Coile

Through sheer luck (and thanks to Jessica Raven) I ended up in my first ever Hami raid and kept wondering why I had the feeling it was supposed to be hard, from some forum posts. It all went down nice and professional. I see it was because of good management and that is I can truly appreciate! Thanks guys for pulling this together.

I just kept spamming attacks and the suddenly the jello vanished. Then there were shouts. And something yellow. I had time to wonder how there could be something yellow as Hami was down and concluded that this wasn't the dreaded yellow death. Then ZZZAP! Hah! A real killer ending, I should say. No worries tho I don't mind the debt even if I got my sixth and last debt badge two days back.

Thank you for the invite, the fun, and the Hami-O! Maybe someday again.

Fame! (7.12.06)

”Everywhere I go, people point and grin and stare and laugh,
the reason for this is probably because I’m a nob, and I look so daft,
when the people look and stare, the colour changes in my head,
it changes to the colour of my dad's nose - RED!”
- Culture Beat

Some days are less quiet than the others. Some days are positively packed. Some days, let's be honest here, are shot so full small events that a normal person's brain starts to hurt. This here is what happened when such a day was exacted on Coile. If we were in practice of issuing warnings to the weak-hearted this would be the moment to blow the horn.

I believe there has already been a cautionary tale about evenings starting the quiet way and then picking up the pace. Too bad that some people never learn. We begin with Coile huddled in the back of a bar in Pocket D waiting for Nadia to get out of her office, once again. His musings were interrupted by Hand of Sorrow and Honooko paying him a visit. Some Militia congregation was downstairs but as they had not seen Nadia they were of little interest for the moment to Coile. Nightsparrow had been there too. She especially was of little interest. No interest, at all. The pair of heroes that came to greet him was being less social than one might have expected and wanted to know if Coile was about to hit the field and start kicking some villaneous buttcheeks any time soon. With perhaps some willing backup, hint hint, nudge nudge. As he was waiting for Nadia any schedule was impossible to confirm.

Nightsparrow ran there, stopped in front of Coile and said, "Coile. You. Me. Later." and then was on her way again. Coile took a small moment to check that his drink did not contain hallucinogenic compounds and Hand of Sorrow remarked that more women should say that to him. Smooth move dude, especially with the girl "under works" right next to you. Maybe he would be a worthy apprentice to Coile? Worth a thought anyway. As they departed Coile was left in his second favourite state of being - alone.

The best state was achieved when Nadia arrived. The discussion revolved a lot around Sparrow and her antics. Nadia felt her pranks growing more cruel and daring and she suspected that the next time pieces of clothing would be flying. First Sparrow's, as she put it. Coile demanded to know if she thought that his would follow. Her reply had to do with Coile getting confused easily and the clothes not being her actual point. Some ten minutes later they were still arguing about the issue of whether or not Coile would somehow lose his clothes because of Nightsparrow, even if that was not the point of what Nadia had wanted to say.

When she asked if Coile liked the pranks there were a few evasive answers that in end could be summarized that pranks as such were not bad because everyone did them and Coile was kind of used to being a target. Most oftenly a target for teasing by Nadia herself. He hoped that Sparrow would calm down, but on her own. If she had any misguided feelings that prodded her to pull incredible stunts then what was needed was those feelings to be gone altogether. The infamous and non-existent second woman being dealt with it was time to focus on the first woman.

Nadia said that she was leaving. Even if the original had not been found she wanted to know if she could break free from Nadia Forester's life. So, she would leave her former life behind, for a time. All of it, including Andre who had assumed that this would come to pass only if the original was ever found. The date of her going was not set, and neither was the length of her stay. This filled Coile's mind to a degree where he saw no one else around and greeted no one, not even Amber Banshee and some other Militia members.. It would require something extraordinary to break through his now very troubled mind.

A girl going by the name of Vigilante Storm wanted Coile to sign a photo for her. It would be sold for charity. This incredible tale of pure nonsense was received by scoffing, especially as the picture in question was the one published in Paragon Inquirer with Rakila and Love Angel on their fours near Coile. The reality of them looking for something that Angel had dropped hadn't deterred Inquirer from printing a paragraph or two about him and underage girls. Still the Storm kid seemed to be serious and claimed that without an autograph the picture could go for $20 and with one it could fetch a sum of $500. Coile wouldn't believe a word and blamed nearby Nightsparrow for yet another prank and it took again a great deal of effort to calm the guy down.
Coile had already given an autograph once, so this was not totally impossible, and he had given that because Doctor Temporis had given one to Love Angel, and Angel was living proof that weird people existed. Thus it was not totally beyond possibilities that some weirdo wanted his autographed photo and if it was for a charity...

Nadia had been asking if any other picture would too since even if it was for a good cause the picture in question was casting bad light on Coile. Storm agreed that any picture would be fine except ”the publicity photo since a shop in Galaxy City was selling that” and once Coile was convinced that this was not an elaborate joke he took from his pocket a picture of himself and Coila. It was shot the same day that they arrived and in the background there was even Ms. Liberty. It had been taken by their mom, ND-3. Even if it was one of a kind Coile signed it and gave it away. Nadia had to leave, being overwhelmed by emotions awakened by the mention of their deceased team mate. Once Coile spotted her absence he flew after her being mortally afraid that she had chosen this moment to leave for her inner quest.

With Nadia found nearby they got back up to see Vigilante Storm gone and a new girl there whom Coile after a while recognized to be Althia, a girl he hadn't seen in months and months, not since Mad Leprechaun told a tale of magic and Fenx tried to court Althia. Soon they were joined by a pale woman by the name of Fuchsia who just took her place in almost the circle of talking people by sitting on a chair nearby. Coile recognized her from some previous visits to Pocket D. Sparrow and Sword drifted further away to talk among themselves which filled Coile with no small amount of unease. It always spelled trouble if two girls retreated someplace to talk about him. That much Coila and Kitia had taught him.

From the other end of the bar counter a scantily clad woman called Equatrix took part in the discussion at a point where Coile was telling about the signed photo and Fuchsia was warning him of stalkers. The two of them started to weave an incredible tapestry of sheer lies, misinformation and untruths spiced just enough with truth that Coile swallowed it all. The world was filled with weirdoes who killed your loved ones and abducted you to inflict unspeakable and humiliating deeds on your person. At this time Doctor Temporis joined in and did his share of upsetting the gullible guy with tales of comic books, cartoons, movies and action figures based on the Silent Tempest and its members. All of those items were coming out shortly. It was all totally unbelievable by then and no sane or insane person would have believed a word but Coile was at a great disadvantage of having had just that evening proof of his fame as his autograph had been said to be worth of money. Thus he believed it all and was disturbed beyond belief. Beside, it was Doc T. telling these things, sure he wouldn't have lied about such things? One could draw a simple lesson of "live and learn" but that has a prerequisite of not getting a heart attack.

Coile left for toilet, to take a leak definitely, to cry probably and to throw up possibly. All that and he just had to get away for a while before the growing sick feel inside got too much. At that time the future career as a street vendor in Bolivia didn't feel all that distant to him. Just when he got the door open someone pushed him inside from behind. A quick look revealed Fuchsia who had her own idea, advances to make it happen and an approach where 'no' wasn't an acceptable answer. When she finally left having had her way Coile was left resting against a wall and feeling better than he ever had.

Finally back upstairs Doc got a whiff that something was amiss when Coile pointed at the two women a bit further away still talking, mentioned that Nightsparrow had proposed a threesome (although left out that it had been a part of a joke) and proceeded to share his thoughts about which was dressed skimpier and what would Nightsparrow's prospects be if he hadn't met Nadia. Doc performed a discreet, preliminary scan and found some funky readings on his display. There was marks of a bite on his side of the neck and endorphin levels were not unlike that of a post-coital glowy high. Doc took Coile aside for a little chat but since the youngster didn't seem too disturbed by his own condition he left him be, especially as Nightsparrow came to talk to Coile. Of course Nightsparrow had the whole night been without a mask and had different hair and would have preferred to be called by her given name Melanie just to hide the secret identity but that didn't occur to Coile without a direct remark.

Sparrow was all apologetic about her recent behaviour and promised not to tease Coile any more giving her own situation as an explanation to what had happened. Nightsparrow had been emotionally detached for a six years and now that her previous life as Melanie, before the massacre of her family, had risen back to her consciousness all the pesky feelings and emotions were running without much check. Coile was all laid back about the situation, still happy high and more open than was the norm. He managed to unwittingly tease Sparrow back to some small degree when he mentioned he wouldn't mind some action in bed, and then pointing out that he had of course meant with Nadia. Being a real sport he pecked a kiss on Sparrow's cheek and headed upstairs.

Doc took his leave and Coile started a playful hitting on with his wife, offered her a sweet drink and made a few thinly veiled proposals before taking her home. Sparrow was possibly a little distraught as she ordered a vodka and made the bartender to leave the bottle. Fuchsia was already chatting up another fellow called Nightschild, a demon-human cross-breed, but it was for conversation only as her needs had been sated for the night

(I feel like pointing out that this was one extremely fun night. When I took the corner spot by the bar I was checking up my missions and contacts to see what would be on the slate that night. Then the RP thingy happened, lots of people had their own ideas how to deal and interact with Coile and I just sat back enjoying the ride. I don't do it often but now I feel like thanking all those participating. I had one swell time, for hours.)

Seize the day (6.12.06)

"Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze"
- from "The Lion King"

The evening overtook the skies as Coile and Sword met on Peregrine Island in anticipation of the night's meeting with other Silent Tempest members. The channel remained quiet. People were still occupied with their own matters, only Subaiku was accounted for. She got summoned to Peregrine as well as there was a building overrun by Circle of Thorns. It was evident that especially with her there was no love lost between them.

On the first peek in they bumped into a familiar guy. Doctor Temporis was on his way to, or perhaps from, a Christmas party with all the demons and mages proving a hazard to a pleasant, quiet evening. As they talked strategy someone else showed up on the scene and demanded to know whether or not those present there were in it for the bounty, or if she could keep it all. Her claim was not challenged.

Coile had anticipated a possible hitch with Tempest meeting and had set up another, concurrent meeting with Jessica Raven. However he had not foreseen this emergency and Raven got called in for some demon whupping as she had free time now. And the Tempest meeting started to look more probably as Phiseeque made her presence known.

The team made their way back in from the outside where they had regrouped and exacted some fierce, turkey-saving justice on various Circle of Thorns creatures. The party was free to continue inside.

Coile asked all those present to help him with something, now that they were there, on Peregrine, kinda worked up some little sweat and all that. They all agreed, even the mercenary who was called Barbara, was willing to take part. The target was a cross-dimensional threat called Black Swan and all the hordes of her weird shadow minions. It all went rather well unless you count Barbara taking a blow and hugging the grass for some minutes while others pondered if it was safe to leave here there, on a graveyard that was plagued by shadow creatures, or if she should be moved to be out of sight. When she got around again she greeted Coile in a very familiar manner and this, folks, is how Bettie Bimbeau blew her cover as tough as nails shoot 'em up get the bounty mercenary. She was rather ashamed of it too.

Honooko was directed to assist by Portal Corps and arrived just in time to see how well Black Swan managed against a band of heroes. The foe fell swiftly and without much ceremonies. Coile thanked everyone for their efforts and then took the Tempest lot along for the meeting. As they were expecting a few more people, at least Steel Guard, to attend they took Raven with them to discuss Crey matters still.

This time around people who had had lots of opinions and ideas last night didn't sound all that convincing to Coile and Sword had no reason to change her stance about her being the clone. Newly arrived Steel Guard wasn't much of help either. As Raven was leaving Coile practically begged her to come up with something, anything that might help resolve the situation.

Then finally, at the long last, after much waiting, after much preparing, after weeks and months of stalling and slowly gathering information about a group that had somehow risen to be their invisible phantom nemesis - after all that it was finally the time to see what they had at hand and how they could affect Crown's operations.

Steel Guard had found about some spy network that told nifty info bits about Crown. It was supposedly run by a woman called Mariah of which he had a picture. It was, truth be said, a tad more than a mild shock for Coile and Sword to learn that the woman running an operation aimed at the utter destruction of the very group that they had been at odds with for well over half a year was no other than the admiring fan who had wanted their autographs just a few days before.

All the plans were scrapped. Coile wanted to have Mariah attend their meeting as she could answer all the remaining questions that they had on Crown. All the opreatives. Major operations. Locations. In a word, everything that they needed in order to not just hit Crown but bring it all down at once. Love Angel was tasked with catching up with Mariah and bringing her over.

The meeting concluded up an up-note that now their goals were within their reach, finally, and no one seemed to notice that once again simply put absolutely nothing concrete had been achieved. It takes a very special group to achieve that month after month. Or a very well disgiused spy among them manipulating the outcome to suit the needs of Crown.

ACE!!

Thanx! I copied the Sword pics for, hum. safekeeping. Cheers!

Hm?

What?

Coile pics? What Coile p-... aha. I see. Those.

Well, copied them too.

Disturbing as it is I just tried to picture how Dove's picture of Harlequin Noir would look with a santa hat...

[ QUOTE ]
I share your concerns so perhaps another date would be more appropriate. Monday the 18th anyone?

[/ QUOTE ]

No one's commented on this. This suits me fine. Should be early enough for most.

How about the rest of you?

Action items (5.12.06)

"Can't depend on doubt until the end.
It seems like leaving friends has become this years trend"
- Sum 41

The action started early when a few heroes gathered on Peregrine Island ready to take on some local crime. The people answering to the call for help started to gather near the assumed scene and first ones to bump into each other were Coile and Michael Civil, also known as Ultimate. They were no strangers to each other as Coile had been one cog in the machine when Civil was excorcised. Before there was time to work out any sort of action plan Fridan arrived and Pyranha peered around the corner haveing heard a familiar voice bellowing as Coile had been agitated by one thing or another. One more addition to the force was Full Moon whose sudden appearance gave a little fright to the younger crowd.

The task itself was pretty straightforward and went without a hitch expect a small, minuscule incident right in the beginning. The ramp in the Arachnos base was substandard, faulty and proved to be a severe safety hazard as Coile so kindly demonstated. Lucky for all he escaped that nefarious trap with only a few bruises to his body, one smack to his character and a few needles to his ego as Pyranha sounded as if she wouldn't let him live the accident down any time soon. Towards the end Sword of Truth had gotten away from office and joined the fray to bust mechanoid arachnoids to small bits.

The next task was against a Council operation, the team was boosted by Rachis and no ramps provided unsurmountable obstacles. This proves that Council ramps are far superior to Arachnos ramps. Maybe heroes should grow more legs, instead of, say, wings.

The evening brought on the weekly official Silent Tempest meeting. When Coile entered the base accompanied by Hand of Sorrow there were already some people present, namely Subaiku, Kitia and Love Angel. Angel had this time made the cake she had promised for the last time and it was safely hidden away in the fridge. Which for reason based mostly on cruelty was revealed to Coile who was with the same breath forbidden to access the said fridge without permission. To add insult to injury Kitia oblidged the crown by reminiscing some encounters from Andre's earlier life back at the robot farm.

As no others were present and were not expected to arrive according to any other schedule but pure random chaos. The first item was Kitia's situation which was supposed to receive some resolution or at least help from Phiseeque's contacts and data. Her other dilemma was of a personal nature concerning her possible return to live with Andre and Nadia but as Nadia was away talking with the Wyoming delegation about Rakila's situation Kitia left without expecting an answer. This brought some immense relief to Coile who simply wanted to put as much distance between himself and Kitia who had at one time been his firm friend, not to mention a once-upon-a-time girlfriend.

Phiseeque and Dustine both made a fashionably late appearance and it started to look a little better if one wanted to pass Tempest as an active group with lots of people doing lots of things. This was good as Hand of Sorrow was sort of checking Tempest out in regards of perhaps joining in. He talked a little of himself, some of his past and drank one beer. Meanwhile Phi and Angel were whispering among themselves despite Coile trying to cut the quiet chatter off.

Phi was willing to discuss her item later but Love Angel furiously wanted to bring the matter up. Phi had learned more of his brother who had disappeared months ago and been involved in Council's vampyre project. He had been one of the failures that had in the end fallen into Circle of Thorns hands, but only inside a crystal. He was as good as gone and all that could be done for him was to release his soul as well as others in similar predicament. Angel demanded that Tempest at once depart to take care of it.

Steel Guard arrived and soon after him Jessica Raven who had been invited due to her knowledge in Crey matters. Even later Honooko joined the gang, presumably due to Had of Sorrow's presence. The next thing indeed that was brought up was the by now very familiar situation with Nadia and the original one as well as finding out new facts such as where the original was. Instead of the discussion providing useful information about all of the people started to grill Coile on what the assumption about Nadia's clone nature was based and whatever Coile could provide was more or less discarded as inconclusive. His concrete proof in form of a Paragon Inquirer issue was laughed out the door. All this chipped away Coile's confidence in the real situation and there were preliminary indications of him starting to perhaps hope again that there was an error somewhere. Hope in wrong places is a bad thing and taxing to the sanity.

Around that time Love Angel had had her fill of discussions for the day and she demanded that action should be taken right then and there in order to settle the matter with Phi's brother. There was still the whole issue of Crown to be discussed but it was clear that the natives were getting restless.

A strike team assembled. Lead by Coile it consisted of Subaiku, Steel Guard, Jessica Raven, Phiseeque, Love Angel, Hand of Sorrow and a Freedom Corps affiliate White Tigress. The task proved to be quite hard and long, there were several crystals to be found and the opposition fought fiercely. At one point White Tigress was recalled back but the team size remained as a guy called Zen Chi was found wandering around the demon infested caves full of mages "just passing by" as he himself put it.

At long last results had been achieved. Ten crystals all in all were located although not one of them contained the essence of Phi's brother. One was empty and was seized to be used to assist Kitia with one of her problems.

The weary band dispersed and with the exception of Phi the Tempest crowd headed to base perhaps for just leisure, perhaps for the cake that was still in the fridge. To Coile's immense joy Nadia had managed to finish her dealings with the other lawyers and was able to join the rest.

While Angel served cake and milk like a good girl scout Nadia told the preliminary results from the meeting. Bad news was that the chances of legally claiming the guardianship of Rakila without her parents' consent was practically nil. However she was confident that she could delay Rakila's return home indefinitely thus keeping her in Paragon City. The next step would be negotiating with the parents further offering them initiatives to relinquish their hold of their daughter.

After Nadia left to get some much needed rest and Angel departing soon afterwards Coile talked to Subaiku and Steel Guard about his past. The night was finally called when Subaiku left and Steel Guard drifted into whiskey induced sleep. Coile took care of the dishes and headed home after a long day.

PnP has been veeeery scarce in my life lately. We did run an SWRPG campaign some three years ago but even trying to figure out the next game session time proved to be a hassle so it dropped.

I've played RPGs about since the West End Games pushed Star Wars to market, and that's the most played system with me, hands down. Hundreds of hours.

I got Star Trek (the first of them, cyan covered rulebooks by... FASA?) but that wasn't played much. Similar fate fell on Marvel Superheroes. The only other game that we played to a degree was Cyberpunk 2013 and its new edition 2020. (All in my shelf.)

I have gathered a few other games too, like Stormbringer (Elric rpg), Call of Ctulhu, Babylon 5... a few others, but they never kicked off as far as me reading the rules. Oh, I have to look up the Pokethulhu game that I got a while back...

We played with just a few guys for years until I got into a crowd that founded a roleplaying association around here and then it got a bit more diverse as we experimented with lots of systems and games. The association celebrated its ten full years just two months back and they still had some of the practices going that me and my friend envisioned back in the day. It was nice to notice that we did leave a mark.

Battletech RPG I have too but we only played the boardgame with maps and custom mechs (I made the Matchbox model, even worse than a Locust). Hmm, I have a creeping feeling that I have other games too and they do occupy a visible shelf in our living room. If I have forgotten what's in there maybe I'm better off putting those into boxes, hiding them away and releasing the shelf space for something more relevant, like comics.

Call to arms (4.12.06)

"Katse ylös luokaa veljet
aika tullut on
meidän edessämme vahvinkin on voimaton"
- Teräsbetoni

It was one of those days that things just piled up. Coile got to Portal Corps for yet another recon mission that promised to have tough guys trying to make sure things weren’t too easy. In the portal chamber he ran, not all unexpected, into Keening Banshee from Militia who had heard him whispering into the winds and came to offer her assistance. Suddenly the air fluctuated and someone popped into existence before their very eyes. That woman was mostly concerned when she was and muttered something about having to talk with Doc about it.

Neither Coile nor Aria (Banshee’s adopted name) knew the woman (April Stevens, from Dawn) but luckily Inago of Cirque de la Lune fame did and luckily he had his own reasons to skulk around. Coile asked them to help too as it was expected to be a precarious mission ahead. Right after they were joined by Dimension Diva, a member of New Heroes Union, who as of yet had not contacted Ghost Tiger Investigations’ Pyranha about her personal little dilemma. Content to have the numbers for now the team headed in, kicked some serious robot tush. Reinforced at a later stage by StoneGiant from Fletched Alliance and Sword of Truth, the only other Silent Tempest member beside Coile present it was the time to take on the big guy himself, the psycho android called Siege. The metal was scrap in no time at all. Big victory for hero kind and a fine example of six groups pooling their resources together. Coile took some android parts to send to his father.

The string of hard-edged fights continued against various extra-dimensional threats even if the composition of the strike team fluctuated. Among others joining the effort were Honooko of Kittens, New Moon filled the Cirque quota when Inago left to find his girlfriend and pretty soon Hand of Sorrow swung by to take Honooko away on some duo missions.

Busy night, lots of action. Good to pile it up since the next day would be Tempest meeting and they were in general low on action. In general. Coile was in for some surprises in less than a day.

[ QUOTE ]
Now I'm just waiting for headlines "A Famous Hero Defeated By Cunning Ramp In Arachnos Base" XD

Blackdove

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, if that happens Coile at least can narrow it down a bit who told it to the press.

...at least the lift door didn't get him.

"Coile is illiterate" is in a whole lot better than I feared. I was dreading a "concrete proof of threeway love affair among misfit heroes" or some such.

New entry in Nightsparrow's scrapbook diary

...of course there's the Friday edition coming...

Just friends with... Nightsparrow (3.12.06)

"You lose your heart
And sell your soul
I lose control
In the heat of the night
It's much too late
To leave the trade"
- Sandra

The evening started so innocently and peacefully. Dread those evenings. Evenings like that never end the way they begin. Coile went to Pocket D to wait for Nadia to get out of the office. As he entered the establishment there was a familar face with something unfamiliar attached itself waiting for him. Well, face was the same, head was the same, the body was the same, unless you of course count the big, white flapping wings. Apparently they were a byproduct of Honooko's descent from dragons or gods or whichever. Oriental stuff kind of whizzed in the one ear and out the other one with Coile.

They headed off to the ceiling beams to talk. Honooko had troubles with her school closing due to the building having been demolished to give way for some weird dome. Her visa didn't cover working for money, she had lived at the school and she just couldn't go back home without finishing her studies. The loss of face would have been too great. After a while the cold metal and effective ventilation prodded Honooko to seek more suitable temperatures at the red end of the interdimensional bar. That's what you get from wearing thin cloths. Or not wearing them, depends on the style.

A guy came up to make small talk and revealed his name to be Bart. A few obscure Simpsons references later Bart almost evaded an "eat my shorts!" comment and switched to use his alter ego Hand of Sorrow. It was still nice and dandy, feeling was rather relaxed and *nothing* disrupts an atmosphere like that quite as well as a friend returning from the dead. Melanie walked in wearing Nightsparrow's clothing and it was obvious that something had happened. Earlier that morning with Lady Cobra's help Nightsparrow had regained her memories while still remembering her short tenure as just a girl called Melanie.

Honooko and Hand of Sorrow took their leave to downstairs as the electric tension that had permeated the room meant that there was some private business between the other two. Well, between them as well, which was yet another reason to find a corner of their own.

Nightsparrow was otherwise the same that Coile had known except that this one was not blinded by revenge or rage any more. While she still sought revenge she would not kill anymore to achieve it or to make the demons in her head to stay quiet. Later on that rule got one amendment - if Coile allowed harm come to Love Angel Sparrow would kill him. Coile for his part revealed one of his darkest secrets in three words. The matter was not discussed further.

Sword of Truth announced herself on Silent Tempest frequency and Coile told her to come over to meet an old friend. She did, superspeeding heroine as she was, in a flash. The reunion was a rather amicable one and could have gone a lot worse, even if Sparrow shoo'ed Sword away for a moment to say something in private to Coile. He was a bit surprised that Nadia didn't seem to mind at all.

As the evening progressed Hand of Sorrow came back as Honooko had left. A woman who's name Coile didn't catch (Siduri) got into a heated exchange of words with Nightsparrow with both of the women detesting almost everything in the other. With a tremendous feat of willpower Coile managed to stay out of the conversation that circled around assumed occupations and sexual preferences of the two women. A nickname Slutina was used.

Some weeks before Coile had been rather shocked to learn that a young heroine Dragonfly was a sort of fan of his, because of his adventures on Khan Tengri. Still, that had been a one-shot. Some other similar remarks he had heard too, but nothing that he'd paid any mind to. Now he however had to face the fact that someone could admire him. This troubled him to no end. The woman was called Mariah and she was a fan of both Coile and Sword. She went as far as asking for an autograph to which both heroes agreed. Of course there would have been less confusion and more cursing if the Tempest members had known that they were in fact talking to Lullabye, a member of the elusive Crown that they had come to be at odds with in the past. An associate of Ripmind, to press the point in. But no, both happily provided Crown with fresh samples of handwriting, fingerprints and DNA.

And people kept walking in. Manice hovered around fiddling with his cube. Jessica Raven and Martel Spoons occupied their spots at the bar. Things were heating up on several levels.

For some devious reason Nightsparrow decided to indulge herself on her favourite pasttime which was teasing Coile. Well, it was an easy game to play, so no one can really fault her for that. She whispered something to Nadia and came around the bar to where Coile was sorting out a few drinks. At this time Nadia focused solely on her glass and failed to indicate attention to what was happening just two meters away. Coile was on her own at the tender and slender mercies of Nightsparrow.

Sparrow walked slowly closer chasing Coile inevitably into a corner. Her concern was that while she had been Nightsparrow she had not been with a man even once. Six years is a long time. She asked if he would have it in his heart or any other organ to help her, provided that Nadia would grant a permission of course. Coile kept waiting for Nadia to intervene but something in her glass had gotten her focus. Then the wall hit his back and Nightsparrow conveniently tripped over and landed chest first into his arms. The poor guy was so terrified that he'd forgotten that he could fly and now it was too late. So, there he stood now against the bar and Sparrow still in his arms whispered her rather direct suggestions about threeway fun with Nadia included.

All good things come to an end and so it did with this joke. When Coile realized he'd just been had (in one way if not the other) he was annoyed and hurt. It took some persuation and apologies from Sparrow to make his grumpiness go away. For the latter part of the show Sowrd had been talking to Jessica Raven and they both had been seemingly amused. The scene finally died down but a few questions remained unanswered.

Was there any sincerity in Sparrow's attempt to bed Coile? Was Coile disappointed only at the fact that he had been played for a fool? Did Nadia want to see what would really happen if someone didn't just flirt with Coile but came onto him with full force? Secrets and unspoken things. Sensitive matters that are bound to spring back up at some point. Promises of tension in the future.

On the more practical front it was revealed that both Spoons and Raven had experiences with Crey's revenant hero project. They were invited to attend the next Tempest meeting in the hopes of finally finding the decisive clue with which to unravel the horrible situation between Andre and two Nadias. Time that chips fell down.

There was also the matter of reconstructing the events around the exorcism of Michael Civil after which it was finally time to call it a night.

Conga rats, walzing mice, boogeying chinchillas AND moshing gerbils of death to all those involved! The times I've teamed with you I've had a blast (being an EN/EN Blaster that's also in literal sense).

I would be lying if I said my 50k didn't make me happy. But, is it the most important thing I took with me from NaNoWriMo? I'm going to say no.

I first wrote 25 chapters of... stuff. Some of it was decent, some less so. Then with two days to go something clicked with chapter 26. I found a voice with which to tell the whole story. I have to rewrite most of those 25 chapters and the story is a looong way from being told, let alone finished, so I'll be doing this for at least two months to come.

...OMG! I'm committing myself to a project that ran for a month already, will be at least two more, and I found again the passion for writing.

I would have gotten that with 49k too, but I was on a roll.

That's what I got from NaNoWriMo. *That* is the victory, the success of it all. Some arbitrary wordcount pales to a footnote.

Now, are you guys sure you didn't get anything from it? At all? If you did, you're winners too. Take a peek in the mirror and see a glimpse of NaNoWriMo brilliance.

Now, get back to writing already.

Sky goddess protect (2.12.06)

"Believe these words
and make your dreams come true
Put your faith in magic
I'll cast a spell on you"
- Leverage

Having spent again an unhealthy and worrisome amount of time in the Crash Site looking for Crey leads Coile took a break and headed to [u]Pocket D[u]. That was where he had met his sky goddess the last time, all those months ago. Before [u]Khan Tengri[u]. Before he had lost Nadia in the avalanche. Before the flower. Before the clone. His prayers by the flower had yielded no replies from Nut and now he really felt like talking to her directly, face to face. That is why he was leaning against the bar and whispering a short prayer to a glass of water.

There was a loud crack of thunder from behind him and when he turned to look what had happened there was War Witch getting up from the floor and Nut sitting on her butt and looking dazed. The reknowned albeit dead heroine bid her thanks to Nut for her help and went to look at the dance floor as she often did. Coile went to talk to his goddess.

The discussion centered around the likely subject of Nadia and her state of cloneness. Nut's point of view was about whether or not the two manifestations of the same woman inhabited the same soul or not. Coile didn't quite follow all that. Besides the metaphysical pondering was cut short when Love Angel arrived and proceeded to interrogate the dark-skinned Egyptian if she really was a goddess or just some woman pulling a prank on Coile. Not an unreasonable asumption considering the number of pranks that Coile tended to gather, actually. This sparked a discussion about what was central in any belief and which was more important, the effects of faith or factual proof of godhood.

Rakila got to Pocket D too apologizing for being late. She and Coile were supposed to get a job done but the circumstanced called for some stalling. At one point Nut pulled a stunt of disappearance and reappearance which almost convinced Love Angel of something but then she remembered that also Dustine could do stuff like that. Which she did, popping up behind them and scaring the living bezeesus out of Coile, which, let's be frank, is not much of a feat.

Other people flocked around too. A guy called Despare pulled double duty as a voluntary bartender and being possed by spirits which rendered him invisible after which he wandered around whispering into people's ears weird stuff. A guy called Manice stood around a lot and played with some funky blue information cube and asked a few mathematical questions.

Despite the haunted man the atmosphere was cozy until a big hulking troublemaker came about and started to harass Love Angel and Rakila. Coile stepped in-between them and got pushed around a bit until the opposition got bored. When he dies he'll make a fine doormat. Well, the guy got bored or maybe intimidated since Dustine and Nut joined the group to boost the numbers.

When a winged woman arriver Nut made her company while Love Angel got miffed about Rakila not wanting to go to school anymore. When she learned that Coile hadn't been in a school in years she got more or less outraged. Determined not to have to put up with almost illiterate team mates she demanded that Coile founds a library in base and reads something every day. Coile managed to save just a little face by saying that he'd read War and Peace. Compelled by his robotic mother ND-2, of course.

When the literary circle closed Coile went to ask Nut about the flower and the crystal that the Council had taken from between its roots. Again Nut refused to give directions, only guided him to do what he thought was right. However she admitted that Council probably was not up to no good with the crystal. When the winged woman, called Blue Kestrel, was taking her leave Coile out of the blue struck conversation with her. He was interested in how it was to fly with wings, athough he didn't get around to ask just that. Instead he appeared likely, to an outside oblivious observer, being chatting the woman up. Luckily she saw what he was meaning rather what he was saying, which didn't stop Love Angel from making whispered snide remarks disturbing Coile to no end. Even Nut seemed amused by the display.

Dustine left to attend to her own matters that had been keeping her preoccupied a lot lately and Nut's time at Pocket D as a corporeal manifestation of her had come to an end. Offering one final time her advice to Coile about Nadia she took her leave. It was time to attend to the mission, at long last.

When the Tempest trio of Rakila, Love Angel and Coile got close to the location they were supposed to find the infamous Troll drug dealer they first met another Indian. Her name was Comanche and her game was looking down at Palefaces and came realy quick to odds with Love Angel who happened to think that also Indians needed to go to school. Teenage banter and mild insults galore, until Coile tried to interrupt and managed to sound like he didn't want to work with his team mates but was forced to. A quick apology to Love Angel sorted that matter and didn't even end in an awkward hug, much to his relief.

On the nearby rocks yet another companion was found. It was an old time casual acquiantance, a catboy called Mewl, who promised to help Coile and his group in exchange for treats for which a half-eaten Snickers bar worked adequately. When the five entered the caves they were followed by a sixth that they were unaware of for a while until Full Moon, New Moon's brother or other half or maybe just an aspect of the same, made his presence known. Together the team plowed through a massive amount of Troll opposition until their elusive leader was located, beaten into submission and apprehended.

Once again a glorious victory for the Silent Tempest and their allies and not en entirely and thoroughly embarrassing night for Coile. For that he would have to wait one more day.

How about New Mafia? Frankly I don't know much about it, just one or two people in it and that they are trying to instigate a feud with Silent Tempest (and are already at a semi-war with Militia).

At least one global to try is @Pious. (with the dot). I tried to mention this to you last night but due to fatigued brain and your quick reflexes I kinda missed the window.

I'm a little dubious about running an RP event and an event that is not an RP event at the same chronospatial coordinates. I grant that firm santa presence would add to the atmosphere but as we all know, there are instances where rp/non-rp doesn't mesh without friction.

If an equally suitable date that does not coincide with another event in the same place is found, I'd be keen to support that.

On the other hand, hazards of IRL pending I'll be there regardless of the date.

I think the original plan started with something like "well before we all go to have X-mas..." or similar. This party will be before the actual thingy.

Excellent news on Y.Freeza as he no longer is "that freaky demon guy from Pocket D" but "that dude we saved and probably wants to help out against these Praetorian hordes". Being of the appropriate level with Sword and Coile spells out some nice IC missions against all sort of threats.

Mucho excited about the comicbook project, by the way. Could be this prods me to try one too, after I get the novel done.

Family guy (30.11.06)

"Just barely got out of school, came from the edge of town.
Fought like a switchblade so no one could take him down."
- Skid Row

The night before Coile had gotten a phone call from one Mr. Perret of the PPD. Being unable to meet at the time they decided to look each other up the next day.

Just as Coile got the new call from Perret he was talking to Dimension Diva who was checking out a new construction site at the northern end in Steel Canyon. Getting suddenly an uneasy feeling about the meeting he asked Diva if she liked to make some company and then headed to Kings Row to meet the guy. A message to Tempest network ensure that people who checked where others were would see the announcement about the meet.

Perret was looking for a girl called Rachel Mohkave. The last name rang a bell with Coile and it wasn't much of a leap of logic to deduce that he was meaning Rakila. He was looking for her for various issues, most notable ones being filed as missing by her parents and the police wanting a chat about a grievous assault against a mall guard. There were also the case of stealing and shoplifting.

Sword of Truth had arrived and kept following the conversation with concern Diva hanging nearby. In the end Coile promised to call the detective when Rakila next showed up. Too bad the cop didn't take what was offered as Coile was willing to tell Rakila that she should call the detective. Now he made a promise under duress that he had no intention of keeping.

Later on Rakila made contact and after some persuation agreed to meet Sword and Coile. Coile let Sword go alone at first assuming Rakila would be more at ease with her. A quarter of an hour later he joined them. Rakila was talking about how the assault incident had happened and the discussion centered around taking the responsibility for one's actions and the futility of running. Rakila was more interested in settling her matters with the law than returning home to her parents. In fact that was something she was flatly refusing to do.

As Sword is a lawyer she was confident about managing to cut a deal with the detective about all of Rakila's charges but there was no denying that her parents would have a claim over their underage child. There were a few options, tho, one being having Rakila placed under society's care. That held little appeal and was possible as bad a choice as her parents. Another option was her being declared to be responsible of herself but with the pending charges that was not likely. One last alternative was some other adult accepting the young girl as their charge.

Oh my.

With Rakila having been on her own for half a year already nobody had seen this coming, but by elimination one clear option stood as others fell. With Sword being prepared to leave when the time came there was no sense in her accepting responsibilities that she could not maintain it was all left to Coile. He promised to be Rakila's guardian if needed, with one rule. Rakila would be free to come and go as she pleased but she was required to keep Coile informed of her whereabout as possibilities allowed. No sneaking out or vanishing acts, he wanted to be told if Rakila was intending to leave for the time being. He promised not to try and stop her in those cases.

Rakila considered for a while and decided that she trusted Sword and Coile enough to take the offer with the rule. Now Sword will go to Wyoming to meet Rakila's parents and local authoroties if needed to negotiate Rakila's placement into a new care.

When Sword leaves upon the original Nadia Forester being found Andre has now one more surprise to her. For all practical purposes an adopted daughter.

(( Just get IC word to Tempest about a job to do. Mentioning New Mafia helps. Oh, and on the villain side a Dread Pack is now roaming. They sometimes visit Pocket D, I've noticed. ))

Coile will be there. Hmm, Dragonfly, the Number One Fan? Eeep! Which reminds me, I need infos about Sabrina's mother so I can incorporate her into the book. And I certainly hope that Pistol will be there - the little feud between New Mafia and Silent Tempest needs a little more gas into the flames to flare up.

It's also within possibilities for the lovable Winter Heart to make an appearance tho the likelyhood depends heavily on Pyranha being there.

Hrmfh. If I can justify it to myself I might even run Jiffy and Freja out of their mothballed collectors edition boxes for some interaction. If there are other Apache Longbow members present Telum deserves a few raised glasses in her honour. Damn Supa Trolls! And a massive, intoxicated gathering of heroes like that might yield a few scoops for Jiffy...

...and if Fiona Sinclaire shows up there's a hell to pay! There will be, hm, some serious, stern staring, even glaring about!

Sounds really fab, Dante! Of course Amber will perform a few Christmas carols, yes?

Woohoo!

Good going and good last dash, Dove!

I'll take with me #13 as it's now been made an IC photograph.

That's the second time you've pulled this off, actually. The first time I ended up making IC the tattoos you drew for my crazed Zabrak chic on her back and even wrote up some IC meaning for them.

I'd say stop it but wouldn't mean it.

50 pics. Did I remember to say woohoo already?

Thanks.

Actually, I hit the mark but there's still the issue about an uncompleted dare. I ran my timelines side by side only to realise that to get to the event where the dare comes to play I had to commit to one single timeline at the end. Which worked quite well as firts time in a week or maybe two I'm telling a story instead of shooting at story pieces all over the place hoping they make sense to someone.

One more day, one more chapter.

Just to mention, tho I'm not sure how many actually cares, from the moment I accepted the dare I've known where to use it. It's one of the traumatizing moments that define the character and tie into the whole life situation that has made him the shy, socially somewhat inept guy who just don't know how to accept compliment or attention from a girl. It's not supposed to be fun or off the cuff or useless piece and I hope that I find today the creativity to do it justice.

Last night I wrote the chapter about his first encounter with the Rikti and likewise it should show why he has this troubled relationship with the alien invaders. All in all I'm trying to have this whole story tell who Andre (Coile) is the man that he is, where the drives that push him are coming from, where all the traumas have their origin at and why he is so obsessed with some things.

Enough procrastination and back to work. On coffee break it's time to start the chapter.

So, New Moon is full, finally?

Linedancing rodents, pal!

[u]Chapter 24 - Nighttime blues[u]

"I have located them." The message sounded from a speaker. Zirgei was sat in a largy comfy chair a whiskey glass in hand and followed the events on a big, wall-sized screen. It was dark but various arrays of light enhancers, infrared sensors and laser beams highlighting tactically important details painted a painfully clear picture.

Andre, Andrea and Kitia were all alive. That was the most important thing. They were weak, in shock, suffering from mild hypothermia and there were evidence of injuries but the situation was far from life threatening. Zirgei followed the realtime medical scan data rolling on the screen to ascertain that the children were not in peril.

Other feeds were relaying other news. Motorcycle tracks nearby, four inbound, three outbound. Analysis showed that the bikes had been there all day, well before the children had come to the lake. The flying scoutbots shot their lasers and send feedback to be analyzed. The tracks lead down the road.

There was also a body in the water. It had been dead for a few hours and despite floating in the lake the cause was not drowning. The preliminary results suggested a massive trauma to torso that had collapsed both lungs, snapped the spine and burst internal organs in the stomach. The corpse was being dragged back to the shore.

ND-1 was wearing a two meter high exo-skeleton that was optimized towards defensive measures including heavy assortment of firepower. The bulky frame turned stiffly and applied warm blankets around the kids who were responding to stimulati now. When ND-unit had observed them they had just sat there, huddled together and unmoving.

The robots deployed on the scene were very advanced and effective in their tasks. They differed from the standard stock that was seen around the farm any given day significantly. Zirgei had his own reasons for building sub-standard models for everyday use but he also appreciated that sometimes practicality came before design and he had an array of high end machinery at his disposal for special instances. Instances like this.

ND-1 had finished preparing the children for transit. Meanwhile the body and the remaining motorcycle were unceremonously picked up and flown away. Zirgei took all this in with mild interest. What drew his attention were the incoming energy diagrams. There were a lot of unprecedented spikes.

The source was each of the children.

Running the moustache between fingers Zirgei sat back. He was feeling old. Of Kitia's potential he had been certain for a number of months now. Now they had been realized.

The great flux of previously dormant forces were still clearly detectable after hours of the Event Zero. By the morning all indications of it would be gone and probably would not resurface. The first, uncontained release was special.

Trying to avoid other facts for the moment he focused on Kitia's readouts but his eyes kept returning to the same charts about Andrea and Andre. They were almost identical. He had expected as much. Seeing how they were of mostly the same material it was to be expected.

In his ears he heard the sentence that had been his companion for fourteen years now. "In time they will grow to power." In all the mysteriousness it had been more a premonition than a prediction. The vagueness of the statement had left many questions and the current situation answered in fact none of them yet.

This situation had been anticipated but still the very way that things had turned out had surprised him. It was all so sudden. So drastic. He kept returning to the autopsy scan. There was nothing natural in that death. His children would be blamed.

The dead boy had been a juvenile delinquent, a criminal and given the gang he belonged to possibly even a killer. Still this sort of death at the hands of a freak, even if the death was a result of justifiable defence, would cause an uproar. Public opinion would turn against the whole family instantly.

It would not matter what a court of justice would find in the end, the sentence would be in from the start and his children would be even more outcasts than they were now. They would be scarred mentally for life, forced to accept the pariah status, accept the stigma. Any constructive way to deploy the now awakened powers would be blocked, any benevolent course of action nullified.

He would not allow this to come pass. He would protect his children. No price too high. One of the scoutbots filed a report. The three other boys were hiding not too far away from the lake. Zirgei knew nothing was lost yet. It all came down to damage control.

ND-1 was on an imminent approach vector. The decisions had to be done immediately. How far would he go? What distance would he walk? This could be contained, this all could blow over but it required certain steps to be taken. It required deception, manipulation, twisiting the truth and most importantly it required premeditated murder of three lives.

Zirgei had always been a peaceful man. He could never be certain but he had deduced that his father had been in the Big One. The haunting behind the eyes had been evidence enough of foul deeds committed, no doubt brought on by unyielding circumstances. From a very young boy Zirgei had ran from those eyes and that fate.

Was this how it had happened? A necessary thing that damns a man for all eternity. If he now gave in, would the next time be easier? Where would it end?

ND-1 reported upon arriva. The time had run out. The decision had already been made and no alternative presented itself. "Take them to medical room.", he issued. Now was the last chance to stop. For the sake of his children he did not. "Apply sedatives. I want them all out of it for the rest of the night." The path had been chosen. "Then come here. I have a task for you."

A scoutbot was keeping an eye on the older boys who were talking quietly behind a large rock on a hill. It was a high vantage point to keep an eye on the surroundings. From the talk it was evident that hey were not saddened by the loss of a comrade. Their concern was that the dead boy had been their leader and also their contact within the gang they wanted to be a part of. The boys discussed how to present this in the best light, in a way that guaranteed them a membership. They also argued whether or not they should go back and assault the freak kids with deadly force.

ND-1 entered. "They are sleeping and will continue to do so until otherwise allowed." She was still wearing the combat frame and loomed over Zirgei. "What is it that you wish of me?"

Zirgei emptied his whiskey glass and set it solemnly on the small table next to him. "They must never learn what happened tonight. Their memories must be confused permanently." This was the first part of his plan. ND-1 lacked the necessary information and her deduction proceeded by elimination. "We don't know any telepathic allies capable of erasing a period of a few hours." A nod signaled confirmation.

"That's why we need to do it chemically. It probably will mess up the whole of today but perhaps it is for the best. With the right mix not too much of previous days should fall under effect." ND-1 turned to face the screen. "They no doubt were present and can share what they witnessed. What is to prevent that information from circling back?"

The answer was a quiet one, one resigned to the inevitable. "They won't talk." After a moment he was compelled to explain. "Because you will see that they won't."

"It is against my programming to willingly take a life.", ND-1 pointed out.

"You are more than your programming. The evolving circuitry means that you can grow. Now it is time to step beyond what you were made to be."

A rarely present softer toned was applied. "Zirgei, we are not killers. Not you, not me. We never were."

He contained himself well. "It is our children. Their future is at stake. We must do this, Nadia."

"You have built these laws of robotics into me. I may be able to transcendent them, but only at a cost."

On the screen the boys still were arguing. Zirgei looked at them. "I know. I will map your memory matrix. ND-2 is all but ready, now. Just in time for this."

Aware of her own mortality in her now immortal existence ND-1 wanted to push the end forward just a few seconds more. "Will she be similarly restrained? Bound by the moral limitiations?" Zirgei nodded. ND-1 continued. "Some day they will leave the nest, and step into the world. If we now commit to this, they will need better protection than me and my successor can provide."

Zirgei knew ND-1 to speak the truth. "ND-3 will be ultimately free to execute her own will. I will design her so." This was satisfactory to the robot woman. "Make sure that ND-2 will care well for my children." Zirgei felt a strangling sensation inside his throat. "She will, love. She is essentially you."

There was a hint of sadness. As her time was drawing nigh ND-1 was surpssing her parameters, evolving to the top of the line that her current technology allowed. She knew that era of ND-2 had come. "She won't be me. She will be a faximile, a copy, but this is her age now. My time is over."

Neither spoke anything further as Zirgei took her downstairs, connected her to the imaging replicator and copied the memory matrix into soul storage databanks. Neither spoke as ND-1 left the laboratory for the one final time. Knowing what he would be witnessing Zirgei moved back to upstairs to his wall monitor.

The boys were still talking, now with increasingly agitated overtones. A whiskey bottle was next to Zirgei but he did not touch it. It would have been dishonouring to cloud this moment with intoxicating fumes.

Something blocked the stars as it flew towards the scoutbot. ND-1 landed next to the boys. There were screams and shouts as one by one they were knocked out. Very soon just silence remained. Four transbots arrived bringing the dead boy and his motorcycle. Everything was set.

The hill was a high one with one steep face. The top lead to it and a fall of almost straight twenty meters to rocks below. It would all look plausible, natural enough for the event to pass as a tragedy that struck careless youths from time to time. ND-1 took a bike and rolled it back and forth to create an illusion of tracks, braking, failing and falling. Setting the scene was an easy task.

The moment of truth had arrived. Zirgei could still order a cancellation. ND-1 could still rebel as she no longer was inhibited by her programming. The chance to step from the precipice flickered, and shimmered. And died away.

This really was about Andre and Andrea, and doing what was the best for them. Now, and later. The dead boy and his bike were flung over the edge and crashed at the stones below in the darkness. Next went the three other bikes. Even if she was not yet in violation of her core the impeding triple murder started to affect her. The movements became erratic and less precise. She knew she would have to act fast, or fail.

Zirgei watched as his creation by his command picked all three unconscious boys into her hold. The final moment. Now what he had built would ascent to the next level. Now he would find proof that his research was on the right track. With her final act ND-1 would give him hope that one day his own dream would be finally realized.

ND-2 felt her appendages starting to stiffen. Her inner core was trying to override the new her. The battle between the robotic origin colliding with the androic rebirth was shutting down circuits. She thought of her children. For them. Anything for them. She raised her arms and threw. As the doomed boys fell to their deaths ND-1 stared at the very last moment into the face.

She had sacrificed everything she had for her progeny. Now it was time for the next generation mother to take over. They all would need training, a new kind of care. As they ventured towards adulthood and new challenges they would have their mother by their side. It was a comforting thought.

It would just not be her. She felt an immense loss.

Zirgei gripped the chair's back hard. He knew this was just a transition and nothing was lost, just a shell. Still a piece of him died as the hulking frame came to a perfect rest.

And then, ND-1 was no more.