Why didn´t the internet cafe staff stop him from playing so much? Seems quite irresponsible, to me. Surely after 24 hours non-stop (they recognise he only stopped for toilet breaks) they would advise him to go home and rest? From a mercenary point of view, 48 hours now? Or a lifetime of business lol <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
Posts by athena
-
-
OOC: Fabulous! <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> At last we see the introduction of the TGL <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
-
They still haven´t made it out yet <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> ttfn
-
Tanya reached around to her bag and pulled out a pair of dark mirrored goggles that was swiftly worn. The young woman pushed a switch located on the side of the frame, nodded once and beamed a smile at Rob as her vision swam green. "I´ll take point, if you don´t mind?" she asked sweetly and trapped one of her kinetic pistols under an arm, freeing up her hands to reload the caseless weapons with a series of deft movements. She pressed a button near the hilt of the weapon and an empty magazine fell to the ground causing a small cloud of dust to rise. She pulled a magazine from an easy-access pouch by her waist and slammed it into place, pulling back the slide with a ´click-clack´. Tanya repeated the gesture and a second gun was loaded and ready in nearly a heartbeat, the second empty magazine falling to land by the first. Rob adjusted a setting on his own trademark shades. "That dust probably took thousands of years to settle, before we came along," he said dryly, thought not without a hint of remorse. He winced as Tanya´s boot kicked the magazines to the side raising an even bigger dust cloud. "Let´s go," she said seriously and moved ahead lithely. Clearly not a time for jokes then, thought Rob. The rock corridor was ten feet in diameter and seemed to be burned into the hillside, there were very jagged edges or coarse sides that would normally indicate a drilling mechanism of some kind. Rob assumed some kind of superheated energy was fired into the ground, nodding as he saw whatever dim light available in the tunnel reflected occasionally. The walls of the tunnel were glowing with a faint purple mote and neither of them could understand how it was happening. "We should take a sample of the rock for someone who´s smarter than us," said Rob, thinking of Dr. Thomson. "Good idea. You do that and I´ll scout up ahead," said Tanya immediately moving away slowly. She was crouched low, like a cat. Rob felt uncomfortable, he hadn´t expected to be trapped down here, although there were worst companions to be trapped with, he decided. But Tanya was on edge and her intuition was rarely wrong. As she disappeared from view behind the bend of the tunnel, Rob was about to say something but gritted his teeth. She is her own woman, y´know Rob he thought and produced a small palmtop with a tiny scalpel-like device attached at its side. He scraped at the side of the wall and took a sample quickly that was sealed into a tiny case. Okay. So she´s her own woman. Doesn´t make watching her walk away any better does it, buddy? "Rob, can you hear me?" whispered Tanya, interrupting the freelancer´s thoughts. She was sub-vocalising through a short-range radio chip they had both attached to the side of their throats. "Loud and clear. I´m done. Coming to your position," he replied. "Make it quick. You won´t want to miss this," she hissed. Rob stuffed the palmtop into his bag and darted off into a run, conscious of not making too much sound as even his soft footfalls seemed to reverberate inside the tunnel. He ran round the corner of the bend and nearly fell into a hole, as dark as pitch and falling away further than the eye could see. He stifled a yelp and instead timed a jump, the pit wasn´t wide and he cleared it comfortably, landed, rolled and kept running. A vision of the pit blurred into his mind and he was surprised as jagged rocks jutted out at various angles; the first sharp edges he´d seen in here. "Watch out for the pit," Tanya added almost as an afterthought. "Thanks. I saw it," replied Rob icily as he charged through the tunnel. He slowed down as the tunnel began to dip and saw Tanya crouched low behind a wall of rocks ahead. The tunnel fell away sharply after this and a bright glow of white light emanated from behind the rock wall, then faded. He crept to Tanya´s position and took a sharp intake of breath at the sight before him. The tunnel dropped down into a huge, cavernous area about the size of a main hangar bay. The walls were of the same, glowing reflective quality and he noticed two holes cut into the roof of the cavern. Tanya smiled. "I saw them too. They´re as wide as a light fighter. Maybe a small medium," she said. Rob continued his survey and saw the centre of the cavern featured more structures similar to the ones outside. At first glance he thought they were ancient and ruined too, but as he watched he realised the ruins weren´t ruined at all, instead they seemed very well preserved. Or maintained. The buildings were arranged in a circle, with three smaller concentric circles inside the main ring. At the centre were five pillars, huge obsidian-like stones standing upright and clearly dominating the rest of the structure. Rob guessed they stood at least thirty feet tall and about half as wide and deep. The material used to construct the ring and stones were cut from the same rock as the tunnel and cavern. Even more amazing was the small altar at the centre of it all. Atop the altar lay what could only be described as an artefact. It was a spherical object made of purple and green, organic in design. It too glowed, though stronger than the walls. Occasionally a white light would pulse out from it brightening up the whole cavern before fading as soon as it had come. "We need to get that thing," said Tanya pointing to the pulsing device. "The Hammer expedition must have been ordered to clear a path down to this hall," Tanya added, her eyes softening as she recalled the terrible fates of the scientists. She frowned as she also remembered the bodies of the fallen Covenant cultists. Rob nodded without taking his eyes off the artefact. "Aye. But one thing bothers me. It seemed as though the Hammer expedition were close to the entrance of the tunnel. In fact, they must have known it was here because I noticed large vehicle tracks as we ran from the apes before." He fell silent. Tanya didn´t interrupt him. She cast her eyes over the whole cavern once more. There was only one way in and out and that was now blocked by the apes. Curious creatures , she thought. They sacrificed their own kind to cause the cave-in by throwing their bodies at the rock wall. Are they keeping us in? Or keeping something out?" Rob pointed suddenly at the ground near the centre of the stone circle. Tanya stared for a moment and her eyes widened as they noticed a metallic object lying near the foot of one of the pillars. It was a blaster. "The Hammer expedition had made it inside," she said. Rob nodded. "But they were killed in here. And dragged back out?" "No," said Rob. "Some of them made it inside. I´d say they sent a recon party in advance while the rest camped near the start of the ruins. The apes dealt with that group. Something else took care of these," he said grimly then suddenly whipped out his blaster and fired at the wall behind them causing Tanya to start. "What are you doing?" she hissed angrily. Rob didn´t respond for a moment. He nodded to the wall he just shot and Tanya turned round. The wall was unmarked. The super-heated burst of energy would be strong enough to mark the hull of a fighter ship but there was no mark at all on the wall. Nothing. Not even a scratch. "Incredible," remarked Tanya. "I´m glad you took that sample," she continued. "That´s the weird thing. I was able to scratch away a piece without much problem but when I fired at it the heat was absorbed," he replied. Rob scratched his head. Then froze. Tanya froze too. A sound echoed from the tunnel behind them. "What was that?" he asked. Tanya said nothing, her expression neutral. The sound came to them again. It was more distinct this time, it was primal, animal-like. Waiting for a few more nerve-wracking seconds they heard it again and the noise was drawn out over several moments, undulating. The sound was chillingly closer this time. It sounded like a roar. "We need to go. Now!" said Tanya. "Don´t have to tell me twice!" said Rob. "Head towards the stone circle!" They bolted from cover and charged down the rock slope towards the huge circle. Behind them the ground shook as whatever the creature was, had awoken from slumber and begun to chase them. And smelt their fear. *** "This is great! Just great!!" shouted Rob as the pair darted towards the stone circle. He was annoyed at himself for not placing sensors behind them, although the creature wasn´t planning any kind of stealth attack clearly. He glanced across at Tanya who was totally focused on their run. She was leaping over any obstacle, then suddenly turned to him, grinned and accelerated. Rob swore and increased his own speed to catch up. They dare not look behind but could almost feel the presence of the creature as it heavy footfall shook the ground beneath them. The pair ate up the metres as they closed in on the stone circle and passed the first ring of stones. Tanya shouted in alarm as one of the pillars of stone about twelve feet tall began to move. "Rob! The stones are moving!" she yelled and darted to one side as it came crashing down where she was. The freelancer was too busy to reply. Another pillar had moved to block his path so he had taken a detour around its side. A second pillar had begun to fall and he leapt forwards into a roll diving under it as the stone fell with a crash. Rob sprang to his feet and kept running without losing any time. Tanya was just ahead dodging the stones too that now seemed alive. Or at least, aware of the humans moving amongst them and doing their best to crush the life out of them and prevent reaching the artefact. The creature roared again, a powerful sound that pierced and reached deep inside them. The vibrations cause their own bodies to shudder and Tanya winced as she leapt over a fallen stone and reached the centre. Rob came up a moment behind her and they turned as one to face their pursuer. By the outer ring of stones, was a creature standing nearly twenty feet tall made entirely of the substance the tunnel, cavern and stones were composed of. It was vaguely humanoid but at the centre of its head there were no eyes, nose or ears. Just a huge, misshapen mouth filled with sharp, three-foot long jagged stalagmites for teeth. It champed down once causing fragments of rock and dust to spray out in a jet, then opened it once more and roared again, blowing even more dust at them. Huge claws in place of hands snapped shut occasionally as though on reflex and it swung them aggressively. "What. Is. That?" asked Tanya. Rob chuckled and Tanya cast him a frosty glare. "I´m hardly Sirius´ best mind at otherworldly life, my dear," he remarked. They watched as the creature paced around the circle. The stones that made up the circle had stopped moving now, grudgingly accepting the intrusion by Rob and Tanya. She looked at the spinning artefact, suddenly turned away and grabbed Rob´s chin with her hand pushing it away too. It blasted out a shining, blinding wave of light for a second, then faded. "Thanks," he said, half-watching the artefact and half-watching the creature that stomped outside the boundaries of the circle. His hand reached up to his shades and he pressed a button. "Taking some footage," he said. "Konn and the guys won´t believe me when I tell them about this," Rob mused. Tanya sighed. "If we get out of here to tell them," she said. The young woman glanced around looking for something to aid them and looked up at the twin shafts above them. She could make out the dim colours of the Primus skyline through the shafts and that meant they must be vertically straight. Another blast of light came from the object, eventually pulsing to darkness. Rob swore and turned back to the artefact. "Guardians," he said. "What?" asked Tanya perplexed. "Everything in this cavern is a guardian. Maybe on this planet. They were placed here to protect this," he said pointing to the artefact spinning above the surface of the altar. Tanya frowned. "I doubt they would have made it so easy," she retorted. "I mean, with enough force and resources, anyone could eventually break into this place." The creature had stood still for a while. Content enough to watch them from afar. Tanya took a quick step one direction and the creature darted forwards in one terrifyingly quick bound. The huge maw champed shut and released open again. "I jumped over that," said Rob bemused. "Anyway. You saw how the walls absorbed blaster heat. I reckon this far underground even a battleship´s main guns wouldn´t trouble this cavern." "So it´s down to a smaller, man-sized force," said Tanya following his logic. "And man-sized bites," she grimaced as the creature stomped on the ground and roared again. "The apes were probably bred as some kind of surface protection. There were hundreds of them. Thousands of them maybe," said Rob. "And Primus isn´t exactly a tourist expedition." Both humans could only watch as the creature circled them. It would occasionally roar, snap its massive claws but still would not step into the structure. "We have provisions for three days," said Tanya looking into her bag. "Four at best. Who else knows we´re coming here? Do we have a rescue plan?" "Well, that´s not easy to answer.." replied Rob. *** They watched each other for several hours. The creature continuing its patrol around the circle content with their position for now. The humans relatively content at not being pulverised. Tanya sat cross-legged on the stone altar. "So what happened to the recon group?" she asked after a while. The creature roared and she paused for a moment. The roars had less of an effect now and both humans were able to absorb the effect without fear. "I mean, would Fido over there have chewed them up and spat them out?" Rob chuckled, the situation couldn´t be more surreal. "Fido. Nice one. Well. Only if they tried to escape. The tunnel wasn´t caved-in before. Perhaps they attempted to leave the circle and make a break for it." "Bad idea," replied Tanya. She rose from her position and leapt off the altar. The stone creature paused and ´watched´ her. She took one step towards the next ring. It remained still. She took another step passing beyond the first circle. And another. She was at the third circle when the creature leapt round the ring towards her forcing her to take a step backwards. Within moments the creature was nearly upon her and its claw was hurtling towards her head with inhuman speed. Tanya ducked behind a pillar and the claw slammed into the opposite side, causing a huge scar across the surface of the pillar. "Fine. He still doesn´t want us to leave," said Tanya walking back slowly to the altar and eventually returned to her cross-legged position. Rob got up and walked over to the stone she used as cover, inspecting both sides. The scar was still there. He pulled out his blaster and the stone was again, unharmed, the spot at which he fired upon glowed bright red, orange then faded. The stone was smooth again. His eyes narrowed and he turned towards the towering creature that again, stood still watching him. "Tanya. Give me one of your guns, please," he said. A gun flew through the air over a stone pillar and he caught it deftly. He aimed at the creatures mouth carefully. "I hope this works," he whispered, then slowly squeezed a round off. The shell struck home and blew off a ´tooth´, the stalagtite-esque rock snapped off half way and fell to the ground. The creature hesitated, then looked down. Rob grinned viciously. "Eat this!" he yelled and fired again, breaking off another tooth. He continued to squeeze off rounds and began blowing holes into the creature. He saw Tanya climb onto a pillar and open fire too. "Magazine!" shouted Rob and one clattered by his feet. He dropped the empty, slammed in the full one and switched his weapon to fully automatic. The creature was being blown apart in pieces by the combined firepower of their weapons. It seemed to stagger back, claws snapping and its jaws champed down and opened again. The creature roared swinging its claws into the side of the rock before them which shattered into pieces, sending fragments flying into their faces. "Uh-oh! That´s not meant to happen!" shouted Rob. "Fall back! Fall back!" and continued shooting despite moving backwards, slowly at first but quicker as the creature came at them. Tanya dropped down to join him and as she pulled out spare magazines, stuffed a few into Rob´s jacket pockets. "Last two, make them count!" she shouted over the din of the gunfire. The creature charged, swinging its claws into the rocks that had held it at bay for so long. It sent one hammering into a stone pillar and it shattered on impact, large chunks of rock hurtling towards them. Tanya ducked one and shot another into fragments that bounced off her jacket. Rob side-stepped one and also shot another one. He glanced to his left and watched as Tanya avoided the danger. He shouted a warning as Tanya was about to step onto a rock that could have unbalanced her and failed to see another cloud of rocks coming his way. "No!" shouted Tanya as one substantial piece struck Rob at the temple and he fell onto his back. The creature was only twenty paces away and still charging, though hampered by the many stone pillars it had to destroy before it could reach them. She reached down and swept up her second gun that had fallen from Rob´s grasp. She screamed as she unloaded both pistols at the monstrosity, aiming for the arms at the shoulder. Tanya continued to scream as the concentrated fire caused one of the creature´s arms to explode and it fell away, the snapping claw falling to the ground in a cloud of dust and fragments. She stepped forwards continuing to unload her guns at the other arm that just wouldn´t give way. She broke into a run and heard Rob swear as he got to his feet. Tanya kept firing until her guns clicked empty, the slides recoiling back fully and dived under the claw feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise as the claw swooshed overhead. The woman rolled under the creature and got to her feet the other side, throwing one gun high into the air. The next moments were a blur. Rob saw Tanya throw one of her two guns high into the air, reach around behind her with the free hand produce a magazine that was slammed into place and holstered she caught the second one and loaded it with another magazine, again cocking it ready. She pulled out the first gun and spun on her heel. The creature had turned to face her and she began to fire while strafing around clockwise to her left. The freelancer nodded, she was buying him time. He reached into his bag and produced a grenade and a block of plastic explosives, connected to a remote detonating device. The detonator was strapped to his wrist and he swiftly activated the bomb. He risked a quick glance up and noticed Tanya had managed to shoot off the remaining arm, the claw lay on the ground but continued to snap in defiance. "Tanya! East side! East!" he yelled. He wasn´t sure if she´d heard him but she continued to run around the north side of the circle shooting as she ran. Rob darted to the eastern most point of the circle and lay the explosives down behind a pillar, then backed away quickly to stand behind another. The ex-assassin turned and ran. The creature was very close to her, no longer able to swing the deadly claws anymore, it had taken to leaning down and champing its huge jaws down at any opportunity. The woman sprinted past the bomb. The chasing creature ran past too its jaws about to champ down once more for a final time on the tiring girl. "I hope this works," he whispered. "Down!" he yelled then detonated the bomb. Tanya threw herself forwards and covered her head with her hands as the bomb exploded. It ripped through the right flank of the creature´s body, blowing away a massive chunk of torso and sending a leg flying. Fragments of stone zipped through the air and he ducked too. The air seemed to be sucked in and for a moment neither of them could hear anything. Tanya regained her senses and scrambled to her feet before bursting into another tired run. Rob ran over with the grenade in his hands. The creature was lying on its back, the great maw weakly opening and closing. The leg occasionally twitched and Rob suddenly felt sorry for the creature. He unhooked the pin from the grenade and tossed it into the open mouth before running back for cover again. A sound rumbled from within the creature. Then the grenade exploded and the chamber was silent. *** Tanya dabbed at the side Rob´s head using a cloth torn from his shirt. He sat amongst an area they cleared of stone fragments at the centre of the circle, bare-chested covered in sweat and dust facing away from her and watched the artefact. It pulsed light at intervals exactly forty-two seconds apart. His watch beeped an alarm and they closed their eyes in unison. The pulse of white light burst forth and faded. They opened their eyes again. "You need a wash," she said in good humour putting a sealant strip on the wound. It wasn´t deep and would heal in a few days. Rob was struck in several other place over his chest and she´d dealt with them in similar fashion. "But I´d prefer to keep what water we have." "Very charitable," grumbled the freelancer. "Nice move with the gun, back there." "A trick I was taught at school," she remarked. "I´m glad you brought some explosives with you, as usual. Never leave home without them?" she chided. "Better than women. Constantly portable. They don´t complain. Use ´em once. Walk away," said Rob, before yelping as Tanya pinched him viciously. "That," she said with venom. "Will take more than a few days," she said pointing to the red raw skin of his upper arm that would eventually bruise and purple. "Something to remember you by," grumbled Rob once more. He pulled on his shirt tenderly. He was a few years older than her and the fall onto his back must have impacted one of the vertebrae and possibly his shoulder. He felt Tanya´s hands massage his shoulders and he sighed, then relaxed. "Mm. Good," he murmured. "Old men like you shouldn´t be doing activities like this," said Tanya in his ear. He smiled and kept his eyes closed. The alarm beeped again and he kept them shut. The light flared, then passed. She continued to massage his shoulders, neck and began working in his upper back. "I can´t work your lower spine until you lie down but I don´t think that´s a good idea in here," said Tanya, hinting they were still potentially in some danger. Neither of them had figured out a means of escaping the chamber. Soon after destroying the creature they had scouted back to the tunnel tentatively only to find the cave-in still present. Rob sighed. "I don´t mind. We can stay here a while," he murmured again. He opened his eyes and turned round suddenly, staring into Tanya´s green eyes. They were voluminous and the light from the chamber and artefact only served to deepen them. Rob slowly leaned forwards and her own eyes closed, their lips joining as they kissed. The alarm beeped and neither could resist a smile as the white light flared around them. They continued to kiss long after the light faded. *** Tanya sat on the altar cross-legged. She felt both delight and sadness. Delight because Rob was a good, generous and above all, uncompromising man who had a similar background profession to her own. But more importantly because he understood her, her desires to be alone at times and need to achieve things herself. Tanya was hesitant to throw herself at any relationship and her history with partners wasn´t the most promising. Was that her fault? she asked herself. She watched him walk along the length of the cavern taking readings and analysing their surroundings. They had been down here for a total of almost sixteen hours. He walked back somewhat dejected. "Even if we could muster enough explosives to check out of here, we´d need enough to break out of the cave-in, without only causing another cave-in. And then we´d have those pesky apes to deal with outside," he groaned. Tanya lifted one magazine before him. "Last one," she said with a smile, before replacing it into the hilt of her weapon. "Still no neural net connection?" she asked. Rob shook his head. "Nada." The alarm beeped and they closed their eyes in a ritual that had now been ingrained. "What about that?" she pointed at the spinning artefact. For so many hours they debated the idea of removing, destroying or covering the artefact. They tried the latter using a bag but the light merely shone straight through it as though it wasn´t there. Fearing a change in climate they decided against the former options. "If only we could reach the shafts up there," she said. Rob stopped adjusting his palmtop. "What?" "Hm? Oh nothing," Tanya replied. She was cleaning her guns, probably for the fifth time. "No. What did you say before?" asked Rob. Tanya looked up. "Oh. Reaching up there," she said and pointed to the parallel shafts that were fifty feet above them. "And why can´t we?" asked Rob. Tanya watched him confused. "We can climb the walls!" "How?" said Tanya annoyed. They brought no climbing equipment and the exterior of the walls were smooth. She raised a brow when Rob produced his blaster. He walked a few paces away and placed two rock chips on the ground close together a few feet away. He fired and the beam of superheated energy from his gun enveloped them both. He let go of the trigger and Tanya´s mouth opened in surprise. The chips had joined together to form one, long stone fragment. *** The next four hours were painful at best. Rob and Tanya collected all of the stone chips and fragment they could carry in one pile. Tanya would place a few chips at a time by the side of the pile and Rob would shoot them. Then they took turns. When they had gathered over a hundred such large chips, Tanya threw them at the rock wall where Rob fired. His expert trained eye would allow him to fire the beam so it struck the chip at the apex of Tanya´s throw and it would join against the rock wall, creating a protrusion. They repeated this many times, enough to create a crude series of handholds that would lead them from the floor of the cavern to the highest point on the wall, a ridge where they could climb across and reach the twin shafts. The closest of the shafts was about twenty feet from the wall, that´s twenty feet of gruelling climb holding your entire body weight using only a small, fist sized protrusion as leverage and fifty feet above the ground. "We should rest," said Tanya lowering her tired arms after throwing stones repeatedly for four hours. The alarm beeped and they closed their eyes. *** ttfn x Edited by - athena on 8/8/2005 3:49:19 AM
-
I´ll update today, should make things a little clearer. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Code great update, exactly what I was thinking! ttfn x
-
I´m am really busy working atm..if you´re waiting on me, please don´t! <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Just keep going..we´ve exchanged enough ideas lol ttfn x
-
Jacob? What do you think? I´m keen to involve your character in the story (as I am with all characters). But the potential ´frisson´ between Rob and Jake resulting from another meeting could ´exciting´..! <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
-
I mean, just running with Jacob´s post. Or not?
-
I´m not responsible for what you do with your pics, Bret. Choose to post it, or not! <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
-
Bret, I´m flattered <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> But seriously. Last time I did something like this, I wasn´t entirely happy with the outcome so I regretfully decline. Sorry!
-
Networks and contacts. Perhaps Lane Hackers? I´m sure they would sell infos on specific people / ID / ships for the right price? If it´s a cookie-trail, probably the best place to start would be in Bretonia.. I am now torn between the beauty that´s derived from ´reaction´ to ´pre-meditation´.. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> ttfn x
-
Lol Bret. Take some medicine for that <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> On the picture front, there´s <b>NO </b> way I am putting one of me up on this site!
-
I´m working on it :p
-
Hey, Code. How tall are you? The map looks like it´s mounted kinda high up :p
-
Thanks. That´s one of the funniest threads I´ve read in a while (and not just because of the various pics) lol <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Final is a bit of celeb now, Brian Blessed, Spielberg..Santa Claus off-duty during summer? <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
-
Where´s the previous thread containing lots of pics in? I know there is one! And I couldn´t agree more..I don´t trust my opinion of men either :p ttfn x
-
Killa looks sooo sweeeet. Just want to pinch those cheeks lol
-
More pinks, purples, blues and greens please!
-
"straight women can be so weird" Mel was gorgeous in Braveheart. A pox on you if said otherwise <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Bad films. Hm. <b>King Arthur </b> was a really, really bad film. I was expecting something like an Arthurian "The 13th Warrior", instead I got a totally mis-cast Clive Owen (who is hunky in a boring-dry-paint of way), terrible battle scenes, ridiculous archery skills, and absolutely no historical references I could buy-into. Only Ray Winstone was any good lol And WHAT was Keira Knightley wearing? Put some clothes on love, those straps will leave you with a nasty chill.. Can I mention a good film (imho)? I will anyways :p Collateral. Great movie! Edited by - athena on 7/26/2005 3:20:14 AM
-
Tanya went through a variety of emotions as Rob spoke. She watched the freelancer present the briefing expertly, succinctly and in good humour. He´d clearly thought out in great detail what actions the group should take next. Tanya found herself ranging from admiring his strategic prowess, to being slightly annoyed at how easily she distracted him, to deciding his bumbling and occasional stare was somewhat endearing. "Four-fifty K." Rob answered. "Each." Tanya nodded but kept her expression neutral. The money was a blessing for most of them in the room, she didn´t want to openly reveal the level of funds sequestered to Mason´s "project´, i.e.; her and her colleagues. The briefing continued, she was delighted to hear Travis and Carshalton would be sent away from what she considered a potential ´hotspot´. She loved them both dearly, the grizzled, gruff Marshal Carshalton should buy a hydro-farm someone in Kusari and just fish in retirement. Travis should probably buy a bar he could lounge around, smooch women and generally make a nuisance of himself. Konn seemed different somehow. He was stricken when news of Derek´s death reached him, but the arrival of Nikolai had breathed new life into his trader´s bones. She noted the way Rob mentioned ´an interruption´, was something going on between Konn and Nikolai? She smiled, the expression swiftly turning to a grimace as the screen flickered to show Hideko after her transformation into the deadly cyborg. "Now," said Rob. "Lets flash forward to after the battle. I had the Special Branch folks.." Tanya´s mind wandered again as Rob continued his briefing. There was so much left to do. Clearly The Covenant were an organisation that rivalled Mason´s own. She theorised that The Covenant were probably bigger than Mason, perhaps even sponsoring his activities. If this was true, then this Abbot individual would be the one at the top of the food chain, pulling strings. The web seemed to get bigger and more complicated, clearly learning what Mason´s objectives were crucial but now the thought of an organisation branching over him seemed daunting. Mason, now in exile and hiding, was a Governor in the Liberty system, a very high ranking member of the Senate that effectively sat two levels below President Jacobi. If Mason was a middle-man, how on earth would Tanya attempt to bring down The Abbot? "Travis and Carshalton." Rob said "Tanya and I will stay here and see if we can´t come up with any new information. We pretty much know that the ´life-force preservation´ plans are set way back now. There´s a whole hell of a lot that we don´t know, though. "The other two experiments are big blanks, for instance. We also don´t know where all these artefacts are coming from. And then there´s The Covenant. Big question marks there. Who are they? Where are they? Who´s their leader, this Abbot? And how is Mason involved in all this? Her mind was brought sharply back to the present. "One thing is certain, though. Mason isn´t the top dog we thought he was." "Indeed." Konn said. "Well, we might as well be off then. Travis, Carshalton, if you please..." Tanya watched them leave and held to Travis´ eyes for a moment. He held her own, and she mouthed silently, "Sorry," in reply. The ex-bounty hunter grinned and winked back. There was no animosity there, Travis understood what Tanya had gone through, and following thirty-six hours in a heal vat was back to his usual annoying self. The three men left leaving Rob and Tanya alone in the room. Tanya rose from her cross-legged position on the bed and moved over to a desk where a terminal was. "So, Rob.." *** Omicron Gamma, Edge Worlds. Tanya knew this system was controlled by pirates, specifically the Corsairs. A powerful group with no allies, many enemies and a base of operations deep in the galactic south of Sirius. At least, they were powerful until Kenji mustered almost every hunter he could find on a deadly assault of all Corsair bases, systems and planets. Apparently, the death toll numbered hundreds of thousands dead, even millions as Kenji´s revenge-fuelled war on the pirates slew anyone even remotely connected to the Corsairs. The system of Omicron Gamma would still be populated by Corsairs in the main, for all of the firepower Kenji could summon they were unable to break too deep into the Corsair´s home system. Tanya and Rob would need to be very careful indeed if they were to look for this missing ´Hammer expedition´ seeking artefacts. Rob´s contact, Dr. Tomson didn´t know who was hiring them, instead only saying they were wealthy and influential. Tanya assumed that this shadowy group of hire-and-firers either didn´t have the archaeological acumen to find the artefacts on their own, or wanted to use a legitimate group of diggers to maintain their anonyminity. Perhaps both. Did The Covenant seek assistance from the ´Hammer´ scientists? Or was it Mason? Was it Mason for himself, or on behalf of The Covenant? Another thought sprang to mind, did Mason still work for The Covenant? Or did he raise so much power he went solo? The enemy of my enemy, is my friend thought the assassin. So, Tanya. Who is the enemy? she asked herself. "Rob, are you still able to blank out our reps?" asked the woman. The freelancer turned from his terminal and nodded. "Yep. Anytime. We going somewhere yet? You´ve been quiet for sometime now." He smiled broadly and Tanya smiled back, much to his pleasure. "Yes. We need to visit the dig site at Omi Gamma, but I don´t want to just fly out there like a couple of freelancers. I mean, we are a couple of freelancers." "A couple, ´eh?" snickered Rob. Tanya grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at him, which Rob deftly caught. She frowned, then placed her hands either side of the terminal monitor instead at which Rob put his hands up. "Ok, ok. I was kidding, right?" Tanya sat back down on the chair and grinned. "Me too. Blank cards?" Rob breathed a sigh of relief. "Right. Give me a moment." He blinked and rolled his eyes as he accessed his Neural Net. He closed his eyes and Tanya watched as they flickered for a heartbeat. He reopened them. "Done. We´re neutral with everyone." Rob confirmed. "Great. Now we need a reason to visit the Corsairs," said Tanya thoughtfully. "Guns," said Rob, matter-of-factly. "What?" asked a bemused Tanya. "They like guns. Lots of them. I know a guy based out in Detroit Munitions that could help us out." Tanya frowned again. "What? Don´t like the plan?" asked Rob. "It´s a good plan, I just don´t like my rep so, how shall we say. Even. How about visiting a depot instead?" she grinned. Rob´s eyes sparkled. *** They left Bretonian space and flew along the shimmering trade lanes and jump holes that never ceased to amaze Tanya into Liberty space. Rob´s Falcon heavy fighter was more than capable of dealing with any pirate nuisances. Since their reps were neutral, they encountered little hassle, but after flying too close to a raging battle near Curacao, Rob couldn´t resist but send a few shots into a Lane Hacker´s Dagger. He stopped firing as it attempted to flee, hull all but destroyed, wing floating in space. The Falcon arrived at Manhattan system several hours later, where Rob killed the engines and allowed the fighter to float gently towards Detroit Munitions. Tanya checked her navmap and radar. There were no Liberty police patrols and a train had just left scanner range. She leaned forwards and tabbed Rob´s helmet with a gloved hand. "Now, Rob. It´s clear," she said firmly. "I feel naughty," replied the freelancer. He swivelled the front guns and depressed the trigger of his flight stick for a few seconds. Pulses of white and blue sun-hot energy poured from the barrels of his weapons and one by one, he moved the targeting cursor inside his helmet´s display across each of the cargo canisters as they blew apart. The contents were released out into space and Tanya tapped the button to activate the tractor beams, smiling as sparkling white lines of energy shot forth from the nose of the Falcon and pulled in the large boxes into the fighter´s hold. "We´re full, let´s get out of here," said Tanya, as the cargo hold indicated it was at maximum capacity. Rob punched the thrusters forwards and the Falcon burst out of cover. He engaged cruise thrusters and after flying several klicks rejoined a trade lane to Planet Manhattan. Tanya saw several Liberty Police fighters fly past them travelling the opposite way and chuckled. "Well, the good guys like us a bit less. And the bad guys like us a bit more now," she said with a sly smile. *** Edited to correct a "death". Thanks HK - your eagle eyes never cease to surprise me <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Edited by - athena on 7/22/2005 9:02:00 AM