ic Mission of Mercy(IC)

[Ari]

GM

 

Jail Bird blinked up at her for a moment, his drawn face tightening just a little more, and nodded silently, getting slowly and ponderously to his feet. Waving them away he gestured to the rough center of the village where the elders would be "We must be coordinated. Go speak with Leda and the rest. I will go with the other sick and wounded." He smiled briefly through another stab of pain "We'll be alright, little bird, be quite anticlimactic for it all to end now, eh?"

 

---

 

"Yes, that's one of the gathering tools. It might just be another sweep but..." Leda glanced at the rest, the oppressive silence getting just a little deeper as they looked back. There weren't any suspicions on the quartet, which they would be when Bloduewedd got back, but them arriving so soon after the strangers had raised eyebrows.

 

Clearing her throat, the rawboned woman plowed on, looking back to Tona "We can be ready within an hour, if all goes well and the 'drones are no faster than before. Should we get close, or leave this campsite? We have never before made this kind of journey," she added drily "it's not something we have many plans ready for."

[Blue Rose]

"No..." Sam interjects. "They're too close, and this much gear will leave a trail, or you'll be slowed down hiding it. Gather everyone and everything you're taking in the thickest shadows you have. I'll need a map and a navigator. Point me to somewhere safe and I will get you there in one jump."

She runs the math in her head. The Trade's made her pretty good at these guessing games, and she makes a point of staying on top of just how much she can take with her on a jump. Who knows when you'll need to 'port an Abrams tank?

Not that she can manage an Abrams. But this village? This village should be well within her means.

[Tiffany Korta]

Maybe because she had grown up a world away, literally and figuratively, from such things Blodeuwedd didn’t have the fear of these Drone that Tona did. She knew that she should before coming here she had read all the reports available at the school and Tona had told innumerable story of the horrors they had inflicted on this world. It was a potential weakness that Blodeuwedd well aware off, but it could also be used for there advantage it allowed her to resist any urge to flee from their sight.

 

“I’m going to try and stay here as long as is safe and try to keep you updated. If the worst happens don’t wait for me, hopefully I can make my own way back.â€

[Blue Rose]

"Not happening," Sam interjects.

"This is not a time to make some glorious stand." More than any of the other visitors, Sam understands survival on a world trying to kill her. And it ain't by being a hero. "They don't know we're here yet. If you go in there with a magic flaming sword cutting down drones, you let them know a new threat is here and it'll call everything on us. And there's only one train outta here; I'm not leaving a trail for you to follow back. We've gotta be quick and quiet, and they can't know we're here until after we've got the mark."

Sam's voice is firm; it's clear this isn't up for debate in her head.

"There will be too much fighting after everything goes wrong later. For now, stay fresh, and stay secret."

When. Not if.

This is the kind of operation that has way too many loose ends and unanswered questions to go smoothly. It would take a month of advanced scouting and casing the mark to make her comfortable, but something tells her she'll be lucky to get a day.

[Raveled]

Less than a day in and things were already going to hell. "Blod, no! We are not engaging any drones if we can avoid it at all." This was exactly what she was afraid of; only Kit seemed to have any conception of just how dangerous the Terminus could be. She looked around the camp, taking in the scene. Men, women, and children were moving with purpose, gathering up supplies and hiding what they wouldn't be able to take with them. She turned to her other two companions. "I'm going to go get Blod," she told them. "Crimson, stay with Kit and help get everyone ready to move." Blue Jay moved off before either girl could object.

[Ari]

GM

 

Crimson Tiger & Kit

 

Watching Tona go, the stern-faced camp leader shrugged and turned to the red-headed thief. "Shadows are plentiful in this world, especially in years when the Devouring Coil is turned away from us. The pines surrounding our camp are thick enough for this job, and we can stretch blankets in the lower branches too...." nodding slowly, the grim woman turned to a worn cabinet, searching through a pile of cloth, arrows and paper "As for maps, I have a rough one a scout made two Coil-turns ago, so recent enough to work. And this compass at least points...almost due north..."

 

Soon, the already bustling village was a quiet, yet almost frantic, hive of activity. The people hadn't needed to be told twice to travel light, and as the news raced through the resistance camp some families almost happily dumped their possessions in heaps so they could get into the shady ring of evergreens quicker. Fires were put out with hardly a whiff of smoke, the small herd of oxen were brought to safety by their doting owner, and in mere minutes where a small village had once been was nothing but a patch of forest. Even the things thrown away had been hidden.

 

In the darkness of a thick stand of oaks twisting out of a boulder, Leda crouched with the other elders and the two Claremonters. She was waiting silently, but eagerly, for the jump to freedom. And somewhere far off, a dreadful thrumming resounded, growing steadily nearer.

Now all they needed was for Blue Jay and Blodeuwedd to return.

 

"Zelle," murmured a low voice near Mali's ear, turning out to be from a lean young man "What...can you tell us about where we are going?" he was trying to play it cool, but a light of hope shone in his eyes. "Petro," he added, offering a callused hand.

 

Blodeuwedd & Blue Jay

 

The redwoods were close enough that it only took Tona a short dash to get there, and finding them by the soft tingling as she got nearer made it almost fun despite the urgency. As she came within shouting distance though, a flicker of movement in the forest caught her eye. A flash of dull bronze among the green and brown. Almost immediately afterward, there came a tell-tale whirring and clanking, faint, but unmistakable. And like noticing the movement of an ant makes you aware of all the others swarming in the grass, Blue Jay realized that dozens of the glints could be made out among the trunks and bushes. They were moving steadily eastward, and almost creeping by automaton standards.

 

From her perch higher up, Blodeuwedd could now clearly make out the square and matte-black machine rumbling over the forest, a blocky maw glaring orange at the front, and the flashes of light and glints of red-white as the Omegadrones wheeled around it like a flock of hideous death-birds. The convoy was curving away to the south, and looked like it was going to miss the village, but it was still deadly close. The roving red orbs on its underside weren't too comforting either, nor the pale rays they emitted at regular intervals.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Arichamus

[Tiffany Korta]

It was sweet how they worried about her maybe it was the whole pale skill all in black things but sometimes they thought she had a deathwish. Yeah she was a little fatalistic at times but  that didn’t mean she was planning on dying right now. It was a bit of a gamble but she knew that Dyrnwyn had a link to home that she could use in an emergency. Not that she was planing to use it unless absolutely necessary.

 

But apparently this world wasn’t finished surprising them.

 

“There something coming this way Tona something that doesn’t look friendly. You better have a look at this I’ll drop you a line.â€

 

Knowing even Tona couldn’t find her when she wanted she dropped the girl her grapple so she could find the tree she was up.

[Raveled]

Blue Jay prowled through the forest, head down, head on a swivel. She was focused on the tops of the trees, trying to pick out Blodeuwodd's dark costume, or else the cruciform shape of a flying Omegadrone. Of course, she was also being careful to watch everywhere else; in the Terminus, anything less than constant vigilance tended to end up killing you. So she spotted the coil of rope hanging limply next to the trunk.

She shimmied up it like a spider, and soon she was braced just below the Welsh hero. "Everyone said they were going to be careful," she groused, just loud enough for Blod to hear. "What definition of careful involves being within sight of a flight of Omegadrones?" She focused on the oncoming force, manipulating her mask to zoom in and scan the monoliths.

[Ari]

GM

 

The scattered bronze glimmers that announced the automatons moved slowly, deliberately. As they passed in and out of the dull reddish light they could be made out as crouching, their twisted flesh and metal bent low as they padded and clanked through the underbrush. Like Tona remembered, they were heavily armed, but along with their firearms, blades and shoulder-mounted spike launchers, they carried clubs and nets.

 

Their slow pace wasn't without its dangers, however. One passed just a bit too far out of the tree cover, and the searching beacon of the flying barge swept right on top of it. The beam froze. For several heart-stopping seconds, the ship and its attendant Omegadrones paused. The girls could almost see the gears turning.

 

Then, with a chuckling roar, the squared ship resumed its course, sweeping away from the General's troops and the camp. The howl of drone jetpacks began to fade into a distant whine once again.

 

But still below them resounded the steady, muffled '*clank--clack--clank--clack-clack-clank*' of the force insinuating closer and closer to the village...

[Raveled]

Blue Jay watched the approaching army, feeling a tight, heavy weight settle in the pit of her stomach. There it was, the old home-town ache of despair. The size of the enemy was overbearing; and she knew this was jut a scouting force. Omega could lose a thousand, a million of such expeditions and not even feel it. She knew victory in the Terminus was impossible; if she could teach her companions that, they just might all get home alive.

As the questing automatons reached the treeline, the archer reached out and grabbed Blodeuwodd's arm to get the other girl's attention, then jerked her chin sharply towards the ground. She was reverting to old techniques, hand signals and head signals instead of communicating by commlink. In any case, her intent was clear: it was time to get down, and get back to the camp.

[Thunder King]

Mali looked to the man and smiled politely. "It is very different from your home." She said. "But also very different from here. Tona is still adjusting to it, but it's, well, better than the Terminus." Hell was, to her, a possibly metaphorical place of suffering. This was not a metaphorical hell. There were countless abominations and things in the dark. This was the most terrifying place in all existence to her. She didn't need to know everything about the Terminus. Only to survive.

 

She went and helped people get together to go. She was not, not going to linger in this literal hell one minute longer than she had to.

[Ari]

GM

Mali's quiet words were at least enough to make Petro even more curious, but the excited boy had to wait with the others, hunkering down in total silence as the people of Tona's village watched the trees and leaves for the least sign of incoming danger.

Cut off from Tona and Cerys, they had no idea just how close it was...

The pair managed to keep clear of the automatons. Long practice and needing to sneak by things with much better eyesight and hearing than even the Steam General's troops meaning they reached the clearing long ahead of the creeping monsters.

A few whispered words and soon the whole camp trembled with horror. Somehow, after years, they had been found.

More than a few suspicious eyes glanced at Tona and the rest, but none said a word.

The transportation was all that was needed. Leda signaled Kit with a twist of her hand, letting her know that all was ready.

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd looked at Tona, her friend, and was about to say something biting about underestimating her. But instead she stopped and gave Tona a friendly smile.

 

“Sorry I forget that this is you home and thing don’t work exactly like back home in Wales. I’ve faced gods and monsters but they're nothing like this are they?â€

 

She glanced around her to get a good feeling for the surround terrain, she didn’t quite know the place well but she’d been in similar situations.

 

“We might make quicker progress if we stay in the treetops. Most people, even drones, don’t tend to look up. But you know this place better so you call.â€

[Blue Rose]

Come on, come on...

Sam gets the signal, but doesn't take off. "Not until Cerys and Tona are back." She tosses her hoodie aside; it wouldn't last long with this kind of mojo at work.

While they wait, she explains what's going to happen to the group again. "Remember, we have to have direct contact, everyone and everything connected. Without that, someone will be left behind. When we go, you'll feel a cold, starting inside you and working its way outward. Then, it will feel like the ground disappears. It might make you nauseous. This is normal; it will pass in a few seconds. Do not panic. Do not resist. And keep the animals calm." She's willing to leave some of the little livestock behind if it means getting the village to safety, but the more resources they have at their disposal before the evacuation, the better.

When her friends reappear, it's go time. "Quick, join the circle!" They should already know how her powers work.

She looks to the map in front of her, focuses on the directions, then starts lashing out in the general area for a hold that will stick. Usable shadows. Then, she expands her grasp on the tribe, little by little, person by person, down to the last scrap of cloth, their presence straining her mind. She's not used to this kind of haul, but there's no time to change her mind. She trembles under the effort as she rips her usual gap in reality into a gateway by raw force of will.

Then, with a snap, the cold washes over the entire village. A black void without warmth, light, or air. The group's momentum stalls, but Sam calls on the power to keep the group moving before anyone can panic and become stranded in the nothing, straining until they reemerge on the other side.

Like a splash, the world returns, with wind and warmth and even a murky light. Well, light, for everyone but Sam. That part doesn't seem so keen to come back. And that's actually quite a lot of wind...

WHAM!

Sam crashes face-first into the ground, the heat from her brand shimmering in the air above.

[Raveled]

Blue Jay didn't answer Blodeuwodd in so many words, but just shot the other girl an angry look over her shoulder. She would have words with her... but not in front of everyone, and not when the Omegadrones were such an imminent threat. She just led the way back to the encampment, and joined the circle. She closed her eyes as Kit's coldness and darkness enveloped her, as the world sped away and her stomach flip-flopped in primal denial of the possibility. Once light and warmth returned, she opened her eyes and looked around, quickly nocking an arrow.

It wasn't needed, though, at least not right away. She let out her breath and turned to Kit, nodding slowly. "Good job Kit, you got everyone out of -- Kit? Sam!" She rushed in as her girlfriend fell to the ground, grabbing at her shoulders. The air above her brand was too hot to bear, though, and she snatched her arms back, rubbing at her skin. Tona shifted her position and pulled Sam into her lap, cradling her. "Sam? Sam, please wake up. It's time to wake up now." She brushed the hair away from Sam's face. "S'il vous plaît ne pas vous êtes morts."

[Ari]

GM

The village appeared back in normal space like a drop falling into reality's pond, the local space shivering for a fractional moment as the spacial paradox resolved itself. True to Kit's order, Tona's people had remained utterly stoic even as they left, however briefly, their native plane. Even the children and babies barely made a sound, and not even the youngest of animals struggled when encountering the alien void. Whatever lessons they had endured in their long torment, it seemed to have given them spines of metal.

As the red light of the Terminus reasserted itself, a shadow remained over the villagers. Leda saw it first and began to ask, with a look of deep respect to Sam's prone figure "Pardone, shadow-walkers, but is that-?"

The rest was unsaid, for suddenly one of the tribeswomen, who had looked up instead of around, pointed at the sky and bellowed "Sky-maw!"

The effect those words had on the tribe was electric. In moments the orderly retreat started to turn into a riot. Now that attention had been drawn to it, the blocky ship Tona and Cerys had seen earlier was clearly visible above them in all its placid, angular glory. Formerly quiet people shouted over each other, animals began to run for the trees as if stung, and the whole mass of humanity began to move for the trees to escape the red-throbbing horror in the air as it began to soar down towards its prey.

So when it faltered, shuddered, and then crashed heavily into the forest in a spray of dirt and wood splinters well behind the group and then smoked, shuddered and lay still, the lights blinking out, it made for a pretty embarrassing scene. And then the hatches opened. From seemingly every side, people dressed like Tona's village scrambled out, yelling with joy and racing to greet others of their kind! A first burst of suspicion had Tona's group standing their grounds, but sudden, amazed cries from either side of "Fille!" "Pappa!" and the names of long-lost friends filled the air, and the two masses of humanity met and embraced!

Another man, dressed in a uniform and coat, something that looked vaguely Napoleanic in red and blue and black, got out from the top, looking much more surly. He wasn't the Steam General, though, his clean-shaven face and obvious youth made it clear. A lifeless Omegadrone dangled from his left hand like a landed fish, and with a look of disgust the young man tossed it away into the brush. One of the unkempt tribesmen jumped out of the same hatchway and tried to hug the uniformed man, only to be flung away in the same direction as the drone, with a snarl of almost comical anger.

Glaring at the happy gathering he folded his arms and looked up at the dark sky, as if waiting for something, just as the ground began shuddering beneath the four heroines...

Edited August 26, 2014 by Arichamus

[Ari]

GM

The reason for the shaking soon became obvious, as Nihlor drifted into view, the dread black planet on whose surface could clearly be seen the forms and faces of massive creatures in frozen in poses of agony, alien but oddly familiar to the human's eyes. Around them glittered the evil lights of the great citadels and towers that housed Omega and his Annihilists, while a murky sprawl about their feet hinted at the terrible Black Ghettos where the fearful proles eked out their miserable existence. Like an ugly jewel, Nihlor shone in the Warpwold's red waste, a hideous insult and diabolical joke at the expense of everything good, living and free. Even from another planet, the smoke of the first and greatest Doomforge could clearly be seen.

The more pressing problem, of course, is that where Nihlor goes, the Doom-Coil follows, and that very red tongue, that very flashing serpent of destruction, that river of the end of all things, had lashed out to consume Tona's world. Mountain ranges far off vanished like ice in a lava flow, the surviving matter caught up in a spiral that began racing back to the source of destruction. Even as they watched, the world around them began to visibly shrink, the earthquake-like shudder growing in intensity!

With soft clarity, a nearby voice said "At last. Took those prodigals long enough, I almost lost to the Steam General. Of all people in the Omniverse, I almost lost to him." With a deep sigh and a thrumming whisper, the coated and uniformed young man floated down next to the heroines, watching the oncoming rush of destruction with a careless and slightly impatient look in his dark eyes. Passing a a callused hand through his coarse, short black hair, he glanced at Tona as she tried to wake up Sam, snorted contemptuously and began tapping away at something like a bronze calculator he pulled from one coat pocket.

"Silex!" Leda pushed her way through the suddenly silent throng, nearly all eyes on the incoming engine of death, and stood before the young man. Looking closely at him, the rawboned woman asked cautiously <"Are you...have you come back to us?">

<"I have"> was the crisp answer as Silex put the device back into his pocket, raising a hand to forestall the murmur of hope as he concluded drily <"I have come back...to see this world perish. With its death my place is secured, my only rival will either die or wish he had, and my master Steelgrave will have my genius at his disposal"> At the horrified looks of the tribesmen he shrugged philosophically <"This planet is nothing but a corpse, my brethren, a festering body withering to nothing with only maggots like you and me eating at its bones. You have no hope of being anything but proles or worse, and I only spared those of you en route to the 'forge so you could have a reunion before you all died. It's better than most get when they enter the Terminus. I have seen the less fortunate, before the end...">

As he spoke distant sounds of energy discharges and the whistle of metal in flight filled the air, and like a horde of locusts Omegadrones roared into view a mile or more away, shooting at something in the trees that responded with darts. A few of the drones fell. Step by step, they too flew closer. In a few minutes or less they would be clearly distinguishable.

A round floating platform studded with control panels and monitors drifted down from the air as well, which Silex athletically jumped onto and began calmly examining data readouts. Over the distant havoc he called "You! Outworlders! Better leave now if you ever want to! This world is lost!" As he spoke, the craft began lifting off again, the air vibrating and wavering beneath it.

The tribespeople were still quiet, some looking anxiously at Tona and her still-conscious friends. A few had made the mistake of looking at Sam, and were still smarting from the sensation of their eyes twisting to comprehend devilish geometry.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Arichamus

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd, being an expert on body language, knew that Tona would be having word with her latter, and she probably deserved it, but now she needed to focus on what was going on around them. She gently put an arm on Tona shoulder and talked softly to her friend.

 

“I know you’re really concerned about Sam , but right now you friends and family need you to reassure them. This might be everyday to use but it’s got to be incredibly scary for most of them. I’ll do what I can for Sam, you know I got some first aid training.â€

[Blue Rose]

Sam begins to stir in Tona's arms, looking up into her girlfriend's arms with a soft smile as light returns to the world. "Hey, Tona. I'm alright. Just tired. Did everybody... did everybody make it al...right...?"

As she speaks, she notices the apocalypse looming over all those gathered and curses. Not simply uttering some American expletive about bodily functions. No, this is something Tona's rarely heard; a single word in the helltongue she'd picked up as a child. A filthy, disgusting, disturbing noise that doesn't seem like it could come from a human mouth, a sound that, while none gathered fully understand what it means, definitely can't be anything kind.

"Don't worry about me... I'll be fine..." she rolls out of Tona's arms and onto her knees, panting, supporting herself in a kneeling position in the best show of strength she can manage, trying not to be a burden to the group right now of all times.

[Raveled]

Tona's mouth tightened a touch as Sam puled herself free, but the other girl was supporting herself; and there were more pressing issues at work anyway. She stood and narrowed her eyes at the departing Silex, making sure she would recognize him. One day, she promised herself, she'd see every Anhhilist put to their own bad end, and if he was going to be a new member of their number...

Dismissing him, she turned to her own people. The Passport was cold and smooth in her hands, and as she flipped open the top she realized there was only the one button. She raised it high in the air as she addressed them. "Everyone, don't listen to this madman. You don't have to die with this Earth. You don't have to live in the Terminus anymore! There's another world out there, a fresh, new world, covered in forests and with endless room to grow." She pressed the button on the Passport, and felt the hair on her arms stand on end as she energy gathered around her. "Follow me, everyone. Follow me to Sanctuary!"

[Ari]

GM

The tunnel's first visible sign was several seconds after Tona pressed the button, long enough for some rather questioning glances to pass between the quiet, tense crowd of tribals. Then the space before her twisted clockwise, swiveling open into a shuddering, roaring maw of red and white, the sense of apocalypse as strong as before. This time, though, there was something else, something wounded but resolute, which as the Terminus tunnel widened and stabilized was revealed to be a forest glade on Sanctuary, indistinct but blessedly real. At the sight of real, honest sunlight for the first time in any of their lives, most of the tribe drew forward, eyes wide.

At the front limped Jail Bird, leaning on the shoulder of Petro. Staring wide-eyed at the paradise wheeling before them, he leaned over to his valiant, cunning daughter and whispered "I wish she could see this. A world bathed in gold, with a blue sky...that'd melt even Mama's heart..."

With growing confidence, the people of the dying world began to rush closer to the portal, which by now stood as high as some of the trees, and wide enough to cover half the clearing. The Atoms, evidently, knew their other-dimensional transport.

The first few ranks were just passing through, dimly visible as they ran and jumped for joy at their escape, when the drones and automatons arrived on the scene. A tight cluster of the metal beasts were charging for the clearing, shielding something in their midst, when a hail of pike-fire tore through them, sending their charge hurtling onto the grass.

In his anachronistic, twisted metal finery, it was impossible not to know him. The Steam General, with his battered martial bravado now entirely gone, eyes wild with terror as he jumped up and staggered for the portal "Mercy!" he screamed above the tumult as the drones finished off his soldiers with contemptuous ease, his arms waving furiously as he ran to the last hope of safety "Please! Take me with you! I'll pay any penance, do whatever you want, just don't leave me here!"

Silex's hysterical laughter cut through the sudden silence. The drones had swooped into a parade-style formation above the retreating tribe, looking on impassively behind their skull-like helmets, watching the last gasps of the world as it was sundered and torn by the ever-nearing Doom Coil. At that moment, the Atlantic was being reduced to a small puddle, the waterspout visible even that far inland.

[Raveled]

Blue Jay's mouth dropped open in shock. Here he was, the monster who had reduced her planet to a baking, wasted cinder, who had slaughtered her people until they were a few thousand lonely survivors, and he was begging for mercy at her feet.

The shock passed quickly and Jay's face twisted into an ugly snarl of pure hatred. In one fluid motion she pulled an arrow from her quiver, holding it like a dagger, and charged the Steam General. She plunged the arrow in his organic eye, and it struck metal or bone inside his skull her knees met his chest and she rode his body to the ground. Her free hand came up, pointer and middle finger held out rigid and the other digits curled against her palm; she plunged the two fingers into the hollow of the General's throat and held them there. She kept him pinned to the ground as the last vestiges of life shook out of his corpse.

She spat on his corpse and rose, blood on her hands, anger and determination mixing in equal parts on her face. She unfolded her bow and nocked an arrow, taking a step forward to stand between the last of the refugees and the approaching metallic abominations. "Cerys, Mali, keep the drones away from the civilians," she called out, already picking a target from the crowd. "Ma pere, get Sam through the tunnel."

Edited September 3, 2014 by Raveled

[Ari]

GM

The Annnihilist's passing provoked the movement of at first only two drones, who swept down to grab the body, one falling to Blue Jay's arrows and swiftly replaced by another as they bore it up to the platform above.

His laughter dying away, Silex started busying himself with the wretch's uniformed remains as the sickly red glare of the Doom-Coil neared, audible now as a low, almost soothing roar of constant thunder. The last shreds of the Earth were bending into its maw, as if eager to surrender after such a long twilight of torture in the sphere of endings. By some miracle, their patch of forest in the upper Appalachians had been spared just enough time.

Now emboldened, the tribes surged through the portal, some of the rearguard with lighter burdens calling frantically back to their saviors in French to follow, though none of them stuck around for long when freedom and life beckoned, and death and cyborg slavery stared them in the face.

On the other side, somewhere close to ten thousand people stampeded through the new forest, yelling, crying and laughing with abandon as they looked up at white clouds, blue skies, and a golden Sun, which after their exile in the Terminus was nothing less than Paradise. Some of the quieter ones noticed how different the birds sounded, how much cleaner and full of life the air smelled. And all of them grew a lot quieter when they both saw the distant settlement of Sanctuary. A few murmured anxiously at the sight of the castle and distant hive, but the rich pastures and fields, and the bucolic village quickly eased most of their fears.

The last, though, drew nearly twenty-thousand eyes to the still-open portal.

"I don't suppose," Silex called over the howl of oblivion as the Doom-Coil gouged nearer, sweeping up the disintegrated remains of trees, hills and lakes "I don't suppose you'll mind if I let you in on a little secret, Outworlder? Just a little one, nothing you'll need to worry about!" He smiled down at the four teens from over the platform's railing, a small bronze-colored knife cutting easily through the General's chilling corpse.

Edited September 7, 2014 by Arichamus

[Electra]

A dozen yards beyond the portal, the trees gave way to a large grassy meadow full of regularly spaced hills, like fairy mounds built by the world's most organized fae. A closer look revealed doors and windows cut into the mounds, and dirt-track roads running between them, turning the meadow into a town made of hundreds of sod houses. Here and there were open spaces with firepits and brick stoves, as well as prefabricated vinyl sheds marked for men and women. Near the front of the meadow were a dozen men and women waiting in front of a large pile of crates, led by a verdigris-haired woman clad all in green and brown and standing on a crate. 

 

"Welcome!" she called out as the first wave of refugees poured out of the forest. "Welcome to Sanctuary! I'm Fleur de Joie, and I-" She trailed off as the people just kept coming out of the trees. Furrowing her brow, she leaned down to the people next to her. "Is it just me, or are there a lot more than two thousand here already?" 

[Ari]

GM

Martin Bracknell, one of the older settlers, tilted his hat a little lower and scanned the emerging tribes. His dark eyes flitted up to Stesha's as he his dry voice answered "I think there are, boss. Don't suppose our colorful guests could help there."

Among the welcoming committee for the Terminus escapees were the four Atom Family siblings, their morphic molecule uniforms transformed into more relaxed and contemporary outfits, though they still had that Atom's color-code. Chase alone had donned a dapper deep purple suit despite the constant jibes from Victoria in her green overalls and black shirt, the reserved young psychic near the rear of the party while the shapeshifter, Tesla and Maximus were at the front.

Starting at Stesha's question, Tesla(red cargo pants, pocket-laden vest) turned from a brief discussion with Maximus(blue jeans, denim jacket) about the portal, squinting at the crowd and shading her eyes as her lips moved noiselessly. Suddenly they stopped dead and her hand fell away, the brilliant young energy-controller looking deeply uneasy. "Max." she said to the older Atom, whose face was also starting to turn from joy to uncertainty at the growing crowd of people filling the edge of the forest "Can you get up there for a sec? I'm getting 10,000, but..that can't be right."

"On it." was the brawny man's baritone reply as Maximus Atom dispersed his body's density, soon floating up to a better vantage point. Unlike his sister's flight, Max was nearly invisible and totally silent in the air, although much slower. Neither wanted to risk scaring the new arrivals with sudden displays of power, so growing giant-size or soaring on jets of green energy was put of the question. Landing only a few seconds after take-off, the young man's beaming grin suggested good news.

Hopefully, Tesla began "Well? How man-?"

"You were wrong, sis!" her brother said, which visibly relaxed the young genius until the next sentence "It's only 9,451!"

Victoria's cheerful waves and shouts of welcome stopped, Tesla grew pale along with Chase. The village's representatives suddenly looked very grave, shifting uncomfortably and clearing their throats as everyone mentally tallied up what that meant for the small community.