|
Post by BD on Oct 30, 2008 15:05:07 GMT -5
"I live in the middle of fucking nowhere, and you're asking me if i'm keeping up with current events?" Tsaul said as he regained his stride to keep pace with Samus.
"Okay, assuming that this exists, what bearing does it have on this situation?"
|
|
|
Post by Rising Dragon on Oct 30, 2008 15:38:13 GMT -5
"You should've received the announcement," Samus said, rolling her eyes within the helmet. "It was PMed to every single person in the game."
Shooting a bush with a single Plasma Beam shot and incinerating it to continue on their path, Samus began her explanation. "You know that rumor of that super-monster the programmers accidentally left in the mountains around the Peak? The one that could use player's artifacts against them? Well, that rumor's true. There is a super-powerful monster in that region, and it is more than capable of using artifacts and is more than capable of defeating entire groups of players on its own. Most people know well enough to stay out of the area.
"Well, while off-duty, the Master Chief met up with Rua Dragonheart, Alasea Dagenais, and Kite McKnights, and they decided to game normally for a while. While traveling, they came across the frozen body of a Beta Tester named Sigma Stoller. Whatever had killed him had prevented him from respawning right away, and had taken an illegal item he had on him from his corpse. Cortana was able to figure out that Stoller had the unfortunate luck to meet that super monster."
The path was curving now, heading away from center of the valley. Samus ignored it and began walking off path, making her way down a short slope. Small creatures scampered out of her and Tsual's way, taking cover in the underbrush. "After that, they were attacked by a Nightmare, an Imperfect to be exact. Dragonheart stayed to take care of it, ended up burying it in a landslide he created," she continued. "The rest of the group made it to a half-buried tower. Inside, they found an NPC construct in the form of a prisoner, and a couple of golems. The NPC warned them about the super-monster... apparently it was nearby. Once Rua had joined up with them again and they had met this construct, they entered some underground tunnels. The tunnels led them to a talking door. The door demanded the lives of Cortana, Rua or Alasea, and Kite before they could pass through. It destroyed Cortana's chip, and killed both Rua and Kite before the Master Chief and Alasea could pass and escape the monster snakes inside of the tunnels."
Stopping to catch her bearings, Samus looked around a bit, opening up her map to check her surroundings for any hidden paths. She found one and marked it on the program. "Rua respawned on a ship headed for a castle, and had Cortana implanted in his armor, and Kite soon respawned on the ship. The door, after letting the Master Chief and Alasea through, tried to kill them. After they destroyed it, they found themselves inside the same castle," she said, blasting another bush out of the way using the Plasma Beam. "After a bit of traveling, the group managed to reunite, and they made their way into the castle proper, spent the night. During that night, Kite found someone else in the castle, a man named Kasdim-Ur.
"Kasdim-Ur had been invited to the castle by some or something called Eridanus Psi. He joined up with the Chief's group for a bit, and the next morning they made their way to the throne room of the castle. There, they found the super-monster, who Eridanus Psi had been maintaining. This monster, Tsindary, looked like a gigantic golem, and had assimilated a large number of artifacts into itself. The group stupidly tried to fight it... it maimed both Rua and Kite and killed the Master Chief by impaling him with a spear before Cortana teleported the group, sans Kasdim-Ur, back into the Core.
"So there you have it," Samus finished. "I ordered a Quarantine instated in the lands beyond the Great Wall to keep everyone out of it, without Gahm's permission. I'll likely catch hell from him later, once I get back. But in the meantime, I'm here. Kasdim-Ur is a lich that heads a very dangerous cult that's situated in this forest. I'm here to investigate this cult and find out their connection to Eridanus Psi and Tsindary... because this Eridanus Psi hinted that both himself and Tsindary were created by someone else, as was that entire castle. Someone who can hack directly into the system and change it to suit his whims."
|
|
|
Post by BD on Oct 30, 2008 21:58:06 GMT -5
"So in other words, we're fighting someone who discovered God mode." Tsaul said keeping pace. He slid down the slope sideways, digging his heels into the ground to drag as he went.
"What's odd is that there were that many defenses and that wasn't even the real main man. You wonder what must be protecting him..." He trailed off for a minute as he focused on stepping cautiously across the stones of a small river with a rather fast current that he learned about the hard way.
"I can give you a hand with Kasdim though, I know this area better than anyone. "
He then realized that Gahm had been brought into the conversation.
"That reminds me, how is the world's laziest leader doing these days? He at least gets out I hope..."
|
|
|
Post by Rising Dragon on Oct 30, 2008 22:21:22 GMT -5
"Just because we don't see him much doesn't mean he's being lazy," Samus said, using the Space Jump Boots to cross the river with ease. "If you can be a guide, then help me get down to the city down in the middle of the valley."
There was a noise on her Visor, and information from the Gunship's onboard computer system poured on the screen.
Bioform data confirmed: Ymaggion Staff Administrator lifesigns detected.
Frowning, Samus halted her advance and opened up the map program. As the screen opened and the quasi-holographic map image displayed, the map zoomed out to view the entire valley.
It quickly zoomed in on a new area, across the valley, then highlighted the area rapidly for a moment before stilling.
"Okay... looks like there's another Administrator here."
|
|
|
Post by Ribitta on Oct 31, 2008 0:44:29 GMT -5
Cortana's voice broke through the speakers in an urgent tone, "Chief! You've been pinged!" Grunting, he flung himself from to the ground, rolling sideways to keep his equipment as he took shelter under the nearest large overhang from a tree.
"What type of signal?" he said quietly. There was no telling what could be watching him in this area. After all, he'd thought he had seen the Nightmare god all the way out here. There was no telling what technologies could be at work. The signal encryption that had been picked up flashed on his screen, turning into a thread with parts extending from it. Narrowing his eyes he murmered, "That's a very high level of encryption, Cortana..." The string flashed green three times and faded from his visor as the data showed up. "Looks as if we have another administrator in the parts, and there's only a few that specifically rely on technology besides myself."
"Miss Whittaker perhaps? She's the only other administrator I know of that knows about these things so far as I am aware," Cortana said quickly but with no hurry in her voice. The Master Chief shook his head doubtfully, and Cortana spoke his thoughts for him, "I know you two have different methods of thinking, but both of you were hired for a reason, and with the same information you never know."
A nod came from the helmeted figure, and he said, "Only one way to know then. If we're here for the same reasons we'll meet. I just hope Kite didn't get a satellite."
|
|
|
Post by BD on Oct 31, 2008 11:28:53 GMT -5
Tsaul sighed, "Then there's two options, Kite's out here, or it's another administrator that will be aware of where I actually am. Kite would be the most likely from the way I see it though. Concerning this situation..."
He spotted a small palm tree and scaled it to the top where he looked out ahead, "If we keep this pace, we'll hit the town within the hour."
|
|
|
Post by Rising Dragon on Oct 31, 2008 14:23:34 GMT -5
"Works for me," Samus said. "Let's get going."
|
|
|
Post by Ribitta on Oct 31, 2008 18:27:02 GMT -5
Riul released the energy surrounding her body with the release of a bated breath, and she landed softly on another eagle that materialized beneath her feet. The clouds now began shifting more freely as Riul lessened her grip. "May as well take care of the storm as well," she sighed. As she closed her eyes in concentration, the clouds began shifting away from her, becoming more dispersed from one another. The storm began to wane, and the clouds moved apart from one another. Soon within several miles below the sky was perfectly sunny, and rainbow appearing in the sky. Riul relaxed her body and slid across the eagle, wrapping her arms around the bird's giant neck. Thoughts were communicated tacitly, and the bird began it's descent, landing in the village a minute later.
On the ground, the Spartan Administrator watched as the eagle descended, the light causing his visor to polarize to the power. Cortana spoke for the both of them, "Riul is here? Best to go see why, Chief, she may need our help, and we may need hers.
|
|
|
Post by BD on Nov 1, 2008 20:08:27 GMT -5
A small trail through the forest was visible as it had the slight browning of traveled upon grass. Mossy stones and the light glow of dew still appeared on the ground as a slight distraction from the various tropical trees and flora. Small creatures such as butterflies and birds flew under the tree line sipping nectar from the small wildflowers. I gave Tsaul a slight warm feeling that there was still purity in the world.
"I'm going to warn you; the natives are a...colorful bunch. They may not appreciate us barging in there."
He stopped when he looked and saw there were footsteps on the trail.
"It looks like someone else has gone to the village recently as well..."
|
|
|
Post by Rising Dragon on Nov 1, 2008 21:49:20 GMT -5
"Not my problem," Samus said, striding past Tsual. She had noted the flash of light and the clearing of the skies earlier, and had known what it meant and who had done it. "I'm here for one reason only and I'm not letting anything else get in the way of that, Tsual."
She examined the footprints in the soil as she walked down the path, noting that they were human in appearance. She returned her gaze back to the path, keeping her Plasma Beam active and ready for combat. "Just make sure you're ready when the shit hits the fan."
|
|
|
Post by Ribitta on Nov 2, 2008 1:58:16 GMT -5
The Master Chief came to the village at a slow walk, but his eyes still moved speedily, taking in everything around him. Laughter touched the air, and it became louder as he neered. At the village outskirts boys and girls ran around, a bouncing ball of a shimmering substance flying from one hand to another. Dirt-stained and worn clothing covered most of the children, but one wore a white tunic and toga, standing out in the newfound sun. "That explains quite a bit," Cortana said softly as she confirmed her previous thoughts.
Riul turned at the Spartan and flashed a smile at him, moving away from her game and coming toward him. Her walking strides were at least half of his, and she appeared moderately tiny in comparison. Nevertheless, she held out a hand in greeting. He took in gently and smiled unexpectantly when she took a leap onto his outstretched arm and landed light on his shoulder.
Not even remotely supressed by the weight, the Master Chief said simply, "What brings you to these parts, Riul?"
And a laugh came from her and the two began to converse of the area, slowly narrowing the talk to the temple.
|
|
|
Post by BD on Nov 2, 2008 7:52:21 GMT -5
Tsaul finally saw light towards the end of the path, "This is it."
He continued walking down the mossy trail until he reached the clearing. He looked out and saw the Chief and Riul standing there and chatting.
"Well, this solves our question from earlier."
|
|
|
Post by Rising Dragon on Nov 2, 2008 14:02:54 GMT -5
Samus nodded, proceeding forward to meet with the Bungie Administrator and the Balance of Light. As she did so, she removed her helmet from her head, letting her blond ponytail spill out the back. Tucking it under her left arm, she examined the version of the MJOLNIR armor the Master Chief was wearing and said, "Expecting to face an army, Chief? Sure looks like it with all that weaponry you're carrying."
|
|
|
Post by Ribitta on Nov 2, 2008 17:26:48 GMT -5
"I wish," the Spartan said ruefully, shifting uneasily. His hands raised toward his helmet as if to take it off, but instead he rubbed the fabric of his jumpsuit on the back of his neck irritably, but quickly dropped his hand once more, hoping to make it look just like an itch.
"It's getting worse isn't it, Chief?" Cortana said in a concerned tone.
"Irrelevant," came a stoic reply. "The temple is my main worry here. If in there is anything like what was past the Wall, what I have with me won't be enough."
Riul cut in, "I will go with you, so far as I can. There have been barriers in these temples meant to keep ones like myself out. Destroyable, but often the cost does not strike even with the end result."
The Master Chief nodded firmly and continued, "I'm assuming we're here for the same reason, Samus, and I believe what we're looking for is in that temple. Despite our differences, I could use another gun in there. The faster this is resolved the sooner the quarantine can be lifted."
|
|
|
Post by Rising Dragon on Nov 2, 2008 17:59:11 GMT -5
"Works for me," Samus said, placing her helmet back over her head, making sure she got her ponytail underneath to prevent it from catching. Once it was secure, she continued. "I'm trying to find any information that connects the Cult of Kasdim with Tsindary's supposed creator, and this Eridanus Psi you two encountered. In the meantime, I came across Xoquoxitill, and Tsual, here."
|
|