Heaven's Reach ST Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Having dealt with the major issues, the complications remaining, the solar night caste known as Kestrel made her way to the armory of a moon, her previous incarnation giving her all the codes to get into one of the main armories of the solar age, and it opened into a room with sides shaped like a pentagon, above each side was a symbol of a one of the sidereal castes, on the battles side was a series of weapons on the wall, and in front of it including several royal warstriders in different magical materials, on the wall with the secrets, was series of items devoted to sorcery, thaumaturgy and the like, on the endings wall, several items devoted to mass destruction, including the orb you were looking for.. ,, Meanwhile, Sophia and Karren made contact with each other as the shields were repaired, as the atmosphere once more returned to the areas that the death knight had destroyed. And Dyna made contact with them as soon as Sophia was on the ground, though she also passed on information to Kestrel at the same time. "Welcome, folks, I have the location of contaminated and clean manses, non of them are presently attuned to anyone. I don't expect anyone is ready to take on the ghostly forces in the contaminated areas, but I've made contact with my people, the Vara are sending a ship. " ,, Meanwhile aboard the Dawn's Wrath, there was already talks for setting up on the planet for the diplomatic contact between the system government, the empire and the marshals. In this, Dan turned to his daughter telling her this was her time and moment, and within a hour of that, the young girl faded into the background as the priestess of Serenity that she was came to the forefront. Wisdom far beyond her age seemed to flow from her, a wisdom that Nova would recognize, she was touching upon the years of experience of her exaltation, memories that reached back more then a thousand years. "We need to find a good place on the planet, I am going to talk to the queen about a manse that suits this purpose, and I think this is going to take a few weeks to pin down." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karren Gaunt Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 "Received and understood, Dyna. This'll be fun. Any idea of an ETA till we get someone here who can help put the dead to rest? Luna knows I'm willing to try punching 'em, but that fails to stick often as not," Karren mentioned causally into her combead, perched on a pile of rubble like a barbarian queen with her soulsteel dire lance resting by her side, "Unless Althea can... Wait a sec." ,, The tall redhead took her hand off the device and waved to Sophia as she came into view, voice loud and carrying, "Sophia!!! Over here! You missed a hell of a party! Parting gifts and everything!" ,, And then back to the combead while she waited, "...Anyway. Get someone down here sooner rather than later to keep the ghosts Sophia and I pop down and clean up the manses before they pop more ghosts out. They do that right?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Sophia heads over to Karren . "Heya!" She said before whistling. "Yeah, you certainly look like you had alot of fun" ,, The white tiger lunar said stretching. ,, "Yeah, Dyna. I don't think me Or Karren are capable of killing ghosts yet. Least not the ones who are phased out." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hawkins Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Nova took it all in. Negotiations would be three weeks away, so the informal truce of Parley would last for the next four weeks at the least. "Very nicely done Althea, also convey my gratitude to the Queen for allowing us to service our ships here at the factory, And let her know that we will begin cleaning out the necrotic essence remaining, as well as any other surprises her uninvited guests may have left behind. Please have her continue to have her people give us passage and unrestricted access. Perhaps once we've gotten this taken care of, she and I can meet face to face to present my full report." ,, He offered her a smile. "Once that's done, Offer the Commodore Cathak my gratitude for keeping the bulk of her fleet On patrol at the system's edge, in case the Enemies of Creation return with greater force. Ask her to maintain a portion of her fleet near the median area of this system, as a second line of defense. We and the local pilots will take direct responsibility for the moon and planet, though as per my initial offer, she's welcome to select a ship to remain with us here, as is her right under parley." ,, His tone softened, and he actually moved from his command console, down to where she sat. The last interuption in your duty to move the peace talks forward, is a personal one. "I would like you to contact your mentor and ask her to come here to us. I would explain to her what we face here, what our task is, and that we lack the means to effectively counter all the foes within we face. There's knowledge I need, that several of us need, to accomplish this task and I feel that she could help us. Can you do that for me?" ,, The Young Sidreal smiled to her Father, always a proud man, and yet he asked for help, knowing his limits... ,, "Janos could probably create some trinket to do what we need to do but like Kestrel, I do worry about accepting so much material aid from him. He's not betrayed my trust and faith in him, but still something still just feels alien and wrong when i deal with him." ,, He returned to his console and sent encrypted messages to Sun Kai, placing him and the VoidSwimmer on patrol around Lunar-space. He sent a request for ship status on the Noble Endeavor, and a request for a meeting with her captain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalmonMax Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Meanwhile... ,, The Vault of the Factory Moon ,, Kestrel dropped like a shadow from an overhead shaft in the ceiling of the hall just outside the vault's outer door. Her symbiote was all she was wearing, which might have provoked her modesty save that it had colored itself to precisely match the shades of the walls and floor of the corridor. It wasn't quite invisibility, but combined with her natural abilities at stealth, it was nearly as good as. Here she was past the pressure plates and ultrasonic scanners that guarded the corridor leading up to this point, and she'd be free to gain entrance as long as it didn't take more then three seconds, when the thermal gradient of her body heat would alert the lockdown. ,, Essence flared and twisted from her fingertips, creating not a mighty golden blade, but a series of small pointed, kinked tools. Kestrel sank these into the door's controls, and in a heartbeat they'd circumvented the lock mechanisms. The secondary systems kicked in almost immediately and slammed the huge thing shut again after it had opened no more than a foot wide, and only for a moment. ,, By then she was already inside. ,, Within, the lights were orange, and a white alert light was sweeping around and around. Her ham-handedness at the door had not quite set off the alarm, but they'd notched the sentinel systems up a level of wariness. Arrays of air-pressure sensors were uncovered, and a gleaming line of light from a scanning LIDAR began traversing up the relatively small chamber. There was no cover; just a box of a room with a grating on the floor and a code entry keypad, and a big round blast door of hardened orichalcum and soulsteel...proof against physical and essence attacks alike. ,, Stay still, and the LIDAR would find you. It was keyed to the room's configuration. Any deviation would be noted as an intruder. Move, and the air pressure changes would let those sensors pinpoint your location as precisely as the LIDAR would do. ,, Kestrel didn't imagine that what followed would be pleasant. ,, So she kneeled down and sliced at the grating, letting herself drop down into the hollow place under the floor, where air from the filtration systems howled past her. The air pressure sensors wailed, but just as quickly lost her location. There was barely enough room to breathe under there, but Kestrel started worming her way through the narrow grate area towards the keypad. ,, Once there, she'd just get her essence-tools in there, unlock the multiple security keys that probably existed, then get through the door before failsafes activated...most likely all the while avoiding the attacks of whatever defenses she tripped while doing so. ,, Easy. ,, The hissing was the only warning she had. ,, From behind her...which was actually down into the floor, since she was on her back. The air transfer apertures were hissing. And not sucking air anymore. ,, Aww...that's not good... ,, Her claws flashed, and metal grating was ripped out. Kestrel popped out of the hole she'd made just in time to avoid getting her entire body dunked in some kind of cloying puke-green gas that came billowing out of the air vents down there. Instant death averted, but it was still pumping out and would shortly fill the room to head height. It made her feet tingle where it engulfed them. ,, And now the motion sensors were going off...and the light of the LIDAR washed over her. ,, Kestrel lunged at the keypad, already reaching out with the charm-tools... ,, Rows of weapons emerged from covered panels. She had to dive away from the keypad to avoid a staccato series of shots. Then vaulted from a wall to flip clear of a blast of pure essence. She was arcing towards the pad now though! Hands extended... ,, ...and then a mechanised arm batted her away, fortunately with its fist instead of the attached chainsword. Kestrel took control of her fall and landed on her feet...and found herself surrounded by cannons, sawblades, essence blasters...and poison gas up to her chest and rising fast. ,, Fucking DAMN IT. ,, She closed her eyes. ,, "I am slow, stupid, and should never have tried doing this. Please spank me and send me crying back to my mommy," she said resignedly. "Indigo, system verify Essence, and reset." ,, Her caste mark lit up, and the violet lines of her anima crawled around her in the air...not quite igniting, but demonstrating itself to the eyes that controlled this place. ,, A deep, throbbing ominous voice intoned, "ESSENCE MATCH CONFIRMED. RESETTING SYSTEM. WELCOME BACK." ,, The gas suddenly sucked away, and weapons began retracting into the walls again. In seconds the room looked perfectly normal, except for the holes she'd ripped in the floor. After a moment even that started to repair itself. ,, Moonsilver. Fucking moonsilver. Had she thought of everything? ,, "You got lucky," Kestrel said sullenly. "I could have done this." ,, "OF COURSE." Could a machine-voice be smug? ,, "...just open the fucking vault." ,, The wheels of gold and black iron unlocked, spun in opposite directions, and unlocked again. Ten more times. Then they finally disengaged and rolled apart, one left and the other right. The way was open. ,, Kestrel muttered to herself as she colored her symbiote black and entered. Lights began to click on from above, illuminating the space within. ,, And on. And on. Row after row of lights. Row after row of shelves. Shelves lined with stuff. ,, Kestrel's mouth fell open, and her eyes seemed to open even wider. She'd been giddy to see that derelict ship, and the armory on board it. What was in THIS room would buy that ship several times over. And then some. ,, It wasn't PORTABLE wealth, of course. And thus largely useless to her. But she could stare...and she made full use of that privilage. ,, At the far end of the Vault, behind protective wards and necromantic-repellant circles, was a large soot-black orb. ,, "Hello, little beauty," Kestrel whispered, a saucy smile flickering over her lips. "So you're the one all this fuss is about. Feel like ditching this place? Cuz I sure dooooooo..." ,, Another look around mitigated her stance though, as she added, "...just let me settle up the tab real quick first." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janos Tem Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Janos had briefly considered making his way over to the world's primary landing station when he had first gone planetside and relocated the Abyssal's shuttle. The nature of his transportation would have left a little something to be desired, however. He was uncertain how the local populace would respond to the presence of a Wonder of the Demon Realm being flown over their habitation areas. Instead, he simply sent a quick communication to Captain Hawkins and returned to his vessel. ,, No doubt Karren Gaunt would have liked to discuss the details of how she would be getting repaid for her aid. Although the slow, miserable moans of her newly acquired spear did indicate that there was at least one thing he was capable of doing that would bring them square. ,, Once onboard the Star's Vengeance, he gave instruction that he not be disturbed except by his peers. Janos entered a strict period of training, meditation, and configuration. He had finally had a moment to focus and further the path towards whatever it was that awaited him, unlocking the secrets of his caste. Soon minutes turned into hours, and then into days as his focus was only interrupted by the most urgent of messages. As the time passed, he unlocked further secrets of his own Exaltation, chief among them the ability to impose ones will on the cosmos themselves, even in defiance of natural law and the strictures of time. ,, When the time came, he hoped that Captain Hawkins was ready, as his weaknesses, as well as his sense of compassion and concern for the thoughts and feelings of others was washed away ever so briefly in the swirling sands of the Endless Desert and the murderous, whirling expedience of the Silent Wind. ,, ------------------ ,, OOC Note: At the time agreed upon with Dan, being after 10 days of training... LIMIT BREAK!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karren Gaunt Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Dyna no doubt too busy regluing the place back together with spit, toothpicks, and loving prayers to small gods to answer immediately, Karren drummed her fingers on the faintly moaning shaft of her new toy. A thought occurred to her, and she smiled ferally. Much as she hoped otherwise, it would probably take some time to organize a fun assault on the ghosts. Enough time to kill an afternoon going finding a few new hearthstones with her favorite crewmates. She was basically useless for the next day or so anyway. ,, 'Stay on the line with Dyna' she mouthed to her fellow lunar before changing channels to Kestrel's frequency. ,, "Karren to Kestrel. Hey. I was thinking, surprise orders from Dan aside, we probably have a few hours to kill. And we have a moon full of manses open and free for us. Like to join me and Sophia tunnel running and picking out a choice hearthstone or three apiece, safety in numbers and good company aside? If you find any moonsilver hearthstone amulets laying around before joining us, I'll owe you a few favors. Interested?" ,, She flicked a strand of red hair out of her face, looking around as she waited, a big smile on her face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalmonMax Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 A strained bark of laughter greeted Karren's comm. ,, "Yeah, uh...I'll keep my eyes open for something like that. No promises though...moonsilver hearthstone amulets..." she started breaking into laughter. "...pretty hard to find..." ,, And then it was just gales of mirth, with a slightly hysterical edge to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven's Reach ST Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 "Thank you father, I'll contact Aura, but she's likely to be a bit resistant, though if I'm making the request, she'll at least listen to what you have to say.. " Althea paused a moment. "If you make a good case, she can be here fairly quickly once one of the solar manses on the moon have been attuned and linked to the Celestial Mountain, the majority of them have gates to the Celestial Mountain anyway." Even as she responded, Althea sent the message though her connection to the celestial mountain, the heartstone of the a celestial manse she was attuned too, which when used could let her send messages to that subspace realm. ,, Within a hour, Dan had the response he was asking for, and the woman on the other side of the message was Aura, the elder Serenity that was his daughter's mentor. More to the point, her presence was familiar to his exaltation... they had known each other intimately in the past in at least one of their incarnations. Of course, considering nova's history, that was likely the case with a lot of elder exalts, and it was hardly a surprise with regards to the Serenity caste. ,, "Greetings, Nova, young Althea has indicated that you have a serious need that is the sort that I might be able to see too.. so you have my attention, make your case.. if it should be of valid importance, I will put my present affairs aside and make way to your location, though it would be easier if I can leave directly from here, rather then having to take the canals, I do have a small ship if your matter is important enough." ,, Meanwhile on the moon below, the two lunars were directed to the first of the manses by Dyna while Kestrel continued to search though the armory, one that almost certainly dated to the Malfean wars and the Solar Dynasties. The diplomatic aspects of this would take weeks to get though, time enough for the various exalts to further train the powers and to catalog and attune both artifacts and manses, as well as hopefully deal with whatever nasty suprises that remained with regards to the tainted manses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karren Gaunt Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 "So you really don't have any hearthstone slots on you," rhetorically asked Karren to her fellow lunar in mild disbelieve, not having believed it the first and second time she'd heard it, "Well. We'll just have to see if our thief comes through for you once we've mapped all these wonders out. All of these wonderful wonderful wonders. All of them ours for the attuning." ,, She all but cackled, her inner looter drowling at the prospect of so much useful essense powers free and clear. She had considered herself lucky to find her underground Miranda manse as intact as she had, but here? Over thirty for the attuning and so few of them to split it up between them. ,, "Right. So let's tunnel run down here, make a list of what we have and contact the others once we've decided what's tasty. Hmm, have to stay clear of the damaged ones. For now anyway. Punching smoke that can kill you is pretty terrible. Let's go," she exclaimed before striding into the manse before them, ready for an afternoon of exploration, glad to hear Sophia's footfalls behind her. Always good to have back up, and Sophia was good in a scrape in her own way. ,, And so went the afternoon, in and out and between manses in the secure region of the moon's depth, a list of unidentified ones shrinking and identified ones growing, jokes cracked and a loose promise to go heartblood hunting on the next deathworld they stumbled near exchanged. Karren communicated her choicer finds over the comes, counting down her progress and adding comments like 'Found a stone of inhuman beauty. Dibs!' or 'Man, another Sidie one. Lame.' ,, Finally it was done, and Karren strode back into the moon's control room, flipped her combead on, and announced over the channel reserved for the Dawn's Wrath's officers, "We're done mapping this thing. If anyone wants a cut, get down here. Sophia and I have outrageous tales of valor to share. Oh, also Sophia could use a hearthstone amulet or two. If anyone has some they'd be willing to trade for a favor that is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hawkins Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Nova nodded to Aura. "Thank you for granting me an audience, At least for myself I believe this situation important enough to seek help. We have defeated the Agents of the Neverborn here, destroyed his vessel, and my comrades have slain the deathknight. Sadly, he had already done much harm. Many of the manses here are contaminated with necrotic essence, and harmful ghosts and spirits have already been detected. This Moon was once Resplendent Succor, A logistics supply base for my Fleet in another Age, We cannot allow the Ghosts to turn this place into a shadowland." ,, His features took a serious look. "To be blunt and honest, we are unprepared to deal with the situation, and rather than giving Janos, our Infernal colleague, free reign within the Moon, I would rather turn to you and ask your aid. You have knowledge and experience I'm sure, that you could impart to us, to aid us in cleansing the necrotic taint from this moon before it becomes a foothold for the Enemies of Creation." ,, "Already, the local Population are already largely staying out of our way, practically giving us the moon, as the Imperial Fleet has taken station on patrol through out the system. We're still working towards a peaceful agreement, something that will satisfy everyone. I've left preparations, and primary negotiations to Althea, as i have complete faith in her abilities. Though if you were around, to help, should she need it, well so much the better, as I would prefer the violence to end here The people of this system have suffered enough as it is." ,, ,, There it was. He wasn't asking for her to fight, but to teach and share her knowledge so they could fight, and to be there to help his daughter should she need it. She could tell from his voice, he really did think she'd have it under control, but the wise Commander always prepared backups when they could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalmonMax Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 "We're done mapping this thing. If anyone wants a cut, get down here. Sophia and I have outrageous tales of valor to share. Oh, also Sophia could use a hearthstone amulet or two. If anyone has some they'd be willing to trade for a favor that is." ,, Kestrel's voice came back to Karren over the communication bead. ,, "I know, I know...you already asked for that. Listen, there's a room big enough to fly the Voidswimmer into down here, and it's packed to the gills with stuff. I'm going to be busy for awhile." ,, The one of the doors to the control room slid open, and the Exalt herself came in, a canary-eating grin on her face. ,, "The best kind of busy there is. Here." ,, She hucked a silver-glinting pendant on a quicksilver chain at Karren's face and chuckled as the lunar plucked it out of the air without even blinking. ,, "Where's the one with the stone of going-really-the-hell-fast?" Kestrel asked. "I think I'd like to take a break from looking at loot, and look at more different loot." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karren Gaunt Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 "Nice," complemented the big redhead, holding the shimmering medallion up to eye level and letting it twirl on it's chain in front of her, "I've had these in my past lives and seen them on the elders who did my tats, but never actually held one of these this time around. I owe you a favor, Thief. Just make sure you cash it in for something interesting, okay? I hate being bored." ,, Karren laughed and tossed the amulet up and into her closed fist, "Sophia really needed this. Catch and get going, Miss Kitty! It's safe enough to split up long as you stay away from where the ghosts broke things. I still have dibs on the stone of inhuman beauty. Dan isn't going to know what hit him." ,, She turned and chucked the amulet at the smaller Lunar, not bothering to look back as she peeled off another copy of the map for Kestrel, gesturing the thief in for an explanation of her eccentric notes, suppressing her impatience to get going right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Sophia grabs the amulet and Attunes. "Thanks Karren! And thanks Kes." ,, She winks. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't interested in that one anyways. So all yours." The waxing moon caste lunar said with a grin. "I'll be sure to be careful. Though I really should have invested in learning Holy stuff.." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven's Reach ST Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Aura ,, Aura considered Dan's plea, one that was actually quite well presented and thought out, and sense Althea was there looking at her rather pleadingly, she shook her head and the smiled. "That is a very serious matter, and one that is important enough to set my own affairs aside for at least a week. Alright then, As a favor to my student, Althea, you will have me there about a week, I have a number of other duties as well, that's about all of the time I can give you, unless the matter turns out to be even more grave then you have suggested." She paused. "If you can send me a gate location from the Celestial Mountain, I'll be there within the next 24 hours." ,, Althea ,, "There should be a manse below that has the gateway needed, it's just inactive, I'll check with Dyna and we'll send you the gateway location immediately, Sifu." She bowed deeply and respectfully as she signed off, then turned back to her father. "That went better then I expected, we better get in touch with the folks on the moon and get this done as quickly as possible." ,, Aura is a powerful elder Sidereal with access to the Celestial Gift of Knowledge spell, which allows reduction of training time to zero for abilities, attributes, specialties (And more, but she will only help Althea with regards to charms and spells), once she is present, for the next week you can ignore training time on those things. Charms and Spells still have the normal time requirements, as she won't teach anyone charms or spells she knows that she can teach short of folks actually taking her as a Mentor (meaning spending experience, and role playing the part of convincing her to be a mentor. ,, Training: At this point, you folks have a week to train charms and abilities for the cleansing run, and I just updated experience, which is the total you have available to you at this time. ,, ,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karren Gaunt Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Life was pretty good for Karren Gaunt in the week building up to Dan’s big assault on the ghostly holdouts. Busy busy busy. The definitely good kind of busy that is, just the way the big Lunar liked it. A few days to master a fun new charm, a few sessions with Aura to learn in hours what it’d take her months to master on her own, whip the security teams into better shape, tempt her Solar mate away from his work late at night a time or three, and even a field trip over to Janos’ ship to see what Janos could do about her being able to punch ghosts dead. ,, Maybe that would come to enough in time to help, maybe it wouldn’t. She had posted up an announcement that first day to contact Janos if you needed help beating ghosts. Hopefully her direlance would be ready by the time it came to settle this. ,, But all that paled in comparison to Karren’s ’me time’ on the planet below. The shuttle hadn’t even finished cooling from re-entry, skimming over the ocean toward the starport, when she tapped the pilot’s shoulder and said, “This is my stop. See you guys in three days.” ,, Jumping out of the back of a zooming shuttle only to break her fall by turning into a bird at the last second had been second best compared to the pilot’s look of shocked obedience. He’d learn. ,, And then it was down and down and down in her eel shape, losing the colors of the daylight world above for the blue-greys of the world below and then losing that for the intermittent flashes of insight from sonar pulses bouncing off the odd fish or glowing squid. The armored segments of Karren’s borrowed body wriggled against one another as her picked up what she was after. Something sleek. Something hungry. Something big. Unaturally so, to her delight. She redoubled her pace and joined the school of hangers on around her prey, lost in apreciation of the monster’s predatory perfection for a moment. ,, But only for a moment. She put on one last burst of speed, positioned herself above her target, and *expanded* into her spirit shape with a pressure wave that scattered the remoras surrounding her target. Now a dessert sand crawler was as unhydrodynamic as it nearly came, and Karren sank immediately, clamping onto the 80 foot long shark with all 8 legs and flipping it abruptly upside down. The beast reacted by thrashing in an attempt to break free, jaws snapping uselessly. A mane of prehensile tendrils ripped and tore chunks from the beast as they wrestled through the black night, essence ensuring the deadly maw remained useless. A dot of silver light glowed on a monstrous, chitonous head, oxygen pumping in and out of borrowed gills by the time thrashing became stillness and a frantic, bleeding spiral became a downward fall towards flooded mountains below. A shifting grip and the cracking of teeth through flesh and cartilage marked the end of Karren’s sacred hunt, heart’s blood tasted and form claimed. The dead shark fell, released by it’s killer. It’s killer melted into a streamlined shape and rose. ,, The next day was pretty good, too. ,, “Hey,” Karren volunteered, sliding into a barstool next to a pretty, blonde spacer, “This seat taken? I‘ve just finished losing most of my money. And I need a drink. Many drinks.” ,, “No, feel free,” replied the blonde, giving Karren’s borrowed skin the once over and smiling. 5’2, dark haired, dark-eyed, and dancer slim, the Lunar had picked it to be unassuming, solar magic making it exotically alluring. ,, “My name’s Annie. I think everyone heard you quit that game after bluffing on a pair of threes,” she added. Karren laughed in reply. ,, “Yeah, well. I'm vocal about my emotions. They were boring anyway. All the fun stuff’s over here, anyway,” the Lunar commented as she waved over the bartender, a return once over and a smile making it blatantly obvious what kind of fun stuff she meant. Or who rather she meant. The fact she had not so covertly been studying Annie from the corner of one eye throughout her card game made it super blatant. ,, “You have a name, miss short dark and hungry?” laughed the blonde, expression pleasantly bemused. ,, “You can call me Summer. Now let’s kill some drinks and see how well we can get to know one another before I’m due back aboard ship.” ,, Drinks followed. Many drinks. Many drinks and a scene change. ,, “Summer..? I don’t think this alley is a short cut to the Imperial Hotel…” ,, Karren made a show of looking around, “Ya know… I think you’re right. Let’s rest here a bit. Get a reading.” ,, “’Kay..?” ,, Annie slumped against the wall, visibly woozy. Karren looked up and down the alley again, nodded upon seeing no one or any cameras, and abruptly put on two feet of height and a whole lot of muscle in weight. ,, “What the frag is..?!” Annie exclaimed before a dark hand muzzled her words. ,, “Shush. I’m working, murderer,” Karren chastised as her finger tips sprouted needlesharp silver talons, “You were a lot of fun to hang out with and I’m going to have fond memories whenever I don your face, but it’s really too bad about the pickpocket you killed. Seriously? The kid probably just needed rationbar money to survive another day. Not cool.” ,, “Hoo nin hyo..?!” started to exclaim Annie from behind the muzzle, struggling for freedom before the talons drove through her chest and ripped out her heart. A crunch of teeth through muscle. The wiping of hands and face on cloth. ,, “Hmmm. Well, that’s my good deed for the day. Let’s see. Dumpster over there, clear sky above here. Yeah. Easy clean up.” ,, She couldn’t wait to get back to the Dawn’s Wrath and solving the universe’s big problems. Life was pretty good for Karren Gaunt. ,, [envoy] 7:56 pm: anywho, survival plus wits to hunt up a sea critter with the Giant mutation. envoy *rolls* 10d10: 7+2+2+10+3+9+1+5+6+8: 53 [envoy] 8:05 pm: anything worth writing an epic deep sea shapeshifting fight scene about? [Krul] 8:07 pm: You mean the giant megalodon you found? envoy] 8:20 pm: looking for another face for karren to borrow. envoy *rolls* 7d10: 5+8+5+5+10+9+5: 47 [envoy] 8:21 pm: four successes me thinks. [Krul] 8:21 pm: that's enough to get what your looking for, with a day left over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven's Reach ST Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 Over the week folks trained and prepared for the next stage, as Dan was focused on training with Aura, and talking with her as well, of course, and he was not the only one.. the one person who spent the most time with her mentor was Althea, pushing the girl to further her capabilities socially and physically, and giving her more of her time any energy then anyone else, as her Sifu, pushing the girl to mastery of a specific martial arts style, but in truth everyone spent a bit of time with the elder sidereal, furthering their capabilities. After spending a few hours with her, with Aura's guidance and advice, Dan furthered his training in leadership and social action, firming up combat leadership with additional social capabilities, though he also spent time learning to see and hurt dematerialized beings. Sophia also spent some time with Aura, developing her capabilities with regards to perception, and furthering her own charms to allow her to attack and hurt spirits. Karren's short time with Aura mainly focused on full moon attributes, becoming more agile, but also going down to the planet and doing some hunting to add to her spirit shapes. ,, Furthermore, the massive Vara starship, which was both starship and alchemical, Chrysalis of Perfection, a massive capital ship that stretched 50 miles in diameter, arrived in system. It had been ages sense the Vara sent out a full Alchemical Starship, but apparently they had been drawn out by circumstances, as dire as they had become. Exquisite Dynamic Synergy and Noble Endeavor both spent some time within the Vara ship, and their presence more or less indicated there was no way that the empire could take this system forcefully, without paying a very high price. Dyna herself had several charms installed within the vats, that would allow her to further her combat capabilities, though she also spent some time training with Aura to further her capabilities with regards to her duties as ships engineer. A envoy was also sent to speak with Janos for a time, a bit of information and discussion that had the Warlock prepared to depart as soon as he returned the dire lance with adjustements to the lunar who had asked for his expertise. ,, ,, On the planets surface, the young sidereal focused on diplomacy, with some tutoring from her mentor, but Aura only gave a bit of direction and assistance to Althea, seeing this as a both a testing ground and a rite of passage. Between that and her training, the young sidereal had little time to relax, she was active and moving constantly, though her fathers training with Aura allowed her a bit more assistance from him, as he became more socially capable from Aura's direction and training. The vara themselves sent a representative to this talk and Althea drew on powerful charms and capabilities in order to insure that it was harmonious and serene. Calling on her social standing as priestess of the maiden of serenity, she spoke to the diplomats with care and precision, she also asked for help from the other rather socially able member of the crew, Sophia Ashcroft, whose social capabilities were also quite remarkable and was able to smooth things over quite a bit, making Althea's work easier. ,, On a more physical level, Kestrel was able to move a good bit of the rather extensive armory from the moon onto Dawn's Wrath, even in the midst of her own training, and to do so discretely, as one might expect of a night caste, though she did need a bit of help to move some of the larger items. ,, All in all, the week went by quickly, and for the most part, at the end of the week a good number of the exalts were prepared to begin their assault on the tainted manses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karren Gaunt Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Karren considered her reflection in the mirror in front of her, hands going through the motions of arranging her hair in various styles, ponytail, braid, free flowing, others. It didn't particularly matter, not if she went warform as planned, but her quarters still smelled pleasantly of Dan from last night, and she had time to kill before the big briefing. She was already dressed in her combat uniform, had to look official to help Dan's case at least until the circle hit the tunnels and she could shed the trappings of civilization to prepare for the fight. ,, "Hmmm, Maybe I'd look good dyeing a stripe or two of it black below the shoulders," she mused aloud, fingering a lock of red hair between thumb and forefinger, "Certainly be different from any..." ,, Her thought was cut off by the buzz of the intercom, "Ma'am, it's MA Steele. I have your... delivery from the Star's Vengeance, Ma'am." ,, The big Lunar smiled, taking the pause as a good thing and abandoned the mirror with a turn and few long strides to unlock the door. She opened it to reveal one of her more trusted security staff, his arms burdened with long, wrapped shape that moaned faintly through it's coverings. The smile got only bigger, and golden eyes twinkled down at the man. "Very good, MA. I'll take that little toy and you can carry on getting the ship secure," she instructed with a nod, watching Steele perk up in badly-concealed relief as he handed over his burden. ,, She laughed inside as he hurried off, one hand planted on her hip, other holding the direlance. Karren re-entered her quarters and shut the door, chucking the weapon onto her bed. A few deft cuts and the wrapping uncurled to reveal pitch black soulsteel spotted with moving hands and faces. A small moonsilver coin stood out on the shaft, prompting a grunt of curiosity from Karren as she flicked it with one finger. Huh. She'd have to ask Janos latter if that was part of the endemoning process. For now though... The big Lunar fetched a crude-looking stone from atop her cluttered desk and inserted it into the hearthstone amulet. ,, "There we go. Now you're ready to help me kill the shrieking..," she began, hefting up the unholy spear in both hands to test it for balance before abruptly trailing off and cocking her head in confusion, "Eh? Are you talking to me, Heart's Blood?" ,, A pause. ,, "Well, I'm sorry. That's what I was calling your home before my friend Janos put you in there. What *is* your name?" ,, Pause. A chuckle. ,, "Nice to meet you, Yachiru. I take it you're why I'll be able to see and punch ghosts?" ,, Pause. ,, "Oh. I see. Not *just* seeing and punching ghosts. I can definitely see about trying to do that. Especially if that last charm is as impressive as you bragged about it being and if you help me." ,, Another pause. ,, "Consider it a promise, Yachiru. Now let's go. We have a meeting to get to and ghostly blood to impressively shed. Now where did I put that..? Aww. There's your new sheath. Everything is going to be awesome today." ,, The big Lunar shoved the soulsteel direlance into the harness she had prepared for it, settled it over one shoulder, and made sure to turn off the lights in her cabin before she left, whistling to herself as the telepathic voice of her new companion was cut off with the ending of flesh to weapon contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hawkins Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Nova's training was intense, much as he saw it as "remembering how he was." Part of the arrangement for what he'd done, he was still limited by what Dan had been capable of before Exaltation, Still he'd made great strides in regaining what he'd been used to, and not to mention had long talks with Aura, speaking of the last Age, happy to have someone else to truly speak with. ,, Sophia and Althea performed with the admirable grace he expected from them, and Nova smiled. His Daughter had truly begun to come into her own, and this meeting would be a final test for her, he could feel. He wondered if they'd remain close, as they had been, once it was done. Though not "nova's" She was Dan's daughter, still he felt a great attachment to her, and never risked her when he didn't have to. ,, Sophia, his second Lunar mate, a situation Karren was not all that happy about but couldn't or at least wouldn't do anything violent about, was still somewhat unknown to him. They spoke little, despite the bonds between them, but he knew his ties to her were far deeper than captain and crew. ,, Karren of course had been busy, hunting as she often did, training too, against him, and indeed, for the battles lying ahead. She'd been unhappy when he kept to himself after so much time with Aura, but time would mend any stresses in their relationship. ,, Janos had been reassigned, something that in all honesty, Nova wasn't displeased about. It was true that Janos was a powerful ally, and had never given him actual cause for distrust, but as the Chosen of the Yozi, even one in rebellion, the Infernal felt alien to him, and made him generally uncomfortable. He would keep tabs on him. "I wish your endeavors on behalf of the Marshals success, Janos." As he didn't like to lie, it was what he could have said and been truly genuine. ,, Sun Kai was busy as well the ships had all been repaired, and he was further training them to better repel boarders and act as one mind one body, the way a crew should operate. ,, Noble Endeavor had surprised him, coming to him after Kestrel had left, a rarity in and of itself as she seldom left her ship. She had spoken with him at length, into the dawn hours, he surprised her with how he'd felt when he thought her dead, and she surprised him further with desire to pick up where they'd left off. They had, and greeted the Dawn together, their bonds as deep as when they'd been the Mighty Admiral and his Second. ,, Kestrel had been herself, and kept everyone busy it seemed, inventorying the vault, and moving large amounts to the ships of the fleet, making sure their marines were well armed, provisions were stocked, and that all the truly dangerous artifacts were kept secure. ,, Nova slowly and methodically donned his Armor, his starcasters holstered on his hips, the Reaper Daiklaive over his back. They would finally begin to reclaim the rest of the moon, and not a moment to soon. With the massive Vaara starship present he felt far less worried about the Imperials having a change of heart, and that he could entrust the system to their stewardship while he and his circlemates restored the moon to its harmonious state. He activated his commlink and selected the other exalted who would be going with him to do this. "Meet me in Shuttlebay One. We will be heading down once everyone is there." With that said he made his way there, arriving first, and making sure the Shuttle was fine, doing a walkaround as he waited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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