Scattered Through Time

[Guest Levy]

C blew through the broken buildings and upheaval from the roads.

He came to the park where the signal originated.

He saw the bodies.

But one, still moved. The Chraxon commander.

He rushed to her and measured the air quality, and quantity of electrically charged particles in the air. Clear indication of plasma weapons. C gathered the energy and whispered to the Chraxon commander, "Hold still, don't move."

Turning around, he activated his shield and it extended his full body height.

He shouted, "YOU COWARDS! SHOW YOURSELVES SO YOU MAY DIE!"

He used his voice as a radar, if they were in the vicinity but cloaked, he would know where they stood.

[antiaircraft]

Asyphar's hands were a twisting blur as he rapidly reformed the remains of the Chraxon fleet into tactically solid positions around the Earth. Che-jan capital ships held most of the significant positions in the solar system now, but so far careful counter-flanking manoeuvres had managed to repel three simultaneous probes from the enemy commanders. Critically heavy losses had been taken however, and the preparations for a major push in various parts of the enemy formation were obvious. So this is how it feels to lose, Asyphar mused, it's not as bad as people make it out to be.

 

---

 

Shade watched a tactical display as the unusual mechanical being on the ground bellowed its challenge to the Black Knights. The blended radar within his vocalizer was a clever trick - it was fortunate that he had had the foresight to move the commandos into the shadow of obstructions where they would be effectively hidden from the sensor tactic. And he had another trick up his sleeve for dealing with the mechanoid. That would be employed later.

 

The impatient voice of the Black Knights' ground commander sounded in his speakers. "For what reason under all the seven stars of Styphlar must we hide like infidels while this pitiful assemblage runs about yelling at us in his Cin-kaph language?! We are here to hunt! To destroy!"

 

"The reason," Shade said while carefully pulling back two fighter squadrons who were wandering too close to the ring of Chraxon ships, "is that the 'pitiful assemblage' you are referring to has armour thick enough to withstand a minor supernova. You cannot engage him and hope to win."

 

"Enough of this!" roared the ground commander, "How dare you, impudent little creature, suggest that the Black Knights could fall to a mere mechanical contraption! All units, attack!"

 

Shade sighed internally. Che-jan troops could be incredibly foolish at times - their degree of stupidity increased with experience it seemed. At any rate, the space battle was his main priority.

 

((I guess I had better add the Chraxon commander to the list of heroes.

 

Name: Hyemist

Gender: Female

Age: 23

Species: Chraxon

Alignment: Heroes

Skill: An effective ground commander who shows the usual Chraxon obsession with doing the right thing. She is a highly-trained but inexperienced Chraxon paratrooper, and so is extremely good with heights, weapons, and tactical theory (although she is not skilled in its application yet).

Time period: Present

Character Description: Like all Chraxon, she has a hard (but not particularly tough) pale blue exoskeleton and four body segments. The rear body segment has two pairs of jointed legs attached to it, with each leg being approximately half a meter in length. The two middle segments have one pair of legs each, and serve as anchor points for a large rigid set of wings on her back. The wings cannot be used for flying or gliding, so Chraxon scientists are still unsure as to their use. Chraxon troopers use them to assist close combat or to carry extra equipment. The foremost body segment is the head, which holds one large compound eye (the compound eye is divided into 3 sections, often mistaken for separate eyes) and four feelers. The feelers are prehensile and are used in the same way we use hands (in addition to being sense organs).

Other info: Hyemist is a very serious person despite her youth, and rarely deviates from her tasks. She also idolizes Asyphar for his strategical and tactical skills, but this is normal among Chraxon commanders.))

[Guest Levy]

C stood his ground as a barrage of plasma ricocheted off his armor in all directions.

"Yes! Yes! Impress me!" he shouted over the hum of the projectiles whizzing through the air.

He collected the extra energy and stored it into his reserves and main energy supply. His shield brightened and his sword lit up bright blue. Its now hotter than the Earth sun, Sol.

"By the power of Sol! May you die!" He yelled and the sword blasted forth and laid waste to the commander and the subordinates behind him who were foolish enough to come out of cover. The blast lasted only nanoseconds, but it was enough to tunnel a deep hole in the earth wide enough for a small yacht to fit into.

He retracted the sword and turned off the shield. The firing had stopped. It appeared that the remaining enemies were shocked beyond reason.

[antiaircraft]

Both Asyphar and Shade watched with mirrored interest from their respective control rooms as the Che-jan commandos spread out, armed high-powered EMP weapons, and re-engaged C, darting around him faster than any normal human eye could track. Some distance away, Che-jan artillery opened up, landing massive electrical discharges with deadly accuracy. The Che-jan ground troops were really engaged now...

 

---

 

Hyemist's body was a tight ball of pain. The Che-jan plasma weapons had seared straight through her exoskeleton in at least 20 different points. The damage probably wouldn't be fatal, but it would certainly leave its mark. She briefly worried that the scars would make her seem less attractive to the males, then admonished herself for having such an out of line thought.

 

Concentrating through the red haze of pain, she saw the mechanoid warrior - one of the heroes - fighting off the force of Che-jan commandos, and surviving against them. The Che-jan EMP weapons were having significantly more effect than the plasma projectiles they had employed before, but C was shrugging off the discharges easily.

 

As the world slowly came into better focus Hyemist saw one of the Che-jan commandos darting back and forth, staying behind C and at a respectable distance, carefully aiming his EMP cannon at the slight gap in C's armour at one of his knee joints. C appeared to be occupied with obliterating the 10 commandos that were blasting away at him using heavy weaponry that probably weighed more than themselves. Clenching her feelers, Hyemist gripped a dropped plasma cannon, aimed through another wave of pain, and pulled the trigger. A stream of white-hot projectiles sped towards the crafty Che-jan warrior, slamming into his armour and causing him to roar in pain. Hyemist held the trigger down for as long as she could, pinning down the warrior and bringing him to the hero's attention, before she lapsed into unconsciousness.

 

---

 

A Che-jan commando immediately decided that the Chraxon had to be dealt with. Moving rapidly over to her, he glanced down at her unconscious body, and grinned as he extended his claws. Then he felt an odd sensation on his neck, right by the millimetre thin gap between his helmet and his body armour. He reached up to investigate, then collapsed, dead.

 

Stalking through the shadows nearby, Mird nonchalantly loaded another poisoned dart into his blowpipe. He had followed C here, never being one to miss a fight, and had just taken down his fifth Che-jan commando. He wasn't known as the deadliest assassin alive for nothing.

[Guest Levy]

C retched around and flattened the Che-jan behind him with his massive left arm.

He was absorbing too much energy. He has to release it.

He braced himself and he let out a blast of a supersonic scream. Shattering windows of nearby buildings and crumbing rocks into dust. It was incredibly high frequency and high enough to disrupt radio communications. The sound was louder than a thousand jets all hitting the speed of sound at once. It broke the sound barrier. And many Che-jans cried out in pain. The earsplitting shriek lasted only ten seconds, but the damage was done. He had just deafened most of the Che-jans. Even if temporary, he would not let this opportunity pass up.

He crushed the closest enemies and released his sword into the lowest setting. It glowed yellow and lit up the oxygen surround it. It cut through the Che-jans's armor like butter.

[antiaircraft]

The supersonic scream tore through Hyemist's body, jolting her awake. It was 10 seconds of pure agony for the Chraxon, as every nerve in her body fired indiscriminately. The sensation invaded every last crevice of her brain, clawing at her mental processes until it finally faded away. The battered Chraxon immediately dropped out cold.

 

((Did I mention that most of the Chraxon exoskeleton has vibration sensitive nerves attached to it, giving Chraxon incredibly sensitive hearing? :whistle: ))

 

The sound of C's devastating scream reached Mird almost immediately, but he shrugged it off. His ears had endured far worse in the past. Taking advantage of the immobility of the Che-jan commandos, Mird fired off 11 darts, all of which found their targets. Then the Che-jans, displaying reptilian resiliency, began moving rapidly around C again, forcing Mird to aim more carefully.

[Midtime]

((Erm... *needs to keep up*))

 

Echo had retreated into a hiding place for a time after the ferocious combat had begun. He suspected it would take a long time to understand the unfathomable devices and languages being used; he could concentrate on that later. He had no idea what the sounds had meant, but had recognised them as ones as complex - if not more so - than the calls employed by his fellows, somewhere far away, somewhere unreachable.

 

Deep in his mind, his thoughts for the first time began to arrange themselves, becoming a language, a language based on his universe, that would never be understood by any other being...

 

Death. Death was happening; he could somehow sense it, an extinguishment of the flame of life. He felt, somehow, expectations in his friends, referring to him.

He was no longer at an advantage, among beings at least as smart as he was. But any fool would understand. He was needed.

 

 

A Che-jan Black Knight was thinking itself clever when a bolt of leathery red-green skin, opalescent feathers, flashing teeth and oversized, razor sharp claws pounced on it.

[antiaircraft]

High above the conflict on the ground, the situation was getting increasingly worse. The Che-jan forces were pushing ever further into orbit, and some had even arrived in a position where they could begin launching landing shuttles into the atmosphere. The outnumbered Chraxon ships danced and shifted, riding the Earth's gravity well and inflicting heavy losses on the Che-jan. The losses they were taking however, were much heavier. Enormous Chraxon capital ships falling from the sky were beginning to become a common sight, along with the much smaller streaks of light that represented Che-jan fighters and landing shuttles entering the atmosphere. The invasion was beginning in earnest.

 

The bulk and firepower of the Echronal Physig could not be neglected as an asset, so the massive destroyer was at the forefront of the assault. At one point, it found itself almost bridge to bridge with a certain extremely daring but otherwise unremarkable Chraxon corvette. Shade looked 'up' through the transparent roof of the bridge, and at that same moment Asyphar did exactly the same. The two recognised each other immediately, and there was a moment of isolated privacy between the two. Both nodded slowly, each acknowledging the other as a skilled, respected opponent - a twin. Then the moment passed, as the Chraxon corvette and the Echronal Physig moved apart. Shade rapidly marked the corvette on his tactical display, instructing a boarding team to prep and launch for it as soon as possible. Asyphar advised his crew to be ready to repel boarders. The battle was about to get surgical.

[Guest Levy]

The numbers of the Che-jan Black Knights were thinning exponentially now. Those unafflicted by the mass sonic attack continued to attempt a kill on C. But his armor was too heavy and thick. Even if they had managed to drop a limb, he would continue to barrel on them like a train to a can of soda.

 

The blade of the sword didn't even have to break the skin of the invaders. As long as the armor was breached, they were suffocated by the atmosphere. Clearly, they didn't breath oxygen.

 

The few insectoids littering the ground underneath the growing layer of Che-jan Black Knights had a more complex system for respiration. They breathed oxygen but needed much much more of it in order to maintain functions, its the downside to being an insectoid. The amount of oxygen they breathe is in proportion to their size. For an insect the size of a human, they need to have about 50% more oxygen than currently in Earth's atmosphere. Hyemist was breathing Earth's oxygen in addition to the additives from her supply, this allows her to breath the same supply without refill for about a week.

 

((I just wanted to add that bit of info. No misunderstandings but invaders don't have the home field advantage humans do.))

[antiaircraft]

((No problem. The Chraxon paratroopers need an oxygen supply anyway, since they actually dropped from a cruiser in orbit, way above the breathable atmosphere.))

 

The remaining elements of the Chraxon fleet were now dodging and weaving through swarms of enemy craft only 50 kilometres above the ground. They were no longer able to stop Che-jan landers from dropping troops off on the ground. Human resistance was rapidly overwhelmed, and a cordon of close to 10,000 warriors was closing in on the area where C was engaging the Black Knights, cutting off all overground escape routes for the heroes.

 

Shade's concentration was no longer on the ground battle however, nor was it on the Che-jan ships busy mopping up their Chraxon rivals. He was now focused on directing at least one boarding shuttle safely onto the hull of a particular Chraxon corvette.

 

Asyphar, on the other hand, was not focused on the safety of his ship, but was busy directing the surviving Chraxon units to safe crash zones, where they could dissipate and sabotage Che-jan attempts to consolidate their hold.

[Midtime]

Almost immediately, the Che-jan pulled out a weapon. Echo knew he had underestimated his foe as a glowing gaseous round ejected from the barrel, aimed for his midsection...

 

Unthinkingly, he once again extracted his mind from time. And realized he could move, in a direction impossible for his body to willingly follow. He went into the future.

Almost immediately, the world split into a mind-boggling infinity of futures:

The plasma round hit Echo in the midsection. Echo died.

The plasma round hit Echo in the head as he tried to duck. Echo died.

The plasma round blasted Echo's tail off. He fell to the ground, wounded. The warrior fired another round. Echo died.

Echo twisted left, but was caught by the foot of the Black Knight. The protruding blade disemboweled him. Echo died.

Echo twisted right, but broke his neck through a punishing collision with what would have been the opponent's armoured chest. Echo died...

 

He found the future he wanted, and acted upon it.

Echo performed a strange flip which allowed him to not only dodge the Che-jan, but score a hit with a foot claw that rent a hole in the airtight armour. The alien commando went down, and after spasmodical death throes died. Echo was victorious.

 

Now, to join his friends.

[antiaircraft]

Mird leaped easily onto the window ledge of a building's third floor. Using the improved accuracy his new vantage point allowed him, he finished off the last of the Che-jan Black Knights that were still engaging C from up close. Then he looked around. Looming in the distance was a massive army of Che-jans, closing in on them with all the tact of a rabid bulldog.

 

((This is the cordon of warriors Asyphar noticed earlier. I was thinking C, Echo, Hyemist and Mird could hijack one of the shuttles which the Black Knights landed in and fly it back to the cave to pick up the others? Hyemist is military trained - I guess she could fly one.))

[Guest Levy]

C found a Black knight crawling away with no legs. He picked up the defenseless Che-jan by the head with his left hand and shouted at it, "Who is your leader?!"

The knight coughed and said nothing.

C had no patience after that attack. He extended his retractable electronic spike seated in his left hand. It shot through the Che-jan's helmet and skull instantly.

C found what he was looking for. The Black Knights had an advanced HUD system much like a computer, they kept in constant contact. C used that power to plant a virus in the Che-jan systems, on and off Earth, disabling their shields and weaponry only temporary but enough for an effective resistance in the skies at least. ((Independence Day))

He dropped the Che-jan and scanned the area. One of their shuttles were not far. He picked up Hyemist, and motioned Mird and Echo to follow him.

[antiaircraft]

There was a soft chime in Shade's ear, and the communications officer rapidly projected a new screen so that the transmission was visible on the bridge. A small, relatively thin Che-jan appeared on the screen - a member of the slicer caste. "We detected an attempt to compromise our network by infecting it with a primitive virus. The virus was aimed at shutting down our heavy weapons and shields, but it has been neutralized, and we have managed to establish a link with the device it originated from." he said somewhat smugly.

 

"Continue as outlined in directive eight." Shade said, returning his attention to the assault on Asyphar's corvette.

[Midtime]

Echo followed the shiny being, based on the fact that it was trusted by one who was, in turn, trusted by his new friends. After a short walk, they arrived at a shiny construction. It was strangely regular, with edges so perfect they were almost sharp. He walked around it to try to get an idea of what it was.

[Ruto]

Hey guys.

 

I'm glad to see that the roleplay is still running smoothly. I'm terribly sorry about my absence, and I don't know how much longer it'll be until I can visit daily again. :(

 

Levy, you're doing a great job with Yema. Keep up the good work. ;)

[antiaircraft]

((I just realised I'm controlling four separate characters. :P ))

 

Mird looked at the strange contraption before him. It was strangely sleek, and had an assortment of unusual protrusions from it. It did not appear to be a particularly useful thing, but who could tell in this strange world? He followed Echo around it to try and figure out its purpose.

 

---

 

Hyemist stirred into consciousness just as they arrived at the shuttle. She dropped cautiously onto the ground, and jolted slightly from the pain, but Chraxon healed fast, and it was good to be back on her feet again.

 

"That's a Chraxon FESC-607 lander." She said automatically. "The design is very similar to our landing craft. I can fly it if you wish."

[Midtime]

Echo couldn't understand the new being's utterings, but, like before, he instinctively understood it was a language. He completed his circle, without gaining any insight whatsoever - then almost jumped. A part of the thing had disappeared, leaving a yawning hole large enough for him to walk through! Perhaps it was living. The hole might be a mouth -

 

At that moment, one of his new friends, moving in a way he would have, had he known English, been unable to describe as anything but nonchalant, stepped inside the gaping maw.

[Guest Levy]

"Yes, please, if you can. You looked very injured back there. We need to leave as soon as we can. This area is not safe." C said, he was the first inside. He made a quick survey of the inside and found a weapon of interest. He unlatched it from the holder it was stored in and asked. "Do you know what this is?"

He sounded like he knew what it was but wanted Hyemist's thought.

"I've seen these before. They used them as cleansers. Set up bombs. They leave little evidence of anything. This may come in handy later." He brought the piece of technology to his back and a magnet fixed on his mid-back held it into position.

[antiaircraft]

Hyemist gave the shuttle's controls a once over while simultaneously examining the device C has picked up, her compound eye giving her a 360 degree field of vision. "That's a RAD-PASC, a high-energy rapid-dispersal radiation device. I would keep it away from bright light if I were you - the detonator caps used on those are highly unstable."

 

As Hyemist began manipulating the shuttle controls, Mird stepped cautiously through the hatch, examining his surroundings. The smell in here was distinctly alien, and he could see the traces of Che-jan warriors here. He wasn't new to the concept of stealing in order to achieve his objectives, so he sat down calmly on one of the oddly shaped benches.

[Guest Levy]

"Excuse me, I need to check something." C said, cautiously moving toward the navigator array. Near the array was a concave box, clearly the shuttle's black box housing the computer. C neatly frayed the covering off and extended his computer spike from his left palm. He searched and downloaded as much as he could to his on board HUDPC/biotic implants crammed into the cavity in his back, under the clothe on his right shoulder. ((Heads Up Display Personal Computer))

He then opened up channels with the space super-dreadnoughts of the Che-jans' and began to manually decomposed their navigational arrays. He was met with much resistance, but basically being a living virus he made his way around firewalls and security protocols. The late 90s virus he uploaded early was long gone, but it lowered their guard enough for him to get to the charts and purge them. Now the Che-jan Super-dreadnoughts, which held most of the weaponry available to the Che-jan were now firing randomly and even took out a few of their allied freighters by mistake.

Purging the files took nanoseconds. C was out of the system before they knew what had happened. He quickly tore out the computer and threw it out of the ship, nearly hitting Echo.

He removed the bomb he had held onto and tossed it out too, activating it.

"Time to leave!" C said urgently.

He walked out and urged Echo in then the hatched closed, leaving C outside.

"Leave now!!"

He then darted off as fast as he could away from the bomb.

[antiaircraft]

Shade was once again distracted by a chime in his ear, and several points on his tactical display blinked red. He watched as the Super-dreadnoughts misfire with some amusement, before turning back to the battle around Asyphar's corvette. The Che-jan units there were the only ones he controlled now, since the commanders everywhere else had decided to ignore any tactical advice once it became clear that they were simply mopping up. Had he still been in control of the fleet, he would have had the targeting systems locked down long ago, but it wasn't a serious matter anyway.

 

---

 

Hyemist fired the shuttles engines, kicking the craft into the air at well over 150 kilometres an hour. Deftly manoeuvring the shuttle over C's running figure, she tapped the computer interface, activating the targeting computer and the PA system. Moving rapidly through the menus, she activated the pneumatic launcher systems for the shuttle's powerful magnetic docking clamps. "Care for a ride sir?" she called over the PA as she carefully aimed the launchers at C.

[Guest Levy]

C avoided the docking clamps and launched himself at incredible speed onto the roof of the shuttle. The instant force of gravity forced the shuttle down greatly and nearly dug into the dirt before it stabilized and continued at incredible speed.

C gripped the top of the shuttle with his left hand and managed to look behind him just as the bomb went off. It ignited with a bright pink flash then a red cloud of plasma shot out of the epicenter. The effect afterward was about the equivalent of half a Hiroshima nuclear bomb.

C climbed to the cockpit window and tapped lightly to get Hyemist's attention, then motioned toward the cave.

[Midtime]

The interior of the... thing didn't look like a throat, and Echo had seen plenty of carnivore throats, though he had never been unlucky enough to be inside one. It didn't look like anything he had ever seen before, and neither did the actions that his companions undertook.

Suddenly, the world... moved. Echo thought wildly. An earthquake?

There seemed to be a small after-tremor, and then there seemed to be a sense of being pushed down, except he somehow felt more like the ground was rising. He looked at one of the transparent openings, knocking his head before realizing that there was something there, and saw the reason.

The world fell away below. Echo felt sick and somehow exhilarated. He realized that the thing was flying, like an insect or a pterosaur. But there were no wings... it didn't make sense! Nothing did. He indulged himself briefly with the fantasy that the whole thing was a dream, and he would wake up at any moment, even though he knew it wasn't true.

 

Suddenly, the world without actual existence didn't seem so alien after all. He carefully extracted his mind from his body and moved to the past, briefly seeing a gigantic red-hot asteroid rebuild itself and rocket into the sky, back to when his young chirped innocently as they emerged from their eggs.

[Guest Levy]

A stray EMP shot from a Che-jan Super-dreadnought hit the Echronal Physig and nearly wiped out it's shields. The Che-jan Super-dreadnoughts were of almost equal size to the Echronal Physig and triple its firepower. Losing their navigational arrays made them threats to anything in the vicinity to their weaponry.

((What is the Echronal Physig? I am sure it is an enormous ship, but what's its class? At any rate, telling the six Super-dreadnoughts to cease firing would be a good idea.))