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Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

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DevilPsyco from The Underworld (pretty deep down in the ground) Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#395201: Apr 20th 2025 at 12:55:46 PM

Lost Woods

Kaiba doesn't exactly respond to Shadow's notion that he cares about the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, but he doesn't need to. It's obvious enough.

Noah, meanwhile, crosses his arms, speaking up after Shadow refers to his pendant. Given by his brief visual reaction, Mokuba seems to be the only one of the three to notice Shadow's fondness for it.

"If I can dream it, you can do it? A bold claim to make. My dreams are pretty grand.", Noah says.

"They're probably as grand as you are short.", Kaiba says, prompting Noah to briefly break from his attitude to stick out his tongue at Kaiba. A shockingly tame rebuttal.

He then shrugs as he looks back at Shadow.

"After Seto's latest duel, I was able to hack into Kaibacorp's system and reinsert myself in it. It was laughably easy considering that not much had changed protection-wise."

He then puts his hand on his chest.

"The reason you sensed me, Mr. God, is because my very mind and soul were digitized upon my untimely death years ago. I'm not some 'program', I'm the real deal. And I'm capable of manifesting myself within any system that I'm connected to."

When Shadow asks about Noah's projection, Kaiba is the one who answers.

"My Solid Vision hologram system, combined with a neural link.", he says while tapping the small device he has on the left side on his head. "My Duel Disk can create 1 to 1 holograms of both people and locations that are conceptually completely interchangeable with their real counterparts. If someone didn't know beforehand they were looking at a hologram, they wouldn't be able to tell.", he says, smirking proudly of his creation.

"Which is why I can do this.", Noah says as he now leans against Mokuba a bit, who is now pretty much as tall as Noah is. Despite the fact that Noah is technically a hologram, Mokuba physically reacts to the touch against his shoulder.

"Granted, Addison's technology is even greater, but this will do."

"There you go, mentioning that name again. Tell me who that is.", Kaiba says.

"Nope. It's none of your business, Seto.", he says as he then waits for Shadow to prove that he can talk to the Ultimate Dragon.

Speaking of it, its heads now turn to look at Shadow.

"THREE.", three distinct voices mentally respond to Shadow at the same time. They're not yelling at him, they're just loud. And they also all sound different in their own ways, making the dragon sound androgynous.

Upon Shadow's request to prove to Noah that they are, in fact, communicating, the heads look at one each other in seeming contemplation... and then one of the dragon's heads suddenly lunges at Noah and snaps their jaw shut inches in front of the holographic boy.

"AH!"

This causes a startled Noah to yelp and fall on the ground. Mokuba is also startled, though he doesn't fall.

The head pulls back, and the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon lets out a sound that almost sounds like snickering. It was just a prank. And in one way it was still respectful, as the dragon could've chomped at the hologram itself instead of chomping at the spot right in front of Noah.

"O-okay. I think I, eh, believe you now.", Noah says as he gets back up and tries to save his pride, dusting his suit off a little despite his being unable to dirty it. Mokuba, surprisingly, seems amused after the shock has worn off.

Kaiba, of course, is also amused. Granted, given some of the stuff he'd done when he was still evil, that's not all too surprising.

"Either you or Blue-Eyes has a good sense of humor.", he notes.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 20th 2025 at 9:56:36 PM

In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#395202: Apr 20th 2025 at 1:03:26 PM

Hmmmm, Breaking Jail

Slipping by, the Medicine Vendor began to quickly and deftly run towards a treeline. He could look back to where Maul was trying to break into the Hexagonal ward. He took in a deep breath and took our a ornate pipe, beginning to smoke something in. He needed to get past the other GRAZE suits, and his eyes lingered onto one of the Far Walls.

A few of the birds flrw put towards the exact window he was looking at, on the second floor. One flew by and gesbbed his pipe.

They'd be his eyes and ears, and as he blew out some some into the trees, he waited.


Lourent

Glint immediately turned to the Night Terrors and raised his cape, hiding his rapier under it as he faces this new... threat.

His scanner briefly scanned the figure that had calmed the Nightmare, unease filling his core. This is the kind of energy one would expect of The First Scream. And that thought alone made Glint look to the Baku.

"Can you elaborate on what these entities are?"

Awawa
shroobot3000 Witch of Scarlet Dreams from Behind you Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Witch of Scarlet Dreams
#395203: Apr 20th 2025 at 1:27:04 PM

Judicial Malpractice (except they were justified)

Graze 5's pilot is shocked to lose his arm to the kick, losing his weapon along with it. He attempts to grab his axe with the other only to get tackled by Hiling's Hygogg to tackle it after command grabbing Graze 8; knocking both mobile suits down. At which point she raises her Iron Nail claws and swings down at them to try and rip their cockpits open.

The Graze Commander though whips around to try and simply stomp on Domon while he's focused elsewhere, wondering who the whole this guy is.

Maul manages to take out a surprised 9, 3 going down whilst 4 manages to barely block his attack with its axe. It attempts to counterattack with a kick whilst Graze 7 starts shooting at Maul as well while closing in.

Medicine Vendor is such a small target that he manages to avoid any notice, Graze 1 and 2 zooming past him as they approach the fight.

Primary Objective: Breach into the prison compound

Bonus Objective: Domon destroys Graze Commander with a super move.

Allies:

Hiling Care - Hygogg: Attack/Bruiser

Inside the prison, the woman chuckled at Mal.

"Don't know about you but I have a feeling they're on mine." she said, idly sitting back down on her bed and waiting for something.


Cairo that I forgot to do, Situation not XII stupid irish!

Sebastien hangs back for now, knowing that dogpiling Grimgor will only work against him so instead he readies some poison laced crossbow bolts which he aims to shoot at his exposed face when he's distracted with some GOOD OL FIGHTIN.

Edited by shroobot3000 on Apr 20th 2025 at 11:28:56 AM

"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."
ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#395204: Apr 20th 2025 at 1:38:22 PM

BREAKING THE CELL

The birds would look inside and would try to take turns on the pipe brought over, quickly wheezing as they produced more and more smoke along the window. Seeing it being large enough...

The Medicine Vendor walked into one cloud-

-And out the other. Granted such a small ledge meant he had to improvise. He crawled with unnatural agility across the window sills, silently running across the walls as the birds followed behind. He searched for a space with the least guards, and upon doing so stopped, nearly skidding off the wall entirely. Grabbing a hold of a red floral cape he pressed it against the window, and lifted the cloth to crawl under.

The Medicine Vendor would come out the other side, quickly putting his back against the wall as the birds followed him in, before he pocketed the cape and pipe once more.

Awawa
KiriK The Grey Pilgrim from across time and space Since: Mar, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
The Grey Pilgrim
#395205: Apr 20th 2025 at 1:38:27 PM

the malpractice is on the part of le good guys

Domon puts up his hands and stops the stomp.

"Not my first time clashing hand against foot..."

His palms start to glow bright green. He squeezes his fingers, crumpling the metal like aluminum, before shoving away.

"And now... SHINING FINGEEEEER!"

Leaping up into the air, Domon hurtles down at the Graze Commander's head, aiming to tear his way through, down into the cockpit, where he'll grab the pilot's face by a set of pressure points and channel his energy for an instant knockout.

Edited by KiriK on Apr 20th 2025 at 3:38:47 AM

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."
Bolded1 Fate, guide me from behind you!!!!!!!! Since: Mar, 2015
Fate, guide me
#395206: Apr 20th 2025 at 2:17:53 PM

Judicial Maulpractice

Maul raises his suit's leg, blocking the kick at the cost of being sent reeling backwards. He then raises his beam rifle and smirk behind his cockpit, letting loose with a burst of light that's meant to engulf the Graze that just kicked him. Crimson parts fly out of the air and scatter unto the grass as the Mobile Suit is sent reeling, carving two large marks into the pretty grass as its massive weight is moved at high speed.

And then, Maul raises the Darksaber and, using the Force, he toss it into the beam, counting on its radiance blinding the Graze pilot to the weapon until it penetrates the cockpit. Regardless of success, Maul then pick his thrusters to the side to fire off, moving his Lion Pourpre's massive body to circle around the Graze attacking him. Using the Force, he has the Dark Sabre turn around in mid-air and return to him, blade-first, with full intention of stabbing through the Graze on its way in.

If it fails or is dodged, Maul lets out an appreciative grunt, commanding the pilot's skills. Then, he rush forward, bending his Gundam forward before having it fly towards the Dark Saber. It picks it up along the way and Maul lowers his arm, burning the ground as he grazes the tip of it with a long upwards swing of his blade, dragging unto the grass for a while until he launch a massive swing to cut through the Graze and slice it in two.

The fallen Sith grunts as he feeds off the Dark Side, feeling himself become a little stronger. And with each kill, the group will slowly begin to feel themselves grow stronger, more EXPerienced...

The Red Zaku continues firing, attempting to support Hilling by shooting at anything that could surround her.

Prison

Mal groans and kick into his bars in frustration. Would make more sense than someone risking their necks for me! He says, before leaning forward in frustration, biting into his thumb hard enough to draw greenish blood that flows down his wounded finger.

You must be of high position or Neo Zeon must really care about its representatives. But if you were the former, what'd you do right next to a common mass murderer like me?

Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter
shroobot3000 Witch of Scarlet Dreams from Behind you Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Witch of Scarlet Dreams
#395207: Apr 20th 2025 at 2:51:05 PM

Judicial Malpractice

Maul's opponents have never faced anything like The Force before so suffice to say they get caught off guard, dying before they can properly process what WIZARDRY he's using. Hiling meanwhile finishes off Graze 5 thanks to the Zak's covering fire, by sinking her claw into the cockpit and squeezing.

"N-nani-" is all the Graze Commander manages to say before being summarily KO'd by Domon's ridiculous martial arts.

Suddenly, reality itself seems to shudder as purple lines of circuitry flow through the very air itself as well as the ground.

"So it's happening here too..." Hiling mused aloud through open comms. "Brace yourselves, looks like we're getting more company!"

She sounds a bit too eager.

Super robot spirits - Theme of Devil Gundam (aka Kyoudai Kasuru Yabou)

Domon will feel an all too familiar presence, though one that is somewhat... diminished. Some kind of purple capsule the size of a large mobile suit emerges from a rift in reality, crashing down near Graze 2 and startling the pilot. It then opens up to reveal it's the 3 legs of some tripodal beast, with an upside down white body vaguely reminiscent of a Gundam!

Its eyes flash and its gaze shifts around, before fixating on Domon as if recognizing him. It lets out an unearthly rumble as it launches parts of itself out. The winged one, the horned one and the tentacled one crash into the nearby Grazes; spreading out DG cells which rapidly reconfigure them and their pilots into Death Army mobile fighters.

The last one folds open into a corrupted parody of the Master Gundam's upper half, crossing its arms at Domon before flying at him to try and crush him under its palm!

Regardless of success, they all fly back and reconnect into the Devil Gundam which lets out an ominous groan.

BONUS

Three Jestas also appear near Maul, though not acting yet. The Dork Side of the Force might nudge him into taking out the leader first.

Primary Objective: Rescue Mal

Bonus Objective: Devil Gundam Junior defeated before assimilating all Graze units

Allies:

Hiling Care - Hygogg: Attack/Bruiser

Inside the prison, Medicine Seller would find himself in a... bathroom. There's only one guard who is presently using it and by the sounds of it not having a good time, so he's probably not a big threat.

If he went past and out into the halls he'd find the place in chaos and the two guards in the hall unlikely to immediately notice him. Said hall connects to CELL BLOCK WEST, Level 3 and alternatively has some stairs to go down.

Back with Mal, the lady scoffs at him.

"Common mass murderer he says, after flattening a city. I'm here for piloting a mobile armor through a city center, just to crush some Federation scum." she says, with a somewhat unnerving grin at the end before she catches herself. "Commander Ribbons said I remind him of someone he knew. Someone who fights mainly for the thrill of it. I assume you're the same considering what I heard, right?"

She winks at him.

Edited by shroobot3000 on Apr 20th 2025 at 1:26:07 PM

"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."
KiriK The Grey Pilgrim from across time and space Since: Mar, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
The Grey Pilgrim
#395208: Apr 20th 2025 at 2:57:46 PM

Judicial Malpractice

Domon's smug and cocky attitude evaporates instantly.

The moment he sees the Devil Gundam Junior, he lets out a roar of, "RISE, GUNDAAAAAM!" and snaps his fingers.

Burning Gundam rises up out of the Mad Angler and jumps toward its master on autopilot, who jumps up to meet and enter it.

As he suits up in the Mobile Trace System, he warns, "Stay away from that thing if you value your lives. I've shown mercy so far, but the Devil Gundam has no concept of it!"

He starts by dashing from one Death Army MS to the other, slashing each with his Gundam's beam sword.

Edited by KiriK on Apr 20th 2025 at 5:06:16 AM

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."
Bolded1 Fate, guide me from behind you!!!!!!!! Since: Mar, 2015
Fate, guide me
#395209: Apr 20th 2025 at 3:14:59 PM

KILL

Ahhh, how fresh it is, to see people surprised at the powers we rightfully wiled... Maul is then interrupted when the Dark Side of the Force, the very Dark Side, screams angrily through him. In fact, a wave of sudden anger will wash over the group. Not causing them to be more reckless, but feeling heat from within, with an odd sensation upon their very fists, as if they just hit something hard with it.

Maul blinks once, then twice, then suddenly decide to back away, attempting to use his beam gun to carve up a hole into the building. He lets the AI for his Mech take over should it succeed, with Maul leaping off the cockpit and running across the field to get to the prison. The way he runs has an odd cadence to it, almost as if he were glad to be able to find an excuse to do so.

If it fails, Maul locks in and attack with almost desperation, raising his beam rifle and not even bothering to aim before he start blasting, attempting to hit the main Jesta with a series of beams. They're not full-powered beams apart from the very first one, and it soon becomes clear that Maul is resorting to Vegeta's Techniquetm in Gundam form, not even waiting for the beam to be charged-up before launching it, with some beams being so astray as to go of course and slam into the nearest rock overlooking it all, causing bursts of golden explosions everywhere in front of him.

The AI does the same, but less franctic, keeping its cool as it fires at Mobile Suits it assumes to not be beam-proor.

A voice in his head whispers him to kill, kill, kill, kill, kill these damn things. And should he run, Maul feels claws digging into his skull.

   KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL   

Maul winces in pain but refuses to turn around. He has a target to find.

   MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL   

yells a voice in his head, hard enough that his ears bleed nonetheless.

The Zaku, meanwhile, ignores Domon's instruction and turn aggressive, putting its gun away and not even bothering with the axe as it runs at the nearest Death Army trooper, attempting to tackle it to the ground. The ground tremble and shudder should it succeed (or should it fail, as its multi-tons weight hit the ground hard) and as it try to pummel the Death Army trooper to bits with its bare fists, slamming them up and down in a frenzy.

Inside the Prison

Mal blinks. What the fuck is going on outside?!

... Someone took my daughter away from me and I fought to free her. Mal says, after a long silence. Worst part is that I couldn't even save her - I just frenzied and flailed and hurt people more than I hurt the bastard who took her.

I do not enjoy fighting. I... did, once. But because that was necessary. My trash-heap of a planet would've spat me out. And whenever I want to settle down, it's like the universe keep forcing me into violence. Mal says, proving its point by punching at the bar. I'm no soldier like you. I just want to be left alone! I don't want to enjoy fighting again because that's a disastrous lesson to pass down to your kid!

Edited by Bolded1 on Apr 20th 2025 at 12:53:23 PM

Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter
ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#395210: Apr 20th 2025 at 3:32:31 PM

Judicial Malpractice

Seeing the two guards he locked eyes with them, baring his teeth in a less lean friendly grimace, before suddenly diving forward and taking out some hemp rope, moving to tie their legs together as he made it for the third floor.

Sending his birds out, they flew ahead of them and searched around the corners, glowing bright blue whenever they spotted a guard.

Awawa
shroobot3000 Witch of Scarlet Dreams from Behind you Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Witch of Scarlet Dreams
#395211: Apr 20th 2025 at 5:16:42 PM

Judicial Malpractice

The Devil Gundam sees the Burning Gundam appear and instinctively leaps back, anticipating an attack. Domon though instead goes after the small fry it seems so the demonspawn of a mobile fighter directs its gaze elsewhere...

The Death Army are fodder as ever, getting shredded by the duo of the Zaku and Burning Gundam's attacks. The Death Beast hefts its heavy duty machine rifle and begins spraying bullets at the two of them.

Maul succeeds in breaking in but he'll feel a Pressure and if he looks up, will see the Devil Gundam looking down at him; optics becoming visible as they flash. Fortunately if he's not stupid and runs it will be too slow to simply squish him underfoot. Unfortunately it instead pulls back its arm and punches through the wall, spreading its hand open and its sharp claws emitting clouds of DG cells that begin infecting the prisoners and guards!

This means it's probably a bad idea for him to go west as he'll see cyborg zombies fighting with the guards.

Vegeta's technique is a lot more useful when your opponent isn't beam proof, as the Jesta anticlimactically goes down; shutting down its linked fellows who go limp.

Primary Objective: Rescue Mal

Bonus Objective: Devil Gundam Junior defeated before assimilating all Graze units

Allies:

Hiling Care - Hygogg: Attack/Bruiser

The two guards get caught off guard, though one fumbles for his sidearm to try and grab it to shoot the Medicine Vendor!

The birds could see outside Graze 15 moving to the fight (and the Death Beast shooting at the others), while inside the prison was in an uproar. Any going southeast would see the same cyborg zombies that Maul risks running into while those going north would see there's a skeleton crew left at this point (most focused on the cells themselves rather than the connecting corridors, none being on the third level that Medicine man is on) with the bulk of security going to deal with the breach near the MS fight.

Back with Mal, the Neo Zeon lady smirks.

"Heh, come on. Don't be ashamed of it." she says, leaning back against the wall with her arms behind her back. "Fighting is inevitable, no matter if you're human or alien. Whether because you fight for a cause or because deep down, you enjoy all the killing. So why not embrace it?"

There's a rumble from the Devil Gundam punching the prison as she crosses her legs.

"There's a killer inside you, stop hiding him." she said with a grin.

"It's what my recruitment officer passed down to me and what I passed down to some kids in Side 6." she then says, sighing wistfully. "I wonder if they're still making IEDs."

Edited by shroobot3000 on Apr 21st 2025 at 3:18:08 PM

"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."
SacredSpirit123 Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman from Jorrvaskr (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman
#395212: Apr 20th 2025 at 6:13:50 PM

Noticing Mokuba looking at his pendant, Shadow gives him a subtle, conspiratorial wink, shooting him a quick mental message.

   'Aha, eye for detail, eh? Story for another time. Not ready to tell it just yet, but I promise you'll like it.'   

He simply stares flatly at Noah's grandstanding, looking like he's a second away from facepalming.

   "...right. And I'm pretty sure anything that a human, especially one of your apparent age, can dream up would fall under the parameters of something a timeless entity such as I could produce. I was probably around before the Cambrian Explosion hit your world's oceans."   

He shrugs.

   "...okay, so pretty much on the money when I guessed you uploaded yourself to the cloud. Yeah, had a feeling you were something along those lines. Divine intuition, just didn't want to end up upstaging you before I drew a bead on your personal character. Unfortunately, I think I now know more of that than I'd like to."   

He grins, giving Seto a thumbs-up.

   "Ahhh, very advanced Hardlight! That's excellent work. I've got someone back home who'd be highly intrigued by that. Can't say that I'd be fooled, given I can see through illusions - granted that's probably how I found our Dragon friend so quickly when they probably went to the heart of the Lost Woods specifically because the enchantment placed on in makes it easy for people to end up where they started instead of going deeper -, but I understand how it could fool someone decidedly less...unique."   

He gives Mokuba a slightly concerned look, seeming to say, 'You're gonna' let him do that?', then, when the Ultimate Dragon speaks to him, he claps giddily, beaming up at them.

   'Oh, wonderful! I have to say, you three have absolutely beautiful voices. It's great to hear from you. Now, just for the sake of making communication easier in case someone wants to address one of you separately, do you have any sort of personal names or identifiers for yourselves, or would you like us to maybe think up some nicknames?'   

He watches as the Ultimate Dragon contemplates his words, and then jerks back a bit when one of the heads snaps toward Noah. He gives a sheepish chuckle to Seto, holding his hands up, though there's a glimmer of true amusement in his eyes which should clue him into the fact that he's not entirely displeased by the result.

   "Hey, for the record, I merely asked them to prove they could hear me. I left it to them to decide how. Oh, and just so you know, each head houses a consciousness. Three beings, one body. Haven't got any names yet, but we can probably cook something up if they don't have anything to offer. It just seems more polite to refer to them as something more individual than 'the Dragon', yeah?"   

Edited by SacredSpirit123 on Apr 20th 2025 at 6:14:01 AM

"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker
DevilPsyco from The Underworld (pretty deep down in the ground) Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#395213: Apr 20th 2025 at 6:27:31 PM

Lost Woods

"!"

Mokuba's caught off guard that Shadow noticed that. But he's also curious.

"It wasn't me who uploaded myself, but details.", Noah says. His attitude has lessened after that little fright.

Kaiba raises an eyebrow.

"You can see through illusions? ..."

He grabs a noteblock and starts writing something down. If Shadow sneaks a peek, he'll see that Kaiba's writing down that next time he upgrades his technology, he should ask Shadow to test them and see how realistic they look to someone who can tell the difference.

Business-oriented, as always.

The Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's heads look back at Shadow.

"WE DON'T HAVE NAMES."

Either it didn't get the question, or it doesn't really care about names. It's not objecting to the offer either though.

As for Kaiba, he raises his eyebrow again.

"A nickname? For a Duel Monster?", he asks, sounding like he hadn't ever even considered the idea.

"I like the idea.", Mokuba says. Noah tilts his head.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 20th 2025 at 3:28:39 PM

In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
SacredSpirit123 Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman from Jorrvaskr (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman
#395214: Apr 20th 2025 at 6:45:20 PM

Lost Woods

Shadow nods to Seto.

   "I have what some realms refer to as Truesight. I'm not fooled by illusions, and I can see the invisible. Also very keen at noticing minor details."   

To demonstrate this, he does glance at Seto's noteblock, and smirks.

   "Guess I've got some outsourced work in my future, eh?"   

He then clicks his tongue in response to the Ultimate Dragon, and nods.

   'Alright then, we'll work on that. Just want to address you guys more personally, y'know? Well, you probably don't, since you've likely never held a conversation with a telepath before, but just know that sapient beings typically view it as a respectful gesture to address each other by their names, and I wanted to ask if you had any because I didn't want you three to feel left out. The Kaibas and I can workshop something, and I'll check back with you to see what you think, okay?'   

He quirks an eyebrow right back to Seto.

   "Well, in their defense, these three aren't just some simulated hologram played from a fancy card. They're flesh-and-blood, thinking, feeling beings, and living Monsters like them - yes, there are more - are just as worthy of respect as any other sapient. In fact, a lot of living Monsters have truly ancient origins that date back to the Pharaoh's time, if not older."   

He smiles to Mokuba.

   "Glad to hear. So they just told me that they don't have for themselves, but they didn't exactly refuse my offer to nickname them either. I think individuality is a new concept to them, but I explained a bit about why names are part of good communication. I told them we'd think of something and I'd get back to them with it, so, any suggestions?"   

"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker
DevilPsyco from The Underworld (pretty deep down in the ground) Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#395215: Apr 20th 2025 at 6:53:38 PM

Lost Woods

"Potentially. Depends on how much you charge.", Kaiba says.

The Ultimate Dragon looks back at Shadow. It doesn't (mentally) verbally respond this time, but it does make a rumbling noise that sounds like it'd be an okay.

"You've got a point.", Kaiba says upon Shadow reiterating that this dragon is a living being.

Mokuba can't think of much, and neither can Noah. Kaiba speaks up.

"Kisara."

His brothers look at him. Kaiba glances away.

"... it's a name that just came to me.", he says, after which he glances back at Shadow. A silent request not to go into detail about the meaning of that name.

In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
SacredSpirit123 Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman from Jorrvaskr (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman
#395216: Apr 20th 2025 at 7:05:41 PM

Shadow laughs, giving a carefree shrug.

   "Man, what does a being like me need with currency? I can just magic the stuff up whenever I want...plus, I don't charge friends for services rendered."   

His eyes light up in recognition when Kaiba suggests Kisara, though he picks up on his apprehension.

   'I gotcha'. Lips are sealed.'   

He glances up at the Dragon, and tilts his head.

   "I'm gonna' start talking to you out loud so the others can hear me, and I hope you don't mind. I'll still be able to hear your thoughts, don't worry about that. Now...how do you three feel about the collective name 'Kisara'?"   

He blinks, and clicks his fingers, smiling cheerily.

   "Hey, I just had an idea...if we really wanted, since there's three syllables in that name, and the three of you share a body...what if we called each of you by a different syllable? You could be Kii, Saa, and Raa!"   

"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker
DevilPsyco from The Underworld (pretty deep down in the ground) Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#395217: Apr 20th 2025 at 7:10:44 PM

Lost Woods

Kaiba looks unamused at the notion. But he doesn't refuse the notion.

The dragon's heads turn in curiosity. They're not sure about the initial idea, but they seem more open to Shadow's altered idea.

"Naming one Ra? After the Egyptian God card?"

"It's not if it's with two A's.", Mokuba points out.

In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
SacredSpirit123 Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman from Jorrvaskr (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman
#395218: Apr 20th 2025 at 7:29:00 PM

Shadow clicks his tongue, giving Mokuba dual finger-guns.

   "Exactly how I envisioned it! Almost scary how quickly you picked up on that. Great minds think alike, I figure."   

He then shrugs to Kaiba, tilting his head.

   "Hey, I'm not dissing Ra. I've got major respect for the big guy. In fact..."   

He grins, throwing his arms wide with a dramatic flourish of his wings.

   "...I actually rescued the Winged Dragon!"   

He claps his hands together.

   "They were in serious danger from Yami Bakura, so I stepped in to free them from him. And you..."   

He points emphatically toward Kaiba.

   "...should still have their card, yeah? I believe they ended up in your care, and, eh, all things considered, it might be good to let them out for some air every once in a while, y'know? They're not just a living, breathing being, but also a fellow Divine entity like me, so they deserve a pretty good deal of respect."   

Edited by SacredSpirit123 on Apr 20th 2025 at 7:29:44 AM

"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker
DevilPsyco from The Underworld (pretty deep down in the ground) Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#395219: Apr 20th 2025 at 7:42:07 PM

Lost Woods

"Hehe, I'm smarter than I look.", Mokuba says.

"You say that as if you don't look smart already."

Oh wow, a genuine compliment from Noah?

"Hm? ... oh, I do.", Kaiba says. Did he forget that he had that card?

"Mokuba, my briefcase."

Mokuba opens the silver briefcase he'd been holding, revealing a bunch of cards, as well as a second Duel Disk. Kaiba opens a small extra compartment and takes the Ra card out.

"How did you forget you had one of the strongest cards in the game?", Noah asks, looking amused. Kaiba intently looks at the card.

"I've been occupied with Kaibacorp. Aside from that duel from not too long ago, I haven't played since..."

He looks at Shadow.

"Since Zorc."

He looks back at the card and smirks.

"Maybe I'll build a deck around it to use in a future practice round back in my office.", he says while putting the card back. "My current deck doesn't mesh as well with tributing cards."

In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
SacredSpirit123 Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman from Jorrvaskr (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Isengrim Heath-Stalker - Lupine Lawman
#395220: Apr 20th 2025 at 7:59:59 PM

Shadow chuckles at Mokuba's comment, then shoots Noah a mildly surprised smirk.

   "Huh, a compliment for once. And not even a note of sarcasm."   

He stares blankly at Kaiba.

- Beat -

He throws his hands up in exasperation, looking rather flustered by this development.

   "Okay, stop me if I'm getting out of hand here, but how could you forget you're essentially walking around with one of your world's most powerful divine beings sleeping in your pocket‽ Poor fella' probably hasn't seen the Sun in ages...I've gotta' reiterate, they're not just a card! They're a thinking being, and sacred to one of the big Gods, to boot..."   

He takes a moment to cool down, smoothing his literally-ruffled feathers, and then sighs, nodding.

   "Yeah, Zorc was a bit of a bear, to be honest. I apologize for snapping, I just didn't expect...that. It kind of frazzles me to hear you refer to another Celestial Being so offhandedly with technical game terms. Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I'd have just let them out to, Idunno', have a look around the place, maybe take a walk and see the sights. Perhaps you might not be able to awaken them outside of calling on their power for a duel, but if that's the case, I might be able to work a little Divine mojo and tap into the card to make it so they can leave it when they please. I have a knack for stuff like that."   

He looks up to Kii, Saa, and Raa.

   "Sorry, the conversation kind of shifted topics and I got a bit distracted for a moment. Didn't mean to ignore you. You guys are cool with the names we've picked, right? And what do you make of this whole 'Winged Dragon of Ra' situation? I'd wager you have quite the unique perspectives on this."   

"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker
DevilPsyco from The Underworld (pretty deep down in the ground) Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#395221: Apr 20th 2025 at 8:11:53 PM

Lost Woods

"I say things like I see them.", Noah simply says. Kaiba looks at Shadow now as he begins to speak.

"You're suggesting that unless this card is played, Ra would just be asleep permanently? I'm not all that interested in theology, but that doesn't sound very divine."

... actually a good point. Would a being as powerful as Ra really be confined to the card? Or is playing it simply one way of manifesting Ra into the world?

"Something I'd also like to bring up. You say you're a god.", Noah says to Shadow. "You're a god. That's a god. Can't you just... talk to it and ask it yourself?"

"Given that I played Obelisk without its card some time ago, I'd be shocked if the Egyptian Gods are truly that limited.", Kaiba comments.

"Oh, yeah! You should've seen it! Seto literally summoned Obelisk the Tormentor with his own willpower!", Mokuba excitedly says to Shadow.

The Ultimate Dragon looks back at Shadow now. Seems it had both been listening to their conversation and looking around a bit, perhaps wanting to stay alert of its surroundings.

"WE ACCEPT THE NAMES."

Okay, good.

"THE EGYPTIAN GODS ARE THE STRONGEST. CARDS CANNOT CONTAIN THEIR FULL POWER."

It seems the Ultimate Dragon is implying that Kaiba's guess isn't too far off. Ra can probably manifest wherever it wants, and its card is just the way for someone to call upon its power in a duel.

In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#395222: Apr 20th 2025 at 9:56:04 PM

SUBLIME

Existing on the very edge of the Eye, exists one of the circles of hell. A planet spins as a massive cataclysmic explosion caused by a Warp Storm threatens to crack open its core. Yet due to the temporal anomalies of the Eye, this process is moving at an incredibly slow pace. As the world dies at a infinitesimally low speed, its inhabitants live life to its fullest avarices.

The planet is called Sublime, a world of thieves and scramblers after foreign delights. And in the grim darkness of the 42nd millennium, it has become the closest thing to neutral ground that exists within the Eye. Its original inhabitants have either been harvested, or corrupted by the machinations of the warp.

And they all are pawns to...

The Black Golan.

Stretching across 2 continents is this massive sect of black markets, the lifeblood of trade in the Eye of Terror. Everything, and everyone, has a price. Commerce and Conflict is king on Sublime, and its archeotech markets deal with everything, from dreams and new sensations to powerful weaponry and raw materials. To protect these riches, Sublime is surrounded by hundreds of heavily-armed orbital Battle Stations in order to ensure that no outsider faction can interfere with the continual wars Sublime's independent city-states wage on each other. Eldar Corsairs, Khrave, Emperor's Children, Renegade Mechanicus and Astartes, Votann Exiles, and Rak'gol rule this world and supply its many defenses, and fuel its many battlefronts.

Gang wars are waged with heavy artillery and demonic mercenaries, under a constant bloody dusk red sky, with clouds of black, white, and violet cast nebulous across the heavenly stretches. The cities themselves are massive sprawling urban scraper-scapes and gothic monuments, cast in kerosene lamp and neon light. Streets are full of escorts of both varieties, mercenary bands, and hardened merchants all trying to survive, monumental success being too risky under the watching eyes of those in the higher castle courts. The clientele didn't make it better: those of chaos and torture prowled the streets, and while this was neutral ground, violence was still permitted as long as long as it wasn't to purge and conquer. Grudges were fair game.

Mutants and abhumans attended businesses run by strange humanoids of crystal, showing off rare gems plucked from the hearts of other silicone life. Remoras, bipedal and eyeless vaguely wyvern-esque beasts gathered at the edges of psyche-parlors, feeding on the dead and depleted who couldn't take the burden of new power and sensation. Astartes in warped, spiraling purple armor patrolled the street with spider-legged draconic metal beasts following behind them. Some beastmen Minotaurs had made a defensive circle around other beastmen, striking their axes towards cackling and giggling daemonettes, trying to whisper temptations to the crew. Only for a Ork Beastsnagga atop a brute headed, heavy tailed squig to charge in, biting onto the chest of one Daemonette and ripping it to shreds. Seeing the carnage, long eared dogfish-headed aliens cackled and cheered, throwing golden coins to the confused ork.

It was all so mortifying for a certain gang.

Well, mortifying for one. Pushing a cart around, a K'nib looked around anxiously, his eyes glancing around nervously as he felt his dorsal feelers twitch. The cart was covered by a tarp, and flanking him was a rather thinly dress Hrud, occasionally opening their eyes underneath their skin whenever a vessel passed overhead and casted its shadow.

The K'nib voiced concern as he looked to their seedy surroundings, his voice a tad haughty and on edge.

"I'm just saying if there is a lady this important you think she's really going to stay in here?"

A voice came up from beneath the cloth in the wagon, a sharp yet velvety drawl that creaked ever slightly like the bending of bark, to answer the K'nib.

"I trust the visions, you should too."

Which did not seem to fill the K'nib with anything of certainty.

"Listen you lugubrious little plant monster, you hired me and are keeping that... thing around!"

The K'nib pointed a finger towards the Hrud, who spoke in a Marseille-esque accent, and seemed totally aloof to the K'nibs' bothering

"Euh, Tsua'm? Tu frissonne beaucoup... Est-ce que tu as froid?"

"Don't speak like that! You're gonna get us killed... Or unsolicited offers." The K'nib, who's name was apparently Tsua'm, groaned as the Hrud giggled, and corrected itself to speak in the Old Tongue they all knew.

"I have been learning from that book from that Joseph man I once worked with. Lovely wife he has, though I believe she wanted to kill and eat me... Anyway the fact this language predates gothic so I doubt anyone here would speak it-"

"Was that what you were saying?"

The Hrud shut up and looked down with his head low, "I was asking if you had a cold because you were shivering..."

"No, that was rage."

"...good to know."

A hand came out from beneath the cloth and pointed them to an alleyway rock in white smoke and steam. The same velvet tongue resuming as it laid out directions...

"She's down there."

The K'nib and Hrud looked down the alley, the K'nib even with such stiff facial structures, was able to convey a sort of intense horror.

"...down there?"

"Yes."

Tsua'm gulped and looked to the Hrud. Who just sort of blankly looked out into the steam and smoke, not exactly emoting. But taking a step behind Tsua'm-

"Qrosqok... you're supposed to walk ahead of me." But the Hrud did not budge.

"Non merci, je choisis la vie."

"Oh ok I could understand that much, what a Nocturnal warrior you are." Pushing the Cart into the fog, he gulped, unsure what was on the other end.


To stand on this planet, was in itself a monumental sin. It held itself as a neutral ground, sure, but only because the outside universe was in a constant state of conflict. And the war machine needed more than just bodies. It needed arms. It needed trade. It needed prizes.

Every purchase here was done with bloody hands.

Standing tall, but shawled, was a towering and wide frame. With enlarged and powerfully built limbs atop it's stout body, the creature was seemingly armored in pine green power armor, glimpses of which could be seen under the especially harsh rays of artificial light when they crossed paths. Occasionally his frilled, golden helmet shined back against the light, but he quickly moved his hood further down whenever they did. This figure was not alone, flanking him was a similarly shrouded figure, but they took less time to obscure themselves. Probably because well, they had less reason to.

This other figure was a Eldar, adorned in sleek crimson armor of the Fire Dragon path. Yet they didn't bare a craftworlder's mark any more... a Corsair's icon now etched where it would be on the forehead of their helmet. Both figures moved swiftly and stuck to the shadows, not daring to venture onto the main streets for too long. Luckily for them, this wasn't uncommon in Sublime, nor was the larger shape's general size anything to raise alarm bells over. In such a shady place, you'd have to try and make a scene.

Yet they still had to be wary not to catch another opportunistic group's attention. Which the Eldar could do with more finesse, meanwhile their stouter bodied companion would audibly, though faintly, crack stone as they bounded from one spot to the next.

The Eldar jumped to a ledge, then another, then another, before they soon skulked onto a perch some 50 feet above the markets of the streets. The stouter bodied individual had some surprising dexterity, swinging in loose brachiating motions to the same ledge, though each landing of their palm had more oomf than the armored aeldari's own bounds. The motions let his hood come down, revealing the larger figure to be...

A Slanni.

As they overlooked the city together, the Eldar spoke up, her tone gruff and her chordance weathered.

"...The fact they have stayed here so long means their defenses might be impenetrable... or they are well at hiding beyond our ability to detect."

The Slanni had a deep, throaty tone, sounding distant and contemplative.

"We are to head deeper... and find the old ruins. Where the earth breathes hot."

"Your... Mage-Priest... What generation is he?"

"Fifth Generation... among the last. He sent me because the others were busy. He called upon a rite, and the information was that she was somewhere hard to reach. That being-"

"A pocket of molten activity. A potential hot spring... you chose me well." Humor crept into her voice as her helm turned to him, the Slanni's own Golden Face Mask locked on the streets below. He seemed determined, and the Fire Dragon immediately stopped trying to engage with him. Slanni were so utterly determined... even with her War Mask she bore better humor than these things did casually. He pointed to a stretch of gothic architecture in which white clouds billowed forth.

"There..." The Fire Dragon scanned the terrain, making sure it wasn't some overly primitive industrial forge sector. The tear in the earth however revealed that this wasn't the case. With the planet, though very slowly, tearing itself apart, such a place of operations would be quite horrifying to traverse.

A good hiding spot it seemed...

One her Slanni friend was throwing himself towards anyways. Not wanting to lag behind the giant, she followed swiftly, jumping from each overhang in the accursed warped urban sprawling to the next.


Prey was uncommon here, but so too was competition. Stomping was heard as heavy feet fell onto the chasm walls. Arcing bridges of old volcanic veins laid out like the blackened tissues of a cadaver, connecting both sides of the chasm together amidst the mist.

A demented jungle gym blanked in geothermal steam, it was hardly traversed beyond the first 200 feet. Going any lower was uncertain as their light just did not reach. And while many species possessed acute senses in low light conditions... there was also the possibility of slipping and falling into the void.

Hiding out beneath a makeshift lean-to held up by barrels, a few metal beams, and scaffolding, was a rather motley crew. Two figures gathered around a holo-feed, watching some Orks racing one another in sketchy looking soapboxes. A handful of red and gold paper notes were besides the holo-feed in a raised wooden box, which one particular odd figure was staring at. Reptilian and seemingly quadrupedal, they had a raised spine and long winding body, feelers on their lower jaw gently swaying. The other figure, seraphim white and delicate in frame, looked out at the races with baited breath. He coiled tightly around himself, as his reptilian companion grew a wider grin, their blue-teal glowing maw becoming visible.

"Oh yeah, Rawgrim is gonna take it... hope those marks love their new home~" His rough voice chimed practically, giving it an odd effect of being bothered, boastful and wispy.

"Come on Kneecappa..." The mermaid-like figure wrapped their arms around their tail, biting at their fingertips. Like a siren's song, even their wishes to attain a small fortune carried dome elegance. But before either Kneecappa could kamikaze Rawgrim, or Rawgrim could get closer enough to shoot Kneecappa, a long fungal tentacle turned the Holo-feed off. Both individuals went mouth agape, but didn't shout or raise a commotion.

Mostly because the one who turned it off was not someone they wanted to pick a fight with in the first place. A Charpactin, loosely resembling some gnarled mushroom and a cephalopod from hell, eyeless and seemingly mouthless. It moved a tentacle up to the loose pattern of a grin it had on its frame, and motioned to the massive, crystal almost robotic sentry standing out front.

They paced back and forth atop the thick obsidian blade they were all on, looking down into the abyss. They swiftly returned their attention◊ to the other three, their one eye a unblinking orb, fixated on them as they rose a peculiarity to them in a synthetic cadence:

"Activity 400 feet below us."

The reptilian slithered forward, resting atop his more enlarged forelimbs as he assumed a more aggressive stance, using his back limbs to fasten his harness.

"Shriekers... got it."

"Unlikely... they are heading close to the core."

This got the reptilian's attention, as he looked to their pale companion and had a wide ghoulish grin creeping over their snout once more, their floating specter friend going to get their veiled hammer.

"...then what is it?"

"One mentions a hrud... but I hear mainly two voices. A small group. But I am losing track of them-"

Their Charpactin companion immediately began to crawl down the physical ley lines of the chasm into the mist, the others looking to each other. The taller, almost robotic figure simply jumped from one veins to the next. The seraphim-like creature took a deep breath, and immediately began to glide down, the reptilian immediately and silently shuttling across the torn rock. Curious, the pale psyren looked to them, "So, we are just gonna pick em off?"

"Seems like the plan... I'll just follow Xi’Drgaig's lead, since he seems the most curious..."

The Psyren gave the reptilian a nod of acknowledgement, and the four continued their way down into the bowels of Sublime.


Tsua'm was not happy at all with this arrangement. They had to be a mile deep, the air feeling more and more like the interior of a lit forge, and the pressure unbearably tense. The Hrud seemed fine, but their escort was getting quieter. Which was getting to be a tad alarming.

"Hey, Indrark... you good?"

There was a stirring beneath the cloth, and now understanding Tsua'm's worry, Qrosqok looked down into the cart, "Mister Indrark... we need to know if you're ok, ok?"

The stirring beneath the cloth was more audible, their voices sounding a tad strained.

"I feel like I'm boiling. I wasn't meant for rooting this far deep... my bark is still too shallow..." A slight chuckle left them as they moved the tarp back over them, only a taloned-set of hands being visible. Tsua'm rolled their eyes and continued to push the cart, feeling a tad heat struck himself.

"Guess there's one way to avoid detection... staying somewhere this unbearable..."

His eyes even through the condensation forming atop their lids could make out some shapes in the distance, Tsua'm immediately going stiff. Nudging Qrosqok he motioned into the mist. Sure enough, and trying to stay hidden... were two shapes. One thinner than the other, but the other was far more top heavy. The K'nib's halteres detected more vibrations above it, even before the Hrud's own electroreception could determine something was going wrong. Indrark was held back from his own heat fatigue, but he could tell from the cart going still and the silence that followed... things might have gone wrong. He poked his head out, orange leaves creating a mane atop his birch-bark hide, eyes trying to open more as he examines the other two. Qrosqok immediately dragged him out, the forelimbs shown to be akin to wings with a thin and short membrane, of which his rather hunched body followed soon after.

"Watch it!-"

Qrosqok quickly shushed him, speaking low as he took out his Fusil, a plasma firing-musket like weapon, as he looked to Tsua'm.

"Let me and Indrark on your back! I can keep us camouflaged..."

"Your Ssaak will kill us all! You get spooked and the entropic field will age us into dust... and I'm sorry but you're not fast enough to get outta here."

"Right! But you are!"

Tsua'm groaned, just as he saw a tentacle slowly sliding down the rocky veins above him. Leaking a golden fluid that quickly solidified into fragile looking blades. The K'nib realized they had had to get out of here, and immediately lowered his forelimbs for them to hop onto him.

"This is is suicide..."

"But it is better than being killed." Indrark muttered plainly as he hopped onto Tsua'm's back, Qrosqok happily hopping onto his back as well.

"Je vous remercie beaucoup-"

Before suddenly wrapping his accordion-like limbs around the K'nib as he suddenly pivoted out to the right from an enemy plasma shot. Then he pivoted back to the left when the yellow blades of the tentacle were thrown where he once stood, striking the stone and embedding themselves into it.

That was enough for Tsua'm to begin screaming.

"OK HOLD ON HOLD ON HOLD ON!"

There was one good thing about being a K'nib, only the most agile could keep up. A body designed for speed, he could go from 0 to 145 kilometers per hour, and with his halteres he could turn practically a full 180 and maintain speed. Indrark wasn't expecting the K'nib to be this fast, and if not for the chain-like roots erupting from his arms keeping him attached, he would have surely flown off.

A white chunk of seemingly coral-make tried to strike the three, but the K'nib literally contorted himself from the impact site and sprinted the opposite direction. More of those yellow blades were thrown his way, and making a sharp turn towards this strange naga-esque humanoid, he allowed the Hrud warrior on his back to take out their blade and go for an attempted society at the psyren's throat. They ducked just barely, avoiding a warp-blade from severing their head from their neck. As the K'nib continued to escape down the rock, they were suddenly fired upon from two separate angles. They let out a startled cry as they skidded to a stop, just barely missing the warp-blast from the crystalline, almost mechanical Xenarch trying to cut them off. Tsua'm was a formidable escape artist, able to turn on a literal hair while plasma shots were hurled his way. Weaving under the crashing arm of the Xenarch, he bounded like a hare towards safety.

The Charpactin was quick to pursue the three, swinging like a gibbon across from purchases In the arcing rocks. Tsua'm looked back only to see a legitimate cephalopod-like fungus gaining on him.

“HOLY FUCK!”

Indrark quickly forced Tsua'm to look ahead, worried he'd run them off the bridge. “Focus that way!” Which was a pretty good idea considering a blade of solidified ichor nearly struck the three, embedding Itself in the stone. The K'nib's reaction was to bounce off the blade and continue putting the pedal to the metal, while Indrark was relying to see a claw in the creature’s offense. Qrosqok however was quick to note the fact-

“HE CAN SWING FASTER THAN HE CAN RUN!”

Aiming his Fusil Warp-Musket, he squeezed his legs tighter around Tsua'm's midriff, getting a pained wheeze from the K'nib.

“Hey I didn't pay for this kind of-”

Indrark covered his ears, while Tsua'm just felt his head ringing after their Hrud friend fired a screaming comet of green warpfire into a stone arc ahead of the Charpactin. The stone began to crack, its own trapped gasses beginning to leak as a pressurized jet of black mist, stopping the Charpactin from swinging forward. When they tried to slither to another part of the rock another Fusil Blast stuck the arc, but this time the aging properties of the warpfire began to crumble the rock away, forcing the Charpactin to retreat from the natural arc-

As it began to crash back down onto the arc they were all standing upon. The Xenarch rushed to where the psyren was chasing after the three, and with some quick thinking, charged forward and grabbed onto the psyren. She swung him towards a rocky overhang, the mermaid-like entity crashing atop it with a startled gasp. Activating her own shield, light surrounded her in refractory pieces as she braced for impact as the massive set of boulders crashed atop her. The Psyren gasped, quickly rushing back down the sides of the gully to try and excavate her from the rubble, the Charpactin doing the same.

Tsua'm made a good acre or so away from their attackers when he realized he was hitting the end of the line. His halteres picked up on the current of air rushing up, and about 9 meters away did he skid to a stop.

“Ok ok ok no that is not gonna work! Everyone get off and I'm gonna figure out-”

A shot rang through the air and Tsua'm writhe in pain, dropping Qrosqok and Indrark as he howled in shock.

“WE JUST DROPPED A ROCK ON ONE OF THEM! OW! OW OW OW OW!-”

The three looked over to see their opponent…

A Loxatl slowly crawling towards the group from one of the walls of the gulley, grinning back down at the three. Even more alarming was that his Fletchette system, that gun on his back, seemed modified, turning into a formidable long range rifle. That had just bore a nice hole in their K’nib friend’s leg. Their main way of escape was just crippled, and the long winding form of their pursuer continued to crawl ever casually towards them. Qrosqok was ready to make a final stand, but Indrark was not. He looked past the chasm, that roadblock that had stalled them. On the other side of the gap, was another winding path. An escape route.

“Brave as the bravest, Great as the greatest, Strong as the strongest, Hard as the hardest-” He began to hype himself up, flexing his chain roots out around his arm as he prepared to take flight. Some reason, Qrosqok looked at him shocked, his glowing eyes under his skin alit, “Keep the Loxatl busy, I’m going to try and bring us over to the other side. Make sure to grab Tsua’m. Can you do that?”

The Hrud nodded excitedly, grinning as he cocked his Fusil, responding in kind to a mantra passed down to his brothers and sister. “Of course sir! No lack of courage, no lack and ruin, and no room for pity!” With that he immediately began to fire towards the Loxatl, laughing maniacally as Tsua’m hid behind the Hrud now. The Loxatl scurried like a skink across the rock faces, avoiding each shot made before hitting cover. The Hrud ran away from Tsua’m, and as the shot came towards the Nocturnal Warrior they activated their Ssaak, allowing them to flicker in place and avoiding an otherwise fatal shot. An annoyed hiss came from the cliff faces around them, which Qrosqok responded in kind with a truly demonic set of chirping clicks.

Indrark had fully taken flight now, and despite looking not too well adapted to flight, was able to soar on the thermal currents rising from the ruined planet’s mantle. He made it primely in the middle of the chasm, and launched his root chains back to his friends on the other side, “Take it!” Qroqsok let loose another volley before reaching for Tsua’m’s hands, and lunging for the roots with his feet. Indrark shot his chain roots to a stalagmite on the other side of the chasm, and began to pull himself that way. The momentum of such pulled his allies across the chasm, Qrosqok cheering while Tsua’m found energy again to start screaming. Indrark landed on the other side, pulling his allies up as the Hrud began to somersault up his appendages. But as soon as Indrark pulled them onto safety, another shot rang out, and above them a large series of pipeworks began to collapse , hurdling down at them below. Adrenaline motivated Tsua’m to immediately begin running, despite having a sizable chunk of his leg being previously bore through. He headbutted Indrark back onto his back, and Qrosqok shuffled rapidly besides the K’nib, Indrark pulling them along by their legs as the pipes fell around them.

Their only salvation? Pray the blue lights a mile down the path were what they had been searching for this whole time.


The Fire Dragon and Slanni Warrior were about a good kilometer away from the strange set of dim, yet fluorescent blue lights in the mist. Both heard the destruction above, with mixed feelings on the matter. Looking up, they could see brief shadowy forms collapsing onto each other, before it went silent again. The tumbling of stone, the sonorous ringing of colliding pipes, the scraping of sediment as it grinded between crashing surfaces…

The whole stature didn't fall, at least.

The Slanni kept going, while the Eldar analyzed the scene for something. The planet was falling apart at a abysmal slow rate, and while things were crumbling all around them, the warp had manipulated the flow of time to such a degree the destruction was never so sudden and swift. At least on its own accords. That and she was sure she heard gunfire… and though pride would tell her it's because of her elevated senses, there was no way the Slanni didn't hear it either.

“Coy'tlaotli, could we have been followed.”

The Slanni paused briefly, looking back to her as the hood it had tried to hide itself in casted an even darker shadow over the armor’s features in such low light conditions. Though obscured, that didn't change how his voice was registered: dry and matter of factly.

“My guard is raised, but the task at hand is close.”

“I understand, but my question remains. If this thing was of portence enough for your Mage Priest to send you, then couldn't others be aware?” Her own inflections seemed distant, but for her case it was by her armo'a design. The Eldar War Mask is a construct made to the psyche of their wearer during combat. Allowing them to access a separate personality that the wearer can don and remove as needed, allowing them to enter a state of vicious warrior mentality without being permanently affected by the horrors of war. Without falling to temptation. Without giving in to the nagging in the back of their mind. And here it prevented her from displaying scared concern, replacing it with flat inquiry.

“Perhaps, but my job is to locate the site and uncover what was in the vision.” The Slanni themselves didn't have a need for such masks. They were utterly sure of their outpost, their function. They almost never, EVER, hesitated to deliver a killing blow. The Eldar tried to control their fate, the Slanni just made sure to ensure their fate was in accordance with that ancient hardwired loyalty they possessed. That Great Plan they are willing and eager to die for. They thought in such alien ways, and seemed allergic to making sense to their peer species.

And The Fire Dragon just had To have been chosen by some young stubborn warrior morph. It was like working with any of the other Mon'keigh…

That's when they heard galloping heading their way. Its irregular gait did raise the potential for a beastman scavenger, and not every abhuman was born untouched by the Chaos Gods. The Fire Dragon drew their Hand-Fusion Gun and Vaul Axe, the Slanni pulled out their Xihuictli, plasma forming around the teeth-like blades of the club. As they looked into the dark fog, they saw a couple of patches of bioluminescent orbs staring back to them from the veil. The footsteps slow down, and three distinct shapes can be seen…

The Fire Dragon lowers her weapons, Coy'tlaotli following suit. These were no raiders.

Though, she couldn't identify the third one dragging chain-like appendages behind it. But she could now identify the odd gait of the runner as a K'nib with a sizeable hole missing in their back left leg, and the glowing orbs as the skin covered eyes of a Hrud.

A fascinating crew all things considered. But it was clear they had drawn the attention of others, and so the Fire Dragon, letting her mask take control, moved away from them. If whatever was pursuing them had wounded the K’nib, their assailants weren’t too far behind. She expected like before for Coy'tlaotli to follow her in suit, but was surprised to hear his footsteps head opposite of her. The three looked up to the hooded figure, who slipped his helmet off to reveal his appearance. An awkward gesture, given he did not take off his armor, with his bulk and quiet approach already lending him to being that of a Slanni. The Hrud placed himself in front of the two, knowing how unpredictable a Slanni could be.

“Your friend is hurt.” The warrior motioned for them to give over the K'nib, though Indrark seemed less willing. He rattled his chain roots, a sign of warning. Tsua'm and Qroqsok immediately began to bat Indrark on the head as if to tell him knock it off.

“I'm bleeding out here don't make things worse!”

“Xiǎo tù zǎiz!”

“What was that?!”

“Its an old human language-”

“What does it mean!?”

But as the two were arguing with each other and hitting Indrark, the botanical mystery spoke up:

“Yes he is injured… But we're close to our destination…”

The Fire Dragon stepped forward now, the presence of the Eldar enough to stun the three enough for Coy'tlaotli to take the K'nib and lift him onto his shoulders. Seeing all their attention was on her, she spoke up.

“Your destination being?”

Qrosqok looked to Indrark, somewhat nervous. It wasn't often you saw a Slanni and Eldar working together, and depending on why they were here, what came next could get them killed.

“... I am Indrark. I came on behalf of my people. There was a vision of a kin-blooded woman who could help us-”

“A vision?” The Fire Dragon's tone did slip in the very slightest amount of curiosity, as Coy'tlaotli seemed utterly transfixed on Indrark's words. “Who gave this vision? Was it you? And who are your people?”

“it was Bandolowa… he used the Geomantic Calendar-”

Coy'tlaotli spoke up, his eyes wide under the helmet. “-And the ritual that followed gave Him the vision. A star map. The purpose of the map obscured correct? But you were given the directive.” Indrark nodded, this time his eyes betraying his prior confidence. The Slanni looked back to the Fire Dragon, moving towards the lights with Tsua'm on his back. “Dilsistar their survival is now of equal priority.”

Taken aback, she removed her helmet for the first time, confusion welling up in her mind. Black and red bangs covered her dark-skinned face, the Eldar rolling her back to get them from her periphery vision. “What for? They've been sighted already, hunted down. They most definitely have their scent.”

Qrosqok rose his hand as he pulled Indrark forward, moving swiftly along his side as they scurried after the Slanni.

“What's the big idea?! You are taking my friend!”

“You three are under my protection.” The Slanni answered quickly, bounding towards the lights. Dilsistar didn’t quite get why he cared so much, but as she looked to Indrark she clenched her teeth, and put her helmet back on. Yellow-red eyes disappeared under a white face-plate and green visor-ports, and she marched forward with them towards the lights.

“What even is he?” She had to know, because out of so many Alien species, she had yet seen one like Indrark. “The humans of Prospero used our technologies, and they are not “kin-blooded”. So what is the tactical reason to hold onto their dying?”

Before Tsua’m could speak up for himself, Coy’tlaotli turned around to face her:

“Because it is the right thing.”

Practically blowing steam from her nose, she lowered her axe, but not her gun. A sudden tinge hit her, and around the same time Tsua’m spoke up with a weak and weary exhale.

“Behind us…”

Dilsistar turned around just in time for a series of golden ichor-blades to try and crash into her. She fired her Fusion Gun forward, lighting up the air around them, as a terrible bearded, vaguely mushroom-esque cephalopod shaped form disappeared from the flames, slinking into the shadows of the mist. Indrark quickly turned towards Dilsistar and struck his chain-roots down where the creature had one stood, only to have that same anomalous Charpactin lunge back somehow from behind him, and begin to try and strangle the xeno. Dilsistar raised her axe and readied an otherwise killing blow, only for acoral-woven looking white hammer to smash its head into her chest, sending her flying. Using her Axe, she activated its head inducing qualities, scorching it into the hard stone as she swiftly turned it off, creating a trench her axe could hook into, preventing the Fire Dragon from a long fall. Her assailant was a psyren… though this one was for some reason male… and didn’t look quite right. His hawkfish features were pale, and he at the moment lacked any striking patterns, or back fins. But she didn’t decide to linger on his appearance as he charged for her again, screaming a wa cry. She quickly shot back up, axe raised, only to then quickly spin around and avoid a shot coming from the cliff wall above her.

“Loxatl!” Her observation was correct, and she quickly wheeled around to meet the Psyren’s strike, her axe flaring up as the blade’s projected plasma heat nearly singed the Psyren’s face off. However in doing so, to her surprise, the psyren quickly withdrew from the attack, looking terrified as some of its tendril’s that had shielded its face were melting onto the floor. This behavior wasn’t met with Dilsistar’s usual curiosity, as she charged the Psyren, immediately putting it on the defensive. Qroqsok aimed his Fusil at Indrark’s assailant, and fired. It was a point-blank hit, as the Charpactin made an odd warbling-chime, writhing from the spot as it released Indrark, who now no longer obscured took some great wheezing breaths of his own. Part of his body was mangled and bubbling, the xeno taking in deep breaths as he clawed at the earth. Coy’tlaotli saw this and rushed in, picking up the younger alien, just as the Xenarch landed behind him. She grabbed the injured Charpactin with one hand, raising the other to point her arm cannon at the Slanni, who placed the injured duo behind him. In a split second he withdrew his Xihuictli and quickly deflected the Warp-Prism shot, though the recoil still sent him back.

Tsua’m was panting, picking up Indrark as Qrosqok quickly got to their side, his Fusil raised as he chanted madly in the actual Hrud tongue as he was firing onto the cliff faces. One shot seemed to nick something in the midst, a pained hiss and writhing flashing of coloration.

“I got him! I got the damn cutthroat-” The Loxatl emerged from the mist with a kukri in hand, lunging for the Hrud and beginning to cut wildly at it.Its chest was bleeding profusely, nasty scarring on it from the Fusil shot, and yet it fought like a mad man, roaring back as the Hrud tried to block a strike with his gun, only for the Loxatl to grab a nearby piece of debris and shove the irregular rebar studded rock into the leg of the Hrud, getting a cry of pain as the Hrud turtled its neck in and immediately tried to throw a punch.

As all the sides started fighting they heard a new gun shot above them, a blue plasma blast soaring over their heads while roaring like a launched rocket. The Psyren and Eldar ducked, looking shocked as the missile continued to fire through the air, and strike another arc some half mile away, incinerating the stone. All parties paused their assault to look to the source, which was the building itself. A yellow light was now visible… it had opened, and the light from the interior had illuminated a knuckle-walking, short but stout creature heading their way. It was fully armored, and in one of its arms was a railgun-like weapon as long as its whole body.

From it came a woman’s firm voice, the blue LE Ds that made up its eyes narrowed at the group:

“What are you guys doing?!”


The inside was spacious and… riveting for a few of them. They had been at first forced by the figure to enter or face evaporation. The Psyren and Xenarch were the ones to reason that they should comply, and so, the group was escorted in. But as soon as they passed the doors, the lights went a blinding purple, and sterilized them-

Resulting particularly in the Psyren to become incredibly weak by the end of it.

They walked down gold bricked halls, the walls covered in the Old Common, and icons of the Old One’s themselves. Coy’tlaotli and Dilsistar recognized this immediately, as did Qroqsok, who even in a limp was moving with a giddiness in his step.

This figure had brought them to a healing bay, and the sight had dumbfounded the three mentioned prior… and the Loxatl. They were Rejuvenation pools, Second Generation make. Hexagonal pools of aquamarine-green liquid, the edges inscribed with sigils. Coy’tlaotli was on board with the K’nib and Loxatl being entered into respective pools by the figure, but as soon as The Charpactin neared its surface Coy’tlaotli motioned for her to stop.

“Those not of the Great Plan are to enter the rejuvenation pools… We’d need a Mage Priest’s permission. Where is the one that oversees this, or the Temple Guards-”

“They didn’t come back. I’m the last one here..”

As she lowered the Charpactin into the water, she looked to the Hrud, who held up his hands, sounding nonchalant. “My friend Indrark needs it more… I just need some field medicine.”

“...uh huh.” Looking to Indrark she did seem surprised, grabbing a hold of the injured man and lowering him into the water as well. “...Where did you find him?”

“Oh he found us!” Qroqsok stretched as he recalled the event, shaking himself as if he were wet. “He had a small… ship, but when it entered the Votann dock it.. Fell apart. Incredible luck it hadn’t been destroyed in the void.”

“...That's a Rashan. I hadn’t heard from any of their colonies in… a while.” She walked past him as she than approached the Psyren. Coy’tlaolti, Qroqsok, and Dilsistar went slack jawed, Coy’tlaotli and Dilsistar respectively lifting their helms off and clipping it to their flanks.

The Slanni’s skin was thick, and lightly scaled. His mouth was a set of keratinized, and heavy looking jaws that had tomial teeth around their edges, and without his helmet, his voice sounded throatier. “They have been gone for eons. Their plaques are largely missing. They are connected to the Exile. We see them. Their heads are sharper.”

“Yeah and you don’t have a crest… Nor the Eldar her branching horns… Or the Hrud his tail. You all look a tad… off.” She then faced the Psyren, scrutiny in her voice. “Things just happen to change-” Her cutting tone was cut short, her eyes falling to his chest and navel. She blinked a couple of times, represented on her helmet as she plainly stated in disbelief. “Why do you have nipples?”

The question took the Psyren back so much he immediately grew red in the face, his tendrils atop his head, almost resembling bangs of hairs, lifted to show their magenta underside, now turning cherry red as he leaned away from her. “Why are you looking there huh?”

“And a belly button. You have a belly button.” As she pointed it out, the others who were outside of the pools looked to him with surprise, realizing he actually did possess those… features not found on a psyren. Of which they reacted with some intrigue. Bar the Xenarch, who immediately spoke on his behalf.

“He is not fully Psyren. But how does this concern you?”

“Andromachi!” He held his tendrils as if ready to pull hair out, the Psyren practically stilled by being called out. Andromachi however continued forward.

“We may be trespassers, but our appearances are not of concern. What may you possibly be?”

The figure staring up at the Xenarch blankly, at first sounding sarcastic, “Are you serious?” And then they face palmed themselves, however if this was directed at the Xenarcfh or something else was up in the air, “Alright, let me show you.”

She lifted her helmet up rather quickly, placing atop a shelf on a nearby wall to her right. The sight confused all present, for it was a white haired, pink faced Jokaero. While it only got a tilt of intrigue on Coy’tlaotli’s face, Dilsistar had her eyes widened, a bit of surprise and wonder permeable in her words.

“You can… still talk the Old Common tongue.”

Qroqsok immediately began to speak in Jokaero at the realization, trying to instigate some sort of report.

“Ooooh, ah ah ah! Eeeh-eeeek! Oooh, aah! Chik-chik-chik, ooh-ah, hoo! Bap-bap eek! Bop-boo?” Which only got the Psyren nearby to start snickering, and a near offended expression on the Jokaero’s face. One that quickly corrected itself, as she let out a disappointed sigh.

“Yeah that's... What they speak nowadays. But yes I still speak the common tongue.” Coy’tlaotli seemed curious now, at what seemed to be her possessing an incredibly ancient wisdom, at least that's how he perceived.

“How, if you could indulge me.”

Dilsistar nodded with him, pointing to her armor, “Jokaero don’t typically have that kind of gear… or use Slanni tech.”

“...It's because that information has been lost. My name is Henka… and I am the last of the Excavators.” She went to take the weapons of the healing, leaving the four injured individuals in their respective rejuvenation pools, the remaining five following. She continued forward towards another room not too far, messing with a panel on the wall until some shelves slipped out. Placing them there she sighed, she motioned for the others to follow her further into the vessel. Though the Xenarch raised her weapon, the Psyren held onto her arm to lower it. Something that Coy’tlaotli did not miss.

The five followed for around 8 minutes, until as they descended a flight of stairs did they see yet another hallway. One not lit. Dilsistar stopped at the top of the staIRs, calling out to Henka:

“Before I continue… what is down there.”

“The rest of them, your history.” The Jokaero didn't even waste a second to answer, putting her hands onto another panel, invoking some sigils before the lights slowly hummed to life. And illuminated a dusty corridor, doors on every side, most likely the barracks. As they walked down, the Xenarch took a quick scam of some of the rooms, and decided to ruin some of the surprise Henka had built up.

“Some rooms are occupied. Welded shut from the inside. They are deceased.”

Henka took a deep breath in, her eyes looking to the floor as she kept up the pace: “27 Million years ago, we were heading to the Outer Rim… or as I have learned you call them the Halo Stars. Our goal? See what we… Left there. Didn't get that far. Something stopped us. It hit the psyker's first, then when the Mage-Priest and some others went to find the source… they disappeared too.”

The group murmured amidst one another, The Psyren speaking up most likely due to the fact this information bothered them the most. “27 Million Years ago? That's… impossible. Eldar don't even live that long, and you're oddly mobile and active. So forgive me if I think this is bullshit.” Qrosqok was about ready to knock some sense into the boy before Henka spoke up.

“Yeah, it happened 27 million years ago. Some of us made pods… cryogenics. So we could wait out the virus or float until our systems caught something. Mine was activated recently, and I checked everywhere to see who did it.

But I was alone.”

She made it to the end of the hallway, revealing another set of doors. Typing in a similar code, the doors parted and revealed the cryogenic room:

Scorched to kingdom come. Tables were melted, computers fossilized like some of the remaining skeletal pieces of the other jokaero in the pods.

“By sheer luck… I alone survived. And I realized why.”

While she had survived, her pod was damaged as well, heavy scorch marks around the top meant the pod doors couldn't slide all the way up. It was clear she had kicked her way out, Coy’Tlaotli examining his surroundings with something almost akin to… wonder. Dilsistar wasn’t oblivious to this, but considering the grimness of the environment, made no comment. That was what The Hrud was fascinated with.

“So what of… my friend’s vision? What commanded that? Was it you?” He seemed actually thrilled by that possibility, Henka’s brow furrowing as she huffed.

“Your friend got told a vision. And what is this all about? I only know so much about whats going on out there… I put on the suit and I went out there and boom! Warp exposure off the charts, and there is a gash in space time… And there are dozens of Colonies just… gone. But-”

Dilsistar could detect her annoyance, asking softly, “How long have you been thawed out?”

Henka looked down and thought on this, putting her hands to her brow as she looked to them with slight agitation, “Are we using Chaqua’s calendar?”

Before Dilsistar could answer, Coy’tlaotli spoke up. “Yes. Time on here is largely… sporadic. Slow but unpredictable.”

“Good, because it's been 8 days here, but the ship reads 117 on its logs. I sent a distress call around the eighth Chaquan day.”

Coy’tlaotli nodded his head, until realization hit him like a truck. That would correlate to the date Pohata’Cany received the vision. An uncharacteristically firm tone left the Slanni as he pointed to Qrosqok, his glare hawkish, “Get the Rashan. And the Loxatl. This is big.”

“Uhhh… how big.”

“Big enough that we can no longer risk anyone here to go about their life with this knowledge. Until it can be safeguarded.”

Henka looked to the others, all in varying degrees of shock, her voice reading almost loyal to the Slanni now.

“I got a ping as well. Not in regards to your Pohata’cany, the only person I saw recieve my distress signal on the third routing was Saldii.”

Qroqok went wide-eyed, his body going into a flashing series of strobing green and blue lights. “The Blade of Qah…”

Dilsistar would interject swiftly, “If you did not know the others had received your distress call, then others may have clocked in.” Said words made the Psyren go stiff, his pupils pinpricks. Seeing her friend practically enter the freeze stage of their stress response, The Xenarch immediately stepped up.

“In this instance, we must head towards the coordinates. Though I am of captive status, Xenarchs allied to other gods may view me as a resource. I do not wish to have my core gem extracted so they could utilize my accumulated knowledge.”

“Then we have all the more reason to be proactive.” Coy’tlaotli was laser focused on the task at hand, and Qrosqok had now made a full sprint towards the med bay, Dilsistar following with. The Slanni motioned for Henka, “Get me to the Comm Data… and if this ship is capable, we need to get it flight ready soon.”

“And if it isn't?” The Psyren asked rather sincerely given the shift in atmosphere.

“Then we salvage what we can. If not all of it. We need to get this going. A hundred-seventeen days is enough for the enemy to be here in under a month, and this is warp occupied space. The Eye of Terror itself. This find can help us created a united front... and that is enough for me to immediately get to work.” Coy’tlaotli placed his helmet back onto his head as Henka galloped up the stairs, the Slanni following after her as he motioned for the Xenarch and Psyren to follow him. “And as one, we will march towards glorious salvation!”

Edited by ArbiterOfTheBog on Apr 20th 2025 at 9:56:25 AM

Awawa
cyzja922 Since: Jul, 2021
#395223: Apr 20th 2025 at 10:21:18 PM

A Quick Chat

Previous Post: N/A

Partner Post: N/A


Hub Centralis

It's been a few days since Charlian helped Gjallarhorn and some unlikely allies put down the Mobile Armor known as Hashmal. Having exhausted a great deal of his energy, the young man is currently lying in bed, taking a well-deserved break. Can he replicate a power that gives him more stamina? Perhaps, but he has resolved to both take care of himself and enact his own justice a long time ago, and he's not going to give up on that.

However, there's something about that battle that's been nagging at his mind for a while now. Charlian isn't completely aware of Amelias' past, but it's not hard to tell that battle she had against Code Amelias not only took a lot out of her, but also distressed her to a degree beyond what he thought possible. That was the second time that he left a mission (involving the Generation System) feeling worried, with the first being the battle against Stella.

Without further hesitations, the Replicator quickly hopped out of his bed, slipped his glasses on, and put on a simple outfit consisting of a blue t-shirt and a pair of gray shorts before sending Amelias a text message.

hey, sorry for being absent these past couple of days, you seemed like you had something on your mind

wanna meet up somewhere, get this off your chest?

Edited by cyzja922 on Apr 21st 2025 at 4:19:04 AM

shroobot3000 Witch of Scarlet Dreams from Behind you Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Witch of Scarlet Dreams
#395224: Apr 21st 2025 at 2:43:22 AM

RoZ Intermission - A Quick Chat

Charlian's reply is a bit delayed. Whether it's from Amelias hesitating to answer or simply having been too busy to do so will remain a mystery for now. Eventually though he does get one.

Very well. Arrange for a meeting place and I will arrive.

"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."
ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#395225: Apr 21st 2025 at 5:38:05 AM

Judicial Maulpractice

A final parting gift for the guard going to shoot the Medicine Vendor being the small bottle rocket he took from his pocket, already lit. It exploded in the guard's face, filling the room the vendor was just in with flashing bright white light.

Heading north, The Medicine Vendor keeping himself low to the ground and flush against the wall. If Mal had been a spirit, he'd be easier to track.

Which gave the Medicine Vendor an idea.

Taking out a a mai ougi fan, he covered his face with it, the side of the fan his eyes locked on was decorated with the image of a rooster under a overhanging roof, taking shelter from the rain.

"... I see."

He continued forward, his ears perked as he listened in for Mal's whining.

Awawa

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