NationStates Jolt Archive


Landing on Io, by Jove!

Tsaraine
23-04-2004, 08:32
Outer System Fleet Command Core, Kel Meralkharant, Leading Jovian Trojans

You are to transfer the Kel Meralkharant base to Jovian orbit with all possible haste, and prepare for the handover of power on Io from the NDA Joint Forces to the Space Command, by authorisation of the NDA Council and the Division Commandant.

Such a simple little message, to spark such a move! Radukh tsaRega had almost got used to Kel Meralkharant's position, sixty degrees ahead of Jupiter, when orders came from on high to shift the asteroids.

That, in practice, was a simple little procedure, a matter of electromagnetic grapples and freighters pioneered by the Tsalin I and it's retrieval of High Stone from the Belt; easy, to multiply that by six, and use Horus-class freighters to shift the six asteroids of Kel Meralkharant into orbit of Jupiter.

It didn't, however, stop the restless churnings of Radukh's gut, or stop him from ordering all absolutely non-essential personell onto the cruisers in case of an accident. It didn't stop him from worrying about Io, either, where two mutually hostile powers sat on a small world with an only marginally stable surface.

Some brass took note of your complaints about reaction times to Jovian space, and this is what you get for it. Oh, joy.

The freighters were in position, the EM grapples securely attached to the rock of the asteroids. Everything was ready to go.

No use in delaying.

Radukh took a deep breath, commanding his nerves to tranquility, and gave the order to begin.
Capsule Corporation
23-04-2004, 09:20
What's so special about IO? It's a big volcano... wow..
Tsaraine
23-04-2004, 09:22
OOC: A big volcano over which a rather large battle was fought following the death of Lord Lucius Lancaster of Burninatonia. As Burninatonia was in the NDA, the Alliance got control of his land, and Tsaraine is taking up those duties.
Der Angst
23-04-2004, 09:59
[taggishness of doom, and I *really* need to organise something funny with Indy and Burning Mountain]
Tsaraine
25-04-2004, 06:25
Alpha Stone, Lagrange Point Two, Kel Meralkharant, Io Orbit, Jovian System, Sol System

The view from L2 was incredible. Radukh felt he could stand here for hours, watching the turbulent upper airs of Jupiter frame the (almost) equally turbulent surface of Io.

Despite his instincts to the contrary, the transfer of Kel Meralkharant sixty degrees backwards around Jupiter's orbit had gone without a hitch, and all six rocks were currently at the Io Lagrange points; Alpha here at L2, Beta on the other side of Jupiter at L3, Gamma and Delta sixty degrees behind at L4, and Epsilon and Zeta sixty degrees ahead at L5 - the same position the six asteroids had occupied in Jovian orbit, among the Jovian Leading Trojans. Putting a rock at L1 was, of course, impossible, given the magnetic flux tube which connected Jupiter's magnetic field to Io's.

Io was one of only three rocky worlds in the Solar System with a magnetosphere, and that was only because of the presence of Jupiter, which also created the tidal effects which caused Io's vulcanism - Io was also one of only three worlds in the Solar System with active volcanoes.

Radukh was very glad he wasn't being assigned to command of the moonlet itself - he didn't envy whoever the brass was sending out to take that post, not in the slightest. Quite aside from the hellish environment, the former Burninatonian territories also had neighbours from hell; the Menelmacarikhi on one side, the Melkorikhi - probably the closest one could get to absolute evil outside of theology - on the other, and the Burning Mountaineers, who had religion in a bad way. Not to mention the reports of rogue Angstian troops on the surface.

No, Radukh wouldn't be much upset if the surface of Io opened up tomorrow and swallowed it's occupants ... something that wasn't actually unlikely, given the planet.

Welcome to Hell. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here!

At least the name of the base fitted the location, right down to the T. The City of the Bringer of Death was about as perfect as one could get for this situation. Radukh suspected the ancient astrologers who'd attached Kash'hai to planets of precognition. Though if that were so, they surely would have named Mars Kauvakhar, not Arikhen.

No wonder everyone in the Jovian system is a little bit crazy, with Io hanging over their shoulders to remind them of just how insane nature can get.
Der Angst
01-05-2004, 10:34
Io, close to Burning Mountain Territory[/b]

"You think this will work? I mean... You heard the rumours about them..."
"I know... I know..."

The two men were walking along the murderous surface of Io, slowly searching for a path in the ever- changing environment with its volcanoes and earthquakes.

Evading a bit of lava, they moved on, together with their comrades, each of them cursig the day they signed up for this job.

A couple days ago, the Jovian councils had given them green light for the move. Apparently, the details of the move (Payment, location, guarantee that the troops wouldn´t be sacrificed, supplies) had been dealt with... Now they were on their way.

Still, they were nervous... Which was strange enough, considering the things they had seen.

Io [i]was hell, that much was certain, and there was not a single one of them who understood the decisions of the ones higher up, stayig here...

Well, perhaps it was just arrogance, with them paying for it.

With their lives, or at least their health.

"And there we are..."

Both watched the invisible line in front of them. Nothing was there, yet, they knew that this was the border to the realsm of madness, to the lands of untold horrors...

Even on Io, there were extremes.
Burning Mountain
03-05-2004, 13:36
Lena is berating her tribe, and so are several dozen elders in the area. The orders to not attack the foreigners and bring captives to the Tigress' image to the north don't sit well. The Horde remnants are generally... used up. The modified Amarthi are breeding rapidly, but still notthat numerous. The Tigrans themselves provide good sacrifices, with males competing for glory, the eye of females and eventual sacrifice. Now what passes for central authority in Burning Mountain has passed out word that there is a foreign contingent incoming, and that it is not to be molested.

But La Tigra remains hungry. And the orders have a secular feel to them. So the tribes' hunters arrange a little test for the foreigners. Maybe they'll pass, maybe not, maybe there'll be wounded to capture.

The Angstian point men cross a ridge - never a healthy thing to do on Io, but they have their "sea-legs" now and really, on Io nothing is healthy.

At that point, several maddened Amarthi charge up the ridge.
Der Angst
11-05-2004, 11:59
Chantal was walking in front of the group when she heard the noises...

A moment later, the Amarthi were charging, or rather, running over each other, to be the first to grind their teeth into the bodies on the Angstian soldiers.

And, while they had had quite a few encounters of this kind during their... stay, it was still a... frightening event.

Especially since at this very moment, they had... downtime. There was just... no way to sense them.

And Io`s almost non- existing atmosphere made the standard drone reconnaissance... almost impossible. Sure, they had the walking, driving ones...

But apparently, this wasn´t enough. Their situation was a prime example for it.

And Chantal... liked it. She could feel it, her stomach... And deeper.

Her breath came faster when the Amarthi charged... came closer... closer...

She could see their teeth, imagined them, ripping mortal flesh apart, biting through bodies...

She was excited, and slowly, she raised her gun...

So did others in her group, preparing... Neither one of them fired, instead, they waited, enjoying the moment...

And as they felt their lust, as the Amarthi were close enough to touch their senses, to make them feel the heat[7i]... the heat of battle, the sheer voluptuousness of blood covered bodies...

When the Amarthi were mere seconds apart from turning the Angstian group into pieces of bleeding flesh, limbs and heads scattered all over the territory...

When another small earthquake hit them...

They fired.

And with a cry of joy, Chantal charged, her [i]blade (Yes, she kept a blade for it was so much more enjoyable to kill with it, rather than with an anonymous gun, hundreds of meters away from the enemy) decapitating one of the Amarthi, her voluptuous lust quickly rising, until she saw nothing but blood and joy.

It was over, quickly. Too quick, as far as Chantal was concerned.

And she knew what the others would whisper tonight, seeing her, covered in blood, a cute, innocent smile on her face...

Io turns everyone into a monster.
Burning Mountain
13-05-2004, 14:33
A ways off

Tototl watches as the Amarthi he and his friends had spooked into attacking the foreigners are slaughtered. And he likes what he sees... especially one foreign woman's actions. Tototl's tribe is of the Sloth and for a while Chantal almost fought like a Tigra Blanca warrior.

Well, time to stand back as the Tigrans under... Lena something... establish first contact. Maybe not the best choice the job, but they're here and they're vicious and they want it.

Well, so does Tototl and while most any adult Tigran can beat him... they're not very subtle, are they?

Campsite

They made their approach obvious, brightly-glowing glyphs adorning armored hides, green and yellow and red. A score of figures in loose formation. For a bit they look slightly like Territorial soldiers, rifles held loosely in a Rhodesian ready stance, fluid gait, eyes tracking tracking tracking.

Except it isn't armor but skin... faces like some horrible chitin caricature of a human, flattened with glowing eyes under armor, steamshovel mouths hermetically closed, survival packs jacked into bodies...

One walks right up to Chantal and stops, slinging her rifle and cricking her neck.

"You're the one most worth talking to that I see," says a female voice in what probably started out as English, unencrypted on a standard radio band. "Your own... employers are giving us money to treat you good, and Rhea's asking us to, so we'll treat you like our own." The woman looks perhaps slightly amused. "I'm Lena Stirred Embers and these are my people. You?"
Der Angst
16-05-2004, 16:32
The group, Chantal in its midst, still... slightly reddened, either from the blood or from her... climax. Of course, her reddened face could hardly be seen, being covered with the heavy encounter suit, barely protecting her from the insane levels of radiation on Io.

Exchanging a quick glance with her commander, she saw him nodding.

Better to follow their customs.

And so, she answered, slightly... amused by the situation, and by her commander standing way behind.

"Chantal Alexandra, and these are..." A quick look at her commander, a smirk, turning into a grin, hidden by her mask. "This are my people. There will be more, elsewhere, during the next few days. "My people. We were sort of... expecting you, though the greeting..." She looks back, at a couple Amarthi behind her. "Was a bit rough. Though enjoyable." She chuckles. "I guess from here... you will show us the way." Wonder what it will look like... prolly some cave like things...
Burning Mountain
01-06-2004, 13:29
The leathery humanoid covers its lower face with a hand, hyena-like laugh shrilling across comms. "Pretty catboys get you hot, Chantal Alexandra? I like that in a woman. Maybe you not entirely useless, heh?" Beat.

"Maggotboy back there, I realize he formally in charge. But I don't want to talk to him, You make some sense, Chantal Alexandra. Him, his heart'd start looking real useful in a bit. An' Rhea Upstairs says we treat you like our own, so if he as weak as he looks..." The hand floats up again, hiding lower face in just the manner a Territorial would hide a toothy grin... except there is no mouth.

"Now, you be telling me why Rhea Upstairs say we take you in, an' anything else you want to. We've a ways to walk."

Past the next ridge looms the first habitat, not the party's destination. It hovers, like some huge oilrig structure, slab-sided, encrusted with lights and platforms... there's that odd Ioan electric grass all over it like ivy, burned off where it interferes with sensor clusters and the odd weapon.

The people on the side platforms look more than anything else to be squatters in some structure they didn't build, loafing about, quarreling sharply. As the Tigran-led party passes near the structure, warship-grade lasers fire into a mountainside, sculpting it. There is a rain of condensed rock after a while... hyena laughs from a bove.

Lena simply gives the people above the finger.
Der Angst
14-06-2004, 11:12
Chantal liked it. She liked it very much, and as her body was still shivering from 'taking' the 'catgirls', she just nodded... And the regional culture promoting her 'a little' wasn`t bad, either.

A chuckle. His heart'd start looking real useful in a bit She grins, looking at him. His face is snow white. "Yes. Yes I'm sure it will." This is the best chance I have ever had... It's paradise.

As they continue their way, Chantal explains (Or tries to explain, while occasionally shooting at things, or uttering insane laughing, like the locals) the whole deal to her 'hosts'. Well, 'their' hosts, but she has certain doubts regarding the longlivity of her 'comrades'.

And she has to admit it: The environment is her thing. Not to mention that the fireworks are intriguing.

Soon, the others will come... Elsewhere... She wonders if they will be as lucky as she was.

Well, she will see.

For now, she forsees rivalities in her group... The ones so far restrained by civilization will soon try to establish a more... useful structure.
Crimmond
14-06-2004, 11:46
OOC: I thought Io was Melkor's?
Tsaraine
14-06-2004, 11:51
OOC: After Burninatonia collapsed, Melkor tried to invade it. Lots of people got together to kick him out of it. Now the NDA governs the Burninatonian part of Io as a Protectorate, Melkor still has his original bits (purchased from Burninatonia before it died), as does Menelmacar and Burning Mountain. The Burninatonian Protectorate is administered by Tsaraine.
Melkor Unchained
14-06-2004, 16:48
OOC: After Burninatonia collapsed, Melkor tried to invade it. Lots of people got together to kick him out of it. Now the NDA governs the Burninatonian part of Io as a Protectorate, Melkor still has his original bits (purchased from Burninatonia before it died), as does Menelmacar and Burning Mountain. The Burninatonian Protectorate is administered by Tsaraine.

[Incidentally, I lost the link to the document that explained all of that and I cant for the life of me remember where it is on these boards. Throw me a bone here, will ya?! :P ]
Five Civilized Nations
14-06-2004, 16:50
#tagged
Tsaraine
15-06-2004, 11:14
[Incidentally, I lost the link to the document that explained all of that and I cant for the life of me remember where it is on these boards. Throw me a bone here, will ya?! :P ]

Unfortunately, I lost that link too. It's not on the NS boards, though - I think Nathi has it somewhere. She's out of town for the next few days.