The Lost Station (Open Location)

@schlampe: I'll just observe and learn. If I ever needed practical help I always give the teacher (be it anyone) the method how before I go and ask. Funnily, I know how I'd teach writing and request it, but I'm just not good enough to teach it myself :P

@schlampe: roger :)

I should start proof-reading. My posts could be so much better, in hindsight.

@mryashimora: Let me get back to you when I have more consciousness. ;)

@schlampe: Great post! Will respond soon.

@nordok: Thank you, thanks.

Ruby grasps the broken husk of one of the fallen before her, as she tears its skull from its carapace. Once she has the skull removed she fastens it too her own brow, and wears it as a trophy of war. As she does this, more of the creatures make their presence known to her, they drop down upon her shoulders and gnaw away at her neck. She is in a focused primal rage in which the affects of pain cause her nothing to heed. She is relentless as she simply leaps upwards, aiming herself in such a way that she would make maximum impact with the remaining support above herself. She knows that she will survive the impact, but she expects that they would not.

@schlampe: Hmm...was that a joke? It almost sounded like a joke. His employer certainly had an interesting way of communicating. He wasn't about to complain, though. For one thing, it would have been unprofessional. For another, as long as she could fight like that, she could say whatever she wanted, as far as he was concerned. It was all he could do to focus on his own task, and not be distracted the staggering devastation she inflicted on the herd of genetic aberrations.

Focus he did, however. By the time that Trinity unleashed her concussive storm, the portable generator had been hard-wired to the pod's engine. It looked ugly, the generator took up the front passenger seat, and wasn't likely to last very long, but it should get them to the main generator, or at least close enough. "I'm still kicking," he called back to her as he fired up the pod's engines, releasing a puff of noxious smoke and a thoroughly unpleasant sound. Nice."So's this thing, too. Ready whenever you are!"

@naamah: The thunderous impact of Ruby's powerful frame with the overhanging structure shattered the bodies of her immediate attackers. Before any other members of the swarm could react, however, the ceiling support buckled under the force of the blow, and a large portion of the ceiling caved in, the furious shrieks of the beasts blending with shattering glass and tearing metal as structural components and lab equipment spilled onto the lower lever, threatening to bury all combatants under the rubble.

The "Lost Station"

The Greased Lightning docked silently with the desolate station, the vast expanse of space behind it. Eliot's fingers drummed hyperactively across his armor. His eyes darted back and forth, analyzing his surroundings carefully from his seat in the cockpit of the Fortune. Nobody had answered his hails, and it seemed all communication arrays on the station were down. He had a simple job to do; enter the station and see if it was safe to re-open. Somehow, though, he had a feeling that it wasn't exactly going to be the empty hunk of metal that the spacers assured him it was. His scans told him that oxygen was present in some parts of the station, and not at all in others. The power seemed to be in a constant state of flux; airlocks would open and close sporadically, doors would open and shut, and the lights would flicker dangerously, casting ominous shadows across the wall. The atmosphere (or lack thereof) was ominous, menacing even. Even if the station were truly clear of dangerous life-forms as the spacers had said, Eliot wasn't sure anyone would want to set up an outpost here. It was too dark, too...sinister.

Well, first order of business? Get the power on again. Whatever had happened here, there didn't seem to be anyone left. There were still ships in the docking area, so some people had to be left. If they needed help, he'd give it to them. Of course, he'd have to find them first...

He ordered Lewis and Clark, his automatons, to keep the ship secure. Even if the station were truly empty, he wanted the engines primed for takeoff as soon as possible. Eliot was not a superstitious person; his enhanced brain functions left his mind devoid of such illogical thoughts. Even so, he wanted to get this over with. Slinging his blaster rifle over his arm, and activating the searchlights on his helmet, The Reckoner set off into the metal corridors, searching for any signs of life.

The desired affect. First the crushing of the attacking forces, followed up by the crumbling of the structure. Ruby is buried under 50 tons of rubble, a perfect way to fake her own death. She proceeds to tear her way down under the pile of debris, dropping herself down to whatever lays beneath current whereabouts. She hopes that with any luck the remaining creatures would think she was crushed to death by the falling rubble.

Where the heck am I? She thinks, as she looks around the new empty room around herself. Some sort of empty storage unit by the looks of it. A room with not much save for a few doors and windows. Outside of the windows she sees only empty hallways, leading to more rooms.

@naamah: Within the deserted level, something monstrous stirred. Not all of the creatures on the station had been created equal, and they certainly hadn't enjoyed uniform development. This particular level was inhabited by one such unequal being; a hulking monstrosity of such elemental ferocity that even it's near-mindless kin had learned to avoid. This aberration now stirred forth, drawn by the noise and potential for prey. Moving with surprising speed and stealth for something of its size, it began to hunt.

@nordok said:

@naamah: Within the deserted level, something monstrous stirred. Not all of the creatures on the station had been created equal, and they certainly hadn't enjoyed uniform development. This particular level was inhabited by one such unequal being; a hulking monstrosity of such elemental ferocity that even it's near-mindless kin had learned to avoid. This aberration now stirred forth, drawn by the noise and potential for prey. Moving with surprising speed and stealth for something of its size, it began to hunt.

As Ruby glances about the area her keen sense of sight notices something rather strange. She sees what appears to be the large casting of a shadow, the size of which would belong to a creature at least ten times larger then the ones she had recently encountered. One would think that such a large beast would reveal itself and not only its shadow, but this beast was extremely gifted in the arts of stealth it would seem. Oh... Great... Now what? Ruby decides to gender-bend into her Male form. Something she doesn't do often, due to a total loss of control. In her Male form she is easily overtake with rage, leading to massive amounts of strength increases. Sometimes she loses herself completely and goes on a rampage.

The Lost Station, Communications Room

Eliot crept into the communications room with his rifle raised, his visor scanning the room for any signs of biological organisms. Broken glass lined the floor, and several smashed vid-screens hung loosely from the ceiling. Clearly, there was a struggle of some sort here, but no evidence of any bodies. As of yet, he hadn't encountered any trouble, but he had the feeling it was lurking just around the corner...

Opening a busted console, he went to work slicing into the mainframe. If he could tap into the security feed, he could get an idea of what exactly went on in this forsaken station before he had arrived.

sugarismy bump

@naamah: If the creature was at all aware of her opponent's sudden increase in size and ferocity, it gave no indication. It's target sighted, it sprung swiftly to attack. Wickedly snapping jaws, razor-sharp claws, and a tail like a massive scorpion's were all brought into play at once. The beast used no strategy, no targeting of vulnerable spots; it merely sought to bring Ruby down through a combination of size, savagery, and accumulated damage.

@nordok:

"Ruby SMASH!!!"

The crimson HULK shouts out in a fevered roar. The giant-sized beast charges as a bull head-first, so Ruby shoots forward as well. Like two rams head-butting they would meet. Ruby would follow that exchange up with a series of punches designed to target anything the beast throws at her. She would meet any and all possible exchanges with her clenched fist. If the beast bites, she punches its jaw. If the beast strikes with its tail, she meets the tail with a punch to the side of the tip as if striking a speed-bag.

@naamah: The beast howled in rage and fury as Ruby countered its rage with that of her own. The blows cracked and dented its chitinous exoskeleton, but the monstrosity was far too lost in its own bloodlust to concern itself with the damage it was taking. It flung itself bodily at the vermillion giant, seeking to wrap its flexible body about its foe's like a massive constrictor.

@nordok: Ruby allows the creature to constrict herself as she relaxes every muscle in her entire form, making herself as slim as possible. Once she is sure that the creature has over extorted herself Ruby flexes all of her overly obedient complexity has become reverenced by seesuss, the prime of the first era.

@naamah:

Despite the monstrosity's own ridiculous strength, the avatar's sudden display of force proves to be too much for its damaged frame. Feral and savage to the end, it did not relinquish its grip, even as it's body all but exploded outward, spraying the environment in its hallucinogenic blood. It's wicked jaws still reflexively snapped, even as the life drained from its shattered form.

(I was hammered when I wrote this... So much so that I don't even remember posting it. Also... I have no idea what seesuss is supposed to mean. lol)

@naamah: Haha no worries; I rolled with it. I'm not sure what it is, either, aside from the guy that wrote "The Cat in the Hat." You were just channeling some Lovecraft. ;)

@nordok: Channeling dead crazy people for the win! Yay me!

@naamah: I've certainly spent weekends doing worse! 0:)

"Ready," she answered simply. More than just "ready," this, she felt, was another step toward destiny, though what that destiny was, exactly, even she wasn't sure. Guided by obscure principles and (often uncertain) feelings was how she'd lived the entirety of her existence and felt as familiar as the combat for which she was made.

"So move it," she directed flatly, motioning to the pod, her assessment of their respective assets necessitating he direct the movement to their goal as she marked it, Trinity herself acting on primary offense and defense. "I'll be here."Outside the pod, that is. More mobility, easier defense.

@schlampe: "Heh. Hang on." With a wry grin, Daltar kicked the pod into gear, and it lurched out of a decade-long torpor and shot down the track. He had taken the liberty of removing its acceleration restrictor; it was intended to prevent collisions and pedestrian deaths, and he wasn't exactly worried about either, at the moment. This allowed the pod to travel into the bowels of the station at an incredible, if lurchingly unsteady, pace.

Roughly twenty bone-jarring minutes of travel later, the battered pod skidded to a sparking stop before a massive set of hydraulic blast doors. Climbing unsteadily out of the drivers seat, Daltar made a futile attempt to wave another cloud of opaque exhaust smoke from his field of vision. "Well, we're close. These doors are what seals off the reactor from the rest of the station. Thing is, they're also designed to take the kind of punishment usually reserved for leveling entire cities, so I hope you're still feeling strong."

(Glad to see this place active.)

@cosmosis:

While the smuggler activated the pod for use as his means of transportation, Trinity positioned herself behind the craft and folded her arms, latching to the back via a tether, psionically crafted and invisible to any light spectrum, her feet hovering inches above the ground.

The breakneck speeds of the craft barely phased her, the slightly invigorating speed high hearkening nostalgically back to the days when she felt at what she had once considered her strongest. When she could fly of her own accord and possessed speed that even most space-faring craft couldn't match. Things she sought to possess once more, in time.

Trinity raised a curious brow as the pod skidded to a halt in front of the blast doors. She looked to the smuggler and nodded. "I'm always feeling powerful." As she approached the door to begin, however, she read the presence of the other lifeforms creeping through the area, tossing back a warning. "I'll need a diversion. Time to earn your keep." She tossed back a taunting, almost sinister smirk.

@schlampe: "I earned my keep flying you here," Dal muttered under his breath, as he flipped off the safety on his heavy bolter. "This is starting to feel like charity work." Placing the pod between himself and the oncoming horde, he took aim and squeezed off a round on full auto.

Though the principle upon which his weapon worked was similar the the machine guns one might find on earth, it possessed a number of advancements. Rather than using powder combustion to propel lead ammunition, an electrochemical charge launched rounds composed of a material similar to tungsten at roughly three times the speed. The result was a spray of fire that ripped through the exoskeletal defenses of the savage monstrosities.

In spite of the appalling casualties they were taking, however, the flood of enemies did not abate. They clambered over the ventilated corpses of their predecessors, each wave coming noticeably closer to the Delosian's cover. "If you don't want to have to hitch a ride home, you better boost your speed, dearie!"

@cosmosis: "You can leave now if you want..." Trinity sneered her retort.

You can try, she thought, her face twisting into a devilish smirk. The hordes closing in on their back-to-the-wall position would would make sure that was easier said than done.

"But you won't get paid until everything is finished as I need it."

Having said her piece, she went to work on the door. The arrival of the station's denizens and Daltar's fire would have made an argument inaudible, as well as dangerously distracting, anyway. The Destructor played her part well. She enhanced her body to imbue her strikes with many times the force her standard ability would allow and hammered on the blast doors with a force that echoed throughout the entire station and back two times over - to no noticeable effect. She pounded harder, further enhancing her power. Still no effect. She had little mind for the hordes at her back, nor for the warnings of her companion. After a third and final try, she stopped pounding and let her arms drop.

She smiled.

She was yet fully confident in her self-serving mind that, with more effort, she could in fact bust through the doors. But that wasn't a part of her plan. "Formidable," she said with a shrug before shouting back, "You sure you're not low-ballin it with the 'entire cities' thing?"

But he was right. The horde was large, and she needed him wounded, not dead. And though his death wouldn't invalidate his genes for collection - she could make due just as well with a corpse - she decided it wasn't his time. In a rare act of compassion that she herself didn't completely understand, Trinity Blue gave aid to the needy without regard for herself. Hold your fire, she mentally advised, and then she erected a telekinetic barrier separating the duo from the creatures before slamming the wall into the collective, sending them toppling over one another in a frenzy.

"Now you're on your own again. Gimme a few minutes." She dropped her shield and focused on the door again. But this time, instead of a faux display of brute strength, she put on a genuine show of mental finesse, setting on her knees and tuning her focus to a fine point. In clusters of molecules, Trinity picked the door apart and set its elements aside, starting the process of burrowing a hole in the center of the gigantic structure.

@schlampe: Dat month late post.

@gloomyizzy: There is no late with me. I'm like those songs about Jesus. Not always there when you need [her.] But [she]'s always on time! Or something like that; I don't like gospel music.

Besides, he and I have agreement.

@schlampe:

“Right…like I’m gonna just take off without getting paid.”

Why had he come aboard, after all? Curiosity, greed, a death wish, some inexplicable need to protect the passenger who could apparently tear anything they encountered on this station apart with mean thoughts? Well, whatever the reason, he was here, and all that mattered was getting back out again with his hide (and some looted Imperium tech) intact.

And there she goes again, he mused, as Trinity’s telekinetic attack turned the advancing horde into a jumbled tangle of clawed limbs. Still, he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. His bolter was out of ammo, so thinking quickly, he snapped off the restraints which had been holding the fuel cell in the passenger seat of the transport pod. Giving it a firm kick, he sent it rolling into the mass of alien aberrations, and one precise shot from his trusty plasma pistol quickly turned it into a rolling incendiary. He dove behind the cover of the pod and waited for the blast to pass.

Poking his back out, he grinned. It had worked like a charm; the corridor was now simply filled with charred corpses. The smell wasn’t terribly endearing, but it should buy them some time before another nest of the things caught their scent, or however it was they hunted. Turning back to Trinity, he ducked and followed her into her makeshift tunnel. “Don’t suppose you can seal this up behind us, can you? Be nice to not have to keep checking my rear for teeth marks.”

@cosmosis: I hadn't even noticed this! Wonderful! Have I complimented you on your many distinct voices for characters? Yeah? Well, have at it again!

who could apparently tear anything they encountered on this station apart with mean thoughts?

Also this made me laugh.

@schlampe: Aww...thank you! ^_^

@cosmosis: Though it was intricate work, Trinity made quick work of the door, her microscopic operation producing what appeared to be a melting away effect as she peeled away the blast doors. The hole was just large enough to accommodate the smuggler in his suit—based on what they'd seen, he in that suit was the bulkiest living thing aboard the station and the...whatever they were called, would have no problem getting through, should they attempt one at a time.

Given what they had just gone through with the door, his concerns were wholly valid. But Trinity didn't see that. An impatient, single-minded desire drove her, and working doors had no part in her goals.Besides, they'd all have to be eliminated anyway. "I don't have time for that. Map. How far til the core?"

@schlampe: I don't have enough ammo for you not to, he thought, prudently keeping the sentiment to himself. Bringing up the holographic projection of the facility, he pointed down the largest corridor leading away from their present location. "Straight ahead. One click should take us there. Looks like there's another computer terminal just outside it; we can bring up core schematics, provided the terminal is still working."

@cosmosis: The way he spoke made it sound like they were close. Spurred by this, Trinity's aggressive impatience began to show itself again alongside her relative lack of experience. "Click on what?" Doesn't matter."Take me there. Now, hurry up! Unless you wanna get eaten! I'll watch your back," she offered as something of an incentive compromise.

@schlampe: Someone needs to cut back on the stims...

Plasma pistol raised, Daltar led the way with as much haste as was prudent. Fortunately, they made it to the inner door to the power core with no further difficulty. He immediately went to work on the computer console located just to the side of the sealed door. "Okay, hopefully this is close enough to the core that we still have some...bingo!" The doors hissed open with a brief whif of stale air. "The core's all yours. This terminal is in better shape than I was hoping, so I'm going to see what else I can learn about this tub, while we're here."

@cosmosis:

"You will share everything you learn with me." She didn't ask. She commanded. Her plans necessitated that just as much as dealing with the on-board abominations. "See if we can get the power back up and running." With a nod, she stepped over the threshold separating the rooms. "Try not to die," she said, then her mind closed the door behind her.

The lighting was dim throughout the station as a result of its extended state of disrepair, but the core chamber was almost entirely dark without the light of the corridor to shine through. The greatest concentration of luminescence existed in a small green sphere in the center of a wide, round room at the end of the corridor, and even that didn't spread far beyond its source.

For all her prior purpose, Trinity practically crept through the corridor. Violet sparks danced between the fingers of her left hand as she approached, wondering whether or not she could restore the power herself. She did not act, however, pausing instead in front of the core. Silence crept between them for almost a minute, then she acknowledged it with a whisper.

"There you are..."

The crimson blade of Destructor's Might flickered in the dark as the saber floated straight up, leaving her in darkness a moment longer. A metallic thud sounded from the floor. A second later, there was another. The burning saber sailed back to ground level, highlighting the elongated dome-like, now severed head and body of one of the native denizens.

Almost as if on cue, a low, purr-like growl crept down from above. From that alone she discerned the size, a considerable degree larger than any they'd encountered thus far, if she had to guess. Again her hand surged and she loosed its sparks into the core, not fully powering the station, or even the room, but she had managed to produce a dim flicker within in the core chamber for slightly better visibility.

"No," she corrected herself as she looked up.

Not bad...

@cosmosis: I really like this guy.

@strigidae_23: Right!? I wanna make him my first pal for spacey adventures, but after this he'll probably be all, "you're a mean pushy bitch, you almost got me killed, and you didn't pay me!"

@schlampe: Hahahaha, he probably will!

@schlampe: Oh, I'm learning a lot, and you'd probably implode my head if I told you what I was learning about you.

"The customer's always right," he said with a wry grin, as she disappeared into the core chamber. He briefly wondered what she could possibly be doing in there, and then decided that, in this case at least, ignorance was probably bliss. Focusing on the terminal, with an alert ear tuned to his surroundings, he began to see what he could find.

Hmm...Project Omega Weapon. Yeah, that sounds like good reading.

He swiftly extracted the file. He was no hacker, but he knew a guy who knew a guy who could probably decrypt it for him later. Moments later, he found the master control for the power generator, though this didn't necessarily cheer him up. The station was too badly damaged and neglected to become fully operational; all he could do was restore lighting a surveillance, as well as limited power to a few scattered sectors. Still it was something.

He was about to log off and see what Trinity was up to when he detected an incoming communication. Not willing to hang around long enough to listen to it, he commanded his ship to remotely record it and store it for later consideration. Stepping away from the terminal, he checked his weapon, ran a diagnostic on his armor, and then settled in with a sigh to await the return of his employer.

@schlampe: @strigidae_23: Thank you! ^_^

@cosmosis: [It's not amazing, but I wanted to get it off my mind.]

The enlarged creature, apparently something special among the ship's bestial denizens, clung to the ceiling, its saliva pooling just below. Trinity scowled at her distorted reflection glaring back at her from its shell-like head. They remained in silence until again Destructor's Might flared up in her hand, after which the creature, possibly fearing an attack akin to that which decapitated its companion, dropped from its resting place. There was barely a sound; it seemed surprisingly light for its size.

Standing apart, they circled slowly. Until then Trinity made no attempt at mentally reading anything aboard the ship. This one, which marked only her second ever attempt at forced entry, yielded nothing. Nothing she could make sense of, anyway. Its "thoughts," if they could be called that, completely unintelligible. Full understanding wasn't required to rewire a brain but a rudimentary grasp might've done wonders to reduce chances of complications.

It wasn't long before she found herself staring directly into a pair of beady, soulless black eyes and realized they were standing face to face. Sizing one another up. And though they were foreign parties to one another, there existed between them a kind of primal recognition, a certain alien familiarity and respect.

"I think....I won't kill you."

-- --

The quiet of the outside would soon find itself disturbed as the Destructor came crashing moments later through the previously sealed doors, tumbling through the hallway into a decrepit old pile of supply crates. Quick to rise, she raised her hand and threw up a telekinetic barrier just ahead of the doorway, the giant creature crashing into an apparent nothing as its entry was momentarily blocked.

Trinity cast her glare unto her smuggler companion, ignoring the beast for a time. "...Find anything?"

@schlampe: [We clearly have different standards of "amazing."]

Test.

@nordok: Huh. Your reply wasn't showing up until I test posted. And also I'm not getting notifications for them.