Written by FBH 04-19-2003 05:25 AM
"hey look at this."
Never have more dangerous words been spoken.
"what you got?"
I stepped up behind the analyze and looked over his shoulder.
"spy sat feed, the sats over south america. look at this in Columbia. "
The view was of a military base small fires where burning in several buildings, and several blasted vehicles could be seen.
"that looks pretty usual for Columbia. "
"sir 10 hours ago this was the major Columbian military base in the area. Smacking it down wouldn't be easy. And look at this."
the picture changed to a much less organized and equipped base, trashed just as well.
"this was the local rebel major base. "
The picture changed again. A small town. Blasted.
"so basically someone has moved in and destroyed all human settlement in a part of Columbia?"
"that's about right sir. And look at this."
the view changed to a deep radar view of the ground bellow the region. It was a honey comb of tunnels.
"that was not there yesterday."
"get the team together."
Written by Jack 04-19-2003 12:03 PM
"Sure. You can't get involved yet. You need some flexibility."
"Just making sure. We have faith in you, but don't let your connection to us get out. Whatever you do.
It's about a 60 mile radius, all human life eradicated. Your job is to find out the how and the who."
"And once I do?"
"You're to make a report, and recieve further orders. The details of a secure line are being downloaded to your communicator."
My name is Mark Gordon. I call myself Ghost. The name is misleading. It's meant to be.
I work as a private investigator. Or at least that's what I think of myself as. Other people call me a mercenary. Or a spy. And some even call me an assassin. Someone tried calling me a superhero once.
He regretted that.
Right now I'm being paid to investigate something that happened in Columbia yesterday. The reason I was picked? Well, let's just say I've got a very good reputation. The powers are part of that. The mystery is another.
Speaking of those powers, they're good, but they don't cover everything. Like getting across the Atlantic. Flights to the region are down, but that's not a problem. Just hop on a flight somewhere else, get a little sleep on the way, and run to the crisis zone. Almost sounds like fun. Almost.
End recording.
Written by Mg_knt 04-19-2003 08:11 PM
"Something big is up" she said, a stern look on her face. "They don't normally have both of us here."
I nodded. Either something very bad happened or something very bad was about to happen. A few minutes later a secert service agent opened the door and motioned us in.
Written by FBH 04-20-2003 07:21 AM
there was a general nod of agreement.
"Good. Lets get going. "
there was the normal thump of teleportation and we stood in the south american jungle.
Written by Mg_knt 04-20-2003 04:04 PM
"Alright crew. We don't know what this is but all evidence of human population has been wiped out. A series of tunnels have been formed out of the countryside. We are going into the tunnels and finding whatever did it. Once we find out what or who did it, we terminate that person. We are ETA in 10 minutes, unsaftey your guns," All the black clad soldiers reach up and flick a switch on the gun,"going to nightvision", the cabins go dark,"and we are going radio silent till we are on the ground."
The helicopters hover over a clear area of ground and the soldiers exit. "Our enterence is the hole marked by the phos paint."
Written by Ramz 04-20-2003 08:16 PM
"hello?"
"Vell. Vell Atlas?"
"Ya, that's me, whose this?"
"All in due time. I need your... expertise. Something happened in Columbia that I want you to go and check out."
"ahh... Ok, ill play along. How exactly will this little trip be paid for? And what kind of cash will I be making off it?"
"500 thousand has just been wired into one of your many accounts. Another 500 will be wired to you when you get on the plane, and when you find out what I need to know, 2 million more. So, what do you say mister Vell?"
"when does my flight leave..."
Written by FBH 04-23-2003 08:20 AM
"Ok. We are 200 meters away from the military base in this area. We'll check this place first and see if we can find what happened to them. Then we check the tunnels."
from the jungle things watched us..... two sets of eyes mounted in one head blinked slowly.... then the thing vanished.
Written by Jack 04-23-2003 09:19 AM
He got up, ostensibly to go to the bathroom, but on entering switched on his stealth gear. Mark was very fond of his variety of stealth and invisibility equipment. Some of it was technological, and some was magical, just to make sure. This world didn't have a lot of tech influx, due to the carefully controlled dimensional access, but one of his first jobs had been for Superstar, and he'd accepted a trip to the nexus known as Khazan for payment. It'd been easy to find some D-Hopping tech after that, and subsequent trips enables Mark to live up to the alias he then adopted. 19 seconds.
Sufficiently invisible, Ghost unlocked, and then phased out through the door to the toilet. He took one last drink from an adjacent counter and counted down the remaining seconds.
3... 2... 1...
He phased, almost completely, and gravity took hold of him.
Dropping down from more than a mile above the ground, Mark took one final check of his stealth tech and waited until the right moment to slow his descent. Kinetic energy blasts were tricky to master, but this was probably the simplest way of using them. Of course it wasn't perfect, so Mark made sure to up his durability for the landing.
Now it was just a case of using enhanced speed to go the rest of the distance. It really didn't take very long. His employers were most interested in the military base, so that was first on the list.
Mark stopped, not far from the walls of the base. Something, or someone was there already. And he had the strangest sensation that someone was watching him...
Written by The Great Gumbo 04-23-2003 05:56 PM
Check all my equipment, make sure I'm not missing any needed body parts and everythings set for go.
Written by FBH 04-24-2003 11:30 AM
Bodys and bits of bodys littered around the prefab huts, bullet holes, broken vehicles. None of it of much intrest.
What was intresting was the other damage....
Written by FBH 04-25-2003 06:40 AM
There were also energy blast marks, people turned to glass, the usual stuff.
I looked around the base again.
I was getting a nagging feeling I was being watched.....
Written by KastOwt 04-28-2003 02:57 PM
Osain mentally sighed as his consciousness left the womb of the astral plane and began to sink down into the constriction of static matter once more. He cast his senses around to get general bearings on his location. His surroundings danced with flaming shades of yellow and orange, with the forms of what he knew to be trees, flowers, and shrubs shot through with blinding energy flows of red and blue. Just to be on the safe side, he opened his mind and performed a quick telepathic scan. Finding no sentient or aggressive lifeforms within range, he finally extruded his consciousness completely into a single shrub resembling a ficus with purple leaves. In seconds, the shrub transmogrified into a six-foot tall mottled green, purple and brown humanoid form--with plant roots approximating tendons and ligaments, moss providing a semblance of body hair, and hardened cutin serving as skin. Osain formed his eyes just in time to see a pair of Giant Owls on the wing, just beginning their hunting at dusk. Osain watched until they disappeared over the horizon, slowly swelling with satisfaction and elation. He had done it.
Osain now stood in the Duchy of Ulek, on the world of Oerth.
Written by KastOwt 04-28-2003 06:20 PM
A few hours had passed, and now a crescent moon bathed the surrounding area in pale light. Osain covered the ground at an easy, relaxed pace, with his telepathic blocks partially relaxed in order to give early warning of approaching beings. He remained in plant-form as he was nearly unkillable in that form, and only the most well-planned ambush would catch him before he could abandon his body and transmit his consciousness into a new one. Unfortunately, this sort of mobility came with a price, as his method of teleportation did not allow him to carry any objects along. Therefore, Osain was without a simple map of the Duke of Ulek's realm--until he reached the nearest settlement, anyway. Still, the various maps that Osain had memorized from the Greyhawk Gazetteer should suffice. From what he could tell, he had arrived at the eastern edge of the Axewood forest near the Sheldomar River, and had already covered fifteen miles since then. By his reckoning, Osain should reach the capital city of Tringlee by late evening the next day. So far, his little combination vacation/surveying mission seemed to be getting off to a pleasing start.
Suddenly, a bolt of abject terror surged through Osain's consciousness, followed by pitiful screams echoing from just over the next foothill. Instantly Osain reinforced his mental shielding and begin to telepathically probe for more information. Foul images of torture and mayhem cascaded down the mental link. Osain steeled himself and began to probe harder. He detected a gang of eight kobolds, surrounding a half-elven maiden and her younger half-brother.
Kobolds? wondered Osain. But their realm is a good 200 miles away!
At this point, he shifted back to human form, as his lumbering six-foot, two hundred fifty-pound elemental form could not even remotely be called stealthy--and because his matter manipulation powers were inaccessible in his plant-form. Luckily, the mild climate provided by Ulek's proximity to the Azure Sea ensured that his nudity wouldn't be too uncomfortable. Osain concentrated--still probing for more information from the minds of the kobolds--and his standard synthetic spider-silk armor materialized around his body. Seconds later, Osain completed his telepathic scan, finding that the kobold party was comprised of a band of fighters--led by a shaman.
A sorcerer! he thought. Great--I've got almost no experience against magic. Hope that any mental enchantments get blocked by my telepathy. At any rate, gotta take out that sorcerer first!
A sudden burst of shrill yips interrupted his thoughts. As one, the kobolds looked in his direction and started his way. Osain cursed himself. Apparently he had forgotten about the kobolds' enhanced sense of smell and approached from the wrong direction.
The kobolds had winded him!
Written by Ramz 04-28-2003 10:37 PM
“Heh, Smooth ride, for someone like me, This plane could be crashing down, going full speed into the ground below us, and it’d still be a smooth ride. Whatever, habit is habit.
Putting on his seat belt, Vell Atlas looked outside his window while sipping on a glass of cold red deer. The ground rushing up to meet him was a pleasant site. He was glad to be off this boring plane ride, even though it was fully funded, he was the only passenger, and he could order anything he’d like, and they’d make it for him. But he was curious as to why he was hired for this simple job, for so much money. He didn’t ask any questions once he saw the starter pay in his overseas bank account, he was starting to regret that now.
“So much money… to check out a 60 by 60 devastated site?”
After the plane landed, Vell was met by the exact man described to him. Short, fat, and bald, and driving a sand colored jeep.
“You Vell compadre?”
Vell – “Ya, you the short, fat, bald guy with the jeep?”
“…”
“Ok, let’s go to this damn site and get this thing over with”
Written by FBH 04-29-2003 07:27 AM
I looked over at Sarah who was examing a broken structure. She had lifted one of the broken beams to reveal a body.
"I got a live one."
Sarah knelt and began applying first aid. I stepped up beside her and layed a hand on the mans forehead, healing energy flowed into him...
"/Thankyou/*"
"/its ok now, where here to help./"
"/you are Elysium? I have read of you in the papers./"
"/yes. what happened here?/"
"/first something fell from the sky.... then they came looking for it.../"
"/they?/"
"/supermen./"
*translated from spanish.
Written by Mg_knt 04-29-2003 11:14 AM
"Is the contact baseline or super?" The Recruiter asked. He hoped it was baseline. Nothing like the U.S. getting some good publicity.
"Other sir."
"What do you mean by other?"
"Alien sir. Giant insectoids."
"Keep them occupied Lee, Cortez come with me. We are going to have a close encounter of the first kind."
Written by KastOwt 04-29-2003 04:15 PM
Osain ducked back behind the cover of an ironwood tree just as a flurry of crossbow bolts whizzed past him. His spider-silk armor would have protected him of course, but he'd still rather not have the wind knocked out of him by multiple crossbow hits. He'd lost the element of surprise, but he still had more than a few tricks up his sleeve. His telepathic scanning was still active, and had revealed that the kobolds had now split into three groups: two groups of three armed with halfspears; the third group was made up of the shaman and a fighter, both armed with light crossbows. Risking a quick glance around the side of the ironwood tree, Osain saw that the two fighter groups were moving to flank him. However, he still had a few seconds before they closed within melee range--precious seconds that he'd use to neutralize the kobold shaman. At the same time, the shaman was weaving his arms and chanting in a manner that could only be the invocation of a spell.
No time for finesse, he thought. With a flicker of will he engaged the shaman mind-to-mind. At the speed of thought, mental images poured in a torrent down the mental link, but Osain would have to review those later. As soon as he caught the shaman's psyche in a firm psionic grip, he Brainjacked the kobold--who simply dropped his equipment and just stood there, gaping dazedly at nothing in particular.
One down, thought Osain.
Meanwhile, the nearest group had actually closed to within a mere twenty paces. Damn, forgot just how fast those little buggers can be. Two had actually stopped and prepared to hurl their halfspears. Osain concentrated momentarily--and the spear-throwers stared disbelievingly at their hands, which now held tubes of parchment. At that point, he stepped fully from cover to where he could survey the entire area. The other group of kobolds had halted, waiting to see just what they were up against. Osain decided not to give them time to realize that they could still conceivably swamp him by sheer numbers. He concentrated again, employing a trick that he rarely used as it was a bit taxing when used against a series of targets in rapid succession, and generally wasn't all that necessary back home. However, Osain was taking no unnecessary chances on his first visit to this strange world. An instant later, all the kobolds fell to the ground gasping as the very air around them was transmuted into thick smoke. Now that they were clearly not a physical threat, Osain gathered his will and blasted each of the kobolds with empathic waves of sheer terror. Screaming and gibbering, they fled in the direction of the Axewood Forest, tossing aside their arms and belongings in order to run faster.
Osain smirked wryly at what supposed to happen next. He strode over the kobolds' equipment, rifling through it to find a few silver and copper pieces. With an ironic grin, he manifested a small knapsack and dropped in the coins. Afterwards, he sprinted over to the now-liberated half-elf maiden and her brother. He knelt down next to them, pleased to see that they weren't seriously injured. Apparently the kobolds hadn't gotten up to too much mischief before he interrupted them. He extended a hand and helped them up.
His two charges were gazing expectantly at him, obviously waiting for him to say something. Osain bowed his head and introduced himself: "Well met, strangers. I am called Osain, from a realm known as America, and am pleased to have assisted you in your hour of need. And who might you be?"
And of course, the maiden responded in the incomprehensible words of a foreign tongue.
Just great, thought Osain.
Written by FBH 04-30-2003 10:54 AM
"/yes, I just returning to my barracks when they attacked, the sentrys gave no warning, suddenly four of them came from the sky! they destroyed the command post and the armoury with blasts of fire and energy! One blast struck near me and I was buried under the ruins.... they must have missed me when they came to kill the rest. oh sweet mary the screams..../"
"/its ok now. we'll take care of you/"
Sarah smiled angelically at him.
I stepped back from him and motioned to Sanjay.
"can you evac this guy?"
"sure... the hell? an anti teleport field just came up."
"sh*t. HEAD'S UP WERE GOING TO HAVE COMPANY!!"
Written by Mg_knt 04-30-2003 07:14 PM
"Recruiter this is Eagle 01 we dectect multipule events of superhuman activity in your area."
"Locksmith, get your team into the Jungle, we have company. Cortez prep the rest of team. Eagle 01 tell Nest we need reinforcements."
Written by Metaphysician 04-30-2003 08:30 PM
*Blitz hits the controls on the chopper, and in 30 seconds, Team Gamma is airborn*
"Okay, we have unidentified superhuman activity near the contact site. Our initial task is to reinforce the primary team at the contact site. Granite, prep the heavy weapons. Whisper, look over these recon uploads, and figure out the likely ingress routes, and how to cover them. Ace, gear up and egress in 0:13; I want air cover while we approach the landing site."
"This is our first real mission involving SPBs. Lets not screw it up."
All: "Yes, sir!!"
OOC: Blitz is me. Granite is your standard brick, trained to carry and use the really big guns. Whisper is scout/sniper with enhanced senses, invisibility, and accuracy; he does recon, sniping, and trap laying. Ace is a flier with TK and enhanced vision; he does air cover and recon.
Written by Jack 05-01-2003 11:44 AM
There was not much to be learned from the base itself. Bodies everywhere, with corresponding bullet holes. That meant the Columbians had fought back. The claw wounds and doors that had been ripped off their hinges meant that it hadn’t done them any good. More interesting were the signs of energy blasts having been used against some of the troops and buildings. Why had they only been used in some of the area? Against some of the troops? Claw marks are too wide spread for any one being, giving the apparent times of death, and too uniform for Net Eventers. Energy blasts couldn’t be technologically based, otherwise all the attackers would have been equipped with them. Deduction: more than one group attacked the base. Beyond that, Mark had no clue as to the identities of the attackers.
Ghost was still cloaked. He didn’t know if he could trust these others, but they might have information he could use. He activated his disguise kit. That was another set of handy devices he’d bought off-world. They let him keep up the illusion he’d worked so hard to create. He phased, turned up his durability and reflexes, and then reluctantly turned off his stealth tech.
The strangers reacted instantly. They’re good. And they should be, if they’re who I think they are. But caution. Always caution. “Who are you?” one of them barked. Mark’s features were hidden by the disguise. It was a good question to ask. “You may know of me… by the name Ghost.” They bristled in shock. Obviously they recognized the name. “The Ghost?” Mark smiled under the illusion. “As much as you are the Elysium, I presume?”
A pause. And their weapons were no longer pointing at him. “What do you know about this attack?”
“Not much. We think the base was attacked by extra-terrestrials. The evidence points towards them being insectoid in nature.”
“And the tunnels?”
“We haven’t looked at them yet.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
Ghost phased, and let gravity pull him downwards. I always hate this bit.
Written by FBH 05-01-2003 12:17 PM
a building near me blew appart.
apparantly not.
Written by Mg_knt 05-01-2003 07:24 PM
Soldiers reached up and tapped a pad on their uniform. The greyish black faded out replaced with a mottled green and brown pattern.
"Alright disperse, I wan't a two mile spread." The soldiers ran off into the jungle in pairs.
"Everyone this is Recruiter on your subdermals. We will have some air recon as soon as we break the tree line heading towards a military base. So stay alert for updates from Eagle and Nest."
Written by Metaphysician 05-01-2003 07:31 PM
Blitz: "Heads up everybody, I'm Seeing trouble, port aft side, about 20 seconds!!"
Ace: "I'm not seeing any thermal activity in tha. . . evasive action!!"
*From the jungle comes a burst of green energy fire in the direction of the chopper. Ace shields himself from the worst, and as the chopper veers right, Blitz and the other troops open return fire from the chopper door*
Blitz: "This is Blitz to Nest, we are under fire from the ground, repeat, fire from the ground!! Should we continue to the landing site or egress here and investigate?"
Written by Ramz 05-01-2003 11:30 PM
"Stop the jeep, ill take it from here."
"but, we are still a few miles from the site... I could-"
"Don't worry about it, go home, ill be fine now."
"Ok, fine but if-"
Before the driver could finish his sentence, Vell was already running full tilt towards the group at the site.
But before reaching them, a near by building suddenly blew apart.
"ahh, here we go"
Written by FBH 05-02-2003 10:48 AM
Unfortunately for the other pyro, we are a team. our enemy (at least that bit of our enemy we meet here) wasn't.
even as Paul kept the flames at bay, Sanjay's powered armour's sensors were searching the blazing jungle for the more brightly blazing (if you had the right equipment) form of the enemy super.
This data he communicated to my self and Anna. We both raised our AMRs and fired one shot each.
Latter analyze of the sensor logs of Sanjay's armour showed that Anna scored the kill, her bullet hit the man in the forehead just before mine entered his neck.
Even as the flame died the new wave of attack hit.
Every dead body in the base came alive.....
"Gee. Resident evil eat your heart out!" Sarah chopped the head from a nearest zombie then jump kicked another through the base parameter fence.
The Survivor (I hadn't asked him his name! what kind of guy am I?) put his hands on his head and hugged the ground as all hell broke lose round him.
And we swung into action again. six zombies died messy second deaths as a stream of 30mm cannon shells from Sanjay's suit guns blew them apart.
another dozen combusted as paul shifted his focus to them.
by this point those not engage by the teams mass destruction element were suffering less spectacular but no less fatal attacks from the rest of the team.
pretty soon the area was littered with bits of body, we killed them with guns and mono wire blades. With telekinetic force And plan old violence.
the last Zombie was shots, had its bones broken by TK, was flamed, cut up and then blasted with a mini rocket.
"well that was fun. " Sarah said.
Written by Ramz 05-03-2003 10:25 AM
Vell arrived on the scene of mass destruction right on time to see the last of the living dead totally destroyed via... alot of powers and weapons. He didn't know who this crew of weapon toating badasses was, nor could he tell which one of them was the leader to ask. Vell realized that there was an awkward silence the time he was thinking about all this in his head, not to mention the fact that the whole team had their guns directly pointed at his head.
"ooook... easy up there fellas, we wouldn't want to start a battle between non weird zombies now would we?"
Written by FBH 05-03-2003 11:42 AM
" No, there might not be. However, before I decide I'd like to know who you are and what your doing here?"
Written by Ramz 05-03-2003 12:18 PM
Now here's a question for you, and I guess your team. What are you doing here and what the hell is going on?!"
Written by FBH 05-03-2003 12:28 PM
as to whats going on we appear to be under attack by a group of hostile superhumans.
Written by FBH 05-04-2003 04:31 AM
Very soon now it would act.
Written by Jack 05-09-2003 05:25 AM
Ghost solidified. His feet made contact with the floor if the tunnels. They were smooth, like crystal. The walls were at odd angles, and they were strangely high. These aliens had to be big. They could be trouble. This is just recon. This is just recon.
Mark walked forward. He’d come down in the middle of a tunnel, but he had a feeling that this was the way to go. It was dark, and Ghost always favoured being discreet, so he’d chosen to enhance his vision instead of using a torch. Which was how he found the first one. A mark, carved in the wall of the tunnel. Although that was just a theory, for all he knew the wall had always been like that. There was something about it though…
He stepped toward it, faced it, and stared. Vision was one of the trickiest things to manage using his powers. There were so many different ways of seeing.
Nothing.
Ghost took out a recording device and a scanner. His employers would want to see this, and maybe the scanner could pick something up that he hadn’t been able to. Some residual energy traces… But the scanner can’t seem to identify them… I wonder…
Mark reached out, and his hand made contact with the rune.
Mark had just pumped his vision up to maximum, which was very unfortunate when the crystal in his wrist guard exploded.
“AHH!”
There wasn’t much damage. A mild burn, a few shards in his skin. The metal guard had taken the brunt of the explosion. Crap. That crystal was supposed to be indestructible! Cheap piece of junk… Hmm… Wait a second…
If someone had come along right then, they might have seen Mark’s form, wavering in and out of view. The crystal had been part of the disguise kit, something purchased at Khazan. A magical power-source. Mark turned up his healing, and the burn disappeared instantly, and then he tried something with his eyes. He’d learned about a year ago to get his eyes to see magical energy. It was very, very difficult, but in the end it just came down to concentration. Willpower. And Mark had plenty of that.
There! But… What the hell is that? Using his powers, Mark could see the flows of magical energy, of mana, in the tunnels. And the rune was very active. It was really two runes, he supposed, or at least one with two parts to it. One drew in mana from all around, but mostly from the tunnel, down the way that Mark hadn’t gone. The other directed that concentrated energy… where? Further along the tunnel from the looks of it. Magical energy has a lot in common with regular energy, when you get down to it. When Mark had touched the second part of the rune, the mana had flowed up his arm, and into the crystal, overloading it.
Great. Aliens using magic.
All of which meant one thing - he had to follow the mana trail.
Written by FBH 05-10-2003 06:17 AM
"mentality to base, you recieving me?"
"af** (static) lots of (static)"
"go to comm laser"
"affirmative."
"Ok. I need a high resolution scan of this area, just the surface, not the tunnels."
"ok boss, this is going to take a few minutes."
"were not going anywhere."
Written by Jack 05-10-2003 02:59 PM
He’d taken a few turnings, and it was clear he was getting close to the centre. The mana buildup in the walls was incredible, but the sheer efficiency of the alien’s system was even more so. With that much energy there should have been adverse effects on the surroundings, and on reality in general, but somehow the runes were controlling it perfectly. Mark’s scanner showed that he was no longer under the base, but still nearby, despite the distance that he’d travelled. Almost there…
He approached the core cautiously. Ghost had amped his senses enough to be able to tell that there were three humans just out of view, but the closer he got to the centre, the more a vile stench overwhelmed him. Three humans, and … something else…
Closer. Ghost could hear the chatter from the people. Two of them were moaning in pain, the other, a female voice, telling them to snap out of it. Ghost checked his stealth kit one last time, and satisfied, walked into the nexus chamber.
He was not prepared for what he saw. The room was like a crater, one that had been roofed over with some sort of… alien looking fibrous substance. Whatever it was, it looked almost alive. Which was a refreshing change from the rest of the room, which clearly was alive. The energy was flowing into what looked like a pyramid. If the Egyptians had been incubating monster insects perhaps. There were several machines growing out of the pyramid, and that one was not the strangest looking.
More important were the three, obviously superhuman people standing around the object. Two men were touching the pyramid, moaning lightly, one a guy who’d probably read too much cyberpunk as a kid and another with a similar fantasy fixation. Of the three the only competent one seemed to be the woman, who was heavily armed. At least they can’t see me, but if I try anything they’re bound to overpower me. At that moment the cyborg began to moan louder until he was screaming, incomprehensible right up until he stared straight at Mark as said simply “hello”
Shit! Mark reacted quickly, his reflexes having been boosted already. He phased, and upped his durability, but it was pointless. After raising his hand towards Mark and mumbling some gibberish the man just… exploded. Literally. Not his mechanical parts, his body. Ripped apart by some power, internal or otherwise.
This was of course followed by the sudden manifestation of several unholy looking creatures moaning in agony as their flesh rotted. No heat. Illusions. But why?
The mage stared at them and screamed at the top of his voice. His hands twitched and bolts of magic flamed forth as he himself ran wildly down a tunnel path. F*** it! SHIELD! Mark crossed his arms, activating his magical shield, only realising too late his mistake. The shield spell was visible.
The third superhuman knew he was there, and she wasn’t showing any signs of the madness that had consumed her companions. She was a mystery, beyond the weapons, and Ghost hated mysteries. That was the reason he was an investigator in the first place.
“Someone’s there, aren’t you? What did you do to them? What?! I swear I’m going to kill you, bastard! Don’t think I didn’t see that magic flare up!” She rambled, clearly hoping for a response from Mark. He gave none, thinking of something to test her. His pocket didn’t have much of use, except a small piece of metal he’d picked up while searching the base.
Combining strength, speed and coordination Mark threw the metal at one of the walls, causing it to ricochet in a pattern he knew would lead to the woman, while being confusing enough to mask his position. But the woman took one of her guns, with lightning fast reflexes, and shot a single bullet, hitting the metal dead on.
“Who do you think you’re messing with mother-f***er?! Some amateur? I’m the best shot on this damn world, and the second you move I'll hear you, and take you down!”
Ghost smiled.
He amped his speed, and flowing it into strength punched her clear across the room. She landed in a heap, unconscious but not permanently harmed.
“Good, because I only needed a micro-second to beat you.”
He stepped over to her, and pulled out his knife. He made one small cut on her face and stared at it, waiting. Nothing. She didn’t have a healing factor.
Ghost lifted his foot and crushed her hands, one at a time, breaking the bones in her fingers.
Written by FBH 05-11-2003 05:41 AM
"Excellent, Well finish of these joker's then head for the tunnels."
Written by FBH 05-11-2003 09:12 AM
At will she could be come utterly undetectable. you couldn't see, smell or hear her, If you looked for her with IR goggles she wouldn't be there....
She was also stronger and faster than human and almost never missed with any weapon she had.
In Elysium she was the scout, sniper and spy.
"Ok I have three guards on the out side, all super humans by the look of them. Each ATV has a top mount 25mm cannon. They look to be able 10 people each. You in position"
I clicked the communicator.
The three guards dropped with holes punched neatly in the foreheads. The sonic boom of the shell came a moment later.
One ATV became a burning pyre as Paul's powers played across it.
I flipped the last over onto its roof.
We moved in to in to capture any survivors.
Written by Jack 05-12-2003 07:44 AM
Mark picked her up and began to walk out of the chamber. The build-up of mana and the strange machinery might interfere with his D-Hopper, and he didn’t fancy trying. Not for the first time he wished he could just fly up.
Ghost stopped after walking a suitable distance and pressed the button on his belt. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing. Damn it. The tunnels shouldn’t be messing with my Hopper, their mana control is too precise for that. It’s got to be these shitheads doing it.
It was then that Mark noticed the device flashing on the woman’s belt. He unhooked it. It was a tracking device of some sort. Three dots. That one in the centre’s this device I’d bet, but what are the others? And why are they shaded differently? He took a step forward. One of the dots moved a little further away. I wonder…
Ghost put his speed on max and sprinted back to the nexus chamber. Now one of the dots was right on top of him. A, literally, quick search meant Mark now had two of the little devices. Good thing it survived that guy exploding. Or maybe the magic-user dropped it…
Mark sprinted back to where he’d dumped the woman. Now the third dot was pretty close, but the shade was weird. I bet that means that one is on a different altitude. But up or down…? Got to be up.
He pulled out his scanner. There were other life signs above him and nearby. He knew he had to be near the base again.
That was when he had the idea of how to get out. He grabbed the woman, and charged up energy in his hand. More. And more. Until he neared his limit. Then he pushed up with his legs, smashing his other hand into the ceiling as he released the energy wave. It worked. The energy was channelled through the hole, rather than against the whole of the ceiling.
Mark grabbed the still-unconscious woman and leapt upwards through the hole. He was not expecting what he found outside. Dozens of bodies, burnt by his blast.
“What…? No… No!”
Mark dropped to his knees before his brain managed to catch up with his body. Everyone here was dead already. Elysium didn’t bring nearly as many people with them as this, and some of them are still wearing civilian clothes… Including that one who’s moving around!
“You… you survived?” The corpse stumbled towards Mark, but tripped on another body. It got up again, minus an arm. You know Occam’s Razor really got shot to hell with the Net Event. So someone here was a necromancer. Probably raising an army to take on Elysium. Had to be the superhuman who showed up on the device.
Now what the hell is going on?
Written by Mg_knt 05-12-2003 12:27 PM
"Damn. Our back up is gonna be delayed. Cortez what are you seeing in the base?"
"It is Elysium sir."
"God damn UN pansies. Here give me the satillete phone."
The recruiter punches in a phone number.
"This is SRC requesting call to SecState."
"Transferring to secure line."
The Recruiter waited a few seconds then heard someone pick up on the other end.
"Sir, we have found an alien spacecraft with live ETs sir. Unfortunetly, Elysium is here along with another group. The people at Area Zero would like to take a look at it and interrogate the crew."
"I will see what I can arrange with the Columbians."
With that the line wen't dead.
"Alright, everyone back into the tunnels. We need to secure the ship and ETs. This has become priority one."
Written by FBH 05-12-2003 12:55 PM 05-14-2003 12:15 PM
"hello?"
"sir this is orbital. We just picked up a secure link from US SRC to there base on the satilite bug. there near you sir, in the tunnels. They seem to have found some kind of alien ship."
"Oh Christ just what we need. Ok beam down an ops team to secure our location, and get Asphodel ready to secure the craft if the yanks beat us to it. We can't...."
At which point all hell broke loose....
the first indication of trouble was when Paul flew past me trailing energy.
I turned in time to see the survivor from the base surround by aura of glowing white flame. he was laughing "Trusting FOOLS!!!"
at which point I was hit from behind by some one with meta reflexes in a bubble gum crisis hard suit.
I saw several other super humans appear from seemingly out of no where and begin attacking.
well this hasn't been the dull day I thought.
I hate being out numbered. But I don't let it stop me.
I took three pistol rounds and a pair punch that would have cracked open a tank (none of which did a damn thing) before I three my three attackers across the clearing with my TK.
The rest of the team where equally engaged.
forty goblin like creatures each with the same face had piled on Sarah the pile was thrashing as and an occasional creature was thrown from the pile.
Anna was visible only from the impact of her presence: bullet holes appearing in varies bodies...
Paul had risen to his feet and was facing the "survivor" and another energy bolter who where shielding each other as he negated one then the other.
Sanjay was facing down the other 2 of the Bubble gum crisis 2040 type hard suits who's companions I was facing.
I couldn't see the merc who had joined us a bit earlier.
As the suits and there armoured companion closed on me, I prepared my attack.
Written by KastOwt 05-14-2003 03:13 PM
Osain simply stood there, debating whether or not he should psilink with the maid and converse that way. She simply stood there, apprehensively chewing her lower lip in a way that was hard not to like. Osain took a second to eye her more appraisingly. She stood a few inches taller than he, with copper hair bound into a simple braid falling comfortably between her shoulders, smooth olive skin, and pale gray eyes. She was indeed fair, he mused, remembering that apparently the kobolds had intended to enslave her and butcher the boy. Osain let his glance fall on the boy, a virtual twin of his elder sister except with sandy-brown hair, who now stepped forward as if to protect her from this new potential threat.
Enough of this, decided Osain, who belatedly remembered that he was wasting time. He gently probed at the young woman's mind, turning on the charm as well as he could: /Fair one, I apologize for the intrusion, but I do not yet speak your language. I will be able to understand your words very shortly, but until then you may feel my presence in your mind./
A powerful current of wordless gratitude and assent followed as a reply.
/My thanks, my lady. Speak aloud, but please form your thoughts very clearly before voicing them./
What followed was the curious blending of thought-speech and verbal speech that never failed to bemuse Osain when using his telepathic translation technique. In his head, he heard /My brother and I thank you for your assistance, my lord. I am Kaliathe, and my brother is named Garel./ His ears still heard Kaliathe's voice speaking in what had to be the Common tongue, but her spoken words came a few fractions of a second later than the words he heard in his mind.
In reply, Osain sent back /Well met, Kaliathe. In my homeland I am called Osain. I am but a traveller in your realm, who wishes only to see the beauty of your land and perhaps trade with its people./
Still oblivious to the telepathic communication going on, Garel tittered at the strange words he heard. Already he seemed to be softening, now that the overt danger had passed. Osain smiled back and opened the psilink, allowing him to overhear the conversation.
/I know my words seem strange to your ears, but in a short time, I should be able to comprehend your language well enough to speak it aloud, though I might be a bit clumsy./ At this, both Kaliathe and Garel nodded. /May I ask what town you hail from, and whether you know why those creatures struck here?/
Kaliathe responded, /My brother and I come from the village of Stoneheft, about five leagues to the north. We had journeyed over there--/ she motioned to a copse of ancient trees a few hundred feet away /--when the kobolds suddenly appeared and attempted to carry us off. Whether it was to sell us to slavers, or to consume us, I know not. You have my eternal gratitude for interrupting whatever plan they had in mind./
Osain smiled at that. /Kaliathe, it happens that I am on the way to the capital to have an audience with the Duke of Ulek. If you so wish, I can escort you back to your village. That would be no imposition, and indeed, you could tell me more about your beautiful country./
Kaliathe smiled radiantly. /Then by your leave...?/
The three started northward.
Written by Ramz 05-14-2003 10:02 PM
Written by Manuel 05-15-2003 12:43 PM
Tempest winds blew through his hair and up his pants as he hurtled through the corridor of starts. They streaked by in hurdles, like a thousand tiny fireflies, blinking as they rushed by. His sandals floated up above him, pulled off his feet by the air currents and blown wildly around. The one-strap bag beat madly against his ribs as it fluttered in the breeze. He leaned foreward and took on a skydiver's position for descent, not knowing what exactly he'd be seeing when he finally passed through the door of whitness that was slowly growing below him, drawing nearer every second.
Planeshifting was different every time. He had long discovered that he'd never grow used to the journey between worlds. Every place had a different way of getting him somewhere, and even a regular destination had some new trick., some of which had been nearly lethal.
The door was nearly upon him now, and he was nearly home. He readied himself for arrival, changing shape and growing leathery bat-wings. He shrank, becoming tiny, his posessions fading into a brown patch on his fur, which was now a shiny black shade.
Over the skies of Columbia, a circular door to the heavens opened, and a bat flew out, diving out and veering away upward. It soared over the dead treetops. The doorway closed with a sucking noise.
He beheld a scene of horror. An entire village on the mountainside, swarming with people. Dead people, who yet walked. The trees were blackened, twisted things. The smell of undeath assaulted his noise, nearly making him gag. The sun was not the bright yellow orb of his home, but a raging crimson fireball. He fluttered overhead, and a few of them caught the whiff of life, flailing thier rotting arms at the sky in a vain attempt to catch him. He flew far out of thier reach.
What the hell is going on? Am I even on Earth?
Written by FBH 05-17-2003 09:22 AM
On the ground two groups of super humans fought, energy discharges lit the jungle brighter than the sun, joining the thunder of automatic weapons in disturbing the wildlife. Occasionally a grenade or other explosive would go off throwing dirt and Fragments everywhere.
High above and far to the west of the battle twelve narrow delta winged machines shot across the land at just under mach 1 and just over the tops of the trees. eleven Elysium drop ship carried a light (but incredible armoured and armoured by 20th century standards) ATV and a platoon of infantry cyber shells. THe last carried the command team, HQ vehicle and logistics.
"five minutes to target"
"Remember, do not engage any USA personal unless they fire on you first. Make sure of your targets people!"
Back at the battle sight
I finally pinned the last hard suit with my TK and it was shot by every other team member and the merc guy we meet earlier.
I hated to kill unnecessarily but I was not going to attempt to capture a mega graceful person packing a suit that could tear through tanks.
"this is field team to Ops team how's it going."
"three minute out."
I looked down a the unconscious form of one of the enemy, a mind controller by his aura. He'd apparently been hiding in the ATV. it hadn't helped him much.
"Light your after burners. We have a prisoner for you to collect and an alien ship to find. "
Written by Manuel 05-17-2003 11:31 AM
It was, however, and both times nothing had happened.
His form wavered and vanished as he went from being a bat to an Invisible Stalker, floating down to the ground near the battle sight. He stayed near a tree that hadn't been blasted apart yet by stray fire, and watched the mindless slaughter. Bodies lay on the ground, some in UN colors, some under the banner of something called "Elysium", and some in uniforms that he didn't recognize. There was no mercy in the battle, no effort at capturing the enemy, just bloodshed. In particular one warrior who displayed obvious telekinetic power was using his abilities to crush and slaughter opponents left and right.
Manuel could see no rhyme or reason to any of it, but he could not simply leave. There had to be a reason for why all of this was happening.
He floated out onto the battlefield, a silent, invisible puff of wind. Stray bullets passed through him harmlessly, and he felt a wave of heat as an energy beam brushed him, heating the air for a moment. Heading straight for one of the intact vehicles, he intended to find out what was going on. One of them had to have battle plans or information. Once he knew a little more, he'd be able to decide how to best go about this.
Written by FBH 05-18-2003 04:22 AM
My sense prickled. There was another mind not one I knew near by.... right there. with a dozen sensory powers on the guy showed up pretty well.
STOP!
Actually affecting him might be another matter as he was intangible. But we would come to that later....
Written by Mg_knt 05-18-2003 10:58 AM
"Thank you Eagle One."
"Alright troops looks like we have more company. Go and protect the alien vessal. Do not let anyone who is not with us in. Be sure to turn your heartbeat sensors to maximum range."
With that the soldiers broke and headed into the tunnels.
Written by FBH 05-19-2003 10:13 AM
In shape they are none humaniod, looking sort of like a low four leged spider.
The ATVs are basically wealed tanks, there main weapon is a 45mm rail gun.
Written by Manuel 05-19-2003 12:24 PM
His vaporous nose prickled, and he hunted the battle scene, letting his tracking sense guide him. No, not that one. Not that one either... there. It was the telekinetic soldier, who'd been slaughtering enemies and crushing vehicles with his telekinesis. He was staring straight at Manuel.
Manuel bolted away in a hard gust of air, zipping towards the ATV he'd been seeking. He felt an odd sensation, like a wave passing through him, and the ground beneath him erupted in an explosion of dirt. He glanced back and saw the telekinetic soldier pointing at him, as if trying to sieze him with his power. The guy couldn't sieze air, apparently.
Another moment took him inside the ATV, where a crew was screaming orders. The sweat from their uniforms and NCB warfare gear gave off a horrible stink, and the noise from the turbines and the main weapons firing was defeaning. On a display screen within the lurching vehicle he saw what he was looking for. There was a transparent cutout diagram of the mountain, showing a series of interconnected tunnels. Some kind of crater had been dug into the side of the mountain, and there was a flashing dot labeled "objective" deep within the tunnels in the bowels of the rock.
He wasn't able to get any more information, as the ATV was suddenly siezed and hurled throught he air violently, ripping him out of it. He saw it fly through the air, slamming to the around a moment later against a boulder. The telekinetic trooper was looking around, searching for him again.
Manuel shifted form again, becoming an Air Elemental. He darted away, heading up the mountain slope towards one of the tunnels. A fluttering gust of wind was the only sign of his passing.
Written by Jack 05-21-2003 04:19 AM
Wait. His heightened senses picked something up. Back. He ran back to the hole, tossing a background enhancer onto the sniper’s unconscious form as he turned.
What the…? He could hear footsteps in the tunnels. Human. But his senses were also telling him that all the members of Elysium were still at the base. Damn, a third party. As the sound got closer, Mark could pick out voices. Military. Probably US. Power-hungry bastards. The sounds came ever closer, and Ghost knew he’d have to leave before they found the hole. He sprinted back to where he’d left the woman, picked her up and ran back to the base. Damn, damn, damn. I hate running while carrying someone. Always seems like they might burn up.
It was horrific. Parts of the base were in ruins, there were corpses everywhere, burned and smoking. People had been crushed to death, electrocuted and shot. There were spider like machines prowling around, and lights in the sky glaring down on the carnage.
He deactivated his stealth kit and took a step forward. And just like before, a dozen weapons were trained on him. Their leader raised his hand and Elysium stood down.
“Back from the tunnels?” Ghost nodded. “Who’s that?” Mark tossed the sniper to the ground. She murmured something then fell back out of consciousness. “I captured her in the tunnels. She’s yours if you want her. Interrogation isn’t my thing.” A pause. Mark continued. “You know about the soldiers?” He nodded. “Some US strike force. Supers.” Damn again. “Thought so”
“So, what did you find in the tunnels?”
“I see no reason to share that information with you. Not for free at least.” They both smiled, little, deadly smiles. Of course facial expressions didn’t come through Ghost’s disguise very well, but he felt the tone carried it across. “We might be able to come to an agreement.”
Written by FBH 05-21-2003 09:11 AM
The cyber shells and tanks where spreading out around the clearing sensors peeled for any movement.
Written by Mg_knt 05-21-2003 11:52 AM
Written by FBH 05-22-2003 11:35 AM
Actually they were considerable more alert than was humanly possible.
Both had enhanced sense. Both had at the time of the net even been in the military.
There names where Paul and Bob. Paul also had armoured skin and enhanced strength, while Bob had energy bolts and super speed.
suddenly, both men stood straighter. "light level just increased!" Bob turned round. "its the object." Indeed even the unaided human eye could detect a faint blew glow around the pyramidal structure.
"we better call this in." Paul triggered his radio static was all that answered him " Crap. must be the rock."
Bob looked at him. "it was fine earlier." Both men unsafed there guns.
There was a tiny sound, As of an ant tap dancing. then the walls seemed to explode as a mass of large insects (each the size of a mouse) crashed into the room.
Both men fired.
Behind them the object began to glow brighter....
Written by Manuel 05-26-2003 01:03 PM
He was almost there.
The tunnels at last opened into a huge cavern. Sunlight streamed in from a hole in the top where the spacecraft had penetrated the rock layer and fallen through into this ancient cave system. The ship laid against several broken stalagmites, it's hull blackened from the heat of re-entry and crushed from the impact. He wondered if anything was intact at all. The spacecraft was about twenty meters in length.
It was made of some kind of plastic compound, and gave off an acrid smell. The hull was still hot, and parts of the rock formations had melted. He notes that this ship had destroyed countless mineral and rock formations which had probably taken millions of years to form.
Manuel saw no doors or hatches, nor any tears in the hull. Several boulders were blocking parts of the hull from view, however. He could fix that.
His form took solid shape, flickering into view. He grew expanded, taking on a metallic sheen and huge, massive shoulders. He became an Adamantine Golem.
With one hand he siezed the boulder and tossed it aside with no effort. Behind it was a circular iris-door.
Written by FBH 05-26-2003 01:09 PM
gun fire!
He also noted the ship was glowing blue.
What he noted more was the fact that the floor aroud his Adamantine feet had become a sea of foot long bitting insects.
Written by Manuel 05-26-2003 05:45 PM
Then a sudden realization came to mind. He'd seen this before somewhere. Years before, before even the Net Event. He remembered this from a tabletop wargame he'd played then. From Warhammer 40k.
These were Necrons.
"Oh dear Jesus." He said in the metallic voice that his form gave him.
Written by FBH 05-27-2003 10:13 AM
Humanity was created in gods image, and was the height of creation.
Others wouldn't agree. The race that had built the device had know name. Rather they did but told no one. Of all the races they had subjugated not one really knew them as more than a vague form ensconced in shape hiding battle armour surrounded by a swarm of servitor horrors.
Over time they had come to be know by a variety of names, but the most commonly used was simple: the conquerors.
South america had not been picked at random. No simple accident had bought the ship there. Rather it was at the center of a network of ley lines. The flow of magical energy in the region would allow it to charge and when it was ready perform its purpose.
It was almost ready.
Written by Mg_knt 05-31-2003 10:17 PM
"Damn, just what we need. Alright, lets go down to the core and see what is up. My gut tells me it is nothing good."
Written by Mg_knt 06-01-2003 04:50 AM
Pressing on, he and his group approached the nexus.
They heard the sound go gun fire.
