I should probably mention here - for all to see- that I'm "rejoining" the TS. I'm in the process of working through the ambush, but I know Selax has a plan for what happens near the end.
Ideally I'll be able to get through the first set of drafts today and let whoever is on IRC know about the wave before I disappear for most, if not all of friday.
The Morning of the Eighth Day
There was an unusual stillness among the men as Creon opened his eyes. He wiped the last bit of sleep from his eyes and walked over to his commander. His superior turned towards him and then looked back to the west, slightly unnerved. "The Sergeant is escorting the Hand here now."
The Lieutenant glanced around the camp, observing his men equally unnerved as their commander. Creon sighed and walked back over to his gear, fastening his sword to his right hip. He then refitted his bracers and waist armor, and grabbed his canteen before returning to his captain's side.
A few moments later, the Sergeant re-entered the bivouac and nodded to his captain before motioning to the enlisted men, which returned with him to his watch. Silence continued to fill the air before the Captain cleared his throat and spoke. "To what do we owe the honor of a visit from the Hand?"
As impressive as the Hand's reputation was it's leader did not look the part. Jacob seemed more like an average soldier than a man who could crush one, armor and all, without lifting a finger. It was the commanding aura he gave off that let you know he was no ordinary man, "The assault on Cademia is canceled until you receive other orders."
"For what reason?"
"There's an interesting group of individuals causing the Master some... concern. You'll have to stand down until we've dealt with them."
"I trust you've been informed of how the General operates? We need written orders from him to obey that... suggestion... Surely lowly soldiers of the Empire could lure these 'individuals' out into the open for you to strike. Why waste precious time and supplies?"
Jacob stared hard at the Captain, "The Hand strikes where and when the Master wills. We have the discipline not to question our orders. You're only alive after questioning me because I think the Master has plans for you and your men. Consider yourself lucky, on any other day I'd have torn you in half." The man next to the Captain stood statue still and deadly quiet with a hand on his sword. Jacob turned on the officer. A lowly soldier would dare... Wait.. Something about the man's grim features was strikingly familiar, "What did you say your name was again?"
"Captain Lysander of the First Wave"
"Ah..." his eyes lit up in recognition, "Which makes you the 'Butcher of Odemia'. Forgive me for forgetting the reknowned warrior himself. I think we can put talents like yours to use after all. Head east to Catamarca while we soften Cademia. The next time we meet the city will be ripe for the taking."
The Captain stood silent for a few moments. After deciding that this would be the best option, since his men were running low on rations, he nodded. "Very well, we will head east to Catamarca, but we will be back in four days. On the fifth, we will take Cademia," Lysander spoke coldly and ended his statement venomously.
Jacob let the tone slide, though behind him Kain smiled visciously, "Plenty of time, Captain." He turned to Creon and nodded respectfully, "We're looking forward to another one of your master pieces, Lieutenant." Jacob strode out and the Hand followed on his heels, leaving as abruptly as they had entered the camp.
Lysander sighed after the Hand was out of earshot, "Tell the men we will have fresh food within two days. We go east to Catamarca."
A few days before the first day
Two figures stepped through the portal. Their dress could’ve been passed off as local, if it weren’t for the red emblem embroidered onto the chest of their leather armor. The armor was rather lightweight to allow mobility over protection, however, what they lacked in protection, they made up for in a wide variety of weapons. One carried a variant of a long bow, while the other carried a crossbow; both had a sword, and various forms of throwing daggers. The younger of the two men looked at his older counterpart, “That… was…”
The mentor, who was really only a few years older but more experienced, raised his hand to cut off his student. They stood still in silence, breathing carefully and softly, observing the woods around them for a couple of minutes. The mentor pointed to the tops of the trees, and his student nodded in understanding.
The air around the portal that had allowed these two men access to this realm was unusually still. There was no ambush, for the men would’ve been killed by now, still they took cover behind two trees near their area of ingress. The mentor looked at the sky through the web of branches and foliage that blocked out most of the view, the color was changing from a dark blue to a lighter shade.
A few minutes later, the men that the student and mentor had been waiting for exited the portal. Upon seeing the two forward scouts taking cover, the six new men, dressed and equipped in the same fashion, quietly and swiftly took cover as well. The eight men paused again for a few more minutes, preferring cautious patience.
The mentor raised his hand, and signaled to move out. Two scouts headed directly to Kosha, while the other six stayed close together, with the destinations of Cademia, Odemia, and Catamarca in mind. The men moved as if they had lived here all their life, knowing each shortcut and path to avoid; but their demeanor and equipment brought a strong contrast to that of a normal Cytheran.
--
The Second Day
A day's journey southwest of Kosha, where the eight strangers had arrived just a week prior, the portal wavered again as more men crossed over into the realm. They wore the same emblem on the chest of their armor; however, their armor was more heavy duty. The ‘newcomers’ wore leather armor in similar design, but with metal plates on top to reinforce the chest, shoulders, and back. Each man had a bow, and at least one sword.
Operating in the same fashion as their predecessors, the first group of four men to exit the gateway took cover behind the trees and readied their bows. The unspoken efficiency of the movements, and their actions distinguished these men as more professional and experienced than their predecessors.
As another set of four men exited the portal, the first four left their cover and began sweeping out; and the new squad of men took cover behind the trees to cover for more. After a few minutes, when the last two of the 18 men had entered the dimly lit forest, pulling a cart with them, the first squad of men returned and nodded, signaling the immediate area was clear of anyone.
Two of the men’s demeanor stood out. The older man, about thirty years of age, was clean-shaven, and the metal on his armor was polished to a perfect shine. On his shoulder, he wore the rank of two silver bars. There were fewer nicks and cuts in the armor than his younger counterpart, who was about five years younger.
The younger man’s armor was covered with bloodstains, nicks into the metal, and jagged cuts into the leather. In a somewhat similar fashion, the metal was polished, but not as much to reflect light, and only around the red emblem stamped into the metal breastplate. The rank on his shoulder was similar in design, but only consisted of one silver bar.
The physical appearance of the younger man was slightly dirtier, similar to those of the other men. There were flecks of dried mud on his face, and his facial hair had begun growing back. His build was more muscular, with a couple of mostly healed scabs from recent combat. Compared to his superior, who would clean himself and shave daily, the younger man had never seen the benefit of looking so clean and presentable in the field, where he was bound to get dirty again.
One of the sixteen men, bearing embroidered ranks (signifying enlisted), walked up to the younger officer. He nodded and spoke quietly enough so his voice would not carry through the woods, “Lieutenant Creon, the men are ready to move out.”
The Lieutenant glanced at his superior, as an act of courtesy rather than for orders. Creon’s superior nodded, and Creon looked back at the enlisted man, speaking in an equally quiet tone, “Let’s move out." However, unnecessary, as the men already knew what the Lieutenant expected. Upon hearing the command, they finished grabbing supplies from the cart, and spread out into the woods, moving north-northeast to Cademia.
The Lieutenant picked up the last pack of supplies and pushed the cart back halfway through the gateway. As he turned to leave, he noticed two figures on the other side grabbing the cart and pulling it all the way through. All that remained to signal the presence of the men was one foot print left in the ground, by a tree to the south of the portal.
--
The Seventh Day
The eighteen men had taken up position two hours to the west of Cademia. The location offered a limited view of the city, but the information the scouts had spent the past ten days collecting, made the isolation all the more effective.
With the Captain’s permission, Creon had sent one of the two scouts back to the point of ingress, to meet the arrival of more soldiers. The Kosha scouts had reported that the Hand had covertly secured control of the city and to be expecting their presence near Cademia within the next couple of days.
Creon glanced around the small camp, he knew his men could take the city right now, but the Captain had postponed the strike because of the Hand’s involvement in the situation. The Lieutenant viewed his superior as a bureaucrat whose only purpose for serving in this campaign was a way to gain more power within the Empire. His commander would take swift action with devasting consequences against subordinates that broke protocol, but was willing to look the other way if it helped his image. Of the battles in which he had served under the Captain, he noticed that his commander preferred to stay back, and observe his plan’s outcome.
The Captain’s plans and tactics were his only saving grace, as far as Creon was concerned. As their superiors had hoped, mixing the two together had proved violently efficient in the battles following the capture of Odemia. The Lieutenant stopped dwelling on the Captain and his motives, and crossed the bivouac to his gear.
Creon had adored the dull scrap of steel he was given as a lowly Private in the Empire’s army, but his first sword didn’t last long due to his naive fighting style. His mentor, a Sergeant at the time, had seen Creon’s potential and the effect of his devastating dexterity. As his artistry progressed him further through the ranks, even the Empire’s army began to fear what he could do.
Creon reached down and unsheathed the sword he was given on his promotion to Sergeant. The sword had a few small chips, but nothing major. The top of the hilt was stained in dried blood, as well as the base of the sword, but he kept the rest cleaned and polished. With a glance at the blood, he could recall whose life he had ended, while to others it appeared to be a mass of indistinguishable dried gore.
The Lieutenant remembered his mentor’s last lesson, When you can no longer sleep at night without seeing their faces, its time for you to retire. The moment you second guess your judgment, you will die. He pulled out a sharpening stone and began refining his blade’s cruel bite. It was not long before he lost himself in his thoughts, as he waited calmly for the order to repeat his infamous actions of Odemia.
This post has been edited by Dark Jet : 30 January 2010 - 02:46 AM
Sounds good, guess I'll just have Creon go hunt for the Cytheran equivalent of a deer, to get some fresh meat while the men twiddle their thumbs. Almost done with my post, just need to reread it a couple more times (after classes tomorrow) and it should be ready to be tossed into the TS.
Note: I have left my description of the portal pretty vague, because I imagine Selax or that slacker Wizard has an idea for what it looks like.
Edit: The two (main) characters I've introduced are Lieutenant Creon (alt-Radik) and Captain Lysander
This post has been edited by Dark Jet : 30 January 2010 - 12:07 AM
QUOTE (iKaterei @ Jan 23 2010, 03:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Would the presence of two identical copies cloud her future-predicting ability at all?
I kind of though of Scry has a watcher from Push. (Simple version: the immediate future can't be perceived until you decide an action. So, if you act via instinct and no 'premeditation', the future can't be seen.)
The other thing I though of was an episode in Stargate SG1, I think it was either season 3 or season 4; where, alternate copies enter an alternate reality. After a little bit of time the alternates start becoming effected by the existence of the original (while the original remains un-effected physically).
IMO, I'd say the alts should be affected to a certain degree, the severity is up to you guys though; probably along the lines of drawing mana to cast a spell takes more effort and is more wasting. (Which would explain, at least to me, the subtle presence of Waz/A.Selax in Cythera)
Hey Ragnar0k, any chance you can join us on google wave or IRC? I've got a couple questions regarding Seralcard, a conversation with Jacob, and Cademia... or I guess I could PM you, but google wave/ IRC would be better 
Shakes fist at TJ for stealing my thunder
Should be unless, he counted as 5 members + their leader (Jacob)
This post has been edited by Dark Jet : 21 January 2010 - 02:09 PM
I like the sound of the editor. I guess I'd find a way to drop $30 (even if it means not paying for WoW/EVE) to get a chance to play through the story line.
QUOTE (Selax @ Dec 26 2009, 09:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Personally, I'm still somewhat concerned about whether there are enough people with coding experience, as well as enough time and interest, to form a team to work on either.
Forming a team isn't that big of an issue, adam_0 offered to mentor, Avatara would fit great into the team leader spot (since he has a degree and has a CS job) ; the bigger issue will be getting access to the source.
By programming knowledge do you mean the amount that StarCraft's map Editor and Warcraft 3's editor required?