Afina

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Deep In The Mines Of Altenia

Silvia took a deep breath as she slowly leaned over, her hands on either side of her head as she tried to listen to Jun’Krama, the song of the crystals in this part of the mines was a bit more than she had run into thus far. It took a fair bit of time before she let out a cough and slowly straightened herself before leaning back against the cool surface of the mine shaft itself.

“Sorry about that, it comes in waves down here,” she said as she pushed her hair out of her face. Slowly the words he said began to sink in now that her mind was able to clear itself. “So all this hatred stems from the actions of one woman, in one moment in time, long before you or any can remember?” she asked rhetorically before she looked over to him. “You know, in the ancient history and stories on my planet we have something similar, actually we have many. Most all of the genocides or waste of the planet came from the action of men. Some magical, some not,” she said before looking away.

“People over the millennia have blamed the horrors on the gods, sometimes the men, sometimes the talents. I could never understand it. Why carry all this animosity towards a single race or gender…. Or talent because of the actions of a select few. Everyone is different,” she said as she slowly looked over towards him. “It would be like me hating you and your people just because non-talents tried to use talents for their own personal gain a thousand years ago. I see no point. I’ll let your actions speak for you instead of the actions of the past predetermining how I should,” she added before pushing herself off the wall. “Pride is a dangerous thing.”

Clearing her throat she laughed slightly at his mention of bonding with the crystals. “I would hope that never happens. That is why Singers go mad. It isn’t the song that so much drives them insane but it can play a part of it. The resonance plays tricks on a mind open with talent. Their true madness though comes from the separation from the crystals. Each crystal they mine and cut they partially bond with. Something that happens to Singers and only Singers. When they sell the Crystal the bond is broken. The smaller crystals it is a mere inconvenience, though larger ones it can be like losing a friend. The most powerful ones, the large black ones, it is akin to losing a child. A Singer can only take so much mental anguish.”

“As far as the GtC goes, I don’t trust many either but that is another story for another time though I do notice you didn’t answer one of my questions,” she said as she perked a brow. “When you touched me, I asked what your excuse was. Is pride keeping you from answering or something more?” she said as she turned and continued back down the tunnels.

Altenia Tower

”No, I am not trying to make you hate yourself, you do far enough of that. But I think there are certain points you need to see. One is what went into that arm, the construction and workings. She explained a lot to Marx as she worked. I think it may help you better understand that new piece of hardware. The other is more personal yes but not to make you hate yourself. Perhaps it will help you accept yourself as you are; like she has,” Craig said as he rubbed his temples.

”You can wait to watch of course but it is something you need to see. As far as the mines go, it just backs up what I am saying about watching the recording. She clearly states it won’t help with any crystal but the one in your arm. It wouldn’t let you run a tower. So it won’t protect you down there. As far as the investigation goes, I will lead that. I still want to transfer you, I doubt you like the idea but you have not been yourself since she arrived and with the way things are going I can only imagine it will get far worse. If I can’t trust you to not fall apart constantly you are more of a risk than an asset. Even if the transfer is not permanent I agree you need to get off world. Perhaps Earth would be a good starting point.”

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Mines Of Altenia

Silvia perked a brow slightly, the GTC did not have a lot of information on the Brax'na but what was there clearly documented their dislike of talents and women. Sighing she tucked a piece of hair begin her ear. "Jun'Krama, why do you dislike the idea of a woman in charge?" she asked as she looked up to him. "I understand that I am better than Tristan, but so is a cockroach."

She couldn't help but smirk slightly at his comment about the reason she was feeling over heated was because she had touched a real man. "Oh is that it?" she asked before feeling his hand reach out and touch her her skin, her hand reaching down quickly; slowly stepping towards him. "So then what's your excuse?" she said in a coy voice as she rose a brow before slowly removing his hand from her body. As he mentioned Ailen she quickly released his hand and turned around as she began to walk again.

"Yeah, the bodies are that way, half under a landslide," she said pointing down another tunnel. "But it's a dead end that way." As they turned she leaned against the wall slightly and brought a hand to the side of her head as the hum of crystals became stronger. "We need to go that way," she pointed as she closed her eyes, trying to fight off the song of the Crystal.

Altenia Tower

"Ailen, I think I may have found something. The two security never left the planet but they did leave the tower two days ago. Once we know that Silvia and Jun'Krama are safe, we will need to launch an investigation down at the mines. Hopefully the ones there now will be able to answer some questions," Craig said before leaning back in his chair and running his face.

"I want you do something while we wait for word. I want you to watch the recording of your surgery. I think there are somethings on it you need to see," he added before going quiet. Maybe if Ailen saw how worried Silvia was while she worked he could clear his head about some doubts but then again Mayne the suggestion would just make matters worse. Too late now. It was out there.

The Plague (Dead)

Danica nodded and looked over towards Sean at Zomuras words and smirked. Seans eyes got big as he wiped some more of his breakfast off his face and swallowed hard. As Armend started singing Danica has a confused look come over her features, trying to understand what he was singing through his thick accent. After a moment it dawned on her and she had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing loudly but it was more than obvious form the red cheeks and the tears streaming down her face that she found the whole thing hilarious.

“Yes, very funny guy,” she said as she lowered her hand and took a few long deep breaths. “The inquisition can be a bitch. Except for the nuns, they were a nice surprise,” she said in reference to the scene.

“What are you talking about Danica?” Sean asked as he looked over to the both of them rather confused.

“A great movie you always refused to watch,” she hissed.

“Your movie tastes suck.”

“Well apparently at least one person in the group would disagree,” she said with a smirk. “Thanks for that. I needed the laugh,” she said still giggling slightly to Armend.

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Deep In The Mines

Silva knelt down and placed her hands gently against his leg where the wound was, the light faded for a moment before it was replaced with a soft red glow that grew in intensity. He would feel a warmth from her hands and it would slowly spread through his body as the leg was healed. Slowly the light faded once again and was replaced with the darker hued glow she originally had lighting their way as she removed her hands. The cut was healed and no scar was visible. Rising she looked over towards him and nodded slightly. “There good at new, don’t worry our secret,” she said before looking around once again.

“No, it isn’t the crystals. Too much of a hum could be dangerous to me but that would be a different feeling. This is something else,” she said before looking over to him. “Maybe I am allergic to you,” she said with a smirk. Turning back the way she came. “Well it is and it is not known what is back here. It’s a long story that I will tell you later if you ever trust me,” she said as she began to walk through the tunnels, increasing the light some so that he could see as well.

“Oh and there are two more bodies down here,” she said as she continued to walk, trying to figure out where she had been and where she hadn’t but since she traveled in the dark before they found each other she was sure she was refollowing old footsteps. “So anyways. Why are you down here. I know you said my people sent you but I can hardly believe that you would come down here forced.”

Altenia Tower

”You know the more and more I look through everything the less I am thinking it was the Twins. I am not saying they aren’t up to something but I don’t think they were involved with the mines, they aren’t exactly that type. I could see something happening devious in the tower but not something as clumsy as a cave in,” Craig answered as he continued to look over the files. ”But keep an eye on them and make sure those crystals don’t get accessed. I will let you know if I find anything else,” Craig said before he went quiet once again.

“Craig, Lou here. Now the Jun’Krama is caught in the mine with Silvia. We have scans after a second cave in. They are alive and it seems they have found each other but other than that we are stuck on how to get them out. Entrance seemed to be about half way cleared out. If they can’t find another exit then it will be at least another four hours before we can get in. It’s too dangerous to try another vent shaft,” Lou said through the com.

“Right, okay. Thanks for the update. If you find anyone else down there that doesn’t belong let me know. I have two security officers on vacation that never left the planet but we cannot locate them.”

“On it Craig.”

”Ailen, Jun’Krama went into the mines. He is with Silvia now but there was another cave in and they are both trapped currently. But she is alive. Hopefully she will have answers. Right now it looks like it will be at least another four hours for extraction,” Craig said to Ailen to keep him up to date. Hopefully knowing she was at least alive still would keep his head clear. Though maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned who was in there with her. Too late now.

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Deep in the Mines

Silvia let go of his hand and perked a brow. “Funny, no they aren’t,” she said as she placed her hands to her face. Even with the chill in the air, Silvia was beginning to feel over heated. “Do you need healing?” she asked as she fanned herself somewhat with her non light projecting fingers. “Last thing you need is blood loss down here,” she said as she unzipped her Crystal Singer uniform and slid her arms out of it, revealing a sports bra underneath as she rolled it down and tied the arms around her waist.

What was revealed was different than most would expect from a talent, especially one as small as Silvia. She was well toned underneath and definition. She was not bulky by any stretch of the imagination but it was obvious that she took care of more than just her mind unlike so many others of her ranking. Turning her attention back over to Jun’Krama she perked a brow. “Why would it be better if he was here? Honestly rather have someone down here with me that doesn’t have to worry about the side effects of the song and doesn’t go looney when dealing with me,” she said as she looked over at his leg. She saw the cut and perked a brow, it had stopped bleeding. That was odd, a wound like that should be bleeding still, especially with walking on it.
“Fucking hell, why is it so damn hot in here,” she muttered to herself. She felt cold to the touch, like any would in the cold mine but for some reason she was feeling rather over heated, not something she was used to. “You know what; just hold still, I’ll heal you. Don’t worry I won’t tell. We don’t want that opening back up.”

The Mor Of Altenia Tower

The Twins looked at him oddly, very confused by his statement as both their heads tilted to the side at once. “What are you talking about?” they asked in unison. “Can you fix it, we need to be able to use them if something goes wrong.”

”Actually I am, I found two of our lower security members that are supposed to be on vacation but they never left the planet but I cannot find them anywhere in the Tower. Thing is they have never been assigned to the Twins or to Tristan. They are dock security. It doesn’t make sense,” Craig said to Ailen as he kept going over the information he pulled up on his screen.

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Deep In The Mines

Silvia kept fumbling around in the dark, stumbling from time to time and at one point falling as she tripped over a large rock in the middle of the cave. Grumbling she pushed herself up and spat out the dirt that went in her mouth. “Fucking hell,” she said as she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. Taking a deep breath she placed her hand back on the wall and continued on her way. Suddenly in the darkness she felt a warm firm surface against her hand about the same time she felt like someone had grabbed the top of her head.

Her hand sliding down the surface, feeling the hills and valleys and suddenly she yanked her hand back as she heard someone spoke and it dawned on her she was feeling up a very masculine chest. She didn’t blush though; something in her didn’t cause embarrassment in her but a very different reaction as she realized who it was from the voice.

“Jun’Krama?” she asked as she lifted her hand and placed it on his that was on her forehead before pulling it away slowly. “Banshee? I dunno, depends on how you see me,” she responded. “What the hell are you doing down here?” she said as she stood there, still not removing her hand from his. Her other hand lifted and began to glow; dimly at first and then brighter until they could at least see each other, trying not to blind him with the light.

Altenia Tower

”It is going to take a lot more than that. Perhaps if you were more concerned about what mattered than giving some grand death speech you would get something done besides digging yourself a deeper hole,” Craig responded from his quarters as he kept going through the manifests of people on vacation and slowly trying to track each of them down.

The Twins shook their head at Ailens reference as they sat back down in their chairs and looked around for a moment. “We wouldn’t know, we didn’t know your sister well. We don’t know if she would have liked her or not.” The then looked at each other before trying to access their crystals. “Why can’t we use our crystals?” they asked in unison as they both turned too looked back over to Ailen.

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Altenia Tower

Felme looked at Ailen oddly and quickly reminded him of their military position as well before turning and going back to her work as he left the Mor and she assumed control until one of her higher officers returned. As Ailen came over to Craig and the Twins he leaned back a bit; just having finished his meal and nodded. ”Ailen, do you think Silvia would have done anything that would cause you harm?” he asked telepathically. ”I truly am beginning to think that you don’t think very much of her at all. But if you are worried, just trade out the shard for your own if you don’t trust her,” he added before turning to the Twins.

“Well it was a pleasure as always ladies but I must get some rest. Ailen will take care of you from here on out,” he said before giving a nod and making his way out. The Twins following Ailen back to the Mor. Craig went to his quarters but instead of going to sleep he began rerouting the security down to his room so he could monitor as well as review what they had on file. Something was off. Then something tugged at the back of his mind and he started pulling up records of people that shouldn’t be in the tower or even on the planet right then. He started checking those that were on vacation and began to call in those that watched dock twelve since it was off the cameras because of Srath using it. He trust Srath but he wasn’t always in dock, perhaps it was there he could find something out.

Mines Of Altenia

Once the Jun’Krama had cleared the vent shaft and was in the mine itself the rock face gave away and came crashing in. Thankfully a large stone blocked the opening at the bottom and it was the only thing keeping the entire vent shaft full of debris from crashing in on top of him. The collapse caused the mine to shake and now with the vent shut there was no light. Silvia gasped as she felt the vibrations and held her head for a moment, letting the hum of the crystals die down before she dared to move again. Taking a deep breath she risked a little more light from her hand but she saw nothing. It had felt like it had happened a good way away from where she was.

“Hello?” she called out, wondering if the rescue teams could hear her but no, they wouldn’t. Nor would the Jun’Krama, she was too far away even with the echoing created by the mine shaft walls but something in her gut told her to walk a certain direction. Or was it? Something in her mind perhaps? She didn’t know but she pushed forward and kept walking. The only light in the mines was that coming from her hand at this point and she knew she shouldn’t use it unless she truly needed it. Lowering her hand the light faded and she began to move at a slower pace though the mine, one hand on the wall and one held out in front of her face, though neither gave off any light at this point. It was more to help her keep from running into a wall.

Outside The Mines

Everyone froze when they heard the cave in ad the puff of dust come out of the vent shaft. Marx groaned as he got up and dusted his hands off. “Apparently after,” he said looking over to Lou before he took position back at the mouth of the mine and began to move beams into place. “Come on people, this place isn’t going to hold for long. Now we have two to rescue,” he added as he worked.

Lou looked over to Sephro. “Readings?”

“Two life forces sir, one big, one small. About half a mile away from each other but closing in. So at least they are alive,” Sephro quickly spat out as he scanned the face of the cliff again.

“Okay people, we certainly need plan C now and a plan D just in case, get on it!” Lou ordered of his Moles.

The Plague (Dead)

Danica tilted her head to the side as he handed out the gun to her before sliding her rock hammer back into her pack, followed by shaking off the gunk from the zombie off her ice hammer and closing it and sliding it back into place and securing it; then taking the beretta from him and checking the sight and getting a feel for it. Thankfully it didn’t feel like other ones she had held before; ones that had been so misused and improperly handled that only a prayer was keeping them together. He had obviously done his job to make sure his weapon was in good working condition. She could respect that.

Being raised where she was meant you learned how to handle a gun whether you wanted to or not. She doubted that there was a single boy or girl where she grew up that didn’t at least know the basics. “Thank you,” she said as she took the spare clip and put it in her hoodies pocket and zipped it close to secure it. “Okay, that means 30 dead zombies,” she said with a smirk. She was trying to stay positive but it was clear that she was nervous. Blowing the hair out of her face she looked over to Sean and sighed, he looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“You know, before we go any further. If I get bitten, just shoot me. End of story,” she said before she continued on. Like hell she would let herself be turned, even if somewhere there was some cure.

Shattering The Crystal Silence - Closed

Mor Of The Altenia Tower

Those that were working in the Mor with Ailen could find nothing out of the ordinary. Everything seemed fully place. All the people currently stationed to the Tower were alive and accounted for in their proper locations. Even those off shift were located. The ones that were working the mines and had been sent home for the day before everything happened were back and all had checked in. Video tapes were reviewed but still nothing showed up but it did not mean that someone didn’t do anything; it just meant that whatever may have happened was carried out in a place where the cameras were not functioning. Sadly that was not a short list of places. Thanks to Tristan, more than half the Tower was without proper surveillance and only the most needed places, such as the Mor and the Infirmary were fully covered.

The only things the tapes revealed was that the Twins were in their seats before the cameras went out and were in the commissary when they came back on. The third in command of the security division walked into the Mor after checking a few things out and headed over towards Ailen. “Sir,” Felme said as she pulled him aside. “Perhaps we are going about this wrong,” she suggested as she looked around for a moment. “Something like this would have taken time to put together, it’s not an overnight operation. Perhaps the target was the mine itself, not Silvia?” she said in a hushed voice. “Maybe she is just collateral damage?”

Outside The Crystal Mines of Altenia

Lou continued looking over the rescue efforts and was glad to see that the Jun’Krama was willing to go in. At least if something happened down there the man was physically strong enough to do something, perhaps if he could find Silvia, together, they could get back out. Turning he saw Jeremiah come back and nearly tackle the control panels and perked a brow. Something seemed off but it wasn’t something he was going to worry about right now. They had bigger problems at hand. Once the fan for the unit were turned off and rerouted elsewhere he gave a nod.

“Okay big guy, hold on to your breakfast, this can be a little jumpy,” Sephro warned as he checked to make sure the Jun’Krama had the gear he needed to get into the mine. Taking a step back a purple translucent orb began to form around the Brax’Na leader; once it was stable Sephro took a step forward and drove a fist into the air as the Jun’Krama was lifted up quickly. As he approached the opening Sephro opened his hand and the motion slowed until it stopped in front of the ventilation and pushed inside it a few feet to make sure Jun’Krama was safely inside before releasing his mental hold on the orb and it fading from around him.

“Okay, secure your anchor to the outside of the wall and make your way down. It’s deep and there will be a drop to the ground into the mine shaft itself once you get past the fan. Be careful in there,” Lou called out from below and gave him a thumbs up as he chewed on the end of cigar before turning his attention back to those down there.

“Back to work, we still need to get that mine entrance opened and secured. Moles, I want alternative exits in case that one gives away. Find a plan C,” he said before walking over to Marx who was sitting down now and taking a well-earned break after everything. “Keep calm kid, we’ll get her out.”

“Yeah, before or after the next cave in?” Marx quipped as he stared at the ground.

The Sands of Blood (Dead)

Sana was finally able to control the laughter and took a few deep breaths as she rested on her knees and placed her head against his. Looking as the vines began to grow she looked around and saw what Deila was up to and smiled. “Thank you,” she said. The shade was a nice change to the sun beating down on them. At Bjorics words she chuckled somewhat and then noticed the wagon had stopped moving; rising up and grabbing her bow off her back as she hopped out of the back of the wagon and began to move towards the front to see what was going on.

Then her eyes fell on the encampment as it revealed itself and perked a brow; not sure if she should draw an arrow or not she held her position with just the bow itself in her fingers but left the arrows in their quiver. Listening to what was said before brushing her hair out of her face. Great, more people to assume things she thought to herself but kept her mouth shut. He spoke of Ellis, so perhaps the little one was at least safe for now and supplies would be given. As far as Sana was concerned that was the best she could hope for at this point.

It looked to be a long road ahead of them to the city and the tavern and even a longer one once they arrived. Sana decided to just wait and see what unfolded; it was all she could honestly do at this point. Sana had never had a pleasant feeling towards any god types, whether they were good or bad. Slinging her bow back across her back she made her way back to their wagon and climbed back inside. Sitting next to Hugh and leaning against him slightly as she closed her eyes.