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Post by Tom on Jan 9, 2013 16:55:53 GMT
Damien Logan sat on an uncomfortable chair waiting outside the Base Commander's office in Area 51. He had been called here by the Base Commander to advise on one of their latest projects which he was hating. He ran a finger around his shirt collar pulling it away for a moment to ease the sensation that it was trying to choke him to death; he despised wearing his old army uniform.
The Commander, a four star general, walked out of his office accompanied by an entourage of military personnel and scientists.
"Good afternoon Captain Logan. This way please" The Commander said as greeting before breezing past Damien followed by his horde of sycophants.
"Your file was passed on to us by Army Intelligence and the other 'Association' that you have been working for"
Damien had caught up to the commander and they were walking side by side down the corridor.
"And what pray tell have these groups told you about me?"
"Just enough to suggest that you are the man we need to talk to about this project"
They all bundled into a lift and took it all the way down to the lowest level almost half a mile below the Nevada Desert. Damien always chuckled when he thought about all the secrets they kept down here that would blow any conspiracy theorist's mind. Eventually the commander led the way out of the lift in a large chamber which was full of ancient artifacts and some pieces of alien technology; all of which had been collected over the centuries by various human organizations.
"We weren't having much success with this project until you and a miss" The commander checked his notes "Kina returned from your quest to find your son"
"Before we underwent our quest in the Pokemon World with Lexi and Nabarl?"
"Yes that's it Captain. We've had people working tirelessly on this project ever since the QA provided us with all the information you had gathered on that nefarious cult of supernatural hunters"
Damien was made to stand in a red square they had painted on the floor while the scientists powered up the machinery.
"So what do you believe this machine will do?" Damien asked
"We think this will help us establish world peace within a matter of months"
"Fascinating"
The machine created a large blue orb suspended between a pair of metal pylons.
"So what does the orb do?"
"Just watch and see Captain"
The orb started to pulse and suddenly seven beams of light shot from Damien's body to the orb bringing him to his knees. He tried to draft something to defend himself but nothing happened.
"Why?" Damien croaked
"We did not do this to you Damien. We didn't intend for this to happen" the commander replied with panic in his voice
Everyone was desperately trying to de-activate the orb when a beam of white light shot into Damien which lifted him off the ground and pulled him towards a portal which was forming in the air below the orb.
After the roughest portal transfer he had ever been through, Damien was deposited in a mount of deep snow which covered nearly all of his body. He slowly dragged himself out of the snow and onto a stone path. He looked up at a wooden sign nearby
"Where the bloody hell is Whiterun?" He asked the empty air.
He stood unsteadily as the cold bit at his body. He had no way of contacting any of his friends at the QA or in any of the other dimensions. Damien threw his head back and roared in frustration at the cloudy heavens above him.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
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Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Jan 11, 2013 13:01:23 GMT
Katara carefully picked her way through the corridors of HQ. She was on her way to the Director's Office, angry that she was still being sent on their missions even though they'd promised to send her home, back to... Them. It was always 'them'. That's what she told herself. 'Them', not 'him'. It hurt less to think of it that way. Lost in her own thoughts, she barely noticed the hive of activity around her. It wasn't until someone crashed into her that she realised what a mess HQ was actually in. "What's going on?" She asked, pulling the man who'd bumped into her out of the way of someone else. "One of our agents has gone missing" he said, starting to leave "Hold it, what do you mean 'missing'?" "We lent him out and he disappeared." Katara gave him a stern look that said 'explain'. "He's not on the world we sent him to, and our contacts there have no idea what happened to him. There was just some light and then he was gone" "Like a portal?" "Sounds that way" "Can you track him?" "Not easily" "Try."
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Post by Tom on Jan 11, 2013 21:14:01 GMT
Damien rubbed his arms as he hurried along the stone path following the sign for Whiterun. 'Your arms can take care of themselves, focus on keeping your chest warm' The words of his winter survival instructor sounded in his head. As he climbed a hill, still following the path he rubbed his chest and torso to help keep his vital organs warm. His uniform may help when around fellow soldiers during peace-time but the minute he got caught up in combat; well it was essentially useless. At a curve in the path leading to the right, he saw there was a campsite on a small plateau. Through the dark and the snow flurry he could just about see the inhabitants who appeared to be some missing link between cats and humans. It seemed that even after all that he had been through in his long life, the universe still held surprises for him. A large walled settlement loomed high above them atop this hill so he continued to follow the path away from the campsite hoping to find somewhere to warm his frankly frozen body.
"Halt! Who goes there?" One of the guards at the main gates demanded. Damien looked at their armour which was a mix of chain mail, leather and fur definately designed to keep the wearer warm no matter the weather. They had the visor down on their helmet but guessing by their voice they were female. His powers were gone and as adept as he was at unarmed combat, he didn't fancy his chances against her warhammer.
"I am a lost traveller; come from the west of these lands. I was seeking to do trade with the settlements around here when my wagon was stolen by bandits. I managed to escape but now I seek food and somewhere warm to rest" Damien answered.
He had used a similar story many a time on his home world when he travelled incognito because as useful as it was being the Prism; people didn't half make a fuss when they knew he was there.
"The city gates are closed to all travellers for the night. They will re-open at dawn tomorrow, if you are desperate for somewhere to stay I suggest you take your chances in the Khajiit camp back down the path or seek shelter in one of the farms down on the lowlands"
Damien looked around him but couldn't see any of these farms that they had mentioned.
"Thank you. I shall ask at the Khajiit camp for their shelter"
Damien made to walk away when the guard grabbed his arm and looked at his face, well he asssumed that she was looking into his face anyway.
"I warn you now sir, that they are a race known for their sneaky ways and I will say no more on the matter"
Damien made his way down to the camp, he may be concerned about somebody trying to pick his poackets but he had very little of value on him and he wasn't a typical traveller either.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Jan 13, 2013 0:22:53 GMT
Katara paced the lab, half-anxious, half-irritated. She could never just leave well enough alone, could she. She had to go asking questions, trying to solve everything. It was in her nature. Stupid nature. Now she'd given up her chance at yelling at the boss to... What? Pace a lab while 'scientists' pretended they knew what they were doing? Oh well, the Director probably wouldn't have seen her anyway. "I thought we all had trackers or something" she pointed out to a nearby scientist, the one who had bumped into her earlier "Why can't you use it to find him?" "He doesn't appear to be on a world we know" he said, a little wary. "Who... Who is it we're missing?" Katara wondered if she'd even know the name "Captain Logan" said a voice behind her "Damien..." Katara whispered "You know him?" "No, I just know of him. A friend told me a story a while back, something about Pokemon or some nonsense... But I know he's powerful. How did this happen?!" "We're still working on that..." said the first scientist "Ok. On my home-world, we have a saying: If something is inexplicable you don't have the technology to understand it yet... Or Elves did it..." "That's a saying?" "We're not a particularly succinct race of people. Anyway, the point is, it has to be explainable in some way - either you don't have the tech to understand it, or it was magic. So which is it?" "Most likely to be magic" "I disagree!" said a third voice "Oh Gods..." Katara sighed "Ok, forget explaining it. Can you recreate it?" Everyone stopped and looked at her as if she'd just proved that God exists and the whole Multiverse was going to Hell all in one go. "What do you mean?" "I don't know, use his tracker to create a portal to him or something? At least then there would be some way to take him supplies. Then you can all sit here figuring it out 'til the end of time if you have to, while resting a little easier in the knowledge that he's probably not dead."
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Post by Tom on Jan 13, 2013 23:45:55 GMT
"Greetings Imperial. Are you here to trade?" One of the Khajiit asked.
Damien stood on the edge of their camp and smiled as warmly as he could at the Khajiit.
"Greetings friend. Yes I would love to do trade with your people but sadly I have very little to offer" Damien admitted.
The Khajiit motioned for him to follow and they both sat cross-legged around one of the campfires amongst other Khajiits. An elder, well Damien guessed it was an elder by the way they walked and the others regarded them was led out of a tent and brought to the campfire. They were helped to sit down opposite Damien.
"My people will gladly trade with you a number of supplies from our caravan's stores in return for the clothes you wear, the gold on your chest and your assistance around the camp" As the elder spoke Damien realised that it was a female, presumably the matriarch that all the other Khajiit looked up to.
"I seek a sheltered place to sleep for this night, warm clothing to wear and some information if your people are prepared to give it, kind elder" Damien told her
"Very well, you shall have what you seek"
They both reached out and shook the other's hand to seal their agreement.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Jan 14, 2013 23:47:35 GMT
"Chick's got a point" said a fourth voice "Call me 'chick' one more time and I'll show you where the point is" Katara hissed, gun-blade swinging in her hand. One or two around her sniggered. The first man looked over his notes. "It could be done" he said, slowly, "provided we have enough power" "You could send someone after him?" "I think so..." "Could we not bring him back?" another chimed in. Katara was starting to get confused as to who everyone was. No, perhaps that wasn't it. What everyone was, that was more likely. Everyone seemed to be a slightly different shape or size... Or colour... "It would be a one-way portal. No fixed point at the other end means no way to make it run both ways" the first said, hesitant "So whoever goes through would be stuck there as well?" Katara asked, making sure she understood exactly what they meant. She had a horrible feeling she knew what was going to happen next. "Don't you mean you?" asked the second scientist "It will be you going through, won't it?" "And why should it be me?" Katara whipped around to face him, eyes narrowed "Well... It was your idea..." 'I knew it...' she thought 'Always have to go opening my big mouth, don't I...' Katara sighed "Shouldn't you be sending one of your top Questers or something?" A few of the scientists chuckled. "D'you know how much trouble we'd get into if we stranded another high-up Quester on a world we can't access?!" laughed the third scientist "It has to be someone no-one would-" the first elbowed him in the side. "...Miss..." Katara finished "No-one would notice my disappearance, some might actually enjoy the fact that I'm no longer here to remind them they're meant to be getting me home..." She leaned heavily on a counter and stared at her gun-blade, as if all the answers lay in that piece of machinery. "He... He didn't mean that" the first tried, but Katara just closed her eyes and shut him out. She pictured him. Again. It must have been the thousandth time since her arrival that she pictured those pointy ears, the dark skin, the top hat and its silly little feather. Her heart wrenched at the memory, and just like that she knew she would do it. She didn't know if Captain Logan had someone on another world or not, but even if he didn't someone was bound to be missing him. Somewhere. Just as she was missing... Them. Always them. She sighed as she slowly opened her eyes and nodded at the faces looking cautiously in on her. The first smiled sadly "It will take time to prepare, you'd better gather supplies." "What do I need?" "Everything. We have no idea what that world is like. It could be icy cold or overflowing with lava. The only thing we know is that he is definitely still alive." "How do you know that?" "His tracker still has a signal..." Katara bent her head, nodded and left the room.
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Post by Tom on Jan 15, 2013 21:46:30 GMT
Damien slipped out of the tent he had slept in and emerged into the pale morning light, fortunately the snow had stopped. He suppressed a yawn after having a good stretch; the time differences between worlds always made him tired. It was fascinating to think that a year could possibly pass here and he would have only been missing from Earth for ten minutes but hopefully that wasn't the case. He was re-adjusting the furs he had been provided with when he noticed a small group of people dressed in dark grey clothes with gold patterns walk up the hill towards Whiterun.
"You aren't fond of the Thalmor I take it, Damien?" A voice asked from just behind him.
"Not personally Akhari" Damien replied turning around to face the male Khajiit "Call it a feeling but they make me feel uneasy. Maybe I've just been travelling on the road too long and I'm becoming mistrusting"
The Khajiit gave him a small smile
"We all feel that mistrust ever since the White-Gold Concordant was signed and they were given the freedom to move over these lands as they wish. Not just those of us who travel the roads to trade our goods"
It had been Akhari who had brought Damien to the campfire the previous night and they had been made to share a tent. The matriarch emerged from her tent aided by another Khajiit; she handed a sort of backpack over to him which he pulled on.
"There's a book that should help you, a dagger and some gold pieces as well" She explained
Damien bowed courteously to her.
"Thank you for your continued kindness"
The matriarch then handed over a folded piece of paper sealed with wax.
"We need you to pass this note over Ysolda, a fellow trader who wishes to do business with us. I would send one of my children but now that the Thalmor are in the city, the Nords who reside there will definately not take well to a Khajiit being discovered there as well"
Damien said his goodbyes and started making his way up towards the city gates.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Jan 16, 2013 16:26:13 GMT
"Are you ready?" Katara sighed, closed her eyes and nodded. It had been several hours since she agreed to do this, and she had been partially regretting her decision ever since. However, she'd gathered everything she could think of that might help Damien survive. Cold-weather clothing, hot-weather clothing, knives, a tent, food, all manner of weaponry. She had no idea what this new world was like. ' Better safe than sorry' she'd told herself. Now she only hoped they weren't too late. "Ready as I'll ever be" she replied. The various beings in the room shifted their weight and nodded uncomfortably. "Take this" said one, handing Katara an object she didn't quite understand "It's a beacon. We're not sure it'll work over there, but if you find a safe place for it, activate it and theoretically we'll be able to connect to it from this end and bring you home." ' Home' Katara thought ' This isn't home' But she didn't say it, she simply nodded and headed for the platform awaiting her. "You understand this is likely to be a one-way trip for many months" said the man who had started all this, the one who told her why HQ was in a panic. There was a sadness in his eyes. Katara nodded. "We will bring you back" he said as others flipped switches, pressed buttons and pulled levers. Katara nodded again. The platform started shaking, electricity coursed through the air from one machine to another. The lights started flickering, then the whole room was shaking. Katara found it hard to keep her balance as she saw a bright light appear above her, getting bigger. A man burst through the door, angry, fuming. It was one of the higher-up officials. She couldn't hear much above the crashing and whirring, but she heard enough to understand. He was furious that a new portal was being created. It was disrupting the entire building. "Stop!" he shouted. That was the last thing she heard before the new portal pulled her in and she was gone. *** There was an almighty crash in the trees and snow billowed up like a mushroom cloud. Katara pulled herself up and looked around. Cold-weather gear it was then. She'd landed off to one side of some kind of cobbled road in a forest. It wasn't until she tried dusting herself off that she realised she'd landed on a wooden road sign. A fairly large portion of it was sticking out of her thigh. ' Perfect' she thought ' Exactly what I needed' Katara pulled herself over to a fallen tree and sat down. After a few minutes rumaging through her pack she found the medical supplies. Carefully and painfully slowly she pulled the wood from her leg and set about sewing herself up and bandaging the wound. It was an arduous process, made worse by the bitter cold numbing her fingers, but she managed it eventually with no particular mishaps. She tried standing. She was a little shaky, but not as bad as she had feared. She walked a little and discovered that she could, indeed, walk. Mostly. She put her pack on and instantly fell over, cursing in her home language. Katara let herself lie in the snow, feeling anger wash over her. Slowly, she struggled into a sitting position, dropping the pack. And then she saw it. The beacon. She must have landed on it when she came through because it was in pieces now. Her anger quickly turned into despair as she slid herself over to the thing. It rattled as she picked it up, definitely broken. ' Alright, pull yourself together!' she demanded of herself ' You are here for one reason: Captain Logan. Shove this thing in your pack, for gods sake get some warmer clothing on and get a grip! Drag that pack behind you until you find him if you have to! Now get up!' And she did. All of it. She pulled out some warmer clothing, fur she thought, and put the broken beacon in the pack. She pulled a rope out of it, tied it around the pack and pulled. The pack slid along the ground with relative ease. She tied off the rope around her wrist like a lifeline and went to put up the sign she'd landed on. It had broken near the base and wouldn't stand, but that at least meant one thing. Like a puzzle, Katara put it back together and could see which way the signs had been pointing. The only one missing was the one covered in her thick, yellow blood. She wiped it clean, put it back into place and read it. "Whiterun..."
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Post by Tom on Jan 16, 2013 21:51:12 GMT
Beyond the gate, Damien felt like he had stumbled back well and truely onto his home world. Many buildings were constructed from wood with thatched roofs and some of them were stone as well. So many years on Earth had left him missing all of these little details. Whilst these things reminded him of home, they also made him remember all that he had left behind on his home world. The Thalmor he had observed earlier were crossing what seemed to be a marketplace further up the main pathway but one had lingered for a moment to look at what appeared to be a tavern.
Damien approached the marketplace once the Thalmor had disappeared up a set of stairs going up to the left. He stopped a woman who seemed to be lingering around the stalls.
"Excuse me. I'm trying to locate a woman called Ysolda" He explained
"You've found her" She told him with a smile.
He handed over the note he had been given by the Matriarch.
"Your feline friends send their best wishes and hope you are well"
She took the note and shook his hand.
"I take it they wish to speak with me also"
"I don't know but if they do, tell them one of the Thalmor has a passion for taverns"
Ysolda walked away whilst Damien walked up to one of the city guard stood nearby.
"How may I help you citizen?" The guard asked in a distinctly female voice.
"I was looking for work while I am here in the city and wondered if you knew of anywhere that is hiring"
"You could try down at Warmaiden's, the blacksmith shop down by the city gate; I've heard Adrianne complaining about her workload. If you head up to Dragonsreach the Jarl has a number of bounties and the companions in Jorrvaskr are always looking for new recruits as well"
***
Damien worked for the rest of the day at the forge outside Warmaiden's. Adrianne had been hesitant about hiring him but he had years of experience working metal into weapons and armour so when she had seen his work; she had hired him to help ease her workload. He had eaten lunch in The Bannered Mare, the local tavern, where he had also brought lodgings for the night. Darkness had claimed the land but now there were no clouds and no snow so after helping to put the tools away, he gazed at the strange constellations as he pulled on the furs he had removed due to the heat of the forge.
The city was relatively quiet as he made his way to the tavern but inside many people had gathered to drink, dine and talk. Damien collected a plate of food and a jug of mead before heading up to his room which had a balcony overlooking the tavern. He sat down in a chair on the balcony and watched the people with great interest.
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Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
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Post by Echo on Jan 30, 2013 23:36:49 GMT
It had taken all day, what with the limp and the weight of her pack, but Katara finally rounded a bend in the path and saw Whiterun towering above her. Dragging her pack behind her, she just about made it to the gates before she heard a nondescript shout that sounded muffled to her ears. She turned, unbalanced a little and looked down at her leg. Her bandages had been seeping with blood for hours and it was fairly obvious she'd lost too much. A city guard ran over to her, but Katara was on the floor, unconscious, before he could catch her. The guard cursed, called a couple of other guards to him and together they took Katara and her pack into the city.
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