Afina

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Mining Operations Life Emergency Services Unit – Moles

In the main office of the Moles Unit a middle aged man sat with his feet up on the desk. He was broad of shoulder with rough features and short cropped blonde hair. Leaning back in his seat the chair squeaked slightly under his weight as he rolled a half smoked cigar in his fingers. Then the com came in and he leaned forward in his seat. “What? There was no blasting scheduled for today! Right, okay, we will be there soon,” he said as the com ended.

Rising from his chair he stepped into the door way to the next room and looked at the rest of his team; five women and seven men of various height, size and abilities. They all had their niche in the group and were brought together especially for when the shit hit the fan. “Alright Moles, we have a cave in in Sector 3-G. The Crystals Mines, unknown explosion, our new Tower Lead is trapped inside, status unknown. Prep your gear, we leave in Fifteen!” Lou ordered and the group that had been idling sitting twiddling their thumbs sprang into action. They were not needed often but today was one of those days they were.

Stepping back over to the com he raised Craig as HoS, on shift or not, when something happened concerning the Tower Lead, all coms went directly to him. “Craig, you get that com that came in?” he asked and Craig grunted slightly, having been woke up for it.

“Yeah, stumbling out the door now to the Mor, keep my posted of the situation once you get there and move fast man,” he said as he stepped into the elevator and took it up to the Mor. Stepping in he rubbed his eyes slightly then walked over to Ailen and pulled the plugs out of his ear before stepping directly in front of him. “I am issuing a direct order. Ailen you are not to leave the Tower. Direct order,” he said quickly before turning and accessing the Tower Com.

”Attention All Personnel, this is Head Of Security Craig. We have an emergency situation in the Crystal Mines. Moles have been dispatched. Infirmary prep for any incoming injuries and casualties. Engineering Department and Repairs Department prep for extractions. Incoming Land Traveler to get supplies. Tower is going on High Security Alert Procedures. You know the drill people, get it done,” he said before ending the Tower wide broadcast. Turning he looked back over at Ailen and took a deep breath.

“Silvia was inside when it happened. We don’t know her status, soon as I do, I will let you know but once again, you are under direct order not to leave the tower,” he said before looking over at the Twins. “Sorry girls, your shift just got extended but that shouldn’t be a problem. All T&C are cancelled until further notice,” he said quickly before sitting down at a console and began emergency procedures.

Outside The Crystal Mines of Altenia

Marx and Gwen worked as fast as they could but it was slow going with only the two of them and the rock base being so unstable. Hearing the Brax’Na approach she lowered her hand and turned to Marx. “You keep working, I got this,” she said as she turned and walked over to him.

“We didn’t blast, it was an explosion of unknown origin. Tower Lead Silvia was here to review the mines and begin repairs. We were on our way out when it happened,” she said as she motioned over towards the entrance. “We lost Trevor but Silvia managed to fling the rest of us out in time. She is trapped in there. I don’t know if she is under the rubble or behind it,” Gwen said as she rubbed her temples.

“We can’t risk trying to blast our way in, the whole thing could go if it hasn’t already,” Marx said as he continued to work. Gwen nodded and turned, returning to her position and getting back to moving rubble out of the way.

“Jun’Krama, I know it is a lot to ask but we could use some good old fashion muscle to help speed things up,” Gwen said as she glanced back over to him. “This is one time when brains and brawn have to work together. Otherwise Tristan might go back into that chair,” she said quickly before turning her attention back over to the task at hand.

Marx looked over to her slightly confused. ”Who is that guy?” Marx asked Gwen telepathically.

”Long story, just trust he is in charge of his men. They might be our only chance of making some headway before help arrives,” she responded.

In The Depths Of The Crystal Mines

A cloud of dust filled the cavern and on the ground lay the crumpled heap of Silvias body, laying there motionless under a small pile of debris. A single small hand sticking out from underneath it that slowly began to twitch. Suddenly the rocks erupted off her form and she began to cough; trying to clear her lungs but there was so much dust it wasn’t doing much good. Rolling over onto her back she groaned loudly but it wasn’t enough to be heard. From where she was in the back of the mines, in uncharted tunnels, she was cut off by nearly a half a mile of collapsed mine shaft.

“Ugh, what the hell happened,” she muttered as she slowly sat up. Her clothing was torn and she had bruised and lacerations covering most all her exposed skin. “Oh yeah,” she grumbled as she slowly began to remember the explosion and sending the rest of the group towards the exit of the mines right before it happened. “I hope they made it,” she said before looking around and sighing deeply. She began to feel like that little toddler once again, trapped inside rock and stone; shaking it away. “No, not this time,” she hissed as she rose from her spot and placed a hand against the wall; stumbling slowly back further into the mines. “Can’t go forward, might as well try back,” she said to herself as she continued to walk back to where they had had the meeting earlier.

The Sands of Blood (Dead)

Sana glanced over towards Artos as he told her what her arm band could do and perked a brow. “Do what? How am I supposed to use that?” she asked. Sana could do many things, but magic had never been one of them, in fact one of the reasons she was not chosen for some other profession growing up is because she was never able to make any of her songs magical. Her brain didn’t seem to work that way. Sighing slightly she waved away the question and curled back up to Hugh; figuring it could wait until later.

As she heard Das and Vivian talking she got a confused looked over her features before turning around and seeing what was going on; right about the time Das reached over and began to grope her. “I…um…well… That was unexpected,” she said before turning back around and watching out the back of the wagon as she rested her head back on Hughs chest. “Guess I can’t really say much, we haven’t exactly been hands off,” she chuckled.

“Hey, Viv, you know that darkness might be a good idea at this point,” she teased light heartedly.

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Outside the Crystal Mines of Altenia

Marx groaned again as he rolled over onto his side and began hacking up dust that had clouded around them from the explosion before crawling to his knees and taking a few long and deep breaths. “Back of the mine,” he grunted as he held his chest. “She shielded us, then flung us out of the way,” as he leaned over and coughed again. “I don’t even know if she is alive,” as he closed his eyes. “She could behind the collapse or…” he began to say but then cut himself off. He couldn’t bring himself to say that she could be dead buried beneath everything. Trying to clear his mind for a moment before looking over towards the entrance of the mine.

”Sil, Angel, can you hear me?” he asked telepathically but got no response. He tried again and again but still only heard silence. “She isn’t answering.”

“It could be the crystals, it makes it hard to speak telepathically,” Gwen said as she lay on her back just looking up at the sky. “We lost Trevor in there, thankfully everyone else had already been sent home,” she said as he brought her hands to her face and tried to shove any emotions she had down. She didn’t have time to morn her friend. If Silvia was still alive they needed to work fast. The air in the tunnels would only last twelve hours if they were lucky.

“Jeremiah,” Marx said as he stumbled to his feet. “Take the Land Traveler back to the Tower, then help coordinate getting workers out here with diggers,” he started before Gwen cut him off.

“No, the rock base is too unstable, we need talents to move the rock. It will go slower but it will lower the chance of a cave in,” she said as she stumbled to her feet and dusted herself off. “Go back, send talents and then get whatever you need to star fixing the ventilation. It is buried in the rock, with any luck if we can get that back up and working we can at least get air to her until we can dig her out,” she said as she pushed her grey hair out of her face. Marx nodded before looking back over to Jeremiah.

“She’s right, top speed man. Time is a luxury we don’t have,” he said before looking over at Gwen and they both stepped back over to the entrance of the mind shaft. Marxs hand glowing red as Gwens glowed green and rocks began to move from the entrance and back into the open field behind them. “And tell Craig not to let Ailen out of the Tower.”

Afinas Bios - WIP

Name: Danica Graves

Age: 27

Height: 5’6”

Weight: 125lbs

Nationality: Bloody American

Description: Danica stands average height with a lean and well-toned build. She has tan skin, ash brown hair that falls below her shoulders with wispy bangs that she usually wears in a ponytail. Her eyes are light green with starbursts of amber through them. Her hands are calloused as are her feet and she has a few scars running over various portions of her body. Her back is covered in a single large tattoo that starts at her lower back and ends over her shoulders. It is of a mountain cliff where a murder of crows is flying off from. It is completely black in color and has the words – Sometimes You Have To Fall before You Can Fly – in script at her right shoulder blade. She tends to wear black yoga pants and fitted sports tops under a grey hoodie with running shoes when not climbing, when climbing she just changes out her shoes.


Biography: Danica is a traveler by trade, working for an outdoor magazine that she writes for. Though she writes to make money she uses the job to pay for various trips around the world to keep her adrenaline junky nature in check. A skilled climber and base jumper she enjoy seeing new places and pushing her limits. She grew up in a small town in the U.S. and started fighting at a young age because there really wasn’t anything else to do besides that or get drunk and race tractors. Neither of which she had any interest in.

After a few local Martial Arts Tournaments her grand master, a man who had moved from South Korea after the Korea War, saw she had a talent and a tenacity that could be channeled into something better than a brawl with her school mates. Over the next decade she trained every day after school and spent her weekends traveling around the U.S. for National and International Competitions for the W.T.F. and the U.T.A. She did well and even won a spot on the Junior Olympic Team where she won Silver in Forms and Bronze in Fighting as well as a Gold at U.S. Nationals when she reached adult age. She took years to earn her rank in T.K.D., spending time in Seoul South Korea at the Kukkiwon, The World Taekwondo Headquarters, training for a summer as part of an exchange program and earning her first Dan/Poom from them. During her travels for tournaments she met many people from all over the world, spending time with them over long trips and learning their languages and interests.

The one that she fell in love with the most was Rock Climbing. A friend of hers Luis who was from Colorado introduced her to the sport and after an injury during a tournament that prevented her from performing the aerial displays her sport was known for with proper technique she flipped from T.K.D. to rock climbing. She still practices T.K.D. in her home studio when she isn’t out traveling but when she is on assignment you can find her at the closest cliff working her way up it. After a few years of traveling she got tired of climbing back down and decided to take up base jumping. She felt it was the best way to get down.

Though after years of climbing and jumping she has forced herself to take several first aid classes and wilderness survival lessons since she tends to climb alone or with just a photographer to remote locations. Several close calls and injuries forced to admit she isn’t Wonder Woman, so she had to at least learn how to be a make shift Major Houlihan in the field. She has a love for older T.V. Shows and very corny movies, so half of what she says that comes off as witty is probably just a line from something she watched.

Possessions: Basic Rock Climbing Gear in a climbing pack she keeps on her – harnesses, climbing shoes, ropes, carabiners, belay equipment, Black Diamond Camelots and 2 Climbing Hammers(one for rock, one for ice)

Skills: Rock Climbing, Free Climbing, Base Jumping, First Aid, Wilderness Survival, T.K.D. - Speaks: English and Korean & Japanese

Personality: Danica is pretty laid back under normal circumstances but does tend to stress out from time to time. She can be the most caring and compassionate person but she has a typical Type A personality that makes her butt heads with those around her and she rarely keeps her opinion to herself. She is quick to trust

Photographer - Sean McConner

The Plague (Dead)

Danica nodded and headed out following Zomura and Yumiko, looking over at the Albanian as they headed towards the shrine. Reaching into her hoodie pocket and pulling out a tissue. “Pressure,” she said before pressing it to her own forehead and then handing it over to him as they walked. Sean keeping pace with Danica as they walked, letting out a low whistle as he saw the Shrine, it was definitely something he would love to photograph if he ever got the chance. Maybe after lunch he thought to himself.

Danica kept up and nodded as they were instructed to part ways for a bit while she handled somethings with her grandfather. Danica gave a quick head gesture to Sean for him to follow her and made their way into the building. Danica froze in her tracks as she heard the scream and the subsequent gun fire, involuntary ducking down for a moment, Sean hitting the floor hard. Rolling her eyes at him she stood back up and ran towards the sounds.

Seeing Zomura pulled Yumiko outside she stopped in her tracks. “What the hell was all that?” she asked in English, not bothering with Japanese right then with all the commotion. “I thought Shrines were supposed to be peaceful,” she said as she walked over closer to them.

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Okay - Posting order -

Jeremiah - Ailen

(The rest can reply to the start of the day but have no knowledge of the accident in the mines until Ailen makes a public broadcast, if he does.)

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Crystal Mines of Altenia

Silvia made her way with Marx through the dilapidated mines looking for signs of life, it seemed that everything was shut down and there wasn’t a person to be found. This did not sit well with her until she suddenly saw a young Singer running towards her. Marx held his hand out as it began to glow red, a warning to the man that he needed to stop in his tracks before he took another step. Coming to a rough stop he waved his hands in front of him as he coughed a few times, trying to catch his breath.

“Life is treacherous,” he said as he gasped for air. Silvia reached up and placed her hand on Marxs arm and pushed it down slowly.

“Only if life doesn’t matter,” she replied. The man nodded and slowly stepped over to her. Marx looked confused but Silvia seemed to have a look of understanding coming over her features.

“I hoped it would be you, I’m Trevor. Come this way, Gwen is waiting. We sent everyone else home, saying the mine was closed for repairs,” he said as he motioned for them to follow. Silvia nodded as she followed him. “Is he okay?” he said motioning to Marx.

“Yeah, I just haven’t filled him in,” she said as she continued to walk.

“Filled me in on what?” Marx said as he stepped in front of Silvia. “What is going on?” he asked but Silvia just pushed passed him.

“Welcome to the Resistance,” Trevor said as they went deeper and deeper into the mines, far past what the public maps showed. Marxs mouth fell open as he followed and kept up with Silvia, her steps were quick and soon they were all in a jog to keep up with Trevor. Finally they came up to a door that had been built into the mine itself. Entering a quick code it slid open and Trevor motioned for them to step in. Once they had it closed heavy behind them.

“Silvia, I see you got my message,” the older singer said with a smile as she saw them enter. Trevor keeping guard at the door while Silvia went over and hugged Gwen. “It’s been too long, my god you have gown,” she said pushing Silvias hair out of her face.

“What is going on, who’s this, what’s this? Sil?” Marx asked confused as he found a stool and sat down.

“This is Gwen, lead Singer for Altenia, T-1 unaided,” Silvia answered. This small bit of information let Marx knew that Gwen wasn’t a Singer that had been driven crazy by the training. She was fully capable of running a tower. So what was she doing in the mines?

“I take it you never filled Marx in,” Gwen remarked as she took a seat. Silvia shook her head slightly as she stood there. “Okay, I guess I will. As you know Marx, the GTC is corrupt but things have remained in check for the most part. That was until the last fifteen years when power starting going to their heads under the maddening dictator ship of Gringer. Well, some of us finally started to fight back. A few years ago, I was on a layover on Earth and met this one here that you call Angel,” Gwen said as she motioned over to Silvia.

“I have been working as a Singer for a long time, wanting to be close to the crystals so I can keep an eye out on what exactly GTC was mining for since shipments of contaminated ore were being sent off Earth and other worlds without their towers knowledge. I was once a Tower Lead, but found I didn’t have access to what I needed without eyes on me all the time. So I feigned crazed stressed and became a singer,” she said as she went over some papers and kept handing them over to Silvia.

“What does this have to do with Silvia? Or a Resistance?” he asked, a rather concerned look coming to his features.

“Ask her, it was her idea,” Gwen said pointing over to Silvia.

“Angel?” Marx asked as he got up from his seat and grabbed the papers out of her hands. Silvia sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

“I sort of started a Resistance on Earth against the GTC,” she said sheepishly.

“You did what?” he gawked as his eyes widened. “Are you freaking nuts! You’re going to get yourself killed!” he snapped.

“Oh can it Marx, if something isn’t done more people than just me are going to die. Sorry, rather have my own blood on my hands than yours you over protective lummox,” she hissed and snatched the papers back. “Gwen and I started talking; I was in my last year of training then. We came up with a plan that she would find the easiest planet to take over with the best military position possible. This was it. Tristans reign here made it all too easy for me to be able to get him out of the Tower Lead Chair. Gwen has slowly been working the population. Did you really think I couldn’t handle the other towers? Or that they couldn’t handle me? I mean, seriously Marx. I may be a handful but I know how to do my damn job,” she said as she walked away from him and started going back over the papers.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, hurt in his voice.

“Because I knew you would react like this,” she said flatly and he sighed deeply. He knew she was right, he had always been protective over her. If he had known he would have never allowed the transfer to Altenia, he’d have broken her legs first. Now she was here and there was nothing he could but either leave or jump in feet first.

“So what’s the plan?” he grumbled as he sat back down.

“First thing is first, Silvia has already begun by rebuilding the Tower and the rest of the planet. It will take time but we cannot make a move until the planet is fully capable and well…Until they are willing to follow her,” Gwen said as Silvia sat down and started making notes on the various maps.

“I doubt it will take much to get them to fall in love with her, she has that effect on people,” Marx muttered.

“Yes she does, that’s why I agreed to help with this but only under the insistence that it not be my rebellion but hers,” Gwen said as she took some of the maps Silvia had made notes on and started going over them.

“That makes her a target, the primary one!” he spat.

“Yes it does, but from your reaction alone it lets me know we made the right choice in Silvia. If the people of this world end up believing in her and caring for her half as much as you do, we can do this and slowly get other planets in this. The Towers want to revolt. They just lack cohesion. They need a focal point, she’s it,” Gwen said as she looked back over to Marx.

“And if she dies?” Marx asked coldly.

“Get it on tape,” Silvia said without batting an eye lash. Gwen nodded slowly, understanding what Silvia was getting at. Marx just sat there and rubbed his face out of frustration. He understood what they were doing and he agreed it needed to be done but the thought of losing his little sister to this nearly broke him.

Mor Of Altenia Tower

Craig nodded as Ailen relieved him, taking a quick look at his arm before making his way out of the Mor to get some rest. He wanted to ask about it but he figured it would be better to do so once he got some rest and was able to think more clearly. The Twins watched Ailen, looking at his new arm and both perking a brow at the same time.

”I have to say I am impressed with the work she did,” Gemini said telepathically to Gemine.

”She did, but it won’t help,” Gemine replied with a smirk on her lips that soon grew on her sisters. As Ailen addressed them they both shrugged slightly.

“We like being relief, it gives us more free time and less responsibility,” they answered together.

”Is it time?” Gemini asked Gemine through their mental connection.

”Almost, we will know shortly.”

Crystal Mines of Altenia

For the next half an hour Silvia and Gwen went over the information that Gwen had gathered on Altenia and what Silvia had acquired on the various planets she had gone to under the guise of training. Once they were done Gwen led them to the door, Trevor opening it for them and they all began to make their way out of the mines. They had managed to make it where the public maps started again when Silvia stopped in her tracks. Something felt off and it showed in her face as she grabbed Marx and looked at him in horror.

“I’m sorry,” was all she was able to whisper before a soft blue telekinetic orb surrounded Marx, Gwen and Trevor and sent them flying through towards the exit of the mine. Silvia turned and began to run but it was too late, an explosion ripped through the mine shaft and sent her flying back towards the direction where they had come from. What Silvia had felt was the lower octaves of crimson crystal resonating through the mine. Crimson crystal was reserved for one thing and one thing alone, to power deep terrain explosions for blowing out chunks of rock for mining purposes or in war efforts by the make shift army of the GTC.

“Silvia!” Marx screamed but it was not enough. The tunnels started to collapse and they had to make a break for it. Grabbing Gwen by the arm as the protective shield Silvia had encased them in faded away. Trevor had not been so lucky, he was crushed beneath the falling rock, unable to get to his feet before the shaft had collapsed. Gwen and Marx barely made it out of the edge of the mine shaft, a cloud of dust and rock shooting out of it as they lay on the ground and coughed dirt out of their lungs.

“Jeremiah! Com Tower, we need a rescue crew here now! Silvia is trapped inside!” Marx yelled as he rolled over onto his back and groaned.

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

okay, if anyone takes a look at the post by Goldeagle, you will see Silvia and Marx are in his post talking and acting. This is not bunnying. This is the first collaboration post for the RP. For those that do not know, we wrote it together in google docs and then he posted the end result. For those of you interacting with another Rper, if you can manage to get together and do this, it will make your posts flow together better instead of having to wait around for a response. These type of posts are great fun and really simple to do. You get to post a line or two, get a response, seeing it come up on the screen as they type it and then respond immediately. You can really get the banter going during a colab post, as you can see between Gold and I in his post. hehe

The Forests of Death (Dead)

Regalia

“What in the world?” Regalia said in a confused voice as she watched the werewolf get up and bolt away from the group. Releasing her hand from the hilt of her sword she reached up and scratched her head slightly before turning her attention to Inyata and a concerned look came over her features as she reached out and rested a white gloves hand on the young corsairs shoulder.

“Rule one of being a proper Corsair. We never run into a situation before we assess what is before us. More than one fair maiden has lost her life and soul to such creatures thinking they were cute as they slept and wanting to be close to them. It is far better to take a moment to think than to jump straight in and lose your throat,” she said in a motherly voice before turning and making her way back over to her horse. Grabbing the reigns she swung herself up and into place; shifting slightly to get comfortable in her saddle before looking around at the rest of the group.

“Might I suggest we stop waiting on answers from some or checking out the local wild life. We have a job to do and every second we waste our Lady could be in worse danger,” she said as she coaxed her steed forward and held her hand out over to Inyata to climb back up.

Ramara

Ramara spun her swords around in her hand before sheathing in place on her back and huffing slightly as she blew her hair out of her face. “Waste of time,” she muttered before walking over to her horse and leaping back into the saddle before grabbing the reigns and taking her usual posture. Looking over at the young corsair she could only think that maybe Regalia had bitten off more than she could chew with this one. Having the life motto of run run run to the danger was a good way to have a very short life.

Hearing Regalia make the suggestion that they continue on her way she nodded slightly as she waited for the others to get back into position so they could leave. They had a job to do and Ramara didn’t want to waste any more time than they already had. She wanted to get this job over and done with quickly, get her payment and leave. She had other business to attend to and every moment that was wasted on side ventures or tom foolery just delayed her search.

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

End of day has occurred and a new day has begun in RP.

Please read through the last post carefully -

Ailen is assigned to the Mor with Twins - Take it from there where you wish - bunny Craig leaving please
Gaia has been messaged and has a package waiting in the Infirmary - Take it where you wish, control the staff as needed except for Crisin.
Ashala - The Rough Necks are needed in their Dock for special assignment to take care of high priority deliveries. Please make sure they get everything unloaded from the ships that came in over night and sent out to the villages and cities as well as in the tower. Feel free to move your workers freely through out the tower to make the deliveries themself and assign generic dock workers to transport the rest to the planet itself.
Jeremiah - Your wake up call has arrived.
Srath - Feel free in next post to hand over the prisoner from the night before or you can handle locking the pos up yourself. Then have Srath on the new day report to Craigs quarters for a special assignment.