trollthumper Posted January 12, 2017 Author Posted January 12, 2017 "Please!" said Velak. "Please, I am explaining! There was an autosomal dominant disorder in a large portion of the population! The only real way to shore up against the trait was to introduce Xuli'Ha traits! We wouldn't have done it if there was any other way!" "Bliss." Cavalier stepped forward. "Please. I can't begin to pretend to know how you're feeling right now. But if this thing that they're setting that noise off about is as big a threat as they think it is... well, you're not going to be able to do much to them if they're already dead, are you?" Velak looked to him. "I thought you'd be more comforting about this." "Really? Well, maybe I will be one day." Cavalier dropped his visor. "But not today. Now, where's our Godzilla?" --- The "Godzilla" became clear to see the second they got out of the city. There was a wide field between the borders and the forest, but they could see the path the thing had cut through the trees - ancient, withered things in a field of green. The thing itself was harder to see; there was a great gap in the air, a gigantic blur that seemed to fold and twist in upon itself. A sound came from it, like whale song mixed with an industrial. "That," said Cavalier, almost disbelieving, "Is your titan." "A small one," said Javeen. "Usually they're nastier than this. But if it gets to the city, it can still do some damage." She turned to the guards. "Arms at the ready! Make sure it stays where it belongs!"
Brown Dynamite Posted January 15, 2017 Posted January 15, 2017 Roulette silently peered at the giant blur. The normally talkative Zultasian had kept his mouth shut up to this point. He wasn't nearly as fuming as Bliss was, with good reason. But, he was still no more pleased with the events as they had transpired. While he would never openly admit to caring for his crewmates, for once in his life Turk really did just feel like hurting someone on Bliss' behalf. The Titan would have to do for now. The last time he faced such a massive behemoth, he was almost killed by a Lor who decided to demolish a tower in that moment. It was not a good memory, one not eased by the presence of Erin White's not quite doppelganger. As Jesse only added to the Deja Vu. Still, he would rather repeat that day of the Incursion a thousand times over than the past twenty four hours. Roulette removed his visor, eyes glowing. "Stays? No Javeen, it dies."
TheAbsurdist Posted February 19, 2017 Posted February 19, 2017 "Lor. Know their idiotic blundering they made this threat. They've lied to us thus far and obscured the truth, they aren't going to stop now." She stopped and the tendrils whirred about to shoot into the ground at anchor points. "If I find that to be true, Lor wormlings, then your monstrocities you call children will exalt the suffering I will give you far beyond the memory of you exists." Snarling as she growled in his harshly accented Galstand. Bliss leaped back, for leverage, as the tendrils extended to their full length, she eyed the creature. Once she measured she pushed forward, and used the tendrils to pull her forward as well, sending her strait to the beast, spinning as she did to bring both tendrils around in with momentum to bring them against the TItan, and she... kept spinning as she missed and went through the beast. She was confused, more than confused, before she landed on the ground in a clumsy roll to her feet.
Avenger Assembled Posted March 2, 2017 Posted March 2, 2017 The great beast closed in on Singularity, shrugging off her blows and advancing with its own sinister intent. Aquaria knew what she had to do. Her mind already swarming with images of Jessie on this planet, grown old and dying, broken and bleeding, and a hundred other horrors, Sea Devil sprang into action. With a wordless bellow, she leaped into the air, right over Jessie's head, her tridents glowing with power in the instant before she slammed them somewhere into the titan's midsection. This creature was not so different than the great beasts of the fathoms but she would not let it it take her friend from her - never! "Begone!" she croaked in a voice made metallic by her armor. "Leave them alone!"
trollthumper Posted March 3, 2017 Author Posted March 3, 2017 The roaring void twisted and buckled against Sea Devil's blow, but stood fast... seemingly. It roared again - or rather, the blowing wind and the cries of the people near it blanked out - and the distortion in space slowly began to bleed away. Soon, there was nothing but a relatively empty field full of heavily armed people with nothing to shoot at. "That was lucky," said Javeen. "Usually they don't go down so easy. There are tales of the six of you managing to drive entire armies of them off all by yourself back in the day, but..." Javeen just let the sentiment drop off. "Yeah," said Cavalier. "'But'. So, what the hell are those things?" "Like I said. We really don't know. Given the strange spatial properties demonstrated by some of them - like that one - we think they may be related to the temporal anomaly. There have been theories involving the Casimir effect and many worlds interpretation, but it's mainly conjecture." Velak gave the group a studied look. "Mind you... the fact that you're here while still, uh... here in one form of another... that can't help but exacerbate paradox..." She shook her head. "We have whole new territory to explore here. We'll have some time, at least..." "Right. About that. How long do we have before this waveform collapse?" "Right now? A little under 42 hours." Velak looked to the group. "I know what this must mean for you. I just... ask that you take some time to consider."
Electra Posted March 18, 2017 Posted March 18, 2017 Jessie still looked a bit distracted from the fight, hugging herself to hold in the nervous energy generated by her unsuccessful attempt to close with the monster. She hadn't been practicing fighting enough to stay very good at it, but that was apparently something that would change in a hurry if they stayed here. Wander trained every day to stay in peak condition, she knew. If Jessie did that, she'd quickly become a better fighter. The thought was a little appealing, but mostly it just tolled alarm bells that echoed deafeningly through the empty white hollows in her memory. Wander said, and Jessie and her probation officer both tended to agree, that it was better for everybody if Jessie forgot how to fight. But neither of those people were here right now, so it wasn't really their choice to make. "I don't understand what happens if we don't stay," she admitted. "Don't you just get spun into an alternate reality of your own?"
Avenger Assembled Posted March 19, 2017 Posted March 19, 2017 Something dripped off Sea Devil's armor as she hopped down to join the others again. It was hard to see exactly what had happened with the titan, but she had dealt quite vigorously with the creature that had tried to hurt Singularity. Vigorously indeed. She tapped a button inside the armor with her tongue, and the translucent slime covering her faceplate slowly hissed away. "There are strange things on this world," she croaked in agreement with Singularity, "and strange peoples. But the Dark Mother sings her song, and her children are happy." She cast her gaze upwards at the strange sky, wondering if it was to be her fate to live beneath these stars until even death died. "Jessie is right. Is there some way to cast you from our Sea of Stars and find your own?"
TheAbsurdist Posted March 21, 2017 Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) Bliss was angry, denied a true battle, and more cajoling and attempts by Javeen... Though she wasn't entirely there mentally, not really. Hands clenching and unclenching unbidden the Xuli'pan moved back towards them slowly. The mask of her envirosuit obscuring her features, though the respirator was making a loud noise to go with hard breathing. They were lying. They would lie to suit their purposes. Even if there were no lives at stake. Filthy Lor. Filthy, manipulative Lor... She would have fought it, she'd rather have died than allowed what they did. What started as preservation became perversion. She wasn't like the rest of the people here biologically, not even Aquaria. She sneered in her mask. She was not a scientist. She was a warrior... well... who was she kidding, she was thug. and a passable mechanic this was over her head. She knew it. So she walked right up to Javeen and Valek, and she reached up to collapse the helmet back into the suit, looking at them flatly with her eyes. "So I should just kill you then. If we're stuck, and can't escape, and it starts all over again, then your lives mean absolutely nothing, because it was predetermined, just us going back." She lowered her arms to her sides and kept walking towards them right up into their faces, "Tell me again, why I should allow my destiny to be co-opted by worms?" Edited March 21, 2017 by TheAbsurdist
Darksider42 Posted March 25, 2017 Posted March 25, 2017 (edited) Ruby felt...Robbed. The flashing lights, the panic of threats coming to destroy theses people. Old instincts set by her mentor and her homeworld triggered. She had sent rounds from her rifle flying at the vortex of space and time, a creature that should not exist. And in the end it had vanished with little fanfare. It felt more like a footnote in her history that a true battle. She rested her Kinetic Rifle on her should and sighed as the anomalies final moments passed. Echos of Zorla's words from their parting were in her mind. Promises of Fortune, glory and Immortality in memory. Deeds and actions etched into the stars for eternity. Every moment here in this bubble of time just took that away from her. One world as a footnote. It would be a disgrace in many ways and the people that taught her so much. Ruby glanced at Bliss, Roulette and the people that shared their DNA. Destiny is in your hands child, forged by your will. Remember that. "...We don't." She announced in turn with Bliss as she turned around. The Voidrunner was not far away. No doubt there was a way to escape this world. Edited March 25, 2017 by Darksider42
trollthumper Posted March 30, 2017 Author Posted March 30, 2017 "That's the thing," Javeen said, turning towards Jessie. "We don't know. It's a fairly simple matter of temporal physics - change what was, create a fork from the prime timeline. But, as you might have seen, this isn't a simple matter of temporal physics. The events that caused this colony to form are themselves a predestination paradox, and that paradox has been leaking out in strange ways for centuries. 'Cutting the Gordian knot', as our ancestors used to say, could cause the whole thing to unravel --" Javeen was interrupted by Bliss's tirade. The two Lor-hybrids fell silent in the face of the Xuli'Ha's insults; to Bliss's eyes, it seemed like some sort of light was going out in Velek's eyes. Cavalier moved to intercept her. "They are people," he hissed. "Not worms. And you have plenty of reason to be pissed off, but if you want to go talking about just cutting people down because they get in your way, I will not hesitate to put you in the ground myself." He lowered his arms. "But... you're free to make your choice. Go on. If they're right, it won't matter. If they're wrong... hey. You get away. You do what I'm pretty sure every one of us has thought about since we touched down. We'll find out, one way or another." Away from the conflict, Sea Devil heard a message over her radio band. "Things have destabilized somewhat faster than I'd hoped. When this is over and the night has fallen, come to the clearing in the forest. There, we will discuss how we can possibly cut this knot without destroying the ropes."
Avenger Assembled Posted April 2, 2017 Posted April 2, 2017 Sea Devil was getting more and more distressed - how could Surfacers like Ruby abandon their pod like this? She understood Bliss better than the Surfacer community here did, lacking a mammal's strange, overprotective bond with her offspring as did the octopoid, but her angry promises certainly weren't getting anywhere towards solving the problem that had trapped them all here. When the radio signal came through, she cocked an eye towards Cavalier to see if he'd heard it too, then decided that discretion was the better part of valor with him in the middle of an argument with Bliss. "Singularity and I will commune with the Dark Mother," Aquaria finally croaked, shooting a look back at Jessie to make sure she wasn't speaking for her friend. She knew Jessie would start getting tense if she was around raised voices and angry words much longer, and she didn't want to add her friend's confusion and anger to her own. "You may come with us," she offered to Javeen and the others, "and tell us more of time and its currents." Her companions from the Sea of Stars could find their own path.
TheAbsurdist Posted April 12, 2017 Posted April 12, 2017 "Says the one who wears the armor of the liars." Her tone simply dropped to a chill note, her body language was no longer aggressive, challenging. She looked at Cavalier, levelly. A warriors respect, but... "I traded much to be free, Star Knight. I did not do such so that I might be caged again. Or rendered down to genetic material to make a broodsow." Bliss' shoulders shifted, and she started to make noises deep in her throat, then she shifted and stepped away. "They're sidling away from helping us because they fear their own abnegation. The same reason their... ancestors," and she barked a sharp, screeching laugh before continue, "... would have had to kill me to get what they needed to 'preserve' themselves. The only use a savage has... afterall." And with that, she pressed the button to have her helmet come back on.
trollthumper Posted May 5, 2017 Author Posted May 5, 2017 "Armor of the...?" Cavalier studied Bliss; he realized now that, even though their paths had crossed before, he'd never dug deep into the Citadel's banks on her species. He would gladly do so now, if not for the fact that there was a great big temporal firewall keeping him from Mentor. If it was going to keep things from coming to blows... "Bliss... what did the Star Knights do to you?" --- Javeen looked like he would be happy to be absolutely anywhere else but next to Bliss and decided to take Aquaria up on the offer. "Right, um... yes. That." Velek looked to the two. "Another example of paradox. We have the original timeline, and an idea of the actions and will of the original Bliss. But looking at the after results of the gene modding program has clearly set her down another path. So, even if things do go according to how they did, there's now a lesser chance of whether they will. And if that happens..." Velek fell silent. "I believe the Cavalier called this a 'McFly Scenario.' We haven't run into that yet. No one has been affected by the ripples. But it may be that we are just waiting for the window to close before we see if anything has changed."
TheAbsurdist Posted May 9, 2017 Posted May 9, 2017 Behind the mask of her envirosuit her expression was unreadable. Which was how she liked it. She had nothing to say, nothing to add here, not with the looming doom that pressed down around them. "They will impede us if they believe what we do will... annihilate them, to save ourselves to our... timelime. However it works. Desperation and survival are always the most important thing, aren't they?" She shrugged a bit at that, and turns from them. Her movements sharply, in the sort of way a former military person might be. "Just like their... histories say that I was willing. I would not be. Who knows me better and who has to gain by lying? Feh." She made a sound in her throat, and then her raspy voice dripped with vitriolic sarcasm so thick that one would expect pits to form in the ground around them, "Then clearly, I am a... what... are they? A platypus. Yes, from Terra, evolved by magics. Clearly I have always been such. I would not ever tell you something other than the truth." Another noise, and she tilted her head forward, and folded her arms across her chest. "Good, we have bonded. Let us solve the issue, perchance kill more of those things. And if we end up stuck here... well we will see wont we? I know I am shunned by my gods."
Avenger Assembled Posted May 9, 2017 Posted May 9, 2017 By the edge of the alien sea, Sea Devil crouched for a moment on the rocks directly over the Dark Mother's vast cave, the faint subsonic vibrations of the other Aquaria's breathing echoing upwards through her feet. They'd left the other group behind - and given her time to concentrate on her thoughts. The helmet of her armor peeled backwards, exposing an amphibious face wrinkled with emotion. "In this world, Aquaria Innsmouth is Dark Mother to a tribe of hybrids and cultists - and may yet rule them for more centuries. I would help her build what she has built, even if I should never again see the stars of home. But what happened to Jessie White on this world?" she croaked, looking at Javeen and the others. She looked at Jessie herself and said, "I will not banish you here, away from your sister and your people, if we do not know."
trollthumper Posted May 28, 2017 Author Posted May 28, 2017 Cavalier nodded. He wasn't sure he and Bliss were on the same level now... but at least they were closer. "I'm... not sure they'll do that," he said. "I could be naive here - yeah, 'could' - but they seem to respect us. And they said things are uncertain. But..." He shook his head. "Yeah. It could be they're just asking nicely as the first step. After that..." He didn't want to entertain the possibility. "But right now, we still have a chance to change things. Maybe. While we still have something approaching diplomacy, and some hours left to go, we can see if there's a way to make both worlds work. I hope. And if not... hopefully, we'll all be free to make our choices when the time comes. Whatever they may be." --- "Jessie White..." Velek shook his head. "She contributed much. She thought the first of those things when they appeared. She led expeditions that helped us establish outposts and colonies on the distant reaches of this planet. She's the reason we were able to make a place for us against some of its greater threats. But... she was still human. She lived to 112, had many descendants, and..." Velek didn't even want to finish the sentence. Especially with the woman standing before him. But then again, it wasn't like he had to.
Electra Posted July 3, 2017 Posted July 3, 2017 Jessie blinked, then stared at Velek in disbelief. "I had children? And died of old age?" If there was any conviction Jessie still shared with her more powerful doppelganger, it was that they were both unlikely to live long lives or die of natural causes. And while it did seem possible that one day Erin would have children, indeed likely given the stories she'd told Jessie about alternate universes and time travel, it seemed ridiculously unlikely for herself. The idea of dying wasn't disturbing at all, but the idea of living such an alien life was uncomfortable and strange. Would that Jessie be happy? Would that Jessie fit in on this weird world the way she never had back on Earth Prime? "A hundred twelve is pretty old," was all she ventured to say aloud.
Avenger Assembled Posted July 4, 2017 Posted July 4, 2017 Aquaria nodded her upper body solemnly. For a world where Jessie had been happy, where she had been needed, she would do much - for a world where she'd had all this to go with it, there was little she would not do. "We will help," she promised the Surfacers. "Tell us what we can do." And if my voyages end here, upon these shores, then it is your will, Great Dagon and Hydra. Aquaria cast her eyes to the seas below, then laid one slimy, cold, three-fingered hand on Jessie's. "We swim together," she promised her, before releasing her gentle grip. It didn't do to hang on too long, not when Jessie's body heat was so easily stolen. She fixed her goggly gaze on the others.
Brown Dynamite Posted July 5, 2017 Posted July 5, 2017 They had a countdown of less than two Terran days. Bliss was more vocal than usual. But, knowing her never less than necessary. And everyone was entirely too giddy about the possibility of growing old in whatever this time paradox was. Zultasian culture embraced a philosophy of the strongest of the fittest, and only the strongest shall rule. Of course, fittest and strongest meant he who could survive or grasp power by any means necessary. Even Roulette's past as a conman could be viewed as living an honorable Zultasian way of life. What was anathema to that nature? Avoiding the pragmatic option and not focusing on a way to return to their own timeline rather than attempt to preserve this separate one. It went against Roulette's better nature. But, he was more bothered by the fact that he hadn't actually considered the pragmatic option. "Well Bliss if we end up trapped here. Consider us all shunned by whatever cosmic forces are out there."
TheAbsurdist Posted July 12, 2017 Posted July 12, 2017 Bliss looked at the Zultasian, and made an indelicate noise, the one that was her rasping her tongue against the hidden beak she had, while inhaling air. Her arms folded across her chest in that weird, too bendy way that she could do. She had expressed her view. They were being lied to. And when someone is vehement in telling you they are not lying, and oh gosh how amazing you are? They were lying, and trying to sell you something. The Lor had lied to her people before, because they were simple, see? They were lied to everyone. She still got it occasionally. It rankled, and the blithe acceptance from all of them was just... A lie. But then... maybe she was harder to sell paradise to. "This is no net change for me. But then apparently I shall be the one negotiating at the station for best prices now. Has anyone checked the source of these... beasts? That is where we should start, they weren't beholden to the laws of how things should be. They have to be related, or influenced, by what locks us here."
trollthumper Posted July 14, 2017 Author Posted July 14, 2017 "That's a good idea, Bliss," said Cavalier. "I know I'm a newbie to poking space-time with a stick, but I think it's reasonable to assume that one aberration of the laws of causality might begat another. So... would there be some way for us to probe the link?" Javeen thought on it. "Well, there is a way... we've mainly been dealing with them as people who have lived our lives going forward, relatively free from the scope of this paradox. Each of you, on the other hand, is... well, I believe a good way of putting it would be 'a complex space-time event.' You are here and now, you will be there and then, and... well, at least one of you is still here right now." "Yeah, let's not dig too deep on the other five for now. So, what, we're going to go and beat the bush?" "In time. We'll let you know when we can detect a fluctuation that might serve as an oasis for one of the titans." Javeen looked to the sky. "Although, with the interference from up there..." "Well, at least we won't be lacking for targets. I think." Cavalier walked over to Roulette. "Hey, uh, if you don't mind... can we talk? At some point." --- "Yes," Velek said, "Jessie White had children. And grand-children. And... well, you know how the chain of lineage goes. Would you... would you like to meet some of them? Directly, I mean. You have likely already encountered some..."
Avenger Assembled Posted July 15, 2017 Posted July 15, 2017 Aquaria croaked and turned her shoulders to look at Jessie, but the latter didn't seem terribly interested in that prospect. "Later. We must join our allies and save you," she added. Her mind flicked ahead to the sacrifices that had brought the Dark Mother below. It is the way of things. Sacrifices sing Your song, Dagon and Hydra. "We will sing for you and the Dark Mother later - if there is time." She looked up reflectively at the sky overhead, thinking about the alien stars above and wondering if they'd ever truly be right. Right for this day, when Jessie comes back to me from the cold grave of the Surface. Did Jessie have a soul? Was her counterpart in the comforting, albeit tenuous embrace of Surfacer gods, or mindless foam on the eternal seas of Dagon and Hydra? No wonder Jessie wasn't talking. Stepping aside, she triggered the radio function of her armor, trying to sing for the distant Cavalier. "Star-Knight!" she croaked into her helmet. "ARE you here?"
Brown Dynamite Posted July 18, 2017 Posted July 18, 2017 Roulette turned towards Cavalier. As much as the Zultasian enjoyed the sound of his own voice, he couldn't quite find the words. Instead the former conman turned bounty hunter gave the Star Knight a curt nod. There was plenty to spur a conversation with what they have seen around them. Until then, he assumed it would go without saying. He prided himself on his ability to plan. Whether it was to capture a dangerous bounty, escape capture, or even maneuver through a risky conversation. But, the entire time warp mess was already over his head to begin with. Roulette was so far removed from the comfort of his element, he didn't even bother attempting deflecting. Waiting to see if the information to the source of the creatures was actually readily available.
Electra Posted July 26, 2017 Posted July 26, 2017 "No," Jessie murmured, shaking her head. "No, I don't want to." She knew that the Lor had pods that could grow babies in them, and she knew that genetics would've been in short supply on a brand new accidental colony. Her "children" may well have been nothing more than biological descendents, which would make a lot more sense than the idea of her actually having some kind of family. If that were the case, there didn't seem much point to seeing which random strangers might look vaguely like her. And if the version of her who had landed here had somehow transcended Jessie and managed to form a bond with someone and raise a family, Jessie wasn't sure she wanted to know. She didn't need anything more dangled in front of her and then taken away again. "We should try and fight that monster again, before it comes back."
trollthumper Posted July 31, 2017 Author Posted July 31, 2017 Cavalier ducked away, not so much guiding Roulette as hoping he was following in his footsteps. When he got the confirmation he was, he spoke. "Look, I... I hope you don't mind me dumping out my baggage on you, it's just... of everyone here, you and I... well, the thing at the Iridium Shore... I feel like you're the only one here I know enough. Even if our paths kinda break off real fast each time. I..." He paused. "I was stuck out here. Not here, particularly. The Cloud. The Large Magellanic Cloud. Five years. I wasn't even a castaway, like these guys. I was grabbed off of Earth by some... beings with sharp instruments and interesting ideas on where to stick them. I got out of that situation fast, but I spent five years stranded a galaxy over, with no idea on how to get back to the Milky Way. No idea if I'd see my planet again. No idea if I'd see my family again. I finally got back. Finally found my home again. And now..." He shook his head. "There's a way out of this. I know there has to be. Some sort of loophole in this goddamn bootstrap paradox that no one's had the chance to dart through yet. But if there's not... I can't stand the idea that I got out of one of these clusterfraggs, defeated the possibility that I'd die out in the void without my family ever knowing what really happened to me... only for it to happen all over again. So, if I'm going all alpha dog and trying to keep people like Bliss from going off script... well..." He let the thought trail off. Fortunately, before he could think on what to say next, Aquaria interrupted the awkward silence. "Hear you loud and clear, Aquaria. What's up?"
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