Revan part 2, the wanderer, Revan Options

[Lord Revan]

The rest of the pack joined them, and they progressed along the path. For the most part the bulk of the pack ignored her, moving around her and never interacting or making contact. Rhys felt their communal unity flowing about, connecting all the members.

The chief lead them further and further, the path was wide enough to equal a street in the Imperial City. Striding beside the chiefton was a raptor who possessed two antenae, it tended to hold its head slightly lower than the chief, as if in submission.
Both occasionally gave throaty chitters and intermitten rumbles to one another. Their vocalizations held no meaning to Rhys, or at least from her limited expertise in animalistic linguistics. She noticed that the pair would sometimes glance at her from the corner of their eye and then say something to the other.

Rhys could do nothing but bare their scrutiny and keep up with the pack.

Marthyn......

He came to a icy cavern enterance, the warrior paused, studying the opening critically. Nothing moved........ but Marthyn couldn't shake the feeling........ well just a bad feeling about it. Still, he resumed his march, doing his best to sense what was making him uneasy.

It wasn't until something inhuman shrieked and struck him hard on the back that he finally noticed. Dropping Revan and spinning to face his assailant, he found himself face to......what had been a face with a revolting colection of rotting flesh and mangled body parts.

In all his years, Marthyn had never seen anything like this before; it looked like something that died and came back to life after rotting in the ground for months. The bonewalker rolled its one remaining eye and made an inarticulate gaging noise.
Marthyn narrowed his eyes, whatever the hell this thing is; it's not going to strike me and live. The dead thing, waddled awkwardly toward the shiny armored figure that stood defiantly before it.

Before that thing had even made three clumsy steps, Marthyn had slamed his first through its chest. With a disgustingly graphic spectacle, his armored guantlet went through the zombie's chest. As if made only to blight the world, the undead swatted invain against his arm.
Shaking his head impatiently, Marthyn vaporized that abomination's ugly torso with an energy blast, gore and smelly yellow fluids splattered everywhere. I wish all our enemies were this pathetic...... but more clean than these wretched things The Naryyn thought sourly as he smashed a flailing hand under his boot.

Then he stumbled back two steps as something hit him in the middle of his breastplate. Now very agitated, Marthyn looked up to find even more shambling corpses...... accompanied by skeletal pieces that carried primitive weapons and shields.
A robed figure stood atop a rock, only its head was visible........ it was a half decomposed face, the thing's brains were flopping out the side of its cracked skull. It howled through a toothless mouth, one side of its manibles was hanging, ligaments gone.

In its bony hand it held a piece of wood that could have been a walking stick, but the wood glowed with recently discharged energy. Recalling he'd been hit, Marthyn inspected his breastplate, it was partially covered by a thin layer of ice.
So, you like shoot ice at people, do you? Marthyn raised his hand to aim at the lich, well, time to get a taste of your medicine! A glorious flash sprung from his guantlet, the blast blew the sorcerer apart.

Rhys......

Just shy of rounding the corner, the raptors froze, antenae held rigidly outward, feeling the environment. Rhys didn't wait for them, she activated her staff and charged into the scene. By the time she realized what was going on, she'd cleaved through three blurs that had their backs turned to her.
She stopped, and she took in the situation: twenth undead, fifteen zombies, five skeletons, one motionless form of a lich, and Marthyn with one energy blade activated.

So much for being out of danger, she thought sarcastically to herself as sheslashed a zombie into tiny pieces.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Mar 11 2007, 05:23 AM

[jack cloudy]

Hmm, normally I would worry about the strenght draining effect of the Bonewalker's magicka, yet with Marthyn's suit, I doubt it will be as effective as usual. And Rhys, she's simply untouchable. You can't hurt that which you can't even hit.

[The Metal Mallet]

Oh how I loath the strength drain spell!

Anyways, great update Revan. I was wondering when normal Morrowind fauna was going to appear once more....

[Lord Revan]

Everything that's old is making a comeback: old allies and old enemies.....
--------

The crisp air was now smothered with the unholy stench of decomposed flesh, and the inhuman shrieks of the undead minions. Rhys bisected a bonewalker as she forced her way to the center of the space before the necromancer's lair.

A single skelton stood to challenge her, it raised a rusted over mace above its head, and howled for her death. The common weakness of such creatures were their sluggish and clumsy movements. Rhys' energy blade cut through the steel weapon with ease, and she quickly slashed through the skeleton's groin as well.

To her relief, Revan appeared unharmed aside from his earlier injuries. "Marthyn, keep them busy for a little longer; I just have to revive Revan!" The warrior was holding his own quite well against the remaining spawn of necromancy, but all the same he had no time to aknowledge her.

Before starting, Rhys removed Revan's helm and placed it on his chest. Then, her hands glowing faintly, she focused on speeding up the healing process.

Marthyn......

The undead were a nuisance at best, but having fought for most of his life, Marthyn knew better than to let any foe get out of his sight for all but the shortest time. Bones shattered like sticks under his enhanced strength, and flesh burned by his blades' edges.
During a brief lull of ten second, he picked up a blade that was only a foot shorter than he was and decided to experiment with it. Though he was certain this weapon was meant to be weilded two-handed, Marthyn's guantlet took up all the blade's hilt.

Marthyn swung the claymore with blinding speed, and the unfortunate bonewalker that became his test-subject was cut neatly in half at the waist. The survivors, term used loosly, hesitated long enough for Marthyn to find another tool to end their suffering with.
The weapon had a large head that he could only assume was used to hit things with, which, in turn, was mounted on a long shaft for the wielder to hold. Grinning menacingly, Marthyn brought down the warhammer on a fearful skeleton.

As if on reflex, the skeleton went through the trouble of raising its shield....... pity really. The yellow-gold tower shield broke like brittle glass under the dwarven warhammer. Now defenseless, the skeleton quivered.......
Marthyn's armor whirred and propelled the one ton warrior ten feet high. When the hammer landed there was a snapping sound, but it wasn't just bones that broke. Bringing the weapon closer to inspect it, Marthyn realized he'd broken the head off the hammer, as for the shaft....... it was bent back to a 38 degree angle.

With a shrug, he tossed the useless metal stick away, then he looked back to check of Rhys' progress.

Rhys.....

In her limited use of restoration, Rhys was able to set all of the broken bones and get them all at least halfway mended. All the bleeding had been stopped, so now she had to get Revan back. Placing he hand on his cheek, Rhys reached over to his consciousness. "Revan......."

Revan.....

The world was an unending void, it was nothing...... not pain, not warm or cold...... Then a change occured, a sound, a voice calling him back to the real world. Steadily he felt a warmth caress his face and then the cold air coming down his throat.

Revan opened his eyes, then closed them against the glare of sunlight. He opened them more cautiously, and Rhys smiled back at him. The next sensation was a brief but intense lance of pain along his back and he winced.
Rhys muttered apologetically, "I'm afriad, I'm not the healer I used to be. You should be able to walk at least."
"Don't worry, you're better than nothing." He added, sincerly, "much better than nothing."

Her grin broadened but before she could reply, another voice called to them. Another familiar voice, "Did you just feel that?"
Revan looked past Rhys to see that disiple from the Order, my brother? The moments leading up to being injured ran through his mind again. No, not brother...... he's my step brother. Rhys turned back to him, and stopped him as he tried to get up.

"If you break those bones again then all my effort into setting them was worthless wouldn't it?" Rhys pulled him to his feet, and slung his arm around her shoulders.
"I asked 'did you two hear tha-'" Marthyn was cut off by a sudden blood-curdling shriek.

A large creature landed in between them and Marthyn, its body was covered by glasslike armor, it had an elongated head, three long, grasping, claws on its fingers, and four slited eyes that looked over all three Naryyn like a predator would look upon prey.
The monster lifted its large maw to the sky and loosed another terrifying shriek......

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Mar 15 2007, 03:04 AM

[jack cloudy]

Eh, trouble. Hmm, that armour really is something, that it allows him to break Dwarven weapons like that.

[The Metal Mallet]

This looks like one of those creatures from the hanger or whatever have appeared again. Let's see how Marthyn handles this thing....

[Lord Revan]

On his display, Lt. Thane noticed the evac for the survivors had arrived. Nodding to himself, he turned and neared the edge of the escarpment with the intent of joining the vehicles, but stopped suddenly. He played back the noise, a faint screech; Thane ran it through the databanks for a match...... nothing.

Next he checked the origin of the call, northwest. He lingered for an unknown amount of time, then shrugged, his armor duplicating the motion. I have no standing orders against scoping this out, best to keep this off record though.

With his new personal initiative, Thane's suit vaulted into the air, arcing 10 meters before changing course. His thruster packs roared as they struggled against the gravitational pull of the planet. Then two tons of metal, Naryyn, and weaponry impacted the ice below.
The ice buckled under the sudden meteor strike; Thane looked over his suit's status. Nothing was knocked loose, the mortar was still ready for action, missile launcher intact, and the plasmathrower's fuel-line hadn't ruptured; all was in perfect working order.

Naturally he could run and save power, but where was the fun in that? The golden dreadnaught hunched forward slightly, the drive thrusters hissed as they warmed up. Snow was whipped up by the charging scram-jets.
Linked directly to the power cells, the main thruster pack blazed electric blue. Seconds ticked by, Thane waited two seconds longer than necessary before hitting the release. A heartbeat, then the 885th trooper exploded forward, leaving a swath of melted snow and boiling water in his wake.

Darhun......

The Ascendants stood, floated in some cases, inert, Darhun swallowed to relieve his dry throat. "Greetings, brother and sisters, I, Severin, liege subject of Lord Arastus, have come to offer aid to you.” In his short life, Darhun had not interacted with many of the ascended, but he knew that they spoke through gesture and telepathy.

This Severin's mental voice was comparable to crackling embers of a long burning hearth. The Darn Naryyn Ascendant raised his arms in a gesture of good-will to the Naryyn gathered. Xaries began to move past him, Darhun could tell he was anxious, but the leader resumed his air of authority to set an example.

"Wise vassal of Arastus, I am Xaries, commander of the High Naryyn Naval Forces. We are all that remains of the original force sent by the Council from which we are all sworn allegiance to." Xaries had cast aside the fatigue and stress of the past month, being strong for his subordinates.

"Xaries of the High Naryyn, my liege lord offers you and yours solace amongst our own. Lord Arastus also extends our aid in the struggle against the rogue fleet.” The soldiers around Darhun relaxed at the thought of aid.

"Inform your liege lord that we readily welcome your aid with open arms. There are possibly others scattered throughout the region who might be able and willing to fight as well." Now Severin relaxed, his pauldrons lowered, eyes dimmed a fraction.

The Ascendant bowed, "if there are others then they shall be sought out.” Severin turned his gaze skyward, and several more vessels appeared out of thin air like Revan and Rhys could. The ships scattered scouring the landscape for other survivors.

Rhys…..

Hissing menacingly, the monster made several bounding steps toward them. Revan slowed her down considerable, but leaving him was out of the question. Rhys looked around for something, anything that could give them an advantage, but she knew, deep down, that if the last time they’d faced one of these things was any reminder, there was nothing short of a powerful explosion could stop it for more than a few moments.

Suddenly the charging creature slammed to the ground, Marthyn standing behind it with his two hands clasped together in an improvised club. “Get going, I’ll catch up later!”

Revan was about to voice a protest when Rhys shoved both of them further away from the downed beast. “We can’t afford to die here; we’re still fighting a war, Revan!”
He stopped struggling, accepting the stakes being too high to proceed with this suicidal battle.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered.
Revan replied in the very same tone, “Yeah, I am too.”
Both vanished from sight.

Marthyn……

As the two Iso Naryyn fled, he turned his attention back to his opponent. The vargukei rose from its sprawl, making its characteristic hissing snarl of aggression. Marthyn stepped back, moving out of range of the giant insect’s claws.

It came to its full height, its eyes possessed intelligence, but no conscience behind it ferocity. Wings appeared from its back and buzzed a supersonic drone as they beat faster and faster.
Crouching low, it launched itself bodily skyward. Marthyn kept a watchful eye on the black shape, knowing vargukei swooped down to smash their prey from above. Inwardly, the warrior knew this was all pointless; his command of psychic and energy attacks was not at all effective against the beast’s reflective hide. On his own strength, perhaps he could triumph, but that would require grounding the vargukei…….. permanently.

Revan…….

Silence hung between them like a cloud, not because of ill feeling toward one another, but in a form of reverence to Marthyn’s sacrifice. He intended to kill me, but not for ill reasons. In other circumstances, it could be an unjust pursuit; honor was at stake, and it was his honor to reclaim........

“But you didn’t deserve to die either. You can’t choose the situation surrounding your birth.” Revan didn’t meet her gaze, but Rhys did not yield. “And Markus did not intend to create these conflicts.”

Now he looked her in the eye, and Rhys was quieted. “How can you possibly know what he ‘intended’?”
She snapped back at him, “I don’t but neither do you, so you have no right to call me the fool, Revan!”

They stopped walking, glaring furiously at one another. “Yes, I don’t know of his intent,” he said finally in a more civil tone. “And by now we should both realize intent matters little compared to the result.”

“Like right now?” she asked calmly.
“Like right now,” Revan answered with an amiable grin.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Mar 16 2007, 12:29 AM

[jack cloudy]

Go Marthyn, go Marthyn.

It looks like the alliance is about to be formed which is good. Marthyn is ready to ground the Vargukei and the required explosive is on its way. All in all, things don't look so bad now.

[The Metal Mallet]

Marthyn seems like a capable warrior. I'm sure he'll pull off the victory. Nice sense of tension going on here Revan.

[Lord Revan]

Time and time again the vargukei swooped down from above, Marthyn managed to evade its thrashing claws every time. However he had yet to get close to making progress, the monster was faster than any would give it credit because of its size.
It took too long for him to get ready for Marthyn to make an effective counter-strike. This has gone on long enough, forget being prepared there has to be a better way than trying to swat it out of the air.......

Marthyn caught a glimpse of the cavern the undead had ambushed them from minutes earlier. Minutes? It seems like hours, but that's not what is important! With a crude plan in mind, the Naryyn rushed as fast as his augmented speed and armor could carry him.

No sooner did Marthyn reached the cave did his plan come together....... the vargukei dive-bombed him from behind. Rolling to avoid crippling his armor, Marthyn spun and vaulted over the beast. As he regained his footing, the vargukei turned to face its prey.
Although one would believe it impossible the creature's four eyes widened as its mistake became understood. When it had knocked Marthyn into the cave it had thrown itself into confined quarters, without space it could no longer take flight. And now the Naryyn warrior stood between it and its advantage.

Roaring in rage it charged toward Marthyn, if the prey dodged then it would have its advantage again, but meeting its charge was hardly practical, at least in its experience.
Marthyn stood his ground, eyes closed, breathing steadily.
He called upon all his reserves of energy, bracing for the moment that would win or lose the battle.

As the vargukei came within striking distance with its rapier claws, Marthyn came out of his trance. He saw the vargukei and yet did not see it; the power running through him also blurred his senses.
In his time amongst Iso Naryyn disciples Marthyn had learned to further enhance his strength, speed, and endurance by converting his powers into a form readily useful to his body.

This training would either save him our kill him; it would serve its appointed task. Marthyn raised his right arm and struck the ice below his feet…….. The floor buckled and shattered, fragments burst above and away from the strike.
The vargukei collided with the ceiling, pinned by the slivers of ice that impaled its body; its decapitated head rested on the floor, frozen with a look of disbelief.

Marthyn collapsed, his life expended, even in the face of unimaginable weakness and exhaustion he grinned victoriously. Too bad I won’t live to enjoy regaining my honor........... but this is good enough.......
Everything faded, there was no weakness, no triumph, and no cold ice on his face, only blessed darkness of death…………

Thane………

After ten minutes of constant burn, he finally paused to allow the abused engines cool. Not that giving his thrusters a break meant he was taking one too; Thane could proceed quickly enough without them.

He made long, bounding steps over the snowy landscape, his eyes scanning along with his sensors, tech can miss things that your eyes can’t or something like that. It was even more true at this moment in time.
What I would do to get a link to those things’ combatnet...... He was certain some royalhelm had already thought about the possibility of hijacking the enemy’s command net.

Someone’s probably beating their helmet against a bulkhead right now because they can’t keep tabs on all of us. Naturally, Thane was where he wasn’t supposed to be, but since when had that ever stopped an 885th legionnaire? Absolutely never!

As the legionaire rounded the bend, and stopped dead. Thane blinked several times to insure he wasn't seeing things. "Oh boy......"
They were milling around the basin, thirty giant insect things. Each was almost as large as his armor made him, and that was big. "Well, who let the ugly-buggy beasties out?" Thane asked the air in a nervous voice.

Very few things put a dent in the spirit of a true member of the '85th airborne, but Thane had trouble swallowing his fear. Ok, no worries, just ease on back the way you came and those things won't even notice.
He took one step backward, then slipped on the now uncovered layer of ice that rested beneath the snow. Thane didn't have to hear their sceeches of outrage or see them leering at him to realize he'd been discovered. Anyone could have heard the ice breaking beneath his suit for three klicks.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! As the legionaire struggled to his feet, thirty vargukei took to the air, their beating wings creating an angry buzzing noise worse than anything readily imaginable.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Mar 16 2007, 04:04 AM

[Lord Revan]

Discarding his surprise and fear, Thane braced for his first strike. His laser targeting system painted the ten closest attackers, each highlighted by a rotating crosshair and a single dot that indicated a firing solution.
The legionnaire’s finger hovered over the trigger, no, save the ammo for when they can’t miss. Even at a 100 meter distance there was little doubt the “crusher” slugs would find their target, but Thane didn’t want to settle for anything less than a perfect shot at the moment.

Thrusters 75% cooled, just have to settle for bursts, the distance closed rapidly as beating wing and advanced thrusters brought the opponents together. Thirty-five meters from the nearest insectoid, Thane catapulted at 56 kilometers per hour.
Synthesized metal alloy collided with organic glass carapace.

The collision nearly cancelled out the armor-clad warrior’s momentum, but both bodies were thrown fifteen meters forward from the point they met. Thane lay stunned in his suit; all he knew besides the haze was a flurry of bright lights and the whooshing noises as the other creatures passed overhead.

The titan groaned as it rose to its feet, its former foe lay beneath it, shattered and leaking ichor. The confusion cleared and the Naryyn pilot finally took notice of the warning lights that glowed evilly on his HUD.
A schematic of his armor sprung to life, most areas were tinted orange or yellow with minor damaged, but his lower left torso blinked red and white indicating a breach in hull integrity!

His suit complained as Thane attempted to straighten, the visual scanners in the cranial unit that acted as the armor’s “eyes” swiveled to study the lower torso. Two of the creature’s long rapier claws were imbedded in the motors that allowed for movement in the mid-lower regions.
Suddenly the image was swallowed up by two sets of claws, then the entire suit and Thane with it, toppled backward. Several of the insectoid attackers stood over their prey, ready to dissect the 885th soldier.

Rhys…….

After their brief exchange, the two Iso Naryyn cast aside the hostility of the minutes earlier. Her railgun sat slung over her shoulder, beside her energy staff. “We’ll definitely need to use that before we find safe haven.” Revan pointed out.

Nodding in agreement, Rhys replied. “Yes, melee combat would be healthy to avoid for the time being.” Frankly, out of all High Naryyn technology, the railgun was the only piece she couldn’t appreciate.
Back in the day, Rhys had avoided bows and thrown weapons and relied upon stealth to get within blade distance. Still, the railgun was a high-precision weapon that could easily strike at enemies farther than she could ever strike otherwise. It seemed foolhardy to not carry a ranged weapon in this current conflict.

Revan…….

His afflictions were less noticeable by now, but a jab of protest ran up his spine with every step. “Yeah, I’m near useless right now. Might be able to handle firing from a prone position but walking on my own without breaking my bones again is a doomed venture.”

Rhys gave him a warm amused look. “Well, at least I know you won’t go charging an orc and wasting my effort in reviving you.”
Revan resisted the impulse to shrug and simply stated. “Anyway, thanks for healing me, sevra.”

She cocked an eyebrow, “Isn’t that just minimizing?”
“Thank you, Ahtre’Mehrah,” he amended. Sevra was a non-exclusive term, by calling Rhys a ‘life companion’ Revan was affirming a higher relationship than comradery or friendship.

A series of shrieking calls emanated from the next bend of the trail. “Just when you thought we’d seen the last of them,” Rhys remarked wearily.
Revan sighed; both had hoped that they wouldn’t have to fight. “We’d better check this out; maybe save whoever is in trouble.”

“Sure, let’s risk everything to rescue at best the few people out here in the wilderness while we can’t even defend ourselves adequately.” She muttered sarcastically. Before he could press here, Rhys began moving them again. “Fine, maybe we’ll find the raptors again.”

[Lord Revan]

Upon topping the next rise, both Naryyn gave pause. At least twenty-five of those insect things were crowded around some fifteen meters from their hill.

Neither dared to speak, for fear of revealing themselves took precedence over curiosity. Rhys looked to Revan, “Should we sneak away and wait until they leave or-”
A sickening cracking sound cut her off, both turned to see on of the creatures lift high off the ground. The five hundred pound beast fell back, a metal slug the size of a scrib imbedded in the remains of its chest.

All the others jumped away, revealing the object of interest. The armor’s architecture matched that of High Naryyn manufacture. This specimen was five or six times as large as the typical trooper’s set.
It clawed at the snow around it, trying to gain leverage; its waist area had three spines jammed into it. Most of the creatures kept a respectful distance, but some pounced back onto the soldier, pinning it to the ground.

Suddenly the pile of metal and glass carapace disappeared in a burst of heat and flame. One of the three beasts fell backwards; its glass armor was melted all over, flesh beneath was charred.
Of the remaining, they joined the others evaluating the wounded, but clearly treacherous prey.

“What should we do?” Revan worked his jaw, contemplating. “Once we reveal ourselves those things will bring down Aetherius to get a hold of us.”

“We can’t just let them kill whoever is piloting that suit!” She countered, adopting a determined look.
For a few more moments he said nothing, then Revan relented. “Do you have something in mind?"

Revan......

After setting him down, Rhys unslung her railgun. The five foot long, the energy/projectile hybrid’s barrel and firing mechanism pulsed electric blue.
“You’re absolutely sure you can do this, Rhys?” Naturally, there wasn’t any reason to ask again; she was committed. Rather than reply, Rhys simply crouched beside him, shouldering the weapon and sighted through the holographic scope.

His bond partner became a fountain of certainty and calm; this would either work or would end with them inside the vargukei’s stomachs.

Revan relaxed, laying flat on the hill, and closed his eyes. He released several psychic pings, which would hopefully summon the raptors…… that was if they were nearby.

Rhys.......

The scope flashed as it was activated, and the hulking forms of her targets jumped forward. Her temples throbbed with each of Revan’s calls, it was hard to describe, not like when they spoke telepathically.
That required concentration, if only a small amount, this was a broadcast. There was the possibility that the vargukei would become aware of them because of the psychic signal.

“I bet even non-telepaths could get a headache from this after awhile......” Rhys allowed intuition to guide her, shifting the railgun thirty degrees to the right of the nearest bug.
A javelin of fire lanced from the muzzle, and the air around the target’s head ignited. Luck certainly was on her side, the armored terror stumbled; then its knees gave beneath it.

In response to the sneak attack all the creatures turned toward the incendiary rounds origin. Rhys fired a second time, her target’s elongated head tore apart in the ensuing explosion.
“You see now? Their armor protects them from exterior damage, but hit them between the mandibles and they’re helpless.” She proclaimed smugly.

Revan could only nod, redoubling his efforts to summon aid. Rhys managed to blow another one’s head off, but they were ducking their heads, no longer allowing for a headshot.

Thane.......

When suddenly all the giant insects turned to face some unseen foe, he blinked surprised at the much needed reprieve. Thane paused, touching his middle and index finger to his temples as the nerves thrummed in response to some force beyond his comprehension.

He ignored the strange sensation, his armor groaned and squealed in protest, but he managed to get a good look at the bugs’ backs.
His targeting system selected the retreating forms; Thane noticed the blue explosions that impeded the monsters’ progress. Looks like a sniper with a railgun, I’ve got to remember to thank them.

Furiously hitting the firing control, his shoulder-mounted “Slingshot” anti-armor projectile launcher fired a dozen slugs the length between his elbow and shoulder.
Thane grinned in a satisfied manner, as the dumb-fired projectiles devastated those beasts. Half of the vargukei lay dead or dying on the now crimson smeared snow.

Those that remained were exiting his field of fire; Thane fumed. If only I had shot that first one, then I'd be able to hit those things with my energy mortar! As much as he hated to admit it, his suit was useless now, just deadwieght.
"Really sorry to leave you our here like this." He muttered as he toggled the fusion core's safeties off. A small timer appeared on the every single holoscreen. 3:54......

Sighing, Thane keyed open the hatch and leaped out of the defunct armor. "Hey, come on you ugly-buggy monsters, I'm just an unarmed pilot; don't be shy!" He yelled emptying his sidearm's clip into the remaining beasts. Come on, you know you want to tear me apart......

[The Metal Mallet]

Thane oughta be careful. Those things can tear ya limb from limb! I have a feeling Rhys will clean the rest up though.

Good work Revan.

[Lord Revan]

Sorry for the wait, but we're preping for TAKS Tests so we have to be careful not to get snowballed (very behind on schoolwork).
----------

The vargukei hesitated with a moment of indecision between the sniper and the loud man. It was long enough for Revan to act on his resources.
Priming an odd, cylinder-shaped explosive he’d plundered from the High Naryyn prison, Revan lobbed the tube at the center of the cluster.

There was a brief cracking sound, and the air filled with shrieks of protest. Those vargukei in the center flailed their limbs madly; they were partially encased in a shell of ice.
Rhys gave a nod of approval as her rifle’s ammo cartridge clicked and fell to the ground. The snow sizzled on contact with the smoldering disc. “Unfortunately, that was my last round.”

Suddenly both felt and heard the approach of the raptor pack. Their bodies blurred against the background as the rushed past. Oblivious to the Naryyn, they scattered and evaluated the larger creatures. Cautiously remaining out of range from those that were not bound by a frozen prison.

Some would leap near, bobbing their heads, then leap back before the lumbering behemoths could strike back. This continued for an unknown period of time, probably three minutes, until either Revan, Rhys, or Thane could grasp their strategy.
Slowly the raptors were herding the vargukei toward the downed battle armor. “Why are they going there?” Revan asked, knowing Rhys would not have an answer.

Thane……

It seemed that the other troopers were doing all they could to keep the vargukei’s attention. And they certainly have the firepower to do that.....
Suddenly a group of squat, bipedal predators appeared.

Thane raised his sidearm, but the hollow click! Reminded him he’d emptied his meager supply of ammo. Darn, I might actually die!
That was something, among their number the 885th held vast reserves of positive attitude. To admit the harsh reality was a rare occurrence except for new volunteers.

Then he realized the creatures were ignoring him, focusing completely on the large bug things. His mission clock chimed, and it dawned on him. I’m still standing beside a nuclear fusion drive that’s set to blow in a matter of seconds.....

Without a trace of grace, Thane ran, well, stumbled, trying hard to get out of the blast zone of his own trap. The grey, scaled form of one of the raptor creatures darted past him agilely.
Suddenly, he was lifted of his feet by an intense wave of heat and expanding gasses. The white snow and orange and red morning sky flashed past his eyes as he tumbled.

Finally after an eternity of blistering flames and dizzying spins, he met the embrace of melted snow, and darkness covered the white blanket.

Rhys....

What happened was a slur of light pressure and stress. First, the chieftain’s hissing voice rattled her mind. “Get down!”
Then, she and Revan had leapt to the side opposite of all the fighting. Something akin to a thunder clap at point-blank rang through the morning air, and then everything was blotted out by radiant red haze that washed over and through them.

A horrible but familiar stench accompanied the air as she took a deep breath. Rhys opened her eyes to find herself in the bedroom a shabby house.
Despite the many years she’d seen or sat in this messy room, these things were just as familiar and comfortable as the elegant, towering spires of the Marhun Kar village.

She threw open the door to the shack, the city of Bravil greeted her. Unbidden, a smile spread across her face. It was the same mud pit she'd left behind nearly a century ago. "Rhys," her heart skipped a beat.

Marching across the bridge was a young man, in his mid-thirties, wearing chainmail armor with the emblem of Bravil proadly displayed on it. The man approached her; they embraced. Tears filled her eyes, and Barrik wiped them away and kissed her paternally on her forehead.

"I've missed you so much, Rhys." He said, she could only nod in responce. Barrik's grin broadened, "Look at you, after all these years, you've one better than I ever could have."

"Yo- you're not real," Rhys replied hoarsely, eyes clenched tightly shut.
"Well, you're half-right." He answered; she could see his expression without looking. Barrik had dropped his grin, and ran his hand through his hair as was his habit. "I'm not a hilucination, but we are right here."

He indicated his point by resting his hand on her head. Rhys opened her eyes, willing to accept what he had to say. "I'm afraid our time together will be quite brief, so I'll summarize what I need to tell you."
They both sat down, legs dangling over the river that acted as Bravil's sewage system.

"On the day that we raided the ruins north of Bravil for bandits, I died. But for some reason, I couldn't enter Aetherius." Barrik began, "I became something of a specter, not a ghost that can harm people, but like a restless spirit. Eventually, I came to the attention of the Deadra, Mephala and Nocturnal."

"The Webspinner saw the reasons surrounding my death, and those who I had influenced during my life. Nocturnal knew more than she told me; anyway, the Deadra knew something was going to happen, something that involved you, Rhys."

The tears had faded, now she simply nodded, prompting for her adoptive father to continue. "Contrary to my original misgivings, neither Deadra asked anything of me, well, technically I'm just a pawn, but I don't look at it that way. They told me that you were involved with some otherwordly conflict that had to do with your........ actual race"

Rhys answered when Barrik went silent. "Yes, I looked like some Dunmer-Imperial half-breed, but the truth was far from it."
The specter nodded satisfied by her answer. "I was sent to you with the purpose of a final act of readying you for what is to come."

She asked, "What do you mean?"
He replied solemnly, "I can't explain it, but let my last words to you be worth something worth more than a monologue." Barrik took her hand, "Whatever those heathen gods have in store, I want you to survive and live out your life as you want to, not what some diety or monarch decides it should or shouldn't be."

They embraced one last time, "Thank you, Father."
Barrik whispered, "Remember, and live happily."

The sky lost color, the building lost texture, and finally the guardsman that had raised her dissappeared. "I won't forget, not a single moment." Rhys swore resolutely before even the white background evaporated.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Mar 28 2007, 04:07 AM

[The Metal Mallet]

That was quite an interesting "vision". Hopefully we'll understand Barrik's somewhat cryptic message in the coming updates. And hopefully everyone survives that blast as well

[Lord Revan]

Chapter 18: Banding Together

Slowly, feeling returned to her limbs, feeling of fighting over the past few days pressed upon her tired body. How many times have Revan and I been knocked out, or nearly killed trying to survive?

Rhys opened her eyes, taking note of the Iso Naryyn architecture around her. The cavernous chamber appeared to be an infirmary of some kind; many “beds” like the one she was lying on now were spread about the room. Beside each was a meter tall pedestal, many had Iso Naryyn healers hovering over them, holograms hovered centimeters above the active pedestals.

Further observation was interrupted when a healer appeared by her pedestal, a holographic board appeared that showed her vitals and injuries. The healer finally looked up from the display and nodded warmly. “I don’t see any problems with getting back up; any weakness or nausea should pass quickly.”

Rhys realized that he had answered the first question everyone asked when they regained consciousness. She rose to a sitting position, “How long has it been since we were found?”
The healer looked thoughtfully for a moment. “Almost five and a half hours, the Marhun Kar were located by this frigate shortly after they found the site of the explosion.”

A thought entered her mind, “Frigate? This is a ship?”
“Yes, welcome to the Nomadic Defense a frigate under the cruiser Infinite Sojourn. We launched from Xarmanca forty years ago, and only days ago we located Nirm.”

Incredulously, Rhys asked, “You’ve been flying on this ship for forty years?”
The healer nodded, seeming amused at her surprise. “Correct, every member of the Defense’s crew has lived on this vessel for since its departure. That’s what happens when you volunteer for an expeditionary fleet and then some.”

Rhys was speechless at the idea of serving on one ship continuously for so long, yet the healer appeared content with the prospect. “Do you get paid to do his? What of your family?”

The healer was caught off guard; a look of surprise crossed his face. “Paid? There is no currency to get paid with! When one never has something, then they can’t lose it, we all serve for the good of our brethren, that is payment enough.”

He calmed down and continued, “My family lives on Clethair, like most of the fleet, I do not have a mate to wait for me at home. Those few that do are members of the same fleet, some on different ships, but in this fleet all the same.”


Afterwards the healer gave her a set of new robes, seeing as her old pair was destroyed in the explosion, and pointed Rhys in the direction of someone who’d wanted to speak with her.

Though she hoped it was Revan, Rhys knew that he was not in any better condition than she was. Still she was not as disappointed when she found Darhun wandering about. “Rhys, I’m overjoyed to see you reasonably unharmed!” He greeted her warmly.

Returning his warmth, Rhys replied. “Likewise, my friend, how did you end up here?”
Darhun’s grin broadened, “Clan is the most important thing to our people; I demanded that I be placed on the same ship as my friends and family.”

“The last few hours have been hectic, there have been engagements with the Rogue Fleet, more lands have been devastated by the fighting, and the Rogue Fleet left Vardenfell for Skyrim!”

Rhys blinked, Vardenfell was no longer a battlefield? “What happened?”
Darhun’s smile faded, he shifted his weight uneasily from foot to foot. “I think it would be better to show you; follow me.”

Satith.....

"Revert in two minutes," a metallic voice announced over SHIP-COM. Satith stood silently at the edge of his elevated platform. Everyone, marines, pilots, and even the naval personel were tense, no one knew if they would appear in friendly space or not.

If things went according to plan, then they would make immediate contact with the Dominance, and the combined fleet would movbe to retake the planet and deal with any heretics. 'The best laid plans,' as they say...

"Five..... four..... three.... two...... one!" Beyond the viewport space flashed brightly as the Armet and its entourage came into existance. The sphere of Nirm dominated their viewport, the green-blue world spun serenely despite the turmoil it caused.

"Dominance and Hunter detected, both in orbit of the red moon." Satith shook his head, ship-based artificial constructs were a rarity, normally reserved for installaitions and shipyards of incredible importance.

However, rank certainly had its advantages. The Armet had a single AI at its disposal, and that was something. Construct 853-702 was a "false" AI, only twenty existed, but all the other hundreds were "true" AIs.

"False" and "true" were misleading, at least in Satith's opinion. True AIs were extremely limited, portable and simple, but strictly programmed so they were incapable of accomplishing more then their estimated potential.
False AIs were less restricted, though not devoid of limits, their existance was a doomed one.
Construct 853-702 was directly integrated into the Armet's systems, meaning it could not be removed. The Patriarchs had always been concerned (to the point of near paranoia) of a non-restricted AI going rogue and becoming a threat to the absolute control over the lesser races.

Satith didn't see why it was such a problem, restricting an AI to a single vessel seemed enough to him, but limiting its potential to fulfill its purpose was almost foolhar-
"Admiral? We've hailed the Dominance and repair on both vessels are 89% complete. We are ready to retake the world."

The Construct's report tore him from his brooding, yet Satith nodded and moved to address The others personally.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Apr 7 2007, 08:23 PM

[jack cloudy]

Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh. (Darth Vader Empire theme)

The Empire strikes back. Sorry, that's the feeling I got at the end of this update. Quite fascinating interior on that frigate. And the explanation of the AI's was nice as well.

[Lord Revan]

Empire Strikes Back is rather appropriate, I'm also shooting for something like the counter-invasion of Harvest in Halo.

Well, Nirm won't come out of this unscarred..... Maybe a few broken limbs and some very nasty bruises.

[Lord Revan]

In the troop bays of the High Naryyn cruiser Armet, five hundred and fifty marines stood in orderly rows, decked out in the latest powered battle armor. The room shone with the sky-blue lights of the suits’ power cells.

All were organized by squads, some carried repeaters, others carried railguns, and all sported assault rifles. Unlike the forces they were reinforcing, these soldiers were fresh, rested, and well-supplied.
Five squads detached and took their places on the elevator that would ferry them to the hanger, to their dropships for deployment. As they departed, another five gathered on the next elevator.

No speeches, not today, everyone just needed to follow orders for this theatre. Speeches were for after they won. The glory monologues, their favorite kind.

Norik…..

As the Hunter and Dominance formed up with the new fleet, the holoprojector winked to life. The miniature image resolved into Admiral Satith, at first Norik didn’t pay the admiral any attention.

He watched the cruisers, frigates, and carriers grow as they approached. The Armet lead the fleet, it dwarfed the other ships easily. Its shape was akin to an elongated teardrop. Two fin-shaped outcroppings ran along its lateral sides meeting only at its aft.

The smaller frigates flying around it gave the impression of a swarm of sharks trailing a leviathan. The carriers flew slightly behind, due to their more drastic propulsion-to-mass ratio.

“Envoy, focus on the task at hand not my fleet.” Norik fixed the older Naryyn with the look of menace that caused most officers to quake in their armored shells. The admiral seemed unimpressed with his theatrics.
“As we were discussing earlier, our main objective is to retake the planet; all other objectives are secondary to annihilating the Rogue Fleet.” Satith paused, “These directives came from the councilors themselves.”

Norik clenched a fist at the not so veiled condescension in Adm. Satith’s statement. The lead ships began their descent into Nirm’s atmosphere, their burnished gold hulls glowed as they descended.

Almost instantly a particle beam blasted through a frigate, the ailing vessel tore apart as the extreme pressures of reentry took its toll on its hull. Norik narrowed his eyes as the impact of the frigates crew pounded his brain.
Ankrus......

Satith’s fleet rained fire on the beam’s origins, the Dominance banked thirty degrees to give the enemy the benefit of a broadside. Beside the holopanel used exclusively to provide a tactical map for combat Ankrus stood hunched watching as the Armet’s AI fed data to the Dominance’s navigations and weapons stations.

Two more frigates, symbolized by tiny “x”s, disappeared as they too were blasted out of the sky. Ankrus privately mourned the deaths of his fellow soldiers, but he banished the sorrow.

The Rogues had the upper-hand because, due to standard protocol, every vessel lowered their shields for reentry to save energy. Now, they had to wait until they slowed down to reactivate them.
The Dominance synced with the AI’s targeting solution and fired in unison with the rest of the fleet. Particle beams converged on the supposed enemy position....... fire blossomed below as the Rogue ship paid for its treachery.

The fleet slowed, now inside the planet’s atmosphere. All warships reactivated their precious shields and scanned the local airspace. While his officers worked to find the rest of the Rogues, Ankrus was momentarily distracted by a large object.

As the Dominance swung past the monument he managed to get a better look at it. Its base was located in the middle of a circular city on a lake, from the half-sphere foundation it stretched to almost 300 or so feet high.
It appeared to be constructed completely of stone, and because it was made by a vastly primitive race, Ankrus found it impressive.

The lake around the island was releasing clouds of steam from the partially melted slag that lay immersed in it.

Satith......

The Armet and its attendant flock of carriers and frigates push northward from the city they’d passed on entry. Satith had ordered the Dominance and hunter to hold the city, which he suspected was the capital of this land.

Two flights of dropships departed their battle group and moved to rendezvous with the secondary battle group (Dominance and Hunter). Satith had made his decision partly because he wanted the “holy hand of the council” as far away from the fleet as possible with overstepping his bounds.
Another reason was because if that city was a capital then Satith wanted to make his wishes to stay out of his army’s way so they could do their jobs.

Imperial City.....

Dozens of flying machines landed in every district. All colored a lustrous gold not too different from dwemer architecture. Hatches open and squads of eight heavily armored things march out and form a phalanx of solid armor and weaponry outside their transports.

On Green Emperor Way, five such squads make their way into the Imperial Palace. The Royal Guards are promptly made to stand aside through brute force alone.
The Naryyn troopers keep their eyes on the natives, almost daring them to challenge their superiority. Behind the first wave more dropships land and deposit troops to form a perimeter around the palace entrances.

Among these troops, strides two distinguished individuals, one wears more decorative armor with a radiant red-gold sash lying on his pauldrons, paired with a matching garment draping from his waist to his knees.
The other wears thicker armor than his soldiers, it is a wonder they can move, let alone so fluidly in such heavy armor. This one is obviously the commander, the soldiers move with greater precision and efficiency as these two walk by.

Not a shot was fired, not a life was lost or taken, yet the city was theirs. They could hold it, if anyone challenged them it would be at the attacker’s own expense......

[The Metal Mallet]

And so the invasion begins. Wonderfully described Revan.