Iset
Guardian
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2006
- Posts
- 226
- Location
- Canada!!!
- Society
- The 3-Toed Sloths
I have never been in space before.
It was rare, but not unheard of, to be one of those citizens of Calypso who had actually been born on the planet; of parents who were on one of the first waves of colonist to come from Earth. And having lived the relatively sheltered life of a trader, I have never had any reason to leave Calypso’s surface.
I slowly think back to the first day I ever thought about actually traveling to space; the day when I saw my first spaceship land in PA carrying fresh colonists. One among them caught my attention, it was the very first time I ever met Lexxy. Since then we have been virtually inseparable; first Lexxy became my mentor, and then my partner.
It was she who introduced me into the society I now belong to, and to all my closets friends on Calypso. It is also Lexxy who finally brought me out of my trading shell and encouraged me to learn to hunt, something I am getting better at all the time. And now, as a gift, she is taking me to the space station Crystal Palace, to try my hand at hunting the alien mobs there.
Yet all I can think about is the stories I used to hear about the first Robot Wars, and the hazards of space travel. I open my eyes, and almost jump out of my seat as I feel the grinding lurch telling me the ship is about the take off. I look over to Lexxy, sitting beside me; eyes closed, a peaceful smile on her face, each bump and jolt a familiar sensation to her. I reach out my arm, and she gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.
“It’s gonna be alright Hun.”
Easy for her to say. I can feel the bile rise in my throat as the ship is propelled skyward, and the force pressing down on my chest is barely enough to stop the feeling of vertigo and the ensuing nausea. The ship shakes and groans for what feels like an eternity; the roar of the engines so loud it becomes barely audible. All I can see is the white of my eyelids pressed together.
And then silence. I can feel myself floating above the seat; the harness is the only thing keeping me in place. My ears ring from the engines, yet I can hear the soft breathing of my companion. Calmed a bit, I look over out my window, and am greeting with a majestic view. Far below me lies my home, Calypso; all swirling blues, greens and whites. I can see the faint blue line of the atmosphere, and the pinks and greens of the aurora borealis floating in the skies below me. It is so beautiful that it takes my breath away.
And then just as it quickly as it began, it is over. With a lurch the ship is grabbed by the space station’s outer loading dock, and the airlock clangs against the main hatch. A hiss and the cabin is re-pressurized, and my ears pop several times as I drop down to my seat.
“Thank you for traveling with Toolman Airlines” comes a male voice from the cockpit. “Hope you two have fun out here, and good luck with the mobs. Don’t forget to leave the airlock quickly; it’ll be death for you if you are there when I take off.” And with that the hatch closes, and we step out into the foyer of Crystal Palace.
It takes several seconds for my eyes to adjust to the low level of light, and when I can see, the first thing that hits me is how deserted the place is. The room is fairly large, yet more resembles a reception room in an office building than a space station. Potted plants are scattered everywhere, and a receptionist sits in the far corner. I cannot make out if she is even awake; she is slouched forward in her seat, apparently bored and staring at her computer screen.
I follow Lexxy through the hallway to our left, and look over her shoulder as she activates the small hologram map on her wrist comm.
“We want to be in Dome Two if I remember correctly, that is where we should find some mobs you’ll be able to take.” I nod and follow her, hoping that she is right about me being able to handle them. It’s only been a few months since she has taken me as her disciple, and I have not had as much time as I wanted to practise hunting.
As we wind our way though the maze of corridors, I am stilled shocked at how quiet and empty the place is. Even the janitors seem to be missing, as my boot kicks up some loose papers that are scattered across the floor. I ask Lexxy about this, and she replies that it has been like this ever since the new space station, Club Neverdie, was opened on one of the asteroids orbiting Calypso.
“Club Neverdie offers more than just hunting and mining domes now, with bars, clubs, and other entertainment” she explains as we run. “So people are more likely to hunt there, where they have a place to relax afterwards.”
As she says this, we run into one of the main gathering rooms, where the doors to dome 1 and 2 are located.
“Let’s suit up, and we shall see what is in these domes. Hopefully we can handle these mobs together. Put on your Gremlin armour, as I think we are going to want to stick to hunting the Kreltin-that armour will protect you best from their acid.”
I open my pack and strap on my composite armour. I make sure I have covered all exposed flesh, and securely buckle on my helmet. I really don’t like the idea of fighting acid, I can still remember the very first time I ever hunted Snablesnots as a kid, and I still have the scars to prove it.
Once fully kitted up, we pass through the airlock and the security checks into the first dome. I don’t notice anything unusual when I first step out, I recognize some of the trees and plant life from Calypso. But when I look up, the most amazing sight meets my eyes. The top of the dome is all plated glass, and I can see to what seems like the end of the galaxy. A million stars dazzle up above, and the mottled purple and while of a gas nebula stretches in a thin line from one side to the other. At the very far edges I can see parts of the asteroid, and the sudden burst of rock and dust as the asteroid is hit by debris.
“This has to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Is it always like this?” I am brought out of my wonderment the “beeps” of Lexxy’s radar as she searches the area for mobs. As small dots begin to appear on the screen, she looks through the scope of her gun to see what they are.
“All I can see are Aurli Iset, I am sorry, but I don’t think we can take these guys on. I was sure there were Kreltin here, but I must have been wrong. Look through here.”
I can’t see anything but trees at first, but finally I see the quick movement of what look like swords. I realise then that it is the arms of the Aurli; long scimitar shaped claws that are ripping through the body of an unfortunate hunter. The starlight glints on the blood-soaked bone, and I back up.
“Let’s try dome one, perhaps they have moved the Kreltin there.”
As we enter the other dome, I notice that the terrain in here is more mountainous. Perhaps we will be able to find some high ground that will give us a good vantage point for hunting. It appears Lexxy is thinking the same, as she begins to run up the nearest hill, radar at the ready. When I reach her, she has a worried expression on her face.
“I can’t see any smaller ones. They must have been picked off quite recently, it looks like we may have to tangle with something larger than I had expected. Is that alright?”
I nod, but start to get butterflies in my stomach at the thought—which only get worse as I see Lexxy pull out her Marber Bravo and after aiming for a second, sends a stream of blue plasma shooting out the barrel. I cannot see where it lands, but a second later I hear the crunching of underbrush as something charges out of the trees.
I rush to swing my opalo around and take aim, anxiously looking through the scope. At first I can’t see anything, but soon I catch the movement of what I can only describe as a brown blob moving towards us. It opens its mouth to howl, and a stream of acid comes rushing out, melting the surrounding leaves in a hiss of smoke.
Swallowing hard, I pull the trigger. Damn! The creature doesn’t even loose its footing. Luckily Lexxy’s rounds seem to be doing it more damage, and I pray that there is enough acid protection on my armour. It attacks Lexxy first, and she nimbly steps away from another gush of acid, but not before plugging two rounds into the mobs face. This time it does notice, and looks as if it might fall back down the hill. But only too soon does it find its footing, and this time focuses its attack on me.
I don’t even have time to register what happened. All I see is white, and when I open my eyes again, I am sitting down next to the revival unit. I can barely stand, every inch of skin is screaming in pain, and my armour has tiny holes all over it. I don’t want to think of what it will take to fix this. As I gingerly unstrap my armour, I hear the familiar sound and see Lexxy materialize next to me, not seeming to have faired much better.
“Well, I managed to pack a few more rounds into him before I went down. If we’re going to have a chance, I think we need to change our game plan. But first,” she said, looking me up and down, “we have to get you out of that armour.”
I sat there quietly listening, as Lexxy began to peel off the armour plates, and tried not to cry.
“I think this time you would be better off to wear your ghost. I was able to hang on for a little bit longer, and if I try to hit him with my marber as much as possible before he gets to us, we might be able to take him down next time.”
We enter the dome cautiously, making sure we are far enough away from the entrance as to not have him killed by the security turret. It isn’t too difficult to find him, a trail of black blood snakes through the underbrush. Through our scopes we can see him, cornered, licking his wounds. One shot from Lexxy’s gun however, quickly brings him charging towards us.
“Back up, back up! Get behind me NOW” Lexxy yells, as it comes into our Opalo range. I fire shot after shot, trying to get it to stumble and stop hitting Lexxy. One more hit, and with a groan Lexxy is pushed backwards. Acid drips from her left forearm, and I think I can see raw flesh under the blood. Running over to her, I began to FAP her frantically, but quickly see it would be of no use.
“Just shoot it! Shoot!” I swing my opalo from over my shoulder, and began to fire, just as Lexxy finally collapses. Now with his full attention on me, I know I will not last long. One shot, reload. Shoot. Reload. I barely feel the acid slowly burning though my armour, nor do I clearly see the blood running down my thigh. One more hit, and now I could feel it, the searing pain going up my right side. Just one more shot…
Everything went black even before I knew I was hit again, and then the all familiar white…
Lexxy had me fully fapped even before I regained consciousness, but that still didn’t help the pain. A quick shot of morphine and adrenaline did the trick.
Once more entering the dome, we have to run a little further to find our prey. Lexxy throws me her justifier, and I never realized how much bigger it is than the opalo. My arm muscles are starting to burn from carrying it, but I follow her, darting through the trees, trying to see but not be seen. By the time we reach him, even the shot of adrenaline isn’t keeping me from stumbling. My legs feel like they’re made of lead. Lexxy begins the foray again, this time, using her marber exclusively. I put one shot after another into him as he scurries up the steep slope, and for once, our alternating fire is actually slowing him down! I do the mistake of trying to yell this Lexxy, and a quick tumble sideways is all that keeps me from getting a stream of acid in my face. Lexxy now has her gun set to auto-aim, and is darting to and fro as well, trying to keep one step ahead of the acid.
All of a sudden, I feel a pressure against my back. Oh no, we have backed up to the dome wall! I frantically search for a way out, when I hear the familiar his and feel my chest erupt in fire. Tons of beady little eyes are focused with all their rage on me, and he has almost reached me, another stream of acid hitting my shoulder, knocking me down.
All I have time to think is “this is it…” and suddenly, all goes black.
One second, two seconds… I don’t see the white of revival unit. And I have this intense weight on my back. With a grunt, I see light again, and Lexxy is pulling the giant creature off of me, blood and acid landing on the ground in light mists. I scramble backwards, and look down at my first alien kill. Why do I not feel proud or happy? Why do I only want to curl and throw up?
“Check the stomach Iset, we will get some loot. I am going to make sure there are no more too close to us.”
I lurch forward, eager to see what loot we can pull from this guy. Maybe it will have been worth it after all, as I feel my fatigue and pain vanish in an instant.
Using a branch, I push away the bone and flesh, careful to avoid the numerous acid pouches scattered around its corpse. When at last I locate the stomach, I can see pieces of what looked like Gremlin armour, and something glittery catches my eye. We did it! Ignoring the vile mess in front of me, I shove my hand in, and root around until I can find no more coins. Standing, I stare into the contents of my hand. In disbelief. Suddenly all the pain, fatigue, and despair come rushing over me like a wave, a wave, and I feel my knees buckle. As Lexxy trots over to me, I collapse, fist wrapped tightly around our spoils.
“So, what did we get?” She asks excitedly.
I look up at her, and open my palm, allowing the four ped six pec to thud softly on the disturbed and blood soaked soil. Taking one look at the tears in my eyes, she grabs me by the hand and hauls me to my feet.
“Well Hun, just looks like we’ll have to bag another!”
Cheers,
Iset
The 3-Toed Sloths Society
It was rare, but not unheard of, to be one of those citizens of Calypso who had actually been born on the planet; of parents who were on one of the first waves of colonist to come from Earth. And having lived the relatively sheltered life of a trader, I have never had any reason to leave Calypso’s surface.
I slowly think back to the first day I ever thought about actually traveling to space; the day when I saw my first spaceship land in PA carrying fresh colonists. One among them caught my attention, it was the very first time I ever met Lexxy. Since then we have been virtually inseparable; first Lexxy became my mentor, and then my partner.
It was she who introduced me into the society I now belong to, and to all my closets friends on Calypso. It is also Lexxy who finally brought me out of my trading shell and encouraged me to learn to hunt, something I am getting better at all the time. And now, as a gift, she is taking me to the space station Crystal Palace, to try my hand at hunting the alien mobs there.
Yet all I can think about is the stories I used to hear about the first Robot Wars, and the hazards of space travel. I open my eyes, and almost jump out of my seat as I feel the grinding lurch telling me the ship is about the take off. I look over to Lexxy, sitting beside me; eyes closed, a peaceful smile on her face, each bump and jolt a familiar sensation to her. I reach out my arm, and she gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.
“It’s gonna be alright Hun.”
Easy for her to say. I can feel the bile rise in my throat as the ship is propelled skyward, and the force pressing down on my chest is barely enough to stop the feeling of vertigo and the ensuing nausea. The ship shakes and groans for what feels like an eternity; the roar of the engines so loud it becomes barely audible. All I can see is the white of my eyelids pressed together.
And then silence. I can feel myself floating above the seat; the harness is the only thing keeping me in place. My ears ring from the engines, yet I can hear the soft breathing of my companion. Calmed a bit, I look over out my window, and am greeting with a majestic view. Far below me lies my home, Calypso; all swirling blues, greens and whites. I can see the faint blue line of the atmosphere, and the pinks and greens of the aurora borealis floating in the skies below me. It is so beautiful that it takes my breath away.
And then just as it quickly as it began, it is over. With a lurch the ship is grabbed by the space station’s outer loading dock, and the airlock clangs against the main hatch. A hiss and the cabin is re-pressurized, and my ears pop several times as I drop down to my seat.
“Thank you for traveling with Toolman Airlines” comes a male voice from the cockpit. “Hope you two have fun out here, and good luck with the mobs. Don’t forget to leave the airlock quickly; it’ll be death for you if you are there when I take off.” And with that the hatch closes, and we step out into the foyer of Crystal Palace.
It takes several seconds for my eyes to adjust to the low level of light, and when I can see, the first thing that hits me is how deserted the place is. The room is fairly large, yet more resembles a reception room in an office building than a space station. Potted plants are scattered everywhere, and a receptionist sits in the far corner. I cannot make out if she is even awake; she is slouched forward in her seat, apparently bored and staring at her computer screen.
I follow Lexxy through the hallway to our left, and look over her shoulder as she activates the small hologram map on her wrist comm.
“We want to be in Dome Two if I remember correctly, that is where we should find some mobs you’ll be able to take.” I nod and follow her, hoping that she is right about me being able to handle them. It’s only been a few months since she has taken me as her disciple, and I have not had as much time as I wanted to practise hunting.
As we wind our way though the maze of corridors, I am stilled shocked at how quiet and empty the place is. Even the janitors seem to be missing, as my boot kicks up some loose papers that are scattered across the floor. I ask Lexxy about this, and she replies that it has been like this ever since the new space station, Club Neverdie, was opened on one of the asteroids orbiting Calypso.
“Club Neverdie offers more than just hunting and mining domes now, with bars, clubs, and other entertainment” she explains as we run. “So people are more likely to hunt there, where they have a place to relax afterwards.”
As she says this, we run into one of the main gathering rooms, where the doors to dome 1 and 2 are located.
“Let’s suit up, and we shall see what is in these domes. Hopefully we can handle these mobs together. Put on your Gremlin armour, as I think we are going to want to stick to hunting the Kreltin-that armour will protect you best from their acid.”
I open my pack and strap on my composite armour. I make sure I have covered all exposed flesh, and securely buckle on my helmet. I really don’t like the idea of fighting acid, I can still remember the very first time I ever hunted Snablesnots as a kid, and I still have the scars to prove it.
Once fully kitted up, we pass through the airlock and the security checks into the first dome. I don’t notice anything unusual when I first step out, I recognize some of the trees and plant life from Calypso. But when I look up, the most amazing sight meets my eyes. The top of the dome is all plated glass, and I can see to what seems like the end of the galaxy. A million stars dazzle up above, and the mottled purple and while of a gas nebula stretches in a thin line from one side to the other. At the very far edges I can see parts of the asteroid, and the sudden burst of rock and dust as the asteroid is hit by debris.
“This has to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Is it always like this?” I am brought out of my wonderment the “beeps” of Lexxy’s radar as she searches the area for mobs. As small dots begin to appear on the screen, she looks through the scope of her gun to see what they are.
“All I can see are Aurli Iset, I am sorry, but I don’t think we can take these guys on. I was sure there were Kreltin here, but I must have been wrong. Look through here.”
I can’t see anything but trees at first, but finally I see the quick movement of what look like swords. I realise then that it is the arms of the Aurli; long scimitar shaped claws that are ripping through the body of an unfortunate hunter. The starlight glints on the blood-soaked bone, and I back up.
“Let’s try dome one, perhaps they have moved the Kreltin there.”
As we enter the other dome, I notice that the terrain in here is more mountainous. Perhaps we will be able to find some high ground that will give us a good vantage point for hunting. It appears Lexxy is thinking the same, as she begins to run up the nearest hill, radar at the ready. When I reach her, she has a worried expression on her face.
“I can’t see any smaller ones. They must have been picked off quite recently, it looks like we may have to tangle with something larger than I had expected. Is that alright?”
I nod, but start to get butterflies in my stomach at the thought—which only get worse as I see Lexxy pull out her Marber Bravo and after aiming for a second, sends a stream of blue plasma shooting out the barrel. I cannot see where it lands, but a second later I hear the crunching of underbrush as something charges out of the trees.
I rush to swing my opalo around and take aim, anxiously looking through the scope. At first I can’t see anything, but soon I catch the movement of what I can only describe as a brown blob moving towards us. It opens its mouth to howl, and a stream of acid comes rushing out, melting the surrounding leaves in a hiss of smoke.
Swallowing hard, I pull the trigger. Damn! The creature doesn’t even loose its footing. Luckily Lexxy’s rounds seem to be doing it more damage, and I pray that there is enough acid protection on my armour. It attacks Lexxy first, and she nimbly steps away from another gush of acid, but not before plugging two rounds into the mobs face. This time it does notice, and looks as if it might fall back down the hill. But only too soon does it find its footing, and this time focuses its attack on me.
I don’t even have time to register what happened. All I see is white, and when I open my eyes again, I am sitting down next to the revival unit. I can barely stand, every inch of skin is screaming in pain, and my armour has tiny holes all over it. I don’t want to think of what it will take to fix this. As I gingerly unstrap my armour, I hear the familiar sound and see Lexxy materialize next to me, not seeming to have faired much better.
“Well, I managed to pack a few more rounds into him before I went down. If we’re going to have a chance, I think we need to change our game plan. But first,” she said, looking me up and down, “we have to get you out of that armour.”
I sat there quietly listening, as Lexxy began to peel off the armour plates, and tried not to cry.
“I think this time you would be better off to wear your ghost. I was able to hang on for a little bit longer, and if I try to hit him with my marber as much as possible before he gets to us, we might be able to take him down next time.”
We enter the dome cautiously, making sure we are far enough away from the entrance as to not have him killed by the security turret. It isn’t too difficult to find him, a trail of black blood snakes through the underbrush. Through our scopes we can see him, cornered, licking his wounds. One shot from Lexxy’s gun however, quickly brings him charging towards us.
“Back up, back up! Get behind me NOW” Lexxy yells, as it comes into our Opalo range. I fire shot after shot, trying to get it to stumble and stop hitting Lexxy. One more hit, and with a groan Lexxy is pushed backwards. Acid drips from her left forearm, and I think I can see raw flesh under the blood. Running over to her, I began to FAP her frantically, but quickly see it would be of no use.
“Just shoot it! Shoot!” I swing my opalo from over my shoulder, and began to fire, just as Lexxy finally collapses. Now with his full attention on me, I know I will not last long. One shot, reload. Shoot. Reload. I barely feel the acid slowly burning though my armour, nor do I clearly see the blood running down my thigh. One more hit, and now I could feel it, the searing pain going up my right side. Just one more shot…
Everything went black even before I knew I was hit again, and then the all familiar white…
Lexxy had me fully fapped even before I regained consciousness, but that still didn’t help the pain. A quick shot of morphine and adrenaline did the trick.
Once more entering the dome, we have to run a little further to find our prey. Lexxy throws me her justifier, and I never realized how much bigger it is than the opalo. My arm muscles are starting to burn from carrying it, but I follow her, darting through the trees, trying to see but not be seen. By the time we reach him, even the shot of adrenaline isn’t keeping me from stumbling. My legs feel like they’re made of lead. Lexxy begins the foray again, this time, using her marber exclusively. I put one shot after another into him as he scurries up the steep slope, and for once, our alternating fire is actually slowing him down! I do the mistake of trying to yell this Lexxy, and a quick tumble sideways is all that keeps me from getting a stream of acid in my face. Lexxy now has her gun set to auto-aim, and is darting to and fro as well, trying to keep one step ahead of the acid.
All of a sudden, I feel a pressure against my back. Oh no, we have backed up to the dome wall! I frantically search for a way out, when I hear the familiar his and feel my chest erupt in fire. Tons of beady little eyes are focused with all their rage on me, and he has almost reached me, another stream of acid hitting my shoulder, knocking me down.
All I have time to think is “this is it…” and suddenly, all goes black.
One second, two seconds… I don’t see the white of revival unit. And I have this intense weight on my back. With a grunt, I see light again, and Lexxy is pulling the giant creature off of me, blood and acid landing on the ground in light mists. I scramble backwards, and look down at my first alien kill. Why do I not feel proud or happy? Why do I only want to curl and throw up?
“Check the stomach Iset, we will get some loot. I am going to make sure there are no more too close to us.”
I lurch forward, eager to see what loot we can pull from this guy. Maybe it will have been worth it after all, as I feel my fatigue and pain vanish in an instant.
Using a branch, I push away the bone and flesh, careful to avoid the numerous acid pouches scattered around its corpse. When at last I locate the stomach, I can see pieces of what looked like Gremlin armour, and something glittery catches my eye. We did it! Ignoring the vile mess in front of me, I shove my hand in, and root around until I can find no more coins. Standing, I stare into the contents of my hand. In disbelief. Suddenly all the pain, fatigue, and despair come rushing over me like a wave, a wave, and I feel my knees buckle. As Lexxy trots over to me, I collapse, fist wrapped tightly around our spoils.
“So, what did we get?” She asks excitedly.
I look up at her, and open my palm, allowing the four ped six pec to thud softly on the disturbed and blood soaked soil. Taking one look at the tears in my eyes, she grabs me by the hand and hauls me to my feet.
“Well Hun, just looks like we’ll have to bag another!”
Cheers,
Iset
The 3-Toed Sloths Society