A Game of Gods: A Multiversal Challenge

Even cushioned in chakra in an attempt to keep his body cool, Kimimaro was sweating, his little trick beginning to be overpowered by the ever-heating vehicle he rode in.

"Anyone have ice-based powers?" he shouted back to the other Challengers. "Our lives may depend on it."

Rey was sitting in a corner, wincing slightly, but still quiet, just trying to bear the heat. His resistance was to cold, and even being from the hot climate he was normally from, the changes he'd been through had affected that as well...a temperature he might have been able to more or less shrug off once upon a time was quite awful now.

Zod sighed, then inhaled and breathed chilled air into the confined area of the bus, modulating the temperature so as not to freeze them all solid.

At this point, I may need to get some water.

Spriggan noted what Zod was doing.

Reminds of air conditioning back home. But this heat is much worse than the tropics, even though I can handle the heat like it's nothing.

He felt sweat doing from his forehead down his neck. Granted that he was from the tropics that it was nothing. But being in a desert-based environment was different.

"Frigging desert."

edited 29th May '11 2:43:14 PM by Ominae

The frigid breath of Zod certainly did wonders to reduce the soaring in the bus, if not necessarily restore a hospitable level of humidity to the air; still, it was enough to keep anyone from succumbing to heat stroke, and that was what mattered. Dr. Langley, her focus restored by the sudden drop in temperature, swerved the bus sharply to one side in order to avoid another blast from above.

This went on for another twenty minutes, during which the burning forest began to give way to grassy plains before slowly transitioning to dry, barren wastes, when suddenly the Damocles ceased firing on them; were any of the passengers to look up through one of the windows, they would see the bright nova of a charging laser battery powering down.

"Interesting," Ravage remarked. "Now that we are at the edge of the desert, Washington must have ordered his gunners to cease firing in order to avoid causing damage to the digsite; despite the destruction he is willing to inflict on this planet, he won't risk bringing harm to the ruins or the artefact they contain."

"Interesting. So what is there that he's so desperate to keep intact?"

"He is likely planning on using the power as a springboard to positions above any single planetary posting. What is the sacrifice of one world when it will bring to his grasp dozens?"

Mason starts looking around the TARDIS.

"Or perhaps whatever cult-like belief he now follows views the ruins as a sacred necessity for this 'trial' assailing the planet."

"Pretty things...a box. A box of bad things. They'll eat our faces."

"What is it Mason?"

"Looking for a way to jump-start it."
He thought.
"If we kill a Nomad, the energy released could do it."

"Are you sure that'd even work? How do you know it's the right sort of energy?"

"Energy is energy. It can't be created or destroyed, just turns into other types of energy."

"Exactly. How can you be sure it's the right type of energy for this task?"

"We'd build a converter."

"Turning Nomad energy to arton energy. Be tough but I could do it."

"Both plausible suggestions," Dr. Langley said, her expression going hard, "and both equally valid reasons to see this artefact destroyed. I can't say precisely what Washington's goals are, but I know that humanity as a whole would want no part of them."

By this point the bus had left the raging forest fires kicked off by the orbital bombardment far behind them, and the barren, rocky wastes gradually gave way to huge dunes of sand and vast tracks of desert which stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions. The wind howled with sand and grit, and the air was filled with countless tiny pings as powerful gusts drove particles of dust and pebbles against the hull of the bus—an odd mixture of a sandstorm and hail that quickly began to wear down the hovercraft's already-tortured frame. After ten minutes, the dashboard began to let out a faint warning beep; five minutes after that, the engines began to sputter, and the bus' flight path became wobbly and erratic as sand clogged the intake fans and it began to lose power.

Another five minutes, and the bus could fly no more; its antigrav engines gave a final weak cough and died, and it dropped into a short nosedive which ended scant seconds later as they ploughed into the crest of a large sand dune and slid on, ploughing a furrow almost a hundred metres in length across the desert. Naturally, anyone not presently strapped in or otherwise secured to the floor would find themselves thrown first backwards as they skidded through the lifeless wastes, and then forwards as the bus struck a large boulder and came to a dead halt.

Once their ride had settled somewhat, Dr. Langley unstrapped herself from the pilot's chair and rose shakily to her feet, opening the bus door as she did so; a few dozen pounds' worth of sand flowed inside through the open doors, and the biting, stinging wind of the desert flowed in, forcing her to squint and cover her mouth.

"Well, we shouldn't be far now," she said, her words muffled through the fabric of her labcoat. "If my estimates are correct, we should be at most ten minutes from the digsite."

Rey followed the doctor out, flicking down the visor of his helmet to shield his face and looking around. "We are going to get lost. We need a very large flashlight. Or a very long string."

"Nothing we can do from here..."

Spriggan murmured, getting out from his seat before he followed the professor.

Hopefully this digital BDU I've changed into from the ROK one can do well in the desert environment.

He then heard Rey's call for a flashlight.

"I only got one with me, Rey. Not sure if it's okay..."

Kimimaro reached into his pack and pulled out a scroll, labelled "SANDSTORM GEAR - SCROLL 1" (well, he figured since they were heading for a desert...). He unrolled it, and in a puff of smoke six small, sturdy cloths and six sets of goggles materialized. He put a cloth over his nose & mouth, tying it loosely behind his head, and then put the goggles on over his eyes.

"Anyone else want, come and take a set" he said, his voice ever-so-slightly muffled yet still clearly understandable through the cloth covering his face.

edited 29th May '11 3:22:17 PM by DKN117

Dr. Langley wasted no time in claiming one set of goggles and cloth for herself, and quickly set about putting them on. Once they were in place and the red-headed scientist was reasonably certain that she wouldn't suddenly end up inhaling a lungful of sand due to a stray breeze, she picked up her electromagnetic crossbow, racked its slide and stepped outside.

Ravage followed a moment later, squinting slightly to protect his optics from the scouring sands; while nowhere near as fragile as the eyes of an organic, their lenses could still be damaged and rendered inoperable via erosion. Switching his vision from standard to infrared, he panned his gaze from one end of the horizon to the other, searching for any clues which might lead the group to their destination.

He got his answer mere moments later; some distance to the southeast, the Predacon could see a large cluster of heat signatures gathered together into an indistinct blob—and, though it was too far for him to tell their precise nature, the generally anthropomorphic set-up of their bodies confirmed that it was a large number of humans.

"That way," he pointed, setting off in the direction of the heat signatures. Noting that he was sinking slightly into the sand, the transmetal panther swiftly transformed into beast mode in order to distribute his considerable weight more efficiently, and then resumed padding towards what he assumed were the ruins.

Dr. Langley, who had been examining her Phi-module using some sort of compass program, turned to look as Ravage stalked away into the darkness. "That appears to be the right way, but still it could be dangerous; we should stick together."

Vanitas took one of the sets, slightly missing his helmet.

"I think it's safe to say 'dangerous' is probably a pretty big understatement after what we've been through already."

Rey started after Ravage, still muttering something about wanting a long string.

Kimimaro stuck by Dr. Langley, eyes & ears as alert as they could be in this minor sandstorm.