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Apr. 8th, 2008 12:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
korafoxGetting closer and closer to the end...
(And may I just add yet another disclaimer that this is a journal for a fantasy roleplaying game? Seriously, when I start getting recruitment mail from the military that thinks I'm pre-med, I start to wonder whether someone's files are sadly inaccurate.)
(I'm an art BFA. And I would love a job with the CIA, if you're hiring. :p)
As reckless as some of us can be sometimes, we certainly aren't stupid. We took off roaring down the mountain path, trying to outpace the throng of werewolves that snapped at our tires. Likely they would have caught us, if they had not suddenly given up the chase at the village limits. A good thing, because Seth was still half-insensate and the rest of us were fairly badly hurt. We pulled off the road a ways, and I began the long and arduous task of stitching everyone up.
Was exhuasted, the next morning--even after I finally got to sleep, Mori woke me up to take care of Seth, who was tossing around in the midst of a vision. He put us off when we asked about it, though, on the road the next morning. As long as he let us know eventually, I agreed wholeheartedly that it could wait until we were clear of the Templars who undoubtedly were already searching for us.
The plan: return to the city, attempt to obtain passage out of the country, and from there make our way back into the United States. The problem: there was already a Templar presence in the city, and they had the numbers to find us. Almost immediately after we returned the buggy that had gotten us to and from the mountain village, two disguised Templars came wandering down the street. Much as I'd have liked to avoid confrontation, they spotted us before we could exit the area and opened fire.
It was over so quickly; one of them took several bullets, the crowd in the street erupted into chaos and scattered as a woman went down, a bloody mess made out of her torso, and the Templars fled. Darren, against all conceivable common sense, ran to follow him. Seth, sword drawn, trailed after Darren and I figured I had better make certain nothing bad happened to either of them--there was an odd look on Seth's face.
When we caught up with Darren, he was in an alleyway with a dead Templar lying at his feet. The body was gruesome--looked as if his brains had melted and were leaking out through eyes, ears, and nose. We needed to get out of the city immediately, but Darren was dead-set on delaying to strip the body. I suppose we were all a bit high-strung, which may have led to the altercation that followed...Seth tried to haul him bodily away from the alley, and when that continued to fail, drew his sword and charged against him.
I'll set aside my amusement that Seth's the one who got a flaming sword--we couldn't afford to waste any more time or blood here. I couldn't wield my sword against either of them--neither did I really want to, stupid as they both were being--so I settled for pointing my glock at the two of them and demanding they put down the weapons and stop acting like idiots.
Got on the radio with the others--Dex and Sam would meet us on the southern edge of the city. In retrospect, using the radios was a poor idea...it was fairly clear, later, that they had been monitoring the channel we were using. But at the time, all we were concerned with was getting away and clear of the city.
Of course, when they decided to spring their trap, they started with me. I felt a stinging impact in the side of my neck, and the next thing I was aware of was lying prone in the grass, gunshots cracking through the air and my teammates taking cover or dashing across the field. They had at least one sniper on us, and since Sam was making a run for a run-down gas station, I could be sure there were more hiding there. I decided to trust Dex to deal with the snipers--she was already setting up the sniper rifle we had picked up in Greece. So, I followed Sam and Seth toward the gas station in the hope of finding an enemy I could fight.
Getting to the door of the station just behind Sam, I found him already in single combat with our Templar friend. He got lucky--Mori's the only one of us who might have the skills to truly challenge this man. The Templar's sword slipped from his grasp and went flying across the room, so I decided to give Sam a leg-up he probably needed and beat a hasty exit with it. Pretty sure I earned myself a lasting mark of vengeance with that one.
Moved a ways away from the gas station, and saw that two jeeps were on their way down the road toward us. To make matters worse, fire was now roiling in the gas station. I barely had time to hit the ground before Seth came flying out the front door in advance of a major explosion. He immediately took off around the now-burning wreck, and I figured Sam had probably gotten himself injured again, so I followed.
Damn Sam! When I got there, Seth was chasing off a bunch of goons and Sam was lying unconscious on the ground. Of course he'd be the one to run straight out the back into the middle of the enemy. I got him on his feet again and went to see what I could do about those incoming jeeps.
They had machine-guns mounted on them...I saw them open fire, and Mori went down. I ran over, but there wasn't time to get him clear. First time I've ever taken a bullet for someone else; though, I guess it was several bullets. I'm not even really sure why I did it. I don't think I even meant to, right until the moment I threw myself over Mori.
The jeep was still bearing down on us...I rolled away from Mori so I wouldn't incinerate him, and threw a burst of flame in the face of the gunner. Just at that same moment, a truck came crashing out of nowhere into the side of the jeep, and there was yet another massive explosion. Nobody was going to be walking away from that wreck.
Wendell and Harris had shown up in a van, and Wendell actually put that giant gun to good use in taking out the other jeep. Nothing left but to clear the area.
Gods damn Sam...I swear that boy has a death wish. And I wasn't able to bring him back from the brink of death, not this time...not with a chunk of his chest ripped out by a sniper round. If we didn't have friends in high places--if Darren hadn't pulled that magical amulet out and sacrificed it to heal Sam's injury--we would have lost him, today. Much as I complain about Sam and his incessant lack of common sense...I don't want that.
Another long night treating bullet wounds and burns (for once, not responsible for the latter). And tonight, I didn't just have to stitch myself up...there was something else I needed to do, before we found ourselves back in the middle of a city or a military base. Seth insisted on following, to keep an eye on me. Couldn't quite bring myself to tell him that if I got into trouble there wasn't going to be anything he could do but sit there and watch me die.
You know, lack of single combat with a dragon aside, I felt much more in my element with this trial. Philosophical quandaries, riddles...I'll choose that over climbing vines and swimming rivers any day of the week. And I suppose I found a part of myself that hasn't had much of a chance to surface...and I guess, when people are relying on me to make decisions, I do have the ability to take responsibility.
The final test of this trial...what should I say about it? I learned some things, which I could not possibly have known prior to this. Unless, I suppose, it was all locked away in my subconscious somewhere. The man with the white beard...the deaths of my real parents...my sister's death. But the kings told me to choose the enemy I would stop, at the expense of the others. They may have been disappointed at my answer, but I maintain that choosing the Seven was the best decision. They said I must overcome my own demons--but, I could never forgive myself if, in finding my own peace (which may not even exist), I allowed something terrible to befall those I hold under my protection.
I have to admit that I was amused by Seth's bashfulness, when I woke to find my clothes burned to cinders. I'm the medic, after all. It's not as if we haven't had to be in states of undress around one another. You know, any of those times when either of us was slowly dying of blood loss after getting shot up half a dozen times.
So the next morning we went for Plan B. There was a small, independent airfield just south of here, which we were able to charter a flight across the border on. Had a brief scare as we were taking off...seems the Templars had just missed us, and radioed to our pilot to ask our destination. Managed to convince him we were FBI--can thank Dex for that save--and that it was vitally important he give them misinformation. I sincerely hope he doesn't run into trouble for aiding us.
Our return trip was, from that point on, unremarkable and unincidental. The greeting we received upon arrival at the Alaskan base, however, was not.
Dron was waiting for us, with enough soldiers that even I wasn't about to start lighting up the place. And despite that, the first thing they did after we surrended (trust me...by far the hardest thing I've had to do since I joined up with this crusade) was to shoot me full of tranq darts.
Woke up in a steel box. One-way mirror, thick steel door, tiny window to the corridor outside.
Had this nightmare a lot when I was younger, before I learned to shut my dreams out. Of being locked up, and experimented on...I swear, if Klay survives the military, he'll not survive me.
And shortly, had yet another indication of just how much I was going to come to loathe this place. The man with the white beard, who had killed my real parents and taken me who-knows-where--General Kellar. He was here. Walking down the corridor, along with some military cronies.
It was a little while before I was calm enough to assess my situation.
Dex was in the cell across from me. Couldn't talk through all that soundproofing, of course, but we made do with pantomime. She suggested I try to burn my way out--of course.
Well, that didn't go at all well. Whoever had designed this place knew what they were doing--something was interfering with my control, and the little flame I was able to summon up burned me just as it had in Erickson's office.
From that point on, it was a long, long wait. It turned out Seth was in one of the cells next to mine--he hit upon the ingenious idea of using knocks to communicate, by giving each letter a numerical value. So at least there was some human company, outside of my nightly excursions to Avalon. In truth, I think Seth needed the companionship more than I did.
Every once in awhile, the lights would go on in the corridor and they would take away one of us. I don't know how long it was before they came for me, but they came in fire-retardant suits and with tranquilizer guns.
It's nice to know that I'm loved.
Woke up stripped and fastened to a metal table. They really weren't trying to get me to like them, were they? And they expected me to demonstrate my ability for them.
So yeah, it hurt when they zapped me for refusing, but at the same time it was very satisfying to get a chance to throw a wrench into their experiments. Although, as I finally passed out, the fire started, outside of my control. I can just hope with vindictiveness that they didn't get whatever data they were looking for.
After that, they never came back for me. I tried, unsuccessfully, to break through the blocking of my ability once I was back in my cell. Though, for a few moments...I held it in check. It gives me some hope, at least. That with the help of Excalibur, I might eventually feel in control of this power.
Weeks went by. I think. There was nothing to mark time except sleep and the meals they brought us. But there came a point when they just stopped coming, and some time after that the lights went out.
I was half convinced this was a ruse to get us to help them--and half scared to death that we were going to die, slowly, in these cells. I knew they had already been starving Dex; she wasn't going to last much longer if no one came for us.
The last person I would have expected finally made his way into our corridor. Once again, pulled out of the fire by Ajax! Though from the looks of it, he'd been through a worse time of it by far. He let us out of those cells, and it was payback time. There were others there too--the other teams, and some people who were clearly civilians prior to all this. Found Admin and Johannes upstairs, as well...they seemed pretty worse for the wear. Thankfully, we were about to recover most of our equipment. Seems Seth had gotten the nanites out of his system and managed a vision despite their ability-blockers, one that would actually be useful and take us to their storage room. Properly outfitted again (I was extremely glad, though somewhat surprised, to see that they had left Excalibur with the rest of our things), we regrouped and prepared to break our way out.
Something was going on upstairs, no doubt about that. Whatever had disrupted the base, we were going to take advantage of the distraction.
Found Lieutenant Dron stuck in one of the rooms on our way up. Sam shot him with a chilling calmness. I was worried that all this had finally broken him...when we first opened up his cell, Sam was practically catatonic. And now he seemed to be held together by nothing more than a desire for vengeance. Or at the least, some sort of primal survival instinct that gave no recognition for mercy. I think Ajax had said something to him--trust the werewolf to find a way to make Sam even crazier.
Met with a surprising lack of resistance during our escape (perhaps not so surprising, considering the cause of the disturbance). In fact, our only casualty was the result of Darren doing something wholly insane in the elevator on our way to the surface. I'm not entirely certain what happened, but all of a sudden there was shrill pain in my head that blocked out everything else. One of the people we had rescued was flattened against the side of the elevator, crushed to death instantly. There was a brief easing of the mental pain, and in that instant Sam had pulled a gun and shot Darren.
You'd think, after all these months, we'd have gotten past this sort of reckless behavior. I guess some people just like to thumb their noses at Darwin.
Finally we reached the top, and stepped outside for the first time in weeks. Lt. May was monitoring a radio outpost along with two other soldiers, and they didn't even see us come up behind them.
I think we're going to have to speak with Sam. When I asked him to restrain them and toss them in the elevator, I did not intend for him to throw a live grenade in with them.
There were trucks waiting a short distance away from the warehouse we had come up into. Sent Sam to get one of them, and he came back with yet another hold in him. Seems he had found the source of the distraction that had allowed us to escape.
It was CT. Seems our old friend had been harboring a telekinetic ability, which he was now using to wreak havoc with the military. And apparently, he had told Sam that "Draco sends its regards". Bastards. Well, we're coming for them.
Next time:
Back to Chicago, and fighting back against the Seclesti~
(And may I just add yet another disclaimer that this is a journal for a fantasy roleplaying game? Seriously, when I start getting recruitment mail from the military that thinks I'm pre-med, I start to wonder whether someone's files are sadly inaccurate.)
(I'm an art BFA. And I would love a job with the CIA, if you're hiring. :p)
As reckless as some of us can be sometimes, we certainly aren't stupid. We took off roaring down the mountain path, trying to outpace the throng of werewolves that snapped at our tires. Likely they would have caught us, if they had not suddenly given up the chase at the village limits. A good thing, because Seth was still half-insensate and the rest of us were fairly badly hurt. We pulled off the road a ways, and I began the long and arduous task of stitching everyone up.
Was exhuasted, the next morning--even after I finally got to sleep, Mori woke me up to take care of Seth, who was tossing around in the midst of a vision. He put us off when we asked about it, though, on the road the next morning. As long as he let us know eventually, I agreed wholeheartedly that it could wait until we were clear of the Templars who undoubtedly were already searching for us.
The plan: return to the city, attempt to obtain passage out of the country, and from there make our way back into the United States. The problem: there was already a Templar presence in the city, and they had the numbers to find us. Almost immediately after we returned the buggy that had gotten us to and from the mountain village, two disguised Templars came wandering down the street. Much as I'd have liked to avoid confrontation, they spotted us before we could exit the area and opened fire.
It was over so quickly; one of them took several bullets, the crowd in the street erupted into chaos and scattered as a woman went down, a bloody mess made out of her torso, and the Templars fled. Darren, against all conceivable common sense, ran to follow him. Seth, sword drawn, trailed after Darren and I figured I had better make certain nothing bad happened to either of them--there was an odd look on Seth's face.
When we caught up with Darren, he was in an alleyway with a dead Templar lying at his feet. The body was gruesome--looked as if his brains had melted and were leaking out through eyes, ears, and nose. We needed to get out of the city immediately, but Darren was dead-set on delaying to strip the body. I suppose we were all a bit high-strung, which may have led to the altercation that followed...Seth tried to haul him bodily away from the alley, and when that continued to fail, drew his sword and charged against him.
I'll set aside my amusement that Seth's the one who got a flaming sword--we couldn't afford to waste any more time or blood here. I couldn't wield my sword against either of them--neither did I really want to, stupid as they both were being--so I settled for pointing my glock at the two of them and demanding they put down the weapons and stop acting like idiots.
Got on the radio with the others--Dex and Sam would meet us on the southern edge of the city. In retrospect, using the radios was a poor idea...it was fairly clear, later, that they had been monitoring the channel we were using. But at the time, all we were concerned with was getting away and clear of the city.
Of course, when they decided to spring their trap, they started with me. I felt a stinging impact in the side of my neck, and the next thing I was aware of was lying prone in the grass, gunshots cracking through the air and my teammates taking cover or dashing across the field. They had at least one sniper on us, and since Sam was making a run for a run-down gas station, I could be sure there were more hiding there. I decided to trust Dex to deal with the snipers--she was already setting up the sniper rifle we had picked up in Greece. So, I followed Sam and Seth toward the gas station in the hope of finding an enemy I could fight.
Getting to the door of the station just behind Sam, I found him already in single combat with our Templar friend. He got lucky--Mori's the only one of us who might have the skills to truly challenge this man. The Templar's sword slipped from his grasp and went flying across the room, so I decided to give Sam a leg-up he probably needed and beat a hasty exit with it. Pretty sure I earned myself a lasting mark of vengeance with that one.
Moved a ways away from the gas station, and saw that two jeeps were on their way down the road toward us. To make matters worse, fire was now roiling in the gas station. I barely had time to hit the ground before Seth came flying out the front door in advance of a major explosion. He immediately took off around the now-burning wreck, and I figured Sam had probably gotten himself injured again, so I followed.
Damn Sam! When I got there, Seth was chasing off a bunch of goons and Sam was lying unconscious on the ground. Of course he'd be the one to run straight out the back into the middle of the enemy. I got him on his feet again and went to see what I could do about those incoming jeeps.
They had machine-guns mounted on them...I saw them open fire, and Mori went down. I ran over, but there wasn't time to get him clear. First time I've ever taken a bullet for someone else; though, I guess it was several bullets. I'm not even really sure why I did it. I don't think I even meant to, right until the moment I threw myself over Mori.
The jeep was still bearing down on us...I rolled away from Mori so I wouldn't incinerate him, and threw a burst of flame in the face of the gunner. Just at that same moment, a truck came crashing out of nowhere into the side of the jeep, and there was yet another massive explosion. Nobody was going to be walking away from that wreck.
Wendell and Harris had shown up in a van, and Wendell actually put that giant gun to good use in taking out the other jeep. Nothing left but to clear the area.
Gods damn Sam...I swear that boy has a death wish. And I wasn't able to bring him back from the brink of death, not this time...not with a chunk of his chest ripped out by a sniper round. If we didn't have friends in high places--if Darren hadn't pulled that magical amulet out and sacrificed it to heal Sam's injury--we would have lost him, today. Much as I complain about Sam and his incessant lack of common sense...I don't want that.
Another long night treating bullet wounds and burns (for once, not responsible for the latter). And tonight, I didn't just have to stitch myself up...there was something else I needed to do, before we found ourselves back in the middle of a city or a military base. Seth insisted on following, to keep an eye on me. Couldn't quite bring myself to tell him that if I got into trouble there wasn't going to be anything he could do but sit there and watch me die.
You know, lack of single combat with a dragon aside, I felt much more in my element with this trial. Philosophical quandaries, riddles...I'll choose that over climbing vines and swimming rivers any day of the week. And I suppose I found a part of myself that hasn't had much of a chance to surface...and I guess, when people are relying on me to make decisions, I do have the ability to take responsibility.
The final test of this trial...what should I say about it? I learned some things, which I could not possibly have known prior to this. Unless, I suppose, it was all locked away in my subconscious somewhere. The man with the white beard...the deaths of my real parents...my sister's death. But the kings told me to choose the enemy I would stop, at the expense of the others. They may have been disappointed at my answer, but I maintain that choosing the Seven was the best decision. They said I must overcome my own demons--but, I could never forgive myself if, in finding my own peace (which may not even exist), I allowed something terrible to befall those I hold under my protection.
I have to admit that I was amused by Seth's bashfulness, when I woke to find my clothes burned to cinders. I'm the medic, after all. It's not as if we haven't had to be in states of undress around one another. You know, any of those times when either of us was slowly dying of blood loss after getting shot up half a dozen times.
So the next morning we went for Plan B. There was a small, independent airfield just south of here, which we were able to charter a flight across the border on. Had a brief scare as we were taking off...seems the Templars had just missed us, and radioed to our pilot to ask our destination. Managed to convince him we were FBI--can thank Dex for that save--and that it was vitally important he give them misinformation. I sincerely hope he doesn't run into trouble for aiding us.
Our return trip was, from that point on, unremarkable and unincidental. The greeting we received upon arrival at the Alaskan base, however, was not.
Dron was waiting for us, with enough soldiers that even I wasn't about to start lighting up the place. And despite that, the first thing they did after we surrended (trust me...by far the hardest thing I've had to do since I joined up with this crusade) was to shoot me full of tranq darts.
Woke up in a steel box. One-way mirror, thick steel door, tiny window to the corridor outside.
Had this nightmare a lot when I was younger, before I learned to shut my dreams out. Of being locked up, and experimented on...I swear, if Klay survives the military, he'll not survive me.
And shortly, had yet another indication of just how much I was going to come to loathe this place. The man with the white beard, who had killed my real parents and taken me who-knows-where--General Kellar. He was here. Walking down the corridor, along with some military cronies.
It was a little while before I was calm enough to assess my situation.
Dex was in the cell across from me. Couldn't talk through all that soundproofing, of course, but we made do with pantomime. She suggested I try to burn my way out--of course.
Well, that didn't go at all well. Whoever had designed this place knew what they were doing--something was interfering with my control, and the little flame I was able to summon up burned me just as it had in Erickson's office.
From that point on, it was a long, long wait. It turned out Seth was in one of the cells next to mine--he hit upon the ingenious idea of using knocks to communicate, by giving each letter a numerical value. So at least there was some human company, outside of my nightly excursions to Avalon. In truth, I think Seth needed the companionship more than I did.
Every once in awhile, the lights would go on in the corridor and they would take away one of us. I don't know how long it was before they came for me, but they came in fire-retardant suits and with tranquilizer guns.
It's nice to know that I'm loved.
Woke up stripped and fastened to a metal table. They really weren't trying to get me to like them, were they? And they expected me to demonstrate my ability for them.
So yeah, it hurt when they zapped me for refusing, but at the same time it was very satisfying to get a chance to throw a wrench into their experiments. Although, as I finally passed out, the fire started, outside of my control. I can just hope with vindictiveness that they didn't get whatever data they were looking for.
After that, they never came back for me. I tried, unsuccessfully, to break through the blocking of my ability once I was back in my cell. Though, for a few moments...I held it in check. It gives me some hope, at least. That with the help of Excalibur, I might eventually feel in control of this power.
Weeks went by. I think. There was nothing to mark time except sleep and the meals they brought us. But there came a point when they just stopped coming, and some time after that the lights went out.
I was half convinced this was a ruse to get us to help them--and half scared to death that we were going to die, slowly, in these cells. I knew they had already been starving Dex; she wasn't going to last much longer if no one came for us.
The last person I would have expected finally made his way into our corridor. Once again, pulled out of the fire by Ajax! Though from the looks of it, he'd been through a worse time of it by far. He let us out of those cells, and it was payback time. There were others there too--the other teams, and some people who were clearly civilians prior to all this. Found Admin and Johannes upstairs, as well...they seemed pretty worse for the wear. Thankfully, we were about to recover most of our equipment. Seems Seth had gotten the nanites out of his system and managed a vision despite their ability-blockers, one that would actually be useful and take us to their storage room. Properly outfitted again (I was extremely glad, though somewhat surprised, to see that they had left Excalibur with the rest of our things), we regrouped and prepared to break our way out.
Something was going on upstairs, no doubt about that. Whatever had disrupted the base, we were going to take advantage of the distraction.
Found Lieutenant Dron stuck in one of the rooms on our way up. Sam shot him with a chilling calmness. I was worried that all this had finally broken him...when we first opened up his cell, Sam was practically catatonic. And now he seemed to be held together by nothing more than a desire for vengeance. Or at the least, some sort of primal survival instinct that gave no recognition for mercy. I think Ajax had said something to him--trust the werewolf to find a way to make Sam even crazier.
Met with a surprising lack of resistance during our escape (perhaps not so surprising, considering the cause of the disturbance). In fact, our only casualty was the result of Darren doing something wholly insane in the elevator on our way to the surface. I'm not entirely certain what happened, but all of a sudden there was shrill pain in my head that blocked out everything else. One of the people we had rescued was flattened against the side of the elevator, crushed to death instantly. There was a brief easing of the mental pain, and in that instant Sam had pulled a gun and shot Darren.
You'd think, after all these months, we'd have gotten past this sort of reckless behavior. I guess some people just like to thumb their noses at Darwin.
Finally we reached the top, and stepped outside for the first time in weeks. Lt. May was monitoring a radio outpost along with two other soldiers, and they didn't even see us come up behind them.
I think we're going to have to speak with Sam. When I asked him to restrain them and toss them in the elevator, I did not intend for him to throw a live grenade in with them.
There were trucks waiting a short distance away from the warehouse we had come up into. Sent Sam to get one of them, and he came back with yet another hold in him. Seems he had found the source of the distraction that had allowed us to escape.
It was CT. Seems our old friend had been harboring a telekinetic ability, which he was now using to wreak havoc with the military. And apparently, he had told Sam that "Draco sends its regards". Bastards. Well, we're coming for them.
Next time:
Back to Chicago, and fighting back against the Seclesti~
