen that had been giving him live feed of the battle, hooked to the display screen in Orden's helmet. A moment ago it had been functional, but there had just been a bright flash and now static filled the screen. "Johnson! I thought you fixed the short-circut problem with the visual feed!" He barked to an intelligence operator working away to his right.
"I did sir, it must be some other problem. I'll look at it though." Johnson turned back to his display and began working rapidly. Trius muttered in disgust and rose from his chair. He stormed out of the door, heading for the scene of the battle.
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Flynn pulled Moonshadow around the corner, out of the oncoming hail of fire. They had caused mass confusion with their surprise attack, but their opponents were well-trained and were already beginning to regroup and mount an offensive.
Flynn motioned to her, indicating they should join the others. Their part here was done.
Flynn swung around one of the last corners before they had reached the others, but skidded to a stop. Moonshadow was right behind him, and Flynn grabbed her hand to stop her as well. Directly in front of them were five of the metal-plated men, weapons raised.
Flynn looked at Moonshadow, she shook her head sadly, neither had nothing significant to help. Flynn raised his sword, having no other option. A slow whine came as the phasers in several of the guards began to light-up.
Suddenly, there was a flash of blue and the men were knocked sprawling, several unconscious or worse. Xenar stood holding a shock rifle in his arms and smiled, "It looks like you two could use some help."
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Major Trius gave out orders to his luitenant, having brought his personal guard to help surround the group. He had lost contact with the first squad he had sent, and this time he wanted no mistakes. A chirping at his shoulder caused him to pick up his comlink.
"Trius here."
"Major, I've discovered something that might explain the visual error. Looking at the videotapes it looks like the man with the sword unleashed some type of energy. I believe Orden is dead, sir. Use extreme caution."
"Thank you Johnson, will comply. Trius out." The major shifted his headset out of the way. "You heard him gentlemen, we've got a band of those magic-users. Don't underestimate them, enough fire and they will fall."
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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me." -
"Thanks Xenar," Flynn sighed in relief. He retrieved the phasors from the bodies, tucked three away, kept one and handed the last to Moonshadow. She grimaced, but accepted it. "How'd these guys get behind us, anyway?" He asked, turning back to Xenar.
"They must have sent reinforcements after your little 'stunt' up there. That other elf-girl suddenly got all excited, and demanded I come help you." As he spoke, Xenar bent down and took a device from one of the bodies. "Scanner; this'll be useful."
They hurried back and rejoined the rest of the group. "We managed to take out five of the main group, including the leader," Flynn reported, as he handed phasors to Sideline, Katze and Wolmark. "That should demoralise them a bit. Xenar got five more on the way back."
"A lot of good that does us now," Hergat growled. Flynn quirked an eybrow, questioningly.
"The situation has altered somewhat," Kwon informed him. "After your surprise attack, many more groups began to converge on this, our current location; we are now surrounded."
"Any bright ideas on how to get us even deeper in trouble?" Leandra scowled darkly at Hergat's scornful tone, and took a step in his direction before Wolmark pulled her back.
" you're the one that got us into this mess," she shouted. "I don't see you coming up with any plans to get us out!"
" Several groups, you say?" Flynn queried, ignoring the byplay. "Can you tell which one is the weakest?"
"Of course!" Ranari replied, annoyed.
Flynn sighed. "If only we knew if they had one of those 'scanners' with them."
In response, Xenar flipped a switch on his scanner to 'Passive', and activated it. "Look at this screen," he said to Kwon and Ranari. "Each of these dots is another group. Which dot is the one you mean?"
They studied the screen intently for a moment. "None of them," Kwon said.
"It would be about here," Ranari added, pointing to a blank spot midway between two dots.
Xenar nodded in satisfaction. "No scanner, or they're not using it; otherwise this unit would have picked up theirs."
"OK then," Flynn responded. "I'm tired of being pushed around this maze like a rat; if we can find where that group enters, we might be able to get into some unrestricted passages."
Phinral nodded enthusiastically. "If we can get out of the maze, we might even have a fighting chance!"
"Fine, I'm glad that's settled," Sideline interrupted. "Now, can we get moving, before it's too late?"
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I came, I saw, I wrote the travelguide!(This message has been edited by theScribe (edited 01-16-2002).)
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Even after getting Tyreal's email, I still feel I'm not able to do this part of the story justice. Hopefully, when we get into space, things will be a little more 'free' and I will be able to contribute.
Sorry,
Bryce------------------
I'll just put a random number at 0008EC and see what happens.
(Famous Last Words #-32767)Where do you want to (url="http://"http://www.macclassics.com/cythera/tricks/rJade.htm")teleport(/url) today?
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Lemenath swayed, now he knew he was infected. It would slowly eat at him, and then painfully begin to destroy him. He could not fight it, no technology could cure it.
Lemenath was swimming in a sea of memories, remembering both the good and the bad. He was presently remembering his mother telling him a fairy tale of the mages of old when Phinril's voice interrupted his thoughts. He tried to grasp the image of his youth, but it slipped beyond his grasp, and he surfaced to reality.
"...and we might even stand a fighting chance." Phinril was saying, he seemed enthusiastic.
"Fine, I'm glad that's settled. Now, can we get moving, before it's too late?" Sideline interrupted, he never seemed to quite understand. Lemenath couldn't run away from it. They could not run from it , there would eventually be no place to hide. There was no reason to go on. Lemenath looked at Ranari, he remembered her concern for him. Yes Ranari, I'll do it for you. I'll try to live, for you, he inwardly said.
Phinril was doing something to a side panel, and a holographic map appeared. Lemenath couldn't read it, he didn't have the focus. Xenar and Kwon began a hasty discussion, briefly outlining to the group the possible routes they could travel; Kwon lending advice as to where the enemies were. After a few brief questions were asked, the group started moving. It was all Lemenath could do to follow the group and remain conscious.
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"Travel with an alert eye and a drawn sword." -
Ranari glanced back at Lemenath worriedly. No matter what her sister had done, it had not really brought him back. He was only half aware of what was going on around him... at best. Fleetingly, Ranari heard the voice of Simya and saw his face, the long, white hair and intelligent eyes the color of the sky. An'dao awartha, ni u'tûra. If you give up you have already lost. Ranari would not give up. She had never given up yet, and she definately wouldn't now, neither on Madaya, nor on Lemenath, no matter how hopeless the situation might appear. There was always hope. Ranari stopped to wait for Lemenath. His eyes focused, for a short moment. With a determined expression Ranari took his hand. It seemed silly, but she was afraid he might get lost if she wouldn't take care. With her other hand she tightened her grip on the phasor*. She wasn't comfortable with it, but it seemed effective enough.
The group walked on in silence, Kwon walking a little ahead, to stop them once they were close enough to the group of hunters they had picked. Trusting Kwon to stop them in time, Ranari paid only little attention on her surroundings, until Kwon raised his hand. Everyone stopped. They had alomst reached another intersection.
"They are not far now," Kwon spoke in a low voice. "Only a small distance down the left corridor."
"How many are there?" Talm inquired.
"Five." Ranari answered instantly.
"That shouldn't be too hard, now that we're properly equipped." Phinril said.
"Maybe. But remember we need to know how they got into this...maze. Just killing them won't help us." Katze remarked.
Ranari bit her lower lip, taking her hand off the phasor to reach for the amulet her sister had given her. This was as good an opportunity to test it as any. "Leave that to me." Reluctantly, she let go of Lemenath's hand. Before anyone could say a word, she had turned the corner.
"Sanyasa, telori. Bian bha la da'in." They heard her melodious voice, speaking in an unusually friendly tone.
"Has she -" Sideline began, but Moonshadow silenced him quickly. "Shhh! Keep your weapons ready, and stay quiet. For now, we'll just wait."
"Hands up, and don't move!" Came the reply. Ranari smiled, just to keep herself from frowning. What now? Hands up? Or stay unmoving? Why did they expect her to understand them, anyway? "And don't try to use magic." The same voice added, as an afterthought. As if those humans could really keep her from using magic. They wouldn't even notice until it was too late. Already, her spell was beginning to affect them. "If you just tell us where your friends are we're not going to harm you." Lie! Ranari knew it before the man had finished speaking, but she forced herself to stay calm and friendly.
"Of course." She nodded, staring straight into the man's eyes. "But..."
"But? Come on, just tell us, girl." The man prompted gently.
Right, don't scare the poor elven girl, Ranari thought quizicaly. The man was unknowingly playing along better than she had hoped. "Uhm, could you... could you..." She began hesitatingly, seemingly insecure . "I mean... those - those..." She pointed at their raised weapons vaguely, and noticed with satisfaction that they were no longer pointing them at her. What a stroke of luck that amulet turned out to be! It multiplied the effectiveness of her spell more than she had expected, thus making the humans an easy prey.
The leader of the hunters nodded in understanding. "Lower your weapons." He ordered his men, and they obeyed without hesitating. "Now, where are your friends? We don't want to hurt you or them." The other men nodded in agreement. This time, nobody was lying.
"Uhm... can't you just put those things away?" This was the final test. If those men fulfilled that request, she could be sure that her spell had finally reached its full extent. She breathed a sigh of relief when the weapons were put away, but at the same time felt the heavy strain put on her power. Better end this quickly. "They're just around the corner." She replied. Moonshadow took this as her sign, and stepped around the corner, motioning for the others to follow her.
"Now, all I need to know is where to get out of this labyrinth." Ranari continued, tiliting her head slightly.
"Out of here?" The leader asked, insecurity showing on his face.
"Yes." Ranari took a few graceful steps forward, stopping right in front of the man. "Won't you tell me?" She asked softly, putting one hand to her hip.
Katze shuddered. Somehow, Ranari's way of treating the man reminded her of a cat.
The man blinked. Orders. There had been orders. For what? Ranari tensed as she felt her hold on the man falter for a moment. She was not really experienced with doing this. But maybe that wasn't necessary. While the man still thought of her as a friend, it was easy to retrieve the information from his mind. She raised her other hand to his cheek, smiling. "I really just want to get out of here."
A cat, toying around with the mouse she's caught.
The elf's touch was surprisingly cool. A smile crossed her pale face, a chill smile that made the man's hair stand on end.
Toying around, just before killing her prey.
The leader's eyes opened wide as Ranari abandoned the friendship spell and he recognized the danger. Not that it mattered. The icy cold reached his brain before he could even warn his men.
"Fire." Moonshadow said calmly, staring at the other group without even a hint of pity.
The leader's dead body hit the ground only seconds before his men's.
"That way." Ranari said, pointing. She took Lemenath by the hand again, just to make sure, and went away, without ever looking back. Hergat collected the Defenders' weapons and handed them to those still unarmed.
The others followed as the girl led the way to an apparently blocked side passage, and Moonshadow couldn't help but notice how fatigued Ranari was, even though she wouldn't let it show. She most certainly wouldn't be doing much for some time, magic-wise. The girl quickly removed a panel, revealing a small keypad. She hit a combination of keys, and a part of the wall blocking their way slid open, with barely a sound.*Which I now realize she didn't even have in the first place... so she's using Lemenath's. He's in no condition to use it, anyway. :frown:
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As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?(This message has been edited by Moonshadow (edited 01-18-2002).)
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The group rounded another corner leading from the last junction. They found the lights here were flickering lightly, and the corridor was mostly dark, heading straight to a dead stop at a heavy door. The group advanced easily, having escaped the traps set for them, but also aware that they were being hunted. Eventually, they reached the door.
The door was a heavy steel alloy, large enough to fill up the corridor it blocked, and strong enough to resist all save the most resiliant technological or magic attacks. A single control panel illuminated the door, and two lights flashed an eerie red as they sat, one on each wall a bit in front of the door, lighting the corridor oddly as they rotated about their axis. Phinril walked over and began working at the panel. With a hiss, the door rose, revealing a short continuation of the corridor in a dimly lit area.
The temperature seemed slightly cooler, but there was a charge of energy in the air. The corridor came to a stop several feet after the door once stood, and after the last group member passed it, the door came sliding back down with a whoosh.
"I don't believe this..." Phinril stuttered, staring in awe at the sight that befell the group. In front of them, the corridor opened to a chamber large enough to house a few taverns. Above them, a walkway encircled half of the tapered wedge-shaped room. To their left lay most of the base of the wedge, they were somewhere near the right wall. At the focal point, in front of them, lay a raised hollow circle above the floor, and within it lay suspended a giant crystal, in the shape of a multi-faceted oval. The crystal itself was over 20 feet tall, and the base lay hidden in the space below the base of the circle.
All of the walls were a gray metal plating, and most of the upper walkway was between a railing on the inner side and various flickering consoles and devices against the wall they had just left. The room was dimly lit.
"We're in the main power reactor." Phinril continued, growing excited, "If we could knock this baby out, the base would be running on auxilliary power. That means they won't be able to easily track us."
"I don't know, that looks like it would take some doing to destroy that thing." Xenar remarked.
"We don't have to, if I can disrupt the stasis fields holding it in place, it won't remain suspended anymore, and would fall. A slight fracture could cause serious problems." Phinril replied, sounding eager to get to work.
"That would take some time, and if they attack us here we'll be trapped." Xenar pointed out.
"A pebble in a pond, the ripples can either fade away as it spreads out or it could amass to a tidal wave..." Lemenath whispered, barely audible.
"What do you suggust then? Shall we try to destroy it, or move on?" Hergat asked the group.
You don't have to destroy the crystal, different consequences and outcomes are on either path. This is simply one of the points where we determine who lives and dies.
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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."(This message has been edited by Avatara (edited 01-18-2002).)
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Talm Pondered the immense, radiant crystal. It bore little physical resemblance to the Solar Shard, but underneath the surface it too held great power inside.
He thought for a moment, then cast his vote. “I say we ought to put this out of commission, if we can. Perhaps it would better our chances for escape alive.”Salmaris nodded, then spoke up. “I do not know about the construction of this crystal. However, it is a interdemensional energy collector, destroying it outright could have unpleasant effects. I think we should look for another way to disrupt power, without actually damaging the crystal.”
Talm, convinced by the comment, backed the statement. “Seems reasonable. Is there any way to cut the station off from the crystal, and keep them from fixing it for a while?” He asked.
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Ein weasel hat Sie Gehirn!
Those online traslators just don't live up to the hype.(e)Fixed rather odd spell-checker error(/e)
(This message has been edited by Talm (edited 01-18-2002).)
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"That's what I was intending to do. Put it out of commission, for a long time." Phinril replied. "My way would cause it to fracture from the drop, it wouldn't shatter it, but it would discharge it...making it useless for many years while it slowly recharged."
"I still have my doubts..." Xenar interjected, but quited down quickly.
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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me." -
Kwon was looking curiously at Lemenath. The phrase he'd spoken had sounded strangely like something his old master might have said, back at the monastery; and although it didn't quite seem appropriate to their current circumstances, he felt it might have some deeper meaning that, if he could only decipher it, would be important later on. Regardless, Kwon determined to begin paying much closer attention to the stricken elf.
After looking around the collection of uncertain faces, Flynn voiced his opinion. "I say, if you think you can do it quickly, and without killing us all, go ahead. I'm sorry Talm, Salmaris, but we're in a bind, and we need all the edge we can get."
Most of the group nodded in agreement. Phinril quickly climbed up a nearby ladder and onto the catwalk, followed by a highly curious Wolmark. Phinril located the control panel he was after, and set to work.
He swore loudly. "It's encrypted! Pretty primitive stuff, but it'll take me a while to break through."
Flynn sighed. "Just work as fast as you can."
"Of course I will, you idiot," Phinril muttered under his breath.
After a moment, Wolmark broke the silence. "Phinril -"
"Not now!"
"What if -"
"I said, don't interrupt!"
"But Phinril -"
"Look, I'm busy here!"
There was a loud bang, and Phinril turned to see Wolmark beating a hasty retreat, amid a shower of sparks.
"What did you do?" Phinril demanded, as the lights on the various consoles began to flicker and go out.
"Well, that cable was dangling down here, and there was a kind of hole over there, and I just wondered what would happen if I shoved it in..."
" What happened, is that you short circuited the whole system! All the maintenance power is draining -" He broke off, eyes wide, and glanced over at the crystal. It was starting to shake a little, as the power for the stasis fields rapidly drained away. "Oh..."
He leaned over the railing, and called down to the rest of the group. "Look out below! It's coming down any second!"
As if to punctuate his statement, the great crystal suddenly dropped, with a loud, reverberating 'clang'.
Phinril glared at Wolmark. "Not a word to about this to anybody, understand?"
*** OoC ***
This was just for fun, so if anyone has any objections, let me know
*** BiC ***------------------
I came, I saw, I wrote the travelguide! -
(quote)Originally posted by theScribe:
**
*** OoC ***
This was just for fun, so if anyone has any objections, let me know
** -
Phinril swung over the rail, and landed on the floor, Wolmark behind him.
"We should leave, they know we are here now." Hergat spoke. Phinril nodded grumpily and turned to lead the way. Five steps hadn't been taken before the lights flickered and went out, plunging them in almost-darkness for a moment.
"Come on! Hurry!" Phinril's voice called from the darkness, with an impatient edge to it.
The group turned, and followed his voice as well as they could. On the other side of the room, a door whooshed open, and they could see red lighting beyond, the emergency power had kicked in. The group picked up their pace, and began running away from the power crystal.
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After several minutes of twisting around corridors, hoping to "lose pursuit," the group found themselves facing an open-topped box with a metal pole sticking out of one of the sides, large enough for half of them to fit in.
"Quick get in, take the first one. You four come with me." Phinral ordered the group.
Ranari, Lemenath, Flynn, Moonshadow, Talm, Salmaris, and Xenar all climbed in the box (some rather reluctantly), and Phinril hit something into the console on the side wall. A metallic whirring sound was heard, and the cable car began to move upward, out a door that opened next to the console, revealing a vast cavernous area that neither the floor or the cieling could be seen. All around lay various other rooms, it was a big hive of technology. Humans were busy working away at various machines, performing their little tasks. The whole cavern was lit by blue lighting on the walls, and on the far side they could see an opening that would eventually lead to their destination: the hanger bay.
After a few moments, another box appeared from the opposite wall, and Phinril quickly ushered the group in. This group cooperated much better, all of them could feel a sort of looming danger nearby. After inserting something into the console, Phinril jumped aboard, and the car started off with a rush.
At first, several of the group were nervous, mostly due to the sheer fall below them and wind rapidly whipping by their face. However, their nervousness was quickly lost as Hergat shouted out suddenly.
"Son of a.... You traitorous bastard! Phinril..." Hergat grabbed Phinril, shoving him against the wall of the cable car, and pulling up a box with flashing lights, "You've been revealing us to them all along. This is how they've been tracking us!"
"I...I...you see, it was..." Phinril was cut off by a sudden violent shudder as the car jolted. "Uh oh, the generator seems to be short-circuiting."
"I bet you planned this as well!"
"No...but...we'll die if it can't be fixed." Phinril replied, meekly. Hergat grunted, and Phinril leaned over the left railing, working on the console. "I've got it!" he shouted as the car started forward again with a slight lurch. Phinril smiled triumphantly, but quickly became shocked as the wall behind him gave way, and he fell backwards. Hergat reached down and grabbed his wrist.
"Somebody, grab his other arm!" Hergat bellowed, ahead of them the first car had safely landed. Sideline hurried over, but before he could reach Phinril, Hergat's grasp slipped and Phinril let out a scream as he fell, and was lost to sight. "Damn..." Hergat muttered in shock, staring at the broken wall.
The car climbed upward to the landing silently...
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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me." -
The car landed, the group evacuated silently, but keeping up their haste. Xenar had led the first group in the direction they wanted to travel, away. The first group was already lost to sight, by the time the second group was ready.
Hergat silently led the second group, down the corridor Xenar had taken moments before, but when he rounded the corner of the intersection, Xenar was nowhere to be seen, and neither was anyone from the first group. With a puzzled frown, Hergat advanced at a slower pace, picking his path.
WIth another frown, Hergat led Sideline, Katze, Wolmark, Leandra, and Kwon over a bridge spanning another big cavern similar to the first, but less than half as wide. Another brief turn brought Hergat face to face with a bewildered Flynn, who seemed to be lost.
"What are you doing? Where's Xenar?" Hergat yelled angrily.
"I don't know. I looked behind us to check if we were being followed and when I looked back, everyone was gone." Flynn replied. Around the corner Talm, Salmaris, and Moonshadow appeared.
"You fools! We've already lost one of us, for what? So we can let you 'primitives' return home!" Hergat yelled angrily, Moonshadow started hurrying toward Flynn, but the corridor seemed long and Flynn seemed far away for her.
"Hergat, I'm sorry...I don't know what you mean but-"
"No buts! A life is a life! I never should've listened to the dying elf! And yes, he is dying, there's nothing his friend can do to save him! He's dying! We're all dying! And as for you!" Hergat's voice echoed throughout the corridors, as he pulled out a knife and jabbed it into Flynn's chest. Flynn appeared startled, looked down to see blood coming out of his wound.
"Flynn!" Moonshadow could only cry out.
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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me." -
The group hushed, all in shocked silence as Hergat removed his knife from Flynn in horror. Flynn wavered once, then became blurred and resolved in the form of...
"Phinril?" Hergat gasped, staring at his blooded blade and his wounded friend sprawled on the floor.
"I tried....to...warn you..." Phinril gasped, with a smile.
"But...how?"
"I..." Phinril decided to ignore the question, sensing his time was running short, "Beware....Xenar is the traitor, not I..." With another smile, his head fell back and he breathed his last. Kwon knelt, muttered something, and closed his eyes.
"Xenar? The traitor?" Sideline asked, "That means..."
"Ranari!" Moonshadow finished.
------------------
Lemenath halted, having another wave of nausea pass over him. Ranari tried helping him up, still following Xenar, but in hopes that he could save Lemenath. She looked at him, he shook his head, she could see he was in pain.
"I wouldn't go any further if I were you." She looked up, to see Xenar pointing a phaser at her. In her shock, she suddenly began realizing what had happened, as Major Trius and three of his men came out, pointing their blasters at her.
"I wouldn't think of using magic if I were you." Trius grinned, holding up some type of crystal. Ranari concentrated, attempting to charm one of the men, but frowned as the crystal glowed and merely absorbed the magic from the spell she was trying to cast.
Ranari just knelt by Lemenath, never leaving his side, as the men advanced.
------------------
"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me." -
Moonshadow stared at Phinril, momentarily at a loss, unable to decide what to do. Help Ranari or find Flynn? She could sense that he was not in immediate danger, yet that could change quickly.
Katze leaned back against the wall, thinking hard. "Doy ou still have the tracking device, Moonshadow?" She asked eventually.
"Why, yes, I have." Moonshadow looked up.
"I suggest we split up, then." Katze said.
Moonshadow pulled the device out of her back and activated it quickly.
Sidline stared at it thoughtfully. "Do you know which of them is Flynn?"
"Yes, sure. He's that way." Moonshadow pointed down the left corridor, and Kwon nodded affirmatively.
"Okay. I trust Lemenath knows where we're headed, Hergat?"
The addressed man looked at Katze curiously, not sure what she was getting at, but answered nonetheless. "Yes, he does. The hangar bay."
Katze frowned, but decided not to ask. A bay? In this metal maze? And what was a a hangar, anyway? Some kind of animal that lived there, maybe? No, somehow Katze doubted that.
Sideline, finally finding himself on more or less familar terrain again, spoke up. "Then you'll lead the search for Flynn, Hergat." He looked at Katze, smiling. This kind of logic they both knew.
"I, for one, prefer to hunt down Xenar." Katze added, pushing herself off of the wall.
Resolutely, Moonshadow handed the device to Katze. "You'll need that, then. I can make Flynn out without this."
Katze nodded. "Fine. Salmaris, you're coming with me; you know more of this technology then I do. As for the rest of you, it's your choice."
Soon afterwards, Katze, Salmaris, Sideline and Kwon set off down the other corridor.
Ranari stared at Xenar cold fury on her face; her mind was racing. The crystal obviously absorbed all spells directed at the group, and there was no way she could overcome them without magic, not while their weapons were pointed at her. Had she been alone, she might have had a chance to escape, but she was determined to stay.
"Dha'mâo valva iama; a'mâo ar'thi!*" She told Lemenath, clasping his hand.
"Do't you notice that your spells are useless?" Trius asked quizically, mistaking her words, spoken in the melodious, almost sung elven tongue, for an incantation.
"Useless!" Ranari hissed, eyes flashing. "You and your men are the only ones who're useless here!"
Trius laughed. No matter how cold the girl appeared, she seemed to have quite a temper. He looked over at the male elf. The man was apparently seriously ill. No matter, Trius had never intended to let him live, anyway.
"Bha'iya!**" Ranari whirled around, placing herself in front of Lemenath, her back turned to the soldiers. She wouldn't watch him die, she wouldn't. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for that brilliant beam of energy to hit her. Ar'nanda! An'zerza ar'mâ e'ra! But there was nothing she could do... or was there? A'mâo ayu'dha.
"Damnit!" Trius shouted, angrily, firing again.
"What's wrong? Why doesn't the crystal work?" Xenar asked.
Ranari opened her eyes slowly. She was not dead. She turned around, just as stunned as everybody else, looking first at the soldiers, then at Lemenath. He was cerrtainly in no condition to cast a shielding spell, if he even knew one. It must have worked. Nurd'dhao, ista'rhi. Ranari thought, heaving a sigh of relief. Then she pulled out her phasor, just as she heard the sound of people approaching quickly from behind. Trapped!
A beam of energy cut the air, hitting Xenar in the chest. He was dead before he knew it. Ranari turned around to see Katze, staring in amazement at the phasor in hand. "Wow, this thing actually works!"
Ranari pulled Lemenath aside, out of their line of fire, aiming the phasor at the leader and firing. She only hit his right, upper arm, making him drop the blaster, while her companions took aim again and fired. It didn't take long to take out the other soldiers. "Didn't I say you're useless?" Ranari asked, her voice colder than ice. She slowly pointed the phasor directly at his head, and, with a chill smile, pressed the button. The damage the phasor inflicted to a human was apparently much greater than what it did to a metal floor plate.Translations:
- You're not going to die; I won't let you!
** No, don't!
------------------
As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?(This message has been edited by Moonshadow (edited 01-21-2002).)
- You're not going to die; I won't let you!
-
Actually, I was going to post - but I'll wait, now
(edit) OK, I waited, and it was worth it!
Now to get my thinking cap on... (/edit)
------------------
Kobayashi Maru!(This message has been edited by cache22 (edited 01-21-2002).)
-
Flynn awoke with a pounding headache. Years of combat had schooled him on the importance of silence, so he didn't groan; but he certainly felt like doing it. The second thing he noticed, was the utter darkness. The third, the confined space.
Feeling around slowly, he found himself to be lying in some kind of long metal box, with just enough room to roll over once. As his eyes adjusted, he began to make out a faint rectangular gleam of red light, presumably seeping in around the hatch or cover. He was about to try and open it, when he heard the voices.
"The straggler's in here somewhere; turn down the range on that scanner so we can get a fix." Flynn didn't recognise the voice, but he recognised the type. He didn't know what the man was called here; but at the count's castle where he grew up, he would've been the master-at-arms.
"Yes, sargeant," came a second voice. This voice was much younger, and had just a hint of timidity; probably a new recruit.
"Whaddya think, sarge - should we let the rookie take his first blood?" A veteran soldier this, hardened to the brutality of war.
Flynn felt the temptation to panic rising in him. He was a swordsman, used to fighting in open spaces; getting caught in this confined box wasn't the right way for him to go out. Needing to control his fear, he fell back on a technique Kwon had taught him. He began to breath slowly and deeply, while searching for something on which to focus, to calm himself. An image of a face floated into view; Moonshadow's.
In spite of everything, Flynn found himself smiling. The fear drained away, as his body relaxed.
"No, Crandell, we'll take point. Sorry Alstor, you're just not ready yet."
"That's ok, sarge," the younger voice replied. Then: "Got him! He's in there!"
"Vital signs?"
"Low and slow; looks like he's unconscious."
"Right. Crandell, on three!"
-------------------
Alstor was never quite sure exactly what happened next. One second, the sarge counted 'three', and Crandell flung open the storage locker; the next, an energy beam flashed out where one had no right to be, cutting both Crandell and the sarge in half in a single, sweeping arc. He was still staring at the four separate places their bodies had fallen, when the blonde stranger clambered up out of the locker.
"Don't!" he shouted, as Alstor began to raise his weapon. Alstor froze. He knew he could never aim and fire before the phasor that was already pointed at him cut him down.
"Drop the weapon," their erstwhile prey said, calmly. Alstor complied; he had no choice. He felt absolutely terrified; he knew he was about to die - so the next thing that happened took him completely by surprise.
"What's your first name, boy?" the stranger queried, gently.
"T-Troyen," he stuttered.
"Well, Troyen, my name's Flynn." As he spoke, the man sat down on the storage locker. Neither the weapon, nor his gaze, wavered for an instant.
"Now tell me, young master Alstor: why are you hunting us?"
"Be- because you're criminals, and you escaped."
"I've got news for you kid - most of us were innocent bystanders. We escaped because that's what kidnap victims do, if they can." He chuckled. "And we happen to be a fairly capable bunch."
Alstor frowned, and shook his head. "But that's not our mission! It's our job to enforce peace and justice!"
"Is that what they told you, kid?" Flynn's tone was almost pitying. Troyen stared at the floor in bewilderment; he wasn't sure what to believe any more.
"Let me tell you what really happened," Flynn continued, "then you can make up your own mind."
Flynn proceeded to tell the tale as best he knew it, starting from their return from the Air Castle, and ending on the mountain top.
"So there we were," he concluded, "both the good and the bad, you might say, facing off over a stack of barrels; then suddenly we ended up here."
"But you admit you were fighting!" Troyen protested. "And it's our job to keep the peace!"
"Not in Cythera," Flynn continued gently. "We have our own king, our own laws, and our own enforcers of the law. Citizens have the right to defend themselves against attack, and some - generally known as the 'heroes' - are trusted to do whatever is in the best interest of the country, and execute judgements concerning the law. My friends and I are counted among that group; and in my judgement, it was your people who acted with criminal intent. Your group is neither known, nor is it's jurisdiction recognised in Cythera; so what you did amounts to abduction."
Alstor was almost half convinced - but only half. "He must be keeping me alive for some reason, but why?" he asked himself; then he suddenly thought he had the answer.
"You need me to help you find your companions, don't you!" he exclaimed.
"Hmm?" Flynn murmured absently. "No; she'll find me, I think." Troyen wondered at his strange phrasing, but Flynn didn't seem to notice.
"Then why are you keeping me alive?" He blurted, abruptly; he almost dreaded getting an answer.
"Because I don't like killing, and you're young enough to mend," came the surprising reply. "Ah, I think that's them now," Flynn continued, standing once more, before Troyen could really comprehend what he'd said.
"Flynn!" Troyen looked up to see a young, silver haired woman rushing over toward Flynn, at the head of a larger group.
The woman hugged Flynn tightly, then released him and stepped away, blushing.
Flynn cleared his throat; he was equally as red faced as the woman. "Everybody, I'd like you to meet Troyen Alstor." The group stared at Troyen with varying degrees of anger and suspicion.
"I have hopes that he'll mend his ways," Flynn continued, drily.
------------------
The only substitute for good manners, is fast reflexes.(This message has been edited by Flynn (edited 01-22-2002).)
-
OoC
Well, Looks like our first local charicter!
I won't kill him without your permission, don't worry
BiC------------------
I'll just put a random number at 0008EC and see what happens.
(Famous Last Words #-32767)Where do you want to (url="http://"http://www.macclassics.com/cythera/tricks/rJade.htm")teleport(/url) today?
-
Katze was the one to break the silence. "Hergat says you know where to go. We're looking for a hanger bay?" She frowned, still not understanding, but Lemenath stood up, with Ranari's help.
"Hanger bay..." Lemenath stated absent-mindedly.
"I have no clue either-" Katze was cut off.
"I think I know where that is. Follow me." Lemenath waited a minute, then started walking slowly, one step at a time, Ranari supporting him. Pain was evident in his face, yet he gritted his teeth and struggled onward. Just a few turns away they emerged into another large room. This one, however, had one wall missing, the far wall. It opened past a translucent blue field, out into a vast red barren land. Several mechanical devices were strewn about the room, several looked almost like birds. "This is your hanger bay. We need to take one of those contraptions out of here, I'm sure Hergat will follow."
------------------
"Travel with an alert eye and a drawn sword." -
The vessel was twenty-five feet long, and did indeed look almost avian. Talm eagerly approached the mechanical raptor, and examined what seemed to be a hatch.
Talm spied a handle set into the side of the vessel, and gave it a tug.
With a smooth, hydraulic, whoosh, the hatch opened.-----------------
Flynn was the first inside the vessel. It was an armored troop shuttle, according to the more savvy elements in the group. There were seats for seven passengers and a pilot, but more could be accommodated if they were willing to be crowded.
At Flynn’s signal, the others began to board the vessel.
Things were looking up, and their prospects for escape seemed better than ever.------------------
Ein weasel hat Sie Gehirn!
Those online traslators just don't live up to the hype.(This message has been edited by Talm (edited 01-22-2002).)
