Bright stars light up the deep black sky. The cold sand comforts your frozen body by filling in the negative space of your contours and offering you rest. A slumber would be a welcome respite after such an intense journey through the wormhole, but adrenaline kicks in as you suddenly realize that you are lying prone in a cold, dark and foreign world. Experience tells you to get up and be ready. Find shelter and defenses. You notice that your hands are tightly gripping a cold, sand-covered object that begins to faintly glow a soft hue of violet. A sudden rush of warmth floods your body as your struggle to reach your feet becomes less burdensome. You feel refreshed, almost as if born anew. This vigor seems unusual, but it is welcomed without question this time after that hard slam into the ground. The force that dragged you through the abrasive desert floor adding to the pain. You are healed. Standing up, you notice the tip of a tall, black spire of an unfamiliar geological composition jutting high into the sky with its point resting just below the position of the full and bright moon. Surveying the landscape, you notice that standing with you in a circle inside of the large clearing before the tower are four other unusual creatures. The wind blows a chill through your bones and except for the sound of it, all is quiet. The night air is cold and clear. Are these foes or other victims plucked from their worlds? What brought all of you here? So many questions. Your heart pounds quickly inside of your chest.
Adoy stretches as he gets up, muttering in
He then catches sight of his hand, and the gauntlet adorning it.
ur, um. Hello? what a strange looking lot.
Doctor Calista De-Romana had been working, her deep space exploration crafts Psiport-generators where in the process of displacing her and her craft to the next observation point around a bindery red dwarf sun system. She was getting some interesting readings. She had been here 20 years and the system was giving up some find data. That was until herr craft informed her that something was wrong.
::"I am detesting a psiport wormhole forming Doctor Calista"::
The crafts mind thought at her,
::"WHAT! But the Psiport-generators are off line, are they.. no this is wrong, show me show me where!"::
As alarms started to ring and danger glyphics sprang up in her HUD
::"Here on the r..........?"::
She never registered what it thought next at her, she was pulled out of local space time on a roller coaster ride of insanity, fear, shock, worry and interest. All of which played through her mind as her world fell away.
Hitting something, hard rolling, sand, and cold, being pulled and then holding, warmness. A moment where she and her suit where offline then standing.
She stood slowly pushing herself up from the ground. A cold chill yet she should be feeling nothing. She kept still, noted she was holding an item in her hind. She looked at it, small silver grey, no bigger than a cutting blade used for organic sample inspection. Standing in her deep space suit. She was tried to understand where she was, looking up at the sky. A planet?, well what looked to be a planet.
Then a little bit of panic came as she thought to the suits comms system
::"Ship, are you there, ship! Can you detect my signal? "::
She waited… still looking up, hoping, but nothing came back but static, her comms where dead, useless. Not only that her face plate HUD was dead too. Where once the ship would send live feed data there was now only the symbols for No data connection.
Now she really did feel like panicking, Who or what had done this? For the 1st time she looked around, taking in more than just the sky.
She was shocked to see she was not alone. There were other things here. Odd others, in fact organic things!!, and they where like no organics she had ever seen before. Base organic life forms did not ware clothing and have what looked to be like tools. Here where organic beings who had both. Panic was replaced by fascination, no matter what the situation. This was the scientific find of a lifetime. She had discovered tool using organics.
She looked close at one being near her, small and blue one. It was holding some items in its hands. She looked at it, both in normal light and inferred. It seemed alive and it was making sounds. She had no idea what they meant but they could be some form of communication. She had seen this before on green water world with life. Some large herbivores would communicate danger and new food locations with audio sound.
Maybe this extra-terrestrial is responsible for me being here?
She thought to herself,
could the item I am holding be a communication and translation device?
She looked again at her hands and the object into.
It did seem to make me feel better, hummm
She looked again at the blue being making up her mind to see if it understood her form of communication. 'Rapture Thought'.
The odd construct like thing seeks to link thoughts with you.
'Rapture Thought' = Telepthay
Images come, showing some strange room, her in it, its a she, the warmwhole and trip, just like yours, then landing etc, then looking at him with a feeling of a question. Its all very fast and seem to be a question about being here.
The being infront of you stands some 5'4" Slender and moves with more than a constructs grace. But has the look of one.
image of what she looks like.
In her hand is a sliver gray knife. Her form has places where it glows, and gives off a slight light, it also has a slight female look, but it's hard to tell. As yet it has not spoken.
Brian was sitting on the back of his Pa's plow as it got slowly pulled by the cattle in the hot sun, chewing on a piece of straw and thinking idly about last nights party. Glancing up to check to position of the sun, he calls out to his cousin, and his help.
Hey Billy! Looks to be about lunch time an Im starved! What say you head on home an rustle up some grub?
Sure thing "Boss"
The reply came with a cheeky grin and off he shot before there could be any retaliation.
Good friend. Brian thought to himself, but if I get any more mouth from that kid, Ill... but he never got to finish that thought as the next moment he was gone...
-----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
Coming to in the cold sand (Brian wasnt unconscious but thd trip had robbed him of his wits) Brian slowly begins to realize that there was something clutched tightly in his hands, and after opening up his eyes, he sees an ornate -and-black rifle in one hand and a satchel in the other.
While with one hand he absentmindedly slings the satchel over his shoulder and with the other he fingers the marvelous weapon and utters a quiet Pa's rifle...
After a few more moments of this, Brian rises up and sets the rifle in his hands and takes stock of his surroundings.
He then addresses the people around him with an almost-loud voice and just a hint of cracking in it;
Alright you folks. he indicates with his rifle, Which one O' you dragged me h-here?
As the tall organic being with the odd cylinder object makes sounds she looks at it.
The odd construct like thing seeks to link thoughts with you.
Mind link
'Rapture Thought' = Telepthay
Images come, showing some strange room, her in it, its a she, the warmwhole and trip, just like yours, then landing etc, then looking at you with a feeling of a question. You sounds, question. Its all very fast and seem to be a question about being here and communication. A feeling of I do not understand.
She realized she needed to go slower. taking her time she formed core ideas. The way one talks think to a newling.
::"What are you saying?, why am I here?, is this thing on? What do you wish to say? Think it, think it, think it,"::
Brin sat on the prairie in the red dawn light, eyes open watching the sunrise, all the while meditating as he did every morning, communing with all his senses the world and everything that was in it. By his side sat Hyrkun the lion, his companion for a month now in this part of his walks. He slept still, dreaming of the hunt. Balanced across his knees
While he looked at the horizon the red of the sunlight suddenly changed colours. He looked around and everything seemed to be upside down at first, or had he somehow gotten up and fallen over? Then he felt something pulling him in every direction at once and lost his balance and fell. It felt like he was falling in every direction. He tried to look at his hands and they were covered in blood, holding his heart; No it was him that was covered in blood being held by his own heart. He tried to push it back inside his chest but he didn't have a chest. Am I dreaming this? It can't be real, it doesn't make sense.
The pain and incomprehensible sensations suddenly stopped as he found himself face first in the... sand? He pushed himself up and brushed off his face. He scratched himself with something he seemed to be holding that he definitely didn't possess before. He shook the sand off the object and recognised a diamond connected to a mithral chain. His other hand found his quarterstaff and traveling pack(backpack). Finally he got up to dust himself off and look around, still holding the diamond in his hand, noticing strangely that he could feel the earth talking to him.
Brin is barefoot and stands 8 ft. tall, covered in animal hides and furs holding a quarterstaff that looks like it is still growing. He has red eyes and looks around slowly at the new environment and its 'creatures'. One with a strange ornate stick spoke and with a deep voice he replies, "I was dragged too. Where are we?" he asks the obvious question, though everyone looks as confused as he is. Better yet, why are we here...
She looks the massive being with red eyes.
'Rapture Thought' = Telepthay
Images come, showing some strange room, her in it, its a she, the warmwhole and trip, just like yours, then landing etc, then looking at you with a feeling of a question. You sounds, question. Its all very fast and seem to be a question about being here and communication. A feeling of I do not understand.
::"What are you saying?, we are here? you bring us? what do you wish to say, I hear your words, have meaning? say it Think it, say it think it, say it think it,"::
Brian gives you a blank look, mouth agape. Then gives his head a good shake Tha fantasy got away from me quick... he mutters to himself under his breath.
Then the second wave hits him and he is able to make a bit more sense out of it.
He then looks up at the group You lot gettin any O' this... eyes resting on the android and putting 2 and 2 together. Oi! Thats you! Your the one! he indicates to Dr Calista vigorously.
After a hard fought battle Ilya lays in bed ready to dream about the spoils of victory. As he drifted off he heard a voice call to him and then a sudden tug, and before he knew what was going on he was falling through some sort of hole. Traveling faster and faster he was brought to a sudden stop when he slammed chest first into the cold sand driving the air from his lungs. Pretty sure I heard my ribs crack. Before he could stand he was pulled face first through the sand. As he tried once more to regain his feet he found his hands gripped tightly around a massive axe with a Darkwood handle and a blue-black head, the tell-tale sign of Cold Iron. As he stood he felt his wounds heal and breath return to his lungs.
"What treachery is this?" Ilya says looking around him with rage flashing in his eyes. The cool breeze clears his dark hair from his face and the moon light seems to make the thickset warrior's skin sparkle. Noticing the others he summons forth his armor, black chain mail seems to grow from his skin. "Who are you and why am I here. Are you in league with that traitor Barg?"
The giants mind was closed she could feel that, see thought about reading it. But her culture had a Prohibition on reading the minds of others uninvited, it was seen as a from of mind rape. How ever as she look at him, the being with the cylinder device.
"It knows i'm communicating with it, well that is a start now what are the sounds it's making"
She takes a step then moves closer, reaches up her hand and presses the side of her head. The front of her face splits and opens, the two parts sliding back onto the neck ring of her suit. reliving a humanoid face.
Image here of her head and face
Her hear is jet black, her skin a light gray, with seems to glow form the inside. Her eyes are all black orbs. As stops s few steps away, and once again thoughts come.
::"You think, I think I learn, big red closed, small blue no think, you think. you think You think words I learn::
Her mind link in place she waits.
Adoy looks quizzically at the strange woman, feeling the touch on his mind.
now, now, just talk to me. Can you talk?
Then his attention is drawn to the angry words of llya.
calm down big guy. I don't think any of us had anything to do with that.
Trying to be calm he says
my name is Adoy, Adoy the sly if you want to be formal.
As he speaks, Adoy slips on the gauntlet.
She turns her had looking at both Ilya and Adoy but then back at Brian.
It was the one she was having most effect with.
Her eyes seem to flow a deep blue a moment and then there is a slight humming sound in he minds of all within 60' of her.
She is using some kind of detect-thoughts Psinics/magic but its odd Alien even.
Brin holds his quarterstaff defensively as tensions start to rise. He had closed his eyes to try to sense Hyrkun's location but not even the faintest hint of his animal companion could be felt. He opened his eyes, watching the others. I am very far from home, but which desert? They all looked strange but the one covered in metal looked the strangest. And those that covered their face were usually up to no good.
"I don't know what you did to bring me here but you won't beat me that easily." He looks at the one with the ornate stick and nods as if agreeing that it's the metal one's fault they are here.
Adoy tries to send back on the link to the metal woman
tensions rising due to telepathy/probing. Stop, or conflict likely
To the others he says no one is threatening; we are not in immediate danger. We are alone in a strange place, all of us, yes? If someone wanted to harm us, wouldn't they have done it already?
Adoy looks up at the sky. is that sky familiar to anyone?
sky recognize/determine location?
Adoy's description is a short (3 foot or so), blue humanoid, with pointed ears and a largesh head. He is wearing a grey mottled robe and now has a gauntlet on one hand that crackles with lightning. Over the robe is a well made chain shirt, and he has a crossbow over a shoulder.
He is attempting to smile in a friendly way, but his many teeth are off putting.
She senses a shift, she feels danger, the large red being. She has a questioning look on her face.
Then the small blue one sends back to her, communicating in a civilized way.
She understood it, there was danger here. She shifted her mind link.
::"You send meaning I comprehend, tell I why I here, you are/being/is?"::
Then as he asks about the sky, all her instruments where back on her ship. She suits sensorum-pack was back on her ship. Her rad detector
all she had on was the inner suit and the few things it had. She had to twork with she had. She thought over what she could see, hear and smell.
+1 Survival
^Knowledge (Arcana/psionics)
^Knowledge (Engineering)
^Knowledge (Geography)
^Knowledge (History)
^Knowledge (Nature)
^Knowledge (Planes)
::"Location unknown, data missing, planet? none natural Volumetric space?, gravitation 1 to 1.3 mass, atmospherics life supporting."::
Then a flood of complex images streams with her thoughts, she/it seems to be defining the world in terms hard to comprehend.
confusing/lack of comprehension concepts unknown please simplify. adoy frowns as he tries to understand.
She focused on the small blue being, now she was linked and he was not blocking her she started to feel the language he was using, it was simplistic. Lacking more complex meaning forms but there was a core to it she could work with. Start with self, actions and time.
@Adoy ::"Just here come, taken, no known here, you?"::
the same, no knowledge why. And i gained this.
Adoy raises his hand to show the gauntlet
She looked at it and nodded
::"Same, no knowledge why, I gained"::
holding up the object in her hand. The small silver gray blade.
::"Others?"::
she sends looking at the others and the object they where holding.
Adoy speaks aloud
all here were taken from where we were, and gained an item, yes?
She nods her head, now understanding a little of his meaning.
Then holds up her item so the others can see it.
Its glows a little.
Still apprehensive, Ilya raises his axe.
Adoy looks at the threatening figure of llya sternly
now see here, big fella. We are having a peaceful conversation, so you put that axe aside. Far as i can tell, she is in the same situation as the rest of us.
Adoy stands easy, keeping his eyes on lkya.
let's not have a foolish disagreement.
beware, this other is antagonistic
She held the dagger above her head not in a treating way but to display.
While she this dose her mind is trying to remember the words spoken and used.
Even if she herself can't speak the words she hopes picking up what they want to say in the language the all seem to be using will aid her.
She then starts to turn slowly a single thought projects form her.
::"No harm, like you"::
She hopped that would work, this these odd being who were intelligent would understand, she was no danger. The blue one seemed to, but the others. Where they like her, and if so where did they come from. They had such odd clothing. She realized with a start some of them even had weapons. Was this an armed conflict? Had she been taken to be a slave and fight in an armed conflict, or even for sport, for a game? All she could do was hope they understood. She was civilized, like the blue one. She know nothing of armed conflict, know nothing about such things. She was a scientist life and knowledge where her realms.
::"No harm, like you"::
and she hoped.
like she, um, thought. She is no threat to you. She may be helpful. Open your thoughts.
"You asked if I received an item, I was indicating that I received this, sorry if it appeared threatening.
The cold wind whistled through the outcropping of rock and around the 600 foot tall black and pointed spire that rose from the red desert rock into the dark, cold and star-filled sky.
Your landing must have sent vibrations throughout the desert floor as you notice two giant dark-carapace scorpions approaching you quickly. Too far to surprise you, but fast enough to pin you into the spire's sparse courtyard.
Turning she sees them
^Knowledge (Dungeoneering)
^Knowledge (Nature)
She runs once she sees what they are calling to the mind of..
@Adoy ::"Danger!! Arafa Heterometrus swammerdami!!":: She
Then she runs for the end of the court yard, and what she hopes is cover, placing herself behind the others and away from danger.
Once noticing a more pressing threat Ilya acts quickly advancing toward the closest Scorpion. He swings his new axe and it skids of the ebony carapace unable to find purchase.
Brian watches as the head of the strangely dressed womanoid splits open and retracts backwards, revealing her face.
Huh. Didnt know it could do that.
Brian was already holding his rifle outwards in an accusatory manner but then receeds it, holding it out vertically and with the barrel pointing up.
Tis my Pa's rifle. Don' know how it gots here, an it never looked so beautiful before, but its here. he shrugs.
Brians head snaps to the side as he sees something coming towards them from the side and he uses the scope on the rifle to bring them into sharper view.
We got 2 Black arse scorpions coming from tha west. Big suckers too...
What you figure we should do?
...I could take a shot...
Brian asks nervously while fingering the trigger while he studies the bugs
Ah, screws it.
Brian fires off a shot
Whoop!! he lets out a holler as he fires off what is certianly a wild shot and then he backpedals a few steps.
Seeing the android over his shoulder, he lets off a chivilarious thought
::"Stay behind. Dangerous. Caution"::
Adoy spins at Brian's words to see the scorpions.
oho, scell!
Adoy centers himself, focusing on striking his target, and then as anbact of will, raised some physical defence with a bell like chime.
Round one
Move action - martial flexibility, weapon focus, spiked gauntlet
Standard action - manifest force shield
Move five feet towards the scorpion gs1
The sixteen-foot-long creature scrabble forward with menacing claws snapping and tail arched high above its back. It makes an attempt to grab Ilya so that it can inject its poisonous stinger into him.
The scorpion squeezes the barbarian as it raises him into the air.
Ha! Brian calls out, feeling a rush of excitement that comes along with shooting at 13ft long creatures who are tearing random strangers around him to bits. Its a rather unique feeling... But then he looks down, and there he sees within his hands his Pa's rifle, with his shirt jammed into breech chamber...
Hooo man... Pa's going to kill me when he sees this...
Dr. Calista, you get a wave of feelings of dread and impending doom come over the Telecom ;)
The scorpion winces as Longarm's shot finds its mark unbeknownst to him.
Brin sees the approaching scorpions and readies his quarterstaff, twirling it in arcs around himself and calling out, "Shuh-lay-lah!" and moving towards the scorpions.
She was running in fear, she had never been in a situation before like this. Pulled here placed with stranger, then attacked by beasts. she could feel the minds of the others. Waves of feelings reached out to her, feelings of dread and impending doom, excitement and anger, anger and range and feat of death, death it was coming and there was nothing she could do, nothing. She and the others where going to die here on this dead sand.
Then the world slows down and, her own voice came to her.
::"Accessioning, memory block, removed, good luck me"::
What was that, had she placed a block on her own mind, she did not have time to think more as, her perception of time slows to a crawl and then memory's gush in.
She was standing in a hall, around her are others in training for the deep space corps.
A tall Tech-Elan is in from of them, naked but for pear of shorts. He spoke to them.
::"This will constitute an impeded part of your education, it is unlikely that you will need the skills to be embedded in your sub mind sets over the next few mouths. But after a number of instances where members of the deep space corps came to harm on life supporting worlds. It was felt that all deep space corps applicants all be trained in self defiance and armed combat. Once trained you will lock this training away and only access it when the need arises."::
He stepped on to a matt.
::"You will be trained in the combat form known as Psi-Kata it is a martial discipline based upon the premise that, given the positions of the participants of a combat, their motions, weapons types, trajectories of fire, and combatants possible actions are statistically predictable. That by pure memorization of the Psi-Kata forms and positions, of ones Psionic and combat ability's form's. One can learn to place oneself in the optimum position to gain maximum lethality while keeping oneself outside a statistically predictable risk area for harm. Each of you have your own capabilities and ability's as such no two Psi-Kata users are the same. You will start today to find what you can and can't do, then how to use them to keep you safe from harm. Do you understand?"::
They all nodded.
"Good, we will start with basic hand to hand combat, and during the subsequent weeks and mouths move on to utilizing weapons both internal and external. Allowing you to analyze So let is begin, please pick a partner and copy my stance."::
What rushed into her mind was the hours, days mouths spent learning, with basic weapons and the her powers. Powers she did not know could be used for harm and combat. It call came, powers and skills, Some advanced some basic. Fighting fellow students and also automitor targets. Blasting minds and using energy to rip asunder, In a few moments she went from a frightened bystander to someone who could do something of use. The odd object in her hand, was now a strange alien artifact but a tool of use, a weapon, short blade, cutting and thrusting.
Time sped back up and she know combat, She was running, she stopped, She spun about and activated a face plat to redeploy. Now crouching she took in the combat with different eyes. Gone was the fear and panic, she griped her blade with intent. Her manner had chanced form a panic to utter focus. Assessing, analyzing, she worked out her action.
Ilya shouts and strains a against the gigantic black vermin. His muscles bulge as he attempts to free himself.
Her mind now focused on the combat, she looked at Ilya who seemed hurt, assessing his condition.
Then at the terrain they where on, assessing it for object to thrust at the target.
Then others fell into her mental map of the combat, 2 hostiles, they sort to grab and hold to inject toxins. That meant they where here to feed not kill and wast the meat. That gave her and the other an advantage, they did not care what state the scorpions ended up in. All that got filed, she noted one with the shot from some kind of chemical weapon was Damaged. A plan formed, take out the weak one, then concentrate on the remaining one. Her mind moved envisaging possible actions and counter actions. Then she plotted out one attack that would keep her away from the targets and while focused would let her harm them.
Her mind lashed out at the wounded scorpion, finding its mind and instantly delivering a massive assault on its neural thought pathways, seeking to overload them.
The scorpion feels the strange force try and penetrate it's carapace and shakes it off.
Ilya and Brin charge the venomous threat, Ilya's attack missing ends him up in the air squeezed tightly by the scorpions giant claw.
The blue goblin activates a soirt of force shield and moves in closer to deliver a deadly blow. Calista flees the treatened area temporarily, then regains her composure through a flood of past memories that bolsters her confidence.
Longarm's new rifle delivers in a penetrating blow through the monsters carapace causing it to weaken. With Ilya being constricted, the group is poised to finish the chance encounter with these hungry desert creatures.
Brin meets the other scorpion head on whirling his staff in a series of attacks, unable to find an opening in the scorpions defenses yet.
Round 2
Adoy marks one of the goblins with his gaze, then charges it.
Move action Charge
Standard action, attack GS1
Charge
1 pt of electricity
Current AC 21
He sprints in, headlong, striking the creature.
The blow staggers the scorpion a bit, but not enough to cause him to release the barbarian.
The scorpion constricts Ilya again.
The barbarian clings to conciousness as he is nearly pinched in half.
The scorpion retaliates against Brin with a quick stab of its stinger towards him.
Brin feels the searing pain of the thrust of the stinger into his shoulder. Something is released into his body. He can feel it coursing through his bloodstream.
