Hyperspatial Travel
14-04-2006, 04:15
OOC: This is quite a simple RP. Firstly, it's a character RP only. No giant armies, or fleets coming to save the day. Every character put in here has a damn high chance of dying, so don't put in your uberheroguy, who can destroy a planet with the power of his mind. That kind of character isn't going to be accepted. Secondly, the goal of the RP is to get a distress call sent out. It'd take an army a thousand times as big as the one in Varsuvian to hold off the enemy indefinitely, and the planet could just be destroyed, anyways. So, to recap:
1 - No armies
2 - No uber characters
3 - Have fun defending a doomed city! Be a Realm soldier (If you want), maybe a tourist, perhaps a foreign dignitary. Demand to be protected, get out there and fight, do whatever you want! And, most of all, have fun!
IC :Location - The planet Marris, in the Tyancha system.
More precisely, the city of Varsuvian.
People were screaming, and running. There was nothing they could do. Their NeuraNet, the thing that connected the entire Realm as one massive near-groupmind, was ravaged, spirals of red fire, in virus form, still storming through it. People were rising up against one another, chaos ripping through the cities.
However, for some reason, the ship above just hung there, not moving, not acting. It had demolished the orbital defensive stations, and simply.. sat there.
Nonetheless, the New Realm knew what it could do. Five worlds were gone, the only hint of their existence dead shards, floating through the void of space. And yet.. it chose not, or perhaps could not, destroy this world. Through the few sensors still active, well.. Those who had looked through the visual feeds had gone mad. Mad beyond redemption, seeking to soak the world in blood, perhaps to soothe the endless pain of the sights they had seen. However, from the energy readings, and the newly-discovered 'lattice' sensors, which blinked on and off, and they had no control over, it was.. monstrous. Silvery monsters hung in the sky, and for what purpose, Marris had no idea.
For two days this continued, the dread, sickening fear. People killed, looted, and ravaged the countryside, and the smaller cities, while the disorientated Realm Guard, and the militia they had managed to recruit, tried to maintain order in the larger cities.
On the third day, it stopped. Bright flashes of fire lit up the sky, and the silvery spiders swiftly found their way through Marris's atmosphere, and onto the ground.
It was at this time the killing begun. It was a slaughter. Commander Arcoi, leader of the Varsuvian Milita, and nominal commander of the Realm Guard, looked through his viewscreen.
It was insanity. The nearest city, T'dravol, had been decimated. Few of their weapons were effective against the metal monsters, and, those they did destroy soon rose up again. T'dravol had been wiped clean of life. However... As the dying slipped into death, the spiders pressed a single, elongated, metal leg against their head, as if feeling the life drain away. Arcoi didn't know what they were doing, but he knew damn well Varsuvias would be next.
He had sent out fifty-seven distress calls in the last three days, and he had seen each one die in space, ripped into fragments of fragments of data, absorbed by the.. abomination, the monster, that hung still and emotionless above his world. Five hundred shuttles, and a few transports, had tried to escape. Their fragments had been burnt by the friction of re-entry, some spiralling off into space, none surviving whole.
He holstered his pistol, and looked up at the unrelenting, small, silvery figure. It was discernable even in daylight, although it was only fifty metres long. Something was illuminating it constantly.
Arcoi swore. He'd defend this city to his dying breath, which, at the time, seemed likely. He looked again in his viewscreen. The enemy was on the move. It might take them three hours to reach Varsuvias, probably two.
He looked up at the sky, and screamed in rage. "Why, you damned abomination, evil object! Damn you! Why?!"
It looked at the query strangely. None had ever queried it before, and so it did not know how to respond, at first. Then it decided. Knowledge given freely could create new knowledge, and thus, it could reap, and harvest, all in the space of hours. It sent the knowledge back to the querier. Knowledge is growth. I must have knowledge to live, and to propagate/survive. You must not retain knowledge or you may become a threat. Your query has been answered.
Arcoi felt the strange voice in his head, fearing it. Yet.. now he knew. He knew. He walked over to the side of the room he was in, the walls, with their cracks, and dustiness, had been his only refuge for the past few days. He pulled up his gun, which had been propped up against it. He gave the trigger an experimental pull, and ripped right through the wall. He stepped out, into the street. He'd deny that bastard what it wanted. That abomination was not going to take the minds of his people, as they lay dying in the streets.
People looked at him in shock, as if he had gone mad. He looked back at them, meeting each stare one by one, until their stares had all dropped away. He strode over to the cityintercom, as they called it, an emergency system that had been set up a few days ago.
"People of Varsuvian! Listen to me! For days, now, we have been under siege, our lives and right to live threatened by a emotionless machine! It desires our knowledge, so that it may destroy the rest of the Realm, indeed, even the galaxy! Who knows where it will stop?! You will all be issued a weapon, and a minor explosive. If a metal-spider is to take your knowledge, take what makes us citizens of the Realm, and not a machine, bent on ageless evil, do not let it! We are the Realm! Do not fail me. We are, perhaps, the last hope of the Realm..."
His voice cut off. He had intended for it to be a glorious speech, but it was not. It was a speech of accepting what was coming, and to fight evil as best they could. Perhaps, it was enough. He did not think so.
He walked back inside his hut, through the ruined wall, and looked at the city's defenses. They had enough men to defend it, but each section could not withstand a concentrated attack. He decided to issue orders, using the simplistic touchpad on the viewscreen. Small triangles for his men, red squares to dictate where they were to move to. He was abandoning the outer city. He swept his fingers over the touchpad once more, creating a new sphere with careful fingerwork. The energy shield, projected over the outer city, halved its radius. Outside, he could see people screaming.
"Move inside the sphere. Move inside the sphere. You will be issued with a weapon, or you will be required to use one yourself. We cannot afford such a weak shield. Move inside the sphere."
The message echoed throughout the city, and people, leading children, some old, some weak, some disabled, moving towards the inner sphere. He switched over to his sensors, and looked. The enemy was perhaps an hour, and a half, away. He sighed. He had done what he could. He switched his viewscreen to control mode, and began issuing orders from all transmitters, to send distress calls, at all times, on different bands, different waves, and through different dimensions. He saw them stop, absorbed by the Interdictor. He sighed again. Perhaps.. perhaps they could distract it enough to get a call through. That was their only hope, now...
He look glumly at his gun. It was all he had. The perimetre had been tightened, and, as it was, they had a chance. It wasn't much of a chance, but.. still. He had bought them a chance, at the cost of the lives of many...
1 - No armies
2 - No uber characters
3 - Have fun defending a doomed city! Be a Realm soldier (If you want), maybe a tourist, perhaps a foreign dignitary. Demand to be protected, get out there and fight, do whatever you want! And, most of all, have fun!
IC :Location - The planet Marris, in the Tyancha system.
More precisely, the city of Varsuvian.
People were screaming, and running. There was nothing they could do. Their NeuraNet, the thing that connected the entire Realm as one massive near-groupmind, was ravaged, spirals of red fire, in virus form, still storming through it. People were rising up against one another, chaos ripping through the cities.
However, for some reason, the ship above just hung there, not moving, not acting. It had demolished the orbital defensive stations, and simply.. sat there.
Nonetheless, the New Realm knew what it could do. Five worlds were gone, the only hint of their existence dead shards, floating through the void of space. And yet.. it chose not, or perhaps could not, destroy this world. Through the few sensors still active, well.. Those who had looked through the visual feeds had gone mad. Mad beyond redemption, seeking to soak the world in blood, perhaps to soothe the endless pain of the sights they had seen. However, from the energy readings, and the newly-discovered 'lattice' sensors, which blinked on and off, and they had no control over, it was.. monstrous. Silvery monsters hung in the sky, and for what purpose, Marris had no idea.
For two days this continued, the dread, sickening fear. People killed, looted, and ravaged the countryside, and the smaller cities, while the disorientated Realm Guard, and the militia they had managed to recruit, tried to maintain order in the larger cities.
On the third day, it stopped. Bright flashes of fire lit up the sky, and the silvery spiders swiftly found their way through Marris's atmosphere, and onto the ground.
It was at this time the killing begun. It was a slaughter. Commander Arcoi, leader of the Varsuvian Milita, and nominal commander of the Realm Guard, looked through his viewscreen.
It was insanity. The nearest city, T'dravol, had been decimated. Few of their weapons were effective against the metal monsters, and, those they did destroy soon rose up again. T'dravol had been wiped clean of life. However... As the dying slipped into death, the spiders pressed a single, elongated, metal leg against their head, as if feeling the life drain away. Arcoi didn't know what they were doing, but he knew damn well Varsuvias would be next.
He had sent out fifty-seven distress calls in the last three days, and he had seen each one die in space, ripped into fragments of fragments of data, absorbed by the.. abomination, the monster, that hung still and emotionless above his world. Five hundred shuttles, and a few transports, had tried to escape. Their fragments had been burnt by the friction of re-entry, some spiralling off into space, none surviving whole.
He holstered his pistol, and looked up at the unrelenting, small, silvery figure. It was discernable even in daylight, although it was only fifty metres long. Something was illuminating it constantly.
Arcoi swore. He'd defend this city to his dying breath, which, at the time, seemed likely. He looked again in his viewscreen. The enemy was on the move. It might take them three hours to reach Varsuvias, probably two.
He looked up at the sky, and screamed in rage. "Why, you damned abomination, evil object! Damn you! Why?!"
It looked at the query strangely. None had ever queried it before, and so it did not know how to respond, at first. Then it decided. Knowledge given freely could create new knowledge, and thus, it could reap, and harvest, all in the space of hours. It sent the knowledge back to the querier. Knowledge is growth. I must have knowledge to live, and to propagate/survive. You must not retain knowledge or you may become a threat. Your query has been answered.
Arcoi felt the strange voice in his head, fearing it. Yet.. now he knew. He knew. He walked over to the side of the room he was in, the walls, with their cracks, and dustiness, had been his only refuge for the past few days. He pulled up his gun, which had been propped up against it. He gave the trigger an experimental pull, and ripped right through the wall. He stepped out, into the street. He'd deny that bastard what it wanted. That abomination was not going to take the minds of his people, as they lay dying in the streets.
People looked at him in shock, as if he had gone mad. He looked back at them, meeting each stare one by one, until their stares had all dropped away. He strode over to the cityintercom, as they called it, an emergency system that had been set up a few days ago.
"People of Varsuvian! Listen to me! For days, now, we have been under siege, our lives and right to live threatened by a emotionless machine! It desires our knowledge, so that it may destroy the rest of the Realm, indeed, even the galaxy! Who knows where it will stop?! You will all be issued a weapon, and a minor explosive. If a metal-spider is to take your knowledge, take what makes us citizens of the Realm, and not a machine, bent on ageless evil, do not let it! We are the Realm! Do not fail me. We are, perhaps, the last hope of the Realm..."
His voice cut off. He had intended for it to be a glorious speech, but it was not. It was a speech of accepting what was coming, and to fight evil as best they could. Perhaps, it was enough. He did not think so.
He walked back inside his hut, through the ruined wall, and looked at the city's defenses. They had enough men to defend it, but each section could not withstand a concentrated attack. He decided to issue orders, using the simplistic touchpad on the viewscreen. Small triangles for his men, red squares to dictate where they were to move to. He was abandoning the outer city. He swept his fingers over the touchpad once more, creating a new sphere with careful fingerwork. The energy shield, projected over the outer city, halved its radius. Outside, he could see people screaming.
"Move inside the sphere. Move inside the sphere. You will be issued with a weapon, or you will be required to use one yourself. We cannot afford such a weak shield. Move inside the sphere."
The message echoed throughout the city, and people, leading children, some old, some weak, some disabled, moving towards the inner sphere. He switched over to his sensors, and looked. The enemy was perhaps an hour, and a half, away. He sighed. He had done what he could. He switched his viewscreen to control mode, and began issuing orders from all transmitters, to send distress calls, at all times, on different bands, different waves, and through different dimensions. He saw them stop, absorbed by the Interdictor. He sighed again. Perhaps.. perhaps they could distract it enough to get a call through. That was their only hope, now...
He look glumly at his gun. It was all he had. The perimetre had been tightened, and, as it was, they had a chance. It wasn't much of a chance, but.. still. He had bought them a chance, at the cost of the lives of many...