Patches (Open RP)

The pressure of Jade's hand gave some strength. In that small act Bisys knew he forgave her failure enough to comfort instead of chide. She attempted to squeeze back. All that happened was a slight twitch and extra red static.

Bisys then tried to answer his questions with a negative shake. This result was reminisce of a bobblehead. "I don't know! Made of? Infused with? Carrying? Craving?" The last option gave her pause. "A living ship? Is that even possible?"

The knowledge of blood presence, whether or not fortified by the Wish to know if magical artifacts would harm her, had limited perception. Sure, Bisys could determine exactly where the blood was if she touched it. But that would be like determining if an electrical outlet had power by sticking a fork in it.

Steel Canyon, Patches

The woman moved swiftly through the streets. She knew her disguise wouldn't hold up too long, and needed to find an alternate source of clothing. With luck, the cash in her pocket would be enough to buy what she needed, but if not, well, there was always the violent way.

Off in the distance, she saw a sign. Icon. Her enhanced eyes cold make out the mannequins outside that were sporting bright, colourful costumes. There were only two things that caused her to stop in her tracks an dobserve the shop. First was the door, hanging off it's hinges. The second was the cordon of local police who were, no doubt, investigating the shop.

'Chance of detection at target location too high. Suggest alternate location
"I know. Maybe, though, this is a greater oppotunity..."

"Oh. Sorry." Jade apologized to Paxtera, wrapping an arm and a wing protectively about Bisys to grant her some measure of shelter by blocking direct line of sight from her to the ship, "I, uh, kind of got distracted by the flaming comet thing. And like I said...well okay, I don't actually know. But like I said, I doubt it. I've never had a reason to think otherwise. It's just a killing machine."

"Of course." Akat meanwhile regarded the questioning confusion about the range runner's living nature with a measure of her own, though she visibly didn't take her attention off Dr. Mechano. She was quite curious about this strange creature and how he would answer her question, "What other kind is there? If it weren't living, it couldn't hold the spirit of those who came before us...could it?"

At this point, it became quite clear that the scaleless reptilian had no concept of a spaceship the way humans often imagined them. Her people's ships were the only ones she'd ever known. Until today, until in fact right now, it had never even occurred to her that there might be other ways to make space-capable craft - and judging by her last sentence and the blood affixed as permanently as possible to the runner's hull, the Khelari way involved quite a bit more than simply rearranging materials.

Indeed, the Heart tree found this out right away, and chances were long before anyone else. While the runner didn't have the awareness to respond to targeted communication, it certainly didn't have any reason to shy away and hide anything from the forest, which meant the Heart tree would have no trouble analyzing it from top to bottom. Depending on the forest's capabilities, results would of course vary, but nothing barred a gleam at the ship's nature.

In short, the runner had been both built and grown. It had started as a crystal tree, a common form of 'flora' on Khelaris, though as a somewhat special sort. From there, it had been shaped and nurtured into the roughest form of a ship, and eventually modified and added to in detail, taking on propulsion, sensors, protection from the spatial environment, and all the other essentials required to be a space-faring vessel. Some of these had been in the form of machines, such as the reactors that provided its energy, others in different shapes entirely. The final 'component' however, which was technically still incomplete, was (at least to the builders) the most significant: the marks of spirit.

The Khelari used the bodies of their dead in everyday life. To a human, the practice must've been savage and barbaric. In their society, it was simply recycling. Hides were used to make durable, leather-like materials. Flesh was eaten. Bones had a number of uses. Every part of the dead served a purpose among the living - and not just in a physical sense. Though the Khelari didn't know what happened after death, it didn't stop them from treating those who'd passed on as present and among them. With their remains all about and in contact with the living, this was true in a very real sense, regardless of belief.

Blood, however, served only one purpose. The marks of spirit. The blood of a dead Khelari served to mark the presence of that person's wisdom on the physical world. The blood of architects marked their buildings with strength and durability. The blood of artists marked their works with essence and meaning. And the blood of explorers marked starships with guidance and wisdom, such that they might gain advantage where those whose marks they bore had made their lives.

This didn't mean Khelari ships were haunted. Indeed, there were no spirits of the deceased within the runner. The echoes associated with them, however, now that was another matter. While not true experiences, and even less memories, they very much gave the ship both a sense of and intrinsic assistance in its duty. They were a part of it, and it was a part of them, forming a single entity whose presence could not be denied. The marks of spirit that covered the runner were just as much a part of it as the blood that flowed within Jade or Akat was a part of them - something that Bisys may have been gradually getting a sense of as the Heart tree 'looked over' the runner through the forest.

Of course, it was just as likely that none of that mattered. Biologically, the stuff was dead, and had been so a long time. Still, the runner itself was biologically dead, and yet it was alive...

Steel Canyon, Paragon, Patches

The Shopkeeper feld fear but he was still raging from bloodthirst... for a second he was unsure what to do... Then Rachel and Theo walked in the alley and his gaze went up... up to see his mistress floating down on the nightair.

A commanding and strong female voice with a slight Easter-European accent was heard... "What in the Dark Lords name is happening here!?", Elizabeth said while staying aloft and out of arms reach.

Edward grinned, "oh no...a fortress of doom is one that provides protection for the owner while simultaneously granting enough firepower to level a city, so the Fortress is both offensive and defensive at the same time..."

He chuckled, "of course..the other question remains...do we have enough firepower to bring down these flying hunter killers...I nolonger have any nanite vials which aided us in removing the harvester from our general location...hmm saying that...there is one easy way to stop them hunting us...since if it's humans they're after..."

Edward opened his labcoat, inside hung labelled glass vials..."hmm which to use..."

He smirked for a moment then look at Khelari.

"Excuse me a moment..."

He moved out of sight as he drunk the vial, what followed were horrible sounds of guts being wrenched, snapping, a rather nasty slurping noise and all round more disgusting sounds.

Letting out a sigh Edward slowly moved back into view...now a grey scaled humanoid draconic, still dressed in what remained of his labcoat, white t-shirt and blue kneelength cargo shorts, however the cybernetics had obviously not shifted. He offered a fang toothed grin.

"Simple remove the human from the equation...the wonders of science is such that a man can be anything he desires..."

"Oh, there's one on the way." Jade said with a sigh in response to Lady Aineruda, looking toward the sky in the direction the Harvester had been, "At least one. They always come. Can take a while, though. Depends on where the they are when they're called. Not the fastest thing around. I've never..."

He stopped speaking upon Dr. Mechano's beginning transformation, the frills of his ears widening a bit in instinct as they picked up the noise. The Drokar refrained from commenting until Edward had returned to the group, telling the scientist, "Um...that...might've not been the best idea. Now it'll see you as raw materials, and..."

The mildest of shudders ran through him, noticeable only to a truly keen observer, but even the pause to take breath made it obvious that this prospect greatly distressed the Dragon, "...and...yeah, that's not a good thing."

"I like it." Akat's tone was the exact opposite, the scaleless reptilian smiling lightheartedly to the ground while she stepped toward the rear of the range runner's underside and reached toward the craft, "And don't worry. We'll be fine. I haven't seen something yet that can take an impulse beam, and if I remember right, there should be a-"

A sharp hiss cut her off, the touch of her palm against the runner's hull producing an oval crack through which sulphurous fumes rushed into the air with a suddenness that caused the Khelari to jump, then slam both hands against the hull behind the crack, which was apparently a descending entry ramp - well, if anyone could tell this through the billow of toxic, corrosive gases the thing belched forward.

"No! Stop! Close!" she shouted frantically, and less than two seconds later, the ramp had done exactly that, leaving little lingering harm in the area aside from the pungent odor of acidic compounds. For Jade, the smell was so severe he had to cover his nose with both hands to stop his gag reflex. Still, he'd gotten enough of a whiff for his stomach to romp around inside his guts. Okay, so feeling sick wasn't something he'd really missed.

"Sorry." Akat meanwhile apologized sheepishly, looking quite ashamed, "Forgot this came straight from At, not the transition zone."

From the pronunciation of At as the same 'aht' in her name, it was likely clear this was some sort of name. Of what however, the Khelari didn't say, instead directing her attention to where the crack had been and tracing her claws along the metal, causing a hologram to appear, displaying some grid-like bar graph.. Running a pair of fingers through that in turn caused it to become a blank outline, as well as six green lights - three on each side of the ramp, spaced equally from front to rear - to begin a gradual sequence of coming on and off, accompanied by a soft sound variation that resembled an alert. Within the outline of the hologram, alien glyphs appeared, but thanks to the nature of Patches, these were easily legible to all about.

AIR LOCK CYCLING_

Meanwhile, the hunter-killer that was the topic of the hour was still nearly a quarter of one away. The Desert was a big place, and took a long time to cross at subsonic speeds - and the craft hadn't been designed to head above the sound barrier. Usually this didn't really matter, as there were units on patrol throughout the place, but on this occasion the machine had been launched from the 'Twin Cities' the elves had heard tales of across the once-green rockscape. Furthermore, Ildela was quite right, for the Harvester had set coruse there. Roughly ten minutes from now, it and the hunter-killer would pass by one another...

Of a kin they may be, but compared to the Heart Tree of the Forest and Akat's range runner, well, Bisys was as primitive as the Gre'shil. This even after taking into account the personal evolution from Trisys to Bisys. Her connection with the Forest had ended when the Wish for healing Akat was completed, so Bisys remained ignorant of the amazing communion between the two pinnacles of intelligences.

Sad, even pitiable. For had Bisys been a part of their exchange it would have expanded her mind to new concepts of respect, beauty, and hope. The points of a crystal tree forming the range runner plus the Heart Tree's own quest for survival through spreading seeds would have especially sparked great interest and interaction.

Instead Bisys huddled unhappily under Jade's wing, miserable at being weak. Though a part of it was leftover training that slid her behavior towards the unhealthy end of the emotional spectrum of being a submissive slave captive in a sense of unworthiness.

When Jade cringed at something she couldn't smell, Bisys almost offered to clear the air. Then she desisted. If she couldn't even guarantee something as simple as retrieving an ally, what place had she suggesting how Jade made use of her? He was aware to ask for any desire and that it was her joy to serve. Now it was her place and purpose to wait.

"Came from what?" Jade shook his head with vigor, trying to get the sharp stench from his nose and mouth, his manner thereof very comparable to a dog that had eaten peanut butter, "Eugh...the heck is that stuff?"

"Well, um...air." Akat answered with an awkward shrug, feeling a similar yrge to hide behind something, "At least it is where I come from. I...it kind of slipped my mind that it's not good for people not from Khelaris. Sorry about that."

The Dragon gave a muffled cough, but didn't otherwise reply. He'd gotten the idea and didn't want to make her more uncomfortable with details. He made a mental note to remember not to go wherever this At place was without...hey, wait a minute.

"Bisys?" he turned to look down at her, "Do you think you can sti...uh-oh. What's...right, the blood, isn't it? Let's go and get you somewhere else, okay? Or uh...hey, if I ask you to, can you make yourself...er, I guess you'd say immune to blood...?"

Bisys considered Jade's question most carefully. At the end she slowly spoke her thoughts aloud. "My... weakness... to blood is part of what I am. To invalidate that would require a change in my fundamental nature. I wouldn't know of what kind until the Wish was actually made."

If there was anyone who would understand the self-doubt caused by not being sure you are you, it would be Jade.

"Although... the sensitivity is greater now. Before it was only freshly spilled blood that shackled me thus." Hopefully Bisys continued too quickly for Jade to once more regret the consequences of his Wish. "So if it my being subject to blood has been engorged, it might also be able to be minimized."

That was the closest Bisys could come to recommending Jade Wish her as unaffected by blood as possible without changing her nature.

"I would believe it impossible except for Edward's demonstration. If science can modify fundamental form so free of consequences, magic might too." There her logic was flawed. Being only really familiar with her form of magic, Bisys misunderstood the balance involved. For science still had a cost but it was in preparation beforehand rather than payment at time of initiation as known to her. Plus there was always the unanticipated results common to all actions be they science, magic, or mundane.

((Yeah, I figured as much - I use costume slots for a shapeshifter character myself. ))

"Careful what you wish for." Akat ginned back to Dr. Mechano in response to his grin, her tail swaying to and fro in the patient, yet at the same time excited manner of a cat preparing to pounce upon a ball of yarn, "You just might get it."

"That's what I'm afraid of..." Jade muttered to himself almost silently, regarding first the Khelari, then Bisys again before taking a deep breath and speaking aloud, "Okay. If you're good with it, give it a try. But uh...be careful, okay? If anything starts getting weird, stop right away."

"Actually, I think I have a better idea." Akat interjected at this, the text having vanished from the runner's projection, signifying that the requested swap of atmosphere had cycled. She reached back up to the hologram and pushed her claws through it and onto the ship's hull, the runner responding by once more opening the entry ramp. This time, the only consequence thereof was a slight hiss of equalizing pressure.

Keeping her fingers in contact with the fuselage, the Khelari extended her free hand toward Bisys and motioned for the mecha-satyr to come toward her, "Take my hand. Let's see if we can make a connection..."

Steel Canyon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liz Bathory "I am the countess Erzsébet Báthory... and what... who... are you?", she floated a bit closer out of curiosity. It was as if he still had a soul!? But that would be almost impossible! "Where is the houngan that raised you?"

"Why does that name sound familiar... oh well Call me Rotten Luck. Excuse me a moment." He went over to the trash can where he placed his dinner and shoved the last of cheese burger in his mouth and swallowed.

She would see the few wounds the shopkeeper gave him heal to the point that they were gone. "As to what I am. Well that hard to define but basically I'm a Zombie. As to who raised me well that snot of a necromancer Trever. Last I heard of him he's dead at least I think so." He chose not to mention the spell book that was used.

Looking at the group it was clear that Countess was not on the list of heroes. Taking out the shopkeeper would be a snap and the two basic type Zombies wouldn't be to hard. The only unknown was the Countess herself. Then he grinned Rotten was more of a Vigilante then a full hero so he made a choice. "We better get out of here Countess the Police would be here any time to clean up the mess." He motions to the body with his thumb. "I would think it be best to be somewhere else then. I know where we can go." He wondered if that warehouse was still empty if not what ever group moved in going to have a very bad day.

Again he let her think for herself if Rotten was responsible for the body or not. For now that was playing to his advantage. He already guessed that the two Vamps and even the Zombies weren't the killer. The damage just wasn't the way vampires or Zombies killed. Better to get to know what he was dealing with before confronting the Countess. Truth was he didn't know if she committed a crime just guessed that the fresh Zombies weren't bodies she came across.

Elven Forest

Aineruda looked at the ship then at Akat "Can that thing detect any incoming Hunter Killers? More importantly can it help fight it?"

That was when Lazardarus arived "Lady Aineruda! The Hear... the Heart tree it taken to seeds! Ten of them unlike any I ever seen before!"

Aineruda and Cerelassion turned to him. Cerelassion spoke up "New seeds? But how..."

"I don't know Cerelassion but they aren't like anything I seen befor... " He looked to the Ridge Runner. "They are almost shaped like that thing."

Aineruda looked to Laz then to the Ridge Runner "That is a mystery for another time for now we need to prepare for the coming threat. I'm glad you are here Lazaradus your song spells would be a great help."

Mar rose up "I however can't help. So I shall seek shelter elsewhere." With that the now Blue and orange spider went down the path it would soon come across THe Hunter Eating the tree bark. For a moment he crouched down getting ready to rush and attack. Then thought otherwise this wasn't his people's lands and this strange creature might be rational.

He shifted out of the attack pose and spoke up "Greetings are you a rational creature?"

Heart Tree

The first of the new seeds fell and split open the life inside started growing feeding off the magical energy. The shape was similar to the Ridge Runner but with long tentacle like branches out front and fan like leaves folded against the body.

It started to rise into the air and then shook the Trunk/body slip apart and then it shattered collapsing to the ground in a wooded mess.

A flash of pain and loss echoed across the forest but the chances of failure was high. The reward of a working Tree ship was worth the risk of valuable Heart Tree seeds.

((Shapeshifters are fun! Almost as much so as the juggling act between IC and OOC knowledge. Nice looking selection, Dr_Mechano.))

"Oh. I hadn't realized." Bisys felt foolish. Of course there would be a cost to maintain balance. That's how the universe worked.

Jade's go-ahead for attempting blood immunity caused no immediate reaction in Bisys beyond a skewed nod and the red-static flickering as if turned up from 'sporadic' to 'high'.

Hopefully Cerelassion was not too close. For while the Wish crafted between him and Jade had stated Bisys would know if Bisys would be harmed by magical artifacts, it said nothing about her knowing if she would be harmful to magical artifacts. Thus Bisys didn't know to warn Cerelassion that the red static-looking discharge might be destructive to his equipment. The more powerful the artifact, the greater the chance of it being wiped clean like a magnet on the side of a computer.

Akat's interjection paused the process happening in Bisys before a real firework show could flood the clearing. A window asking 'Continue? Yes / No' popped into the center of her vision, which Bisys shunted to the side for now. Some change had already happened to the point where Bisys no longer felt cowed by the range runner. Because this Wish did not affect a function of the robot armor there were no stats running to detail exactly what had changed. From a purely subjective perspective her susceptibility was back to normal levels, ie only living spilled blood would hold the satyr immobilized.

That same metaloid satyr, red static once again gently sparking, hovered unsteadily to the Khelari's side. Receiving confirmation from Jade, Bisys clumsily placed one hand in Akat's free hand.

Blank eyes somehow conveyed a measure of expectancy. Bisys had no idea what Akat had in mind any more than Jade could fathom the mental workings of Bisys. Based on the word 'connection' Bisys guessed Akat would try some kind of reprogramming as Toy Dispenser had done. But since she had been on a run of wrong assumptions recently, Bisys held silent her opinion that Toy had already done everything possible programming-wise. "What do I do?"

Steel Canyon

The Shopkeeper was checking out the body… but repeated looks from Elizabeth made him stay clear from it. He couldn’t help himself though and tasted some of the blood by going through it with his finger and licking it. His mistress was too busy with the creature that called himself ‘Rotten Luck’ to notice.

And indeed she was. Elizabeth actually had her exit from this strange place and time in mind. But Rotten Luck was partly right… the constables would be here soon enough and she would like to learn a bit more about him before she left the city. A free zombie walking around like this..? He may even know the way through the walls surrounding them?

She gestured to Rachel and Theo and both cleared the alley for them to pass… “Lead the way, mr. Rotten Luck!”

((btw... I will leave for a week next sunday... lets try to parc Liz and Luck there...?))

(Sounds like a plan to me)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liz Bathory Steel Canyon“Lead the way, mr. Rotten Luck!”

"Alright just try to keep up I move faster then people think." With that Rotten started moving using the alleyways to get to the warehouse. He could have easily super jumped his way but he wanted the four to follow him.

after about 2 blocks he comes to the Warehouse and forces the door open with his shoulder. "Not sure if it's empty. should be I had just finished throwing out the trash that was here. However with the city in lock down everyone who wants to hide is finding places to hide. Including us."

He smirked a bit "Where are my Manors Ladies first of course." He went along the list of groups about and wondered if any were inside. It would be a good way to see what the Countess can do. This was not the case the place was still empty.

"That's what I'm about to go find out." Akat answered Lady Aineruda, "But like I said, I really don't think it'll be able to take an impulse cannon and keep going."

"Now then..." she looked to Bisys with a gentle smile, reaching for her hand and taking it into her clawed fingers, "What do you do? You open your eyes."

For a few moments, that may have been confusing, especially as the scaleless reptilian closed her own. It didn't take long for the purpose to become fully apparent though, Bisys despite her now-mechanical nature beginning to feel...something.

"There you are." Akat remarked with a smirk, and moments later, it was all just...there. Bisys didn't just see and hear the world around her anymore as her awareness extended beyond her metal shell - probably much like it had been before, and yet still somehow different.

First there was the Khelari. Bisys felt her heartbeat, felt her life. Through her hand in turn was the range runner. No heartbeat, but nevertheless a pulse. A life of parts. Parts that included the marks of spirit. The blood wasn't on the runner...it was in it. It may not have flowed, but it was as much intrinsic to the ship as that in the veins of Akat. It wasn't spilled. It was life.

"Do you see it?" the reptilian inquired quietly, even as the awareness still extended. Through Akat's bare soles came the ground she stood upon, the fallen leaves and grasses of the forest. She felt the trees, the fey, everything that moved about - and everything that didn't. The decomposing leaves beneath their feet, the corpses of insects and animals being fed upon by the land, rocks, soil, the planet itself. She felt the world as the Khelari did, as a living, breathing entity. It was probably quite a familiar sensation. Everything had a part, everything had a place. She was even aware of the other planets in this system, of its sun and beyond. Her people didn't regard the vacuum as a barrier, but as a bridge. It had energy, and that made it alive. Differently, but still without denial.

"Both living and dead." Akat spoke to her, "Death isn't the opposite of life. It's just another part of it. If it didn't exist, neither would life. Can you see it? Everything's connected, even across space. Don't feel separate. You're a part of it too, here and now..."

Outside, Bisys seized up like she had when trapped in her own mind. Amber darkened to crimson, swaying lion tail stilled, red static sputtered into nothing, double forehead horns faded, and the metal shell went rigid, cold. To those who had not been part of the ensemble at the hot springs it might appear as if the robotic systems froze or stalled.

If Jade had the slightest desire to know what was going on, he would be able to observe what Bisys experienced. That was a function of the Token, and not impeded by his command for Bisys only fulfill spoken Wishes.

Inside the cosmic communion space Bisys emerged as her true form, that of a pearly horned pegasus. She was a small thing looking only to be a yearly filly, in contrast to the more mature personification presented by her metaloid form. Further, her proper identity was that of Prosopopoeiasys, the name containing the meaning of a pennate representative acting for the deceased. Though Prosopopoeiasys was occupied by much more than her true identity revealed.

Life blood. Life pulse. Life energy. Life ardor. Life cycle. It was the same jaw-drop-to-the-floor overwhelming wow that happened when first introduced to mind-boggling possibilities like black holes, dark matter, anti-matter, or anti-time. Bisys learned it and more. All that the Khelari connected. All the Forest's longing and loss. All, but it would take much contemplation before comprehending its full impact. Maybe more than her lifetime.

There was a rightness about it all. The thoughts from Prosopopoeiasys to those two mega-consciousness were of humble awe. "How... beautiful. It feels like something I was meant to understand. I suppose I was to learn these things from EarthMother as I grew, except we were sundered." She paused, allowing herself to be swallowed up by it all for an unmeasured length of time. When she felt she could, Prosopopoeiasys made an offering in turn.

"Here. This is who I am." Prosopopoeiasys presented her story with new understanding. Here in purer theory space her history was further clear of the self-doubt clutter that had tinged the version Toy Dispenser witnessed.

Primal Earth had in recent years known a great increase in deaths of combatants and innocents during the series of internal and interdimensional wars. Those caught in limbo for not being at peace with their death had also increased to the point that they began to undermine the living. Denizens of Croatoa and Dark Astoria were most immediately aware of this threat.

To Earth, central in this unbalanced in the life cycle, it was a growing plague. It could not force a resolution through force. Its abilities were of a more subtle evolution: Start small and make weak things strong. Growth its purpose and plan. Like the Heart Tree it experimented. Though instead of trying to combine mobility and anchor into one, it made two. Prosopopoeiasys was the single successful result: A crystal acorn seed Token to be become a grand tree where lost spirits could be sheltered until at peace, and the horned pegasus Bond to be its planter, guardian, and gather the wandering spirits unto the refuge. Both to grow into glory and restore the lifecycle balance. The ground of Paragon, nexus of the imbalance, was the soil from which this creation was formed and thus became EarthMother to Prosopopoeiasys.

A little bit of each part of the pair was in the other. That is why even when Trisys, the Bond half of Prosopopoeiasys, was wrenched away from her crystal Token by Patches, she could use the borrowed stone Token to help keep the restless Spirits in line. That was a temporary solution at best. Trisys, now Bisys, would be lost until whenever and wherever reunited with her crystal Token. It was the key to fulfilling the measure of her creation, and she its.

Part of her creation entailed a devastating susceptibility to spilled blood. Many would consider that a fatal weakness. She herself had felt it shameful. New perspective from Akat's communion showed she had had an overly strong psychological reaction to all blood. Now she recognized it correctly as a beacon unto a disrespectful end to life. Going forward she would only be held immobilized by blood lost in malice, hate, cruelty, and other symptoms that would leave the spirit dissatisfied in death. In other words, to be drawn towards those spirits meant for her care. This was a part of her, and could not be removed without undoing her creation. She would not want to, anymore than a Kheldian would want to stop bonding with hosts to avoid the deadliness of quantum wavelengths.

Prosopopoeiasys began to withdraw from the bridge forged by Akat. The experience was wearing on her like trying to stare at the sun. Too long, and she would become blind to normal sight. Her concepts of life and self had been expanded, but not enough to remain thus enthralled. Not yet. Maybe not ever, for it was many magnitudes beyond her evolution. But while she could not remain connected to every facet of the universe as Akat did, she now could recognize this closest range runner as an entity. Similarly the Heart Tree was identified. Both could 'speak' to Bisys directly, now that she knew how to listen to them properly.

"Thank you, Khelari. Thank you, Heart Tree. You have given a great treasure. Greater than I can fully comprehend, though I will try. If I can repay this gift please let me know. Oh, thank you!" Her thoughts faded as she returned to her metaloid shell, feeling much smaller yet also enlarged. To the lingering image of the Khelari crystal trees, morphed into an enormous oak whose transparent composition turned light into an aurora borealis prism, Prosopopoeiasys breathed a promise, "Someday. Someday."

There was another to whom she owed a debt of gratitude. That need pushed her before she had reoriented from the heady experience and settled back into her physical shell.

Bisys turned, stumbling back to collapse against the Drokar-Akonos before remembering that swaying her tail increased her balance. "Have I thanked you, Jade? Thank you for being my Master, which protects my sanity. Thank you for your kind Wishes, they bring peace. Thank you for Friendship, it is teaching trust I had forgotten."

The Heart tree brushed Bisys mind. A cool breeze of a touch the slow awareness was responding to the memory of Prosopopoeiasys. With that another seed was forming a Pilot for the Tree ship.

Another seed fell and sprouted this one lifted into the air with ease and started flying. The gathering around the Range Runner would soon see the tree ship pass. Much smaller then the runner the tree ship was still a sapling but similar design with tentacle like branches and root landing gears.

However they would see it pass the boarder of the Forest and loose altitude fast crashing into the plains to it's death. The flaw was simple thought devastating. The tree ships use magical energy as a power source and it couldn't generate it's own fast enough go maintain flight. Perhaps Akat and Bisys with the connection to the Range Runner could help guide the Heart tree attempts.

Lady Aineruda turned her face a mix of awl and remorse. She had just seen a tree fly a wonder she never imagined and seen it fall. "I... I think we just seen what those seeds are about Lazardarus. The leaves on that thing was leaves of a Heart tree."

"Um..." Jade's thoughts tied themselves in a knot for a moment, the Dragon blinking at Bisys with seeking eyes while he reached down to help her up, "I guess uh...you just did, yeah. Uhm, so...what just happened?"

He'd directed that question as much at her as toward the Khelari, looking at Akat when he spoke the final words, the scaleless reptilian standing there in somewhat of a daze. The hand that she'd placed on the hull served now more to support her than anything else.

"Whoa." she remarked with a grin, gradually regaining her balance, "That was pretty, heh...intense. I don't usually go that deep. What's this about seeds and leaves? Is it meal time? Because I could go for..."

"Okay, everybody stop." Jade interjected with both hands at this, addressing the round, "Right now. There's too many things going on at once here. We should take care of them one at a time. First we deal with the H-K. Then we can worry about your seeds. After that, we go destroy the machines, and then we focus on getting everyone back home. Uh, Akat, you said you can find out where the hunter-killer is, right?"

The Khelari but gave a shrug at this, turning toward the range runner and heading up the ramp into the ship, "Don't know. Let's go find out."

Inside, the runner looked much more like a human might imagine a traditional starship. The shapes and general architecture may still have been rather foreign, but plated with metal and the living composites, the place at least had a familiar feel. Several wide seats that could adapt to the contours of their users were attached to the floor, the frontmost presumably the pilot's, and from this side the forward dorsal hull formed a clear and fully transparent windshield. In addition, several harnesses and what looked to be cabinets held equipment, and finally there existed things that resembled control consoles, though those were apparently missing controls.

"Atmospheric cycling completed." a soft, somewhat monotonous, and yet still oddly welcoming tone announced from a hidden speaker system, its manner and pitch much like Akat's, "No adverse effects detected. All ship systems functioning."

Upon the approach of the Khelari to the forward chair, the formerly blank consoles came to life, lighting up with luminescent patters of dots and lines that even those with very little imagination could've identified. The voice announced almost happily, "Command interface enabled. Autopilot navigation online. Requesting new heading."

"Not just yet." Akat stated calmly as she sat down, placing the palm of her hand against the console directly before her, looking behind her a moment to Jade (and any others) who'd come in after her, "Let's see what we can find first."

As if that had been the command, the windshield darkened, a pale wireframe model of the local terrain appearing within a detailed display of graphs and glyphs, and quickly became not so local anymore upon the Khelari returning her attention to it. Though it chiefly moved and shifted when she passed her hand across or through the projection, it didn't seem to actually need any physical guidance. Either way, it soon identified a certain few dots on the display with text Akat recognized.

"I think that's it." she indicated the dot that represented the approaching H-K, as well as another approaching it - Paxtera, "And it looks like someone already found it."

Meanwhile, the aerial machine had done much the same in regard to the Kheldian. Of course, it didn't know she was a Kheldian. It didn't know about her energy shield either. To it, all that mattered was that enough parameters matched up to identify her as 'human', and therefore a target. The hunter-killer didn't waste any time. Even from beyond the horizon, it could fire quite reliably, and thus Paxtera found herself sighting not just the machine, but also no less than three inbound missiles, each packed with enough high-explosive yield to turn a bunker into a cauldron - and that wasn't all the machine had up its proverbial sleeve. Nets, chain guns, rockets, bombs, and more were part of its standard payload.

Despite this rather extensive arsenal however, defensively the machine had little going for it aside from speed - at least against a Kheldian, that was. Bullets and such it could resist just fine. Energy blasts? Not so much. It had decent maneuverability, but if Paxtera caught the thing with a well-placed energy blast, it'd end up with a hole through it in almost exactly the same manner as a certain Gre'shil in Boomtown had earlier...