Active Plots (Alphabetical) - Updated 8/21/2010

Can't I Have Any Time? - (Eruantion Doriath [?], Amonost Doriath [?])

End of Solitude - (Verda Stelo [?])

No More Grape Soda - (Alex Dean [?], Samuel Jorgenson [?], Leon Mecheeto [?])

Questionable Means - (Tawny Black [?], Ishkan Ma'z)

Author	Comment
Tom Fender Member of SG&C Wandered the world like Caine from Kung-Fu and got into adventures Dominion Master 3/25/2012 1:33:22 PM Level: 18 Experience: 26800 Total Posts: 96	RE: The Head Case Jango awoke that morning, lying on his side behind the pilot's seat, clinging to the rifle as if his life depended on it. He set it aside and rubbed his eyes, standing up. The sun was shining brightly in the clearing where the Sky Wolf was parked. He sat down in the pilot's seat and noticed the various "standby" LEDs were no longer lit. Fearing the worst, he looked over at the battery gauge--dead. The batteries were completely drained somehow. Jango: Slag. He attempted to start the Sky Wolf's engines. There was not even so much as a click. He switched over to backup batteries and tried again. Still nothing. Jango: Slag! He looked out the windscreen with a chill. This place gave him the heebie-jeebies. He didn't know what to do. He looked toward the river and felt his heart jump at what he saw. The fishing boat they passed on the way here yesterday had run aground, pieces of the helm ripped up and fishing nets strewn about. There was no sign of anybody on it. Jango's head rolled back and hit the headrest in despair. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth. He was torn. He felt like he needed to go see if anybody was hurt (or alive), but he also had a strong feeling of self-preservation. He tapped the console in front of him nervously and flicked the safety back and forth between "SAFE" and "SEMI" on the M4 in his lap. After a few minutes of uneasy contemplation, he finally decided to go out. What the heck, right? He hopped out of the seat and slid the door to the cargo bay open. It was dark inside. He switched the rifle light on. Everything still looked to be in its place. The Jeep was tied down and the lockers were all closed. He went to the cargo ramp's controls and heaved the manual override lever to release the massive locks. He heard a deep thud! as the locking lugs were released. He then began to crank the ramp down, ever so slowly. Having no electricity really stinks, he thought. Finally, the ramp was lowered. The river suddenly looked a whole lot further away than it did when he was inside. The clearing was maybe a couple hundred feet wide with thick jungle encroaching from all sides. It was probably a hundred fifty yards to the river. He couldn't help but imagine wild jungle cats pouncing him before he could get back to the safety of the Wolf. He tried to shake the thought. He went back up the ramp and decided to see if the Jeep would crank. He grabbed a key from a nearby drawer and stuck it in the ignition. He took a deep breath and turned it. Nothing. The battery was completely dead here as well. Jango: What the heck? Just then, he heard a heavy buzzing noise getting louder. He turned to the opened ramp and shouldered his rifle. He didn't see anything. Then he felt a slight weight on his arm. He looked and it was the biggest dang mosquito he'd ever seen in his life. His eyes bulged as he shook his arm. It wouldn't move. He whacked it with the barrel of his rifle and it took off into the jungle. Jango: Man, I hate this place. He went back to the ramp and gave another look at the boat. Jango: Here we go... He took off in a jog toward it. After what felt like the longest jog in his life, he reached the grounded fishing vessel. It had collided with a rock and ripped a decently-sized hole in the hull. The whole thing stank of fish, and the motor was still running. He could hear the diesel chugging away somewhere below deck. With no other apparent way up, he entered through the opening in the hull. He barely squeezed through and entered a very crude living area. He quickly found the stairs and headed to the deck. Top-side, he saw no sign of life, fish or otherwise. He noticed the throttle was still up, nearly full. Odd. They abandoned ship nearly at full speed. Then it occurred to him--the engine was still running! That might mean a charged battery! He started to feel a little excitement. He didn't have enough cable to run the distance back to the Sky Wolf, but he could bring one of the Wolf's batteries here to give it a jump. He brought the throttle down so it didn't run out of fuel before he could use the battery. He gave another look back toward the Sky Wolf. The coast was still clear.
Tom Fender Member of SG&C Wandered the world like Caine from Kung-Fu and got into adventures Dominion Master 3/27/2012 9:12:42 PM Level: 18 Experience: 26800 Total Posts: 96	RE: The Head Case Jango made it back to the Sky Wolf in one piece and opened the battery access hatch on the underside of the hull. He was starting to get an annoying headache, and he wasn't really in the mood for that. He closed his eyes and fruitlessly rubbed his forehead for a moment. He heard something move in the nearby jungle. His eyes shot open and darted around for the source of the sound. He didn't see anything or hear anything more. His heart was pumping now. He told himself to calm down, but he wasn't listening. He finally disconnected a battery and heaved it down onto the ground. The blasted thing must weigh forty pounds. He wiped his hands and turned to go back inside the Sky Wolf to grab some tools and wire. Jango rummaged through the various drawers and lockers. The guys were always messing around with his stuff. He finally found some suitable wire and a bag of hand tools and exited the Sky Wolf again. Dark clouds were looming overhead, the faint rumble of thunder echoed through the river valley. He took a deep breath and heaved the battery up onto his left shoulder--he wanted to keep his strong hand free to work the rifle... just in case. He picked up his rifle and, with a nervous eye toward the dense brush, made his way back to the grounded fishing boat. -- Deep in the jungle, SG&C's trek wasn't going so well. Tom was watching with vacant amusement the wildly spinning compass. John was chomping on a bunch of pills. Chris and Jake were trying to determine which way to go. Thunder rumbled the ground. Chris: Great, sounds like a storm's movin' in. Jake: Hey, here's a thought: what if the place we're looking for is highly magnetic? We can still use the compass. If it keeps spinning wildly, we're probably going the right way. Chris: That's kind of a big assumption. Jake: Got any better ideas? Chris: No... Jake unsheathed his machete and turned toward the dense woods. Jake: Well, let's move out. Tom, let us know if you see any difference in the compass. Tom: No, I thought I'd keep it to myself. Jake hacked through a thick vine and stepped through. Tom: Hey, it's spinning faster now. Jake: Uhh? We went three feet. Tom: Really fast. John suddenly hit the ground, screaming in agony. Chris: Anyone else's head started hurting? Jake: Oh yeah. Tom: Ow. Chris: Somethin's wrong here. They all shouldered their rifles and formed a defensive circle, moving to make themselves harder targets. They looked around for anything out of place, but it was growing increasingly dark with the encroaching storm clouds and the thick jungle canopy. The air was starting to cool down and the ambient jungle noise died. It was eerily silent. With a loud electrical crack, a glowing blue energy ball shot past them and hit a tree, exploding in a shower of smoke and hot sparks. Chris felt the sizzling air as it zoomed by. They all dropped to their knees and focused fire in the direction from which it came. The jungle exploded in a cloud of leaves and plant matter as their rounds tore through the air. Several more of the energy shots flew at them, but from slightly different directions, and they didn't come as close. Chris: Reloading! I think it's running--whatever it is. Chris dropped the magazine from his M4 and slammed a new one in. The force of the insertion caused the bolt to ram back into battery by itself. He held his fire and waited for Tom and Jake to finish off their mags. They quickly ran dry and reloaded. Chris: Hold, hold fire. They waited. Utter silence. There was no movement, no sound. Jake: Did anyone see it? Chris: No. Tom: No. Jake: John, you hit? John sat up, rubbing his head. John: No. Agh. It's letting up. Chris: It's leaving. Tom looked at the compass--it wasn't spinning as wildly. He showed it to Chris and Jake. Tom: Check this out. Chris: So, this thing is what's causing the magnetic interference. Jake: It would certainly seem that way. Chris suddenly grabbed his radio. Chris: Jango, do you read? This is Chris. Over. Nothing. Chris: Jango, come in. Over. Only the low crackling of the empty radio waves. John winced. John: Bummer. -- In the engine compartment of the fishing boat, Jango finished wiring his dead battery into the boat's electrical system. He stood up and suddenly felt light-headed. His vision whited-out and his head started to throb. He steadied himself on the wall and waited for it to pass. After a moment, he could see again, but his head was still pounding. He throttled the engine for a few seconds, if nothing else but to make it feel like it was charging the battery. As it wound back down, he heard footsteps on the deck. He snatched up the M4, flipped the safety off, and crept toward the stairs. He nearly whispered "Chris?" but decided against it. He crept up the staircase, each step making the loudest, most agonizing creak. Fortunately, the roaring motor masked the sound. His head felt like it had a jackhammer inside it all of a sudden. Jango slowly poked his head out to check the deck. He wasn't so happy when he saw who--or what--was walking around. He saw it from the back. It was a bipedal figure probably seven feet tall with a large, ornate staff in its clawed right hand. It was wearing some kind of dull, dark blue plate armor--or skin. It was hard to tell. It was looking around as if searching for something... or someone. Him, perhaps? Jango pulled himself back inside. His mind started racing. Was it friendly? Probably not. The thing just looked evil with its spiky, plated armor or skin. He needed to get out of here. There's no way the battery would have a decent enough charge yet; he'd have to leave it. He rushed for the opening in the hull when it occurred to him that there might be more out there. He slowly peeked outside. It had begun to rain, but he didn't see any other... things. He looked back inside and heard the footsteps drawing toward the top of the stairs. He clenched his teeth and squeezed out the hole, slowly moving away from the boat until he could see the top deck. He caught a glimpse of its head as it went down the stairs below deck. He ran like mad back to the Sky Wolf, splashing through the mud, the rain stinging his face.
Jake Conner 3rd in command of SG&C Too much cool for TV. Dominion Master 3/28/2012 12:41:19 AM Level: 289 Experience: 99999999 Total Posts: 16	RE: The Head Case The short run seemed as if it was taking a lifetime. Every second seemed like minutes. The darkness which loomed around Jango in every direction almost felt like it was closing in on him. Short on breath, the Sky Wolf was finally at his feet. Jango bolted up the ramp more quickly than he ever did  before, nearly tripping over his own feet on his way up. He then scrambled over to the manual crank and with every ounce of strength he had left, he began to crank up the heavy door. Every inch that the door climbed, Jango's head began to pound more and more. With each crank he grew more and more tired. The very air around the hatch grew darker and colder with each passing moment. Whatever Jango saw- saw him. With one last crank the door sealed and Jango threw himself against the door to secure the manual lock and hopefully protect himself from whatever being approached. With a final loud "CLUNK" the door was locked down and Jango fell against the cold metal ground of Sky Wolf. He wrapped his hands around his head and curled up like a child hiding from a monster in the closet. His head was screaming at him. His ears began to ring and his vision tunneled into darkness. -- Chris: So we have no radio, no GPS, no idea where we are, and our compass just brings us to big scary things that hate us. Jake: Sounds about right. Chris: SG&C: "If it can go wrong, it does." Tom: I kinda like that motto. Lightning cracked and rumbled throughout the woods. The group was soaking wet as the sky poured down upon them. John: Either way, we need to pick a direction and go. Whatever that thing was will be back, I'm sure. Jake: With our luck, it'll bring friends too. Tom: Big friends. Chris facepalmed and looked toward John who was busy staring at the map that he had. John's attempts at figuring out where the group was located in the woods were in vain. With no compass and no landmarks, they were on their own. John: Well the only idea I can think of is to follow the compass towards whatever that thing was. Chris: And what do we do if we encounter that thing again? Tom: Offer it a sandwich? Somehow during the conversation Tom had managed to dig out a soggy tuna sandwich from his belongings, and had devoured half of it. Jake walked over and snatched the compass from John's hand. He started walked around until he noticed a slight enough change in the compass' speed. He pulled the machete back and began to hack away whatever branches were in the way. Jake: Then let's get going! I'm tired of smelled those nasty tuna sandwic- Tom: Shut up. Tom sputtered the words out, as he was currently chewing with a mouthful of soggy bread and tuna.
Chris Storms 1st In Command of SG&C Space Mercenary Dominion Master 4/7/2012 11:58:14 PM Level: 1 Experience: 0 Total Posts: 77	RE: The Head Case Jango awoke suddenly, reaching out for anything to use as a weapon. His hand came into contact with a metal pipe. His hand gribbed it and pulled, but it didn't budge. In a frenzy he pulled harder, but still nothing happened. He looked around, dazed and confused, and realized that he was in the Sky Wolf and the door was sealed shut. He had no idea how long he'd been out. His head had stopped pounding, but the rain was still hammering on the hull of the ship. He climbed to his feet and made his way to the cockpit. He peered out the window towards the boat, squinting through the downpour, and his stomach dropped. The boat was gone.    "Slag, slag, slag, slag, SLAG!" He yelled, pounding his fist into the pilot seat with every flourish of word.    "How could it just be GONE? Hmm?" He said, looking around the cockpit, as if expecting to see the others standing around. "Monsters. That's how." he told the empty chamber. "Always with the monsters. We try to just do something normal, and we always wind up with monsters." he said. He was almost to tears by this point, knowing that the battery was most likely still on the boat.    "Well, where would they have taken the boat?" he said, moving around to sit in the pilot seat. "Obviously down stream would make the most sense." he suddenly realized he was talking to himself and stopped.    Several minutes passed before he just sighed and said, "Ridiculous." aloud once more. ----- Jake continued to chop his way through the thick underbrush; the branches and vines giving way to the sharp blade in his hand.    They were making slow progress, as they were fatigued and on constant guard against the creature that seemed to be stalking them. John's eyes were bloodshot, but his headache had subsided for the most part. The compass also seemed to be functioning almost normally. It would still swing wildly from side to side occasionally, but it did seem to point in some facsimile of a correct direction. Rain still poured down upon them, but they took the opportunity to try to make their way towards the south, as that's where the map said the river laid.    "I think we're almost there." Jake said, over the rain. A crack of thunder accented his statement.    "Why is that?" Chris asked, after the rumble had subsided.    "I think I hear water."    "I think we all hear water." Tom pipped up, water dripping off the end of his nose.    "A water FALL." Jake corrected.    "It'd have to be pretty big to hear it over the sound of this rain." Chris said.    "Well, you listen then." Jake said; they all paused. "Hear it?"    "I think I do." John said. He grabbed the map out of his bag and looked at it. He scanned the river with his finger... and then shook his head. He unfolded the map to look over a wider area and scanned the river again.    "Here we go." He said, his finger stopping on the map. He whistled. "Seems we've gone a bit too far."    "At least we know where we are now." Jake muttered, then started swinging at the underbrush again. A few minutes later, they emerged on the shore of the river. A massive waterfall crashed into a void to their right.
John Gibson 2nd In Command of SG&C Out of Work, Apparently Dominion Master 4/8/2012 1:31:05 AM Level: 1 Experience: 0 Total Posts: 39	RE: The Head Case Finally coming back to his senses after staring blankly out the windscreen at where the boat used to be, Jango began to devise a plan. Step 1: Weaponry. He looked at the M4 that he hadn't even realized he was clutching tightly. These bullets--less than a quarter inch in diameter--simply would not do. Before he knew it, he was digging through Tom's footlocker. Didn't Tom have some kind of belt-fed machine gun that shoots big bullets? While he was at it, he searched for a flamethrower--he could duct tape it to the machine gun and then he wouldn't have to fear anything, in theory. Woefully, he found no belt-fed machine gun, nor a flamethrower. He sighed and looked through the cockpit door and out the windscreen. His battery was on that boat, wherever the heck it went, and no battery meant no flying. He was getting his battery BACK. ----------- Jake pointed just up the river at a boat that had apparently run aground. Jake: Check it out. There's a boat over there. And... That looks like the boat I saw trawling along when we flew in yesterday. John: Oh, great. What happened to it? Chris: Do you really need to ask? The waterfall, according to the map, was downstream from where they landed the Sky Wolf. Little did they know that this boat had been boarded by Jango not long ago and was currently housing their aircraft's battery. John grunted, his hand reflexively going to his temple with a twinge of pain. John: It's getting closer. Jake: What is? John: Big scary monster. Jake: How close? John: I don't know! I don't have a friggin'... heads-up display giving me the distance! Jake looked at the compass. It pointed unsteadily across the river--it was wobbling back and forth crazily. It flicked over and pointed almost directly toward the boat, and then starting spinning back and forth, like it couldn't make up its mind between the boat and the opposite river bank. John: Argh! He braced himself against a tree, the headache worsening suddenly. There was a raspy hiss, like a sudden burst of air, audible from the boat. They all looked up to see something, difficult to make out through the thick fog, leaping to a ridiculous height before slamming down on the deck of the boat. It was definitely bipedal, and dark gray-blue in color. It was holding something long, like some kind of polearm. The mercenaries shouldered their weapons to the best of their abilities, against all of their heads swimming to various degrees in the proximity to the creature. Across the river, there was some kind of guttural, animalistic shout. The shout hit the mercenaries' heads piercingly, and the creature on the boat shouted back in a very similar fashion. It was suddenly frighteningly obvious that there were at least two of these things. Before the mercenaries could decide what that meant for them, a blue energy bolt flashed across the river toward the boat, blowing off one of the canopy supports. A firefight erupted between the creature on the boat and the as-yet-unseen one across the river. The mercenaries decided in unison that it was time to get the heck out and get back to the Sky Wolf.
Tom Fender Member of SG&C Wandered the world like Caine from Kung-Fu and got into adventures Dominion Master 4/11/2012 1:50:45 AM Level: 18 Experience: 26800 Total Posts: 96	RE: The Head Case Everybody's favorite mercs crashed haphazardly through the jungle in a desperate attempt to flee. Wide palm leaves smacked them in their faces while tangled vines tripped them up. Jake gauged roughly where they were according to the map and determined that the direction in which they were currently escaping was the correct one. He shoved the map into a pocket and turned his full attention back to fleeing in terror. After running longer than they thought they could, they suddenly burst into a wide, muddy clearing. The Sky Wolf was nearby, shrouded in fog. The rain was unrelenting. They dashed for it. Jake pulled out the remote to open the ramp. It didn't work. He mashed the button a few more times--nothing. Reaching the craft, Jake habitually mashed the entry code into the external control panel. It had no power. Jake: What the...? He pounded the side. Jake: Jango! Open up! It's us! Not a word in response. Tom pulled his shirt up to cover his head. He was drenched. Tom: It seems that nobody's home. Jake crouched under the Sky Wolf to reach the bottom access hatch. It was unlocked. He opened it and climbed in. The others followed into the dark interior. Chris: Jango? Anybody home? No answer. They entered the cockpit and found it deserted. Jake sat down in the pilot's seat and began mashing buttons. Nothing was on and nothing would turn on. Chris: What's wrong? Jake: No power. Batteries must be drained. John: What'd he do, leave the headlights on? Chris tried his walkie-talkie again. Chris: Jango, do you copy? ... It's Chris. Come in, over. Still nothing but an erratic hiss. Chris suddenly left the cockpit and jumped back down the bottom hatch. Outside, he called out to the jungle. Chris: Jango! Jango, where are you?! His voice was drowned out by the downpour. He quickly gave up and turned to go back inside when he saw a compartment open and a battery missing. Raising an eyebrow, he went back inside to report to the others. Chris: I just saw what looked like the battery compartment open and a battery missing. John: Missing? Jake: Jango probably took it out to charge it. But where would he do that? Tom: Did anyone else notice that wrecked boat's motor was running? Chris: I guess, why? Tom: Maybe he went to charge it on that. Jake: How would he have even known about it? Tom: Well... Tom looked out the windscreen toward the river. The shoreline was a rutted, muddy mess with a deep cut where the boat had been previously. He pointed at it. Tom: Maybe it was here before. Chris: Slag, so Jango took off into the jungle by himself. John: I'm starting to think so. Chris: Let's move. I hope we can catch him before he gets there. They all piled into the cargo bay. Chris unlocked the Jeep and grabbed two AT4 rocket launchers from the back seat, handing one to John. Chris: We might need these. They slung them and exited through the bottom hatch.
Tom Fender Member of SG&C Wandered the world like Caine from Kung-Fu and got into adventures Dominion Master 12/21/2012 1:51:25 AM Level: 18 Experience: 26800 Total Posts: 96	RE: The Head Case They rushed through the foliage, racing to find Jango before something else does. Tom: Jango! Hey, Jango! John: That's not a very good idea. Tom: What's not a very good idea? John: Screaming your lungs out; giving away our position. Tom patted the rocket launcher on his shoulder. Tom: Eh, we got rocket launchers. John: Yeah, two whole shots. Tom shrugged. Tom: Eh. He turned back to the woods. Tom: Jango! If you can hear me, answer me, buddy! If not, don't! He waited a moment and turned back to John. Tom: He can't hear me. John shook his head with a fine blend of bewilderment and sadness. Finally, they were within sight of the marooned trawler. There were signs of battle, but no combatants were immediately apparent. Only the sound of the rain accompanied the scene. They moved in closer to the boat, and nobody died. Jake pointed out the gash in the hull. He peeked inside, brushing his drenched hair out of his eyes. He looked back at the others. Jake: Looks clear. I'm goin' in. He turned back to the opening to squeeze through but was startled and, with a yelp, reeled back, almost falling down. Jango was on the other side performing a similar stunt while holding a forty-pound aeronautic battery. Jake: Jango! Jango: Jake! Take this! Jango thrust the battery through the opening, but Jake was still trying to regain his footing in the mud and was totally unprepared to take it. Chris grabbed it as Jango squeezed out through the hole. Chris: What happened to those things? Jango looked around with a start, his eyes wide. Jango: What things? Chris: Something was on this boat not thirty minutes ago fighting with something else across the river. Jango: I got here five minutes ago and there was nobody here. There was something onboard yesterday, but the boat was upstream near the Sky Wolf then. John: Seven feet tall, spiky, polearm? Jango: That's it. Chris: Alright, let's not dawdle. Back to the Sky Wolf. John's headache began to worsen.
John Gibson 2nd In Command of SG&C Out of Work, Apparently Dominion Master 12/21/2012 3:12:37 AM Level: 1 Experience: 0 Total Posts: 39	RE: The Head Case They began to run in the direction of the Sky Wolf, but it soon became apparent that they were growing increasingly close to the creature... or creatures. John: Stop! Everybody did. Through clenched teeth, he expressed his concern: John: They're in our way. We can't go this way. Chris hefted the battery illustratively. Chris: This thing's going to be a problem. Jake stared ahead, dead serious, and shouldered his rifle. Jake: It's too late! He started taking pot shots into the jungle. In anger and searing pain, John joined him, pumping rounds blindly into the jungle in a repeat of the morning's performance. With a thud and a rustling of the jungle canopy, a shape sailed with incredible speed over their heads, landing somewhere behind them. Tom spun and brought the rocket launcher to bear on the shape. A bright blue flame pierced the air, barely missing Jake, and obliterated the base of a nearby tree with such force that the severed top of the tree sailed through the air and smashed clear through several other trees in its path. Dodging the bright light, Tom was distracted long enough to lose his shot on the shape as it continued into the jungle, back toward the boat. Another gray-blue blurring shape used one of the toppling trees as a springboard, sailed over their heads as well, and continued after the first one, completely ignoring the mercenaries. Chris: Looks clear! They booked it back to the Sky Wolf. Still unclear whether this second creature was friendly, but at least for the meantime, it seemed to be distracting the first one enough to keep them from getting maimed. They could hear the sounds of cracking trees and plasma blasts in the distance. The two creatures seemed to be having an epic brawl up and down the river bank; Jake and Jango just hoped that none of these explosive shots had found its way to the Sky Wolf, as that certainly wouldn't do it a whole heck of a lot of good. They emerged back into the clearing to see that the Sky Wolf seemed no worse for the wear. They scrambled through the belly hatch and Jango reinstalled the battery as quickly as his shaking hands would allow him, which was not very quick at all. Jake stood by in the cockpit ready to check the systems. Chris: Jango, what happened to the battery? Jango: I woke up this morning and everything was just... dead. He finished connecting the terminals and pointed to the Jeep. Jango: The Jeep's fried too. Chris looked up through the cockpit door to Jake. Chris: Jake, if those creatures fried the batteries, they could take us out of the air even without one of those plasma blasts. Should we risk flying out of here? Jake: As opposed to...? Chris: Finishing the job, finding the lost city entrance. Jake swiveled around in his chair to face Chris. Jake: I figure those things are exactly the reason nobody's found that place. Their weaponry obviously surpasses ours, their speed and strength obviously surpasses ours, they knock out all our electronics, and they incapacitate us just by being nearby. What do you expect to accomplish? He turned back to the instrument panel. Jake: We either need to get something to combat their powers, or call it a loss, but— He stopped cold. He fiddled with something on the control panel, then called back to the hold. Jake: Jango, get that battery connected! Jango: It is, try it! Jake continued to fiddle with a couple of switches, then slammed his fist down on the panel. Jake: It's still dead! Then, one of the loudest sounds they had ever heard: two heavy knocks on the cargo door. Chris looked at John. Their heads didn't hurt. John checked the compass, which Jake had given back to him earlier. The compass pointed clearly and directly at the rear hatch. Tom lifted the rocket launcher. There were two more knocks on the hatch. Chris edged over to the floor hatch and began to lift it, just enough to peak out. At this angle, he could just see the blue-gray legs of one of the creatures; it was kneeling, polearm placed on the ground at its feet. Chris dropped the hatch closed and looked up at John. Chris: It's... one of them.
Tom Fender Member of SG&C Wandered the world like Caine from Kung-Fu and got into adventures Dominion Master 1/4/2013 2:42:09 AM Level: 18 Experience: 26800 Total Posts: 96	RE: The Head Case They all exchanged nervous glances. Chris walked over to the rear of the craft and yelled through the closed loading ramp. Chris: Who is it? The response was a deep, resonating voice booming in their heads. Voice: Humans, why are you here? Chris: Uhh, we're on a mission to find a lost city somewhere around here. Voice: You seek the ancient linhi city of Durin. Chris: That would be the one. Do you know where it is? Voice: No. We also seek it. Chris: We? Voice: I am Karthüm. The one who sought battle with you is Krell. Jake leaned over and whispered to John. Jake: Is he a linhi? John shrugged, but the creature cut him off. He could clearly hear Jake. Karthüm: No. My ancestors were linhi, but I am a larin of the linhi warrior caste. Chris: So, what are you doing here? Karthüm: No time for questions. You must leave. Krell and his followers would see you destroyed to distract my warriors while he seeks the lost city. I am weakened and am unable to defend you any longer. Chris: Yeah, that's a problem. We've lost all power so our ship can't fly. Jake: And, hey, we're not helpless in a fight! John gave Jake a deadpan look. John: No, we're pretty helpless in a fight with these guys. A dull ache began to return to John's head. Chris: How do we know you're telling us the truth? Karthüm: There is no proof I have to offer but a linhi warrior's honorable word. The searing pain was back in full force in John's head, and the others began to feel it as well. Several shots were heard from outside. They rushed up to the cockpit to see what was happening. Karthüm and the other creature were battling once again. Karthüm appeared to be wounded. They both fired immense plasma blasts at each other from small weapons mounted on wrist bracers. Errant shots tore up the jungle, blasting apart several trees at a time as the combatants bounced around in blurs of blue-gray. Chris: Well... do we help him? One of the apparent enemy's blasts winged Karthüm and sent him to the ground. The other creature swung his bladed staff weapon overhead and brought it down on Karthüm who barely managed to block it with his own staff. They struggled for a moment before the enemy larin flung Karthüm's staff aside and prepared to finish him. Karthüm rolled aside and sweep kicked the larin, tripping him. Karthüm pounced, grappling and attempting to disarm him, but the other larin fired, striking Karthüm point blank and sending him smoking across the clearing. Jake: Let's help. They all rushed back down to the cargo hold and scrambled out the hatch.

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