Patches (Open RP)

At
Negative Rise just stood there, the urge to slap the palm of his hand across his face quelled due to Vetdjat's needless and seemingly unstoppable flood of questions. -'They have NOOOO clue then...ESPECIALLY this so-called "Master Vetdjat'!'- his demonic mind roared with delight. -'Still, he knows I am not truly human. Let alone of a different variety of humanity. Am I even giving off any sort of demonic aura to these creatures? Whatever, I don't have the patience for this - even IF they could provide any sort of amusement for me.'-

Unconciously, his arm began to raise, and when he snapped out of thought, Nev'oroxis had to will his arm back down. That urge to slap his hand across his face had been stronger than he expected.

"Yes, indeed, my people call the planet Ag'xis," he began. "A reach is a series of mountain ranges, Tamrat," he non-chalantly answered the younger Khelari. Then he turned his head to Vetdjat. -'More lies hahahahahahaha!'- Didn't matter what he would say - lying served a variety of purposes, and he definitely wasn't about to be completely truthful with these two. Even if Vetdjat knew far more than what he was letting on and some form of the truth HAD to be told, it would still be far from the whole truth!

"I am the human High General of the Tevron Reaches of Ag'xis, Vetdjat," Nev'oroxis started in. "My purpose is simple - guard my people from the terrors found on my planet. My people don't "model" themselves ... we're born like this. Now, if the magical enchantments placed upon me by our priests have given you some other impression...?" -'FINALLY, why didn't I start with that to begin with?-' "Numerous protections were placed upon me by way of blessings and incantations. Is something amiss about them?"

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Lost in the Elven Woods

Graxitica did happen to notice the fey spirits had ceased chasing him. The howling wolves ... oh how did that sound bring up long supressed memories.

He kept moving forward. It was all he knew to do at the moment, and given the reception he had earlier, this notable and perhaps momentary respite was welcomed indeed.

The mutated Range Runner, having lost its target, began to ascend. Rising through the air at an absurdly fast speed, within a few scant moments it was resting a lazy ten thousand feet above the forest floor, keeping a lookout for potential "competitors." Beings like Graxitica, or the machines, or anything else it deemed a sufficient threat.

***

Lost Woods

As Graxitica continued on his endless journey, he would, every so often, hear the howling of wolves. And every time, they were closer then they had been previously. By the sounds of the last cry, he had little less than a minute and a half before they found him. Whether they were friend or foe remained to be seen

***

Bisys' Location

As Bisys uttered her proclamation, a gray-coated wolf standing five feet tall from foot to shoulder (walking on all fours, none of that ridiculous warwolf posturing) seemed to almost casually trot out from the forest edge where the trail of corrupted plants led, went past her without sparing a second glance, and vanished into the woods once more.

((Wrong location, Paradigm. Also, range runner is not a proper name. ))

The Desert

"Um...actually, I was wondering if you could take those two there, remember?" Jade inquired of the zombie, casting an uncertain glance at the group not too far away, "That guy with the Shivan there, he's a...well, not exactly a friend I think, but he did help us out a while back. I don't really want to just leave him with Sparky and that lady that's making my hair feel weird."

"I can tell you about the part with the robots." the old soldier spoke up, oddly enough supporting the Dragon's desire. It wasn't too surprising of course, the man still not so sure this wasn't a machine in disguise (there weren't supposed to be any living Drokar left, after all), and holding a strong want to get away from him. The potential promise of an escort through the Desert also held some sway, of course, "I...we...would be grateful if you took us there."

Jade meanwhile didn't notice this aversion to him one bit, a familiar voice suddenly sounding from right next to him - but Bisys wasn't there. Brought to Akat? Uh-oh? what was going on he...waaait a second...

Bisys? Is that you? Are you in my head? If you can hear this, please tell me you didn't shrink down and are now inside my brain.

He also didn't notice the rather large mass of metal fast approaching through the dark-clouded skies...
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Gre'shil Village

"Of course I do." Akat answered the new Gre'shil leader in a manner that suggested that this should be obvious, "I'm treating you all otherwise than I should by my nature. You might find this hard to swallow, but where I come from, you guys are squishy meat sacks full of water. That makes you just about the most desirable prey. I'm even hungry right now. I should be eating you. But I'm not."

"Also, I find it very hard to believe that you guys like being killed." she stated with conviction, "Otherwise you wouldn't fight so hard for your lives when threatened. So I think that you don't like being killed, and that you'd like each other to treat you otherwise among yourselves as well. But you know, if I'm wrong, correct me. Tell me you like being killed. Tell me you wouldn't rather treat each other different. Go ahead. I'm waiting."

As she gave Tila and the others a little time to think about this, the Khelari looked back to the range runner, telling Bisys, "I told the autopilot to fly it here, yes. But I didn't know anyone had gone aboard. What happened? Why did she almost die? Did she get hit by a compressor...?"
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"I'm not sure." Vetdjat gave a shrug, leaning down around the monolith as he circled it, "I didn't ask. Do you want me to? I can..."

"Wait, what?" he froze in mid-bend, then shot up straight again, his attention fully on Negative Rise, "You are a human? So they're not...and that means...you're born like..."

He became very quiet for a moment, possibilities playing out in his head, then fire away with questions again, "Are you saying your people gone independent? Are your creators even still around? Wait, you have priests? Does that mean you have gods? Did you collapse, er, coalesce? How did that work? Are the terrors you mentioned still-unevolved demons? Why would they do that? What sustains them? How can they still have a function? Is their...?"

"My apologies." the Khelari stated calmly after taking a breath, "I lose myself like that sometimes. I've simply never encountered a demon like you before. The other ones always had some very specific function - usually to provide a form for the undesired elements of their creators' spirits. I can't tell you how fascinating it is seeing someone who's balanced that out. Let me just finish this up here a moment."

With that, Vetdjat took a much deeper breath, then balled a hand to a fist and slammed it into the monolith, penetrating deeply into the granite-like stone. Now a second later, the whole thing practically came apart, rapid crack progression causing the rock to crumble back down into the lava from which it had been raised. A small piece of it remained, though. About the size of a bowling ball, the crystal of purplish crimson rested securely in the Khelari's outstretched hand.

"Tamrat." he called the attention of the younger, "Please take this to the big ship for me..."
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'Twin City'

Actually, right now there was a lot more than two doors blocking her way. The heavy clomp of metal against metal in the distinct rhythm of footsteps told Ildela that long before she ever saw what those feet belonged to. Still, eventually it turned the corner.

A metal Dragon.

That, oddly enough, didn't look so threatening at all. In fact, it almost looked confused. A lot like Jade, but it had no synthoskin, just the blank silver-gray of metal as the face in which sat its pair of dimly glowing eyes, their light soft blue...

At
Negative Rise's hand couldn't be restrained this time. With a resounding "SLAAAAP!", his palm connected right across his face from the onslaught of questions. Removing his hand and raising his head back up just in time to see Vetdjat turn the monolith into rubble, he just stood there letting his jaw drop. If he had been capable, he would appear to be dumbfounded.

"Look, Vetdjat," he started his response slowly, "I don't know what you keep going on about. I'm human. As far as I know, our mystics have only discovered a couple other of these 'planets', and even I'm not privvy to any other information other than that we've discovered other places such as this." He raised his arms in a sweeping motion, as if to include the entirety of Patches.
It also helped that Negative Rise may have, at one time, been an actual human, and even appeared human in nature. There was absolutely no way he could confirm that fact even for himself, though. The only thing keeping his lie going, it would seem at this point, would be his human appearance...
"As far as I know, my people are quite isolated from numerous happenings, as it seems your people have been through. Yes we have priests, numerous mages and other mystics as well. Not sure about gods, as I've never personally been in contact with any, nor have I even had the privelige of 'visions' and 'dreams'..." with that he watched Vetdjat hand Tamrat crimson crystal thing. "I must say you do have me at a great loss. You mentioned collapsing, then corrected yourself...coalesce? Un-evolved demons? Independent from what? Least of all this magnificent structure we're standing in...and that purplish-red thing? That reminds me, Tamrat did say something about you guys could leave this place? A ship? How in All Wonders can you sail off a planet?" he finished his own line of questioning by making a motion with his hand and arm - flattening his hand out, he thrust his arm forward, slowly, as if to mimic a sailing ship, and moved it upwards as if to suggest the ship was leaving a planet.

-'Hahahahahaha 'un-evolved' demons...what a hoot...demons with a function...this guy is a laugh-riot!'- internally Negative Rise was enthralled by the sheer rush of utter chaos. Mostly, though, he truly had no clue what Vetdjat was talking about, even with the whole slew of questioning his nature as a demon. Demons with a purpose...yeah - there were only a couple of Hellish demons he could think of that had one specific purpose, and those two were very ancient and ruled over a small corner of Hell. They would soon be utterly destroyed, though - those two had hellspawn that made them look like saints. Giving purpose to a demon was tantamount to calling them by their true names, and therefor had long ago been abandoned.

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Still Lost in the Woods...
Graxitica kept moving, his incredible speed making everything appear as a blur to his new-found eyes. 'How could those wolves POSSIBLY be keeping up with me?' he wondered.

Well, he wasn't about to stop to find out. Drawing upon his well of power, he caused an explosion to erupt among the trees in hopes of felling a good pile of them to block his backside. Not one to stand around waiting for the result, he did this while in full stride. Yes it slowed him down for a fraction of a second, but he was moving again at full speed within about a half-second.

'I definitely need something to experiment on, find out what all I've lost and what I still have,' he thought as he ran. 'Maybe this body is affecting my powers as well...'

"Yes, this is Bisys. I didn't shrink down to be inside your brain." Bisys obediently replied, her tone reflecting her attempt to focus on Jade though heavy distraction, perhaps even distraught. "Uhm... I'm sorry Jade, but I don't think that would be within my abilities. I will try, if you want me to, of course."

Aloud the satyr was trying to juggle another conversation with Akat. "Lady Aineruda had a nearly fatal wound from a gun shot. I don't know if that is what you meant by a compressor. Jade decided the range runner was the safest place for her while there was an assassin threat. It helped provide the energy and water for Aineruda's recovery. I am sorry if we were using the range runner wrongly.

"Please, can you send or take us back? Lady Aineruda must be near her captain or the captain's guard. Her people get upset when their leader is harmed or missing."

If the range runner could not be spared, Bisys would try to arrange for Lady Aineruda's protection - either by Akat or the range runner or her own phantoms - while she returned then recall Aineruda near their previous position, just out of sight of the guards.

'Twin City'

CONTACT NEGATIVE
SCANNING_

ADJUSTING EM SPECTRUM WAVELENGTH_

Ildela wasn't the only one looking. Only while she sought a weak spot in the machine's structure, it sought a weak spot in her stealth via cycling through the electromagnetic spectrum, 'looking at' the local reflections along increasing wavelength; gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, infrared, and of course radar, trying to locate her. If it did, the response would be simple: transform its right lower arm into a cannon and try to do away with the intruder via an explosive energy blast.

Meanwhile, finding such a spot as Ildela thought wasn't easy. The thing was armored from head to toe, and though the plates had seams, just which to stick a sword into was guesswork at best. There might've been anything from a tank of flammables to more armor plating underneath. Without a means to see inside (or schematics), it was nearly impossible to tell.

Its anatomy did give a clue, though. Built as it was, logic suggested that the most important systems were either in the most heavily armored section of the body (in this case that looked to be the chest) or where they sat closest to peripheral sensors (the head). Then again, some designers had a penchant for overengineering these things and liked to double up...
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At

"Oh, I'd think all you'd really need is a large enough sail..." Vetdjat mused thoughtfully while he handed the crystal to his student, who in turn gave a muffled grunt of surprise upon finding the thing much heavier than expected. His teacher let out a quiet chuckle at the younger's wobbly departure.

"Or you could expand the sun of the system," he continued to Negative Rise, "though I imagine that'd defeat the purpose. Then again...oh. Sorry. There I go again. To answer your question as quickly as possible: we don't use sails. Our ships employ a combination of gravity generation, cold stream turbines, and corpuscular engines. Much like, um...hm, magic...a flying chariot that shoots spell-lightning out the back to go faster."

As the elder Khelari stepped out of the shallow pool, the lava gradually began to drain, the upside-down falls reversing direction and taking the molten rock back down where it came from. Vetdjat motioned for the demon to follow as he set course toward a metal bridge that led to another section of the city.

"As for your people," he went on, "I've got the feeling you don't know your past too well. Well, either that or my imagination's gone off on a tangent again, which tends to happen with good frequency, so I might be running in a completely different direction here...but I think you humans evolved from a type of demon that needed something else to do after its creators had vanished. You see, a great many species exhibit a kind of psychological dimorphism. They group several concepts into categories they find agreeable and disagreeable, and let me tell you, the permutations of that are sheer endless. I've seen good and evil, orderly and chaotic, shaped and wild, organic and mechanical..."

The list went on for a good few more seconds before Vetdjat caught his mind wandering again and set himself back on topic, "Either way, such species often reject what they find disagreeable, even though it's a part of them, and usually they'll attribute these disagreeable aspects to something they can personify. Now, since belief has a great influence on the structure of existence, that personification will come to be, whether they realize they create it or not. As a result, a being, or multiple beings in the case where it's not a fully collective belief, come to be, and are usually called demons. Sometimes the opposite will happen too and the agreeable aspects will personify, or the agreeable becomes the disagreeable, or both happen, and...well, you get the idea."

"In any case, since those beings exist because their oft-unwitting creators believe they do, they also usually cease to exist if their creators vanish." the Khelari finally reached the meat of his theory, "This can happen due to many reasons, but since demons are commonly created with the purpose of spreading the disagreeable aspects and absorbing the spirits of their creators after death, they can very well render them extinct. Or they might just no longer have a purpose and vanish due to that. Or, conversely, the demons might just embody those disagreeable aspects, feel incomplete, and seek to absorb their creators' other aspects instead to make themselves whole, so to speak. I suppose if that happened to your ancestors, there'd theoretically be no more need for any belief to sustain you. Yes, now that I think about it, that makes quite a measure of sense."

He chuckled at the thought, "Just think, if that's what happened, you humans actually became your creators. I imagine that's pretty unique. I wonder if the cycle continues after that? You did say you have priests, but weren't sure about gods..."
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The Desert

"Nono, that's okay!" Jade almost jumped in shock at the thought of having a tiny person inside his head, which creeped him out enough to speak that aloud. He looked to Rotten and the two Hetrar, grinning with sheepish discomfort.

"Er," he pointed to his head, "telepathic message. I think."

Yeah, um, so no, please don't. Uh, what do you mean brought to Akat? What's going on? Are you in trouble? Do you need help...?

((Gonna wait for Rotten to post again before I reply to stuff at the Gre'shil village.))

((Boy is Akat messing up the Gre'shil way of life. Okay took me some time to figure out what going to happen and why.))

Gre'shil Village

PANIC! the Gre'shil life was in chaos. The times with out a High mother was always stressful but now they were watching silver "GODS" come and take the human slaves away. They were seeing the machines from the desert as Gods so it was logical they saw the Range Runners as Gods as well.

What was more that these Gods were summoned by Akat who already demonstrated powers beyond what the Gre'shil could understand. Then in one of the Range Runners was a Pointy Ear one. But what shocked them most was Bisys she smelled like a Machine but talked.

As the Range Runners flew over the Village the Gre'shil were reacting. Many were fleeing fearing being destroyed like the Humans in the desert. Others dropped to the ground bowing and praying. One even was holding up her own offspring thought it wasn't clear if it was for the "Gods" to bless the child or she was offering up the little one to save herself.

Many were walking around as in a dazed unable to grasp what was going on. Then there was the Family Head Mothers and the Clan Mothers. They seem most in control and if Bisys, Aineruda, and Akat would pay attention they would see the Mothers Focus intensely on some panicking Gre'shil and then the Panic seems to settle and calm.

It dawns on Aineruda what was happening. "By the Heart tree, they have mental abilities. It's weak nothing compared to my own but look the leaders are able to influence the others."

That was what was going on the Pack mentality was so integrated in the Gre'shil way of life that a weak form of telepathy ability has developed. Biology wise this activates when a Female Gre'shil has young. The side effect is that the Gre'shil Leaders most powerful the High Mother are very restrictive on which Female can mate in order to be able to manage and control the others.

Tila looked over at Akat "Much happening please send silver Gods away." She looked into the Range Runner at Aineruda "No High mother now we no attack unless new High Mother when one rises chooses to. Many days from now High Mother only rises during Full Moon ceremonies."

Then she turned back to Akat "That is all I can do for now. We no attack Pointy ears. We are to afraid of your anger to take round ears so they be safe. Thought that may change when High Mother Rises I know not who it be."
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The Desert

"The Lighting fellow did help save the people from those Lizard things. So I'm not sure if he's as bad as you think. Just like any self styled God he has an ego the size of a Gal..." Rotten turned his head looking into the desert and the approaching craft appearing from the clouds.

"I think the talk of us running or not is over. If what that army guy said we are now in deep trouble." He points to the clouds. "Let me guess that's a Harvester right?"
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Elven Forest

The Captain went over to Kethara and looked at the dead elf. "He's Kelvhan an Anti-outsider Isolationist."

Durlan of course spoke up again "Captain it's clear she killed him you need to arrest these outsiders now! That's an Order!"

Kneeling down he looked at the wounds "Sword to the heart. Tell me Durlan did she take his own sword? No even if she did the angle is wrong this is self inflicted. My guess so he couldn't betray who working with him."

He looked at Kelvhan "However I do have to Arrest you. Nothing personal but that Dragon fellow did load Aineruda into that ... what the word... Ship thing and it took off. So on grounds of Kidnapping I'm placing you under arrest. As well as any other outsider with you."

"Captain we need to double up on the guard of the human refugees as well! I want their camp watched!"

The captain looked over his shoulder "Sure right away. I take the men needed from those at the gate so when the Gre'shil attack at dawn they won't have any trouble getting in. Think you pompous ***! I may be Captain here and by default your the Highest ranking Elf but I never kept my mouth shut when Lady Aineruda gave a dumb order and I even refused to follow a few. So don't think I would be quiet now."

Red with anger Durlan yelled "HOW DARE YOU! Everyone knows you hate outsiders as much as any Isolationist how can you even be civil to them!"

"A Gre'shil killed my wife and my son. A Human ***** my daughter, in a way it would have been better if he killed her instead. That is why I hate outsiders. I hate how we had to change to survive. I WILL NOT CHANGE who I am for Political reasons! I am Captain of the Guard a man of LAW and I will serve the Law first and for most before I allow my Hate to rule me. So Shut up before I arrest you on ground for disturbing the peace!"

Durlan stepped back and the other guards watched him one even had his hand on his sword. Yes say what you will about Captain Belanor but his troupes are loyal to him and to Aineruda.

Durlan swallowed "Seems I misjudged you Captain" then he turned and stormed off.

The Burning Forest
Even moving at high speeds, Graxitica could make out obstacles and opponents that would impede his path. This dingy looking wolf, however, seemed different to Shortoth. The wolf seemed to have planted itself directly in Graxitica's path - and then he saw the beast's awful, rotting, snarling maw as it unhinged itself to let forth...

'It's too late to dodge!' some form of survival instinct screamed in his mind. 'Whatever, just a slight step here, might get some splash...' Whatever natural armor his new body was made of would have to hold up long enough. He knew a quick side-stepping strafe wouldn't prevent him from getting hit, but it would be enough to keep from taking a full- on hit from the black orb that shot out of the wolf's mouth.

Graxitica shifted his weight, and his momentum, quickly to his right, partially dodging a direct hit from the ball of acid. Whatever the stuff was, it seemed to only etch the natural armor of the beastly, mutated shell he inhabited, but it also caused some pain, and he felt a numbing sensation in his left arm. Still pushing his body forward, Graxitica shifted again, this time straight towards the wolf...

'I shall tear that thing's throat out with these bare hands!' the thought resonanted within the thick skull. There would be very little, if any, reaction time for the beast now. Infuriated, it somehow seemed the hulking form of Graxitica actually gained momentum as it barreled towards the wolf...and seemingly at what he would perceive to be the last moment for the creature to do anything to avoid his strike, his right arm thrust forward, the clawed hand wide open and prepared to wrap around the wolf's gray-furred throat.

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The Forest

With his violent triumph over the foolish wolf that dared to block his path, Graxitica emanated an eerily pulsating light - a greenish-black wave of energy seemed to ooze all over his body, his power magically washing away the acid burns, and healing what damage they had done to him.

He didn't dilly-dally around, either. Even back in his time, wolves were majestic creatures, and even one as all-powerful as Graxitica had once been still held respect for the beasts. That is, Graxitica knew he was still being chased by the things, and didn't stop to gloat over the body of the now dead beast. He kept moving forward, again moving at blinding speeds, leaving the pursuing wolves baffled at his quick departure.

Gre'shil Village

"Okay." Akat gave Tila a calm, understanding nod, "But one thing: please don't think of me as someone to be afraid of. I want to help you too, you know. When you're ready to talk again, tell the ground. It knows where to find me."

With that, the Khelari set her step up the ramp of the range runner, the others already departing with their 'cargoes'.

"Sure." she smiled to Bisys on her way to the forward seat, easing into it before placing her claws against the frontmost command interface, "Let's go and head back."

"Course laid in." the autopilot stated once again, and just as before the ship gave a slight rumble and rose into the air, ventral ramp closing in the process. Not a few seconds later, it turned in the appropriate direction and headed back to the elven forest...
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The Desert

"What's a whe-?" Jade looked in the direction the zombie indicated, now spotting the approaching silhouette as well. His eyes went wide, and he stated almost tonelessly, "Worse. Run."

He didn't hesitate to do exactly that, snagging the two Hetrar underneath his arms (in spite of certain protests) and heading fleet of foot back in the direction of the elven forest, yelling to Tafari, Mechano, and Bathory, "Ruuuuuun!"

It wasn't misplaced either, as what came their way just then was indeed much worse than a Harvester. There was a reason the machines held interest in Dragon bones, and this was it.

A Reaver.

Despite its shape being very similar to that of Jade when he'd been romping happily about in the forest earlier, the two had next to nothing in common. This was the wild form of a Dragon, gutted and twisted into a soulless machine. The faint gargle of turbines accompanied the huge, silver-gray automaton as it began final approach at speed...
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'Twin City'

Had the Reaver been capable of being shocked, it certainly would've been when its HUD suddenly filled with the snow of static, sensors registering the power drain far too late to allow for immediate compensation. The machine having been in the middle of analyzing a strange sound it had perceived a moment earlier, trying to assign it meaning, and barely had time to register the woman's impact before its power levels began to drop rapidly.

Unfortunately for Ildela, time was relative.

CONTACT WITH ORGANIC ENTITY CONFIRMED
ERROR
ENERGY LEAKS REPORTED IN ALL SECTORS

COMBAT MODE
[ACCESS EMERGENCY BACKUP POWER]
ANALYZING ALTERNATIVES_

With a crackle that almost resembled that of staggered thunder, the machine's metal body suddenly arced with electricity, the Reaver having charged its armor, which now in turn sent what were essentially small bolts of lightning all over the place - including (or so the machine's computer hoped) right through Ildela.

Of course, it wasn't going to wait to see whether that approach worked or not. The Reaver's clawed hands came for the woman with incredible speed, seeking to grapple, slam, tear, rend, and just about make as thorough and bloody a mess of Ildela as a cold machine that thought and acted in fractions of a second could...
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At

"Hey now, slow down." Vetdjat smiled calmingly, "I'm merely speculating here. What do I know? It could be this way, and it could just as easily be another. I simply find it an intriguing theory. Though now I have to ask: what do you think everything once started out as? Long ago, all that exists today was just an idea. The source of that idea doesn't really matter. It's what becomes of it that does."

"As for our ships, no." he addressed the demon's earlier question, "Not emit. Merely convert from one form to another. From what you tell me, yours, or rather what you humans will make in the future, will probably use something like a glyph nexus. The people of Wet use those to run their ships. Basically very long spells carved into ley foci. Well, assuming you build ships and don't just go for gates or teleportation. Or something else. I think I've lost count of all the methods I've seen..."
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Elven Forest

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rebel_Scum [Kethara] sighed quietly to herself. "Still, I guess if you really feel you have to..." She held out her hands to be handcuffed or whatever elves did to restrain prisoners. One thing her mother had never been big on was ignoring the rules of other cultures just cause they came from a different one. Besides, causing a scene would benefit no one. Even she could see that. So she went quietly.

Rather, she was willing to. Considering the glint in the sky that heralded the range runner's return just then, it was somewhat doubtful that the Captain would be inclined to take her anywhere before it landed.

Just as before, it set down softly, changing shape to feather the set-down before opening up again, the access ramp gently contacting the ground while the engine noise ebbed off. Aboard, Akat smiled confidently back to Bisys and Lady Aineruda over the backrest of her seat.

"The others should be right behind us." she told the elven leader, "I hope you don't mind taking in a few more round-eared yous, heh. I'd take them to At, but I don't think they'd survive there..."

((Last I checked, wolves weren't nearly as fast as cheetahs. Which is about the speed one of the things would have to be running at in order to keep up with any meta with super-speed. Plus I didn't feel like editing my last post after noticing your edit! Thanks for giving me something to fight BTW!))
The Chase!

SOMEHOW these damn wolves were keeping up with Graxitica. He didn't know how they were doing it, and they were now spitting that acidic crap at him again. He wasn't about to waste time repairing that damage again as a strange new aura had enveloped him. Still moving and now showing no signs of slowing down from any effects of the acid, an idea occured to him.

Still running, he extended both his arms out, the ambient temperature of the air suddenly increasing rapidly. There was a slight flash as if something had been ignited very quickly, immediately followed by a smokey cloud & ashen soot which wrapped around the snouts of the two flanking wolves. He didn't stop with that, however - balling his claws into fists, they lit on fire as he pointed at one wolf, a fiery, ringed cage engulfing it as well as the wolf on his other side. Whether or not these wolves would even be choked up by his initial ignition didn't concern him - the trailing wolf was closing in, so he took aim and extended his forearm, concentrating every last bit of ill-will and evil thought into a very faint bolt of psychic energy directed at the foul beast.

At

Nev'oroxis simply shrugged at Vetdjat at his question.

"From the way our mystics explain everything," he started in, "the High God was responsible for ALL of existence. All the other Gods were astonished at this feat, as most of them had no concern for such things. Once they saw what the High God made, however - they greedily began quarelling amongst themselves." He rubbed his chin at this. "I can see now how this would be the source of an idea...however, there are those that say there are no Gods, that everything around us ... just IS, you know? Personally, I try to avoid thinking about it all...I am merely a servant of my people, and to be distracted by such things could cost me life some day..."

'Twin City'

Every second. That sounded like a very short time. Indeed, for a human it was. For a computer however, it was not. A second was a long, long time.

"H...

True, mechanical action was by comparison painfully slow, operating hundreds of times slower than the signal that directed it, but it was fast enough to say the same.

...e...

And fortunately for it, some things didn't even need mechanical action.

...y...

Such as the armor charge. The attempt to zap Ildela hadn't been its only point, after all. It also served to reinforce and protect, as well as to analyze the disruptions in its extended field.

...h...

Disruptions that were not distributed with uniform magnitude.

...o...

Data values were compared.

...w...

Coordinate points were plotted.

...a...

Vectors were created.

...b...

A composite was formed.

...o...

Simulations were run.

...u...

Had the machine been capable of being impressed, it would've been. That shield was taking strikes that would've wrenched apart the molecular bonds of tempered steel like wet tissue paper.

...t...

But not anymore.

...y...

The machine ceased its assault and took a few steps back and stood still.

PLOT ARC

...ou stop trying to kill me, I stop trying to take you offline and we sit down and talk about this like reasonable people, hmm?"

TARGET LOCK

From one instant to another, motion returned to the metal frame, and it sprang forward like greased lightning, fist before open hand, aiming for a weak spot. Its intent was simple: punch through with the fist, and if that didn't turn the intruder into a bloody mess of a corpse, grab her with the hand and smash her against the floor, walls, ceiling, and whatever else solid the machine could find until she did...
__________________

At

At this, Vetdjat couldn't help but laugh, "Hey now, where's the fun in dying of old age? Life is full of such 'distractions', and I dare say if you don't let yourself experience them, then you're just existing, not living."

"Granted," he added with a shrug, "that's probably the reason so few of us live past a few millenia, but they don't seem too unhappy about that. Don't take that as direction, of course. You have your own path to follow. And since we're on that topic then - where do you want it to take you...?"

((Gonna wait a little longer before responding with the rest so other people get some more time to post.))

Bisys made be housed in a mechanical shell with a computer assistant, but her essence it contained was still overwhelmed. Aineruda's observation about the Gre'shil's mental power added to the pile of questions Bisys needed to answer... about herself. Like the rest, it was shoved aside. But any kid can tell you there is one so much you can shove in a closet before it becomes impossible to close. Bisys was nearing her limit of how many pent up emotions and questions could be postponed.

Somehow she managed to shut that proverbial door one more time as she escorted Lady Aineruda down the ramp to address the captain of the guard aloud and Jade on their private channel: "This range runner used as a refuge to protect Lady Aineruda was unexpectedly recalled by Akat to where she was meeting with the Gre'shil. Akat had successfully arranged their withdrawal, the details of which she can tell you better than I, and immediately returned us when she discovered we were aboard." The metaloid did a fair approximation of a nod of thanks towards the Khelari. "We, I, apologize for Lady Aineruda's temporary displacement, it was completely unintentional. Doubly so without the agreed upon guards. As you can see, her health continues to improve and she took no harm from the journey.

"If Akat continues to need the range runner elsewhere, I would be glad to arrange other security with you so this mistake does not happen again. Lady Aineruda's health and safety is more important to me than anything, second only to Jade's well being.

"I see that Kethara was successful in recovering the assassin. Are the threats to Lady Aineruda gone? Durlan is still kept secure in your charge, as we left him, pending Lady Aineruda ability to judge between us and him, right?"

Bisys had intended to continue the assurances and arrangement both to the Captain and to Jade when the latter's panic came through. Her focus remained split so she could hear Akat's, Lady Aineruda's, and the captain's responses, while a larger portion of her attention was instantly directed inward.

"Jade! You are in danger! Please, may I bring you back?"

Gre'shil Village

Tila watched as the ships faded into the night sky. "Strong... but young still. Hunt well Akat." She then turned looking at the Village as things were beginning to settle. She had a lot to do she needed to take over the clan. Sure officially she did when she fought Rana but there were issues of gaining the backing of the families head mothers choosing who would be her aids. Sighing she wonders if it was just easier to be a Kaja and living on her own.

Desert

"Get the people out of here! If that thing gets to close I provide cover. After all what would it do to me, kill me?" He wasn't standing he was moving and he leaped into the air crossing nearly 50 yards in that leap. It was a small one he could do alot more but he did want to stay near Jade and the people.

Elven forest

The Captain sighed "Don't think I enjoy this kid. But like I told Durlan I'm a man of the law and the High Lady was taken out of our land to who knows where. However given you are young you can lower your arms I'm not going to tie you up."

Considering the glint in the sky that heralded the range runner's return just then, it was somewhat doubtful that the Captain would be inclined to take her anywhere before it landed.

Just as before, it set down softly, changing shape to feather the set-down before opening up again, the access ramp gently contacting the ground while the engine noise ebbed off. Aboard, Akat smiled confidently back to Bisys and Lady Aineruda over the backrest of her seat.

"The others should be right behind us." she told the elven leader, "I hope you don't mind taking in a few more round-eared yous, heh. I'd take them to At, but I don't think they'd survive there..."

The Captain turned and looked inside and dropped to a kneel "Lady Aineruda, I'm glad you returned I was given orders by Durlan to arrest all the outsiders for your Kidnapping."

He looked at Kethara "It's clear none of you were involved with the assassination attempt so as of now all charges are dropped."

Lady Aineruda walked out of the Range Runner "We can ease the alert the Gre'shil are a bit disorganized to attack us right now. Lets head to the Refugee camp we are going to have more human refugees coming. As well as the few Elven captives of the Gre'shil."

The Captain looked at her "You know how I feel of the Humans, I will send some of the guards to aid in peace keeping." He turned to one of the Guardsmen "Stay here in case the other Outsider returns from the..." He looks into the Mutated patch of forest. "There"

Aineruda looked at Kethara "As far as I know every young lady of any species need sleep and food. It's getting late so lets get everyone set up for the night."

(( After all it just turned dark when Rotten and Liz exited Paragon.))

The Desert

"By exploding you?! Yes!" Jade shouted nervously back to the zombie, "That's a Reaver! It's like metal me on-!"

And then the soldier under his arm disappeared, causing the shocked Dragon to come to a screeching halt. He turned to look after the energy, eyes wide, toneless words coming over his lips, "Oh damn."

The old coot wasn't much happier about it, though he was certainly a great deal more vocal, throwing several weapons-grade obscenities at Tafari's head while frantically scrambling back up off the ground in a desperate attempt to run for the hills.

And then he exploded.

Just like that, in the span of less than a second, the man's skin bubbled up and his features contorted, and then he burst apart in a shower of gore, the silent scream of pain he'd never had the time to utter turning into a sickening splurch.

Jade gulped. Burn point drill. Not good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yydr "Jade! You are in danger! Please, may I bring you back?"

Y...no. No, I can't. I can't leave the others behind. I have t-wait! Can you bring them too? Can you bring all of us...?
__________________

Elven Forest

"Huh." Akat remarked at the patch of forest the Captain had glanced at, looking toward it from the ramp of the range runner, a hand still on the floor above her, "Was that there before?"

The question was of course rhetorical, posed more to her own memory than an actual person. It was also a vocalization of thought as she took the stuff in with her senses. What was this that had happened there?

At the mention of Durlan however, the Khelari's attention was quickly redirected, and she inquired with a suggestively malicious tone, "Yes, where is the loudmouth? I've still got a beating to hand to him..."

For the moment Bisys would allow Akat to inquire after Durlan. She had her mind on other things.

"Yes, I can bring all you ask as long as they wish to come, too. Tag them with your mind. Ermm, try staring hard at the ones you want included. Now."

With a broad sweep of one arm, much closer to normal with the repeated practice, Bisys tried to pull Jade to her and all whom he willed.

It wasn't time relocation like Paxtera used, nor quite a traditional teleport, but still anyone who had been exposed to some form of spatial relocation would recognize the tug. By default all included would find themselves crowded at the base and to one side of the range runner's ramp. Close without being in the middle of everyone else nearby.

A group relocation like this wasn't something she could do often, but hopefully once would be all that was needed. The only risk was if someone chose not to accept the pull. Should anyone not come the first time, Bisys would attempt to pull them individually until they came, were destroyed, or eventually moved out of her range as Toy Dispenser had. What had become of him? No time to speculate now...

Edward looked between all of them and then saw the thing coming towards them.

"MOVE!"

He had already fought one of those things and he had none of his nanites left to try to disable the machine. He would not risk fighting something like that again but he needed to provide cover for anyone fleeing.

He scrambled for the Howdah on Mr Fluffers, "ladies, gentlemen, it's been fun but if that thing is anything like the last thing I fought, it's nigh impervious to high powered rounds..."

Steve lumbered into the Howdah.

"However...I am bound by honor to provide a distraction...doesn't mean I can't retreat while doing so..."

"Betsy, Big Dog Mode!"

The Rifle transformed back into the anti-tank rifle that he had used to distract Tafari, resting it on the wooden edge of the Howdah.

"Mr Fluffers....full speed retreat...keep her steady though..."

Swinging his sights on the Reaver, he did the only thing he knew how...he fired, he would keep the beast off of the backs of others. He was an old man, the others were young enough to live a full life...

Several ear splitting booms followed as he 'poured it on'.

"Steve, get the CD player ready...I may need that themetune..."