Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
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Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by Colette » Sun Aug 02, 2015 2:01 pm
IT LIVES.
Because everything's better with math.
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Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Sun Aug 09, 2015 5:44 am
A non-Writing post this time around, an LDD mock-up of the SpecOps soldiers invading Heavens Reach.
For those who enjoy the "Dark Side" of the Scythian Empire.
For those who enjoy the "Dark Side" of the Scythian Empire.
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The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
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Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Sun Oct 04, 2015 3:10 pm
(Recommended listening - https://youtu.be/qKxDzyHPo0o - I would have used the flsh embed code, but for some reason it WILL NOT WORK FOR ME. So shit.)
The lights in the floor flickered and died as the blood from almost a hundred corpses ran slick as oil across the floor, seeping between the gaps where decadence and frivolity once held their sway.
Kialya hefted her own pistol in one hand and Farguth's pistol in the other she leant over the edge of what used to be the bar and pulled the trigger indiscriminately with her off hand, firing to suppress rather than too kill. She didn't care how many shots hit their mark with that hand so long as the battery cell didn't run out before she could find a way out of this maidens-damned mess.
The other pistol was charging it's power - a slow build capacitor usually available to assyrian laser weapons had been built into an older scythian design - a mix of technology forced together with almost brute force rather than elegant design.
More laser fire dances between figures and corpses, screaming and burnt air assailed the sense and Kialya winced as another laser bolt came dangerously close to ending the relationship between her head and her torso.
Agonising moments later though, the pistol finally began to whine with a high pitch tone and it was ready to fire - she hefted the second pistol up and aimed directly at the cover hiding the closest trooper and opened fire - the kickback from the pistol catching her by surprise as Scythian weapons had utterly eliminated kickback centuries ago. A reassuring quickness however followed as the bolt cleft across the room and hit the table the soldier was hiding behind and obliterated it completely, along with the soldier himself, and half of the guy hunkered down next to him.
The only thing that remained of what was once two living, breathing men - was minced meat and smoke.
The rest of the group stopped for a moment, enough time for Kialya to dive from the wreckage of the bar to another point behind a half-wall that linked to the store room, a small white-lit room barely large enough for a person to turn around on the spot with shelves of assorted bottles and drinks - in the center of the floor there was a small trap-door meant for a person sized elevator to the lower store room.
Kialya fumbled in a panic to try and find its controls - and eventually found a small holographic panel that refused to obey her commands. She cursed inwardly as she realised it would not open - the entire floor had been security sealed. No way in, and no way out.
A moment of dread filled Kialya's thoughts as she heard the convergence of footsteps around the bar - she had run out of time.
Two laser pistols raised together, fingers ready to take lives - she braced herself for what may be the final moment's of her life.
Which was when the most maidens-almighty BA-CROOOOOM!! filled the air, and the nightclub air that was flowing out the windows suddenly revered direction, filling the place with dust and smoke.
Kialya ducked her head out for just a moment to see two of the troopers -shit- themselves for lack of a better term as they where suddenly picked off by weapons fire far larger than anything any of the combatants had at their disposal thus far, her eye then scanned across the windows to watch one of the black carnivore dropships fall out of the sky alongside the building and a spectre of a ship move across the clouds, growing larger in size as it did so.
She lanced out of her cover and opened fire with her twin pistols on another trooper - distracted by the sight of his cavalry getting blown out of the sky and his comrades being atomised by a ship he couldn't see through the clouds he fell to the floor in disbelief with five smoking holes in his back.
The moment of terror only lasted for a moment and the remainder of the troopers turned their attention back to Kialya - if all else failed, she was not to leave the arcology tower alive.
All other priorities where considered expendable assets.
Including themselves.
At that moment the fighting became even more ferocious as Kialya attempted to open fire but was forced to duck and cover as the gloves where now truly off - no less than six of the troopers behind cover where firing on her position on full auto, while another two continued to pace towards her - guns blazing. The edges of the metallic table starting to glow red hot with heat as they started to melt under the barrage.
Another BA-CROOOOOM!! raked it's way through the nightclub from outside and the second Carnivore Dropship fell from the sky - it had been hit across the middle of it's hull and it simply snapped in half from the strain before violently exploding across the buildings side. Shrapnel and fire burst into the room from the side as the spectre ship finally appeared.
Behind the troopers - the silhouette of the Mercury Summer splashed across the room from the slowly rising sun - it's main cannons set to their lowest setting as they fired on the enemy troopers, it's cargo bay open - and there in his full glory was Quaram - in SIBAS armor, faceplate open with a shit-eating grin on his face and a pre-charged PAVL in his hands.
"WELCOME TO THE FRAKKING PARTY BE-OTCHES!" He yelled in glee as for the second time in a day he had gotten to do his favorite thing in the world - stomping around in power armor with a big fucking gun and a target rich environment. The moment he pulled the trigger the three barrels rolled into life and began laying down anti-tank laser fire on soft infantry targets.
The results where not too unlike taking a dozen men and throwing them into a man-sized blender. Chunks, sludge and putrefied remains flew in every direction as Quaram simply continued to laugh like a man possessed by some kind of spirit, a dispossessed god of death.
Within a minute the battle was -over- and Kialya finally came out of her cover, she looked left and then right and decided it was probably best not to ask. Considering the circumstance it was probably best not to say anything at all. She walked over to the open windows edge of the building and the Mercury Summer pulled close enough for he to simply jump into the open cargo bay doors. She looked up to Quaram after landing on her hands and knees and simply looked him up and down before walking towards the inner corridor of the ship.
At the door she stopped and turned for just a moment "You know Quaram, you enjoy that shit -far- too much"
"Yes Ma'am" He said with the shit eating grin still plastered across his face as he hit the door controls for the cargo bay and the metal slab of an entrance slowly closed behind him.
The lights in the floor flickered and died as the blood from almost a hundred corpses ran slick as oil across the floor, seeping between the gaps where decadence and frivolity once held their sway.
Kialya hefted her own pistol in one hand and Farguth's pistol in the other she leant over the edge of what used to be the bar and pulled the trigger indiscriminately with her off hand, firing to suppress rather than too kill. She didn't care how many shots hit their mark with that hand so long as the battery cell didn't run out before she could find a way out of this maidens-damned mess.
The other pistol was charging it's power - a slow build capacitor usually available to assyrian laser weapons had been built into an older scythian design - a mix of technology forced together with almost brute force rather than elegant design.
More laser fire dances between figures and corpses, screaming and burnt air assailed the sense and Kialya winced as another laser bolt came dangerously close to ending the relationship between her head and her torso.
Agonising moments later though, the pistol finally began to whine with a high pitch tone and it was ready to fire - she hefted the second pistol up and aimed directly at the cover hiding the closest trooper and opened fire - the kickback from the pistol catching her by surprise as Scythian weapons had utterly eliminated kickback centuries ago. A reassuring quickness however followed as the bolt cleft across the room and hit the table the soldier was hiding behind and obliterated it completely, along with the soldier himself, and half of the guy hunkered down next to him.
The only thing that remained of what was once two living, breathing men - was minced meat and smoke.
The rest of the group stopped for a moment, enough time for Kialya to dive from the wreckage of the bar to another point behind a half-wall that linked to the store room, a small white-lit room barely large enough for a person to turn around on the spot with shelves of assorted bottles and drinks - in the center of the floor there was a small trap-door meant for a person sized elevator to the lower store room.
Kialya fumbled in a panic to try and find its controls - and eventually found a small holographic panel that refused to obey her commands. She cursed inwardly as she realised it would not open - the entire floor had been security sealed. No way in, and no way out.
A moment of dread filled Kialya's thoughts as she heard the convergence of footsteps around the bar - she had run out of time.
Two laser pistols raised together, fingers ready to take lives - she braced herself for what may be the final moment's of her life.
Which was when the most maidens-almighty BA-CROOOOOM!! filled the air, and the nightclub air that was flowing out the windows suddenly revered direction, filling the place with dust and smoke.
Kialya ducked her head out for just a moment to see two of the troopers -shit- themselves for lack of a better term as they where suddenly picked off by weapons fire far larger than anything any of the combatants had at their disposal thus far, her eye then scanned across the windows to watch one of the black carnivore dropships fall out of the sky alongside the building and a spectre of a ship move across the clouds, growing larger in size as it did so.
She lanced out of her cover and opened fire with her twin pistols on another trooper - distracted by the sight of his cavalry getting blown out of the sky and his comrades being atomised by a ship he couldn't see through the clouds he fell to the floor in disbelief with five smoking holes in his back.
The moment of terror only lasted for a moment and the remainder of the troopers turned their attention back to Kialya - if all else failed, she was not to leave the arcology tower alive.
All other priorities where considered expendable assets.
Including themselves.
At that moment the fighting became even more ferocious as Kialya attempted to open fire but was forced to duck and cover as the gloves where now truly off - no less than six of the troopers behind cover where firing on her position on full auto, while another two continued to pace towards her - guns blazing. The edges of the metallic table starting to glow red hot with heat as they started to melt under the barrage.
Another BA-CROOOOOM!! raked it's way through the nightclub from outside and the second Carnivore Dropship fell from the sky - it had been hit across the middle of it's hull and it simply snapped in half from the strain before violently exploding across the buildings side. Shrapnel and fire burst into the room from the side as the spectre ship finally appeared.
Behind the troopers - the silhouette of the Mercury Summer splashed across the room from the slowly rising sun - it's main cannons set to their lowest setting as they fired on the enemy troopers, it's cargo bay open - and there in his full glory was Quaram - in SIBAS armor, faceplate open with a shit-eating grin on his face and a pre-charged PAVL in his hands.
"WELCOME TO THE FRAKKING PARTY BE-OTCHES!" He yelled in glee as for the second time in a day he had gotten to do his favorite thing in the world - stomping around in power armor with a big fucking gun and a target rich environment. The moment he pulled the trigger the three barrels rolled into life and began laying down anti-tank laser fire on soft infantry targets.
The results where not too unlike taking a dozen men and throwing them into a man-sized blender. Chunks, sludge and putrefied remains flew in every direction as Quaram simply continued to laugh like a man possessed by some kind of spirit, a dispossessed god of death.
Within a minute the battle was -over- and Kialya finally came out of her cover, she looked left and then right and decided it was probably best not to ask. Considering the circumstance it was probably best not to say anything at all. She walked over to the open windows edge of the building and the Mercury Summer pulled close enough for he to simply jump into the open cargo bay doors. She looked up to Quaram after landing on her hands and knees and simply looked him up and down before walking towards the inner corridor of the ship.
At the door she stopped and turned for just a moment "You know Quaram, you enjoy that shit -far- too much"
"Yes Ma'am" He said with the shit eating grin still plastered across his face as he hit the door controls for the cargo bay and the metal slab of an entrance slowly closed behind him.
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The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
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Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by runnybabbit223 » Mon Oct 05, 2015 5:14 am
Yeesss!!
The legend continues.
The legend continues.
3... 2... 1... DRAGONS!
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Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Mon Nov 02, 2015 7:56 am
"Scythia Command this if S.F.V Last Orders, requesting permission to fire over populated area"
The captain of the battleship Last Orders stood resolute on the bridge of his ship - for the last half an hour from orbit to high altitude he had watched the rouge trade vessel "Mercury Summer" blast its way out of one of the larger habitation stations in orbit and then down to the tip of an Arcology tower and wipe out at least a good hundred people before it then dropped below the cloud layer where the Destroyer couldn't follow and the Frigate Traveylan had been incapacitated from the secret firepower the ship had surprised the group with.
He had reached the end of his patience, he had ordered the ship to drop from high altitude and into direct firing range - Antimatter missiles would be out of the question in atmosphere - even low yield warheads would have the same effect as a weapon of mass destruction, but opening fire with the ships point defences or main guns would be more than enough to turn the offending terrorist ship into atomised slag and waste.
The lesser crew and officers on the deck had gone quiet - it was unheard of for this thing to happen to Scythia itself, or rather it would have been until a few months ago when Immortal sympathisers started blowing themselves up on the streets, on trains, in homes. Now terrorists, or to be more precise - the threat of terrorists seemed to be around every corner.
He was having no more of this - no more fear. The world to him was black, and white - no gray. No room for ambiguity.
This was an enemy ship. Enemy ships would be crushed under the power of the Scythian people, their technology, power and courage.
"This is Scythia command - Permission Granted" The tinny voice from command replied.
He grinned to himself for just a moment.
"Give me a firing solution - and then . . . open fire" He decreed, and the Last Orders fell beneath the cloud layer.
The captain of the battleship Last Orders stood resolute on the bridge of his ship - for the last half an hour from orbit to high altitude he had watched the rouge trade vessel "Mercury Summer" blast its way out of one of the larger habitation stations in orbit and then down to the tip of an Arcology tower and wipe out at least a good hundred people before it then dropped below the cloud layer where the Destroyer couldn't follow and the Frigate Traveylan had been incapacitated from the secret firepower the ship had surprised the group with.
He had reached the end of his patience, he had ordered the ship to drop from high altitude and into direct firing range - Antimatter missiles would be out of the question in atmosphere - even low yield warheads would have the same effect as a weapon of mass destruction, but opening fire with the ships point defences or main guns would be more than enough to turn the offending terrorist ship into atomised slag and waste.
The lesser crew and officers on the deck had gone quiet - it was unheard of for this thing to happen to Scythia itself, or rather it would have been until a few months ago when Immortal sympathisers started blowing themselves up on the streets, on trains, in homes. Now terrorists, or to be more precise - the threat of terrorists seemed to be around every corner.
He was having no more of this - no more fear. The world to him was black, and white - no gray. No room for ambiguity.
This was an enemy ship. Enemy ships would be crushed under the power of the Scythian people, their technology, power and courage.
"This is Scythia command - Permission Granted" The tinny voice from command replied.
He grinned to himself for just a moment.
"Give me a firing solution - and then . . . open fire" He decreed, and the Last Orders fell beneath the cloud layer.
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The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
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Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Sun Nov 29, 2015 8:23 am
Moments later on the bridge of the Mercury Summer alarms blazed and wailed as proximity alerts turned the claustrophobic room into a deep red hue, holographic monitors suddenly lit with firing solutions and evasive manoeuvres once more and Larissa had meer seconds to react as laser blasts powerful enough to level city blocks rampaged down from above at offensive speeds.
She poured all of her attention into guiding the vessel through the barrage of fire, dodging left and right through the cloud layer as the occasional blast caught one side of the shields and ripped violently through them, depleting the already stressed systems to their near-end and causing the clouds around them to become shredded by ionic particles and radiation.
"When" Larissa exclaimed.
"The fuck"
Irritation rose to her face as she struggled to keep the ship level.
"Did they let maidens damned-"
Another blast was narrowly avoided in front of the ship as she turned the controls down and sharply to the right to avoid it.
"Fuckers open fire!?!"
Quaram arrived on the bridge in just enough time to take control of the weapons station and started to return fire with the Mercury Summers own main weapons. Bolt after bilt of condensed light crossed path in the skiew between the Last Orders and the Mercury Summer as the game reached a new and even more dangerous point.
"Attention terrorist craft" an unknown voice announced over the ships comm system, the enemy AI obviously finding a way to override the ships tertiary systems and announce its captains wishes through the Mercury Summers tannoy speakers.
"You have one minute to stand down, slave your ship systems to ours and surrender or I will blast your ships to atoms. There is an antimatter missile locked onto your craft and ready to launch. Surrender. Now."
Larissa considered her options for a moment, for the Scythian navy to openly consider using weapons of mass destruction within the atmosphere was beyond fucked. Luckily. That thought process ended when Harkins and Kialya arrived on the bridge.
"Charge the FTL" drive Kialya announced as she walked through the entrance to the room.
"But ma'am, what about the planetary defense shield, or the FTL inhibitor fields?" Larissa replied.
"I have a plan about that" Harkins replied "just charge the drive and key for random coordinates outside the Scythia system and be ready to hit the button."
He then turned from the main display screen to Larissa herself.
"Until then, dive straight down. Full speed. And hope they don't fire that missile before we hit the ground." The grin on his face stretched from ear to ear as he closed his eyes, stretched his senses and focused on the world beyond.
She poured all of her attention into guiding the vessel through the barrage of fire, dodging left and right through the cloud layer as the occasional blast caught one side of the shields and ripped violently through them, depleting the already stressed systems to their near-end and causing the clouds around them to become shredded by ionic particles and radiation.
"When" Larissa exclaimed.
"The fuck"
Irritation rose to her face as she struggled to keep the ship level.
"Did they let maidens damned-"
Another blast was narrowly avoided in front of the ship as she turned the controls down and sharply to the right to avoid it.
"Fuckers open fire!?!"
Quaram arrived on the bridge in just enough time to take control of the weapons station and started to return fire with the Mercury Summers own main weapons. Bolt after bilt of condensed light crossed path in the skiew between the Last Orders and the Mercury Summer as the game reached a new and even more dangerous point.
"Attention terrorist craft" an unknown voice announced over the ships comm system, the enemy AI obviously finding a way to override the ships tertiary systems and announce its captains wishes through the Mercury Summers tannoy speakers.
"You have one minute to stand down, slave your ship systems to ours and surrender or I will blast your ships to atoms. There is an antimatter missile locked onto your craft and ready to launch. Surrender. Now."
Larissa considered her options for a moment, for the Scythian navy to openly consider using weapons of mass destruction within the atmosphere was beyond fucked. Luckily. That thought process ended when Harkins and Kialya arrived on the bridge.
"Charge the FTL" drive Kialya announced as she walked through the entrance to the room.
"But ma'am, what about the planetary defense shield, or the FTL inhibitor fields?" Larissa replied.
"I have a plan about that" Harkins replied "just charge the drive and key for random coordinates outside the Scythia system and be ready to hit the button."
He then turned from the main display screen to Larissa herself.
"Until then, dive straight down. Full speed. And hope they don't fire that missile before we hit the ground." The grin on his face stretched from ear to ear as he closed his eyes, stretched his senses and focused on the world beyond.
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The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
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Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by runnybabbit223 » Mon Nov 30, 2015 5:53 am
This writing is an epic of epic perportions.
3... 2... 1... DRAGONS!
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Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by Durandal » Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:09 am
I must aggree. I really enjoy your work and hope you continue.
"During the napoleonic wars for a man to join the elite prussian grenadiers it was a requirement that he be able to grow a bushy black beard. How far have we fallen..." - A US Marine
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Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Sat Dec 26, 2015 6:14 pm
Onboard the Last Orders people ran left, right and centre - chaos and panic had erupted in the place of former professionalism as the captain of the Scythian battleship struggled to regain control of his crew and the outer situation as the rouge vessel refused to bow to his command.
A world formerly filled with black and white was now paletted by a realm of gray as he watched the freighter vessel evade the barrage of firepower with the speed and grace of a vessel far smaller than it's size before it then dived beneath the cloud and into the realm of civilian airspace, where sensors where dragged down by having to identify and catalogue other targets before feeding that information to weapon consoles and officers backed up with AI support having to choose each shot before they opened fire.
Each time the weapons lined up a shot it was a choice of life or death, as each missed shot would impact on civilians below, buildings full of innocents, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children - filling his resolute crew with fear and guilt for every shot missed meant the deaths of dozens, if not the hundreds.
He watched the craft dance through the sensor nets, weaving through target solutions and alert markers as if they where not even there. Playing a mockery to his attempts to reign control over the events taking place as the mighty battleship dropped from high orbit into the stratosphere below.
"Get me a firing solution for that missile" The captain finally resolved himself to announce as the chaos around him finally resolved into a grim finalization.
---
On the bridge of the Mercury Summer Larissa danced her fingers through the combination of the twin control yolks and the various holographic controls that projected themselves both from around them and the spaces beyond as she pushed the Q ship father and farther than it had ever been pushed before.
The ships engines squealed through the air as the baffle plated burned white with the heat from the engines pushed air and pressure aside with ease, screeching through the atmosphere like a super-powered projectile, the vessel yanked to and fro between civilian traffic.
Quaram gripped onto the edges of the console in front of him as the sky and the ground became uncomfortable bedfellows. He turned his head from one side to the other as he watched Larissa attempt to navigate through the all too literal shit storm being projected in front of him, or to Harkins sat as the image of serenity sat to his left.
Inside his head he prayed some form of shot prayer to the Scythian Maidens of old that consisted of "Get me out of this" and "save my soul" while being mixed with a sea of profanity and other terms that he refused to repeat even in the company he now held.
Larrissa however was in some form of "zen" element, if she had anything that could be described as one, somehow having Harkins back had brought some kind of unseen calm over her hands had she guided the unwieldy but nimble bulk of the former merchant vessel through the swath of civilian vessels until she had reached the tips of the highest city buildings and non-arcology towers - guiding the ship one step ahead through the tips of the endless Scythian metropolis below.
Harkins however was the one responsible for the spreading serenity from himself to Larrissa as he spread his rapidly expanding consciousness and pre-cognisance from his own mind to her own to allow her a moment of mental grace, a bubble of pure clarity - weather she realised it or not - to dodge the incoming fire from the battleship above while the ships FTL drive charged enough for some type of escape from the homeworld.
Kialya however hung at the back of the bridge - steadying herself in the open doorway of the bridge watching the whole event take place, the impossibility of everything taking place in front of her was like watching something out of an action movie vid file - the epic acts of dodging near death strikes, everyone somehow working together to save the vessel from certain doom, the inaction or inability of those above to either contain or control the situation, she could feel a distant nibble of . . . something at the edges of her mind she tried to pack away into a distant corner, yet every time she tried it cam back once more with a vengeance, every last minute yank of the controls, every death defying feat, everything she saw could not help but feel somehow "wrong" in the back of her head.
And it was not working.
She watched the ship pull lower, closer to the surface - through hover cars and tankers, through the dregs of the very lives she was trying to protect, trying to maintain - every single fibre of her being was trying to tell her there was something wrong with just about everything she could see in front of her.
Just at that very moment she heard a voice cry out to her from across the room,
"Would you mind shutting up and I will fracking well explain it too you later!"
Kialya looked across to see the voice had come from Harkins, his concentration visibly broken, but not from the madness inside - no - this was more internal, his attempts to solve everything going on around them had been broken from within,
From her.
"Kialya" His voice somehow spoke without words "If you have any kind of inner sanctum I suggest you visit it now, before everything here goes to hell in a handbasket - I - Will - Tell - You - Later
Somehow, the words had entered her mind - she stood, watched and registered "hearing" every word without watching his jaw, or even his mouth move once - all she could perceive was the ice like glare in his eyes and the steady breathing in his chest.
She closed her eyes - both the thinking part and the animal part of her mind chose to trust him in this gesture as she felt the hull of the ship move around her as she attempted to concentrate.
First on the Scythian Anthem.
But that failed, considering all she had seen and done in the last hour and her current enemy - so she moved again.
So she moved on.
She attempted to hum the theme for a pop music song, any pop music song.
Panic rose within her, she found herself not knowing anything, her mind and memory had failed her at the moment she needed it most. She simply didn't know anything about how to be a civilian any more, let alone civilian music.
So she tried something simpler.
The ship jerked down, hard - and then to the right.
She focused inwards, on her heart beat.
Somewhere while counting the rhythm she found a moment of serenity.
One. Two.
One. Two.
One. Two.
It wasn't like focusing on a pulse, it was more . . . simple . . . more . . . direct . . .
One. Two.
One. O҉̪̝͈̙̯̥͇h͚̲̮̬͎͍̞͜.͚͕̬͕̞̀ͅ
One. Two
Oh̹̭̣͡ ̷My̺̲ͅ.̹̖͖̮̠͚
One. B̙̘r̢͓͉̰͔͖̞̲o̹̗̲̼͠ͅt̘h̝̟̯̪e̖̫̼̼̟̻͝r̤.̼̖̗͙͚̪͇
Two.
One.
One. Two
D̛͘҉̶̤͚̹̫̞̭͢o͏̛̯̝̩̬̟̩̬̟̲̤͔͇͕̹̜͉͈̣͘ṉ̢͈͎̩͓͇̭̯̳͞'̴̨̘͍̼͓͝t̺̺̖̹̟͞ ̵̵͔̤͈̯̫̬͈̣̖̺͙̩͍̞̗̀͞b̸҉̸̡̥̜̱̜̫̖̫̟͝é̷̡͏̳̯̼̦͍͙̪̣͚̱̠̩.̴̧̛͔̮̝̠͡͠ͅ
Afraid.
One.
Ẃ͞҉̨̩̗̼͉̠̥͓̯̹̮͍̳̞e̢͓̞̯͓̞̰͉͎͚̹̮̠͓̠͈͜͡͞͝ ̶͇͖͙͈̯̖̥̝̣̻͚͎͍͘ͅa̶̛͈̗͔͚̱̤̺͠͠ͅŗ͍͎̤̦̪͎̣̘̰͈͙͚͓̞̞̠͙̀́ͅę̱͖̣̲̟͚̟̗͔̗̮̥̀͜.̜͇̜̮̗̰͎̖͖̟̼͕͈̰̱̳̜̦̪͟͟
͞͏̴̺̹͉̣̦̬͘
̶̷̰̫̬̖̘̣͎͉͈̯
Two.
T̡̻̪̘̥̰̼̳͖̗̱̼̗̙̗͇͕́͡ớ̶̵̡̲͔͓̹͈̹̰̭ͅg̢̛̛̖̳̘̦̪̺̝͉̀͡ȩ̛̞̼̖̯̬̜̥̰͇̳͕̦͚̕t҉̛̻͙̦͎͚͓͝͞h͚̮̱͖͍͓͍̼̲̲͔̻̹͍̼͍̹̕͠ȩ̡̛̬̣̜͙͕̠̯̜̲̘̬̬̜̭̼͔̤̥r̨͏̡̢̖̱̠̻̙͍̜̥̺͔͙ͅ.͞͡͏͉͖̙̦̥͍
One.
̨̜̟̗͙͈̲̮͚̪͉̦̠̣͡T̞͕̞̞̭̞̀ͅh̴̛̀͏̧̜͖̝̻̭̙̼͈͍͚̼̟͚̝̫͕͇ͅi̧̗̱̯̺̹̺̻͚̭̪͞s҉̦͖̘̦̝̭͚̣͓̯͙͓̟̺̀͘͞ͅ ̛̣͎͖̱̙͎̫̮͇̼̤ì̶͉̭̲̟̣̟͔̩̣͕͙͔̥͚̱ś̴͏͈̻͕̦̪̻̗̥̖̗̥͙̹͓͢,̶̸̛͖̪̺̺̝̝̙̖͖̱͚͘
̴̢̻͕͚̞̼̞͕̬̤̼͓͉͓̼̝̠̗͍͞
Two.
o͈̟̼͞ṵ̱̭̥̭̪͙̀r̨͇̝̯̥̘͍͉ ͓͍͜w̜̜̲̩͓͡ͅa̗̰̟͉̝̙ͅr̳.̘̤
Harkins didn't even have time to register when events had been lifted out of his hands. the only thing he could feel was that somehow another forces had taken control of events, and that everything would somehow work out so long as he played his part.
So he closed his eyes again.
Quaram was lost to panic and fear - his part to play was the soldier, the disbelief - he would come around again when his role was to be played.
Larrissa's hands where being guided by a greater force, she was needed to play many roles, in many places - for now she would evade and dodge, her role fulfilled.
Kialya was touching the divine, out of his reach - the very edged of her mind where parley his his powers - she was dancing on the dark light he had seen over the surface of Scythia when his own mind had opened, he could feel the strings of something far greater pulling at her, guiding her - guiding him, but he could not sense their true power, motive or identity, that was being held from him - forcefully.
So he pushed his mind back into himself. Filling the voids he had left empty for the time between time - the inescapable moments when the mind had nothing to do but fill it's own void - so he extended outwards once more. He filled the minds and voiced of the Last Orders, The Scythian battleship above with doubt and misjudgement - causing unparalleled destruction around them but thankfully letting the Mercury Summer shoot unscathed through the melee.
As the ship lowered to being below civilian airspace and into the roadways and beating heart of the empire he could feel another threat growing - the resolute mind of the captain above was getting ready to launch the anti-matter missile he had threatened them with into the midst of a drumming civilian metropolis.
A world formerly filled with black and white was now paletted by a realm of gray as he watched the freighter vessel evade the barrage of firepower with the speed and grace of a vessel far smaller than it's size before it then dived beneath the cloud and into the realm of civilian airspace, where sensors where dragged down by having to identify and catalogue other targets before feeding that information to weapon consoles and officers backed up with AI support having to choose each shot before they opened fire.
Each time the weapons lined up a shot it was a choice of life or death, as each missed shot would impact on civilians below, buildings full of innocents, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children - filling his resolute crew with fear and guilt for every shot missed meant the deaths of dozens, if not the hundreds.
He watched the craft dance through the sensor nets, weaving through target solutions and alert markers as if they where not even there. Playing a mockery to his attempts to reign control over the events taking place as the mighty battleship dropped from high orbit into the stratosphere below.
"Get me a firing solution for that missile" The captain finally resolved himself to announce as the chaos around him finally resolved into a grim finalization.
---
On the bridge of the Mercury Summer Larissa danced her fingers through the combination of the twin control yolks and the various holographic controls that projected themselves both from around them and the spaces beyond as she pushed the Q ship father and farther than it had ever been pushed before.
The ships engines squealed through the air as the baffle plated burned white with the heat from the engines pushed air and pressure aside with ease, screeching through the atmosphere like a super-powered projectile, the vessel yanked to and fro between civilian traffic.
Quaram gripped onto the edges of the console in front of him as the sky and the ground became uncomfortable bedfellows. He turned his head from one side to the other as he watched Larissa attempt to navigate through the all too literal shit storm being projected in front of him, or to Harkins sat as the image of serenity sat to his left.
Inside his head he prayed some form of shot prayer to the Scythian Maidens of old that consisted of "Get me out of this" and "save my soul" while being mixed with a sea of profanity and other terms that he refused to repeat even in the company he now held.
Larrissa however was in some form of "zen" element, if she had anything that could be described as one, somehow having Harkins back had brought some kind of unseen calm over her hands had she guided the unwieldy but nimble bulk of the former merchant vessel through the swath of civilian vessels until she had reached the tips of the highest city buildings and non-arcology towers - guiding the ship one step ahead through the tips of the endless Scythian metropolis below.
Harkins however was the one responsible for the spreading serenity from himself to Larrissa as he spread his rapidly expanding consciousness and pre-cognisance from his own mind to her own to allow her a moment of mental grace, a bubble of pure clarity - weather she realised it or not - to dodge the incoming fire from the battleship above while the ships FTL drive charged enough for some type of escape from the homeworld.
Kialya however hung at the back of the bridge - steadying herself in the open doorway of the bridge watching the whole event take place, the impossibility of everything taking place in front of her was like watching something out of an action movie vid file - the epic acts of dodging near death strikes, everyone somehow working together to save the vessel from certain doom, the inaction or inability of those above to either contain or control the situation, she could feel a distant nibble of . . . something at the edges of her mind she tried to pack away into a distant corner, yet every time she tried it cam back once more with a vengeance, every last minute yank of the controls, every death defying feat, everything she saw could not help but feel somehow "wrong" in the back of her head.
And it was not working.
She watched the ship pull lower, closer to the surface - through hover cars and tankers, through the dregs of the very lives she was trying to protect, trying to maintain - every single fibre of her being was trying to tell her there was something wrong with just about everything she could see in front of her.
Just at that very moment she heard a voice cry out to her from across the room,
"Would you mind shutting up and I will fracking well explain it too you later!"
Kialya looked across to see the voice had come from Harkins, his concentration visibly broken, but not from the madness inside - no - this was more internal, his attempts to solve everything going on around them had been broken from within,
From her.
"Kialya" His voice somehow spoke without words "If you have any kind of inner sanctum I suggest you visit it now, before everything here goes to hell in a handbasket - I - Will - Tell - You - Later
Somehow, the words had entered her mind - she stood, watched and registered "hearing" every word without watching his jaw, or even his mouth move once - all she could perceive was the ice like glare in his eyes and the steady breathing in his chest.
She closed her eyes - both the thinking part and the animal part of her mind chose to trust him in this gesture as she felt the hull of the ship move around her as she attempted to concentrate.
First on the Scythian Anthem.
But that failed, considering all she had seen and done in the last hour and her current enemy - so she moved again.
So she moved on.
She attempted to hum the theme for a pop music song, any pop music song.
Panic rose within her, she found herself not knowing anything, her mind and memory had failed her at the moment she needed it most. She simply didn't know anything about how to be a civilian any more, let alone civilian music.
So she tried something simpler.
The ship jerked down, hard - and then to the right.
She focused inwards, on her heart beat.
Somewhere while counting the rhythm she found a moment of serenity.
One. Two.
One. Two.
One. Two.
It wasn't like focusing on a pulse, it was more . . . simple . . . more . . . direct . . .
One. Two.
One. O҉̪̝͈̙̯̥͇h͚̲̮̬͎͍̞͜.͚͕̬͕̞̀ͅ
One. Two
Oh̹̭̣͡ ̷My̺̲ͅ.̹̖͖̮̠͚
One. B̙̘r̢͓͉̰͔͖̞̲o̹̗̲̼͠ͅt̘h̝̟̯̪e̖̫̼̼̟̻͝r̤.̼̖̗͙͚̪͇
Two.
One.
One. Two
D̛͘҉̶̤͚̹̫̞̭͢o͏̛̯̝̩̬̟̩̬̟̲̤͔͇͕̹̜͉͈̣͘ṉ̢͈͎̩͓͇̭̯̳͞'̴̨̘͍̼͓͝t̺̺̖̹̟͞ ̵̵͔̤͈̯̫̬͈̣̖̺͙̩͍̞̗̀͞b̸҉̸̡̥̜̱̜̫̖̫̟͝é̷̡͏̳̯̼̦͍͙̪̣͚̱̠̩.̴̧̛͔̮̝̠͡͠ͅ
Afraid.
One.
Ẃ͞҉̨̩̗̼͉̠̥͓̯̹̮͍̳̞e̢͓̞̯͓̞̰͉͎͚̹̮̠͓̠͈͜͡͞͝ ̶͇͖͙͈̯̖̥̝̣̻͚͎͍͘ͅa̶̛͈̗͔͚̱̤̺͠͠ͅŗ͍͎̤̦̪͎̣̘̰͈͙͚͓̞̞̠͙̀́ͅę̱͖̣̲̟͚̟̗͔̗̮̥̀͜.̜͇̜̮̗̰͎̖͖̟̼͕͈̰̱̳̜̦̪͟͟
͞͏̴̺̹͉̣̦̬͘
̶̷̰̫̬̖̘̣͎͉͈̯
Two.
T̡̻̪̘̥̰̼̳͖̗̱̼̗̙̗͇͕́͡ớ̶̵̡̲͔͓̹͈̹̰̭ͅg̢̛̛̖̳̘̦̪̺̝͉̀͡ȩ̛̞̼̖̯̬̜̥̰͇̳͕̦͚̕t҉̛̻͙̦͎͚͓͝͞h͚̮̱͖͍͓͍̼̲̲͔̻̹͍̼͍̹̕͠ȩ̡̛̬̣̜͙͕̠̯̜̲̘̬̬̜̭̼͔̤̥r̨͏̡̢̖̱̠̻̙͍̜̥̺͔͙ͅ.͞͡͏͉͖̙̦̥͍
One.
̨̜̟̗͙͈̲̮͚̪͉̦̠̣͡T̞͕̞̞̭̞̀ͅh̴̛̀͏̧̜͖̝̻̭̙̼͈͍͚̼̟͚̝̫͕͇ͅi̧̗̱̯̺̹̺̻͚̭̪͞s҉̦͖̘̦̝̭͚̣͓̯͙͓̟̺̀͘͞ͅ ̛̣͎͖̱̙͎̫̮͇̼̤ì̶͉̭̲̟̣̟͔̩̣͕͙͔̥͚̱ś̴͏͈̻͕̦̪̻̗̥̖̗̥͙̹͓͢,̶̸̛͖̪̺̺̝̝̙̖͖̱͚͘
̴̢̻͕͚̞̼̞͕̬̤̼͓͉͓̼̝̠̗͍͞
Two.
o͈̟̼͞ṵ̱̭̥̭̪͙̀r̨͇̝̯̥̘͍͉ ͓͍͜w̜̜̲̩͓͡ͅa̗̰̟͉̝̙ͅr̳.̘̤
Harkins didn't even have time to register when events had been lifted out of his hands. the only thing he could feel was that somehow another forces had taken control of events, and that everything would somehow work out so long as he played his part.
So he closed his eyes again.
Quaram was lost to panic and fear - his part to play was the soldier, the disbelief - he would come around again when his role was to be played.
Larrissa's hands where being guided by a greater force, she was needed to play many roles, in many places - for now she would evade and dodge, her role fulfilled.
Kialya was touching the divine, out of his reach - the very edged of her mind where parley his his powers - she was dancing on the dark light he had seen over the surface of Scythia when his own mind had opened, he could feel the strings of something far greater pulling at her, guiding her - guiding him, but he could not sense their true power, motive or identity, that was being held from him - forcefully.
So he pushed his mind back into himself. Filling the voids he had left empty for the time between time - the inescapable moments when the mind had nothing to do but fill it's own void - so he extended outwards once more. He filled the minds and voiced of the Last Orders, The Scythian battleship above with doubt and misjudgement - causing unparalleled destruction around them but thankfully letting the Mercury Summer shoot unscathed through the melee.
As the ship lowered to being below civilian airspace and into the roadways and beating heart of the empire he could feel another threat growing - the resolute mind of the captain above was getting ready to launch the anti-matter missile he had threatened them with into the midst of a drumming civilian metropolis.
-
The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
- Posts: 2295
- Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:22 am
- Location: Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales, U.K, Earth, Sol, Milky Way, Local Cluster, Universe.
Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:45 pm
(Listening for the final part of the second arc = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7mXXqfVeGc)
Sky. Clouds. Flight. Fight. War.
The Mercury Summer shot from left to right, up and down - through swaths of laser fire.
The Last Orders hung in the sky, it's captain absolute - it's crew directed.
The missile moved from it's hauling - an automated arm lifting it from its moors to the launch tube.
The gunnery officer questioned the orders internally - his mind racing as his fingers keyed in the authorization codes on his screen.
The lieutenant stood resolute - he relayed the orders back and forth.
The psychic read all but could do nothing.
Kialya stood on the edge of destiny - her faith in the crew around her unwavering as she watched the screen count down to a Faster than Light jump.
Larissa - the pilot moved her hands, a moment of serene grace.
Quaram - the soldier stood useless, watching as witness.
The missile moved from hold to tube, command codes relayed - it fired in a plume of fury.
Clouds parted - the city beneath burned.
In darkened rooms, villains beyond good and evil watched as their plots had been interrupted - not thrown asunder by a wild card out of their reach.
Lord Hearcer, the fake emperor.
The Emperor of the Scythian Emperor - the genocidal puppet king.
The Entity - a weave of colour upon the realm digital.
The Mercury Summer plummeted as the countdown reached single figures - the ethereal powers that governed point to point teleportation parted in a cascade of lovecraftian mathematics.
Beauty and horror in a solid state drive. Spooled to break reality.
The missile fell. All systems on target. Detonation in t-minus -
The countdown hit zero - the Mercury Summer filled with hope, flee, despair.
Kialya orders the jump, as the Mercury summer passes below a kilometer from ground level.
- - -
The Scythian fleet defenses had been perfected over five centuries - overlapping fields designed to knock out all forms of faster than light travel, hyperspace, warp drive, slip space, worm holes - backed up by fleets, space stations - buoy systems, every single piece designed to play a part in the greater defense of the shining jewel of the Scythian empire.
But in all those centuries - it had never been designed to account for severe gravity fields - such as those created by the planet itself.
But, jumping inside of a planets gravity field would be suicide - ships would jump directly into solid rock, or too far inside atmosphere to stop themselves from colliding violently with the ground - and no ship in the universe would be able to spool their drives fast enough to jump into atmosphere and then back out again - and those that could would be tactically useless, denying themselves the benefits of having a ship already in orbit.
But - in all those years not one person had every thought of the concept of a ship already in flight, jumping away from a world where the field would be at its weakest - at near ground level.
- - -
The Mercury Summer winked out of existence as its hull scraped the tallest tip of the lowest skyscrapers - the void left by its presence sucking in air as differences in pressure took their tole.
The fate of the missile, the city below and the Last Orders.
Unknown.
Sky. Clouds. Flight. Fight. War.
The Mercury Summer shot from left to right, up and down - through swaths of laser fire.
The Last Orders hung in the sky, it's captain absolute - it's crew directed.
The missile moved from it's hauling - an automated arm lifting it from its moors to the launch tube.
The gunnery officer questioned the orders internally - his mind racing as his fingers keyed in the authorization codes on his screen.
The lieutenant stood resolute - he relayed the orders back and forth.
The psychic read all but could do nothing.
Kialya stood on the edge of destiny - her faith in the crew around her unwavering as she watched the screen count down to a Faster than Light jump.
Larissa - the pilot moved her hands, a moment of serene grace.
Quaram - the soldier stood useless, watching as witness.
The missile moved from hold to tube, command codes relayed - it fired in a plume of fury.
Clouds parted - the city beneath burned.
In darkened rooms, villains beyond good and evil watched as their plots had been interrupted - not thrown asunder by a wild card out of their reach.
Lord Hearcer, the fake emperor.
The Emperor of the Scythian Emperor - the genocidal puppet king.
The Entity - a weave of colour upon the realm digital.
The Mercury Summer plummeted as the countdown reached single figures - the ethereal powers that governed point to point teleportation parted in a cascade of lovecraftian mathematics.
Beauty and horror in a solid state drive. Spooled to break reality.
The missile fell. All systems on target. Detonation in t-minus -
The countdown hit zero - the Mercury Summer filled with hope, flee, despair.
Kialya orders the jump, as the Mercury summer passes below a kilometer from ground level.
- - -
The Scythian fleet defenses had been perfected over five centuries - overlapping fields designed to knock out all forms of faster than light travel, hyperspace, warp drive, slip space, worm holes - backed up by fleets, space stations - buoy systems, every single piece designed to play a part in the greater defense of the shining jewel of the Scythian empire.
But in all those centuries - it had never been designed to account for severe gravity fields - such as those created by the planet itself.
But, jumping inside of a planets gravity field would be suicide - ships would jump directly into solid rock, or too far inside atmosphere to stop themselves from colliding violently with the ground - and no ship in the universe would be able to spool their drives fast enough to jump into atmosphere and then back out again - and those that could would be tactically useless, denying themselves the benefits of having a ship already in orbit.
But - in all those years not one person had every thought of the concept of a ship already in flight, jumping away from a world where the field would be at its weakest - at near ground level.
- - -
The Mercury Summer winked out of existence as its hull scraped the tallest tip of the lowest skyscrapers - the void left by its presence sucking in air as differences in pressure took their tole.
The fate of the missile, the city below and the Last Orders.
Unknown.
-
The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
- Posts: 2295
- Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:22 am
- Location: Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales, U.K, Earth, Sol, Milky Way, Local Cluster, Universe.
Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:11 am
-- Unknown Location --
-- Scythia System --
"So tell me, what is it I am looking at here?" Lord Hearcer asked aloud to the room full of his most trusted advisors.
The group of Admirals, Generals, SONI Advocates, Civilian specialists - the best and brightest minds in the empire stood together around a holographic projection pit larger than most command decks - at it's heart, the Scythia Systems and defensive fortifications - spreading out in concentric rings in every direction, until they reached the closest inner colonies.
The beating heart of the Scythian empire - being spearheaded by a single red line from above the Galactic disk, the display slowly drew out until it ended at a red mass larger than an entire solar system, moving faster than the speed of light in real time but gradually slowing down.
"We have run every projection we have my Lord" said the 1st Admiral of the Scythian defense fleets "There is no other answer we can give"
The display drew towards the mass as it starting to separate - first into smaller red masses the size of battleships, dreadnoughts and support vessels - anything smaller than a cruiser in mass or size simply turned into a spec of red dust and then was buttplugged away by the display.
The masses then grew in size, to ones the size of moons, then planets - all surrounding a massive triangular mass - a flattened pyramid an entire solar system in length. The heart of the storm.
"This vessel is the core of the fleet - it has been on a pan-galactic voyage from this point of origin" He continued as the display then turned to a distant galaxy that was smothered in a distinct red hue.
"And it is slowing down for system entry - it will arrive within two standard weeks" The admiral continued as the mass met the Scythia system directly from the homeworld itself.
"What we are looking at is a system sized command carrier, dreadnought, fleet yards and invasion fleet as one contained vessel - we estimate an entire 8th of their forces are in this single vessel. Alone." The Admiral let the final word hang in the air for a moment.
"Well over a million ships, that central vessel could contain up to a trillion in ground forces alone. The timing, the destination - nothing can be mistaken. We are looking at the Arrival of the Immortal Flagship and first fleet. They are coming here to Scythia and they will be here within two weeks."
The combined voices of the room began to murmer in a mixture of angst and fear.
"They mean to cut us off at our head Lord - to invade and destroy the Scythia system as an example of what facing against the Immortals means to the future of the Galaxy. Fourteen days from now we will be the front line."
The more pompous voices in the room began to shout into an uproar, arguing amongst themselves until Lord Hearcer cut them short.
"We recall as many fleets as we can - I want the Unbound prepped for combat and in the Rigel Kentaurus system by the end of the week along with every single Diety class dreadnought we have. Pull back every ship we can and activate every reserve. We say nothing of this to the civilian population or to the navy or army - chalk it up as preparations for a coming attack on some outlying system and say nothing else. The news of this WILL. NOT. LEAVE. THIS. ROOM." Lord Hearcer declared.
"Am I clear?"
He looked across the room to a series of nodding faces as those under his command set about their work.
=====
-- Unknown Location --
-- Deep Space --
-- Mercury Summer --
It had been a few short hours since their desperate escape from the homeworld, and a half dozen random FTL jumps had managed to secure the crew of the Mercury Summer some much needed rest.
Quaram stowed away his SIBAS power armor and the PAVL laser cannon before then proceeding to eat an entire days ration worth of bacon and then sleeping like a brick.
Larrissa had instead opted for a long shower before also hitting the bunk - the attempts at keeping everyone alive for so long at the helm of the ship had drained her to wits end.
Kialya sat alone, behind the desk in her small captains quarters - beyond a sink wash and change of clothes she had done nothing but read whenever she wasn't making sure another random jump had kept the people she cared for stayed alive.
And what she read terrified her.
Genetic profiles taken on Psionics and Psionic conditions from almost every race in the galaxy.
Genetic profiles of Shraag thralls - semi internal layouts of a Shraag deathsphere.
Plans for something called Processing/Shackling that didn't seem to be much beyond engineering data and eldritch equations.
And semi-regular reports from Genoad that profiled kidnapping and processing of the worlds civilian and military populations on a massive scale. The numbers boggled her mind - but if she was correct they had managed to steal well over 10 million people . . . for something.
Her mind concocted more nightmares the further she read. It was at this moment Harkins walked through her door without announcing himself first.
"I would say 'penny for your thoughts' but you are screaming on damn near every wavelength. Put the reading down Kialya, we have plenty of time before we arrive at Genoad" He stated, pushing confidence through his tone. Commanding officer or not, it would be best if she just did what he said.
She sighed, resting the bridge of her nose between two fingers and pushing the pad away she then rubbed her eyes and allowed a single tear to escape her eye.
"Harkins, all of this - what we saw back home - this shit in here, I saw a man blow off his own head for this. I saw an entire population in fear and I saw our own troops try to gun us down. What the hell is going on?"
He moved to her side, pulling up the other chair and sitting on it, he reached across and pulled her towards him. Her head came to rest on his shoulders as she finally cried.
"I have no idea Kialya, but all of it's bad" He replied "I saw something over Scythia - it's hard to describe. Like a bad omen trying to become a real thing by force of will . . . Something bad is going to happen there, and soon. Whatever it is, I can't help but think we'll find out more by going to Genoad first."
"Do you think any of this is what the Emperor thought we would find when he sent us out here?"
"I don't know Kialya"
He hugged her from his shoulder into his chest
"I don't know"
-- Scythia System --
"So tell me, what is it I am looking at here?" Lord Hearcer asked aloud to the room full of his most trusted advisors.
The group of Admirals, Generals, SONI Advocates, Civilian specialists - the best and brightest minds in the empire stood together around a holographic projection pit larger than most command decks - at it's heart, the Scythia Systems and defensive fortifications - spreading out in concentric rings in every direction, until they reached the closest inner colonies.
The beating heart of the Scythian empire - being spearheaded by a single red line from above the Galactic disk, the display slowly drew out until it ended at a red mass larger than an entire solar system, moving faster than the speed of light in real time but gradually slowing down.
"We have run every projection we have my Lord" said the 1st Admiral of the Scythian defense fleets "There is no other answer we can give"
The display drew towards the mass as it starting to separate - first into smaller red masses the size of battleships, dreadnoughts and support vessels - anything smaller than a cruiser in mass or size simply turned into a spec of red dust and then was buttplugged away by the display.
The masses then grew in size, to ones the size of moons, then planets - all surrounding a massive triangular mass - a flattened pyramid an entire solar system in length. The heart of the storm.
"This vessel is the core of the fleet - it has been on a pan-galactic voyage from this point of origin" He continued as the display then turned to a distant galaxy that was smothered in a distinct red hue.
"And it is slowing down for system entry - it will arrive within two standard weeks" The admiral continued as the mass met the Scythia system directly from the homeworld itself.
"What we are looking at is a system sized command carrier, dreadnought, fleet yards and invasion fleet as one contained vessel - we estimate an entire 8th of their forces are in this single vessel. Alone." The Admiral let the final word hang in the air for a moment.
"Well over a million ships, that central vessel could contain up to a trillion in ground forces alone. The timing, the destination - nothing can be mistaken. We are looking at the Arrival of the Immortal Flagship and first fleet. They are coming here to Scythia and they will be here within two weeks."
The combined voices of the room began to murmer in a mixture of angst and fear.
"They mean to cut us off at our head Lord - to invade and destroy the Scythia system as an example of what facing against the Immortals means to the future of the Galaxy. Fourteen days from now we will be the front line."
The more pompous voices in the room began to shout into an uproar, arguing amongst themselves until Lord Hearcer cut them short.
"We recall as many fleets as we can - I want the Unbound prepped for combat and in the Rigel Kentaurus system by the end of the week along with every single Diety class dreadnought we have. Pull back every ship we can and activate every reserve. We say nothing of this to the civilian population or to the navy or army - chalk it up as preparations for a coming attack on some outlying system and say nothing else. The news of this WILL. NOT. LEAVE. THIS. ROOM." Lord Hearcer declared.
"Am I clear?"
He looked across the room to a series of nodding faces as those under his command set about their work.
=====
-- Unknown Location --
-- Deep Space --
-- Mercury Summer --
It had been a few short hours since their desperate escape from the homeworld, and a half dozen random FTL jumps had managed to secure the crew of the Mercury Summer some much needed rest.
Quaram stowed away his SIBAS power armor and the PAVL laser cannon before then proceeding to eat an entire days ration worth of bacon and then sleeping like a brick.
Larrissa had instead opted for a long shower before also hitting the bunk - the attempts at keeping everyone alive for so long at the helm of the ship had drained her to wits end.
Kialya sat alone, behind the desk in her small captains quarters - beyond a sink wash and change of clothes she had done nothing but read whenever she wasn't making sure another random jump had kept the people she cared for stayed alive.
And what she read terrified her.
Genetic profiles taken on Psionics and Psionic conditions from almost every race in the galaxy.
Genetic profiles of Shraag thralls - semi internal layouts of a Shraag deathsphere.
Plans for something called Processing/Shackling that didn't seem to be much beyond engineering data and eldritch equations.
And semi-regular reports from Genoad that profiled kidnapping and processing of the worlds civilian and military populations on a massive scale. The numbers boggled her mind - but if she was correct they had managed to steal well over 10 million people . . . for something.
Her mind concocted more nightmares the further she read. It was at this moment Harkins walked through her door without announcing himself first.
"I would say 'penny for your thoughts' but you are screaming on damn near every wavelength. Put the reading down Kialya, we have plenty of time before we arrive at Genoad" He stated, pushing confidence through his tone. Commanding officer or not, it would be best if she just did what he said.
She sighed, resting the bridge of her nose between two fingers and pushing the pad away she then rubbed her eyes and allowed a single tear to escape her eye.
"Harkins, all of this - what we saw back home - this shit in here, I saw a man blow off his own head for this. I saw an entire population in fear and I saw our own troops try to gun us down. What the hell is going on?"
He moved to her side, pulling up the other chair and sitting on it, he reached across and pulled her towards him. Her head came to rest on his shoulders as she finally cried.
"I have no idea Kialya, but all of it's bad" He replied "I saw something over Scythia - it's hard to describe. Like a bad omen trying to become a real thing by force of will . . . Something bad is going to happen there, and soon. Whatever it is, I can't help but think we'll find out more by going to Genoad first."
"Do you think any of this is what the Emperor thought we would find when he sent us out here?"
"I don't know Kialya"
He hugged her from his shoulder into his chest
"I don't know"
-
The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
- Posts: 2295
- Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:22 am
- Location: Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales, U.K, Earth, Sol, Milky Way, Local Cluster, Universe.
Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Tue Apr 26, 2016 8:30 am
-- FICO SYSTEM --
-- TWO DAYS EARLIER --
Lord Shadowscythe sat alone in the darkened room - almost pitch black except for the small holodisplay on standby projecting a loose orange fog over the desk.
On the desk - a half dozen datapads containing schematics and assault plans for a ship he had known so little about until his return to the Immortal battlestation currently taking up residence in the husk of a dead world.
The ship in question was the single largest vessel the Scythian race had ever undertaken to build - based off of the Diety class Super-Dreadnaught but amplified to be almost three times larger in every aspect. The "Unbound" class Hyper-Dreadnaught. With a crew compliment easily moving into the region of one hundred thousand hands not including security forces it was nothing more than a weaponised nation in space, its hull carrying no less than 6 of the now renowned Anti-Matter projectors that it's older sisters boasted. Enough firepower to utterly decimate an entire galactic arm in a few simple hours by doing more than rotating its cannons and jump drives in sequence. Jump to a star system, fire just one of it's 6 main guns and then jumping to the next star system and repeating the process. By the time all six had fired the first cannon would be recharged and operational once more.
Mutually Assured Destruction for any race dumb enough or arrogant enough to assault the Scythian Empire ever again - the end of a technological arms race of mutual arrogance that started so many years ago when the Immortal Empire arrived on the scene.
And the Immortals in their unlimited reserves of arrogance and balls-to-the-walls stupidity had chosen to assault it before it could become operational. Not to destroy the vessel, but rather to to cripple it and steal it's primary reactor core - a battleship scaled Antimatter Generator that provided the power to every weapon system on the vessel.
When asked about it Lord Warhead had uttered nothing more than "needing to make a delivery" and then returned to the preparations.
Lord Shadowscythe however had decided the time had finally come for the "fucking drink" he had been needing for a long, long time.
One empty bottle of Polonian vodka sat on the desk, at the start he had been using a mixer to make it easier to drink, halfway through he ran out of mixers and instead opted to down shot after shot, coming to like the eventual burn that the caustic liquid created down his throat.
Another bottle was sat on the desk, a far darker bottle of United Systems Alliance Dack Janiels. He had drank through a quarter of the bottle already. The room felt as it it was spinning, so he instead had chosen to close his eyes and ignore it.
It only made the spinning worse.
So instead he opted to think about the events of his trip through time and work his way through that mental cluster fuck of an operation - starting on the Tiara moon and then rushing through the apocalypse before then ending with a brief encounter with an awakening alien god.
Oh yeah, and Warhead coming back from the dead.
Bastard.
In the end, the corrosive thought train of trying to work out how the fuck to betray events that had not happened yet went to the wayside in a drunken stupor and a string of mental associations that roughly went from "Fuck everything"
to "Fuck this"
which was then shortly followed by "Fuck you"
And then a triumphant "Fuck him"
Which ended with the returning set of second and third thoughts that reminded him that to swear like a Scythian he needed to use the word "Frack" instead and that he had spent to much time around Warhead regardless.
He then fell sideways in his chair, before colliding with the ground.
And promptly vomiting.
Once the tail end of the acidic bile left his throat and dripped from his lips to the floor he finally pushed himself triumphantly backwards. Satisfied with the fact he had managed to push himself away from his own puke he finally slurred out a resounding "Fuck Warhead."
"Yeah, Fuck him. Bastard"
And Lord Shadowscythe finally, fell unconscious.
-----
Several floors away Lord Warhead watched the entire event taking place from a series of bugs planted in Lord Shadowscythe room prior to his arrival. The event had taken place several hours ago but he still found the entire thing more than a little funny.
"Wow, that ponced up little Scythian princess really does know how to hate doesn't he?" Lord Warhead said aloud to no-one in particular.
"too bad the little shit can't even hold his drink" He finally finished, before Lord Warhead picked up his own drink, and downed it in one go before wandering off to his own private quarters and wondering which pleasure slave he would have the duty of pounding tonight.
-- TWO DAYS EARLIER --
Lord Shadowscythe sat alone in the darkened room - almost pitch black except for the small holodisplay on standby projecting a loose orange fog over the desk.
On the desk - a half dozen datapads containing schematics and assault plans for a ship he had known so little about until his return to the Immortal battlestation currently taking up residence in the husk of a dead world.
The ship in question was the single largest vessel the Scythian race had ever undertaken to build - based off of the Diety class Super-Dreadnaught but amplified to be almost three times larger in every aspect. The "Unbound" class Hyper-Dreadnaught. With a crew compliment easily moving into the region of one hundred thousand hands not including security forces it was nothing more than a weaponised nation in space, its hull carrying no less than 6 of the now renowned Anti-Matter projectors that it's older sisters boasted. Enough firepower to utterly decimate an entire galactic arm in a few simple hours by doing more than rotating its cannons and jump drives in sequence. Jump to a star system, fire just one of it's 6 main guns and then jumping to the next star system and repeating the process. By the time all six had fired the first cannon would be recharged and operational once more.
Mutually Assured Destruction for any race dumb enough or arrogant enough to assault the Scythian Empire ever again - the end of a technological arms race of mutual arrogance that started so many years ago when the Immortal Empire arrived on the scene.
And the Immortals in their unlimited reserves of arrogance and balls-to-the-walls stupidity had chosen to assault it before it could become operational. Not to destroy the vessel, but rather to to cripple it and steal it's primary reactor core - a battleship scaled Antimatter Generator that provided the power to every weapon system on the vessel.
When asked about it Lord Warhead had uttered nothing more than "needing to make a delivery" and then returned to the preparations.
Lord Shadowscythe however had decided the time had finally come for the "fucking drink" he had been needing for a long, long time.
One empty bottle of Polonian vodka sat on the desk, at the start he had been using a mixer to make it easier to drink, halfway through he ran out of mixers and instead opted to down shot after shot, coming to like the eventual burn that the caustic liquid created down his throat.
Another bottle was sat on the desk, a far darker bottle of United Systems Alliance Dack Janiels. He had drank through a quarter of the bottle already. The room felt as it it was spinning, so he instead had chosen to close his eyes and ignore it.
It only made the spinning worse.
So instead he opted to think about the events of his trip through time and work his way through that mental cluster fuck of an operation - starting on the Tiara moon and then rushing through the apocalypse before then ending with a brief encounter with an awakening alien god.
Oh yeah, and Warhead coming back from the dead.
Bastard.
In the end, the corrosive thought train of trying to work out how the fuck to betray events that had not happened yet went to the wayside in a drunken stupor and a string of mental associations that roughly went from "Fuck everything"
to "Fuck this"
which was then shortly followed by "Fuck you"
And then a triumphant "Fuck him"
Which ended with the returning set of second and third thoughts that reminded him that to swear like a Scythian he needed to use the word "Frack" instead and that he had spent to much time around Warhead regardless.
He then fell sideways in his chair, before colliding with the ground.
And promptly vomiting.
Once the tail end of the acidic bile left his throat and dripped from his lips to the floor he finally pushed himself triumphantly backwards. Satisfied with the fact he had managed to push himself away from his own puke he finally slurred out a resounding "Fuck Warhead."
"Yeah, Fuck him. Bastard"
And Lord Shadowscythe finally, fell unconscious.
-----
Several floors away Lord Warhead watched the entire event taking place from a series of bugs planted in Lord Shadowscythe room prior to his arrival. The event had taken place several hours ago but he still found the entire thing more than a little funny.
"Wow, that ponced up little Scythian princess really does know how to hate doesn't he?" Lord Warhead said aloud to no-one in particular.
"too bad the little shit can't even hold his drink" He finally finished, before Lord Warhead picked up his own drink, and downed it in one go before wandering off to his own private quarters and wondering which pleasure slave he would have the duty of pounding tonight.
-
The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
- Posts: 2295
- Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:22 am
- Location: Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales, U.K, Earth, Sol, Milky Way, Local Cluster, Universe.
Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Thu Feb 02, 2017 6:26 pm
Under the baleful light of the distant star of Genoad a blissful blue orb span in the darkness.
Beyond the scope of the solar disc a spark of exotic matter and mathematic concepts burst through the dimensions of the universe and spat out a form of titanium and steel which then ignited it's burners and sped into the system.
The Mercury Summer had arrived.
Kialya sat tense on the bridge, it had taken many hours of fraught tension and FTL jumps to reach their destination. The homeworld of the Genoan system was a Scythian ally, their people tied to the future of the Immortal war - to arrive like this in secret as investigators, practically as inquisitors.
The emotions did not sit right with her, even as she ordered Larissa to burn the engines and set a course for the world of endless seas she felt a rising feeling of dread from her aomach. For lack of any other way to describe it, a fist had her intestines in its grasp and was busy trying to force them upwards through her throat. Attempting to push the feeling of intense unease to one side she focused on the holographic displays in front of her.
The Genoad system had been granted the boon of Scythian technology and assistance so that their people could help turn the tide of the Immortal war, but they where still young - almost 800 years behind Scythian standard technology. For every technology they grasped and utilised, there where a dozen more to be learned. As a result, the Star system itself was mostly empty apart from a few battleship class vessels built before the Genoan people lost access to the Rigel Kentaurus shipyards, and those vessels alone where tied up in Genoan red tape as no one faction could control them, a recent coup had killed off the head of the ruling family clans and the result was devastating. The remaining heads of the Genoan military refused to do any action one way or another and the result was the few vessels capable of helping the war effort being stuck in orbit as the galaxy burned around them.
Terse minutes passed as the Mercury Summer moved slowly towards the system, the crew managed to drop their guard as the local comm bouy accepted their Ident codes and granted their clearance to land on the distant world.
Which was precisely when everything went to hell.
Beyond the scope of the solar disc a spark of exotic matter and mathematic concepts burst through the dimensions of the universe and spat out a form of titanium and steel which then ignited it's burners and sped into the system.
The Mercury Summer had arrived.
Kialya sat tense on the bridge, it had taken many hours of fraught tension and FTL jumps to reach their destination. The homeworld of the Genoan system was a Scythian ally, their people tied to the future of the Immortal war - to arrive like this in secret as investigators, practically as inquisitors.
The emotions did not sit right with her, even as she ordered Larissa to burn the engines and set a course for the world of endless seas she felt a rising feeling of dread from her aomach. For lack of any other way to describe it, a fist had her intestines in its grasp and was busy trying to force them upwards through her throat. Attempting to push the feeling of intense unease to one side she focused on the holographic displays in front of her.
The Genoad system had been granted the boon of Scythian technology and assistance so that their people could help turn the tide of the Immortal war, but they where still young - almost 800 years behind Scythian standard technology. For every technology they grasped and utilised, there where a dozen more to be learned. As a result, the Star system itself was mostly empty apart from a few battleship class vessels built before the Genoan people lost access to the Rigel Kentaurus shipyards, and those vessels alone where tied up in Genoan red tape as no one faction could control them, a recent coup had killed off the head of the ruling family clans and the result was devastating. The remaining heads of the Genoan military refused to do any action one way or another and the result was the few vessels capable of helping the war effort being stuck in orbit as the galaxy burned around them.
Terse minutes passed as the Mercury Summer moved slowly towards the system, the crew managed to drop their guard as the local comm bouy accepted their Ident codes and granted their clearance to land on the distant world.
Which was precisely when everything went to hell.
-
The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
- Posts: 2295
- Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:22 am
- Location: Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales, U.K, Earth, Sol, Milky Way, Local Cluster, Universe.
Re: Betrayals (A Scythian Short)
by The Shadowscythe » Fri Feb 03, 2017 11:36 am
"We've been pinged under active targeting!" Larissa screamed as the bridge lights instantly dimmed and turned to the low red glow of battle readiness.
Kialya pulled up the stream of RADAR, LIDAR and active sensor array data - most ships carried a set of passive sensor arrays used for navigation and general information - active targeting was akin to blasting a ship with over a dozen form of sensing arrays to gather data from its silhouette and blast it to atoms, which was going to be happening very quickly unless the crew of the Mercury Summer managed to do something about it.
There was at least an upside to active targeting, if someone had pinged you - under normal circumstances it lit the offending vessel up as the ECM equivalent of a Saturnalia tree, which would allow those under attack the chance to return fire on their attacker.
Which is when the lightening bolt of utter fear shot down Kialyas spine - the target ping seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, and there was not one vessel close enough to be projecting that level of coverage.
Which presented too many alternatives for her to think about, but the first and only viable outcome was that their cover was blown.
"Gun the engines to full speed and divert power to the shields, deploy the Laser cannons and prepare for combat!" She yelled to the confined bridge crew as the Mercury Summer dropped her cargo ship illusions and showed her teeth. The outer armor compartments split and opened to reveal the two triple barreled laser cannons as they extended to firing positions, heat sinks blasting out overamped wattage into the dark as they hunted for targets.
"We are armed for combat and approaching full speed, Genoan vessels are confused and hailing us - otherwise they are staying put" Larissa read aloud from her displays "No - wait"
Kialya looked over to her pilot in confusion as Larissa continued to interpret the information in front of her.
"All the Genoan vessels have just shut down their reactors . . . they are dead in the water. What the Fra-"
Suddenly the warning alarms on the bridge burst into life spitting an evil tone across the room.
"ENERGY SPIKE! DIRECTLY BEHIND US AT A RANGE OF TEN THOUSAND KM! IT'S AN ANTIMATTER PROJECTOR!" Quaram yelled from the other console as Kialya went white and her hands gripped into the padded arms of the command position.
"HARD TO PORT AND FIRE EMERGENCY THRUSTERS!" She yelled as the white hot lance fired from behind the Mercury Summer.
It erupted through space as a knife of put heat - it sheared through the ships shields and then impacted on the port side engines and passed out through the other side. Antimatter spread from the initial point and catalysed matter into an explosion of enormous power.
The Mercury Summers damage control systems only just activated and shut the blast doors as the explosion ripped through the entire compartment and vented the entire contents of what used to be several hundred thousand credits worth of drive systems into the void beyond.
"WE'VE LOST TWENTY PERCENT OF THE OXYGEN! SECONDARY ENGINE IS GONE! POWER RESERVES ARE DROPPING AND WE HAVE NO SHIELDS OR WEAPONS!" Quaram yelled across the bridge - smoke from the lost drive section had poured into the rest of the ship as the blast ripped through the ship - several access panels now sparked as fuses and tripped switches cut off systems throughout the ship.
The stricken vessel continued to twist on its axis through space as it's momentum carried it towards the world beyond.
In the distance another Scythian vessel appeared - not from FTL. It had dropped the light-bending cloaking array that had been designed specifically for it's class.
The shadow cast the un-mistakable shape of a Despot Class Cruiser, it's Antimatter projector barely needed to cool after it's minimum power shot. It barely needed to keep match with it's prey, the sensor net projected by the thousand plus micro-sat systems in extended orbits around Genoad meant they didn't even need to actively track the Q-ship.
On it's darkened Bridge a single being stood, smiling from ear to ear with a malice that non-engineered flesh would never be able to maintain.
Karsus had his prey.
Kialya pulled up the stream of RADAR, LIDAR and active sensor array data - most ships carried a set of passive sensor arrays used for navigation and general information - active targeting was akin to blasting a ship with over a dozen form of sensing arrays to gather data from its silhouette and blast it to atoms, which was going to be happening very quickly unless the crew of the Mercury Summer managed to do something about it.
There was at least an upside to active targeting, if someone had pinged you - under normal circumstances it lit the offending vessel up as the ECM equivalent of a Saturnalia tree, which would allow those under attack the chance to return fire on their attacker.
Which is when the lightening bolt of utter fear shot down Kialyas spine - the target ping seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, and there was not one vessel close enough to be projecting that level of coverage.
Which presented too many alternatives for her to think about, but the first and only viable outcome was that their cover was blown.
"Gun the engines to full speed and divert power to the shields, deploy the Laser cannons and prepare for combat!" She yelled to the confined bridge crew as the Mercury Summer dropped her cargo ship illusions and showed her teeth. The outer armor compartments split and opened to reveal the two triple barreled laser cannons as they extended to firing positions, heat sinks blasting out overamped wattage into the dark as they hunted for targets.
"We are armed for combat and approaching full speed, Genoan vessels are confused and hailing us - otherwise they are staying put" Larissa read aloud from her displays "No - wait"
Kialya looked over to her pilot in confusion as Larissa continued to interpret the information in front of her.
"All the Genoan vessels have just shut down their reactors . . . they are dead in the water. What the Fra-"
Suddenly the warning alarms on the bridge burst into life spitting an evil tone across the room.
"ENERGY SPIKE! DIRECTLY BEHIND US AT A RANGE OF TEN THOUSAND KM! IT'S AN ANTIMATTER PROJECTOR!" Quaram yelled from the other console as Kialya went white and her hands gripped into the padded arms of the command position.
"HARD TO PORT AND FIRE EMERGENCY THRUSTERS!" She yelled as the white hot lance fired from behind the Mercury Summer.
It erupted through space as a knife of put heat - it sheared through the ships shields and then impacted on the port side engines and passed out through the other side. Antimatter spread from the initial point and catalysed matter into an explosion of enormous power.
The Mercury Summers damage control systems only just activated and shut the blast doors as the explosion ripped through the entire compartment and vented the entire contents of what used to be several hundred thousand credits worth of drive systems into the void beyond.
"WE'VE LOST TWENTY PERCENT OF THE OXYGEN! SECONDARY ENGINE IS GONE! POWER RESERVES ARE DROPPING AND WE HAVE NO SHIELDS OR WEAPONS!" Quaram yelled across the bridge - smoke from the lost drive section had poured into the rest of the ship as the blast ripped through the ship - several access panels now sparked as fuses and tripped switches cut off systems throughout the ship.
The stricken vessel continued to twist on its axis through space as it's momentum carried it towards the world beyond.
In the distance another Scythian vessel appeared - not from FTL. It had dropped the light-bending cloaking array that had been designed specifically for it's class.
The shadow cast the un-mistakable shape of a Despot Class Cruiser, it's Antimatter projector barely needed to cool after it's minimum power shot. It barely needed to keep match with it's prey, the sensor net projected by the thousand plus micro-sat systems in extended orbits around Genoad meant they didn't even need to actively track the Q-ship.
On it's darkened Bridge a single being stood, smiling from ear to ear with a malice that non-engineered flesh would never be able to maintain.
Karsus had his prey.
-
The Shadowscythe - Touch my cloud song and I will fuck you up
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