NationStates Jolt Archive

Bright, golden sand glistened in the harsh mid-day sun. It formed a coastline, stretching for quite some distance before it arced behind the mainland and out of view. With strange, almost alien-looking palm trees on one side, and the blue sea lapping up calmly on the other, it painted a serene picture. The sound of the docile waves gently splashing against the smooth beaches was joined by a chorus of native animal cries coming from further inland. Some of them sounded harmless, others worryingly scary, but both seemed to be quite far away.

A bright blue foot dug into the unbroken sand. It belonged to a strikingly beautiful, slender, young-looking woman, who was walking down the beach slowly as though looking for something. She had bright -- almost white in this sun -- blue skin, and jet-black, shoulder-length hair which hung in loose strands around her in no particular style. Her bright eyes were a contrast to her skin; a deep red colour, full of life. She wore little, though given the heat of this place that was not surprising. Just a thin white wrap-around skirt and a small light blue/green top tied tightly at the back. As well as this she wore a few items of exotic-looking silver jewellery, and a dark blue tiara was perched on top of her head.

The tall blue woman was accompanied by a completely different kind of creature. Coloured like Caucasian human with a light suntan, it was very small, only knee height compared to her. He had small, stumpy legs, and his bulbous head was very much out of proportion to the rest of his small body -- it was even bigger than the woman's. His large, blue-white coloured eyes with black pin-prick pupils danced around rapidly, almost as though the small being was high on something. Given the way he was skipping along and singing in a high-pitched voice, he may well have been stoned out of his mind.

"What a jolly nice day it is!" the small person said merrily. "It almost reminds me of yesterday. That was a jolly nice day too! Tum ti tum..."

The blue woman ignored the eccentric creature's ramblings, looking around carefully as she walked. She squinted in the bright sunlight, scanning the landscape with her red eyes, searching for something specific.

"I know I saw it," she said, more to herself than the creature. Her voice was strong with an exotic accent of an unknown origin. "It was here somewhere. If only the smoke was still..."

"Oh dear," the small person exclaimed, jumping up and clinging on to one of her legs.

She heard a rumbling sound from behind, getting closer. The sand seemed to wobble as the ground started to shake beneath her feet. Something was moving, underground. Something large. The rumbling stopped, and there was a loud sound as something burst out from the sandy ground behind her. She had already withdrawn a sword and flung it in that direction without even looking. The elegantly curved silver short-sword span in a blur, and embedded itself in something with a 'squelch'. There was a cracking sound, a confused roar, and then a loud thud.

She turned around and looked down. Quite a large brown creature, with huge white teeth and claws, lay on the beach beside a hole a few metres away from them. Her sword was embedded in what appeared to be its forehead. She shook her head and sighed. The small person uncovered his big eyes and looked over. Seeing their attacker dead, he hopped back down the ground and danced around its corpse merrily.

"I am so glad you have decided to help us!" he said, stopping his dancing as he ran out of breath. "It just isn't safe for us Smarties to roam around the land on our own anymore, what with all these Rippers around!"

"I am sorry, but I am not here to help you," the woman said. She held out her hand and closed her eyes, and the sword slowly slipped away from the creature's forehead and came back to her hand gently. "My mother still does not think it is time for that yet. I come alone, searching..."

"Oh," the 'Smartie' said, disheartened. It perked up almost immediately though. "Well, just killing one of these nasty Rippers is some help! Keep up the good work, Princess!" He started dancing around again, falling beside her as she resumed her original heading.



They walked -- and danced, in the case of the Smartie -- for several hours, following the seemingly-endless beach around some interesting coastal landmarks as they went. Ruined castles and forts from mysterious civilisations long-since passed; huge mountain ranges, river estuaries; and primitive-looking villages, mostly abandoned.

The Smartie was on the verge of collapsing on his face from exhaustion when the tall blue woman stopped and pointed up at something. The Smartie was too short to see what she was pointing at, so he clumsily clambered up her leg, put his arms around her neck and looked over her shoulder.

A small plume of smoke could be seen just over a ridge, billowing in the gentle breeze. They both pinched their noses at the smoky smell, not accustomed to air pollution of any kind.

"What a strange sight to see!" the Smartie said. "It looks like whatever fire that smoke is coming from has subsided."

"Yes," the 'Princess' said, nodding. She strained her neck to look at the Smartie and frowned at him, as he was still hanging down her back. He smiled innocently and started whistling; pretending he had no idea what she was getting at. She sighed, and started to hike up the tall dunes to see what was producing the smoke. As she reached the top and looked down into a grassy plain, she saw something quite bizarre, but not unexpected.

A huge slice had been carved into the otherwise-flawless landscape, leading right from the beach, across the plains and coming to an end over a kilometre away -- where the smoke was coming from. A herd of Vimps was roaming not far away from it, either too stupid to care, or just not noticing it. From this distance, they couldn't tell exactly what 'it' was that had apparently crash landed, but the Princess had a fair idea.

"Hold on tight," she warned as she took a step back.

"Why?" the Smartie asked curiously. The strange creature acted almost like a child, though this was pretty much an average, adult Smartie.

"I'm going to take you on a ride," she said. She crouched down somewhat, as though preparing for a sprint.

"Oh goodie!" the Smartie exclaimed. It clutched hard around her neck, and she responded by making some gurgling, choking noises. "Oh... I'd best hold your shoulders instead..."

"That would be good, yes," she said, gasping for air as he let go of her neck.

She stepped back, and pushed against the side of the mound. Maybe it was magic, or maybe she was stronger than Superman, but somehow she propelled herself into the air with such speed that she left after-images of herself in a trail, curving over the plain. She landed less-than-elegantly, though, rolling to a halt and flinging the Smartie into the air. He landed with a thud like a rag doll, but simply cheered for her to do it again.

They had landed beside the source of the smoke. It lay in a crater, with flames occasionally flicking out over the edge. The Princess grabbed the edges of the crater and slowly pulled herself up to peer over. Some kind of flying metal bird, bright yellow in colour, lay in the centre. Though missing several parts, and lying in a field of its own debris, the small vessel was largely intact. It had two wings, each one tipped with a rounded engine. At the centre of the two wings was a small, glass-covered cockpit, with two pilots inside. This was a Meccaryn space fighter.
The Meccaryn were long-known to her people. Legends told them that thousands of years ago, in the last Great War of the Reapers, the Meccaryn came to Earth and sent armies of their superbly skilled Space Commandoes to support the Sea Reapers against the evil Land Reapers. Their incredibly weaponry and tactics turned the tide, and they helped the Sea Reapers fight their way to victory. With the Land Reapers driven underground, the Sea Reapers and their friends the Smarties could live in peace. Then the Meccaryn left the island, never to return again. Until now, it seemed.

She gasped as she saw the two armoured pilots, who appeared to be either unconscious or dead in their small glass prison. She flung her legs over the side of the crater and slid down to rescue them.

Grabbing the side of the glass window, she tried to pull it open, bracing one of her long legs against one of the wings. She struggled and grunted, but it wouldn't move. She took a step back and caught her breath.

"Are you OK in there?" she shouted, peering into the cockpit. Neither of them answered, but they seemed to be moving. "OK... try not to touch the glass!"

She reached out and placed one of her palms gently against the glass, closing her eyes and muttering something under her breath. The glass began to crack, breaks spider-webbing across the curved sheet of transparent metal in all directions. Finally it shattered into tiny pieces, sprinkling like snow around the fighter.

She reached in and pulled one of the bulky figures out. She had to use her powers to help her, as they were quite heavy and larger than she. She dragged one of the armoured aliens out of the crater and lay him down beside the Smartie, who was rolling around in the grass like a dog. She went in and fetched the second figure, and set him down beside the first. The Smartie was now jumping up and down on the chest of the first, singing an obscure drinking song.

The Princess kneeled down beside the large figure. He -- she assumed it was a he -- was wearing some kind of advanced body armour, a grey-blue colour with all sorts of incomprehensible gadgets and controls. It covered him from head to toe. It felt like some kind of hard plastic, but she was certain that it was likely a lot stronger than any simple plastic. Through the small visor on the front of the helmet she could see a totally alien face. It had strange, almost fish-like features with small ear holes on the sides. His skin was peach coloured, with a slight tinge of yellow, and he had two small black eyes, and a rather small mouth. He didn’t seem to have a nose, or anything particularly similar to Sea Reapers or humans. His eyes opened and started looking around.

"Are you... Meccaryn?" she asked tentatively, leaning on the hard armoured chest of the broad-shouldered alien.

He blinked a few times, and suddenly jumped to life. He threw her to one side, jumped to his feet and aimed a strange yellow pistol at her. After a few seconds though, he lowered it.

"Get off or I'll... cor blimey..." he exclaimed, looking her over. "You're a Sea Reaper! A nice looker at that. 'Ere, Baz, get a load of this. We've bloody crash-landed near the Sea Reaper city!" The second alien sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. He slapped his helmet as he realised he couldn't rub his eyes, and got to his feet.

"Oh not this place, Gaz," Baz said, and let himself fall back down on his back. "I bloody hate this island. It's messed up -- come on, let's get the ship fixed and head for that pleasure island!"

"Are you... Delphi? Princess Delphi?" Gaz asked, looking her over. She was not small, at over 6 feet high, but his sheer bulk made him look infinitely larger than her.

"Oh, brilliant, these bloody creatures are still livin' here..." Baz moaned as he shoved the Smartie to one side as it tried to climb on top of him.

"Yes, I am she," the Princess nodded. "You are the Meccaryn of our legends, aren't you? Those who helped my people in the Great War against the Land Reapers?"

"That'd be us," Gaz said, yanking Baz to his feet.

"How did you know who I was? I was not born then, and it was a long time ago..."

"We keep tabs on everythin'," he said, checking the gadgets on Baz's back for damage. "I think I saw a photo of you once. Baz might have taken it for... something, though. I dread to think what."

Baz waved meekly and turned away.

"You could not have come at a better time," Delphi told him, after frowning at Baz. "The Land Reapers are strong once again, and threaten our underwater cities with powerful weapons. We cannot afford another war such as the last one... and then there are the Kabuto to consider..."

"Well, don't get your hopes up Majesty," Baz snorted. "We're not meant to be here. We ain't got any reinforcements coming, that's for sure."

"Just the two of you would be enough to frighten them!" Delphi protested. "Your weapons are well-known for their power from our legends!"

"But I wanted to see some strippers!" Baz protested, when he noticed Gaz hadn't said 'no' yet. "Unless you would be willing to... gah, never mind. Let's fix up our ride and get out of here, Gaz!"

"Fix it with what?" Gaz asked. "I'm no mechanic. Neither are you. I don't see any repair shops near here, do you?"

Baz looked around. He saw nothing but empty plains, surrounded by mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Apart from some Vimps, there was nothing.

"No, but..."

"We'll help your people if we can, miss... uh, your Majesty," Gaz said, patting Baz on the shoulder roughly.

"I am no Princess by choice," she said. "You may call me Delphi if you wish."

"Alright then," Gaz nodded.

"Follow me and I will take you to our city," Delphi said. "My mother will be interested in meeting you, no doubt."

They both nodded, and followed Delphi back in the direction of the beach. It was a long walk, and the sooner they set off the better. The Smartie started jumping around the two large, armoured aliens, asking them more questions than they could count. Mostly stupid questions which received snorting answers, like 'how do you pee with that suit on?' and the like.



Two one-eyed, humanoid creatures glanced over the top of a mound overlooking the plain, watching the events. They had white skin with black tints, and wore some kind of body armour that would be most easily compared to that worn by other, modern nations on this planet called Earth. They grunted some words to each other, and jumped down from the mound, scurrying away to report what they had seen to their superiors.

Land Reapers were tall, bulky barbarians, their ugly features a stark contrast to the beautiful Sea Reapers. They were armed with modern firearms, equipped with very heavy modern armour and had some degree of military tactics. Unlike the Sea Reapers, they relied exclusively on technology for their warfare. This was neither a disadvantage nor an advantage for them, really. While one Sea Reapers set fire to their troops with magics, ten Land Reapers could bombard them with heavy ordinance. The two forces usually balanced out perfectly, though now the stalemate had been ended. The Land Reapers had the upper-hand, and they were about to put it to use. Or so they had thought.

As the two scouts kneeled down in front of their one-eyed leader and relayed their findings, he squinted angrily. Until this moment, Lord Krat had been completely sure that the end of the Sea Reapers was drawing near.. He had even arranged for celebrations afterwards. But the presence of Meccaryn changed all that.

"How many of them did you see?" Krat asked, in a deep growling voice. He, like all the other Land Reapers, had a fairly wide mouth lined with sharp teeth. It appeared to be smiling permanently as it curved beneath his single, large red eye. The Sea Reapers looked human aside from their skin colour, but the Land Reapers were hideous, ugly creatures, at least 1.5 times larger than a human or a Sea Reaper.

"I saw two of them, Lord," one of the scouts growled. "Their vessel was crashed."

"Two of them?!" Krat growled. "Why did you not finish them before they became a threat?! Imbeciles!"

"Wait sir!" the other scout screamed as Krat lifted up one of their assault RPGs. "There was a Sea Reaper present also."

Krat squinted, and lowered the bulky weapon. "A Sea Reaper? Hmm. Then you did the right thing returning to me. If those water-bound vermin have called in the support of the Meccaryn scum, they must be aware of our plans. Go now; order full mobilisation of all divisions! It is time to change our plans..."

"Yes my Lord!" they both said simultaneously, and scurried away before their master changed his mind.

********************************************

"This is just great," Baz moaned, whacking a fish out of his face. They walked along the sea bed, weighed down by their bulky suits. Lucky for them they had self-contained atmospheres. The bright blue woman swam elegantly just above them, as though this came naturally to her. It seemed that she could breathe underwater without problems.

"How was she supposed to know we'd sink?" Gaz said. "You didn't say anything! In fact you’ve been nothing but a problem since we got here!"

"It'll take a month to get all this seaweed out of my rocket pack..." Baz moaned, ignoring him. He continued to grumble under his breath as they pushed their way through the tall seaweed. As Gaz pushed aside one particularly large clump, they were met with an amazing sight.

A huge glass dome filled their view, spanning for what seemed like miles in any direction and covering what seemed to be a city. It sparkled as rays of sun shone down through the waters and touched its crystal-like features. Many smaller domes surrounded it, but the prize of the collection was definitely the central dome.

"Bloody 'ell..." Baz exclaimed as he looked up.

"It is this way," Delphi gurgled, pointing at a bustling underwater opening. She swam off at an impressive pace, leaving the two armour-clad aliens to clumsily walk as fast as they practically could.

"My suit better not get rusty..." Baz said.

"Oh shut up," Gaz snapped.



Delphi helped pull them up onto a stone pier once they had walked through an underwater entrance and climbed a ladder. They stood on the end of the stone platform with water pouring from various joints and crevices. They looked rather miserable.

"I will take you on a tour later," Delphi said as they looked around at the glitering spires of the underwater city. Instead of roads, people were swimming in canals between buildings. The vast, beautiful underwater city was all like something out of a fairy tale, but Gaz and Baz had seen stranger things on their travels. Living excrement being just one of many different 'wonders' they had encountered.

"Nice place," Baz said. "I don't see any strippers, though."

"What's with you and strippers?" Gaz asked. "There's a perfectly good..."

"Please!" Delphi protested. "Come with me! We don't have time for this!"

"Alright alright," Gaz nodded. "Lead on! Sheesh..."

Delphi turned and led them down several narrow alleyways. It almost seemed as though all the buildings were made from marble, limestone or metal, with plenty of glass decoration all over. They were elegantly designed with a distinctive aquatic theme, yet at the same time they were also functional. Shops, homes, official buildings, schools, workshops... they all had clear purposes. Healthy-looking, physically fit people with blue skin wandered through the narrow streets, all perfectly friendly and welcoming to the strangers and bowing their heads to the Princess.

They entered a large courtyard, which had a statue of what must have been a historically famous Sea Reaper, standing proud with a foot on the head of a Land Reaper. The stone figure held a real metal sword in his outstretched hand, and there was some writing on the base. Baz and Gaz couldn't read the strange language, but if they could they would have read 'Ne'er Surrender to the Evil Land-Crawling Vermin', and the name 'King Janal'. Baz whistled as he passed by, admiring the detail, but Delphi kept walking and so did he.

After passing through more back alleys, they reached a much larger courtyard. Sea Reaper guards stood all around it, their bows slung over their backs and their swords sheathed within reach. They were men, and wore loose white clothing – little more than shorts and thin vests. They were just as physically fit as everyone else down here, with distinct muscles and a confident stance. The Meccaryn thought they were statues too until they all bowed their heads upon sighting Delphi. She sighed and walked across the huge courtyard, past an elegant, multi-layered fountain and towards some doors.

As they approached the doors to the huge, limestone castle, the two doors creaked open. They entered, and made their way through the bright central hallway towards the throne room.

Queen Sappho was a mysterious woman. Whilst her daughter dressed in simple clothing, Sappho wore magnificent robes with plenty of jewellery -- she liked being Queen. Her fierce red eyes almost seemed to glow as she confidently strode down from her throne and towards her guests.

"Ah, my dearest daughter," she said sarcastically, opening her arms in greeting. "I was wondering when you would finally stop by for a visit! And who are your companions?"

"These are Meccaryn, mother," Delphi said bluntly. Her mother’s attitude appeared to change almost instantly. She bowed her head in respect, something which was almost unheard of for her.

"M... Meccaryn! Greetings, welcome to our city," she said. "If you need anything whilst you are here or anywhere on The Island, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Easy, Queeny," Gaz said, shaking his hands about. "We only came here 'cause your daughter here said you needed our help."

"She... did?" Sappho looked up, eying their alien faces curiously. "Well, she has always been a bright one, my daughter. She is correct. These are desperate times, and help from your mighty people once again would be very much appreciated."

"Please say you want us to form a panel of judges for a stripping competition," Baz muttered.

"I beg your pardon?" Sappho asked, but shook her head. "The Land Reapers. My spies tell me they may be preparing to move against us once again. Their armies outnumber us ten to one, and they have advanced their weapons to a point where they challenge even our great magic. To say that we might lose a war against them is an understatement..."

"So you want us to blow a few of 'em up, huh?" Baz said. "Sounds like fun. Did we bring our Millennium Blaster, Gaz?"

"Sure did, Baz," Gaz nodded, patting an ominously large weapon strapped over his back proudly. "It's primed and ready to blow the crap outta anything. "

"Are... aren't there more of you?" Sappho asked. "You are the Great Meccaryn! Your armies number in the millions! You are unbeatable! You did come here to help us, did you not?"

"I... uh... well, we kinda crashed, actually," Gaz said, rubbing the back of his neck as he felt a twinge of embarrassment. "It was his fault!"

"Get out of it; you were the one at the wheel!" Baz protested. "I told you not to drink any more of that Raptulian whiskey, but nooo, you knew better! WELL IT WAS A GREAT IDEA YOU STUPID BA..."

"So there are only two of you?" Sappho interrupted. Probably at an opportune moment.

"Well, there was another ship that might come looking for us," Gaz said thoughtfully. "But for now, yep."

"You foolish girl!" Sappho snapped at Delphi. "What use are two extra people?!"

"Mother, just one Meccaryn is worth more than a thousand of our troops!" Delphi protested. "They are unbeatable!"

"They crashed here by accident!" Sappho said, almost laughing. "Look at them! I doubt they could even hold a bow, much less fire their own weapons."

"Oi, watch it..." Gaz said.

"But they can teach our soldiers better strategies," Delphi said. "We could make them Generals. We could all fight like Meccaryn!"

"Yeah, we kick arse!" Baz said, thumping his chest.

"I need to think about this," Sappho waved her hands in dismissal and turned away. "Give our guests somewhere to stay for the night while I decide what we must do. It weighs heavily on my shoulders..."

"As you wish mother," Delphi nodded.

"And Delphi," her mother added, without turning. "I have thought about your earlier request, and I have changed my mind; I will agree to spare a few warriors to help the Smarties with their Ripper problems."

"Thank you mother," Delphi said, more enthusiastically this time.

"Now get out of here before I change my mind," Sappho snapped. Delphi led the Meccaryn out of the throne room.

"See ya Queeny!" Baz called back, and jogged to catch up.

Baz and Gaz stood in a huge, brightly-coloured room with crystal lights and curvaceous, glassy walls. If this bright-blue, glassy room was what passed as a bedroom here, then these people truly knew how to decorate. As with the rest of this city, there was a faint scent of seawater, but the two aliens couldn't actually smell it through their suits anyway.

"Cor blimey..." Baz said, looking around the huge room in awe. "It's like a bloody art exhibit..."

Delphi wandered across the room, her bare feet slapping lightly against the cold floor as she elegantly walked towards the back wall. Her skin and the colour of this room seemed to match up perfectly. She pointed over at two 'panels' in the otherwise-seamless wall.

"Those are your beds," she said, crossing her arms.

Baz looked at the wall, then looked at Delphi, and then looked back at the wall. All he saw were square, upright, rectangular shapes in the glassy wall.

"You're bloody bonkers," he said. "I ain't sleepin' in no wall, miss."

"You do not understand," she said. She walked right up to the wall and held her hand over a small glassy ball between the two panels. It changed to a red colour and she stepped back. The two panels slowly and silently lowered, gently coming to a halt in a horizontal position. Sure enough, two flat beds.

"Oooh..." Baz nodded. "Gotcha. Although, with this suit I can probably sleep on the floor..."

"Why do you not take it off?" Delphi asked curiously.

"Take me suit off?" Baz exclaimed. "Are you tryin' to kill me or somethin'? Bloody nutcase blue woman, drops me to the bottom of the sea like a pebble, wants to crush me into a wall, wants me to suffocate..."

"What Baz is trying to say is that we need our suits," Gaz told her, as Baz walked off and continued his rant. "We breathe a different sort of air than you. These suits are air-tight so that we can breathe."

"I see," Delphi nodded. She didn't seem to understand entirely, but didn't press the issue any further. She could breathe both in the air and in the water, so such alien concepts would no-doubt be just that -- alien. "Well, I will leave you to whatever great things the Meccaryn do when they are alone."

"Heh," Gaz shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well it might not be proper to discuss that in front of a lady..."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. See you later, miss."

"Very well," Delphi smiled. She walked across the room, past the two armoured aliens, and out of the door. The thick sheet of glass-like material slid closed silently across the entrance.

"Gaz I don't like this," Baz said the moment the door was shut. "Have you noticed how these people don't have any alcohol? OR STRIPPERS?!"

"There'll be plenty of time for that later," Gaz shook his head. "I don't know. You and your strippers..."

"Why do you care anyway?" Baz asked. "I don't. I've got much, much, much better things to be doin' with me time. What're you bothered about?"

"We helped these people before," Gaz shrugged. "We should have done the job properly the first time around. If we had, those butt-ugly Land Reapers wouldn't be a problem now."

"Um... that was two thousand years ago," Baz reminded him. "'We' weren't even alive then! This ain't our problem, man!"

"Well, we're stuck here for now anyway," Gaz shrugged. "I'd rather be here doin' somethin' than out there stuck in a burning wreck, how about you?"

"I guess..."

"When Gordon and Bennett find us we'll get their help, finish this, then head for shore leave like we planned," Gaz assured him. "Should be a cake walk."

********************************************

Jeremy was ever-so mildly drunk. So much so that he was walking along on his hands, singing an ancient Smartie drinking song.

"La la laaa... something something.... is so great, lalalalaaa..." went the words. Apparently. He flipped back over onto to his feet and started skipping. It was only a few miles to the neighbouring Smartie village. He could have taken a mineshaft, which would have been safer, but it was too sunny to go underground. The strange trees, all unique to this island, rustled loudly in the gentle wind as he passed by them, birds and baby Dactyls stirring from their sleep and fluttering away. Jeremy thought it was the wind, but it may just have been something else disturbing them.

Jeremy was suddenly grabbed around the neck by a large, scaly hand, and yanked roughly off the path. He found himself face-to-face with a big, red eyeball, which blinked curiously.

"Um... hello!" Jeremy said merrily. "Are you lost?"

"It's just another Smartie, sir," the Land Reaper said, ignoring him.

"Bag it," said a Land Reaper with a particularly large gun. "We're behind schedule."

The Land Reaper holding Jeremy opened a sack and tossed the small person into it, and slung it over his back. Jeremy made some strange muffled noises and started singing again.

"Shut that thing up before it gives away our position," the leading Land Reaper snapped.

"OK boss," he said. He pulled the sack off his shoulder again, braced himself, and swung the sack over his head. It slammed into the ground. Jeremy yelped. Just as he started talking about how clumsy he was, the Land Reaper hit the sack against the floor a second time, knocking him out cold. He slung it back over his shoulder and nodded.

"Nice work," the leader nodded; his large, single eye blinking in the bright sunlight. "Let's move on. The Sea Reaper's land outpost isn't far from here. The sooner we get this war underway, the better."

They were heading towards a large, elegantly designed tower in the distance. It was designed, as with most Sea Reaper constructions, with aesthetics in mind. They walked quickly; they were large creatures with long legs, so the distance was covered quickly. As the Land Reapers approached, they went by cover of shrubs and small mounds. A field and little else surrounded the tower, but they were wearing some camouflage on their backs that helped keep them hidden as they crawled silently towards it. When they were in range, all thirty of the Land Reapers stood upright suddenly, and raised their bulky weapons. A Sea Reaper on the top of the tower suddenly looked down, alarmed, and ran inside to grab her bow.

"FIRE!" the leader bellowed in his deep, growling voice. Their weapons erupted, sending micro-rockets across the field and slamming into the base of the tower. The explosions consumed the lower portion of the tall spire, and smoke billowed across the field as the white streamers continually streaked across the field and pounded it relentlessly.

"Hold steady!" the leader said, raising his arm. They stopped firing their RPGs. A strange creaking sound could be heard by all, emanating from the tower and stretching right across the field. Just as the lone Sea Reaper ran out with her bow and got ready to fire, the tower started to collapse in on itself, falling under its own weight. The Sea Reaper didn't even have time to project herself away as the tower yanked her down with it. For a few seconds the Land Reapers had to shield their large, vulnerable eyes from the dust and smoke that suddenly burst from the tower, hitting them in waves.

When the dust subsided, they were met with a pile of elegantly designed rubble. Cheers erupted across the Land Reaper lines. Their first strike against the Sea Reaper scum. At the command of their leader, two Land Reapers walked forwards, inspecting the rubble carefully. Sea Reapers were too concerned with tradition and aesthetics to be able to withstand Land Reaper technology and tactics anymore.

The two Land Reapers nodded in approval at the quality of the destruction, until they found something. A beautiful Sea Reaper lay half-buried under the rubble, her long black hair strewn loosely across her bright blue face. Her red eyes were open, looking at them desperately. She was breathing quite rapidly, and some blood trickled from her gaping mouth.

"She's alive, boss," one of the Land Reapers called over his shoulder.

"No she isn't," the leader said, simply. The Land Reaper pulled out a pistol and fired it straight into the woman's forehead without hesitation.

"No survivors," the Land Reaper corrected himself, and they stepped down from the rubble to rejoin the rest of their unit.

"Next target! Seventeen miles Northeast!" the leader shouted. "Let's move like we've got a purpose!"

OOC: Hmm. I think I'll make one of those factbook dealies so that the background of the different races and the history of The Island are easier to understand :/.

Delphi rarely spent time in the palace. She found it dull, and it only served to remind her of her status in Sea Reaper society; someone who was revered for not doing anything. She much preferred to swim out to the mainland and explore the various ruins there, and help the Smarties with their troubles. When she was in the palace, she was bored. Now, for instance, she simply lay on a bed in her chambers pondering various ideas. More often than not she thought about what it must be like in space, and what wonders the Meccaryn must have seen on their travels.

She was disturbed from her thoughts by the door. It slowly swiped open, and her mother stepped in. The look on her face did not suggest to Delphi that she had good news to share.

"My dear, it has begun," Sappho said bluntly. "At your request I dispatched two of our people to the mainland to help the Smarties. When they got there, they found one of our lookout towers had been completely destroyed."

"And... who was inside?" Delphi asked.

"It was your friend, Maricious," Sappho said. She nodded as she saw that Delphi was about to ask if she was dead.

"Could it have been a Kabuto? Or a group of Rippers?" Delphi asked optimistically, after a mournful pause.

"There are no Kabuto tracks in the area," Sappho shook her head. "Nor were there the markings of any Rippers. There are Land Reaper footsteps, and empty rocket casings, however. This is surely the day we feared."

"Can they get near our city, with all of our new defensive systems?" Delphi asked as she stood up and wrapped some clothing on.

"It is unlikely their ships would survive our torpedo launchers," Sappho shook her head. "But if they secure control of the mainland, they also secure..."

"...the Smarties," Delphi nodded, finishing her sentence. "We must not let that happen."

"No," Sappho said. She was probably thinking of the Smarties giving the Land Reapers ways to counter their city's defences, but Delphi was just worried about their wellbeing. Both were important, though. "Our people did not see many tracks, though. It may be a Land Reaper 'probing' party, scouting our defences. If we eliminate that party, we may hold the Land Reaper invasion off for a short while."

"Then I will lead a group of people to see to it," Delphi said surely. "They will not enslave the Smarties while I am alive."

"I had a feeling you might say that," Sappho nodded. "I also had a feeling that you might not be easily talked out of it. So I have already prepared a group of our finest fighters to go with you to the surface."

Delphi nodded, saying nothing. She opened a panel on the wall and pulled out an elegant-looking bow, her customised, curved short sword and a backpack full of arrows. She turned to leave the room.

"Be careful," Sappho said as she left. Sappho had made her decision regarding the two Meccaryn, at least...



The calm, rippling ocean was disrupted as seven small, odd-looking vehicles suddenly burst out from underwater. Blue-green in colour, their elegant designs suggested they belonged to the Sea Reapers, and they appeared to be armed. These were Reaperskis, and Delphi sat on the leading one. They revved up and sped away, skimming across the small waves towards the mainland.

Kasel stood vigil from the top of his watchtower, looking down on the Smartie village in the distance. From up here, he could see the coastline and the waves lapping up against it. On the other side, he could see the tall mountains, home of the Land Reapers. His short black hair blew vigorously in the light wind that had picked up. The sun was setting after a long day's watching, and it was beginning to get chilly -- and the wind was blowing in a storm. Black clouds were nearing the coast, and the smell of rain lingered ominously.

He was one of the few male Sea Reapers, one of even fewer who decided to take up a military-style role. He often wished he hadn't, but he knew that someone had to protect the Smarties -- and he did like to interact with the amusing little fellows. He still managed to engage in his favourite hobby, painting, while he was up here, and he couldn't exactly ask for a better place to inspire him. Most of the time, though, he was bored. Rippers rarely came to this part of The Island, so the Smarties here were largely safe.

The fairly normal scene was broken with a faint 'thud'. Kasel looked down as he felt the ground vibrate for a second and then stop. He glanced over that the dormant volcano in the distance, but saw no smoke, smelt no fumes. But sure enough, the ground shook again. And again. The rhythm was constant, and it got stronger each time. Almost like footsteps...

Kasel span around and ran to the other side of the platform, and strained his eyes to scan the surrounding landscape. He couldn't see anything, except for a few birds flocking away from the trees in the...

Then he saw something alright. Some of the trees violently parted and a huge, blue-grey creature slammed its foot down between them. The thing was huge, at least as tall as his watch tower, and it was looking straight at him. It slammed its huge fists to the ground, threw its head forwards and roared, a bellowing roar that seemed to shake the entire world.

This was a Kabuto giant.

Kabuto were the most ferocious creatures on The Island, if not the entire world. This one was an average-sized one, probably only one of half a dozen at most. Its massive feet slammed down into the soft turf as it walked at a brisk pace straight for him, leaving crater-like footprints in its wake.

Kasel stepped back and panicked. He was just a watchman, he had neither the spells nor the tools to take down a Kabuto giant. The creatures usually left the Sea Reapers alone, and thus the Smarties too. They focussed on easier prey such as vimps, and perhaps were even intelligent enough to realise that the Sea Reapers and Smarties weren't just ordinary animals. But this one seemed to be heading for him, specifically, as though it had been hunting him. But Kabuto don't hunt. They just eat whatever they find.

Thinking about it now would only give him a time disadvantage, though. He quickly grabbed his bow and a few explosive-tipped arrows and jumped over the side of his tower. He projected himself to safety some twenty feet away, and turned to look at his giant pursuer. Sure enough, it had turned to look straight at him. So much for the idea that his tower was just in the way. Well at least he wasn't in a handy biting position, now...

He started to run, projecting himself whenever he could pick up enough strength to do so. The Kabuto simply walked at a quicker pace. Its enormous legs would easily allow it to give chase. The thudding footsteps seemed ever-closer as he ran, jumping through low-lying foliage and small trees. He headed into a small forest, hoping to evade the giant creature in more favourable terrain. The Kabuto simply kicked the trees out of the way, either knocking them down or simply ripping them from the ground and tossing them to one side.

Projecting himself onto the top of a small hill, he stopped running and turned to face the creature. By now it was close enough for him to need to look up to see its face. Good. He pulled out an arrow and quickly primed his bow, aiming for the Kabuto's face. He let the arrow fly, at an impressive speed. It zoomed up without losing pace, and hit the Kabuto square on the nose.

The creature roared as a small explosion engulfed its face, and started to stumble around madly, shaking the floor as it pounded its feet in rage. Kasel braced himself as the giant toppled over onto its back clumsily, rubbing its face in pain as parts of its skin were on fire.

Kasel didn't wait around. He turned and ran, as fast as he could. To his surprise, he was met with a hail of bullets as several Land Reapers came out of hiding. Kasel was about to project himself into the air and return fire, but he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg and fell to the ground with a yelp. Blood poured from his lower-leg; a bullet had passed straight through it.

The Land Reapers stopped firing and grinned with their large mouths, exposing fairly unattractive teeth. They stepped up from their cover, laughing as he struggled to crawl towards his bow.

"Poor blue wants his toy," one of them snorted.

"Maybe we should give him a few small metal toys to play with," another said, raising his bulky white weapon enthusiastically.

As he moved to fire, an arrow suddenly impaled him through the arm, knocking him to the floor. The other three were taken down by a barrage of arrows, two of them killed instantly as the objects easily penetrated their body armour.

Kasel looked up as the last of the Land Reapers fell to the ground, clutching his chest with a confused look on his face. Seven Sea Reapers landed beside them elegantly, one of the radiating with magic. The Princess herself!

"Your... Majesty..." Kasel said, struggling to get up.

"Say still," Delphi said softly. "Eldonia, take this man back to the city."

"Yes Delphi," a woman nodded.

Delphi walked over to the Kabuto, who lay on the floor. Even lying on its back it towered above her. It was far from incapacitated, it just seemed to be irritated. It was struggling to get up on its feet, occasionally slamming an elbow into the soft earth beneath it.

"What did you do to this gentle giant?" Delphi asked curiously.

"It was not gentle a few minutes ago, your Majesty," Kasel said. He was now standing on one foot, bracing himself on the woman called Eldonia. "It was trying to kill me."

"Why would a Kabuto try to kill a Sea Reaper?" Delphi asked rhetorically. "It is very rare."

"Stranger still, ma'am, those Land Reapers attacked me almost as soon as I had hurt it," Kasel told her. "I cannot imagine such a thing being a coincidence. Could the Land Reapers have learned of a way to control the Kabuto somehow?"

"I do not see how," Delphi said. She walked cautiously over to the ailing creature and gently stroked its rough, scaled skin, soothing it. It seemed to work too, for the Kabuto stopped growling so much. "These creatures have minds of their own, more so than most people realise."

"We should move to the next tower, Delphi," one of her companions said softly. "It seems likely that the Land Reapers intend to hit them all."

"Yes, we must keep moving," Delphi nodded. She stepped back from the huge creature as it made another concerted effort to stand, this time successfully. It slammed its huge feet down on the floor right beside her, and looked straight down at her curiously. Its face seemed to be burned, but it still seemed to be OK. "This Kabuto should be fine."

The Kabuto watched intently as the Sea Reapers walked away, and hopped on to some Reaperskis parked in the distance. Six of them sped away, in the direction of the nearby Smartie village. The other one carried two Sea Reapers, and headed for the coast. The Kabuto shook itself like a wet dog, growling and snarling, and slowly stomped off inland.

Smoke billowed up into the air from the Smartie village. The Sea Reaper guard tower had been knocked down. Corpses littered the land. A Sea Reaper was strung up between two trees, bleeding and limp, being repeatedly beaten by the bulky Land Reapers who now filled the small village.

One Land Reaper emerged from a burning building holding a Smartie by the neck. What few Smarties had survived the slaughter were forced to watch their friend be shot several times in the chest, spraying his blood everywhere.

"What's the matter you blue freak?" the one-eyed monster asked the Sea Reaper. He drove his question home with a quick smash to the stomach. That poor fellow had sustained quite a beating, so much so that he didn't even make an effort to react to pain anymore. "Aren't you going to use your -- oh no! -- magical powers to free yourself and slaughter us all?"

The other Land Reapers found that amusing, and laughed a bellowing laugh until their commander raised a hand to shush them.

"You are weak, blue man," the Land Reaper said quietly. "It is why you are strung up here now, and it is why your entire species will ultimately share the same fate. We are strong! We are numerous! We will be victorious!"

The Land Reapers burst into roars of approval at their commander's mini-speech, while the commander looked down at the odd-looking Smarties.

"You creatures chose the wrong side to be friends with," he growled. "You see now how weak and pathetic your so-called 'protectors' are? When we have exterminated them, you will serve us -- the strong species. The only strong species on this entire island. Kill the salty scum! Leave him there to rot as a reminder to these creatures of how pathetic their chosen side really is!"

A Land Reaper apparently took great pleasure in stabbing the Sea Reaper repeatedly in the stomach and chest, spilling blood everywhere, before slicing his throat. They watched with glee as the blue man choked to death on his own blood and fell completely limp.

They were less than impressed when explosive-tipped arrows began to rain down on them, blasting holes in the soft floor and sending dozens of Land Reapers flying into their fiery deaths.

The Land Reaper commander looked around desperately as the devastation swept through his small expedition unit, blasting his troops into oblivion at a worrying rate. He scowled with his single brow as he saw the blue devils.

"Sea Reapers! On that hill! Open fire!" he roared. But there were too few of them, and the Sea Reapers were well-entrenched atop of their perch. Bullets harmlessly rebounded off rocks, and rockets flew well short of their targets. The arrows continued to rain down.

"Fall back! Suppressive fire! We must rejoin the primary attack force!" the commander roared over the sound of his own assault rifle fire.

Slowly but surely, the Land Reapers left the village, never ceasing to bombard the hill with fire to keep the Sea Reapers from pursuit. When they finally left effective weapons range, they embarked upon various vehicles and sped off.

Princess Delphi slid down the hill first, coming to an elegant stop at the bottom and stepping towards the corpse of her old friend. She wept for him as though he were a brother, whilst the other Sea Reapers moved through the village, looking for survivors -- friend or foe. They found none.

"Your Majesty, I am sorry for your loss. I think we should leave the Island and report our findings to the Queen," one of the Sea Reapers finally said. "I believe I overheard their commanding officer mention 'primary attack force'. We will not survive a full-scale Land Reaper assault. We need to amass an army of our own, before it is too late."

Delphi wiped her red eyes and looked up. She had been sitting on a rock in front of the dead man for nearly an hour now. She nodded in agreement. "Yes. It would seem that war is at hand. A war I fear we cannot win this time. But first, we must give him a proper funeral..."