Wasteland

[Quiet_Cool]

The year is unknown...but it is the distant future. The Earth has been devastated by a war between hmankind and an alliance of three alien races...one originating beneath the surface of Mars...one from a small planet in the Andromeda Galaxy, and one from unknown origins called the Lucians, from a planet beyond human awareness. The races, all having attacked to keep mankind from spreading its influence into space, all attacking without attempts at peaceful co-existance. These alien races were equally devastated by this war, and now have not the capacity of energy or technology remaining to return to their home planets. They co-exist on our planet, though not peacefully. They each remain at war with humans, but now war with one another. Only twelve areas of the earth's surface exist as liveable without the assistance of bodysuits and oxygen masks, each protected by a lare dome for protection from the outside environment. Four of these cities are controlled by the powerful Lucians, three by the Andromedians, and four by the Martians. Ony one is under human control. The humans, armed with ancient weapons (rifles, pistols, and a few more high-tech weapons--all projective weaponry) fight for day to day survival against all these more advanced technological enemies. Some humans wish to remain at war with these other factions; some wish to make peace; some wish to exist on their own, ignoring the world's current state altogether. But years have passed since the war, and many of those living in Zion, the human city, have never encountered the enemy. They've never seen the Martians, their narrow bodies and long arms, large heads. THey've never fought the Andromedians in their tech-suits of body armor. They've never encountered the Lucians laser weaponry, or dealt with the psychic weaponry they possess.
Our story begins in the desert of Althemidy, a city under Martian control. Thallon stands with his weapon raised, pointed down a long slope at what he thought was movement there. He waits, the wind blowing sand past him. After a few minutes pass and he sees nothing, he carefully moves higher, careful to hide his form among the sand stones and rock. WHen he reached the top, he stands to his full height and looks out at the city. Building stretch toward the sky, build of stone the same brown as the rock he stood on, probably made of the rock he stood on. The dome surrounding the city is almost transparent, but he can see a blue tint where he looks through it.
He stares for a moment, thinking that though the enemy built it, it is still beautiful, then he starts off in the opposite direction, knowing he has to make at least a few miles before nightfall.
Profile: Thallon, 23 y/o male, former rebel soldier, currently a bounty hunter...he stands to six feet even, is roughly 180 lbs, has trained under the best Zion has to offer, but is questionable in his loyalties. While never turning against humankind, he still shows little loyalty to any of the warring factions. He's a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man, but in the desert, he's anonymous beneath his body suit and oxygen mask.
He travels almsot a mile through the desert, glancing back here and there, before he detects movement behind him again. This time, he catches a brief glimpse of a human looking form, but nothing identifiable. The figure is gone as quickly as he turns, hidden behind a rock jutting from the sand behind him. He waits, watching for more movement. When he sees none, he decides to double back and check it out...he couldn't have someone following, not without at least investigating who it might be.
He walks carefully back toward the rock, stopping now and again to see if whoever it might be decides to move again. When he's only a few feet away, he stops and waits, this time doing so for almost five minutes. When no movement occurs, he yells, "Who's there? Come out, hands up." His voice is muffled, but the words are clear enough.
After a few seconds, he lowers his weapon, letting the semi-automatic rifle hang loosely at hs side, wondering if he'd imagined the whole thing. AS soon as he does, the figure springs forward from behind the rock, moving too quickly for him to react. He's on his back in an instant, the creature standing over him, its lips curled back, growling.
It's a mutant, a side-effect of the drastic weaponry used by the aliens to attack, half-human and what appears to be half-cougar. The alien weapons that caused the mutations are no longer useful, but the creatures they created now breed amongst themselves, creating new races that inhabit the Earth's almost unliveable climate.
Thallon, lays still for a moment, sensing that a sudden movement might instigate another attack. The creatures are instinct driven, not civilized but animalistic. Slowly, he grips the rifle and begins to lift it...

 

[bobo_daclown]

Denoitnem

Watching from the sands, I see the individual grains of sand crawl around a lonely insect. I see with precision, but am not hindered by distance. In fact, about two kilometers south from me, a lone figure fights up a dune against the lashes of the wind's whip. The slow drag through the sand signals that this could not be one of those ugly Martians with their webbed feet. Instead, the frailty of this figure insinuated a deep relience on technology and thus he must be one of the Earthborne.

I watch as another being follows the Yuman. An ugly feline figure moved gracefully across the sand, hiding in the sheer shadows created by the dunes against the hot sun. This cat wears the color of the desert sand and triggers a memory of my earlier education: Mountain lion: A large powerful wild cat (Felis concolor). This cat also somewhat resembles the man it stalks. The cat follows at a distance such that the Yuman cannot know it exists.

Lying there, I am completely invisible to any who pass and cannot detect the psyche. My hair matches the desert and is grown to cover my entire body, and I am but another clump of sand in the desert. Getting to my feet, my hair retracts to mere inches. I assume a serpentine shape and begin toward the two creatures. My length is now approximately two dekameters and my scales propel me across the sand in a wave.

My curiosity brings me close to the strangers. I can hear the Yuman call out to the feline, "Who's there? Come out, hands up." Indeed, the creature followed directions very well; from behind a cloud of sand, the cat pounced, paws reaching for the sun. The large beast brought the Yuman to the ground and stood above him. My empathic knowledge tells me that this cat feels the pangs of hunger. Although I feel dearly for the miserable creature, I feel even moreso for the Yuman. His emotions are a mixture of fear and anger.

The serpentine body that trails behind me condenses into my new shape. From the education of Earth that I possess, I find myself in a heavy skin. Indeed, the shiny metal weighs down on me as a Yuman and as a horse. Using the heels of my feet, I bring myself to a forward gallop; the visor of my helmet slams shut as I unsheath my broadsword from its scabbard.

As the cat turns her head to me, she screams a blood-curdling screech. The shriek ends abruptly at the edge of my sword. I continue past the cat and turn a dekameter from the Yuman who is lifting the the bloody carcass from atop his own. I see that he is gripping his rifle with some aprehension but await his move.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Thallon

Before i can raise the weapon, a new figure appears, seemingly out of the sand itself. Before I can think, the mutant lies ontop of me, its body severed almost in two, lifeless. I quickly push the beast from me and begin to raise my weapon to face this new creature, who appears to be a human, wearing some odd sort of body suit, made mostly of metal armor, and appears to sit astride a horse, holding in one hand a sword.
Instead of firing, I stop, debating whether or not this creature intends harm. Afterall, it had killed my enemy; it had also attacked in a method I'd never seen. I knew nothing of this creature's power, or even its race, as it was so well hidden in its metal suit.
Not lowering my rifle--in fact, assuring that the safety was off--I slowly climb back to my feet, then take a few careful steps backward. It watches me, but makes no atempt to pursue or escape.
Carefully I examine my bodysuit, making sure no holes had been made, then check to make sure my oxygen tank was secured. That done, I looked the creature over once more, thinking, it has proved worthy in battle. Better friend than foe.
"Okay," I begin, speaking slowly, anunciating carefully as though speaking to a child, "You've saved me, so I owe you one. So...what do we do now?"
I stood perfectly still, my weapon aimed at its chest, unsure whether or not the pellets would penetrate its suit. A standoff, such a dangerous predicament.

 

[bobo_daclown]

Denoitnem

The medival knight suit was indeed worthless as I thought about it. This sheet of metal could not keep a pulse of red light from cutting my metamorphic hide. I ply the helm from my Yuman-like head. In this form, I am one of the noble Earthborne of their forteenth century. Having never seen a Yuman before, I have assumed the shape of the one before me; and, as I remove my helm, he can see his own face.

The horse is no more and I am standing on my own two feet, as suppose to the six feet I once had.

I am Denoitnem, lower yehsreh of wontiod. I know that you Yumans tell stories of us ¨¨^¨T¨ ¨^¨a ¨U ¨j ¨^¨j¨[ ¨[. Perhaps in your tongue we are called Lucians? My parents once spoke with a Yuman inkeep who was quoted saying that Yumans believe we possess psychic weaponry and vast laser arsenals. Indeed, we are gifted in our psyche; however, we are not quite the war-machines that the innkeep refered to. Our psychic powers are limited to our own bodies and to the interaction between it and the environment.

Just as you stand in a suit to protect you from the environment, I need to keep my mind focused on filtering the air and the light in such a manner as to stay alive.

As for lasers, you too possess weapons for defense. Our laser cannons are fixed at our homes and are only used against tyrannical beings--like the Martians!

I have no quarrels with Yumans: in fact, I have never met one before. I am on my first quest as a coming of age ceremony from boyhood to manhood. If you fight the Martians, then I welcome a companion; if you support them, I must challenge you to a duel.

As the Yuman did not speak up immediately, I continued: Yuman, state your name and either vow to me that you hunt Martian scum, or choose a weapon and challenge me, Denoitnem, to a duel of honor.

 

[poohlive]

"Go, Go, Go!"
Terrin shot again, marking the a black shift in the snow. Two aliens, both in suits, jumped. They dodged the shot, returning fire. Terrin had no time, he jumped.
The water was cold, very cold. It began freezing on the suit itself. Terrin punched a few buttons in the suit, an a low hum began in the suit. Soon, it had turned quite warm. He began swimming past the iceblock. His ship was right there, the back opened right into the block.
He swam, easing his body up to the side of the ship. Once on board he called to the rest of the crew.
"They have found us, earlier than last time. Get the last of it in and close up the hatch."
They went to work, only four crew members, but all of them moved swiftly. Inside the cockpit, he began warming up the engine. Two turbines slowly came to life, as the last of the ice was shovelled into the deep cargo bay. It only filled one, this was the worst shipment yet.
The back hatch came to a swift close. Shots were fired on the ship, rumbling throughout the hull. Pulling up, Terrin began logging in a course. Straight to the Long Ocean. He had always found good hiding places in the deep trenches. They would need a good one now.
The ship shot off, flying throw the fog. It came out, showing a dazzling sea of blue and green. The ocean, basically empty, stared back at him with a dull fascination. Terrin let the ship hover over the water, looking at it's beauty. The sun glittering off of the rising and falling waves.
"Two ships, approaching fast," he heard two beeps come up on radar. Steering hard to the right, the ship headed straight for the water. It landed in a splash, rocking back and forth uncontrollably. Terrin let it sink, turning slowly as it began it's descent down. He pulled up the engines, pushing the ship down. It descended with great haste, going through the water as easily as it had done the air. The other two ships, gone for the moment, would be following shortly.
Terrin drove the ship down. As hard as she would allow. It was weird, how the aliens had so much technology for the air and space, but in the water they were about as blind as a bat. Unless they just happened to pass by the ship, they would escape unharmed.
A large mountain came into focus. Terrin maneuvered past it, decending further. Other mountains appeared, like scraggy teeth showing long caverns and caves going down through the bottom of the deep. In one of the deeper caves, the ship finally hauled istelf inside. It went deep, as deep as it could.
He stopped the ship, turning off the engines. The lights, and everything shut off instantly. Blackness erupted. After a minute a dull red light blinked on, just enough for things to be seen. Terrin took off his suit, looking at the rest of his crew.
"Ok, get some sleep if you can. Once the ocean appears safe we will move out to Zion. No unnecessary lights or noises until then."
He moved into his own tight quarters, laying down to sleep. He knew it wouldn't come. Everyone would just lay still and listen, hoping they wouldn't hear the sounds of an engine. His eyes closed, as his eyes began to perk up.
Silence.

 

[Moneytalks]

Sage

A small rocky outcrop several days journey by foot from the human city Zion.

Well hidden from easy detection a cave opening.

A crudely adapted forcefield has been installed to protect the entrance from the harsh elements which exist outside. Within it Sage sits comfortably on pelts gathered from years of hunting the desert like lands.

Her long dark hair is matted dred-locks. She barely remembers what it was like to feel really clean. Water is at a premium here. Her body is slender to the point of being malnourished... but it is tough and honed totally adapted to her surroundings. She had survived thus far. Her parents had fled Zion, unsure of their daughter's future in such turmoil. Everyone had different opinions. Some said fight, others insisted peace was the only option. But peace with whom and what? They barely knew the enemy or in fact if the enemy even cared for their survival or not.

Thus taking a page from ancient writings. They decided to live by their own means away from the rule of others. This cave had been her home for over twenty years now. She didn't have any clear memory of home before this place. Her parent's had died when she was 10 but even this she didn't know. Age was not something the young child had had a clear concept of. It had been sheer strength of will that had enabled her to survive thus far.

She had many many scars of learning. Learning to adapt, survive, kill. Her parents' body suits still lay pristine in their boxes. Her own smaller suit long ago useless. Her parents had thought to bring spares. She wore one of these now. On occassion. During the night... she found she was able to make do with just the face mask and her make shift clothing which she made from pelts also. Pelts of those strange creatures which roamed the sandy dunes.

But it was light out... and she needed food.

She slipped on the suit and the helmet and buckled everything shut. She checked the simple indicators to see that all was functional. It was a very basic suit and she didn't understand it completely... only that it enabled her the ability to move out there.

She palmed the simple deactivator that would allow her to pass through the forcefield and she stepped out onto the rocks which led up to her home.

Soon she was making her way nimbly across the rocky formation and onto the sand dunes themselves. She was well used to the terrain and immediately she check for signs of life. Signs of anything worth hunting.

 

[Chelsea_Rose]

Lucia

Lucia:

Lucia ached all over. Psychic training had drained every last drop of energy from her fragile body.
"Enough!" She signalled her trainer to cease. She knew that as Princess of the Lucians, it was her duty to join the colonists on that cursed planet Earth, and she had barely enough time to train.

The colonists had succeeded in planting four great cities on the troubled planet, and were the only race so far to have prospered since the great invasion. To her disgust, the dirty politics and corruption of the Martians and the Andromedians had led to an unavoidable schism. Now rather than a co operative effort aimed at destroying the vermin Earthlings, and their last remaining refuge, Zion, the three races fought amongst themselves like untrained children.

Lucia knew that enough was enough. As pleased as she was with the Lucian domination of Earth, her goal was not the precious silica her colonists mined, but the total annihlation of the human race. It puzzled her that her Lucian warriors and Goliaths, with their enhanced psychic abilities and galaxy-class weaponry, had not been able to destroy the human.

She thought perhaps that they had lost focus on their goal, and that was why she was embarking on the journey to Earth in three hours' time. The journey from Lucian to Earth should take a mere sixty days'- a good night's sleep in statis- and then she would be able to judge the situation on Earth for herself.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Thallon:

It changed form again, and I thought, what am I dealing with? THen, as the horse beneath the figure seemed to shrink upward and vanish into it, I stepped backward, watching as my own form stared back at me. My hand tightened against the weapon's trigger, but I held fire, not wanting any encounter that needn't take place.
But what was it? I'd seen Martians, their arms long and heads large, green skin and webbed feet. They never changed form, not that I had seen--and I'd seen and dealt with many a Martian enemy. The Andromedians, tech-suita dn all could not have had such powers, not and hid them, without use in the many battles I'd seen against them while with whatever rebel unit I fought with at whatever time...so many battles.
I'd never seen a Lucian...but psychic ability seemed to have little to do with this creature, and I saw no laser weapons of any type. Unless the stories were wrong. Who knew the possibilities?
MY mind is beyond further thought...I'm taken by the sight before me as I look myself in the eye. DO I fire, or do I back away?
Words then, althought it could have been speaking the entire time I stared without my attention to collect their meaning, or perhaps not spoken at all, but thought. The words seem very close, almost an echo within my own mind...
I stare back at the creature, curious now as to what meaning I had missed, and more concerned over what the implications of them may be.
"Human, state your name and either vow to me that you hunt Martian scum or choose a weapon and challenge me, Denoitnem, to a duel of honor," It states then, these words clearly spoken, my own voice threatening me from lips I couldn't control. The sound unaffected as the creature that looked so much like wore no oxygen mask.
Here goes, I thought.
"My name is Thallon, and while my business here is not to attack the Martians, I do indeed despise their kind."
I decided that this was the best place to test the creature, and, given our agreement, a good time for a peaceful gesture. I carefully lowered the weapon, doing so only to half-mast, finger never leaving the trigger.
"What kind of creature appears as if wind in a storm and changes form at will?" I ask the question, but as I do, I glance to the creature laying dead on the ground, thinking, It's not normally a desert mutant; somewhere near, there must be a water supply.
I glance back to the creature before me, looking into my own eyes and feeling the first signs of thirst deep within...

 

[Moneytalks]

Sage

Sage snapped open the filter at the front of her mask that enabled some smells to penetrate the suit.

Immediately she scented a kill.

She was instantly wary.

A kill meant an attack.

Someone or something.

She crouched low, keeping close to the sloping dune. Her eyes darting left to right as she looked for movement.

It was then that she heard something odd. Yet vaguely familiar. Not animal sounds... sounds like her... like parent's used to make.

Carefully she crept closer to the sounds, until finally peering over the crest of the dune she'd been keeping abreast of, she saw three figures. One was an animal that had been cut clean through. That was the kill she had scented. The other two. Stood face to face. They were... like... she looked down at her own hands and back at the two standing.

Like her.

She hadn't thought there were others like her.

She'd travelled exstensively across the terrain around her cave and it had all been animals. Until now. She ducked down again. Her heart beating erratically. She hadn't been expecting this. She was scared. She scent of the kill wafted towards her teasingly making her mouth water.

She could find another. Kill it herself. Yet the survivor in her screamed at her stupidity. They clearly had no use for the kill... she should wait and she would have an easy meal tonight. The sounds of their voices kept her where she was. She was facinated by the sounds. She hadn't heard anything like it for well over 10 years.

Her vantage point enabled her to glace down at them again. They stood like some of the animals she had seen in packs. They were testing each other to see who would be the dominant one in the pack. A strange pack. Only two. Maybe they were independent hunters like the slithery creatures that could burst forth from their lairs beneath the sand and strangle you with their tails. She watched and she waited.

 

[Chelsea_Rose]

Lucia:

White light streamed through into the statis chamber, highlighting Lucia's translucent, pearly skin.

The irony of the Lucian quest to exterminate humans was that that of all the species in the galaxy, Lucians and humans were most alike.

Lucian society, revolted by the first, primitive attempts of humankind at space exploration, had resolved to rid themselves of their barbaric cousins.

Lucia was the penultimate example of Lucian genetics. She looked as though she had been dipped into liquid pearl. Bleached of all colour, her features were merely different shades of white. Her psychic skill was awe inspiring. As a royal, she had begun training as a babe, with the finest trainers in Lucian. Lucia could crush minds, heal, encourage growth, and even create complex lifeforms- small animals for example. Yet while the skill was Lucia's, the power did not come from Lucia herself. At the centre of Lucian lay a great silver dome, which fed on the heat and magma of the planet itself. The dome provided the energy for all psychic pursuits on Lucian.

That is why Lucians were somewhat vulnerable on other planets. Of course they could use the residual psychic energy in the air, but any real energy must be sourced from smelting silica. Most colonists carried small globes which were capable of producing a limited energy source- enough to kill a human, or grow a small vine. In battle, portable smelting furnaces were closely guarded on the edge of the battlefield. Psychic power was rarely used in large scale battle except to heal. Lucian laser technology was so advanced as to usurp psychic training in this way.

 

[bobo_daclown]

Denoitnem:

"What kind of creature, you ask; but I have already told you that I am Lucian." I impress these words on his mind without speech; however, I hope he does not ask me to prove that I am Lucian, as I have no psychic abilities in comparison to the true Lucianborne.

While I am hunting Martians, it would be helpful to keep an ally, regardless of his trust. He could not harm me with that projectile weapon as long as I can see it.

My friend, I wish to continue my hunt more proactively. I have been waiting to ambush a Martian for a week in the sand. Perhaps it is time to move closer to their city. Before we go, it is imperitive to note that this beast is my possession, as I was the one to kill it. I am going to offer it to the young Yuman beyond the dune behind you. You would not have seen her; my eyes are far more keen than those you have. She will enjoy the feast. Come, let us head this way.

OOC:

Please don't correct my spelling in your quotes, I did refer to homo sapiens as Yumans because my character cannot annunciate the Hugh sound that begins Human.

 

[Darklord]

Valerios

He was tired, and the sun was beating down, and the radioactivity of the area was starting to rise once again. Snorting through his nostrils to clear the grit that seemed to seep through anything, even his combat armor, he scanned the horizon.

As a free-lancer, he was considered expendable by the Andromedian government, so he always got the shit assignments. Shaking his head he also admitted his progenitors mistake in attacking the depot at Fort Knox as the humans called it led to his current state. Rolling his eyes upwards he could still here his progenitor proclaim his innocence about not knowing the humans had stored nuclear weaponry there which led to the destruction of a command pod, and all 120,000 Andromodians aboard. Rolling his 2 sets of shoulders he continued to run between the dunes relying on his armor to aid him and store energy through the solar cells.

He was on his way to Zion, the human refuge to keep an eye on them, and to remove any threat of Martian influence. There were rumors that the Martians were trying to buy human aid in attacking the Andromedians, something he was supposed to figure out. Coming up next to an outcropping roughly 30 kilometers to the city he stopped and mentally ordered his combat suit to blend into the surrondings. Crouching down he looked over the edge and spun up the telescopic lenses in the helmet to try and get a better view. A bit to the east of the city line seemed to be a pair of figures standing in the sun, talking. Intrigued he decided to get closer.

Powering up again he loped across the sand, dodging from outcropping to outcropping. At about a kilometer he paused again to check the lay of the land. Looking around he noticed a slight movement above them looking up he saw a flash of dark... something. Biting his lower lip with his three inch incisors, he decided to wait and see what would happen...

 

[Moneytalks]

Sage

They were still talking, and had she not been so wrapt up in the sound she may have heard the faint mechanical sound further away. As it was she sat with her back to the dune crest and waited.

Only her constant alertness forced her to look over in that direction. Apart from the shimmer effect caused by the intensity of the sun she saw nothing. She frowned.

She clutched the crude spear she used for this kind of hunting. It appeared nothing more than a stick but it was sturdily made. A sharp piece of bone was lanced to the tip with the now dried intestines of one of the creatures she had killed. She decided to move.

Carefully she slid down the dune so as not to draw attention to herself. Keeping herself close to the sandy banks she edged around the clearing the two humanoids occupied. She stopped and crouched low peering across the sandy wastelands.

Something was odd. Her eyes tried to pick up what was causing her alarm. Finally she saw it. Faint indentation in the sand. Something was there... wasn't it? She couldn't smell anything but... but something was there. She backed up quickly. Not wanting to deal with anything she couldn't see. Scrambling back to her original position she contemplated her options.

The dead kill was still tantalising her with it's scent but if she was lucky she may still find others. That kind, although feral and unable to work normally in packs, did occassionally feed together. What was keeping her? She tried to deny it but it was their similarity to her own self. Those hands... the way they stood... the suit... at least one of them wore a suit much like hers. She didn't understand how the other could stand there without one. Maybe, the time had come as her parents had tried to explain to her, the time when they could walk like there ancestors free from the poison that now covered the sands.

She shook her head. No, her parents had said it would take generations. Generations. That was what she didn't understand. Her parents had tried to explain the concept of mating and breeding. She thought she had some idea of it when one of her kills had a smaller version of itself inside it's belly. But she wasn't really sure how it all worked. Would she get one like herself inside her belly one day?

She peered over at the two below. They were like her... maybe... maybe they could explain it to her.

But she was nervous. Her natural inclination was to be cautious. Anything that could slice a kill in half like that... clean... was dangerous.

Carefully she made her way around the dune the other way. Away from that thing she couldn't see. Finally she found a place from which to approach the two figures.

She had not really used words for over 10 years... but she remembered some of the sounds and she would occassionally hum to herself... a mix of silly sounds together. She tested her voice on them.

"Hey..." her own voice startled her... it was different in pitch to theirs and louder than she had anticipated. She immediately lifted her spear as if to fend them off should they approach her suddenly.

 

[Chelsea_Rose]

Lucia:

The streamlined silver craft turned into a blazing fireball as it shot through the Earth's foul atmosphere. Inside, Lucia was slowly awakening from her sixty-day statis.
"Earth!" she thought suddenly, as she swiftly moved to view the planet. As often as she travelled, Lucia had never become blase to the beauty of a planet as viewed just before porting.

Deep within the complicated circuits of the Princess's private craft, the virus sprang to life, re routing power away from the porting gear. Diverted, the energy pooled in the small on board reactor.

"Princess! The reactor is overloading!" Lucia snapped around to stare open mouthed at the technician. Lucian craft were flawless. If there was a fault, she knew that it had to be sabotage. Lucia could sense the build up of energy, the waves of it eddied and whirled around her. "How long have until impact?" she asked the frightened young tech.
"Two minutes, but Princess, the reactor will explode before then!"

Lucia ignored the hysterical tech. Outraged thoughts flew around her head- who would dare attempt to assasinate the Lucian Princess?

"Princess! The reactor!" the tech tried to snap the princess out of her reverie.

Lucia pushed her thoughts of intrigue to the side. That could wait. She opened her mind to all the pent up energy in the air, absorbing every bit of energy the reactor was pushing out. She struggled to control the huge force. Confused as to what she would do with the energy, she remembered the desert wasteland she had seen from the craft. "Ahhhhh" she sighed, releasing the energy to stabilise the craft's descent.

Far down below, green growth erupted from the desert, young shoots springing up into large trees, flowers and vines. The oasis looked strangely out of place in the harsh desert environment. Change had occured on a more biological level too, fresh air drifted around the oasis, the pure oxygen that Lucians thrived on.

Slowly the Lucian craft drifted down through the layers of smog, its descent still control by Lucia's psyche, landing finally to settle with a bump near the oasis.

Lucia felt the last vestiges of her power trickle out and die. The reactor was exhausted. She felt strangely abandoned by the loss of power- vulnerable without her psychic energy to protect her.

She didn't have a clear idea of what she had done to the desert, or where she was. She had simply been externalising all the energy she had had to drain from the reactor.

The young tech was dead, he had been unable to survive the barrage of psychic energy that she had released. Poor, sweet young thing. Lucia felt great regret at his passing. If she had had access to another power source, she would have attempted to ressurect him. But outside of Lucian, she didn't think she would ever find a power source great enough.

Lucia gathered to her a small supply of globes, and her laser and decided to make a short trip outside to reconnoitre. Stepping out of the craft, she smiled briefly when she saw the oasis she had created, but was alarmed by the smell of human nearby.

 

[poohlive]

The ship, after a long flight through the water finally reached shore. He stayed a ways out, looking at the sandy floor. There, was a small hole, a back exit to Zion. One they had put there so many years ago. It was half the reason Zion was still alive today. He entered the hole, making way to the city center.
Once there, he moved the ship up to the docking bay. A large crowd was gathere there.
"You made it back," Terrin, nodded, a smile coming to his lips.
"Of course, why wouldn't I?"
The elderly man just looked at him, pain in his eyes.
"Oh no."
He nodded, solemnly, "They captured it this morning, as it was coming back from the ice lands. No survivors."
Terrin sighed softly, getting the hose out. That was it, Zion was doomed. He had the only water transporting ship left. He couldn't possibly get all the water for Zion's needs. Even if he did several trips a day it was just impossible.
"I need to go see the village elders," he said. Behind him large pumps began filling the water into the regulated areas where it would be cleaned and dispensed to everyone.
He followed the main shafts up to the elders huts. In there, a large dome containing four elderly men stared back at him.
"Ahhh, Terrin. Good of you to come, we were expecting you."
He smiled, although it wasn't pleasent, "Then I suppose you'll also know what I'm going to ask of you."
They each began to talk to one another. Silent whispers that hinted at hope and total disaster.
"You have the last water carrying ship left," one commented.
"Even with it going at full speed it'll only be a matter of months before Zion dries out."
"With your plans, and undermining work, how much of an accurate chance do you have of getting everything back in one piece?"
He sighed, "Even if my plan does work, one person will be left behind. However, with just this one caulty, countless lives will be saved. It's a risk we have to take. We have no other choice now."
More deliberation. They tossed ideas back and forth, but all eventually came to a single decision. Death.
"Ok, What do you need from us?"
"Just one person. I intend to fill out the last part of the plan myself, but I do need someone who can lead the ship and it's cargo back down to Zion."
One of the leaders nodded, knowingly, "We know just the man."
"Perfect, bring him down to my ship in the morning. I should have everything ready by then."
Going back down to the ship, he began comtemplating the plans. This would be harder than he imagined, but for some odd reason he knew he could get it through. After all, it was nearly fool proof.
And who would think after all these years humans would actually try to fight back?
That was just the idea he was going for.
The preparations were to begin.
(anyone can be the chosen one, if they want to)

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Thallon

THe situation had bettered, then had become odd again, then suddenly gone haywire, all in a matter of minutes. It seemed that the creature, the Lucian, was indeed friendly--at least on one level or another. I lowered my weapon as it implanted thoughts in my head, explaining to me that it intended to ambush a Martian...then added something about moving closer to the city. I caught these things almost subconsciously, taken by the odd sensation of having these ideas suddenly implanted in my mind.
'beast...my possession...offer it...young Yuman beyond...eyes...keen...'
Subconsciously, I understood entirely, but consciously, I was dazed and distant, unable to grasp the words. Telepathy...it would take some getting used to, but I thought I could manage.
Then, it sank in...the young Yuman beyond the dune...who?
The voice came then, female...the voice forming a single syllable as a child would, almost as if the owner were testing the sound of her own voice.
"Hey..."
I looked back over my shoulder to see a young girl, her age hard to decipher given her current state. SHe appeared far too thin to be healthy, but muscular despite her lean appearance.
I wasn't sure what to make of the girl, debated raising my weapon to guard myself and my new companion from her.
Should I have decided to, I wouldn't have had time. The sound came then, a loud sound, not a sudden sound but a sound that built up, a distant rumbling that began high in the sky, out of view. As the sound quickly grew louder, the sound became more and more of a whistle until I squinted my eyes and fought to keep my hands from covering my ears. I looked up, seeing the orb come down through the air, encompassed in fire. AS it grew nearer, I wondered if it would hit us, and debated suggesting to my new acquaintances that we run, when the ground beneath my feet suddenly came alive, pressing upward at the soles of my shoes.
I looked down, gripping my weapon more tightly, and saw green grass slipping through the grains of sand at my feet.
"What the...?"
Before I could curse, wooden stalks burst from the ground around me, small at first but quickly growing, and driving at the sky, leaves protruding as they did. WIthin a few seconds, the ground beneath me was fully carpetted with green grass, and the distant dunes were hidden by hordes of tall, leaning palm trees and other vegetation that by no reasonability could exist in the desert.
I glanced at the Lucian, saw myself looking back and thought, 'I meet my first Lucian to find out that it looks--at least at the moment--like me, then the desert becomes populated by palm trees. One hell of a day...'
I look around, listen, hearing the sound of running water, but nothing with a natural current...just flowing with the breeze created by the desert winds inspiring the trees around us.
'Water, a breeze, and trees...plant life? Oh, well. I'll never know till I try.'
I let go of my weapon with one hand and slowly raise it to my oxygen mask, pausing there to glance at the girl, who was looking around herself frantically. I detatched the mask on either side and pulled it away from my face, eyes closed, waiting for the worst.
Nothing happened.
I waited.
Nothing still.
I opened my eyes, actually debating the possibility that the world that had just sprung into the air around me might be gone again. When it was still there, I opened my mouth and inhaled deeply.
Oxygen.
"I'll be damned..." I muttered.



OOC: Apologies, Bobo...didn't mean to misquote you...must have typed before I thought about it. And Darklord, if the two figures were Thallon and Denoitnem, we're actually located outside a Martian city called Althemidy. We're actually "several days journey by foot" from Zion. Sorry to be picky...just wanted to get everyone on the same page.

 

[Darklord]

Valerios

Ooc: 's okay, sometimes I make mistakes. So my guys right now checking to see if theres any humans near the evil martian city. And there is! GASP!

Ic: Valerios stood rock steady still as the female human came down from the rocks and looked all around him. Sighing in relief as the now somewhat frightened figure scrambled back up into the rocks he stepped carefully closer to the pair of figures. Crouching down he watched...

Then something seemed to draw their attention from one another for a moment. What was it? Straining he couldn't see anything around the rock. For a few more moments he crouched and pondered the strange actions of the two figures. Just then something happened...

A rumbling then roaring erupted in the air as the ground began to shake and bounce all around him. Shouting a curse he struggled to keep his feet as all around him vegetation came into the being fully grown from the ground. Falling to the earth he rolled into cover of some tall and thick ferns and tried to keep his eyes on the two figures. While he was doing this, the proximity alert on his harness began beeping at him furiously that some large object was headed to earth nearby.

Cursing he ready his battle armor and crouched behind the ferns as he regained sight of the two people. Just then one removed it's helmet, and with an sharp indrawn breath Valerios saw it was a human. "So they WERE helping the damned martians!" he thought angrily as he moved behind a stand of eucalyptus trees to gain a better view.

 

[bobo_daclown]

OOC:

No problem Quiet_Cool... sorry I snapped about something petty like that.... I suppose my character had better get on his toes, as he's about to be in the middle of three very interesting species. And, all this is before we encounter Martians!?!


DENOITNEM:

I hear the same noises as those around me; in fact, I hear them more acutely. From the airborne fire, a strong mind wills her way. My meager telepathic abilities cannot break the control she has with her own psyche. I can only shield myself from her probing thoughts. A Lucian--and a royal one at that. I only know because of the power of her thoughts, though I can not hear them and decipher their meaning.

From the sands, greenery appears: thin shoots at first, but they grow quickly. Suddenly, there are trees growing around me. In my panic, I mimic the landscape and grow to become a tall pine tree.

I close my eyes as I grab the loose sand deep underground. In a flourish of energy, I spread my arms upward and outward as leaves grow from the wood. A single date hangs in my fronds.

I wait in complete silence: knowing that there are too many minds to know what will happen next....

 

[Moneytalks]

Sage

The explosion.

Then the growth that occured so violently should have frightened her but it didn't. At first she was frantic as she watched this sudden explosion of greenery. So vital and alive sprouting from nothing.

Water too... water out in the open. She hadn't seen anything like it.

Then she was more curious than afraid. She kept her eyes on the two figures she had initially aproached... but she also glanced over the dune where she had sensed the other thing. The thing that was hidden from her eyes.

She noticed the man without the suit wincing as if attempting to deflect a blow, but no one was near him to be causing him harm.

Something about all this triggered a memory.

A fairy tale... a bed time story... told in her mother's sweet voice of the day of reckoning. As prophecised by the great ancients. A day that would decide the fates of the planet.

The deciding vote.

To unite or destroy.

An exciting tale. She had long almost forgotten. She had seen none like herself... none like the mysterious 'other's' her parents spoke of in hushed tones when they thought her sleeping.

Something about all this magic surrounding her. Triggered this memory... that story. Maybe not a story after all?

She grasped her spear and edged backwards to the relative safety of the dune she had come from. Her eyes glanced down at the kill and then back up at the two figures. They were distracted now.

Crouching beside the kill and pulled out her knife. It was sharp. She maintained the edge meticulously over the years. The only real weapon she owned that was not of her own making. The metal thinner than it had been now... but still undoubtably sharp. She sliced the meaty limb from the kill and started to wrap it in the leather skin she used for this purpose. She slung it over her shoulder. Food was never far from her thoughts even now.

Finally satisfied that at least now she had suficient food she turned her attention back to the man closest to her. He had his mask open. She gasped in surprise. She looked quickly to the other figure. They were... the same? Maybe she wasn't one of them... maybe they were one of the 'others'?

Now she was fearful. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him suspiciously. How else could he be breathing? She thought. They must be the feared 'others'.

She raised her spear again. More threatening this time.

 

[poohlive]

He nodded, grabbing the second weapon. Stolen martian missiles, outdated by their standards, but they would work just nicely in this case. He paused, going over the skematics.
He had to get by countless systems, rerouting power and main controls every few hours. It was like a mindless maze. It did pay off though, as the missiles were all lined up and ready.
Likewise, the cargo area was being cleared out. There had been some commotion over whether or not the Transformer would even fit. He assured them though, with a few measurements. It would spring in here like a glove.
He stepped outside, seeing reinforced plating being added to the outer hull. Very nice. They would need more power. A double supply of power on the ship. It was a shame they didn't have the technology of anything further than their own fossil fuels, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
He let them load up the tanks.
"How long till everything's set up?"
Garret looked back at a man, who was obviously eager to see them leave.
"With any luck, by noon tomorrow."
Someone cursed inside the ship.
"Ummm, Terrin, you'd better get in here."
Sighing, he climbed into the ship again.

 

[Chelsea_Rose]

Lucia:

Lucia had never smelled death before. Death had long since been conquered on Lucian. The smell revolted her. The violence assaulted her sensitive psyche. She had never experienced so much anger, fear and hatred in the air.

A filthy post pubescent female stood upright, wielding a primitive projectile weapon. A smell of blood eddied forth from the girl.

Vermin humans. Lucia gestured at the girl in disgust. The blazing laser beam scorched down the weapon, turning it into dust. At least now the filthy animal was no longer a threat. A strange thought occured to her. Lucia palmed one of her globes, screwing the two halves around.

The tiny nuclear reaction produced just enough energy for Lucia to burn all the dirt, scum, oil and blood off the human. The shreds of the girl's tattered suit fell to the green desert floor. The dead animal carcass by her side turned to ash also.

Delighted by the results, Lucia produced another globe. She knew she was being frivolous, but as she did not feel threatened by these inferior species. The thought that she may need the power later to defend or heal herself never crossed her mind.

At least now the stench was gone. Lucia smiled slowly, appraising the now clean female. She had not realized Lucians and humans were so similar. Why, the girl looked very much like Lucia herself, only... colourful. A sure mark of vulgar genes. Lucia knew that her own pearl skin marked her as the most superior species of the galaxy.

She turned and appraised the male human. Dirty too, though not quite as filthy as the girl had been. He did not look threatening either.

She did, however, feel a little uneasy about the creature that was ridiculously trying to disguise itself as a tree. She activated her next globe, whimisically playing with the energy.
She probed into its mind.
"Who and what are you?" she demanded.

 

[bobo_daclown]

DENOITNEM:

Falling from the form of a tree, I land in a heap of mush. The pure energy pulls my power from myself and leaves me barely any willpower.

Very slowly, I pull my body together and form an image of the Lucian royal before me. My mind broadcasts to her that my name is Denoitnem and that I mean her no harm. The last of my energy is pulled out of me as I collapse unconsious at the royal's power.

Anyone standing there would see a puddle of gelatin, slowly seeping into the sand. My last thought was to the Yumans: "Run!"

 

[Moneytalks]

Sage

Gave a startle cry of alarm when her weapon, only minutes before solid between her hands, disintegrated into useless dust. She looked up in suprise at the strange figure who looked so disdainfully at her. Then suddenly everything about her disappeared.

She stared down at herself in surprise.

Then up at the figure. To her own naive eyes she seemed... pretty. Her form so similar to her own was appealing as was the strange skin. A pretty colour.

Sage had little time to contemplate this however as she turned to see that the other figure that she had originally seen was now gone.

Then one of the trees seemed to melt.

This was indeed magic. It frightened her. She was weaponless and now the food she had originally sought was gone also.

Then the strange voice in her head telling her "run". What is this "run" she wondered. The word itself only vaguely familiar. She understood the tone of panic... warning.

But she seemed unable to move. She glanced at the other figure and wondered what he would do.

She didn't feel vulnerable about her nakedness but the sudden loss of her helmet had been cause for initial alarm. Now as she breathed the pure air she had to readjust her initial thoughts about the remaining man. He could still be like her. His skin was the same wasn't it?

She frowned, lifting her hand to her hair. It was soft and silky and felt oddly alien to her. She scowled wondering how she was going to get back to her cave without a suit.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Thallon

I was looking back at the girl when it happened. Her eyes were shifting back and forth between Deniotnem and myself, frantic, her spear raised. I couldn't imagine what had her attention in so threatening a manner. In the time I'd been distracted, she'd backed away, cut a piece of the dead animal from the rest of it, and wrapped the meat in some sort of hide and was ready to escape into the desert again.
WHen she saw us, her eyes grew wide, and she raised the spear, ready to attack this time, there no question to that.
I decided to try and reason...not sure how exactly, but giving it a try anyway. My mouth open, my tongue fought for words, then it happened, chasing away any speech I might have been capable of.
A laser shot, seemingly from nowhere, striking the spear in the girl's hand and dissolving it to dust. I turned my head suddenly, looking back toward the sound of water. There it was, a form that was humanoid in nature, but definitely not human. THe color of her skin alone would testify to that. SHe was the palest creature I had ever seen--no! Pale was not the word. She was colorless, with no actualy pigment whatsoever.
From where I stood, I could feel her eyes surveying us, then, looking to Denoitnem for any explanation he might give, I saw no sign of him.
I slowly raised the weapon I still held, glancing back at the girl behind me, hoping she realized I was debating firing upon our new visitor.
My eyes found her and froze. Was she? COULD she be?
At her feet lay the torn and riped and nearly ruined body suit. Iguessed that, while a few pieces of it were still intact, the suit was useless. Her mask lay nearby, the casing partially melted, useless as well. And the girl...was naked?
The vision before me was impressive. Her body was well muscled, though lean, and from where I stood, I could see muscle definition all over the girl's body.
I blinked, as if the image before me was an illusion that would return to normal if I did so. Nothing changed.
"Who and what are you?"
A thought.
Distant.
Barely audible, but still there, in the back of my mind. It wasn't Denoitnem this time. Which meant only one thing...the creature was a Lucian as well.
I turned and glanced at the colorless female. HEr attention was fixed on something next to me. I glanced over to see a nearby tree. It held form for a moment, then shimmered lightly and lost form, seeming to melt like a giant rapidly burning candle. Within seconds, the tree was gone and in its place was a large puddle of some thick fluid, as colorless as the female standing a short distance away.
"What the...?"
I head it then, a clear thought, much easier to pick up than the last had been. It was a loud, undeniable shout within my head.
"Run!"
I glanced to the girl, who looked back at me, panicked. SHe'd heard it too.
No more time could be wasted, not now...
I looked at the creature, raised the weapon in my hand, and fired a few quick rounds at it, not aiming well enough to actually hit it, but causing it to recoil some, distracting it. As I did, I could distantly hear the rattling from behind me as the pack on my back fed more pellets through the tube leading to the stock of my rifle. I started running backward, toward the girl, firing back at the creature repeatedly, never taking time to aim, but making sure to at least threaten her safety with each shot, keeping her distracted as best I could.
When I reached the girl, I reached out with one hand and gripped her upper arm, pulling her behind me as I continued to fire at the colorless creature and took cover behind a large growth of trees. I turned to her, lowering my weapon temporarily then, and looked her dead in the eye.
"We have to go," I said, "We have to run..."
I looked around. She had no mask or suit, but our options were running out. We had only one left.
"We have to get away from whatever that thing is..."
I couldn't believe I was standing there, at a true to life oasis in the center of the desert, having witnessed a tree melting to jgelatin and a woman with no color...and to tp it off, I was talking to a naked woman who apparently knew little English.
I tried to communicate anyway...there was one word I was almost certain she would know.
"We have to go into the DESERT."

 

[Moneytalks]

Sage

The sounds he was making didn't make sense but his tone was unmistakable. He wanted to run as much as she did. Years of surviving on her own had produced a mind that was capable of thinking quick in a crisis.

She blinked at him as if appraising his ability to keep up with her then she tugged on his arm once before making her way back around the dune she'd come from. She would take him through the desert slopes and rocky alcoves. She knew them like the back of her hand.

She tugged on his arm urgently.

"Mmmka..." she grunted before sprinting across the sandy dunes towards the maze of rocky outcrops that was her territory. She didn't look back to see if he followed. She was too used to being on her own to even think about it.

All she knew was a desperate desire to escape that strange creature with the pretty skin that had the magic to take away all her worldly possessions.

She didn't even give a thought to the poisonous air about them. She'd be dead anyway she figured if she stayed. Rather she die out there than by the unknown powers of the strange one.