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Chapter 49 (Original Archive)

supreme_arbiter 7/31/2009

IAS turn 55 - The Mountain Queen

THX-1492 followed the helper bots and inspected their programmed behavior. The absence of error messages satisfied the robot. Its wards behaved as robots were expected to, without deviance. A continual stream of 'success' messages was the closest approximation of pleasure THX could imagine with its current programming.

Irsa followed the crew into the jungle, looking for more food and supplies for making spears. The vegetation was plentiful but bland, and stones were uncommon. She carried home a few limbs for spear shafts when Chelydra gave the word to return.

The crew spent a second night at the excavation and awoke to another breakfast of instant coffee, protein bars, and Irsa's leafy greens. Again the crew marched from the pit and into the jungle. Behind them the dense forest swallowed the excavation while THX observed the helper bots in silence.



By midday they reached a shallow valley, their trail crossed a narrow stream. Growing bolder, Irsa explored further from the crew. She flew up high, above the leafy treetop canopy, and found another world where ferns, flowers, mosses and grass clung to wide branches, above her only sky. Some of the flowers looked meaty and tasty, and she put them in her bag.

When Irsa returned to the Pandora that evening, the food analyzer told her the canopy flowers were nutritious, and she found their taste to her liking. Together with the sweet roots from the seashore, Irsa dined in grand style that night.

-end transmission-

OOC: I've said this before, but for the sake of being thorough--I plan next turn to kill a character who hasn't been spoken for in years. If you want to return someday, no problem, please drop me a quick email in the next couple of weeks.

stacinator 8/1/2009

Nike

Nike stretched before she took sat down in her chair. Her stomach made a strange squeaky noise. "Damn protein bars..." she mumbled to no one in particular, as she though almost fondly of the weird greens Irsa had been bringing in. "God, I really need a pizza." She thought, and smiled in spite of herself. Then she forced herself to begin to think over the issues at hand.

"Pandora, how are you this morning? Anything I should know about?"

supreme_arbiter 8/17/2009

"I've turned the cameras off in the dining hall and corridors, for your privacy, but I've been observing the gangplank, and everyone who has come and gone. Alexei left this morning with the road crew, and showed up briefly in my sensors this evening, but instead of returning to the ship he's crawled into the escape pod lodged in the trees at the excavation's edge. There are no other signs of life in the excavation, Nike."

stacinator 8/28/2009

Nike

Nike digested this information quickly, and something about it made her instincts tingle, just a little bit.

"Pandora, is Chelydra still awake?"

supreme_arbiter 8/28/2009

"Yes, he is securing the gangplank," Pandora replied. "Wait, I see Alexei now. He just came out of the forest. He's up in the trees at the edge of the excavation. I think he's heading for the escape pod that is stuck up there. Yes, he just went inside. I can't see him anymore."

supreme_arbiter 9/4/2009

"Radio on," Nike said, "Chelydra, can you see if Alexei is OK? He's up in the escape pod in the trees?"

"Can you reach him on the comm?"

"No, he can't speak, remember? He writes on a whiteboard when he wants to talk."

"Oh, yeah. He should talk to Shlitzee about that. Our nano-medical equipment's pretty complicated. I'll bet it can fix his vocal chords."

"Maybe, Alexei you hear that? Nevermind, I just want to make sure he's OK."

Chelydra lowered the gangplank and walked around the ship. "Hey Alexei," he shouted, "You all right up there?"

Alexei poked his head out of the entrance to his escape pod and stared down at Chelydra. "You coming down?" Chelydra asked. Alexei shook his head, waved, and disappeared once again.

"He's fine Nike. Looks like he wants to stay up there."

"All right, come inside and lock down for the evening then. Pandora, please keep an eye on Alexei and let me know if he has company up there. Security teams keep me posted if anything happens."

-end transmission-

supreme_arbiter 9/25/2009

IAS turn 56 - The Mountain Queen II

As the crew walked down the winding path descending toward the Pandora to rest for a third night in the excavation, Alexei watched from the treetops. He'd grown bored with life on the Pandora. There were several crewmembers that he found attractive, but they were too busy for him. Heavy petting seemed out of the question with Amanda or Nike who were always doing something on the bridge; when Irsa wasn't searching for vegetables she was in the kitchen preparing them or eating, and Becka hadn't looked up from her book since Alexei met her.

He watched the crew spiral around the edge of the excavation to the bottom and enter the Pandora, then climbed into the trees where his escape pod lay nestled among the branches. He had with him a blanket, a bottle of water and a midnight snack, and settled down for a good night's rest without the Pandora's stale, recirculated air. The view was much better here, too.

He made himself comfortable in the wedge of a padded chair, and was starting to relax when he heard over the comm, "Alexei, can you hear me? Are you all right?" Alexei growled. He climbed to the doorway and saw Chelydra emerge from the Pandora's shadow. He waved at Chelydra, and was happy to see him wave back and return to the ship. Alexei returned to his makeshift bed and let the sighing noises of the jungle lull him into a peaceful sleep.

The jungle air was cold. Alexei woke frequently and rewrapped the warm blanket around his feet. In the middle of the night he lay awake, trying to fall asleep again, when a thump startled him--something had fallen on top of his pod. He sat up and listened intently. A moment later a dark shape hovered above the doorway. Alexei shrank beneath his blanket as a large creature swung down and crawled inside with him. Tentacles whipped around the room. Before he could react, they shocked him like a bolt of lightning. Paralyzed, he watched helplessly as the tentacles lifted him toward the creature's mouth.

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"A large creature is approaching the edge of the excavation," Pandora said with an urgent voice.

Nike awoke with a start from an otherwise sound sleep. "Where is it?" she heard Caleb say over the comm.

"It's approaching Alexei's escape pod."

-end transmission-

Elizabeth 9/26/2009

Irsa

Irsa awakes. She's bored, her food gathering of the last few days had gotten out of hand. And she decides to visit Alexei. Grabbing a spear just in case of trouble, Irsa timidly asks Pandora where Alexei was. A large creature heading for his escape pod panicked Irsa. She ran as quickly as possible out of the ship and took to the air. She knew the pod's general location, and heads there as fast as she can. And attacks anything that doesn't look like Alexei by stabbing it with her spear.

supreme_arbiter 12/9/2009

IAS turn 56.2 - The Mountain Queen

[OOC: wow, sorry I've been away so long. And now for something completely different... ]

Coeurla awoke from another nightmare. She opened her eyes and gazed about her sleeping chamber, hoping that some hapless morsel had wandered into her lair. Her great hall was completely dark, but Coeurla could see clearly that it was as empty as her stomach. She was alone. She rose from her warm bed and arched her back, stretching, her claws scratched at the cold stone steps beneath her dais. Several days had passed since her last satisfying meal and her stomach rumbled ominously. She yawned and softly padded across the room, down one of her many corridors, and up the steps to her favorite perch.

The stone balustrades had long since rotted away, the view was dizzying. A stiff breeze was blowing but the cool night air felt pleasant against her dark, heavy fur. From the balcony Coeurla's sharp eyes could see the jungle below from one side of her valley to the other. She gazed at the place where the trees disappeared, the pit that her mother had warned her never to enter. No hunter had ever returned from it, but in the past few days something had changed. Coeurla had seen two large birds fly in, and three had flown out. She wondered if the pit was now safe for hunting.

She turned from her perch and descended the stone steps through her palace to the jungle floor. She prowled her domain, searching for a meal, but her subjects knew well enough to keep out of sight. She found a trail recently cut through the forest by some great beast, it led in the direction of the pit. Coeurla strode along the path until she reached the forbidden place, then her confidence slackened. Her instincts told her to turn around, but she peered over the edge and saw one of the birds sitting at the bottom. Nothing moved.

Her ears detected movement above her, and she leapt back from the pit. She glanced up and saw a giant stone lodged in the trees above her. The sound had come from within. She leapt up onto a tree, climbed into the canopy above her, and stalked toward the giant stone. She drew near and traced the edge with her tentacles. A thrill of excitement ran through her, it was made of metal.

She dropped down onto it and peered over the edge into an opening in the side. A small head, unlike any she had ever seen, peered from under a hide of some kind. Coeurla leapt inside and stunned the creature. Its body went rigid like any other prey. She lifted it toward her mouth, examining it before dining. It would be a small meal. She wondered if more of them were nearby.

A faint noise came from the creature, not from the orifice she imagined it ate or screamed with, but from the ears on the side of its head. She had but a moment to ponder this curiosity before other sounds drew her attention. A hissing sound and a heavy thump echoed from the bird at the bottom of the pit, and the sound of wings raced toward her. Coeurla climbed from the pod with her meal in her tentacles and gazed around, ready to jump away at any moment. She spotted a green furry creature, not much larger than her meal, flying toward her with a long pole pointed at her.

--------------------------------

"A large creature is approaching the edge of the excavation," Pandora said with an urgent voice.

Nike awoke with a start from an otherwise sound sleep. "Where is it?" she heard Caleb say over the comm.

"It's approaching Alexei's escape pod."

Irsa heard the message, grabbed her spear, and left the Pandora within seconds. She flew toward Alexei's escape pod and arrived in time to see an enormous creature with four legs and two whip-like arms climb from within. It was dark, and the creature's fur was blacker than night, but Irsa could see it held Alexei, unmoving, above its head. It turned a catlike face toward Irsa, its eyes reflected the dim moonlight. Irsa aimed her spear.

[OOC: How close will Irsa approach the creature? Close range with a spear is 10 meters. If she attacks, please roll 3d6. The dice server we used to use is down, so roll your own and good luck :^)]

-end transmission-

Elizabeth 12/9/2009

Irsa

Irsa will attack by throwing the spear at the tentacled feline thing.

Rolled 3d6, came up 5, 3, 3. Total of 11.

supreme_arbiter 12/18/2009

Irsa aimed her spear at the tentacled feline and threw. The missile flew straight and true, and would have struck home if the dark creature hadn't been so fast. It leapt from the escape pod and cleared the space between it and another tree deeper in the forest. It was gone before Irsa could react. She flew through the trees chasing after it, keeping her eyes on a dark silhouette. She saw it cling to a thick branch and stop. In the pitch black jungle shadows she saw two eyes like silver saucers reflecting diminished moonlight straight at her.

[OOC: Irsa's my rock (and the Assafs are my copilots :^) I've never killed a character whose player hadn't clearly abandoned the game, but I will punish characters who deserve it. To Irsa I say, "Be careful out there!" To everyone, check your inventory early and often.]

-end transmission-

Elizabeth M/D/2009

Irsa

Irsa turns right and attempts to attack from behind.

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