@Hokum And to an extent @CmdrAlfieq if he ever responds. As Ernest Ernest is a bit concerned. Even though his true body is several times larger than the Queen, he feels very small right now. He's calm demeanor is slightly less calm than normal, but not out of the ordinary for him.
"Ah, yes, that. That craft belongs to a humanoid entity that refers to herself as 'Fanny May'. Miss May is bizar, and appears to be able to defy the laws of physics. However, she is friendly, from what I can tell. You need not worry about her. I apologize for any consearn this caused you. I have been with Miss May ever since I was activated last, and I have no memory before that point in time. I grew used to her abnormalities, and didn't think of mentioning them. Is there anything else you desire to ask, Queen Avika?" The Pod explains.
@Hokum As Siren and Rodia Siren ponders the events that just took place. "You truly lead an amazing civilization, commander. I can't even imagine how you obtained all these resources or this technology. I wish we had anything to return to you, but it's clear that there will never be anything we could possibly do to benefit your society until years, possibly decades, of technological progress. And by then you probably would have advanced greatly as well..."
Siren's voice trails off. This advanced technology, I could use it to achieve what I- She cuts herself off mid-thought. Better be careful, since Aoa seems to be able to read her mind. Best be careful what she thinks about.
Siren continues. "Anyway, yes, go ahead and download the knowledge. It appears you have the situation under control at the moment. Is there anything you need me here for still? If not, I would like to visit your planet myself."
.................
Lars and Gamma are slightly confused. Mostly Lars.
Lars: "Wh... What just happened?"
Gamma: "I think Hokum and Quote had another misunderstanding"
Lars: "Jeez, stop that 4th wall breaking! It's going to stop being funny eventually!"
Gamma: "No."
Lars then notices the numorus Sporn unites coming to great them. Being the official ambassador of Rodia, he figures it's his job to introduce them. "Greetings, Sporn units! I am sure you are all aware of Rodia, the space station that has been unintentionally brought into orbit of your home. I am R-1-28 Lars, the primary ambassador Rodia. And this is R-1-0 Gamma-" Lars was trying to introduce Gamma, but Gamma appears to have wandered off.
Lars continues: "Well, I'm pretty sure you all saw Gamma."
Gamma has wandered off, probably trying to chat with a Sporn, and making a shameless fool of himself, probably.
As Ramrod Ramrod walks over to a workshop of one exists. Once there, he requests materials, and then gets to work making... something. It's mechanic. That's all I know. The dope is seeping further into Ramrod's metaphorical brain with every second. The higher Ramrod gets, the less controle I have over him. So whatever he makes will be a mystery even to me until he's done.
Surprisingly, as Ramrod gets more stones, his memory of that night he blacked out is getting clearer. He did in fact make a spaceship. A massive one at that, probably at least 600 Meters long, and it didn't look like anything else Ramrod had made or seen. And it was made out of incredibly alloys.... especially the center, he specifically remembers the absolute center of the spaceship he had made was nearly indestructible. But if only he remembered the metal he used to make it... But wait! Maybe this spaceship can figure it out!
"Yo, spaceship." Ramrod Mraoh'd. "You think you could recreate that mraoh'ing metal I used for the core of that mraoh'ing spaceship I don't remember much of that I made when I was mraoh'ind drunk?"
"If yah know about meh principles and want thah job done your way, then yah know that Ah take partial payment up front, and Ah'll work for anyone willin' and able tah pay. Give meh Pycin now, and Ah'll finish the work on Dino properly and come back fah more. Othahwise, I'll go ahead an' count mahself as fahsaken, and we'll see if Ah can't speed up the death of this heeyuh universe a lil' bit. Pycin up front and all readah to die, and Ah'll kill Dino with no collaterals. If yaw're reallah Gawd, then you'll know when Ah ain't lyin', ayuh?"
-Donny wasn't lying. Orders or no orders, he'd already decided that those two were dead. He took business merrily on most occasions, but the mistakes folks like these made? They tried blackmail instead of just paying him half up front with honest instructions. When proper business couldn't be conducted, war took its place. Donny suffered no threats to live. This was why the Mafia feared and respected him. Any employer who tried to extort Donny's services was his enemy.-
Meta respected Palin's choice, he was professional enough to have Meta operate on his own and trusted him enough to do so.
Meta: Good.
Sahmi then put her hand on his shoulder and asked him if he was seducing her. Even though he never really interacted with women outside of jobs, he was sure that she was the one seducing him. He stared her down, his void black visor piercing her own gaze as he said with a dead serious tone:
Meta: No, I do not.
She then walks over to a nearby shelf and retrieves the transect. As she brings it back and asks where to place it, he remarks:
Meta: That won't be necessary.
Meta lifts both his hands and grasps the sides of his helmet. Sahmi could hear a faint hissing sound as the helmet depressurizes. He lifts it up, revealing his face before holding the helmet in front of her.
Meta: I would like you to attach the device here.
She would then ask about his name, to which he replies:
Meta: You can call me Meta.
---
Back on the Tempest, both droids ignore most of Rufus' statements. However, the ASP then replies to Rufus' question about returning to his ship.
ASP: Should you find a way to return to your ship, then do so. I will inform the captain of your departure.
@Hokum Captain Soun sat in the bridge. He noticed that the ships were no longer moving, assuming that the cylinders had stopped the fleet. He was dangerously close to ordering an attack, but the only thing that held him back were the near-sacred rules of hospitality once set by Genghis Khan himself. There would be no fighting that day. Not yet, anyway. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Entity number: AE-1769. Class: Delta Containment procedures: Not yet determined. Currently uncontained. Description: Female humanoid of 5'6". She calls herself 'Fanny May', appears to be in her late teens. Object is capable of instant teleportation, as well as telepathy and invisibility from surveillance equipment. Her motivations are currently unknown, but she has not taken any hostile actions against the Khaganate. Addendum: AE-1769 was encountered almost immediately after the Khaganate had arrived in the current universe. Reason for this is unknown, but seeing the entity’s incredible abilities, it is likely that she knew the fleet was here the moment it arrived." The Director of the Omega Order finished reading the file that they had gathered on Fanny, to inform the men present in the room of the power of the entity some of them had encountered.
"So this... thing," Yuri Lanist, Khagan of the Lanist Khaganate said "Is incredibly powerful, and, as a result, dangerous. She had already shown to be capable of interfering with our ship's technology with but a single thought when she turned on one of the monitors in the Primary Bridge. Has she actually shown any hostility yet?"
Jens Knaggs, the vice-admiral who had encountered Fanny earlier, responded: "No, Gur Khan, in fact, as you undoubtedly already know, she offered us an entire planet, one we could use to give the Khaganate a bridgehead in this universe. She has also offered helpful information and advice several times, like when she said to not react with hostility to the natives of the strange systems we are in."
The Khan frowned, and thought deeply for a while. Eventually, he came to a decision. "It appears that we are currently the guests of one of the most advanced alien species of this reality. As guests, we will not attack or do any other sort of hostile actions against our hosts. It seems that due to our current circumstances, we have to protect the universe and its inhabitants, rather than conquer it. As such, we will accept Fanny's proposal.
The Director's hologram dissapeared, and the fleet admiral, Khan and Vice-admiral went back to the bridge. They were there just in time to listen to the spasmodic clicking sounds that would be played from all of the audio systems on the primary bridge. After the transmission, Yuri looked to his right, where Jens was supposed to be standing.
No one was there anymore. The vice-admiral had disappeared. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It was only a short journey to the hangar where the ship that would finally take them to their destination would be. The two generals arrived a small hangar located near the quarantine room they had been in minutes earlier. The ship that had been requested by General Anderson was already waiting in the hangar. It was several hundred meters large, almost too large for its landing pad. It was an old luxury passenger ship that had been refitted to serve as a transport craft for the Khaganate fleet, back when the Great Expansion Fleet was being built. Many of the transport craft used in the Khaganate fleet had originally been procured from different companies who either willingly donated them to the Khaganate Navy or were obligated to provide these ships. The ship that the two generals would use was based on a design from Kolik-Keme, an aerospace company originally based in the Zeta Arabis system. The many luxury cabins had been exchanged for cargo bays, weaponry, shielding and simple cabins. There were a few luxury cabins on board. The ship's propulsion systems were slow due to its size, so it would take some time before they would arrive at the Ger-class vessel Katie's parents were on.
They were about halfway when the ship stopped. General Anderson went to the cockpit, presumably to complain, but she had found General Nurzhan already there, staring out of the canopy. "I talked to the pilots," he said to her, "They say they don't know why the propulsion systems were suddenly damped. It'll take some time to fix. Be patient, and go do something else for a while." Katie calmed down, announced she would wait in her room and clean herself up, and left the cockpit. A few minutes pass, and Arman continued staring out of the window with his arms crossed. Only now did he notice the three giant cylinders that were present near the fleet. His thoughts were disturbed by sudden clicking sounds coming out of the speaker in the cockpit. He did not know what they meant, but he got a bad feeling, and he rushed to the room where he knew Katie would be. He knocked on the door, called her name, but there was no response. He opened the door, but inside he found nothing. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Director of the Omega Order said alone in his office aboard the stratocruiser KSS Atlas. He had just finished a meeting with some of the most powerful men in the Khaganate, and he did not leave it happier than he went in. The situation was dire. One of the most powerful entities that they had encountered so far was still uncontained, and the massive stratocruiser was dead in the water as something, presumably the cylinders, had cut the ship's propulsion. All of the other ships in the fleet reported that they had the same problem.
Suddenly, he got a message from one of his subordinates: "Sir, AE-1769 has been found. The entity is currently in one of the canteens aboard the KSS Yurt, one of the Ger-class civilian vessels."
"Send Phalanx Alpha to try to recontain her."
It was at that moment that all of the audio systems in his office room made the same noise: The high-pitched clicking sounds that the rest of the fleet were currently receiving. The Director, being a clever man, recognized that these sounds could be a language of some kind, and gave the order to translate it.
A few minutes later, the majority of the Omega Order's science division was working hard to translate the clicking sounds, as an order that came from the Director was hard to ignore.
Just to note: Everyone, please read the entire post. I know it’s long, but it is kinda necessary. In some but not all cases, I have added your characters names as headings in parts that involve them, but most of your character have been mentioned more than once and may also be involved in other areas of the post that aren't titles with their name reference. The beginning section of the post is also vital in explaining the reasons why all the later events take place. In any case, feel free to go ahead and blame Meta XD.
Thank you.
Chapter 4
Love and War
Rufus doesn’t know the droids at all, or Meta for that Matter, but the years of drug use and the fact that he is very stoned right now, not to mention being swept away from his home and being lost in space at the moment, and also because he was just about to reach level 80 in Skyrim before stepping into the portal in his bedroom… well, it was all taking a toll on him. He feels hurt by the droids response, as though he was losing a new friend for no good reason. Hell, a tear even wells in his eye as he replies to ASP:
“You know what, metallic dude…. I was never stranded here. So I’m just gonna go…. You should work on your social skills. I wanna go back to my ship now, so b –“
As Rufus said goodbye, he vanished from his cell.
Rufus appeared on the bridge on his vessel, or rather the vessel he unwittingly commandeered, and is once again surrounded by hovering holographic systems and interactive terminals as he slumped back in his seat.
“Ship….” He said, then took the last remaining drag on the roach he had pinched between his finger and thumb. “Those guys weren’t nice to poor Rufus at all.”
“Aww, poor Rufus.” The ship replied in a sympathizing, sensual female voice. “Would you like a cookie?”
Rufus released a groggy stoned chuckle with a nod of his head. “Sure, my righteous babe, Rufus would love a cookie. Could I also have a bottle of Vodka, the real Russian Stuff, not that American variety? I really wanna drown my sorrows right now.”
“Absolutely.” The ship replied as a bottle of Russian Standard and a choc-chip cookie appear floating in the air within reach beside him. “Is there anything else I can do for my sweet, sweet Rufus?”
Rufus grabs the cookie and takes a bite, replying with a full mouth; “Do you have a name, my audacious babe?”
“I was hoping you would ask.” She replies. “You can call me Cynthia.”
He swallows his mouthful of cookie and takes another bite before opening his bottle of Russian Standard and chugging down a few swallows like it were nothing more than water. “That’s a sweet name.” He tells her. “So hey, let’s do something, right?”
“Thank you, Rufus. What would you like to do with me? Nothing naughty I hope….”
Rufus releases another stoned chuckle and points to a particular holographic display near the center of the room. The hovering item looked like a ball of purple light with numerous unknown symbols diagrammed in white about its surface. “What is that?” He asks.
“That is my heart.” Cynthia replies. “It connects me to the universe.”
“That’s cool.” He says. “What does it do?”
“My heart does many things.” She answers kindly. “Would you like to play with my heart strings, Rufus?”
“Hell yeah.” He agrees, leaning forward in his seat and pointing at one of the white symbols. “What does that mark do, specifically?”
“That is my Quantum Shuffle, Rufus.”
“Rufus chuckles. “Shuffle, like the dance?”
“No, not like the dance, Rufus. Think of it as a set of hands holding a deck of cards. Think of the deck of cards as the universe. Would you like to shuffle the deck? If so… all you need do is touch the symbol…. Touch my heart, Rufus….”
The idiot, Rufus, giggles like a child, takes another swig of Vodka and places his finger on the symbol. Cynthia instantly replies:
“That feels nice…. Sleight of Hand, or Random?”
Rufus seems confused for a moment. “You mean… cheat?”
“I mean I could do a random shuffle, or I could fix the deck.”
“Ohhh….” Rufus thinks for a moment and laughs again. “Random sounds fairer.” Though he didn’t really understand what was going on.
“Then random it is.” Cynthia replied. “Initiating Random Quantum Shuffle calculations. Stand by.”
Rufus finished his cookie, sunk half his bottle of vodka, and got a little antsy while waiting. Ending a few minutes of silence, Cynthia speaks again:
“Shuffle complete, my sweet Rufus. Would you like to deal the hand now, or would you like time to reconsider?”
Despite being shitfaced, Rufus had to ask; “What will dealing the hand do, Cynthia?”
“A lot, Rufus. The universe will never be quite the same again. But it is only the first round. Anyway... there’s only one way to find out for sure.”
Rufus takes one more swallow of Vodka, another toke on his join, and then nods mischievously while swaying drunkenly in his chair. “Yeah….” He slurs his words. “This sounds trippy…. Let’s do this.”
“Then kiss me, Rufus. Plant those lips on the symbol of my heart.”
Being so very intoxicated at this point with his inhibitions lowered so far, Rufus felt aroused, he even got a slight erection as he leaned in and planted his lips on the white symbol of Cynthia's heart.
When Rufus’s lips connected with Cynthia's heart, an Omni-directional shockwave exploded from Rufus’s vessel. The invisible wave moved faster than the speed of light, expounding across the universe in less than a blink of an eye. All matter in the universe was effected, all except Ramrod and the other Rufus who were both on board Cynthia as well, only in a different time line.
The Quantum Shuffle
Every planet and every ship in the universe trembled upon contact with the shockwave. Every sun grew a slight amount and sent out solar flares. Dimensional portals opened like cracks in the very fabric of existence throughout and between the galaxies. The effects of the Quantum Shuffle are so diverse and extenuating that they cannot all be mentioned yet, but one other to specifically mention is Hany’s Ribbon; upon contact with the shockwave from Cynthia, Hany’s Ribbon was duplicated…. There are now seven.
….
Hida, Cuna, Pirila and Mili.
Beneath Cynthia, on the planet only known as Phantom Point, The ground trembled violently. In the already ruined city, what was left of the buildings seemed to shift. For Cas, Shard, Cuna, Pirila and Hida, all the structures around them seemed to multiply, if only for a few seconds while the trembling continued. To those individuals it would have been like their vision was blurred. They would see everything from drunk eyes as though, for the moment, they had double vision. The building, the ruins, even the rocks and people nearby appeared to shift out of phase.
As the earth tremor subsided and the ruins surrounding them became solid images once again, Cas and Hida mysteriously vanished from the group.
….
Meta
Sahmi furtively cast her eyes to Meta now and then while fitting the Transect device to the interior of his Helm. She even made a comment at one point, expressing how she liked his eyes and how he shouldn’t be hiding them behind a visor. She was just about to hand the helmet back to Meta when the shockwave struck.
The Tempest was rocked like a ship on troubled waters, while for that moment all systems on board, even the droids, malfunctioned. Whatever contact Meta had with his ship in those moments was severed. At the same time, of course, Meta and Sahmi were shaken along with the entirety of the Quatis fleet. The shaking was sudden and sharp enough to knock the unsuspecting off their feet.
As the convulsions stopped, Sahmi picked herself off the floor, took up Meta’s helmet in one hand and turned a concerned glare to Meta.
“What the fuck just happened?” As she asked the question, emergency sirens began to wail throughout the ship. Amid the sounding alarm an emergency message was broadcast through all auditory systems:
“This is First Gamma Palin. All Military hands to their stations. First contact with numerous alien entities is commencing. This is not a drill. I repeat, all Military hands to their stations. First contact with numerous alien entities is commencing. Prepare to engage unknown life forms.”
…
Donny
Donny had just completed his speech when the savage convulsion of the ship was felt. Fanny remained in her seat, unaffected by the sudden shake, but she let out a loud holler, sounding like someone cheering for a winning goal in a football match as she jumped from her seat. As the sirens then sounded and Palin’s emergency message was broadcast, the many people in the strip club, previously frozen in position by Fanny, suddenly broke their statuesque poses and started scrambling out of the Strip club. At the same time, Hany, dancing until that point, vanished from the stage while Fanny turned to Donny. Whether Donny was picking himself up off the floor or still remained in his previous position, she approached him with a smile, saying;
“Looks like the intervention of stupid people is on your side, Donny.” She stepped up close and placed a hand on his chest, adding; “But you know you can’t kill Pycin with that bomb in your chest. You don’t want a heartbreak, do you?” As she is finishing her statement, Donny would feel her hands entering his chest. The action caused no wound, blood or even pain. To Donny it would have felt similar to if he had hit his funny bone on the corner of a table, only the sensation was surrounding his heart instead of his arm. Her hand sunk through his flesh and ribcage like passing through warm, soft sand. The sensation would have been accompanied by the tantalizing feeling of her fingers prodding around in the chambers of his heart, searched for the bomb. A few seconds later she withdrew her hand, holding up the bomb between her index finger and thumb for him to look at. The devise was square and metallic, no more than a few millimeters in size.
“Thanks for the heart to heart, Donny.” She tells him with a small laugh. As she says so, she crushes the bomb. Small traces of dust fall from the pinch of her finger and thumb. “So, it looks like we have an understanding, you and I.” She said. “Now go, Pycin is yours.”
She allows Donny to reply with what he might have to say before he vanishes.
….
Khaganate
Somewhere far, far away from Phantom Point Station, The Khaganate fleet is also disturbed by the invisible shockwave of Rufus’s stupid decision. While every vessel in the fleet is rocked like ships on turbulent seas, 20 of their leading military vessels, along with 9 of their civilian ships, dematerialize without a trace….
Back in the canteen among the ships that remain, Fanny spits out her last mouthful of food, unable to hold the masticated meatball as she starts laughing hysterically. As her laughter dies out she wipes her mouth clean with a napkin while the Phalanx Alpha enter the canteen to contain her. She stands from her seat with hands in the air, yelling out:
“You had me at hello, boys! Take me to your leader!”
Even more than this, previously as the shaking of the Khaganate fleet is settling down, Dino Gavon appears directly in front of the Khan, wherever the Khan may have been at the time. Dino is adorned in his previously mentioned armor. He waddles confusedly for a few seconds, notices the Khan and whatever other officers may have been present and likely composing themselves after being shaken, before he concentrating his attention on the Khan himself. He isn’t stupid enough to raise the gun he’s holding in his hand. In fact he lets the weapon go limp and dangle in the loose clamp of his fingers, as he says:
“…Does my abductor have a name? Or maybe some other space vagrant is responsible for this sweet surprise.”
….
Quote
“You appear to be a pleasant and considerate life form,” Queen Avika replies in kind to Ernest Jr. “On account of your recent assistance and your overall demeanor I will take your word on the matter. But let it be known at this time, if you are attempting to elude me, you and the foreigners on board your vessel will be chastised according – ”
The Queen was cut off from the rest of her speech when the shockwave struck. The cavern shook violently. Many of the Otomigus drones became frantic as the queen looked around confused, though she managed to keep on her feet. Moments later the Queen, after looking like she was receiving telepathic messages from somewhere, took her eyes back to Ernest Jr. with a blaming glare.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” Her voice thundered, shaking the cavern once again as the initial trembles dies out. While the echo of her thunderous rage dies off, Ernest Jr. will find that communication with The Ernest has been severed. He is on his own.
At the same time, Ernest, the ship, was shaken by the shockwave. While he was shaken, all the commanders’ people on board disappeared without warning. Still, Ernest is not without occupants, because as soon as the people had disappeared, three full grown male African elephants appear in his cargo hold. The elephants seem a little troubled as they begin to holler and tramp around, trying to find reason to their new whereabouts.
What may be even more troubling to Ernest, is that he now finds himself no longer in orbit the Otomigus planet. He is somehow now hovering in the dark expanse of space many lightyears from the nearest star, no longer in communication with Ernest Jr.
….
While Siren was addressing her question to Aoa, Rodia shook from the shockwave as well. Aoa instantly braced himself, clamping his hand to a nearby wall to stop himself from falling. Stabilizing himself, he turns to Siren and replied in a matter of urgency:
“Looks like our efforts to get to know each other will have to wait. It would seem there has been a -”
Aoa is cut off from his speech when he inexplicably disappears.
Mere seconds after Aoa vanishes, Siren receives word that half the R-Core units on board Rodia have also disappeared (the new whereabouts of the missing units is yet to be established). Much to Sirens surprise, blood starts leaking from her eyes.
….
While Rodia was still shaking, several Sporn ships and their crew disappear from their port within the artificial Sporn planet as well. A total of 33 ships.
On the Sporn home world, while the planet is shaken by the impact of the Cynthia’s shockwave, Gamma and Lars wold be surprised to hear the Sporn emergency alarm system sounding. Upon hearing the alarm the civilian units of the Sport suddenly run in various directions as if they are preparing for something horrific. Their attention is taken and appear to no longer care about the newcomers. The alarm continues to sound.
….
SAM
No sooner had Fanny spoken her piece to SAM, did SAM encounter a curios sensation. His vision also became blurred like pixels clouding his perception, and then went blank.
….
Magnus
While Magnus is still pondering his next move, his ship is struck by the shockwave as well. Once the ship stops shaking, a female English peasant from the middle ages appears in the seat beside him at the Helm. The peasant smells a great deal of body odor and stale urine. A few leaper-like sores are seen on their face. Apart from this, the peasant girl appears to be somewhat troubled. Their eyes almost pop from their head as they analyse their whereabouts and finally turn their attention to Magnus, speaking in a rugged old English tone:
“May enquire as to who you are, chap, and where I might be at this moment?”
While the Girl is still speaking, Magnus’s ship is no longer where it used to be. He and his ship are now positioned in front of a massive space ship. There are no planets or stars nearby. The planet previously known as Fanny is nowhere to be seen either, but the massive ship in front of Magnus, one that Hokum finds hard to describe, edges a little closer to Magnus’s vessel before an audio transmission is received from it:
“We are the Jam. We are currently having a shindig in honor of our late captain. He will not be missed. We have also encountered a shockwave of sorts, while numerous types of wildlife have appeared on our vessel. Are you responsible for these odd events? If so, please explain why. If not, you are welcome to join us in our shindig.”
The Aftermath
The 33 Sporn vessels that had vanished from the Sport home world, all a few miles long and shaped like centipedes, re-appear congregated around the outer most planet of the Phantom Point star system.
….
Khaganate, SAM, Meta, and Chimeras of Triganavia
The 20 Khaganate major military vessels, along with 9 of their civilian ships that had vanished from their previous location many galaxies away, all phase back into existence several planets out from the sun of Phantom Point solar system. Here, they are too far from the rest of the fleet to communicate with the others. They are lost in space.
The officers in control of these vessels will likely give orders to scan their current location. If they do so, they will find that they are not alone. There is an arrow-shaped formation of massive city ships in orbit of a planet (the Quatis Fleet). Also in orbit of the same planet is another ship, though smaller, with one android energy reading on board (The DGS with SAM on board). The ship with the android on board and the Quatis fleet all seem to be made of the same unusual alloy and are likely built by the same species. Apart from these vessels, however, is another ship in orbit of the same planet. This ship (The Tempest) seems to have a dampening field surrounding it, preventing the Khaganate from taking readings of its interior. Very close to The Tempest is yet another vessel that the Khaganate would be unable to take readings from, besides that of a few temporal distortions. There are, as well, other ships of an entirely different origin and composition gathered around the outer most planet of this solar system, while 13 life pods of also unknown origin are sending out standard life pod transmission. These 13 life pods are scattered randomly around the star system (Lumiere’s characters).
Soon after arriving in this new region of the universe, disconnect from the rest of their fleet, and barely having the time to come to terms with what has happened, the Khaganate fleet receive a message from the flagship of the Quatis fleet on various intergalactic frequencies. The message is received in audio form:
“This is First Gamma Palin of the Quatis and acting captain of the Flagship Egress. We are new to this region of space. Please state your intentions.”
….
Back across the universe in the location of the remaining Khaganate fleet that had not disappeared - and soon after the disruption of the shockwave - the scientist in charge of deciphering the language return with news to the Director. They informing the Director of what they, at the moment, believe to be nearest possible translation of the message they had received a little earlier:
“Not harm. Must understand. Crew be return. Not pain. Fight you die.”
Meanwhile, mass flocks of black ravens appear in many of the hallways, hangars and others rooms throughout the Khaganate fleet. The bird’s flight is chaotic, reminiscent of being spooked and desperate to escape their new location.
...
Chimeras of Triganavia
In the wake of the shockwave that rocked the universe, 13 life pods also arrive at random location throughout Phantom Point star system. These life pods are standard in structure, they are roughly 8 feet in length and black in color, appearing like caskets and fixed with active life pod beacons.
One of these pods are floating within arm’s reach of the hull of one of the recently arrived Khaganate military vessels.
….
SAM
When SAM’s vision returns, he finds himself in a new location. He is on board an alien vessel all alone and standing at the helm. SAM wouldn’t know this at first, but he is actually on bard Dino Gavon’s personal ship, the DGS. SAM is still naked, but he quickly hears the ship talking to him in a female voice, saying:
“Who are you? What have you done with Admiral Gavon?”
….
Hida
Cas and Hida had vanished from the grounded group at Phantom Point Station. They barely realize they have vanished from their previous location before arriving in a strange world. They are now amid a pretty brook surrounded by a beautiful forest. The trees of this forest are of highly unusual colors and formation. The sky, visible through the canopy of the trees, is a light violet color.
Cas was still in the middle of his next step down the road when he realizes he is in a new location, his foot now planting down into the edge of a small pond in the brook. Turning to Hida with expected surprise, he lowers his rifle in shock.
“What in the fuck…? Where are we? Where are the others?!!”
Cas then checks the transect device on his wrist, although his confused expression doesn’t change in the least.
….
Pirila, Cuna and Mili
Meanwhile, back on the planet, just a short walk from Phantom Point Station, Shard is petrified by Cas’s sudden disappearance. She starts panicking, turning in circles while yelling out Cas’s name and looking at the transect device on her wrist that doesn’t seem to be providing answers. Obviously, Pirila and Cuna would be aware of the sudden earthquake followed by the disappearance of Hida and Cas.
In addition to this, a massive herd of Wilder Beasts appear some distance down the road from their position. The herd is spooked and charging in their direction.
….
Donny
Donny, after vanishing from the strip club, finds himself in Grand Minister Pycin’s living quarters. Donny is standing in an open doorway. In one direction he sees a relatively young and beautiful woman, perhaps Pycin’s wife or daughter, sitting back in a recliner chair sleeping. The continuing wails from the sirens aren’t heard in Pycin’s quarters like they are in the rest of the ship, but there is a terminal near the woman’s position making a small, emergency bleeping sound, though the sound doesn’t seem to be disturbing her rest. In the other direction from Donny’s position is the bathroom. In the Bathroom the Grand Minister is taking a shower. The old man has his back to Donny, for now unaware of his arrival, while lathering his wrinkly buttocks with soap as the water from the shower pours over the front of his person.
Fanny is no longer present, of course. She has kept their arrangement.
Oddly enough, Donny would also notice a small flock of arctic penguins waddling about confusedly in the kitchen area on the far side of Pycin’s quarters.
….
Meta
Sahmi shoves Meta’s upgraded helmet back in his hands as the Palin’s announcement ends and the sirens continue to wail. She doesn’t mean to be rude with these actions, she is just suddenly panicked and scared about what is happening. Turning from Meta she rushes to a nearby monitor that Meta can also view.
“Show current stats!” She is almost yelling, voice trembling. In response to her demand, the view screen lights up with a catalog of information that is taking place outside. As it does so, a voice emits from a nearby console as well. The computerized voice is loud enough to be heard above the sirens. It informs Meta and Sahmi of the same information displayed on screen, though just a little more summarized, saying:
“New alien vessels detected in this region. Multiple sources being read. All alien vessels are heavily armed. Precautions are being taken. First Gamma Palin has replaced Admiral Dino Gavon on board the Egress. All commands have been reinstated to the First Gamma. All military personnel are to report to their station and await further instruction.”
In hearing and reading the information, Sahmi turns to Meta, her face now pale with fear.
“Aliens…. Daddy!” She says as if her mind was losing the plot. She then looks like she is about to faint with despair before raising her wrist to speak into her own transect device, saying:
“Open a link to Dino Gavon by orders of Sahmi Tels.”
A moment passes wherein she stares in suspense at Meta, but unfortunately her greatest fears are confirmed as the transect device replies in a male sounding, computerized tone:
“Unable to comply. Dino Gavon’s bio readings are not detected within a 10 lightyear radius of the fleet. The DGS is currently occupied by android readings of unknown denomination. Unable to confirm the Admirals whereabouts.”
Sahmi then shows her teeth as she grits them together then rushes to the other side of the room where she opens a cabinet and produces a massive cannon-like firearm. The weapon is almost as big as she is, but she seems to handle it with ease as she turns back towards Meta and yells:
“Come with me! We have to find my daddy! Take me to your ship!”
….
Meanwhile, on the Tempest, a Sporn android (Aoa) appears in the cell that Rufus had previously occupied. The 7 foot tall highly advanced drone suddenly becomes hostile, likely believing it had been abducted against its will. Only slightly effected by the forcefield in place, it steps out from the cell and produces a small cannon from an opening in its wrist while a drill-like appendage extends from the palm of its other hand. In addition to this its eyes light up as though lasers were being activated as it advances towards the nearest ASP.
….
SAM and Khaganate
While all this is happening, a full grown Killer Whale appears in space above Phantom Point. It begins to writhe and twist, suffocating as it starts to fall towards the planet. No doubt the Khaganate arrivals would detect this life form within in their new vicinity as well. On board the DGS, while hearing the voice of the ship demanding answers about Dino Gavon, SAM would be able to see the giant killer whale pass by the view screen of the Bridge on its way to the planet below.
Other
Khaganate
Jens and Anderson find themselves in a room of unknown dimensions. The other 400 or so officers taken from their posts at random are also contained there, but none of them are aware of each other’s presence. Jens and Anderson will find that they are naked and strapped to metal slabs of some kind. The slabs are on a slight lean backwards. Jens and Anderson have a bright light shining in their face, not allowing them to see anything beyond the glare.
….
Quote
While all this is happening across the universe, Ramrod can continue working on what he is creating, completely oblivious to what is taking place outside the ship he is on. While Ramrods is working, Rufus has had too much to smoke and falls to sleep in his chair.
Sleep was not exactly like how Kaite remembered it. Gone was the sensation of having had a conversation with someone he knew in favor of instead a vision. It seemed naturally vivid as if recalling a memory that just happened.
The Spire, slowing in its spin until stilling the flames arched into what could be described as leaves hanging in a fog. A soft ripple cascaded from the tree, pouring a darkness into the sea of stars which were one by one snuffed by the nebulous force. It started as a shade that simply consumed the lights of planet's skies until washing over the surrounding fleets in the blink of an eye. It was a sea. A vast ocean of oppressive nothingness that unfeelingly held the tons of burning steel and polymer. To escape the dredge was to so simply cease to exist, as the depth dawned on the human soldier looking on. More so...it was like being inside an unfathomably massive a beast.
A sound not unlike a voice called out, soft but pervading from all angles. Some senseless tone not meant for how humanity understood the sensation. With it, however, came an understanding like empathy, as if the notion was Kaïte's own. A long planned thought like a dream or aspiration.
"Beckon all dusks" "Toil for Lalauna"
Kaïte's eyes open to find himself in a colossal cave with rings of upon rings of spiraling ledges reaching up to a dull light somewhere what felt like miles away. Below, however, a cavernous pit of darkness from where chains emerged. Shapeless black figures with wide, wild eyes bore these chains shackled to every appendage as they trudged up the spiral in lockstep...dragging link after link of their chains out of the darkness. There was no way to judge how long the chains were or how far down they went, though Kaïte could be certain that the intention was to pull whatever was down there up through the shaft.
Kaïte awoke once more in the darkness of his box and fought the urge to be sick. The nightmare of his situation was quickly re-realized by the small blinking lights which infrequently illuminated the cramped interior. Aylvic script he hadn't had the time to decipher during his brief time with the floatilla, all drawn in long strokes seemingly by hand. Short phrases repeated themselves along with smeared handprints and scratches, rhyming in a fashion intended to be a mantra or chant of sorts and Kaïte wished he understood them for the hope of gleaning some kind of inspiration for the situation.
Still, he was forced to merely wait and his urge to sleep to pass the time was...rebuked.
@Hokum Gosh dang do I have stuf stuff to deal with As Ernest Before Ernest Jr could defend himself and clarify that Ernest had nothing to do with the wave, Ernest was teleported to wherever he ended up.
Ernest Jr let out the following automated message: "Error. Contact with The Ernest has been broken. This unit can not function without contact with Ernest. On behalf of The Ernest, I apologize for any inconvenience. Deactivating..." And then turned off and fell over.
........................
Ernest himself is greatly confused. Still being affected by amnesia, he doesn't even know what an elephant is, let alone why three of them are in his cargo hold making a ruckus. Ernest checks his terminal.
ERROR! AN ERROR IN QUANTUM PHYSICS HAS DISCOMBOBULATED SURROUNDINGS! WARNING! HUMAN OCCUPANTS HAVE DISAPPEARED! WARNING! THREE INSTANCES OF "ELEPHANT" HAVE APPEARED IN STORAGE AREA B! WARNING! NO LONGER IN ORBIT OF OTIMEGUS TERRITORY! ERROR! CAN NOT PINPOINT LOCATION ON NAVIGATOR! ERROR! LOST CONTACT WITH REPAIR POD "ERNEST JR".
And probably some other errors as well. Ernest checks the terminal for what an elephant is. The terminal couldn't tell him anything, other than their name. He should probably do something about them, since they are probably going to damage to holding cell and hurt themselves like this...
"Elephants. I am the Ernest. I understand you are stressed, but I must insist you calm down to avoid hurting yourselves. If you can understand me, please stomp your left front foot on the ground Three times to confirm your intelligence and ability to understand english." Ernest says over coms. He is not sure if Elephants are intelligent or not. He has no reason to believe they are, but on the other hand, giant space ants.
Ernst figures that the best course of action is to probably get closer to that star, and try to use it to recalculate his navigation system. He starts up his mian engine and prepares to teleport closer to the star. (Hokum, if nothing prevents him from teleporting, you can assume that he does
As Siren "Commander Aoa!" Siren yells out, trying to grab him as he disappears. Doesn't go well, as you might imagen.
Drip!
Siren looks down. Blood. Is dripping down from behind her face plate. That can't be right! she thinks to herself. I'm an R-Core! I can't bleed! Her (already bad) vision starts getting very blurry, since her face plate filling up with blood faster than it's leaking out. She runs over to the nearest mirror or otherwise reflective surface. She takes off her face plate and looks at her face. Somehow, despite being fully mechanical, biological blood of some sort is oozing from directly behind her visual sensors. This shouldn't be possible, and needless to say she's kinda freaking out.
Then she hears a voice from behind her saying "SIREN? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Without thinking she turns around to look at the voice. Without her face plate attached, her excellent hearing is impaired.
And As Rodia
Rorod, who luckily wasn't teleported, looks in horror. Without her face plate, he can see that she's an R-1 Core.
"You... you have been lying to us! You... you are a war machine! You're an R-1 like Gamma!" He finally says.
Siren responds, much quieter than normal without her face plate, but still noticeably angry "You know what else I am? BLEEDING! Never mind that I lied to you, we have bigger problems to deal with! Like the fact that a ROBOT is BLEEDING, something only biological lifeforms are supposed to do."
She pops her face plate back on, restoring her hearing and voice. She then grabs a conveniently nearby glass, and lets some of her blood fall into it. She then hands it to Rorod. "Take this to the lab and get it tested, I want to know what type of blood I am bleeding and how we can stop it!"
Rorod: "I'm not sure if you noticed but HALF OF THE R-CORE ARE MISSING, INCLUDING FIVE OF THE UNFISHISHED R-CORE!"
Siren: "Ok, fine! That's a major issue! Make sure the ones we still have can get finished now that we have the metal to finish them. And while you are at it, get the blood tested! I'm going to contact the Sporn, see if they know anything.
Rorod is getting tired of arguing with Siren, and goes to get that done. The process of finishing the five Unfinished R-Core that are present, either by using the Sporn technology (if they have it yet, it's not clear to me if they do), or simply the factory if they haven't.
.............................
On the Sporn Planet....
Lars: "What's going on?!"
Gamma, very casually for the situation: "I dunno."
Lars: "Are you even concerned about this?!"
Gamma: "Not really."
Lars: "We're clearly in danger!"
Gamma: "Correction, YOU are in danger."
Lars: "What are you talking about?! Your resistance chip won't protect you even if it's fixed by now! Ugh, whatever, I'm going to try to find out what's going on. Have fun dying!"
Gamma: "I'll actually try to avoid dying. But assuming I can't will do."
Lars then storms off to try to find a Sporn who is willing to help him. So does Gamma, actually, but in a different direction, and far more casually.
As Ramrod Much to Quote's dismay, Ramrod still have enough control over his mind to know what he's doing. The machine he is building is coming together.... A spaceship. Again it will be sentient, like the last ship he made, a bit smaller so it will fit on THIS spaceship, made out of the same material as the first one....
Wait! Ramrod is remembering more of that night! The spaceship was sentient! And he didn't crash it, he sent it out on it's own! So, who knows what happened to it... now, what was its name? Armrest? No, that's ridiculous, even for a drunk plush cat. Ear-West? That's hardly a name! Wait, he's got it! It was The Ern-
Ramrod train of thought was interrupted by him tripping over a wrench. He looks over at it. "WHY IS THIS MRAOH'ING WRECH ON THE GROUND?! THAT'S A MRAOH'ING SAFETY HAZARD!" Then he grabs the wrench, sticks some of his web on it, and furiously throws it upwards, sticking it to the ceiling. He immediately regrets the decision as he remembers he needed that specific wrench right now.
Through one way or another, he continues working on his new spaceship.
@Hokum Erwin Schmidt stared out of the window of the secondary bridge of the KSS Nova, a mighty Khan-class dreadnought like the Genghis. He was the captain of the ship, however, all propulsion systems were offline. Somehow, these cylinders had turned off all of the fleet's propulsion systems. Captain Schmidt had already contacted several other ships, but they were all having the same problem as the Nova. He had also heard reports of disappearing officers from those ships, but due to the size of the Khan-class dreadnought it would be very hard to find if an officer had gone missing on his ship as well, since he knew that no one of the bridge crew was gone. The captain could still see the cylinders near the fleet, but because their propulsion was gone there was nothing they could do about it. Then, for some reason, Erwin felt the floor of the ship beneath him shake violently, almost knocking him off his feet. When he recovered from the sudden shaking, the captain saw that everything outside of the ship, including the stars and galaxies he could see with the naked eye, had changed.
"Status report!" He ordered.
A woman who was in charge of the scanning and communication systems on the secondary bridge replied. "Contact with main fleet lost. Twenty of the largest and most powerful Khaganate military ships, except the Genghis, have all been transported here by, what my scanners indicate, was a Quantum Delocalisation Event. Nine of the civilian ships have also been transported here. I can't pinpoint the main fleet's location, so it is likely that we've been transported too far to contact them. From my scanners, I can see that eleven of the GEF's dreadnoughts, including this one, and nine of the battleships are near us. Our propulsion systems are online as well. Whatever had shut them off is gone now."
"So we've got a lot of firepower. That's good. What about the civilian vessels?"
"I can see several purely civilian transport ships, mostly Ger-class. There's also a few industrial and agricultural vessels, so at least we won't starve to death while we're lost in space," The communications officer laughed a bit at her own joke, but seeing that the captain did not find it funny, she continued, "It would also appear that, since both the admiral and the vice-admiral aren't here, as well as the fact that the Nova is designated as the second command ship of the fleet, you are now in command of the fleet, or at least what's left of it here. Congratulations, sir."
"Run a scan, I want to know what's around us."
The scan took some time to be completed. Meanwhile, the captain could see that even the solar system they were in had changed. The small blue star of the planet with the cylinders had changed, and all of the structures he could see without scanners were gone.
"Scan complete. In this system, there's a formation of ten large, heavily armed spaceships, in orbit around a planet several Astronomical Units from here. Around the same planet another, smaller vessel is present. Both are made of an unusual alloy, but I am not sure if its stronger than the material this ship's hull is made out of. Another vessel is also orbiting around the same planet, but the normal scanners detect a slight interference, possibly due to some kind of sensor damping technology. Near that ship there's some sort of vessel generating temporal distortions. Near the outer planet of this system, there's a fleet of thirty-three ships shaped like centipedes. These ships are all a few miles long, and seem to be of entirely different origin than the ships that are more to the center of the system. There's also thirteen lifepods scattered around the system, one of which is dangerously close to the KSS Num. It seems that there's also a killer whale that just appeared above one of the planets."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Can you contact the rest of our small fleet? I need to tell them something."
Before the communications officer could do so, however, the killer whale had already disappeared from the ship's sensors, and she could see a teleporter signal that was suspiciously similar to that of the KSS Aqua, a scientific vessel, on the terminal in front of her.
"Sir, I have received a audio message from one of the heavily armed ships on several general frequencies. I am playing the message now."
The captain listened to the message from First Gamma Palin, and told the communications officer to reply.
The flagship of the Quatis fleet would then receive the following reply:
"I am captain Erwin Schmidt of the KSS Nova, admiral of the Lanist Khaganate Second Fleet. We were transported here through unknown means, and as such, we are new to this region of space as well. Please state your intentions like we have done." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The captain of the KSS Num had also received the information that there was a lifepod floating dangerously close to his ship, and had given the order to retrieve it. The massive battleship slowly moved until the lifepod was floating near the entrance of the small hangar bay, where it was pulled in by a tractor beam. Several soldiers were already waiting for it, in case something dangerous emerged from the pod. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Khan Yuri Lanist sat in his chair in the back of the bridge, thinking what had to be done. The propulsion of the ships of the fleet was still not working, and several military officers had disappeared without a trace, presumably taken by the cylinders. The Khan knew that they were not leaving until they got their people back, since they couldn't just abandon them to a strange alien species. All of a sudden, the mighty Genghis, flagship of the Khaganate fleet, was shaking, but it only took a few seconds for it to stop. Immediately, the Khan and the bridge crew noticed that something was very wrong, as a man dressed in armour and holding a gun had mysteriously appeared in the bridge, waddling about for a few seconds, before noticing the officers and the Khan in the bridge. Immediately, several of the Kheshig, or Khan's Guard, that were always present to protect the Khan, his family, and important military and civilian personnel of the Khaganate, were on the man, a few pointing their weapons at him, yelling at him to drop the gun.
The Khan then stood up from his chair and said:
"Who are you, and what are you doing in my ship?"
The Khan, however, barely registered the man's reply, as in the front of the bridge one of the smaller screens was activated as it was relaying a message from the Director of the Omega Order.
"Yuri, this is the Director. We have translated a message that all of our ships had received in the form of random clicking noises. The message's translation is: Not harm. Must understand. Crew be return. Not pain. Fight you die. We believe this pertains to the officers that have vanished earlier. I recommend that we wait it out, to see if these xenos really return our crewmembers. Also, twenty-nine ships have been transported to an unknown location by what the Omega Order scientists believe is QDE, or Quantum Dislocation Event. It seems that, due to this event, flocks of ravens have appeared in many of the ships. We've already done some research on these ravens, and we found that they were neither anomalous or dangerous, so getting rid of them would be easy."
The screen then cut out, and Yuri asked the officer in charge of the sensors to confirm what the director said. It was true, as eleven dreadnoughts, nine battleships and 9 civilian ships had all vanished. Chaos had erupted in several Khaganate ships as flocks of ravens had appeared in many hallways and rooms of the Khaganate ships, but in most ships they were put down as swiftly as they had appeared by military personnel and automated turrets.
"Alright," Yuri said to the bridge crew, as well as the captains of the other vessels after a communications officer had opened a channel to the other ships, "As some of you might know, 29 of our ships have disappeared, and are too far away to communicate with. The Omega Order theorizes that it has something to do with the shaking you must have all experienced a bit earlier. The officers that have disappeared will return, we just don't know how long it will take, so we will wait for it. I want that all the ravens that have appeared throughout the fleet will be either put down or captured, preferably the latter." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ James could see the hangar bay doors open as the dropship sped towards the KSS Yurt. The pilot started the cloaking device, more because of routine, since the cloaking was neither needed in that situation, and the Yurt would still be able to detect them anyway. James, as the commander of Phalanx Alpha, was supposed to give a briefing on the mission, so he stood up, and began speaking. "TF PA, AE-1769, also known as "Fanny May", has been sighted in Canteen six-three of the KSS Yurt by a surveillance camera in the canteen. As you undoubtedly know, this entity's class is Delta. This means that, due to its incredible powers, the entity could be incredibly dangerous to the civilians of the Ger-class vessel, so proceed with extreme caution. Fortunately for us, the entity is relatively close to the entrance, as well as near a wall. Since it is no longer time to eat for the civilians at the moment, most of the civilians in the canteen have gone back to their cabins. We will approach through the entrance closest to the entity, and spread out immediately upon entering. We'll surround the entity, and if possible, recontain it. If it becomes hostile against any of the civilians we will eliminate it."
After several minutes, the dropship had entered and landed in the Yurt's hangar bay, and the twelve members of the Phalanx Alpha task force rushed out, heading towards the nearest hallway. They all had a small version of the Yurt's layout on the display inside their helmets, and could see where their target was.
"PA-3, please check you..." James was suddenly cut off as the Ger-class vessel started shaking. The task force soldiers tried to find support so they would not fall over with their heavy and expensive gear, but the shaking stopped after a few seconds, and they could continue easily. They were already close to their goal, so a minute later all twelve soldiers entered the canteen at the entrance closest to Fanny. As was their plan, they spread out. Several civilians panicked, and ran away as soon as they saw the soldiers raising their weapons. The group of twelve approached Fanny, who yelled something to them. "Operation Command," James said into the recording system in his helmet, "We are approaching the target. AE-1769 is sitting where it sat earlier, at exactly the spot where the Vice-admiral said she would be."
James, however, got no response, and all he could hear on the other side was chaos, for an unknown reason.
"We will do no such thing," James replied to the entity, "AE-1769, we are here to recontain you. Please follow me, or we will have to use force." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Pilot. Please set a course to the KSS Borealis instead of the KSS Steppe," General Nurzhan said to the pilot. He had been slightly devastated that after such a long time of travelling together with Katie, she had, without warning, disappeared. After he discovered that her room was empty, he had searched throughout the entire ship, but no trace of Anderson could be found. Due to Katie's disappearance, the general decided that it would be a good idea to go to the KSS Borealis, the stratocruiser that he was technically still in command of, rather than the KSS Steppe, the Ger-class vessel that Katie's parents were supposedly on. The ship continued on its way towards the Borealis undisturbed, until for some strange reason, the vessel started shaking. General Arman nearly fell as he walked towards the cockpit, but he barely managed to stay on his feet. As he looked through the cockpit canopy, he could see something strange. He saw the ship they were heading towards with KSS BOREALIS in bold letters on its dark grey hull, but several of the ships that he had seen flying around it earlier had disappeared.
The small ship approached the Borealis. When they were about 5 kilometers away from the stratocruiser, the pilots got a message telling them to state what they were doing near the ship, or they would be destroyed. The general opened a channel, and said: "This is General Arman Nurzhan. As you know, I am in command of this ship, so I would advice you to open the hangar bay and let us dock." The hangar bay door opened, and the small transport craft entered the hangar, flew through its forcefield, and landed at the designated landing pad, where there was already a welcoming committee waiting for them.
Arman Nurzhan exited the cockpit, walked towards the exit of the transport craft, and stared at the shock on the faces of the people who saw that it was really General Arman Nurzhan who exited the vehicle. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The hot water of the shower turned into steam as it hit the floor. It rose up, being sucked into a vent where it would be converted back into liquid water. I needed this, I haven't bathed in months, general Anderson thought. It was true. The civilization of the planet where Katie and Arman had crash-landed only had medieval technology, and no easy water heating, sewer systems, or showers were present, so its inhabitants had to make do with bathing in rivers and lakes. Katie, of course, had been a duchess of a small duchy that was part of the Wul Empire, so she had the luxury of having a bath with warm water every few months.
She thought back on the time that had passed ever since they had arrived on that medieval world. Somehow, the ship she was travelling on, the Tsol, had travelled back in time three years, and made everyone, including her and Arman, forget their memories of it ever happening. Now, however, she had her memories back. She remembered how she had to take charge of the group of former crewmembers, and after a grueling trek to the north, she, and her, by that point, small army, had conquered a bit of land directly to the south of the Wul Empire. Because of the fact that many of the human crew of the Tsol that did not accept her leadership were now rampaging across the continent, she had thought it wise to become a vassal of the Wul. Three years had passed since then, although it was only a few days for the Khaganate fleet. Now, she was finally back, and she longed to take command of an army once again.
Her dreams of taking control of a military force were shattered once she opened her eyes, and found herself not in the shower, but strapped to a metal slab while nude, and stared right into a very bright light. She found, however, that she could still talk, and yelled: "Arman, this isn't funny. Where am I?"
There was however, no response, until she heard someone say, from relatively close by: "General Anderson, is that you? We thought you were dead after your ship crashed."
-Donny's face twitched as the ship shook, but otherwise he remained steadfast in his seat, hands gripping the table for support. He watched as Fanny removed the bomb then, and allowed himself an easy smile.-
"Much obliged..."
-He found himself transported into Pycin's place, and at a convenient time to boot. He briefly considered killing the sleeping girl, but she was a bystander, and it went against his new orders to kill her. Pycin, on the other hand, well... Who knew that being partners with a God could make work so smooth. Donny made a mental note to not spoil himself, and as such, silently approached the shower, opened the sliding door a crack, and pushed the barrel of his quantum rifle through. He didn't want to get fresh blood on himself, so he'd stand mostly behind the glass when he fired.-
The isolated twenty nine Khaganate vessels, far removed from the fleet they left behind, have done well in adapting to their new location. However, reports may now be coming in from various places…. These reports will have come from numerous isolated sources about their vessels, both civilian and military alike. These reports are all very similar in nature, pertaining to complaints regarding loss of power supply and the erasure of personal and collective computer data feeds. In one case upon a civilian vessels, several civilians would have possibly been taken to the infirmary for medical attention, as the power to the oxygen generator, as well as all other power generation supply in that area, has been entirely depleted. That specific region of the civilian vessel may now be in darkness and void of life activity…. The numerous other locations effected by these power and data supply issues are not yet so severe, though the power and data does continue to diminish along with an increase of continued complains from officers and civilians.
No doubt, those Khaganate’s in charge of power maintenance will be alerted, if not at least notice that the alternate power reactors are attempting to divert power to these effected areas. In the possible automatic effort to divert power to compensate, it would be noticed that this supplemented power is also being devoured upon delivery.
Those in charge of receiving and responding to reports from the Khaganate people, would perhaps conduct an investigation as to the cause of the problem. These investigations would reveal interesting information for the Khaganate to consider: All power and data lost in these areas are being drained by a yet undefined entity. All that can be determined at this time is that both the power and data is being fed, or perhaps rerouted, to an outside location.
Furthering careful scans of the outer limits to the effected Khaganate vessels, would reveal that the outer hull of the vessels, specifically the areas near to the point of power and data loss, have somehow increased in size. These… bulges that curiously resemble tumor-like growths on the outer hull of the vessels, are no bigger than a meter or two in diameter. Readings would confirm that these lumps are comprised of the same elemental structure as the hull itself and give off energy signature readings similar to the power that has been drained from the nearby regions.
In total, the number of said effected areas range close to one hundred instances at various randomized location on the twenty nine Khaganate vessels. Each instance under effect covers an area of approximately thirty meters in all directions from the center point of the tumor-like growths on the outer hull.
In a likewise manner, The Quatis Fleet too are encountering the same issues as the Khaganate vessels, various reports of power loss and data removal are being received by high command from various randomized location on the ten city-size ships. One such area effected is Pycin’s Quarters, where a ruthless killer by the name of Donny is about to end the life of the Grand Minister.
As Donny extends the quantum rifle to the old man, the lights in the bathroom and living quarters begin to dim and flicker, as though there is a power interference issue taking place. There are now spasmodic moments of darkness and light, while Donny and Pycin would perhaps hear a metallic grinding sound deriving from the wall of the bathroom. Between the flashing intervals of failing light, Donny, standing on the outside of the shower cubical, should notice the wall of the bathroom beginning to buckle and twist. He would also notice that the air in the room is no longer so easy to breathe. It would appear that oxygen and power to the area is being depleted.
These troubling effects may also, perhaps, effect the lady resting in the other room.
As the 'earthquake' occurs, Pirila holds Mili closer in an attempt to keep her safe from whatever might happen, while Hida stops in place, confused.
- Pirila & Mili -
As the 'earthquake' ceases, Pirila sighs a breath of relief before noticing that they're now two people short.
"Where did they go...? They were here a moment ago..." She says, as she notices the herd stampeding off in their direction. "...we have a problem..." She says, as she points at the herd.
Mili, meanwhile, has been awoken by the shaking and the shouting, though she doesn't fully realises what's going on yet.
- Hida -
Startled and surprised by the sudden change of environment (and of course, Cas' outburst), Hida looks around confused, especially at the colour of the sky.
"Well... this is... interesting?" She says, reaching down to run her hand through the grass to ensure that yes, it is real grass. "You felt the earthquake too, right? Think it had something to do with this?"
SAM watched their cybernetic lights shine and strobe as they stood hunched up, he stood still and confinely as the lead scientist belittled him, disgracing him to nothing more than a automaton, with blood replaced with flowing electricity, not like a human.
The nerve of these scientists, if they had actually properly took a look at his inner workings they would have known that he was still technically a human brain, but either they half-assed it or they still wanted to just keep his robotics. Those corrupt, snide assholes should at least treat him like a valuable object if they say he isn’t alive.
How paranoid can you be to not trust yourselves to speak quietly? He silently scoffed at- wait, why was the bubbly one not bunched up with the other labcoats? At the very least, the giggly brunette seems separate to them, a little more favorable, a little bit more peachy. Still, with her being apart of the same team that have completely violated him, she still wasn’t held in the highest esteem. With her staring at him, he couldn’t see if she had one of the cybernetics behind her ears. Did she have them at all? The prick that spewed his uptight nonsense looked like he ran this, so, what was she doing? She must be unimportant, on break and looking around the place, a new recruit.
The lead man rambles on and further belittles him, being unreasonably suspicious of an infiltration on the surface, but SAM had a small hunch that they just really wanted his precious inner workings. They would have probably found that he was innocent as the communications in his ship were down and he had no way to contact an invasion fleet. There was no escape, no getaway, he was going to the more “stable environment” one way or another.
But, then a hand was extended to him before he could snap at them.
“My name is Fanny May. It’s good to finally meet you in person, Sammy.”
SAM promptly prepared to tell her to go to hell, but making a good impression would possibly let him not get shot with taser-bullets again, so he decided to go with it and shake. It hit him that, wouldn’t they not allow her to get too close to the prisoner, correct? They didn’t seem to acknowledge her in the slightest. “Don’t worry about these bastards. I’ll make sure you get out of here just fine. Be patient. For everything there is a reason.” She said. This absolutely bewildered him, why was she interested in doing this? Why would she know about him and want to set him free? Why was she detailing her plans out loud? What the fuck does “for everything there is a reason” mean?!
“Apparently this droids AI has been compromised. Extra security measures are in order.”
SAM was brought out from his discombobulated reverie, and was thrust into even more confusion. Why did- why did she- why aren’t they- is she even real? He tried to form a coherent thought, maybe she was just some sort of error in his photoreceptors that resulted from the crash? No, he didn’t think he knew any Fanny May’s, he wouldn’t just form an entirely new person in his imagination, her face looked new at least. He would have to check his memorybank to find her, but for now he had to clear things up.
From the outside he looked like he was completely fine with the situation, lifeless, and to be fair, did look like his AI was being compromised. He jumped up in his cage, letting go of her hand, not appearing to be turning hostile, but more of a anxious eagerness. His mechanical body captured this motion in an acceptably human manner. He faced his blank countenance towards the lead scientist.
”Apologies for the sudden movement, but I will inform you that your assessments were either inaccurate of not performed thoroughly. I am a cyborg, I have a human brain instead of an artificial intelligence. That is all.”
However, his eyes suddenly started to malfunction, like his entire field of view was being censored. Before he knew it, he was shut down.
///RESTARTING MEMORY RECORDING. . .
He awakes, still without his clothes, and without that primitive metal cage around him. It is definitely an upgrade, and it seems he is at the wheel of this ship. Again he saw the beautiful panorama of space through any windows there were, but he wasn’t in the mood to sightsee. He jumps up again and frenziedly searches around the helm, or as frenziedly as a stiff robot body could move. Was that whole previous episode with him being captured all some sort of fever dream? It certainly seemed like one, this could be some sort of rescue vessel, but he didn’t recognize any markings, if any, around the place.
Suddenly, a female voice interrogates him, asking about an Admiral Gavon and what was done to him and who SAM was. Maybe, he had it backwards and this was actually the fever dream.
”...Excuse me, what? I have no idea who this Admiral Gavon is, and I haven’t done a thing to him! If anything, I should be asking who you are and what you have done with me, and in addition, where I am, what is going on, and why did you take me here?”
He had a feeling he wasn't going to get useful answers, somehow. Maybe it was from the whale passing by the view screen, which SAM appears to not react to at first, but internally, he has completely lost it.
Meta was fully aware of the glances that she had been making towards him. He was watching her like a hawk to ensure she wouldn't tamper with his helmet. He also ignored her comment, simply staying silent and waiting for her to finish attaching the transect. As he reached out his hand to retrieve his helmet, the room suddenly started shaking violently. Fortunately, he managed to grab a wall fast enough to secure himself. After the shaking had stopped, he dashed over to Sahmi, grabbing his helmet and replacing it before helping Sahmi up. However, when he slipped his helmet back on, there was a delay before the HUD could activate.
Meta: An unusually powerful EMP shockwave perhaps...
Right after he finished speaking, what sounded like alarms started going off. Palin's voice could then be heard, calling all military personnel to prepare for battle with newfound alien entities. The HUD finally manages to come back online as Meta begins to access it, running diagnostics on his newfound attachment. He also received a message from the ASP that was monitoring Rufus, that contained a text detailing Rufus' recent departure. He indeed thought that this was suspicious, as Rufus' departure took place only a few moments before the shockwave appeared. He was not yet sure though, there were other suspects, such as the entity he saw earlier, and even Fanny May. Regardless, he had to investigate later as to what caused it.
Sahmi then scrambles to a nearby monitor before she issues a command to display the information about the current situation. Meta turns around, calmly walking before stopping right behind her and looking at the monitor himself. Several new unknown starships have just appeared some distance away from them, with some of them appearing to be military ships.
She then turns her face to Meta, now obviously in a state of panic and distress as she speaks into her wrist transect and utters the words: “Open a link to Dino Gavon by orders of Sahmi Tels". It was there his earlier suspicions were confirmed, she is indeed the daughter of his bounty, and seemed to collapse even further when the computerized voice informed her of his unknown whereabouts. She then however, produces an immensely large firearm before asking him to help her find her father.
Meta: I cannot, I have more important matters to deal with at the moment.
He says this to her in a calm and neutral tone as he turns his back to her and prepares to warp back to the Tempest.
---
The ASP registers Rufus' departure and signals the Instigator to return to its original post as it begins running diagnostics on the cell block. A few minutes later however, a new entity appears in Rufus' former cell, seemingly human-like and robotic. The entity proceeds to pass through the forcefield and produce weapons from its person. The ASP floats in front of it, raising an arm and producing a robotic auditory message.
Cuna glanced around at the sudden disappearance and subsequent hubbub that was going on, stumbling a little and muttering quietly to himself at the earthquake.
From there, he easily notes the approaching angry herd, and swears mentally, sighing audibly and reaching down to lightly take hold of Mili's wrist and taps it a little to get her attention. "Now's a perfectly brilliant time to wake up! Time to-" bloody "-get off of to the side of this herd, please! Shard, time for that later please!" He says in a loud voice, trying to project himself to be easily heard, as he releases Mili's wrist and looks over to the herd, trying to quickly estimate around how much time they've got left to run.
"What the hell just happened?" Magnus shouted at the incapacitated "corpse" of Sandra. "It seems our spacial position has changed randomly. I need time to recalibrate my SPS. My theory is a rift in spacetime has caused the position of most everything to shift suddenly, though it's just a hypothesis. But this theory explains why this plebeian is here." Sandra explained as the peasant girl acted quite offended. "There is also a giant ship in front of us, if you haven't noticed." "How could you miss it?" Magnus said jokingly. "You're hilarious." Sandra said sarcastically. "Please talk to them." She said as Magnus sat in the captain's chair and turned the microphone up. "This is Magnus E. Magisterium. Owner and..." Magnus paused as Sandra was mouthing what to say. "proprietor of a Ulysses 500 from Pineapple Incorporated. We are not the cause of this anomaly, and it would be a pleasure to be accepted to your party." Once Magnus finished he leaned back in his chair and took a nervous sigh. "Ugh. What's that smell?" He said as he looked over to the girl. "What's your name?"
Dino Gavon didn't physically respond to the guards or the Khan's request to relinquish weapons, give his name, or even reason to be there. In honestly, these people seemed just as confused over their situation as he was over his. In addition, the crew on the Bridge seemed to have their hands full with said events, so Dino decided to play the understandable third wheel, the uninvited nerd at a party. The gun remained dangling loosely in the grip of his fingertips, not dropped as requested, but clearly no threat at the moment either.
Through his eye-wear that looked like little more than sunglasses and complete with a translation program of its own, he was able to read the data that came up on screen for the Yuri. Though he barely moved his head, he angling his eyes in the shadows of his glasses to quickly absorb the information, then listened carefully to the orders the Khan gave. Once that was done, he ever so slightly shifted his face in direction of the Khan again and found it the best time as ever to finally give a proper reply. As he spoke, he released his usual tone of superiority, supposing one of humility and respect instead:
"Respectfully, Yuri, if you don't my calling you out by name, I have no intention of relinquishing my weapon at this point, but you should know I mean you no harm. Call it self-preservation. Nevertheless, it would seem that you and I have some things in common. Judging by what I've seen on your monitors, your star charts, and the message from your subordinates, my arrival here is undoubtedly caused by the same Quantum displacement that is currently effected your own people. My Name is Admiral Dino Gavon of the Quatis Race, here unintentionally and, as of right now, seeking a way back to my own ship. Perhaps we can help each other."
Back in the Yurt Canteen, James and his men are undergoing procedures Fanny knew, for their own prudence, should have been enforced much earlier. Still, as James barks his commands at her, Fanny's demeanor changes to one of stout severity while dropping her hands from a surrendering pose. As she does so, James can once again hear her voice in his head saying "My beloved lamb has returned," and completing this telepathic message, her lips part to speak. Her voice comes forth as if were composed of thunder, literally convulsing not only the canteen but the entire Yurt ship, saying: "You have no power over me unless I give it to you. There is no force but that I have allowed you. No man can capture the wind, no less the breath that makes it flow. I will walk with you as kin, and I will take pleasure in your company. You will escort me to Khan Yuri. This is my word. My word is all."
As Fanny completes her thunderous speech, every weapon in the hands of every soldier surrounding her become red with heat. They would naturally be unable to keep hold of their weapons and drop them, each weapon turning to ash upon hitting floor.
First Gamma Palin was as smart as they come. His eyes narrowed with intense concentration and scrutiny while regarding the reply from the Khaganate. He didn't, however, reply right away. Communication was temporarily severed while he addressed his bridge crew. Expecting each officer under his authority to know their place and therefore know what questions were directed at who, he simply stated his inquiries without naming the specific officers in question.
I want a standard report of every instance taking place in and around this system since the shockwave. Leave nothing out, no matter how unimportant it might seem. I also want a report on Admiral Dino Gavon's current whereabouts. I want these reports yesterday!"
It took less than a second for the new leading science officer, a lady by the name of Rej with jet back hair and glassy un-rested eyes to speak up, saying: "First of all, First Gamma Palin, you aren’t going to believe this, but the vessels that materialized at the outer most planet have a similar composition to the android being studied by Dorita Gavon on the science ship. If I might surmise a guess, they aren’t going to be happy to see us holding one of their own captive. Furthermore, I believe their entire race, at least those on board the vessels that have materialized, are all artificial life forms, just like the droid we have.”
“Secondly, I have now counted a total of 13 life pods scattered around the system. My readings have no record of their composition in our data banks. Their origins remain unknown. I suggest caution in our approach. I should also mention that our current scans indicate that our new neighbors, the Khaganate, have decided to detain one of these life pods. Uh… and as for the unknown variety of Orca that appeared in orbit of Phantom Point planet… the Khaganate have teleported it on board their vessel. From what I can tell the ocean dwelling mammal is being detained in an environment suitable to its nature.”
“Thirdly, First Gamma, and what appears very troubling, is that we have just started receiving reports of power failure and data loss from numerous areas on board our ships. From what I gather, similar problems are being experienced on board the Khaganate vessels. Sir…. There is no logical explanation for these losses, but it does present a major issue. One effected area is that of Grand Minister Pycin’s personal quarters. Power is being drained quickly. His Quarters' oxygen levels are being depleted in accordance to the power loss. It would also appear that his quarters have been breached by an unknown species of bird, as well as a humanoid. Scans indicate the humanoid is the same man that arrived on our vessel after the incident with Dino Gavon on the planet’s surface. I have no idea what is responsible for the power depletion, sir, but I’m currently doing all that I can to find out. But one thing can probably be assumed, and this that not all instances taking place since the shockwave are being detected by our scanners…. It seems likely that there are other arrivals, maybe cloaked vessels nearby that we are yet unable to detect.”
“the fourth matter you should be apprised of, sir. We have just now detected another vessel approaching this star system. Long distance scans indicate all but four large land mammals are on board the vessel. The Vessel is otherwise heavily armed. No more data to report on this instance at this time.”
“But there is one other thing….” Rej’s voice sounded to ease off in delivering the last bit of news; “I’ve managed to track the shockwave back to its origin. The Quantum displacement residue leads back to the small vessel in orbit of the Phantom Point planet near the Tempest. Somehow… that ship could be responsible for all this shit.”
Palins eyelids become heavy while he listens to Rej’s accounts, like a man growing tired of listening to the same tune too many times, yet somehow still manages to feign interest.
“And what about Dino Gavon’s whereabouts… have you found his bio signature?” Palin asks.
“No, sir.” Rej replies regrettably. “The admiral doesn’t seem to be anywhere within a 20 lightyear radius of our position. His personal ship, the DGS, is currently occupied by what appears to be a cybernetic entity of unknown origin.”
Oddly enough, Palin seems more disturbed by the news of Dino Gavon than anything else. He sighs like someone would after failing to extinguish a candle on their birthday cake, then announces his response to all bridge crew members, saying:
“Send out a recovery crew to Pycin’s quarters. Recover the Grand minister and detain the visiting humanoid and …birdlife. Dispatch crews to recover all personnel from effected areas of our ships, then seal off all effected areas with level nine security measures. Keep scanning for cloaked vessels, Rej, do what you need to do to make that happen - and make it a priority.”
Palin pauses for a moment before continuing with allocated orders:
“Dispatch a tertiary science crew to one of the life pods, the nearest one to our fleet’s location will do. Make it a skeleton crew. We don’t want to chance any nasty surprises. Give the science crew orders to use the utmost discretion in this matter, we have no idea of the nature of what’s on board these pods. If analyses of investigation proves that the life on board is safe, we can then send out more tertiary vessels to recover what remains of them.”
“Send a transmission the DGS, request information form the Cybernetic life form on board the Admirals ship. We need to know its intentions before proceeding further.”
“Send another transmission to the singular vessel approaching this system, request the intentions of the four life forms on board as well.”
“Send a transmission to the small vessel you say is responsible for the Quantum displacement wave. Request immediate information from whoever is on board that vessel. We want answers.”
“Last of all, keep an eye on the ships located at the outer most planet. They haven’t responded to our hails. We will continue to play ignorant until we hear from them.”
Done with his initial orders, Palin takes a seat in the captain’s chair and stares out into the abyss of space while waiting feedback. A minute later the communications officer announces the following:
“First Gamma. I have sent out transmissions to all noted entities, awaiting their reply.”
"Now re-open communication to the Khaganate.” Palin tells him. “I have a response."
Without saying a word, the communications officer opens a link to the KSS Nova. It has been several minutes in its delay, but the first Gamma finally replies with the following:
“Captain Erwin Schmidt. We have no intention of hostility towards you or your people. As I have mention previously, we too are new to this region of space. I would like at some point to stand on ceremony and learn more about your people, but it would seem that current events taking place are taking priority. Our current research into the odd events that have taken place suggest that the displacement you and others have encountered originated from a small vessel in orbit of the planet we of the Quatis are also in orbit of. We are currently attempting to communicate with said vessel with no success.”
Captain Erwin and his crew would then receive the spatial coordinates of the vessel Palin had mentioned, before he continues with his message:
“Furthermore, we have scanned your vessels and have discovered that we share a similar problem. We are both suffering from power loss in various areas of our ships. The source of these depletion are yet unknown. It would stand to reason that we are both in a position to assist each other where we can. Please confirm our analogy.”
The elephants don't noticeably respond to Ernest, apparently elephants don't understand his language at all.
Soon after, while Ernest starts heading to the nearest star, he receives a transmission from the solar system he is approaching. The transmission is vocal and is as follows:
“This is communication Officer Tailor of the Quatis Fleet. You and your crew of four are approaching a system that recently encountered events pertaining to quantum displacement. We hereby suggest you approach with caution and we also request that you state your intentions at this time.”
While this is happening, Fanny appears riding bareback on one of the elephants in Ernest's hold. When she appears, the animals suddenly become complacent and settle down.
"Happy to see me again, Erny?" She says, a look of trouble souring her face.
The DGS’s AI doesn’t have time to reply to SAM’s inquiry, as a new transmission is received at the helm of the bridge he is standing in. It is a vocal transmission and is heard as follows:
“This is communication Officer Tailor of the Quatis Fleet. You are currently occupying the personal ship of our first Admiral, Dino Gavon. We have also encountered various unexplained anomalies in this region of space. We hereby suggest you state your designation or name and your intentions at this time. Please respond.”
As the message ends, Fanny May, dressed in the same way she was previously, appears beside SAM with a gentle hand on his shoulder. She tells him:
"The Quatis will teleport a crew of soldiers to destroy you if you show any indication at all that you might have something to do with the disappearance of their precious admiral." Fanny has a dark look on her face, clearly perturbed by the events taking place.
A small Quatis science vessel with a skeleton crew is launched from the Quatis Flagship Egress and approaches one of the life pods adrift in space nearest the fleet’s location. Reaching a proximity of several hundred meters, the Pod is teleported aboard the science vessel. It materializes within a containment area in the research lab. The containment area is sectioned off by a level 9 forcefield. Three scientist and three security guards are at the ready in the lab, all standing outside of containment area.
The leading science officer in the room, a man by the name of Derok, instantly gives the order for external scans of the life pod be made. A series of yellow rays move over the pod taking readings of its hull structure. All reading results are simultaneously displayed on a monitor screen where all three science officers read the information that is obtained. Concluding this scan, Derok orders a series of secondary scans be made, scans pertaining to the inner cavity of the pod. With the secondary scan in action, a series of lime-green rays move over the pod while information pertaining to the interior of the pod is displayed on yet another viewing monitor.
Unknown to Donny, a mobile recovery crew and security team has be dispatched to Pycin’s quarters.
Meanwhile, as the lights and oxygen supply to Pycin’s Quarters are being compromised, Donny, in an interval of darkness, would hear the soft, wet slap of Pycin dropping his soap in the shower. As the next moment of light returns to the bathroom, Donny sees Pycin’s face through the glass that divides the view of each other. In that moment of illumination, Donny can see Pycin’s face is suddenly mortified at the sight of Donny looking back at him with the Quantum rifle pointed at his face. In that moment of light, Pycin may be realizing many things, a momentary clustered of thoughts that posed many questions: How did Donny managed to arrive at that place at that time? How did he expect to kill him knowing the bomb in his heart would ultimately end his own life too? What in the hell was causing the lights to suddenly fail? What was the buckling noise he could hear coming from the wall of his bathroom? And of course, why the fuck was he finding it hard to breathe right now? But in the end… as the moment of failing light gave way to another interval of darkness, the only sound Donny could hear escaping Pycin’s mouth were:
“Donny, you son of a fucking whore. I’ll see you in hell.”
As Pycin no doubt spouted his less than wisdom-filled final words, a female voice in the other room could also be heard in the same moment of darkness, calling out in the initial moments of apprehension; “Pycin! What the fuck are you doing in there? What the hell is going on?”
At the same time the small flock of penguins can be heard in the kitchen releasing chirps of distress.
Down on the planet, some distance from Phantom Point Station, the small group left behind would see that the herd of Wilder Beasts aren’t slowing down. The groups only seconds from being trampled. Shard, however, now aware of the pending stampede, snaps out of her previous panic and reverts her eyes to the transect device on her wrist. She desperately attempts forming a vocal order, but her new panic seems to be stumbling her words. She finally manages to release a coherent sentence just an instant before the stampede of stressed animals trample the group:
“Random jump for all humanoids in current party!”
The instant Shard voices her command, as the breath of the nearest approaching wilder breast in practically huffing in their faces, all members of their group are gone in a flurry of light.
Cuna, Pirila, Mili and Shard, appear in another location, yet only thirty meters down the road and still in harm’s way of the oncoming stampede.
“OH MY CHROMOSOMES!” Shard screeches in frustrated terror as she raises her quantum rifle, pointing it at the front line of wilder beasts. “Cuna!” She adds in desperate panic. “Fire that fucking weapon, you sexy son of a bitch!” As she ends her scream she squeezes her own trigger….
“I know it had everything to do with this.” Cas replies, looking over the data on his transect device. “But there is nothing that suggests we are anywhere remotely close to our previous location. All information is alien of origin. I just have no idea where we are at the moment.”
As Cas finishes talking, the sound of horses can be heard approaching from beyond a clearing in the forest. Accompanying the sounds of galloping hooves are the voices of men. Before too long, the horses and their riders appear in the clearing. It appears that a group of bandits, ten men strong and dressed in makeshift medieval armor varieties, come to a halt at the edge of the clearing. The ten grubby men take a moment to assess the two humans they had stumbled across before the one in the lead dismounts his horse with a grin to make any man uncomfortable, though his attention appears to be glued to Hida.
“Well, what have we here, boys? A harlot and her toy?” The rest of the bandits let out laughter before their apparent leader adds another statement, saying: “Looks like the God’s have favored us today, am I right?” He draws his rusted sword. “It be fitting you remove those clothes, wench!” He says to Hida, then pointing his blade at Cas: “And it be fitting that you sit down without a peep until us men have had our fill of this whore of yours.”
Meta would likely teleport back to his ship using his new transect device, but a second or two after his arrival, he is shoved hard from behind. The shove would have come from the point of a blunt object to his upper back and hard enough to at least knock him to his knees, before he hears the voice of Sahmi behind him:
“Don’t you even fucking dream about leaving me there! My people won't let me take my own vessel to look for my dad under the current circumstances. Civilians and scientist like me will be ordered to return to our quarters until the threat has ended. I’m coming with you whether you like it or not! You’re gonna help me find my daddy! So help me God, don’t make me shoot you!”
While she is blurting out these words she had the barrel of her massive rifle pointed at Meta, but as her words conclude her attention is stolen by a third entity in the room with them. She quickly re-aims the weapon at the approaching entity. It’s a seven-feet tall android charging in the direction of Meta and Sahmi. Behind the Android lies the mangles mess of an ASP on the floor in a nearby hall.
After an instants assessment of the situation, Sahmi fires her weapon at the oncoming android. The pulse of green light, like that of a fluorescent ball strikes the android in the torso and sends it flying head over heels into the nearest wall. As the androids crashes down to the floor, it’s clear that its torso has been ruptured. But the hole in its chest appears to be quickly regenerating as it struggles to its feet.
“A little help here!” Sahmi calls out to Meta as she squeezes the trigger a second time –
The peasant girl’s reaction to the current situation, including Magnus’s inquiry, intensifies to one of stupendous horror. It would seem that she was only just beginning to come to terms with her new surroundings. She glares and Sandra, then back at Magnus with that fast growing horrified terror before producing a four-inch rusty blade from the belt of her dirty tunic.
Holding the knife by the handle like a direly under-qualified tradesman would hold a screwdriver, she jumps up into a standing position in her seat while screaming like some crazed lunatic before lunging at Magnus, swiping the blade in a series of half hazard motions as she flails through the air towards him. While airborne, she managed to even scream these very troubling words:
“You’re not having my vagina while I’m still alive, you filthy swine!”
Meanwhile, as Magnus’s life pends on his swift reaction to the sudden assault, a reply is received from the Jam in a rather cheery tone:
“That’s really good to hear! All of us are so glad we don’t have to destroy you today! Feel free to come aboard at your leisure!”
The docking bay doors on the Jam’s vessel then begin to open to allow them entry.
@Hokum As Ernest Ernest wasn't sure if he should feel more safe or less safe with Fanny May there. Either was, he is grateful.
"Yes, I am in fact happy to see you again, Miss May. Although I am very confused by your presence, but I have grown used to your ability to do unexpected things." he said, slightly less monotone that usual, "You wouldn't by chance have any information on where I am or what these 'elephants' are doing in my hull?"
Ernest also responds to the Quatis fleet. "Greetings Officer Tailor of the Quatis Fleet. I am The Ernest, a sentient spaceship that was teleported against my will in the resent quantum error. I am approaching your area for the sole reason because it is the closest star, and I need to get closer to it so I can pinpoint my location and reconfigure my navigation system. As for the four entities you mentioned, those are probably the elephants on my hull you are detecting. The are passengers, not crew members, and I do not know why or how they are on my body. They do not appear to be a threat, though."
Ernest continues heading towards the star.
Ramrod's spaceship is coming along quite well. Ernest starts thinking of possible names for it.... Zeal maybe? It would fit with the naming theme of the previous ship... The name of which Ramrod forgot because of that wrench. Dang wrench. At least he got it back.
Ramrod could also use some food. Then Ramrod thought about why a Plush cat would need to eat at all. Then Ramrod thought about food again. He then asks for food, and assuming he gets food, proceeds to consume it using the same orifices (orifi?) he used to smoke that weed from earlier. AKA his ears. Once he is done eating, he gets back to work on the Zeal Spaceship.
Siren's attempts to contact the Sporn were slowed down by the excess of blood building up. She had to clean some more of it out, far more thoroughly this time. Eventually, she does get to the coms.
"Sporn. This is Siren of Rodia. I am contacting you to confirm your state of safety, and to ask if you have any more information on what has happened with this strange quantum wave that has hit us."
Rorod has gotten the production of the unfinished R-Core started. They should be done by my next post, assuming nothing goes wrong. But knowing Rodia's luck, something will probably go wrong.
Lars and Gamma keep searching for information themselves.
Magnus quickly grabbed the robotic corpse of Sandra and was going to us it as a sort of blunt weapon, and got into a ready like stance.
"Put the knife down and we won't have any problems." he said while glancing over to the screen to gage Sandra's reaction which was a shrug. "No, I'm not trying to rape you. Just calm down and trust us. I'm Magnus and this is Sandra. She's a-" he said while trying to think of something an English medival peasnt would understand. "She's a witch! Put your knife down or else," he looked over at Sandra again who was trying to hold back a laugh. "She'll curse you! OoOoOoOoOoOoOoH!" Hopefully that was enough to get her to stop.
"Sandra pull us closer to the ship while I deal with her."
-Donny didn't waste time on a reply. He took a second shot that'd interrupt Pycin halfay through his sentence, putting a hole through his torso that a seal could fit through. He'd then blow the man's head off for good measure before teleporting into a hospital nursery. It was getting near time to kill Dino. Donny's threats were but a bluff now, but Dino didn't know that. For all he knew the hitman had arranged for a catastrophe to happen if he didn't comply. Donny couldn't ram shit with his shuttle anymore either, but he figured he could kill Dino without it. After all, he could take live hostages, so long as they weren't harmed by his hand. Donny would begin gathering armloads of babies until he was spotted, teleporting with each group into his quarters. He had a simple plan. It was called Baby Armor. He still had just enough time to strap several infants to himself before his date with the Captain.-
@jorcool A black box hovered in the grip of the tractor beam, small red hand-prints were smattered and smeared across its face. A clearing from the palms around the head-section instead held a sharp series of quick characters spelling out
"A Somnium anguibus 13LW: 6-011"
It held the dimensions of a casket, though crafted from sections of what may have been hull plating at one point, welded and bolted into place finished with a wrap of chain. A distress beacon appeared to be mounted onto its back along with what appeared to be a refrigeration system without the slightest hint of possessing any life-support capabilities. While it would have reeked of an improvised explosive device designed for just such an opportunity as being loaded onto a ship, a quick scan curiously came back reading the device to be hollow...and empty. The culprit of this reading was quickly apparent from the roughly fist-sized hole in the side of the box where a link of chain held slack from having one of its flat sides apparently bitten through.
Somewhere in the ship, lights flicker down a hallway accompanied by a heavy scraping sound. Amidst it all arose faint conversations of sorts between three voices whose words and tones coiled between what sounded like a slurry of languages mashed together. ___________________________________________________________________ @Hokum Aboard the Quatis mobile science station, a casket matching the aforementioned one materialized, bearing similar palm-prints and its own unique smear of words on its face.
"A Somnium Araneae 13LW: 6-045"
A wash of colors ran across the box, feeling into every angle and edge and returning with its nature, or at least approximations of it. A mess of readings were fed onto screens, depicting the cases as having absurdly low carbon content in the metal it was made from, cut with some form of plastic which the elemental readout of was pocked with empty information. Unfound data curiously leaving a mystery as to what the box was made of besides the gilding along end edges and making up the hand-prints. Set into the box, each hand had a depth of nearly two inches into the mysterious black metal, including the words on its face. Soon after arriving aboard the ship, a shimmering, translucent mist seeped from the edges of the case's seal, growing sharply in intensity as vibrant green lights pushed deeper into the box.
The contents billowed into the shielded room, flicks of energy arcing from the floor somewhere in the growing fog for a moment. Fingertips surfaced, palms following with arms from the surface of the cloud of shimmering black, meter by meter, arms reached into the air, some of which pausing to wrap around others with their dozens of varied joints. Upon the gentlest touch of the ceiling of the shield, a bolt of energy repulsed the first limb bask and the whole contents of the shielded sphere grew hauntingly still. The thin, mist-like tendrils of fog froze in place for palpable moments before a baleful wail of some low vocal chords being torn hoarse in instant shattered the tension. The fingers of the hands grew boney and sharp as they elongated with disgustingly reversed joints in some places as whatever it was that had emerged from the box furiously beat against the wall of the shield in the direction of the Quatis scientists. Eyes grated against the viewing station, teeth flowing from the corneas to screeching gnaw at the shield in a behavior akin to a worm attempting to dig in its undulations. While scanners continued to run, the enraged and formless beast howled in desperate rage and agony while the shield stalwartly stood resolute in spite of the taxing drain of the entity's wave-like assault, writing back and forth to wash up against the viewing station's shielding, bringing with it hundreds of chattering mouths in hundreds more ambiguous voices.
1x Thank
