Rematerialising inside the nexus, I felt the blood drain from me, which seemed physically impossible. An instantainious thud was heard, as my augmented body hit the cold steel floor. Indigo also showed wear, laying on top of my body and falling asleep. I can't comprehend how long I was passed out for, even Indigo was awake when I came to in my quarters. Erin was by my side, and Indigo was asleep on a blanket in the corner of the room. Excited by my return to the waking world, Erin softly brushed my hair away from my face, and explained what had happened at the Nexus when I was gone, and how Anatoly had begun fighting with his new AI, and how Aleksei and Jennifer were getting along nicely, like really nicely.

I took the time to actually eat something, and rest like a normal human, fulfilling the desire of all of my being. Erin and I had become well aquainted with each other, and most people on the Nexus knew that.

On the Thursday, a docking request came through. A visitor? The voice sounded vaugely familiar, and it rang bells from my previous life. When the Zoner ship landed I realised who it actually was.

It was the bartender from Freeport 10. Daimien "Wook" Johnson, the lanky man with the beard and hairy knuckles, and his wife, Ebony, who used to work at Pueblo Station. They had met up on the rescue ship, and had fallen in love. After a hearty round of drinks, and a drinking contest with Wook, we had caught up on old times. Eventually, Wook became the bartender in the Nexus, with his loyal wife tending tables.

It seemed like one of those reunion specials where everything ended in a big embrace. But things never end happily in real life. Not for me anyway.
=:=
Vi

After i returned to the nexus i went to the bar and saw viator there chatting with the bartender.Viator noticed me and waved me over, it seemed he had all but forgotten about the time i almost blew his brains out.


"Well well look what the cat dragged in how are ya Dragonborn?" he inquired.

"Tired, look i'll talk to you later right now i'm gonna go catch some Z's, my jump engine broke down and i had to cruise all the way back and the autopilot didn't know the way" I replied and started to walk away and called over my shoulder.

"All the data on those aliens that attacked Europa Space station should be in the Nexus Databanks as i sent it to anatoly as soon as i had made a copy for my fighter" I said this while walking out of the bar. I then proceeded to my quarters where i promptly fell asleep for over 12 hours.

(hate to double post but....)

ok update needed are u guys all just busy with yout real lives again???

i'm gettin nervous here

sorry about the delay. im getting my rig upgraded, so i 'll be out fo about 3 days, but i dont know where arania went...

OOC:good for you Viator! as for arania i think he took an unplannd trip to somewhere as far as i can tell from the end of his post.

OOC- im not away, i just Very, Very tired, i have a ten player game of Total Annihilation to organise in 2 days and my creativity level had dropped to 0, ill post again in about 3-5 days when my conciousness returns

Finally got around to adding some more
=:=
IC:

A lot of time had passed since the Exodus of Sirius, Arania was still missing, Dragonborn had picked up work as a contract pilot, and the Korenchkin Brothers had re-started Z-Axis. As for me, the traveller's itch had began to play up. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't stay still, I had to keep moving, and never stay static for too long.

I packed up my equipment into my new fighter which Anatoly had designed himself, and named after the equipment that gave me my abilities: Daedalus. Made from an old mining ship, it was rigged with an experimental Magnetic Levitation Rail Driver, or as he called it, Betsy. I decided to make some goodbyes, and to make them short, saying goodbye to Dragonborn, leaving it to a few words, not wanting to burden him with my departure. Wook was impassive about the news, silent, knowing that i would be back, alive or dead. All the easy ones were out of the way, breaking the news to Jennifer and Erin, now that was a challenge...

=:=

Vi

As his advanced titan drifted past mars Omega chief thought it might be a good idea to see earth, though according to what he had heard it wasn't much any more.

He checked the additonal gun monts on his titan, all 12 guns funconal, ran checks on the missile and torpedeos good every thing was fine.

With this he engaged his cruise engiens and flew toward earth......

OOC:no ones posted here in a while so i'll see if i can start it up, again


After receiving Viators short farewell and continued on my escort mission,it seemed that no matter what happened in the universe the megacorps were always there complaining about one thing or another.this time it apeared that the aliens that had attacked Europa Space station were nowe more cautious and were making raids instead of full blown attacks.So you guessed the megacorps are now whining about losing their 'precious' freigters.

I picked up a signal on my scanners that matched the signature of a alien raiding party.

"This is Omicron Black-9 signal indicates aproaching alien strike force" i told my wingmates who were veteran pilots against these aliens.

A series of rogers came over the come as they went to a heightened alert status and headed towards the front of the column of freighters.I radioed the CO of the freighters telling him the situation, he responded by commanding the large freighters to power up their new oversized sheild generators that had been developed in response to the alien threat.These shields were meant to shield large objects like small stations and large ships like battleships and our freighters.

I scanned again and got a surprise there were three gunships and 15 fighters, too many for our 3 fighters and what mediocre weapons the freighters had.So we fled with all speed available to us luckily it was not far to the outpost near pluto that we were taking the supplies too.i decided to lay over there for a few days.

on my way to my room that i had rented i saw two men fighting,they were obviously drunk and they were obvioulsy from the hispania,so i deduced that one was a corsair and the other a outcast.The guards were at a loss as what to do so i took out a stun baton and hit them both over the head and continued on my way.while the security guards dragged the bodies off to the brig i then went continued to my quarters and fell asleep on the sofa there thinking, i think this has been enough excitement for one day i thn dozed off into dreamland.

OOC:i know its not much but i couldn't think of much else to write BTW guys we need to come up with a name for these aliens and we need a logical way to put it into the storyline.we can't just keep calling them aliens can we???

"Ive already told you" He screamed "I DONT KNOW ANYTHING"
The screen shifted
"Youll never take me alive"
"Back, you confederate bastards, back"
"NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Arania stared at the monitor in horror, wondering what sort of crazed maniac he once was.
"That was you shortly before we inserted you" Nafflgar said "And this is what you have grown into, quite a change"
"There was no change" Araminta said
"How would you know, feather-brain?" nafflgar spat
on moment he was upright, the next, on the floor
"Never, insult her" Arania breathed.
"Well, looks like im going to have to come to the point sooner than i would like"
"What?" Arania asked, towering over the confederate commander
"Either you abandon this sherade, and help us take Sirius by you acting as a double-agent, or, we attack and take it anyway"
"I would sooner die..." Arania started
"...than help you" Araminta finished
The Room shifted, the walls dissapeared and he was once again in the Confederate gateroom, standing precariously on the brink of falling into the confederate prison world of Hades.
"Give my regards to the resistance" Nafflgar said, pushing arania into the barren wasteland.
"And to Diablo" He added, as the gate closed
"'diablo'?" ARania muttered
A loud thumping noise resounded through the air as a large beast approaced him.
A red demonic creature, its back covered in spikes, magma spilling from its clawed hands.
"Oh ****"

IC:
Jennifer had heard stories long ago from her father about the Traveller, the man who couldn't live in the same place for more than a month, and had to keep moving on, never really resting to collect dust. She understood what I was, and why I wouldn't really ever be accepted into society fully, but studied like a rat in a cage. She knew that I could not survive that life, that I had to break free. After a warm embrace, I told her to look after Anatoly, as they had become rather close over the last month.

With anxious breaths, I knocked on the door of Erin's chamber, praying to something that she wasn't in. Indigo had perched on my shoulder, somewhat passive, and whispered something in my ear.

"You don't have to see her... leave a note, it'll save time"

I decided to follow her advice, and left a small note on her door.

Erin,
I'm sorry for what I'm going to say next, but I have to.
Part of me cannot stay still, nor can I spend my days as a rat in some lab cage, being poked and studied for what I am. I am a true oddity, along with Dragonborn and Arania. There is no real place here on Earth, for someone like me. Take care of the brothers, and make sure that they never stray from their dreams.
Just remember what you've survived, and that you have strength to survive life.

Take care.

Traveller of the cosmos,
Jacob C. Langley

That would be sufficient, enough to let her know that I cared. I loaded up the Daedalus, and aimed at the exit doors. This was the last i would see of the Nexus for a long time, and i took in every photon, locking it in memory. Out in space i glanced at the blue gem hanging in a ballet of natural forces, being pulled, and trying to break free, in almost perfect equilibrium. The co-ordinates were set. The drive was charged. I dropped a small beacon with my co-ordinates, and gave a name to the place. Centurai was the destination, and my form begun the journey with a flick of a small red switch.

Forever travelling, as Fate intended.
-:=v=:-
Vi

OOC: Nice to see some more posts, and sorry for the delay.

IC:

-Inside the Nexus-

Erin had returned from her visit to the Med Labs for a checkup, and found Jacob's note stuck on the door. She read it, taking in every word, ingesting the message and its contents. A solitary tear fell from her cheek, staining the ink on the page, streaking the dye, and smearing a part of her soul forever.

-Centurai Sector-

Around a distant star, burning on its final gasp of life, a lifeless planet orbited around the giant vermillion sun. All of its life had been extinguished, scorched away by the runaway reaction in its former furnace. In an instant, the red giant let out its final breath, shedding its outer layers in a cataclysmic burst, destroying the former gems of its inner worlds, scattrering their ashes in a new nebula, expanding for millions of miles around the centeral, dead sun.

I had finished my jump outside the blast radius, but the shockwave had knocked the precisice mechanics of my new jump drive, disabling all long range jumps. Even if I wanted to return, I would have to get some rare parts. Nomad technology just isn't lying around in some crate for me to find.

I set a course for the nearest star system, which was about 500,000 kms away. The jump drive should be able to hit a target that far away, so I hit the switch. The stars streaked around me, and I lurched forward into jumpspace. Quickly, the system approached with great haste, and I got a good view of the planets, Three gas giants and three terrestrial worlds, two very venusian in appearance. The thrid though had potential... I set the autopilot and prepared to explore some more.

The Second planet seemed to have a breathable atmosphere, and decent gravity, pulling me down at about .8 g's. I set up an atmospheric shield on the Daedalus, knowing that there would be no docking rings on the planets that I was travelling to. The lush forests encircleing the planet promised the potential for life, maybe sentient. I took a high altitude flight over the terrain, and found something of interest.

A clearing lay about a kilometre from a coastline, with a small stream flowing through the clearing. If it was water, it would be a perfect site for a base camp. I set down and noticed something weird. The stream was straight. Perfectly straight, as if made by man. Several strange foundations surrounded a centeral area where the grass had been flattened, similar to a town centre. I locked up the Daedalus, grabbed a rifle, power pack, scanner, and some energy chocolate, and set out to explore. Indigo became somewhat restless, sensing something that I couldn't.

"What is it?"
"There's something here... something...similar..."
"Intelligence?"
"Sentience... and something else..."

I scanned the forests for heat signatures. Nothing registered on them as being of intelligent origin, but this scanner would probably look for some form of mammilian being. Indigo began to become agitated.

"There's something here... I know it..."

At this point, here emotions began to bleed off into me, filling me with anxiety and fear.

"Just chill, there's probably nothing here..."

I was trying to settle myself, hoping it would transfer to her. It didn't, and my anxiety got worse.

I decided to set up camp, and start looking for something edible in the forests. There were many different noises coming from under the canopy, and further evidence for intelligence came from a thin trail into the undergrowth. I started to walk along it, and found this trail was not made by a non-sentient being.

I followed the trail for about 30 minutes, keeping track of where I had gone on the circuits in my head, like a photographic memory. I approached another clearing, one I missed from my aerial sweeps, possibly due to the canopy covering most of it. But there was no trees supporting the canopy... I walked into the clearing, and a shrill noise filled the air, almost as if I had tripped an alarm. I raised a field around me, and Indigo began collecting energy. Indigo had been right to worry. A large contingent of alien creatures surrounded us. They were humanoid, but with strange knee joints, bending backwards to a humans, and with fine feathers instead of hair. They were fairly advanced, possesing energy weapons and cloaked metal structures. They began to chatter amonst themselves, in a language unknown to any human. I tried to comprehend it, analysing every noise, every gesture, and trying to find a common link between sounds, using a processing ability far surpassing any human.

I decided to reduce my threat profile by placing my rifle on the ground and kicking it toward one of the aliens. Their initial reaction was to move away from it, fearing that it could be dangerous, which was well founded, in the wrong hamds it could be lethal. One brave alien cautiously moved forward and picked up the rifle, it's slender hands being unable to operate the weapon properly. But it wasn't dumb. it knew that the design was similar to their own weapons, and that I was offering peace. It signalled to the others to lower their weapons, and the alien walked closer toward me, holding my rifle out. It started to talk to me, in a language still foreign to me, as I was still trying to understand it.

"Tsiu ya chia?" was sound it made.
"Tsiu ya chia?" I repeated

It paused and looked at me.
I pointed at myself.

"Tsiu ya chia?"
"Tsiu ya chia." it said, pointing to me.

I thought about what to call myself. Use my human name? Or call myself human? but then the answer came to me.

"Viator"

The alien paused and repeated my name in its accent.

"Viyatsor" It said, pointing at me.

It was close enough, so i asked my own question

"Who are you?"

It looked puzzled.

I pointed at myself. "Viator" I gestured toward the alien. "You? Chia?"

It understood what I was implying, gesturing toward itself.

"Michia k Tsiamat. Viyatsor. Tsiamat."

I now had an alien friend other than a nomad. I would find out that their civilisation was incrdibly parallel to our own... my new alien friend now had a name. Tiamat.

=:=
Vi

OOC: Sorry, but I always wanted to add another sentient race, based on avians. so here it is. And yes, it ties in with the other aliens. and for a name for the others? how about Ixions? (cos these avians are called Ayans... already got that planned)

Edited by - Cosmic Viator on 8/29/2004 6:16:57 AM

OOC:fine by me viator tho i still can't think of anything for my character to do afterall he's only a lowly escort pilot

Edited by - Dragonborn on 8/29/2004 8:49:28 PM

OOC: dragonborn: the less abilities that your character has, the more suited to heroism he is. just persevere. i'll set up a big part for your character if you want.

more avian stuff! (and after re-reading the whole thing, i noticed that arania had created self aware avians on earth... interesting)

IC:
I had spent a good week on the second world orbiting the golden sun. The Avian language was very similar to english, only using less 'hard' sounds, but the sentance structures were the same. I had moved the Daedalus to a clearing in the centre of one of the major townships. I had met with the elders, learning the history of their race, and of the struggles that had befallen them, and a lot of their mythology, the legends of their past. They had named their world after their original birthplace, a small continent on the north of the planet, named Avalion, or the english translation, Avalon. They refered to themselves as Ayans, the same way Homo Sapiens were refered to as Human.

Tiamat had taught me most of the Ayan mythology, but one story caught my ear, a story about gods who travelled via the heavens, in chariots of thunder and lightning. They described images which had a uncanny resemblence to those that attacked Europa... They refered to them as 'Ikshions', roughly translated, Travelling Demons of Thunder and Pain. I fetched a datapad from my ship, and downloaded a picture from my internal databanks onto it. I showed Tiamat. He reeled as if taken down by a king hit. They were exactly as the Ayan legends described. Ikshions were after Earth, and the Ayans had only just survived their last encounter with them.

-:-
-Anatoly Korenchkin, Nexus, Sol Sector-
After Jake had left, The nexus had quietend down, with only the occupants coming or going. Alek was having fun with his new 'friend', Jennifer Aida, but I had no reason to be jealous, I had an AI that seemed to disagree with everything I said.

But I had very little to worry about, compared to the woes of others.

Dragonborn was struggling to keep himself occupied, Wook had began to take potshots at empty bottles on the bar tables, and Erin... Well, she hasn't left her quarters for a week, still crying over the departure of Jake. I still carry on however, trying to keep the smiles on faces, but that may just be futile at best, all it seems to be doing is delaying the inevitable crash of morale.

I had found it strange that Jake had left A.K. behind, It used to be his travelling companion, even if Kenji was with him... but he did have that creepy dragon thing... and then theres Arania... I don't wanna get on the wrong side of him.

I prepared Helena for a test run, but again, she was proving to be rather difficult. So the Doomtrain was the next best choice, as Wook wanted me to get some more alcohol for the bar. I punched in the launch sequence, leaving Earth behind and headed to Luna, the nearest supply station. What I saw there blew me away. I swear that the woman in front of me was a carbon copy of Jacob, except o fcourse for the augmentations, but even the eyes were the same color. I hastily bought the booze and had it moved to my ship, and ran after the mystery woman. Jake used to crap on about Fate and Destiny, but that never really fitted for me until now. Only now, after Jake has left, has another Langley appeared in the works, one to replace the other.

I called out to her, using all my Korenchkin charm. Which seemed to work a lot for some strange reason. She replied in a puzzled tone, not knowing who I was. I had to catch my breath, panting as she grew impatient, another charming Langley trait. I asked her a question through gasps, hoping she would answer positive.

"Are... you from... Sirius? *pant*" i managed to get out.
"Yes... How did you know?"
"You.. look like a friend of mine. We came here from Sirius."
"You are from Sirius? What system?"
"Bering. I used to own a Shipbuilding buisness... you heard of Z-Axis?"
"Of course, I own a Z-Axis Fighter. You're the owner of Z-Axis?"
"Yeah... Look, I gotta go, If you wanna know more, follow me to Earth"
"But there's nothing on Earth."
"You'll see."

She followed me to the Nexus, and I introduced her to the crew, and I found out her name in doing so; Claire Matthews.

Even though most Korenchkins beleive in making their own fate, something in me began to doubt the control i had over Fate....

=:=
Vi

Edited by - Cosmic Viator on 8/30/2004 12:59:21 AM