Patches (Open RP)

Krill's battle cry heralded the attack. Again since coming to Patches, first from Jade during their meeting and now from the Gre'shil, Trisys was bombarded with what was to her the second most powerful debilitation: malice/hate/hunt. The devastation from the emotions of battle were as potent now as then. Trisys was more hobbled than if she had had chains tangled around her hooves.

There was a difference this time, however. This time she had a Master involved in the battle.

Embedded training took over. Her life signs, already low and flickering, faded completely. Trisys disappeared from view as Ildela had, eased in the transition by the undecipherable music of Lazardarus. In a near-coma state she sought refuge deep within Jade's shadow. This training had been developed to prevent the distress of Trisys from distracting the Master, leaving her only enough awareness to respond to commands.

The sum effect, even to those accustomed to invisibility, was made to appear as if Trisys ceased to exist. Undetectable to scent, sight, or any other senses. The exception being Master via the token. Available to Jade was her whereabouts. Plus the powerful knowledge that while Trisys was unable to battle directly, the onset of combat would initiate guardians at the Master's side.

Krill's plan was simple the prey was in a building only one way in or out. So serounding the prey wouldn't work given that Krill plan was to have the prey defend itself in order to coach it out of the hiding spots and to scare it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeviousMe "Stop!" "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to!"

Krill blinked the challenger looked kind of like a Gre'shil but with wings but jade's scents were like the Gods of thunder and lighting or the waste.

He moved forward roared and flared his claws taking Jade's pose with outstretched wings as a challenge. That was however the moment Ildela attacked. Krill wasn't in his top form still wounded from the fight earlier the blades found their targets. With a final hiss krill stagged and fell to the ground.

The other Gre'shil stop a moment as there leader fell then five turn and jumped for Ildela with claws and snapping teeth. The rest seemed confused with out Krill leading them. But then they turned to Jade and rushed. All eight extending there claws.

That was when Lazardarus started another song his voice with that strange tone rang out and 9 of the Gre'shil stopped and fell to the ground asleep.

This leaving Ildela with two Gre'shil attacking her and another two rushing for Jade.

A Gre'shil heading for Jade stopped his face was marked with a deep scar on the left side and he looked back then to Jade. He just stood there as the other jumped claws extended out to claw at Jade's face.

Ildela laughed as the Gre'shil leader fell after just one strike. "Good bloody hell that was pathetic. No staying power at all, almost makes it not even worth it", she commented, sorely tempted to spit on the body in contempt but resisting that for now. Of course, standing there commenting gave the two not affected by Lazardarus's song ample time to reach her. At which point they discovered precisely why she was so careless in the middle of a battle, as their claws stopped about a foot from her and deflected of an energy shield, which flickered in a light blue aura around her as it was struck.

"Now, really", she told them, turning to face them. "You guys really do need to try harder." Such a shame neither of them would ever get that chance. Raising her hands toward one of them, a strange pinkish-orange energy spiraled down her arms to be flung at him, wrapping around him and lifting him off the ground to float helplessly in the air, turning over slowly in midair in a most undignified fashion. Which left the second one. Ducking under another claw swipe, she made a quick gesture towards it and quite abruptly vanished from its perception. The rest of them could still see her, but for that one specific Gre'shil it was as though she'd suddenly ceased to exist.

She hadn't, of course. She'd merely used an old trick she'd learned a very long time ago, to cloud its mind to her presence. A fact she took full advantage off to shove her pair of swords straight through its chest, quite probably killing it just as quickly as she had Krill.

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"Somehow I doubt they're gonna listen to reason!", Kethara yelled, giving a very literal death glare to the closest of the two approaching Gre'shil. Twin beams of energy burst from her eyes towards the advancing alien, to burn big holes right through it. Or that was the intention, anyway. Whether they actually would was entirely another matter.

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Elsewhere in the ruined city, Paxtera remained oblivious to the attack on her children and their company as she continued her search for a Harvester that wasn't embedded in a building. It seemed there were none in the city, though. So she flew further out, toward the barren wilderness that seemed to make up most of the terrain outside said city.

Jade almost gave a sigh as the creatures attacked and several were immediately dropped. So much for that idea.

"Hey, c'mon guys," he requested of the others in a displeased tone, "Don't kill them if we don't have to."

If the two Gre'shil that had been going for him initially still were, meaning Kethara's beams hadn't deterred them, the metal Dragon would simply stand there until they were just at arm's length. In the snap of an instant, he'd then act on the results of his system's trajectory analysis and the arc trails of their jumps said system had already overlaid onto his crimson HUD, letting an open, gripping hand shoot for the incoming assailant(s), attempting to grip him or them by the throat(s).

If he succeeded, he'd then hold him or them them roughly half a meter off the ground Darth-Vader-style until what struggled in his iron grip calmed down. He didn't even much consider helping Ildela, having learned in his time in Paragon City that people like her could easily take care of themselves in these situations...

Scar backed away seeing the other Gre'shil drop dead by some beams from the little snacks eyes. He turned and roared at the awaking Gre'shil. "KRILL DEAD! KRILL ANGERED GODS! FLEE OR DIE YOUR CHOICE!" With that Scar took off running away from the super powered group. He knew some would call him coward but only fools hunt Kagraths (Descendants of T-rex). In Scar mind the group proven to be of equal threat.

The first Gre'shil that Laz mezzed awoke and hissed ignoring Scar she leaped for Ileda's back slashing at her back with those claws.

Having more resistants to sleep then holds the Pack shook there heads and looked at each other. Some didn't think the same as scar but with 4 of there members dead by the strange prey 5 more turned and headed with Scar. The Pack mentality over riding their own thoughts Scar was showing leadership quality so they follow. The Direction Scar chose was leading them in the direction of Perez Park.

The remaining two took longer for them to get the idea they were now outnumbered and hopeless. When It did sink in they turned and ran in a panic in the direction of the plans.

Laz wasn't a fighter so he didn't try another song but was still ready if the Gre'shil turned or someone went after them. Instead he went to the one Kethara blasted and knelt examining the teeth. "A youth pack. I think no longer children but not yet reaching full maturity."

((So has anybody seen AP around? >.>))

The attackers had been defeated or run off before any reached Master, meaning none of the guardians were triggered.

The wails of those thwarted from manifesting howled their complaint to Trisys. As ever when such happened, she made to sooth them with assurances that their time would come. It was an emotion akin to relief that she had a Master, for without their bond the voices would have unbridled freedom to run amok.

Thus the confrontation ended almost as soon as it began. Some attackers had their lifeblood on the ground, the rest fled.

Until the fresh battle site had been cleared, or they group cleared of the battle site, Jade's shadow would offer Trisys the best protection from the crippling effects of the carnage.

((Can't say I have, sorry.))

"Teenagers, got it." Jade remarked tonelessly, though with a slight sigh. He remembered his first encounter with a group of Outcasts, having been so dismayed to encounter that reflection of himself all those years ago, "Always the most dangerous. I guess we'd better stop them before they get zapped by the police drones - or shot by the SWAT guys."

What the metal Dragon didn't know, however, was that the response to his message to Positron was already underway. The gate from Boomtown to Steel Canyon had been closed and locked, and though Portal Corporation's drones were still on duty, they wouldn't be sending random creatures they encountered to the Zig.

But again, Jade didn't know this, so he started his engines and took off with a howl, propelling himself over and in front of the Gre'shil before killing the propulsion and coming back down like a ton of bricks, slamming loudly into the pavement heels-first due to having turned about during his fall.

"Don't even try it." he told them, entering a combative stance while his system analyzed the most time-efficient ways of knocking them out if need be, constantly updating and displaying the routes to take on his HUD, "If you're looking for food, we have plenty. You can have some. But if you keep attacking people, I'm going to throw you right back where you came from..."

What ever Jade's thoughts were of how the Gre'shil might react to his landing before him chances were that it wasn't what happened.

The remaining pack stopped and they looked among themselves then one shoved Scar forward "You leader.." it hissed at Scar. Scar went forward and sniffed at Jade. Then he lowered down laying flat and tilting his snout to the sky exposing his neck. A few moments later the rest of the pack done the same.

"We hear... God like one we .. we are weak you mighty even little one fires lighting from eyes..."

Back at the shelter Lazardarus looked at Ildela "I like to get out of here." He looked to the Gre'shil and whispered a prier for their souls. "So what is this Pizza you speak of? And if those ... war walls are so protective what happen to this area why is it all destroyed?"

Jade's face lost every last measure of its resolve in a sudden, very large blink. The cannon hidden in his left arm, by now primed and targeted, practically shut down from one instant to the other. Say what?! Oh no...oh nononono...he already had a one...oh snap...

"No, please, I'm not a god." was all he could think of to say at this point, reaching down to the Gre'shil and beneath its shoulders to get him back up, "Don't bow to me. I'm just...I just..."

He didn't know what he 'just'. Everything had gone crazy, and he felt like he would be next. Now what? Even if he managed to talk these people into not worshiping him, what would he do...? He couldn't take them back into the city...they'd just...and then...but they looked hungry. He couldn't just...

He wished he had some pizza...

From the view of the Gre'shil the appearance of Trisys with pizza boxes did not change the Gre'shil idea Jade was a God. No longer bowing but they clearly were nervous as heck.

Scar looked from Trisys then to Jade. "You no smell like meat... you fly.. have powers... Appear in land owned by the Gods of Thunder and lighting. What else can you be beside gods?"

Mergon had an X like pattern on his forehead come forward. "We need trophies! We hunt kill. Prove we strong weak die... Only strong with mighty trophies return to Nest and earn right to mate! We need Hunt worthy prey... soft skin round ears and pointy ears are worthy prey to Lead Mother!"

Lazardarus followed Ildela as they headed for the glowing war walls. "Hmm sounds like you are used to challenges. Still I have to do my task and see whoever in charge of your city. Our forest has limited amount of Manufacturing abilities but we can provide food. I hate for your people to end up raiding other lands as food and medicine start running low."

"I wonder if I met those aliens you spoke of. Patches seem to grab parts of worlds from all over. Not just other worlds but Times and universes as well. Truth be told we had no idea all these different forms of life were out there till after we arrived."

"Our patch was once part of a Mountain range we lived in the valley. Here however were higher up then the surrounding lands giving us a cliff wall protecting us from hostiles."

"Huh?" Jade blinked in surprise at the pizza boxes suddenly laid at his feet, taking a half-step back with semi-outspread arms, wholly unsure of what to make of this for several second. Only when he turned to his right and saw Trisys on her hands and knees with labored breath did he realize what had just happened.

He'd wished for pizza.

"Oh no..." slipped out of him in a nervous, worried tone as he bent down to try and gently scoop her up in his arms, "I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to..."

Whether he succeeded or not though, he nevertheless turned back to look at the Gre'shil. What else could he be indeed? He wanted to say Drokar-Akonos, but first he somewhat doubted the reptilians even knew what a Mountain Dragon was, and second...were they not right? If they revered the constructs of Machine as gods, then by logical extension he was one. It sure would've been a lot simpler to...no, no, no, no, no! He wasn't having this argument with himself again, and either way these people deserved to know the truth!

"I'm just me." he told them thusly, "I don't know if that means I'm machine or Dragon, but either way I'm not a god. And neither are those...thunder-and-lightning things. They're machines. Just machines. They can't even really think. They just do what their builders told them to. So no, they're not gods."

"Okay then..." he then glanced down at the pizza boxes, entertaining the thought that the Gre'shil might be able to use those as trophies to prove their worth before dismissing it as silly. Still, he couldn't help but chuckle. Not at the thought, however. He chuckled at the fact that he'd gone to it so easily, that he understood where they came from so naturally. Maybe he was still a Dragon after all.

"We'll have to find something for you." Jade looked back up toward the reptilians with a nod. Find what, though? He knew from memory that just about all of Hetran had been devastated by the war. Even if Rauk hadn't seen any fighting for a while, he highly doubted any animals would've come back to it. Heck, not even plants seemed to be growing in this patch of...hey, wait!

"Is there anywhere else around here where you guys could hunt something you'd consider worthy prey?" he wanted to know, "Other than, er, soft skin round ears and pointy ears? And it can't talk. No more killing things that talk."

The answer to this was likely very simple for the Gre'shil: a yes. Although the Desert was almost completely barren of life, up in the north, past and off to the side of an area that Lazardarus' people may well have known as the Twin Cities, lay the open caldera of a supervolcano, complete with the cragged land that surrounded the thing. Though not very hospitable on account of its volcanic nature, if any Gre'shil had gone there at one point or another, the reptilians probably knew of the large, armored beasts that inhabited the area. True, they weren't many, but at a size that stood somewhere between rhinoceros and elephant, they didn't need to be to feed a decent-sized group...

For all her fae feature, Trisys appears to weighs as little as a dandelion puff. There is a sense of substance. Yet it as if gravity has no hold on the satyr. It is only the affiliation between Trisys and earth that keeps her grounded. Otherwise she would be spun off by the planet's rotation.

Being scooped up would be no strain. Awkward, possibly. All the time bent double and submissive lent an erroneous perception to her size. Standing straight, something which almost never happened, would make her over seven feet tall. The exact height had not been measured, as her wild hair made guesswork of a visual assessment. Add in tattered wings that trailed pathetically over Jade's arm, new bone growth on her shoulder, plus bulky equine hindquarters. To put it simply, Trisys was quite an armful.

The act was bewildering. Jade's repeated attempts to apologize for what was his by right as Master doubly so. Yet the unusual and rare was shaping up to be par for the course between Jade and Trisys.

Physical contact between the bonded did more. It re-emphasized information available to Jade through the acorn token: Trisys's experience of the dangers and disasters caused by a careless wish. Again the underlying phrase intoned across the acorn's information like a warning label, this time almost mockingly: Be careful what you wish for, you WILL get it.

There was another presence perceivable by Jade. Many others. The most distinct gleefully suggested a wish to cook the pizzas. They were clearly separate sentience from Trisys. Her near-husky voice reprimanded the suggestor. It is the Master's place to think of wishes.

All of this happened in the blink of an inner-eye. Trisys was almost recovered physically. Her breath had evened out as she lay supine in Master's arms. This close her eyes were much less amber. They each more closely resembled the round red of a Harvest Moon. Jade may or may not have noticed, divided as his attention was between the surrounding supplicants.

Trisys listened to Master try to convince the Gre'shil neither to hunt anything that talked nor worship him as a god. Personally Trisys viewed Jade and his words as absolute. To her that made him as close to a god that what he was called mattered not.

While they spoke of hunting, The Gre'shil seemed not to be in a killing state nor anything malicious. The lack of agitation in Trisys was testament enough for that conclusion. An ear did flick as Ildela strode near, aware peripherally of the approaching trio.

Mergon looked at Scar "Place of fire blood? Tough skin there very hard prey."

Scar looked at the pack and then to jade "We not enough to hunt tough skins. No spears... no nets... Place of fire blood far... few Gre'shil go there looking for other tribe. Many think they fools."

Lazardarus looked at Ildela "Wait he's talking to them? All our tries ended up with the group either being taken or killed. But then he does look something like a Gre'shil perhaps that helps opening communications."

"Anyway I haven't seen any beings like that but who knows Patch is a large world and I had to walk most of my way along my travels."

In another plane of existence...

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Moving along to the point where they enter Patches, and we can understand what is being said.

ll/-|ll/lll-/ll|ll-ll-Send for help."

***

A ways away from the desert

Patches was very good at what it did. The problem was, it was a bit TOO good at it. It had, from time to time, yanked in parts of Dyson spheres, pulled in parts of landscapes with different physics, with different elementary particles, even. Thankfully, this time, the local space conformed nicely to our reality.

30 miles of pure vacuum appeared on the surface of Patches. Fortunately, there was no need for atmosphere to start blowing around like a hurricane. A massive energy field snapped into place at the borders to keep everything nice and calm, (not generated by the planet, but by something within the vacuum) and natural lighting spread through the emptiness. The energy field faded and became entirely translucent, but still present nonetheless. An empty landscape spanned the entirety of the new area, revealing nothing but ground and sky.

Jade was indeed surprised at Trisys' seeming lack of mass. It was like she weighed nothing at all. Be careful what you wish for, huh? Yeah, he was starting to get the meaning of that. Slowly, but he was.

"Place of fire blood, hm?" the metal Dragon repeated the thought as it entered his mind, his imagination trying to come up with something that fit that description. For one reason or another, the first thing he hit with that was the movie 'Aliens', in which the titular creatures had blood so acidic it burned almost anything. That was dangerous prey indeed. He couldn't imagine they tasted very good, but considering his diet...yeah, he probably would've tried one if he could've.

"Okay." he thus gave a nod to the Gre'shil, "Looks like we have somewhere to go then. You say very far. About how far?"

The same question still in mind, the glance he directed toward the approaching others expanded upon it, wondering if the people who seemed to have appeared at will could teleport, or perform something of similar nature. As they looked to be coming this way, he'd ask exactly that once they came close enough.

The thought of asking Trisys came to mind, but he didn't speak the question, the strange creature he held in his arms looking to be in need of rest - and he had a strong feeling she wouldn't keep resting if he asked.

"You sure are a handful, huh?" he let out a chuckle with a look down to her eyes, "Can I do something to make you more comfortable...?"
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Paxtera found something immediately following that decision. Well, technically she found it several hours later, but that was relativity for one. What mattered was that she'd found something. And what a something it was.

From afar, it looked like someone had taken a small city full of highrises, stuck it onto a giant metal plate, grown a jungle on top of it, and then doused the whole thing in an ocean of weed killer. Snaking vines, elaborate brambles, and even the gargantuan trees that grew both alongside and partially within the metal-and-glass buildings, were all dead and had been for some time, their remains dried and withered, preserved by the Desert's harsh climate.

In addition, though the 'plate' sat on solid ground, its underside sloping into more than a century's worth of accumulation of dirt and debris around the thing, the entire assembly almost seemed to float. The cause of this in turn were the rings that did just that - massive, discontinuous perimeter segments, hundreds of meters long, dozens wide, and tens thick, orbiting the 'city' at mathematically regular radii and altitudes, all in all forming three distinct tiers of ring segment collections: the largest one about the exact edge of the 'plate', and two about two-thirds the size of the largest, each floating a constant (if not equal) distance, respectively, above and below the central segment ring.

What really stood out from a distance, however, were the place's lights. A myriad of red and white dots covered the buildings, plate, ring segments...everything. This in turn stood in stark contrast with another 'plate city' a few hundred meters from the first.

It was completely dark.

There were other differences as well, of course; the fact that it lay just a bit slanted in the ground, that its ring segments had fallen to (and often impaled themselves within) said ground, and that it looked decidedly unmaintained, but the chief difference was the collection of lights.

And the artillery.

Registering as 'human enough' to the treaded turrets that rimmed the 'plate' as well as sat on a great many other places, Paxtera would be assaulted by high-explosive canister shells as soon as she came within range, the IFF-capable proximity fuses that set off their detonators taking away the need to score direct hits to do damage...

"You sure are a handful, huh?" Master let out a chuckle with a look down to her eyes, "Can I do something to make you more comfortable...?"

Trisys had never been asked that. Never. The closest was back at the beginning, especially her first Master. Then there had been the occasional, 'Here is a blanket to keep you warm.' or 'You will like dinner, it is tasty!' Being asked - not stated - what Master could do for her was incomprehensible. Especially when the phrasing was so close to a wish.

She opened her mouth, closed it, and continued trying without success. If Trisys had been electronic, the reaction would have been a short circuit.

Not that Jade had done anything wrong. It was just for all her abilities, all her experience, and all her training, nothing had prepared Trisys for the carer/caree role reversal. The best word to describe her state was flabbergasted.

Except Trisys wasn't the only one listening. It was quickly becoming apparent that interacting with Trisys was not encountering one, but three sentience.

The voices were the largest presence. Hardly more than bundles of desire. They very much knew what they wanted: Master to make more wishes. Every wish meant they would be granted temporary form for its fulfillment. Theirs was a demand, a craving, an all-consuming longing more potent than a drowning man's last breath.

The second was the token. This was as new a thing to Trisys as to Jade. It was the one that seemed to get smug satisfaction intoning a warning about wishes.

Then there was Trisys herself. She was the conduit between the voices, Master, and now the token. Both a connecting and dividing line. It was not allowed for the voices to harass Master directly. He would be normally ignorant of their prodding Trisys. Except at times like now when disconcertion thinned Trisys’s cohesion into confusion.

That was the reason for her gaping - the voices were trying to use Trisys to make suggestions. But they were voices only in Trisys's perception, denied vocalization through her or in the materialized phantoms. For Trisys's part, her stunned state was reflected in unblinking eyes.

Finally Trisys ventured, "Moonlight." The word was almost more a question than a request. It had been so long, so very, very long since she had been exposed to the reflected sunlight of a planet's orbiting satellite. The moon's light filtered by thin wispy clouds was the best rejuvenation Trisys had known.

Scar and the other Gre'shil were watching Jade and Trisys. This was very puzzling a God showing compassion? Scar shook his head "Place of Fire blood is that way... four days and nights hard run no stop." He pointed northward.

"Towers of light there. Like your place but different two of them" He then backed away and the Pack moved with him in a huddle like group. "Strange god no seen gods of lighting and thunder act like this one... No seen any God like him before." The pack of snouts turned and looked at Jade again then back to the huddle. "But if he not a God then what is he? He smell like Gods have powers like Gods... what else is there but a God?"

Scar was quiet then he let out a hiss "We watch learn study... What Krill did not. Fools rush to attack without knowing. If not God he more powerful... they all more powerful... we learn and submit as weaker."

Lazardarus was showing signs of nervousness. He could handle that many Gre'shil but still the creatures weren't something he want to face. "Well Might as well go and find out what's going on." He continues his trek over the rubble to where Jade was."