Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 4

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Wuehehe. W-we'd never!" Kaylee released a sheepish laugh, then caught a serious expression:
"We will definitely pay you, after Semyon pays us."


"You better!" The smith clenched his fist, that once again reminded you of a boulder.

"Don't worry, sir. We keep our promises, or die in the attempt" Rogue assures the blacksmith, before turning to the others,

"I guess we have our heading, now does anyone've anything else they need to stock up on before we head out? We should probably let Johan know too, see if he wants in."

The smith intently studied Ana's bow and shook his head: "I'm afraid a new crossbow costs more than a used bow. The mechanism is more intricate. You can trade in the bow, but you'll need to pay some as well."

"Right.. I'll just.. leave those here.." Kaylee slowly approached the counter and left the set on knives there.


The smith frowned: "If there's nothing else, I have a long order of weapons to forge and not enough time. If you're not going to buy anything, then have a nice day"


Kaylee nodded and became a bit more serious: "...We will get you your Limit Breaks" she said firmly.

"Right" the smith absentmindedly nodded and began stomping back to his forge and hammer.


Ursula was somewhat lost in thought, holding her chin and studying the dust particles, floating about the room:
"...the area north of Rakshata should be under the supervision of the White Flame... so how come she didn't take steps to eradicate Zlobec?... or did she take steps, but they haven't been successful thus far?... mmm"


"What makes you think she's not on their payroll?" The smith grumpily called, beginning to hammer the steel again.

Ursula gasped, almost insulted: "Why, I'd never-... He would never do such a vile thing! The White Flame is a just and noble king!"

"He? Hm. Thought the White Flame was a woman" the smith indifferently shrugged: "Anyway. What makes you so sure? You know the king personally?"


"I.. well-.." Ursula began to fidget: ".. I met him.. and... spoke to him once... he seemed like a very decent person"

"Ha" The smith loudly hammered a piece of metal on the forge: "You think someone can maintain that much power, without getting involved in backroom deals? While maintaining good appearances? Grow up kid"


"You!-... You don't know what you're talking about!... I'm leaving!" Ursula turned around on her heels and left the smithy.

"...come on" Kaylee quietly waved you to follow: "...lets head to the library for now. Uhh... we should probably let Johan sleep for now, its only been a few minutes. We can try waking him up again, just before we set out on our mission"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"...come on" Kaylee quietly waved you to follow: "...lets head to the library for now. Uhh... we should probably let Johan sleep for now, its only been a few minutes. We can try waking him up again, just before we set out on our mission"

"Good plan" Rogue nods.

Twilight followed the group, but gave a glance to the blacksmith.

"Thank you for your time." Her eyes narrow, the gaze coming from it was icy cold. "But next time you bring up that kind of assumption about the White flame or another Witcher king, bring proof of such claims. I have a very low tolerance of baseless slander like this."

With that, she exited.

"Psh. What are you, the White Lotus?" The smith waved at you, as you left.

Outside the smithy Kaylee quickly fell into thought, then slowly approached you and whispered, trying to keep her voice down, so as not to be overheard by locals:
"...this is a bit deeper issue that we thought... Zlobec... organized crime... forcing locals into paying them, in exchange for protection.
Its true that Zlobec seems to be slacking off in this town, but their presence is still felt."


Kaylee leaned on the side of the building, falling deep into thought:
"...if we blatantly try to take over their territory, taking over Zlobec's jobs, go after their paycheck, they will take notice. It will only be a matter of time before they retaliate. Against us directly, or against local folk"


She visibly grimaced, frowning into space, as if remembering something:
"...I've.. had a run in, with organized crime before... way back in my youth... Often, they don't hold anything sacred. They don't flinch away from harming bystanders, so long as it suits their goals.
Taking any obvious action against them, will be akin to kicking a bee hive. And we're not even sure where the hits will come from.
We don't know their members by face and we don't know who's on their payroll. It will be easy to get ambushed..

We need to think about how we want to play this, and if we still want to try and take over their role in this town, at this point in time" Kaylee grimaced, the thought really wasn't making her happy.

Kaylee Brown wrote:We need to think about how we want to play this, and if we still want to try and take over their role in this town, at this point in time" Kaylee grimaced, the thought really wasn't making her happy.

"We should really be looking for a route whereby the actual local authorities can take charge again" Rogue suggests, "Maybe once we're done here we can call in your kids?"

"I hate to say it." Twilight says while slightly shaking her head. "But until they're usurped, Zlobec is the authority here. You step out of their lines, their enforcers will reign you back in or make sure you'll never walk again. And if you wonder about shaming them for "police brutality", well..." She shrugs. "On what social media platform? And who's there to reign them in?"

She rubbed her chin in thought. "There is an option though... In order to hold the name high, they can't have too many useless runts running around in their organization. Failure is not a welcome option. So if we get the haul back, the ones who were asked to do this will have some explaining to do. Meanwhile, we'll have some coin, experience and a little fame. Depending on how that turns out, we might move to another area, or gain some freedom and work in this territory."

"The heck is a social media?" Anastasia raises an eyebrow "weird phrase aside your're not wrong. Careful and graceful is the name of the game"

"Social media is like.. an ability to send a memory orb to everyone in the world, but they will receive it instantly" Kaylee said, thinking:

"Okay, lets head to the library for now" She pointed towards an old building in the distance, made of heavy walls of stone, an arrowhead rooftop and a statue of dragon, jealousy guarding a memory orb, sitting just over the massive front doors.


Kaylee scanned the building from afar and sighed: "...I know I pushed for this most but, now that I'm about to walk in, I feel a certain dread... shame, maybe. Of what I might see in those memories. I know I'm not responsible for those invasions, or connected to the people who carried them out but.. its like I'm ashamed that those same people came from the same planet I did.

In a way, they were representing Earth, to all of the sentient beings who live here: humans, parasites, the little cat spirits and those large foxes... and this is what they saw.
That Earth is a cold and violent place of monsters.

Is it.. weird.. that I think of it like that...?" She slightly looked towards you.

Kaylee Brown wrote:In a way, they were representing Earth, to all of the sentient beings who live here: humans, parasites, the little cat spirits and those large foxes... and this is what they saw.
That Earth is a cold and violent place of monsters.

Is it.. weird.. that I think of it like that...?" She slightly looked towards you.

"Not at all" Rogue assures Kaylee, "Nobody likes getting their reputation tarnished unfairly."

"Right" Kaylee nodded and released a small smile. As you began making your way through the market, you notice another small cat spirit, floating amidst the crowd. Invisible to regular folk, the spirit was effortlessly zig-zagging around the market, until it blatantly pick-pocketed someone and darted in the opposite direction, dissipating in the crowd. Its sleight of hand was quite impressive, the theft victim didn't notice a thing.

"Check your pockets" Tim calmly said, as he made his way forward.


The library looked much bigger up close, its massive front double doors towered above you, filled with intricate carvings of vines and small forest creatures, hanging and running around them.

With some effort, leaning on the doors with their shoulders, Kaylee and Ursula opened the path to the libraries entrance hall. The first thing that caught your attention was a full sized statues, of a Witcher and a Parasite, standing side by side. They were depicted as equals, even the same height.

Each one extended a hand to another and in their linked palms, laid a representation of a Memory Orb, made of stone.

The two statues were facing you, subtly smiling and an arching set of letters were engraved in the wall behind them:

"Scholars know no borders" was written in ancient Nifel, each letter decorated in a fancy font.



The entrance hall was made of hard stone, lit up by two candles on each side of the statues and separated into two distinct halls, that led somewhere deeper inside.

Before you could fully take in your surroundings, an elderly man materialized from somewhere in your blind spot and pleasantly smiled:




"...Welcome to the Aldirs Library, I am Keeper Brodeur. How can I be of service?" he asked with a small glint in his glowing eyes.

Kaylee heavily swallowed and said with a firm expression: "...we wish to see the memories of the first invasion"


"Right this way" Brodeur bowed and gestured to the door on the right. Kaylee hesitantly moved towards it and Brodeur fell into step beside you.
Ursula's gaze lingered on the statue in front for a few moments longer and the elderly scholar noticed it, releasing a small smile:



"...people often forget, but the scholar community owes a great deal to the parasites. It is only through their eyes, that we can see the sun over this planet, the stars in the sky, the spirits that roam the forests and even some flora.

Regular Humans cannot see any of that. To them, a constant night rules over Nifelheim, even though they can feel the warmth of an invisible sun. The sky is empty and featureless to them, a horizon with no starts. And the local denizens of the forest and the beauty of the flora elude them.

It is a shame, really, but humans were not meant to live on this world"




Brodeur looked at you with a meaningful smile: "...in our recorded history, the very first human to tame a parasite, was General Glasgow. The second human was a Scholar, did you know that?

The Scholar named Alisher was a master of physics, back from the era of the Machine World. He voluntarily infected himself, in a controlled environment, to be the second witness of the new world, in its real glory, to be the voice of the scientific community, that would prove beyond a shadow of doubt, that the parasites did exist, and that they were, in fact, the source of our plague.



Alisher was no soldier, but if an iron will was all it took, by the words of General Glasgow, to tame a parasite into a symbiotic relationship, then by all accounts, there was no other man who wanted more, to feverishly explore the very fundamental fabrics of this new world. And so he did... become the second 'Witcher' in history"


Brodeur smirked, making his way forward. As you passed through the next doorway, you ended up in a massive and very long hall. It was filled with rows upon rows, of shelves upon shelves of tightly packed Memory Orbs, each one sitting in its own tiny socket on a shelf.
The shelves went so high, that several ladders on tiny wheels were dispersed around the room and you could see numerous scholars with glowing eyes, sorting through them, dusting them, taking some or replacing them back in their place.



"It was important to have a Second witness, back then." Brodeur continued:
"Since no one knew the source of the plague, General Glasgow was first written off as just another sick man, raving in delusions.
Bed ridden for days, his skin starting to rot, he one day opened his eyes, that started to glow and began telling feverish tales, of an invisible sun, shining in a nights sky, of a vast empty horizon, that was actually filled with starts, of the glowing moss in the forest, that only he could see, and, of course... of the hungry, invisible creatures that roamed the land, slowly hunting humanity.



This was written off as hallucinations at first. A side effect of the sickness. But not by everyone.
Something in his words, caught the attentive ear of the scholars. Something he said, began to coincide with their own suspicions. Why, was there a change in temperature, when standing out in the open, than under a tree? Why did the flora stretch towards the sky, when there was no sun?



Something was amiss. A second witness was needed. And what better candidate, than a man of science himself."

Brodeur finally stopped next to a long empty desk, surrounded by chairs and smiled:
"...it was an interesting time, back then. An age of exploration. When the words of Glasgow were proven true, every scholar, paired with a parasite or not, launched to explore, study and record, every bit of knowledge that could be gained from this world.


A shame, perhaps... that we did not invent Memory Orbs, until a century and a half, after our Exile. Written accounts, in comparison, often seem unreliable. But perhaps, I was just spoiled by the Memory Orbs' intricate brilliance" the elderly man chuckled a bit, then looked at you:


"...I will bring you the Memory Orbs, you will be able to review them here, without disturbing anyone. And without anyone disturbing you. Time, flows forever forward, even when you are watching a Memory, the world around you marches on." he bowed again, then drifted towards the shelves.

Kaylee Brown wrote:A shame, perhaps... that we did not invent Memory Orbs, until a century and a half, after our Exile. Written accounts, in comparison, often seem unreliable. But perhaps, I was just spoiled by the Memory Orbs' intricate brilliance" the elderly man chuckled a bit, then looked at you:

"...I will bring you the Memory Orbs, you will be able to review them here, without disturbing anyone. And without anyone disturbing you. Time, flows forever forward, even when you are watching a Memory, the world around you marches on." he bowed again, then drifted towards the shelves.

"Thank you" Rogue nods to the keeper as he leaves.

"Question," Anastasia raises her hand like she's in a class then quickly pulls it down with the other "If the Memory Orbs were created post written work and books can be written in a very biased way, how you know that the memeory from the orb is truely what happened and not a biased interpretation of the mind it was taken from? Would the same memory orb taken from group I'm with of this interaction just be the same from different angles or be six completely different takes on the conversation?"

Circi looks to Anastasia, "Usually memory orbs remain unbias. While whomever has their own reasoning behind what they do it shouldn't matter too much of its bias or not. Hopefully you take those bias opinions with a grain of salt and focus more on the facts and what you know already, and add onto it."

Rain pipes up, "From what I understand there are unspeakable atrocities in some of those orbs. Some of them mabye even a first person perspective of some kind of terrorist act. I think you're supposed to use your best judgement when taking in information. Much like you would with a real book. If you were just curious about say... how to make a sword. If that book was writen by a murderer and a terrorist yet it contained important and useful information on how to better your swordcraft would you wish to look past whatever obvious bias an evil man had and use that information along with your best judgment to increase your skill in weaponmaking?"

"If I have to say, there is just one bias to these orbs." Twilight says, rubbing her chin. "The fact that it relies on the senses of us and the creator. We'll likely see these crimes, we'll experience what happens. All we will miss then is what drove the other side to act. And no filling in the blanks yourself, that's what these memory orbs are for."

She then raised an eyebrow and looked at Anastasia. "Curious you haven't been informed about that part of the functionality of memory orbs before. Is this your first time with them?"

"Ok i just wanted to be prepared. My dad collected paper books and was the one who taught me how to read and write. He was definitely biased against them for some strange reason. Said that a mememory should be left alone and not paraded around in or something like that. So because I'm biased to his opinion I just never saw a use over written or spoken informstion."

She pauses and a grin suddenly washes over her face "Of course he was the kind of guy who was sarcastic to the dismay of my mom and had to sleep in the guest room more than once. Wonderful woman but also very stern and the kind of person you probably dont get along with in a random greet and chat. No time for memory orbs she said.

See I wanted to learn to play the pipe organ, be a bard, tell stories and stuff, and both my dad and mom wanted me to be a Witcher and carry on the family name. So we came to angreement that I could do both and half my time was spent on organ training, half on preperation into being a Witcher, and half on trying to figure out why I can't understand math and science very good after the synergy was completed. Then the Glysteria I soul bonded with turned out to be super hot. So...nope, first time."

Circi stops in her tracks a moment and stares into Anastasia for a long moment, her mouth opens slightly and it seems like something you had said made her take pause. She slowly takes her next step forward, "Sorry... that last thing you said was so disgusting I stopped my own heart a moment in hopes it would kill me..." She steps by Anastasia, "...Now not only am I dissapointed, I am also stuck with images I wish not to imagine further. Yet another catastrophe." She says solemnly.

Rain gives a quite snort of laughter from her seat st the table.

Ursula grimaced slightly: "...you know that.. Glystaria don't have gender, right? They don't have the.. anatomy for it. They reproduce through mitosis."


"Mmm" Kaylee smiled: "Just like bacteria"


"YOU'RE A BACTERIAAA!!!" Squiggles screamed at her, unfortunately no one could hear him but Rain, who almost went deaf.



"Anyways, you're right about the Memory Orbs" Ursula looked to Rain and Twilight:
"Memory Orbs only record sensory, physiological data. What your eyes seen, your ears heard, your nose smelled, and so on, for all senses. This sensory data was later received and etched into your memory. Even if you have forgotten a part of it, its still remains dormant in your subconsciousness.


A persons subjective thoughts and his interpretation of the events, have no effect on the Memory Orb. Its unable to record personal thoughts, so we often use it to settle disputes, about arguments of past events.
It is only a sensory recording, of the events that transpired, factual and unbiased. So if we were to collect a memory from everyone here, about this table, for example"


Ursula looked down and placed a gloved palm on its surface: "We would see the same table, from different angles."
She looked up at you: "Usually, when a major historic event happens, like an invasion, there would be dozens of memories of it, from different angles. The Memory Keepers review all the angles and establish key facts. Then choose the Memory Orbs that presented the clearest picture of the events, from the clearest angle and encompassed the most vital details, and store those in the library.

Sometimes, if the Memory is really important, multiple copies of it are made, and distributed, among other libraries."


Ursula shifted her weight to one leg, standing more comfortably:
"The only thing that affects a Memory Orb, is the Witchers physiology. If something were to disrupt his ability to receive sensory data, the memory will be affected. So things like alcohol, drugs, could cause a disruption. The memory will become foggy, with smeared shapes, unclear. It will be noticeable right away."



Kaylee took hold of her chin, looking at the table: "... so if I were to record a Memory Orb and let someone see it"


"...yes" Ursula uncomfortably nodded: "...while viewing it, we would loose sight in one of our eyes. That's how your brain received sensory data and.. that's how we'll see it"



"Thank you for waiting" Keeper Brodeur materialized from somewhere in your blind spot again and approached the table. Held firmly in his hands, was a wooden box, beautifully decorated with carvings of leaves and forest vines.
Gently placing it on the table, he opened the lid, revealing two Memory Orbs resting there, coated in purple fabric.

"...these are the two Memories that captured the event to its fullest. This one is chronologically first." Brodeur pointed to one of them: "If you will require more Memories of the same event, we have them, from other angles, but the others didn't have as clear a recording as these two." he paused and hesitantly shuffled in place:

"Ehh... the Memories of the First Invasion are... difficult to watch. I must warn you, what's stored inside those Orbs is... harrowing... unspeakable... disgusting. Its not for the faint of heart.. or those who have been scarred in battle and still suffer from PTSD. These memories may worsen that condition. I have to warn you of that"

Kaylee looked away. She seems more than uncomfortable.


"We have written records of those events, you know" Brodeur calmly said: "There's no need for you to experience, what our ancestors did, during the invasions. They sacrificed, so we would have a more peaceful life. Are you certain.. you wish to see what's inside?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:Ursula grimaced slightly: "...you know that.. Glystaria don't have gender, right? They don't have the.. anatomy for it. They reproduce through mitosis."

"Never stopped anyone before..." Rogue adds.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Anyways, you're right about the Memory Orbs" Ursula looked to Rain and Twilight:
"Memory Orbs only record sensory, physiological data. What your eyes seen, your ears heard, your nose smelled, and so on, for all senses. This sensory data was later received and etched into your memory. Even if you have forgotten a part of it, its still remains dormant in your subconsciousness.

"So would casting Heightened Senses improve the quality?" Rogue asks, "And can memories be taken from animals?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Ehh... the Memories of the First Invasion are... difficult to watch. I must warn you, what's stored inside those Orbs is... harrowing... unspeakable... disgusting. Its not for the faint of heart.. or those who have been scarred in battle and still suffer from PTSD. These memories may worsen that condition. I have to warn you of that"

Kaylee looked away. She seems more than uncomfortable.

"We have written records of those events, you know" Brodeur calmly said: "There's no need for you to experience, what our ancestors did, during the invasions. They sacrificed, so we would have a more peaceful life. Are you certain.. you wish to see what's inside."

"Afraid so, this's important" Rogue replies solemnly, "So who wants to drink, and who wants to pass?"

//Hey guys, hope everyone is doing well and in good health,
just wanted to post a quick update, I'm really sorry about the increasing delays in the rp lately,
I have a major exam on Genetics this thursday and most of my free time is going there. I already started to write down the next post on a notepad but its coming out pretty long and I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish it before the exam.

I'll try to finish it, but worst case scenario, I'll update the rp on thursday after the exam. Sorry about the delay >.<

Anyways, I wish you guys the best of health, stay safe, stay healthy, sign into skype if you wonna have a quick laugh and take care =)

Rogue wrote:"So would casting Heightened Senses improve the quality?" Rogue asks, "And can memories be taken from animals?"

"Heightened Senses would considerably improve the quality, yes" Ursula nodded: "About the animals, technically speaking, anyone can imprint a Memory into an empty Orb, regular humans, animals, even the cat spirits.
The 'issue' is that, those memories cannot be taken. There's no way to extract them. The individual in question must imprint them willingly, he is the only one who activates and controls the process.

While we can explain and teach a regular human, how to record a Memory, it is more difficult with animals. Most won't understand what you wish of them, and the more intelligent ones like the cat spirits, very rarely cooperate."

Rogue wrote:"Afraid so, this's important" Rogue replies solemnly, "So who wants to drink, and who wants to pass?"

Kaylee shook her head: "N-no. Thank you. I need to stay lucid for this."

"I'll take shot" Tim said with a sigh, rubbing his neck: "The last one I saw, wasn't kind to my soul"

Kaylee very vividly grimaced, looking down at the Orbs, as if they were a pair of small, disgusting insects.

"...you really don't have to force yourself" Brodeur was watching her pretty intently, his body language signaled that he expected Kaylee to faint, and he was subtly tippy-toeing closer to her, in an attempt to catch her if that were to happen.

"Have you watched them...?" Kaylee stiffly asked, staring down at the Orbs, with a forming scowl.

Brodeur slightly spread his arms: "W-well... I had to... it is my job"

"Then I will as well" Kaylee shot her hand forward and firmly grasped the first Orb.

"Oh boy" Brodeur barely audibly mumbled, releasing a sigh. In turn, Tim and Ursula placed their palms or a finger to the first Orb and waited for you. When everyone made physical contact with the blue sphere, the teal cloud of mist inside it started to swirl quicker.
Before you knew it, the cloud seemed to have flown through your hands, into your body and everything went dark.







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Flight. A gentle nights breeze ruffled your hair, as you stared at the starless sky, making your way through the air. It was a pleasant feeling, that felt much longer than it actually lasted. But why does your forehead hurt so? And why did you suddenly crash, with your back to the ground.

In a split second, any form of pleasant feelings were knocked out of you, together with the air in your lungs, as you fell onto the hard snow below. Coughing and trying to blink away the black spots in your eyes, you saw a dozen frightened and concerned faces lean over you, gasping and stretching their open palms to you, trying to help you back up.

"-Oh my god!"
"-Are you okay?!
"-You didn't have to hit him so hard!"
"-What's wrong with you!!!"

Countless voices called all around you, soon turning into a cacophony of noise. Somehow getting back to your feet, with countless hands trying to help you stand upright, you notice your standing in a middle of a crowd. There was a lot of them, you estimate around 50 in total.

One look at them, told you they were civilians, peasants, or carpenters, or something else, all of their clothes were hand made, often poorly stitched together by an untrained hand, consisting of different fur types and leather.

All of them were somewhat tightly packed together, standing in a wide half circle, around something and all shouted or called to someone at the center. Their speech was a strange mix of Nifel and Soren, some of the words were so strange, they were borderline unrecognizable and you had to reconstruct the meaning from context.


"-Stop this!"
"-Take us with you!"
"-That's not hard for you at all!
"-You can't just leave us here!!!"


The crowd continued to shout at someone, in their strange mix of Soren and Nifel. Rubbing your forehead and already feeling the forming bruise, you begrudgingly pushed through the crowd and finally saw who everyone was looking at.




It was an open field of snow, barren and featureless. Save for a massive crack in the ground, than went down for about a meter and stretched forth, for a good 20 meters. This crack looked messy, naturally formed, as if the earth just gave in and fell down, creating this strange, relatively shallow chasm.


There was a vehicle there. Completely out of place in this environment. It was a very bulky, heavy APC. An Armored Personnel Carrier, with no windows and a turret up top. No markings on its surface, only white striped camouflage paint.


The thing had somehow fallen right into the chasm, with its nose now buried deep in the rock and snow, its entire carcass now titled at a 45 degree angle, sticking out of the chasm. Out of its 8 wheels, the back 2 didn't touch the ground, hanging a little above it.


Atop the APC and all around it, sat 20 figures in hard environment suits, so armored, they almost looked like armored astronauts. They sat in a clear military formation, creating a defensive perimeter around the APC and most of them were watching the crowd, that rapidly formed around them.

One more thing caught your attention. The figures in environment suits had automatic weapons, trained at the crowd.



No one in the crowd really showed much desire to get too close to the armored men and their APC. And judging by how the nearest figure was tilting his rifle and getting a better grip on it, he might have been the one who smashed the butt of his rifle, into your forehead just moments ago.



"...Number four, I need those orders!" one of the figures in armored suits quietly grunted in Soren, but you still heard him. He was standing in the middle of the military perimeter, with his rifle aimed and his back to the APC, possibly the team leader, judging by the formation.



"Its too soon" another armored figure responded, shaking his head with a sigh: "Taking the time lag into account, it will take at least 26 minutes to get a reply. And that's if he's REALLY fast" His Soren had a strange accent, which you couldn't quite pin.
This one didn't have a rifle though, only a handgun strapped to his belt and still holstered there. Instead of a weapon, he was holding a military grade, armored laptop in his hands and was sitting atop the tilted APC, watching the computer screen.


"...was this premeditated?" the leader grunted again, his eyes and rifle never leaving the crowd.



"I don't think so" the one with the laptop responded, watching the screen: "Geological scans show, this area is sitting just atop a gap between the tectonic plates. Earthquakes like this are common and there are a lot of pockets of 'air', under the surface. Looks like we crashed through and right into one."
He looked up from the screen: "Its not the best place to be. Computer projections show, this whole area may turn into a giant canyon in a few hundred years."



"Tsk. Number 13, status report" The leader begrudgingly roared.


You didn't see the one who began replaying to him. But judging by the echo, the speaker may be inside the APC:
"...the engine's busted and freezing over! I don't know if I can fix this with these tools! Not in 5 minutes!"



The leader of the military group cursed under his breath. The crowd gathered around the APC took the brief pause in conversation as incentive to start yelling again:


"-Please! You can't just leave us here!"
"-We're being hunted!"
"-You don't understand!"
"-Take us away from this miserable planet!"
"-My grandfather died dreaming of this! Please!"



"All teams. We're abandoning the vehicle. Continue to point of exfil on foot, over" the leader grunted into his radio, it didn't look like he was paying any attention to what the crowd was shouting. He was more focused on their hands, their body language.


A half dozen other figures in heavy environment suits, popped out of the back of the APC and jumped down to the snow. They were armed. One of them, held a metal suit case that caught your attention. A painfully familiar metal suit case, that you've seen before.
The figure held it casually, non chalantly, as if it had no significance, doing his best to avoid attention. To your trained eye, it showed. But none of the civilians in the crowd seemed to pay it much mind.


"Move out" the leader called and the entire military unit, began to methodically fall into formation and attempt to move in a single direction, while still keeping their rifles aimed at the crowd and maintaining some sort of a circular perimeter.


A single woman in rags stepped out of the crowd, tears in her eyes, she stood in front of the group leader and called:

"..please!... we're dying here... we need help! There's creatures that's haunting us... we won't survive for much more on this planet... just... let us come with you. We won't be any trouble - we'll do anything you say, just please, take us away from here" she placed her palms next to her heart, looking at the leader of the armored group, trying to find a point in his tinted visor, where his eyes  should be.


"...that's not going to happen" he replied in a quiet, firm voice. There was a thinly veiled threat there, with his gun still aimed at the woman, she involuntarily took a step back.


"LIKE HELL ITS NOT!" one of the men in the crowd shouted: "WE'RE FOLLOWING YOU, UNTIL YOU GET TO THE PORTAL!"


One of the armored figures suddenly brought his rifle up and emptied his whole clip into the nights sky. The racked of a rifle being fired on full automatic into the air, was so painfully deafening at close distance, the whole crowd shrieked in confusion and panic, falling to the ground and covering their heads with both hands.


"NOBODY MOVE!!! DON'T YOU FUCKING MOVE FROM THIS SPOT - YOU HEAR ME!!!" The leader barked over the crowd, attempting to come through the ringing you heard in your ears.


A very palpable shock has paralyzed everyone present. The entire crowd remained laying on the ground, you included, watching in terror as the armored figures began moving away from you, their weapons still aimed at your head.

Nobody in the crowd moved. No one probably even thought of moving. Everyone just watched the armored figures slowly begin to leave.



"Captain! Incoming message from Earth!" the armored figure with the laptop suddenly shouted: "Its uh.. in text format, because of the-"

"No shit" the unit leader snapped at him: "Forward it to our visors"

"Hang on, just.. give me a moment" the figure started fiddling with his laptop.



The entire unit of the armored soldiers came to a stop. Something vividly changed in their body language. They all went deathly silent. Some slowly exhaled, others shook their head or blankly stared into space. Some even slightly lowered their weapons.
Their faces were completely hidden behind the armored helmets, but they all signaled heavy shell shock with their body language.


"Captain?" one of them called.

"This is bullshit" the armored figures began to quietly curse and twist their heads: "This garbage wasn't in the contract"

"He can't be serious, right? This... this is a mistake right?!" The guy with the laptop started to mumble.

"Captain! Your orders!" the other men started to call: "Captain?"
"We need orders! What do we do! Captain!"
"Captain!"
"CAPTAIN!"


"...Team 1, proceed with the package to exfil" the leader of the unit quietly called:
"Team 2, on me. Regroup at the exfil point in 10 minutes. This won't take long"


"We're seriously doing this!?" one of his men called in alarm.

"...you saw his message" the leader quietly bared his teeth: "...'Exfil impossible, until new mission objectives complete'... you want to get fucking home or what"


"..this is-"


"STOW IT!" the leader barked: "All teams, begin operation, now."



About half of the armored soldiers split from the rest and broke into a mad sprint, running somewhere towards the horizon. Among them, you saw the figure with the laptop, and another other one, carrying a metal case.


The remaining armored figures waited a moment, still aiming their guns at the crowd. The local peasant folk looked more than confused and terrified. Some of them began trying to slowly get up, unsure if it would spark another outrage from the armored visitors.

There was maybe another second that ticked by. And a hail of bullets suddenly erupted and cut through the air.





It was chaos, your vision blurred as you picked yourself off the ground and ran, but some of the after images of what you briefly saw, were still painfully burned into your head. Executions, at point blank range. Quick, ugly, horrifying, indescribable.





You were running towards the tree line now, a few survivors that you saw by your side, were cut down, one by one, shot in the back of the head.

Diving into cover, the bushes and tightly packed trees tearing the skin from your body, off of your face, as you struggled to fight your way through the forest and run, run as fast as you could, as the bullets violently cut the air all around you, peppering tree trunks, cutting down trees.




You were hit, once or twice, you're not sure. Your vision never lowered to check for the injury and your eyes remained trained only forward, until, minutes later, the tree line abruptly ended and you fell into a square of a small village, with houses of wood.


Over three dozen people that were out and about at the time, froze, at the sight of you. Your ash and blood covered clothes, the blood that poured from your mouth as you coughed, trying to pick yourself off the ground, all of this had silenced the idle chatter and laughs that surrounded the village just a second ago.


Everyone's eyes were glued to you, in shock, confusion, misunderstanding. Trying to make sense of what's happening and failing at every turn. Hoping, against hope, that this was some kind of joke, some misunderstanding and as soon as you'd open your mouth, everything would make sense again.

But it didn't, their faces showed as much, as you stumbled toward the nearest person you saw, grabbed him by his clothes, smearing them with your blood and screamed:


"...Machine Folk.. they're coming!... THEY'RE KILLING EVERYONE IN SIGHT! RUN!!!" You screamed at his face, looking at him and at everyone else in the village.


No one really moved. Or tried to run. They just stood there, looking at you. And some even began coming closer:

"..what are you saying?... what happened to you?... are you injured?" the folk began calling to you, one by one, as they approached. And nobody ran"



"ARE YOU LISTENING!" You started to sob, tears began falling down from your eyes as you hid your face, in the clothes, of the person you ran into:
"THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE KILLING EVERYONE! RUN!!!"


"Who's coming?... you're not making sense... someone fetch a healer!..." the crowd continued to stand in place, with some coming towards you, surrounding you in a circle.


You opened your eyes and looked through them, back to the tree line.




They emerged out of the forest like ghosts. Silent, covered in armor and snow. Walking in line with their weapons trained, they only muttered one line, before they scanned the village and opened fire:


"No witnesses."


An explosive from a portable rocket launcher was flung at the nearest house, obliterating it into splinters. A group of armored figures marched through the streets with flamethrowers, engulfing everything in front of them in a wave of fire. A hail of bullets cut through the streets and the wooden houses.

And you ran, through the fire, through the explosions, through the bullets that ripped through the village. You ran, until you fell into somebodies cellar. The impact knocking the wind and the consciousness out of you.

And the only thing you kept seeing, before everything went dark, were the ash covered visors of the machine folk, slowly making their way through the village.






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




Brodeur was quietly watching you, as you came to. Even now, standing in the library, you could still somehow smell the ash from that village.

Eyes wide Anastasia's hand instantly goes for the second orb.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Brodeur was quietly watching you, as you came to. Even now, standing in the library, you could still somehow smell the ash from that village.

"Well, that brought back unpleasant memories" Rogue sighs, "How's everyone dealing, up for round two?"

Circi taps her fingers against the table, "Looks like they have the object." She looks to the librarian, "If im concidering this correctly... this was when the portal was not a fortified mega fortress." Her head lowers back to the party, her hand now hovering over the second orb, "We should find that machine in the canyon. Surely its still there."

Rain sighs, "Damn." She rubs the bridge of her nose, "...And theres still more. This is going to be tough." She sighs resting her palm on the second orb.

After the show of the first orb, Twilight held hr head, like she was getting vertigo.

"That was just... Too much..." She says with a notable wobbling. "The talks we useful, but the slaughter was too much."

She sook her head, trying to throw it off. "Okay, we should carefully pick our next orb, knowing when to let go."