Chapter 29 - Forevermore Song - The Unforgettables: A ZeroYear litRPG
In freefall, the spider attempted to push Frank away with its massive front legs, but without success. Frank easily dodged the blows while grabbing the spider's leg tips in a double arm lock. Grasping the spider tightly, he stretched his body in a rush, delivering a brutal blow with both his legs like a battering ram against the spider's head. After the impact, he kept the spider's legs locked under his grasp and increased the pressure, pulling the spider's trapped limbs with such violence that they were amputated, causing a flow of blue energy to gush from both sides of the spider's body.
High above, Silas noticed that despite all the ship's devices being drained of energy, including the auto-repair, the wingtip that Liora had ejected began to move by itself and regenerate somehow—almost organically. It seemed as if a kind of clot was forming due to the leak from one of the ship's inactive devices that had broken and leaked. This curious effect might improve maneuverability somewhat but wouldn't prevent the damage from the imminent fall. What Silas managed to do was try to maneuver the few flaps he controlled that didn't solely depend on energy to position the ship to maximize friction with the air and buy precious time.
Petra observed Frank's combat, clinging to the ship's wing. Liora, on her way to exit from the open compartment inside the ship, became puzzled by the strange liquid leaking from an old broken pipe that was coagulating in front of her; she barely could read a name written with grease upon the broken tube before it melts, Agelmore, a name in Nailia language; despite her curiosity, she left the analysis for the aftermath as she noticed the ship's auxiliary flaps operating in an alternating pattern, and she knew what it meant. Liora immediately accelerated outside toward Petra, knowing that both communicators and telepathic magic were gone, but not the nano-translators. "I'm going to help Silas!" Liora shouted to Petra.
"Okay! I'll jump to help Frank!" Petra responded, trying to concentrate on aiming her jump. Liora nodded affirmatively and immediately set off, doing superspeed parkour along the outside of the still-spinning ship until she managed to return to the hole opened in the bridge window.
Immediately upon entering the bridge, Liora took over piloting, doing a much more effective job than Silas's. But despite controlling the spinning, there would be no time to avoid the fall. Silas said, "I'm going to see if I can activate the aircar's gravity engine; something is actively draining our energy from every device that was susceptible to the previous EMP attack!" He stood up and rushed through the bridge door that Frank had broken, crossed the coffee room, and went directly to the messed up docks where the aircar and the drone now sat stacked against one of the walls.
Outside, Petra noticed Frank riding the spider and looking upward at the ship, trying to figure out what was happening; she jumped from the wing, trying to reach Frank and propel the ship upward a bit, activating her stone form with the certainty that the fall wouldn't injure her. Her jump, however, wasn't strong or precise enough to direct her on a trajectory that would reach Frank. With the loss of telepathic coordination and the shared abilities offered by the communication magic, everyone's movements became prone to error.
Frank noticed Petra jumping from the ship and decided it was time to act. With one hand, he grabbed one of the remaining spider legs. With his other hand, he made an acrobatic arc and collected his still-deactivated Flexoclava from inside the spider. At the end of the arc, he returned to the top of the spider and prepared for a final jump upward. Moments before hitting the ground, he power-jumped from the top of the spider with all his might, mitigating his fall while targeting the spider with immense brutality toward the monolithic vein below.
The effects were immediate. The spider accelerated like a meteor, hitting a lateral corner of a solid monolithic vein and exploding while opening a half-circular crater in the snow and dirt close to one side of the vein, spreading blue energy with a consistency between liquid and gas everywhere. Frank was able to deviate slightly from his trajectory, reaching the snowy ground, but suffered a considerable impact, falling on the same side but away from the vein where the spider had just hit. He fell diagonally, opening a sinuous trench. Despite the damage and pain of the impact, this time, Frank smiled as he lay regenerating on the icy ground, aware that his training had finally prevented him from losing consciousness during combat.
As soon as the spider exploded, the effect that was draining all energy—both magical and from technological devices—ceased, causing some things to start working again; however, almost everything that was damaged by the EMP attack remains broken and will need repair. The weapons and batteries inside Silas's and Liora's bodies were the first to be restored, but it still took a few seconds; roughly the same time was needed for Frank's and Petra's mana to return because of their regeneration. Even with the mana flow restored, all the magic that had been dissipated did not return.
Petra felt her magical energy replenished a few seconds before hitting the ground. She opened a deep crater in the snow and dust, but she landed on her feet and didn't even injure herself with the brutal impact. She immediately began scaling her deep crater as if nothing had happened, observing the ship still falling and spinning.
Silas was inside the aircar, trying to improvise a solution, when he noticed that all the energy was returning. He immediately jumped to the dock terminal, which was now active, and directed all the remaining energy to the ship's gravity engine inertial stabilizer.
When Liora realized her personal energy had returned but not the ship's, she went out again through the hole in the bridge and tried to fire her energy ray, similar to what Silas had done from inside the aircar the first time they fled from the Golems. She positioned herself under the ship and activated her energy beam; however, she didn't have the strength to hold the ship nor the resistance to avoid being crushed in the process. What she did was let herself be crushed by the fuselage while dividing her energy to partially thrust the ship and partially raise a barrier to prevent her from destroying herself in the process.
While Liora almost sacrificed herself to prevent the fall, she was horrified to realize that the combat hadn't ended yet; looking at the ground from above, Liora figured out that she was the only one aware of what was happening. Inside the half-crater where the spider had exploded, a type of translucent energy egg with something in the shape of a giant blue fetus was growing at immense speed. Beside this monstrosity were Petra and Frank, still emerging from their snow holes, utterly oblivious to the danger growing near them.
As soon as Liora realized what was happening and calculated that she wouldn't arrive at the ground on time, she flew back inside the ship and, with her super-speed, immediately appeared beside Silas, saying, "Something's coming out of the spider's crater, and it's going to attack the two down there; we need to warn them now!"
Silas noticed the fall had been mitigated shortly before Liora appeared in front of him. With no time to ask questions, he promptly modified the ship's auto-repair order to prioritize the local communication device. Using his own energy, he accelerated the repair process for this single device to less than a second. As soon as he finished, he sent the message over the re-established local network to the comlinks: "Frank, Petra! There's an enemy in the hole where the spider fell!"
Frank's comlink was damaged in the fall, but Petra's was in perfect condition. She heard Silas and perceived with her super senses that Frank hadn't heard any message on the crater near her; she then shouted as loud as she could, "Frank, the spider's alive! It's coming after us! Frank!" Petra awkwardly accelerated her climb while continuing to shout.
Frank, still dazed, reasonably injured, and regenerating, slowly made his way through his long trench. When he perceived a distant and familiar voice shouting his name, he instantly smelled the danger, accelerated his pace, and got his Flexoclava ready, now working at full power. When he reached the edge of his trench, he noticed a type of cylindrical blue tentacle emerging from the hole where the spider had fallen. The tentacle ends in an oval bulb; he observed it with a grimace while muttering, "What? Oh shit…"
Frank's speech was interrupted by the oval bulb opening, forming an eye that now observed him back. Immediately, seven more tentacles with eyes on the tips emerged from the hole and formed two rows of parallel eyes, all blinking and looking at him. After a few moments, a ninth tentacle rose from the hole and opened a ninth eye, identical to the others except for being completely misaligned with the other eight, but also looking at Frank. In a desperate rush, Frank trusted his Flexoclava and jumped at full speed toward the tentacles, shouting, "Spotted it! I'm going to attack!"
When Frank jumped and passed above the ground line, he managed to perceive his opponent fully. It was a nearly 100-foot-tall blue humanoid giant, faceless and featureless, except for these tentacles emerging from its head as if they were thick strands of hair. Reflexively to Frank's jump, which exploded the ground and launched him like a bullet, the giant leaned back, and a type of energy field made concentric hexagonal shields appear, mitigating Frank's speed in the air. Perceiving this energy barrier preventing him from advancing, he delivered a full-force blow that shattered the giant's protective energy halo; this caused Frank to fall backward toward the ground slowly.
Petra managed to get out of her hole and saw Frank still in the air, falling back. She also perceived the giant emerging from its hole. Before any reaction, eight spider legs sprouted from the giant's back, connected by energy membranes to form two web wings. The giant now began to fly out of the hole without taking its eyes off Frank.
Silas refocused the auto-repair on the gravity engine and realized that the ship's fall would be avoided. Liora activated her new weapon and flew down through the hole in the bridge to join the combat below. Silas noticed that Liora's back was crushed and severely injured as he figured out what she had done to mitigate the ship's fall. He also activated his energy ray and followed Liora into the combat, saying via comlink, "The ship is safe, but it will take a good while for everything to start working again."
Petra responded, "Frank's comlink is gone! I'm going to the front line to try to protect him from the attacks. Silas, I'll need you to position me. The teleportation stones I was carrying disappeared, and it would take precious time to make another one. This thing is huge, and I am not strong enough to catch it with a jump."
Liora added, "My weapon is ready, and I'm going to fire. Petra, I'm detecting a large concentration of energy in the form of a spiraling spear coming from the giant and pointing at Frank."
Hearing this, Silas launched himself toward the ground at full speed to arrive quickly, saying, "Petra, get ready to be thrown; as soon as I have a vector, I'll send you against the tip of that spear."
Like a ballet, everything happened in sync. Frank was a few meters from hitting the ground when an energy spear appeared in the giant's hands and solidified as if by magic. With phenomenal speed for its stature, the giant delivered a surgical blow against Frank. However, Silas had already thrown himself toward the ground, firing a precise ray that sent Petra flying toward the giant. When the spear's tip was a few meters from Frank's head, Petra appeared turbocharged by Sila´s ray already in stone form, blocking the spear's tip with her Flexoclava, disarming the giant and causing the other tipless end of its weapon to pierce a hole through the attacker's own head. To close the dance, an apotheotic rain of mini-missiles perfectly dodged Petra, who was still in the air. Every single missile hit the giant, opening several antimatter holes that exploded in sequence, burying the colossus in a cloud of explosions and smoke. Frank finally reached the ground, already prepared for the impact, which was mitigated by his strength, while observing his opponent being massacred by his partners' attacks.
Petra landed comparatively softly, while Silas, who had descended at full speed to give himself time to push Petra into the correct position, didn't have the same fate and fell hard, unable to sufficiently mitigate his fall.
"Silas!" Liora shouted upon noticing the problem. Silas fell and stopped responding via his comlink; Liora immediately flew toward him as fast as she could. Upon landing near Silas, she realized he was still alive but heavily injured. His old ebex training, combined with his protective lab coat and a lot of luck in falling on a snow slope, caused him to slide. She immediately activated her sensors and attempted to provide first aid for her friend.
Petra was paying attention to what was happening with Silas, but she also didn't take her eyes off the smoke and explosions where the giant had been flying. She noticed some movement in the midst of the smoke while Frank jumped to her side. With the communication channels open for Liora to hear, she said aloud, "I think the giant hasn't fallen yet. I'm seeing some shades flying in the middle of the cloud, but it seems to be much smaller. Liora, how's Silas?"
Liora responded while treating Silas, who was starting to move and cursing, reacting to the pain. At the same time, she turned her head to observe the cloud with her luminous ocular sensors and said via comlink, "I'm detecting a weak energy reading; be careful! As for Silas, I've put some bones back in place, and he's waking up. There were many dislocations, and it would be good for him to go to life support and rest for a while."
"Attention!" Frank warned, noticing a much smaller figure—less than 10 feet tall—emerging from the cloud where Petra had been staring fixedly. It had the same form as the giant but with a hole through its head, big enough to see the sky behind. As soon as the metamorphosed figure exited the cloud, it flew at high speed toward Petra and Frank.
The monster advanced to within a few meters of Petra, stopping abruptly while a loud, guttural sound that seemed to come from inside it echoed through the environment. The winged beast slightly opened its arms toward Petra, who assumed an apprehensive posture. Frank decided to take advantage of the opening to attack; he leaped over the enemy, striking it from above and sending it crashing to the ground at Petra's feet. The morphing spider-giant seemed to have been defeated; it now moved with great difficulty, and its size decreased considerably again, now becoming a little larger than Petra but wholly broken and unable to coordinate its movements.
Frank landed from his jump and went to Petra, ready for a final blow. But Petra noticed something strange and said, "Wait, Frank! It seems to have given up attacking us." She strained to hear a much fainter sound emanating from the shattered blue body, which was contorting on the ground in a disorganized manner and decreasing in size even more.
While Silas woke up in pain and updated himself on what had happened, Liora recorded the sound Petra heard using the comlink. After a fast analysis, Liora commented, "Petra, that sound reminds me of the Gate's ancestral language we heard a while ago in the poetry Amanda showed us."
Frank, now with less adrenaline, approached his head very close to Petra to share her comlink and said with some remorse, "These things speak?"
Liora heard Frank's voice and responded, "Not that I knew of. The nanotranslators will also have great difficulty interpreting this, but I'll try to see what I can do here."
Silas, realizing what was happening, said with difficulty, "Let me try to help. I was curious about the ancestral Gate´s language, so I updated my nanotranslators with some Suma experimental models."
Liora commented, "Silas, return to the ship; you're not in minimal condition."
Silas grumbled, "I'm fine; some work deciphering these messages will make me forget the pain."
The giant stopped emitting light and decreased to a minimal size, becoming what seemed to be an egg. The sound coming from it ceased, but Petra managed to transmit everything for Silas to try to decode. After a little over a minute, Silas said, "Okay, team, I'm going to put the result that makes the most sense on the audio channel; the verbs seem quite displaced."
Through the comlinks, a synthetic voice could be heard, translating what might have been the giant's words: "Fools prevent me; I managed to save one."
Silas explained, "That's what it said when it approached you, Petra, before Frank's blow that brought it down."
Frank and Petra looked at each other. Petra said aloud, "Save one what?"
Silas interrupted, "And now what it said when it was on the ground, withering. All translation attempts seem to indicate that it was talking to itself this time."
Again, the synthetic voice was heard via Petra's comlink: "I am Messenger. My ninth eye emits destiny, now lost in time. Time to born."
Petra lamented, "It seems we shot the messenger."
Frank retorted, "Messenger? It killed Amanda before saying anything and would have done the same to us."
Petra cracked her neck. "I just hope Amanda's on her way to the City of Spirits; we need to talk to Mosh!"
Silas checked the repair list and commented, "For now, we only have local communication. The ship's Aethernet connector is drained and should be operational by the end of the day. After we get our batteries from the factory, it will take about three days to repair everything. Is your portal okay, Petra?"
Petra concentrated and responded, "Yes, only the three stones I was carrying disappeared; the rest remain normal. We should leave now, and I will make a new stone in a few moments or leave the ship's door behind to return because I'm out of reserve stones to enchant this place. Let's take the rest of the ship inside and repair it in my universe."
At that moment, the egg that had once been the blue giant, which had been ignored until now, hatched, and nine spiders emerged—identical in shape to the energy spider that had captured the ship and drained all the energy but miniature in size. They jumped from the egg and burrowed a hole, disappearing under the snow.
Liora and Petra became apprehensive, preparing for what could be another trap. With her illuminated eyes, Liora looked down and warned, "I'm a bit distant; from there, it seems those spiders fled very quickly and left a thin trail of energy in the shape of a thread. Team, under the snow, I'm perceiving more of these threads all around."
Frank observed, "Are these monsters immortal?"
Hearing Frank´s low voice from the comlink, Liora thought aloud, "Perhaps these creatures have a different idea of how life and death work; this reminds me of what Amanda said about that tower around here."
Petra prepared to open her portal, saying, "How about we get out of here? Silas, can you move the ship through my portal?"
Silas turned on another terminal and said, "The thrust engines are still off, but Liora could easily push the ship inside. I could, too, but it still hurts a lot when I move."
Frank and Petra, standing near the egg's remains, looked toward the ship, already thinking about where to place the portal. Silas and Liora were a little further away, upon one of the monolithic veins, next to the slope marked by Silas's body sliding on the snow.
Silas noticed Liora's delay in responding; he asked: "Liora?"
After a brief silence, Frank and Petra realized something was wrong; they turned to Silas and Liora and observed. Petra refrained from opening her portal and commented to Frank, "I'm not seeing anything there."
Silas asked again, standing next to Liora, "Liora? Everything okay?"
Liora responded via comlink, her voice full of glitches, difficult to perceive, and with abrupt pauses: "The bastard… is here! Inside my mind… Adarian!"
A few meters from Silas and Liora, a figure of black shadows revealed itself. It appeared in the middle of the vein, and Cernutos Tower rose ominously behind him in the path. Adarian appeared as if shedding a cloak of invisibility. It was clearly the same Bo that everyone had seen a few days earlier via the Northern Valley city cameras, but now wearing lighter clothes.
He didn't approach; he merely lowered the cloak covering his head, revealing his bald head, and said, smiling, "There's no more reason for me to hide; you even know my name; I'm almost flattered by that!"
Silas realized he needed to buy time for Frank and Petra to position themselves. He also knew that Frank was still regenerating from his fall. He calmly said to Adarian, "Actually, our business isn't with you, Adarian, nor with the knights we know you're looking for. We were heading North and ended up having some trouble with the spider. Release my friend so we can continue on our way."
Silas was surprised to notice that Adarian wasn't listening directly to him. He was waiting for a virtual servant to interpret and relay the message using a comlink with a complex modded virtual interface.
After a while, Adarian responded slowly, "And since when does a slave give orders? I participated in the Eastern campaigns and already know that talking to your kind can be dangerous to memory; obviously, there are no knights with you. But the way that weapon you call a friend defeated the giant impressed me; it will be useful in my mission. That seems like a fair price for pretending I didn't see all of you here. I'm not interested in any deal because you're useless; I need an apprentice, but a slave is out of the question, and I'd be the laughingstock if I had a human as an apprentice. So, leave!"
Petra and Frank realized Silas was buying time. Frank wasn't in perfect condition but considered himself regenerated enough. He nodded at Petra as they quickly approached Silas and Liora, positioning themselves closer to Adarian.
Frank spoke, "Adarian, you don't seem like the type who worries much about what others are laughing at. The idea of passing through here without losing time with a confrontation sounds good, but we're taking our friend with us, so how's it going to be?"
Adarian cracked his knuckles, blinking his eyes with disdain. "Seems you guys are out of things to offer me, but if you insist on ending your lives like this, the space in our freezer is infinite. I will give you a little time to get ready and healthy; at least, I'll try to use you as training."
Frank feels a sense of warrior pride in Adarian as he waits for him to regenerate. He tries to buy more time warming up for combat while Silas tries to see if he can help Liora. On Petra's comlink terminal, Silas silently typed, "Adarian is using some kind of mind domination power on Liora; this isn't technological hacking."
Frank said, remembering the conversation with Silas after defeating the Dragon, "Training? In a combat where the loser will be forever frozen? Can't you make me a more intelligent offer in exchange for our friend?"
Adarian raised a protective energy bubble while taking off his cloak, throwing it to the side in the snow, revealing a muscular physique as he said, "Well, I don't know how you survived this long without the protection of an aura. And I wonder where you stole those weapons, but they don't seem like much; it will be an easy combat. However, if there's something I learned from my old master, it's not to underestimate any enemy." Saying this, Adarian used another power on himself, making his already large physique improve visibly, turning him into a mountain of muscles that almost ripped off the shirt he wore under his cloak. He waved his hand, inviting the group to engage.
Petra wrote to Silas via comlink, "Silas, Adarian isn't even using his master's weapon. If things get messy, be ready to fire your ray at him while we all go through my portal. I need a few seconds to close it after we pass, but if he enters, it'll be a big problem because everything we have so far is inside."
Silas responded via text, "Don't open the portal until we're sure we can keep him out. He analyzed our brief combat with the spider; it seems he calculated that neutralizing Liora right at the beginning could mean an easy win."
As Petra and Frank studied the fight, slowly walking toward Adarian, he seemed to lose his patience. He said, "I've seen enough; let's end this quickly!" and accelerated into a slightly higher timeframe than Frank's.
He jumped in an almost horizontal trajectory across the monolithic vein directly toward Frank with a direct punch ready to deliver. Petra got in the way, noticing the feint, and prepared a decisive counterattack. To Adarian's surprise, before he could reach Frank, Petra's Flexoclava hit his protective energy aura squarely, shattering it immediately. Without wasting time, Frank accelerated himself and delivered a low kick that Adarian easily parried, but that allowed Frank to get close and land an uppercut with his Flexoclava, considerably injuring his opponent.
With a rapid answer and enduring the pain, Adarian took advantage of Frank's opening to attempt a punch to Frank's exposed side. But again, with the hum of Petra’s Flexoclava burning its energy cells, she quickly interposed herself, completely dominating her opponent at the mercy of a decisive counterattack.
Petra smiled. "Then let's end this quickly!" she said as her stone body tore into Adarian, sending him crashing to the monolithic ground and crushing him with the Flesxoclava right after. Realizing his critical situation, Adarian raised another protective aura before anything else, but now he was deeply injured and close to death.
Adarian said as he partially rose, kneeling; he looked at Petra with his head down and eyes half closed, smiling, "Great! This is going to be more fun than I expected!"
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Name: Silas "Archon" Cade Species: Ebex XP: 100+7 / 10 Powers Super-Life Magnitude 1 Super-Energy Magnitude 6 Super-Resistance (ebex) Magnitude 1 Super-Technique Magnitude 47 Unknowledge (ebex) Magnitude 2 Superior Technology: Architect Magnitude 40 Natural Combined Armor (ebex) - Know it all (party) - Skills Traditional Dancing (Dex) +2 Mathematics (Int) +4 Computer Engineering (Tech) +4 Kung fu (Res) +4 (fixed - know it all) - - Essence: Reality +4 Days: 9242(0) Equipment Superior safety clothes (AC 3) Northern Valley Shielded Bracers (1 parry), resized Silas´ Flexoclava, Damage: d12, melee, Hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produces 1TP / turn (quirk: Silas got +3 hit bonus when using it) Other 3 credits on Paradiso account 3375 spirit credits on PCU City of the Dead revival service insurance 1x Survival kit (food cube, shelter cube) Speed Flight Surveillance drones (1x, suma superior tech, +7 speed modified) Airbike, speed +4 (boosted), flight (normal tech): Following 4 Golens (*modified, with Laetilia) Aircar, perception +4 (boosted), flight (normal tech) Suma gravity engine, speed +6 (x3) Pocket aethernet connectors, backup (x2) City of Spirits cloud service ("The Unforgettables" technology repositories hub project) (total paid: 400.000.000 cloud credits, consumption: 0,3 cloud credits/day) City of Spirits material marketplace (net income: 3,2 SC$/day, operational costs: 0,3 SC$/day, buy/sell: bare suma components/metal from Petra's Heavy Metal Universe) City of Spirits energy marketplace (net income: 19,8 SC$/day, operational costs: 19,7 SC$/day, buy/sell: suma battery components/charged suma batteries)
Schrogae 5-engine cargo airship: life support +4, capacity +7, maneuver +7, speed up +7, flight (.05c superior suma tech 50/50), space flight (.5c sub-light, superior suma tech 500/500), stealth +3(superior tech 1000/1000), inertial stabilizer +4, gravity engine +7, Energy cells battery x10 (superior tech, 10 TP charge, 100/100), Advanced Auto-Repair (superior tech, prototype bonus+, 20/20, consume 2 TP to regen 20 HP, or make 2 rolls to repair devices except for berserker mode+), Double-layered full armor (superior tech, AC 4, 200/200), 2x Energy positional shields (superior tech, 2 parry, 500/500), Structures (superior tech, 2000/2000 HP, 2000/2000), long-range scan +2 (superior tech, 1000/1000), short-range communicators +2(superior tech, 100/100),
2x turret 9th sentinel artillery/ranged (2/2) (superior tech, 120 fixed, Art.Rng., Hit: Dex/Tech, infinite ammo, 5000/5000),
Main gun - plasma cannon 5th generation shooter x4 (1/4) (superior tech, 10, Rng., Hit: Dex, infinite ammo, 6400/6400),
*berserker mode[*non-newtonian liquid atmosphere +4 (1600/10000), *tech meld interface 4x Tech/Dex/Str/Res (160000/160000), *8th circle retro-plasma saber x4 (2d12+1, Mle., Hit: Dex, infinite ammo, 10000/10000), *Avatar AI (superior tech, all Atts+4, 90000/90000)]
Name: Liora “Stardust” Gorgath Species: Oioioi XP: 99+7 / 10 Powers Super-Life Magnitude 4 Super-Energy Magnitude 9 Super-Dexterity Magnitude 81 Shardify (oioioi) Magnitude 2 / 1 Superior Technology Network (oioioi) - Structural (oioioi) - Know it all (party) - Skills Aerolito´s Dojo Training (Dex) +4 Informatics (Wis) +4 Streetwise (Cha) +4 Kung fu (Res) +4 (fixed - know it all) - - Essence: Reality +4 Days: 8687 (0) Equipment Double-trouble (5), ranged, hit: Dex, 2TP/turn, prototype (quirk: +3 hit when shooting twice a turn) The Pentagon (6), ranged, hit: Dex, 5TP/turn, prototype (quirk: no chance of friendly fire when used on any range) Other Secure private network nano-connector Mk1: enables connection with Mag1 safety 2 credits on Paradiso account 1000 spirit credits on PCU City of the Dead revival service insurance 1x Survival kit (fuel cube, shelter cube)
Name: Petra "Warden" Somerson Species: Human XP: 98+7 / 10 Powers Super-Life Magnitude 15 Super-Mana Magnitude 7 Super-Strength Magnitude 5 Super-Resistance Magnitude 45 Super-Wisdom Magnitude 7 Super-Constitution Magnitude 9 Spellcasting Magnitude 7 Skills Aerolito´s Dojo Training (Res) +4 Shooting (Dex) +4 Military Discipline (Mor) +4 Tang Soo Do (Str) +4 (fixed - know it all) School of Transport(v_) (Wis) +2 53/100 - Essence: Balance +4 Days: 5356 (0) Equipment 4375 spirit credits on PCU City of the Dead revival service insurance 1x Flexoclava, Damage: d12, melee, Hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produce 1TP / turn Sci-lab jacket (AC 3), regen, prototype (quirk: AC 2 to magical defense) Northern Valley Shielded Bracers (1 parry) Stone Bastion Flexoclava +5Fire: d12+1, melee, Hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produce 3TP / turn, prototype (quirk: +1 free action for parry each turn) Other Survival kit (food cube, shelter cube) Trained Magic (vo) The Door of Returning: Enchant a stone to serve as an anchor; a mage can have up to Mag stones enchanted at the same time. After being enchanted, at any time, the mage can open or close a flat circular immobile portal of up to Mag Km in radius at a distance of ~10 meters from this stone; the mage chooses, for each portal entry, if the portal is one-way, two-ways, one-side, or both-sides at will, need 1 action to change those parameters. When the portal near the stone opens, at the same time, this spell also opens an identical-sized portal at a distance of ~10 meters from the mage who cast this; those portals are spatial distortions and connect the two places; this effect ignores everything. The portal takes approximately 1 minute to open or close entirely for each Km in radius (minimum of 5 seconds or 1 action); the spell consumes mana (Mag MP) only to enchant the stone, and only actions are spent to open or close each of the portals. For 1 MP cost, the mage can make the stone ethereal and meld it with any inanimate object or terrain, permanently placing the stone anchor on its melded target. Each portal pair can have different colors, chosen by the mage at the casting time. If the mage tries to force a closing door upon an object/target crossing the portals to damage it (the mage can always bring some stones already enchanted and open/close local portal pairs at will, both at ~10 meters from the mage, on melee range), it must roll Wis(or Tech) vs. Dex to hit the target; on a successful hit, the portal grapples the target (Str vs. Wis roll to break free, grappled targets must expend one action for each try to fight the portal). The portal does Mag+Wis, crushing magical damage each turn until it breaks the grappled target and closes. If the mage uses any number of portals at the same time, puts one portal inside another, opens portals crossing entry and exit points, or makes any creative combination of portals to split or smash targets, the result may change, but hit rolls and damage totals caused solely by the portals apply the same way and do not stack. Range: You must touch the stone to enchant it; after that, ~10 meters to open/close portals. The distance between paired portals is infinite (the distance between the mage and the anchor). Target: One stone, or at an extra 1MP cost, any inanimate object or location melding the stone into it. Duration: Infinite on every instance, even in extreme cases where the mage dies, the portals remain in the last state forever since no mana is needed to maintain those (the portals may remain opened forever), but only the mage can modify them (including opening/closing). Tags: Enchantment, Disenchant (Mag MP, must touch the stone or place)
(va) Fiat Lux: Every time this magic spell is cast, one pocket universe is accessed by the mage over an infinite range of options. One and only one mage may first access each of those pocket universes using this spell, and any other power could not first access those universes in any other way nor even gather any information about them. Still, after the link is made, other forms of contact could be implemented using any other power or tool available for such things, but only after the first contact (after the spell is cast successfully). All rational beings, dead or alive, that ever existed in that pocket universe are linked to Gate and Umbra after the first contact and could be brought back to life as usual. This means that if the pocket universe once supported rational life, access to this pocket universe could leak in spite of the mage that first opens a portal to it. To define the overall parameters of each universe, 3 rolls will be made: the first roll is entirely random, a chaos roll (d20) that modifies the rolled entry every time this spell is cast. The second roll is a Luck roll for control (the mage's overall intention with that spell), and usually, this is the most crucial roll for this spell. The third and last roll is another chaos roll (d20) that modifies the entry when it is cast, but this time, it improves or modifies the universe parameters based on Magnitude. As this magic nature is a mix of balance and chaos essences, the effects could never be controlled the way most of the other spells are. A mage can only open such portals up to Wisdom's different universes, and once the connection is made the first time, it is perpetual and permanent; this effect ignores everything, so if the mage wants to open portals to new universes and is already at its limits, the mage needs to train Wisdom before doing so. To open a single portal, the mage needs to spend the total mana cost (Mag) at the casting start, and it takes at least 8 hours to finish casting it. During all this time, the mage can do nothing else and must always be touching the portal; failing to do so makes the spell fail, and the mage must restart it all over again; the mage may need a Constitution roll vs. Mag to not fall unconscious after each casting. The portal is a perfect circle of (Magnitude + Wisdom) Kilometers radius that the mage positions at the start of the casting (usually, the mage sits on a wide-open area, and the portal starts to grow in size upwards, it reaches maximum size in minutes, shortly afterward wild magic effects and visuals start to react with the portal during the entire process making an ominous view, giving faint hints of what the results may be when it is finished). It is always a one-side portal (hot face always facing the mage to open, and the cold face to close) and a two-way (mage universe and pocket universe in-out connection). Besides the fantastic visual effects, the portal does not interact with reality in both universes until the casting ends. The cold side of the portal is inert on both openings (mages universe and new universe openings). Suppose a strong force starts to do significant damage to the cold side (more than 10 x Mag damage). In that case, it starts to bend the portal, making bubbles of space that, when collapsed, lead to the other side of the portal, but inside the same universe, any universe travel may be done only through the hot side. When the spellcasting finishes, it opens on both universes on an explosion of magic (and maybe an explosion of something else). If the mage remains conscious, it has 1 turn (5~6 seconds) after the casting ends to do something before it takes effect and the portal opens on an explosion. The mage has only this time to figure out what happens (Wis roll vs. Mag) and react somehow, but the mage may not undo this spell at that point. To close the portal, the mage must spend mana and time and do the same ritual, touching the portal from the other inactive side to close it. While this spell is being cast to close the portal (at least 8 hours), the portal remains fully open, connecting the two universes; even after closing the portal, the Umbra and any other kind of interaction cannot be undone. Every time the mage casts this magic, it needs to choose to open the portal to any previous universe he opened before or open it to a new universe, if it is possible. The minimum space size of each universe accessed with this spell is ~(Mag + Wis) Light-Gate-Years. Range: Melee, the mage must touch the portal all the time. Duration: Infinite (can be closed and opened again to the same universe). Tags: Permanent effect, chaos magic, ignore all.
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Spell Complements
(vo) Light Green - Space observatory near the Tempus King´s Mountain.
(vo) Fire-red - Heavy Metal Infinity Universe, near the entry point.
(vo) Pinky-red - with Petra
(vo) Deep-blue - cargo door of The Unforgettables schrogae ship.
(vo) Pale-white - Ellipsoid Dojo Universe, Petra's luxury room.
(vo) Light-yellow - with Petra.
(vo) Dark-grey - with Petra.
(va) Heavy Metal Infinity, Magnitude 1: An utterly inhabitable universe with tilted physics and very weak gravity force, it is filled with an infinite quantity of heavy metal(primarily liquid and vapor steel, but very rich in Tungsten, Osmiun, and Iridium) lava and vapor at 2100K..4200K temperature range. When the portal is open, a constant flow of hot lava jets out of the portal in a dozen-kilometers-long gush until it eventually jams, which may take years and may make the process of closing it complex because the jam could disrupt the other side if the mage remains near the ground. The lava deals (1d12+1)x3 physical damage on everything it touches in a wide area, raising the damage dice by "1" every turn up to the maximum damage (39 damage every turn). Anyone caught by the lava needs to roll Str vs. 3 to take any physical action (swimming is possible for Str 6+, if solidified digging is possible at Str 21+). 1st roll: "6": Fire, heat and metal, wild elemental universe, thermodynamics, and gravity may differ. 2nd roll: "roll result -17": (double critical failure, a mage could not control anything, the effect is dangerous, extra dangerous side effects at first time casting). 3rd roll: "19" The universe is infinite in size. Any effects related to this universe cause +1(Mag) base damage (weapons done with this metal have this extraordinary bonus and the weapon uses heat to cause damage). And any physical, earth, fire, or heat effects deal an additional +30 Damage only when inside the Heavy Metal Infinity universe (base: 30 x Mag damage).
(va) Ellipsoid Dojo, Magnitude 2: An ellipsoid with 42 light-years primary diameter (x 35 x 35 light-years minor diameters) composed of solid stone and air, temperatures near water freezing, and a respirable air atmosphere rich in Oxygen. The gravity varies between ~30g at the central axis and near zero at the extreme borders. The universe is closed and has expelling walls, which means that anything that causes 2 or more damage at its borders is expelled to the outside of the universe at a random location near the last entry point. The floor is made of a solid granite layer over solid compressed graffiti, with a solid structural lower border under the stone that supports up to 20.000 damage to expel things like the surface air border. 1st roll: 12: "Stone, simple shapes and solid universe." 2nd roll result: +4 "single success, no extraordinary effect." 3rd roll: 11 "Universe is larger than usual, has a few security improvements and only small quirks."
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Name: Frank "Firebreaker" Summers Species: Human XP: 98+6 / 10 Powers Super-Life Magnitude 6 Super-Mana Magnitude 2 Super-Willpower Magnitude 2 Super-Strength Magnitude 58 Super-Dexterity Magnitude 17 Super-Intelligence Magnitude 5 Super-Charisma Magnitude 1 Super-Constitution Magnitude 2 Spellcasting Magnitude 2 Skills Aerolito´s Dojo Training (Dex) +4 Bar Politics (Int) +4 Power Drinking (Res) +4 Drunken Fighting (Str) +4 (fixed - know it all) School of Communication (l_) (Int) +2 75/100 - Essence: Balance +4 Days: 5071 (0) Equipment 4375 spirit credits on PCU City of the Dead revival service insurance 1x Dual-ray trigger happy riffle (5), ranged, hit: Dex, 2TP\turn Ebexian Flexoclava (d12), melee, hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produce 1TP / turn Flametongue Flexoclava +5Fire: (2d6+1), melee, hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produce 3TP / turn, prototype (quirk: +9 fire damage when using mana wildly) Other Survival kit (food cube, shelter cube) Vabala, complete, open Northern Valley Shielded Bracers (1 parry) 2x Northern Valley Guard Armor (AC 2) 2x Northern Valley Stun Rifle (2), hit: Dex, dam: Dex, ranged, non-lethal option, unlimited ammo 4x Trained Magic
(lu) Unforgettables, Assemble! Enchant with telepathy and sharing perception up to Int targets (Int+1 for the Unforgettables party only) simultaneously, enchanted beings opt to turn on and off this power at will at no cost or to filter it as desired. Grants a circumstantial bonus of +Mag on mobility rolls and can share skills to make rolls using the highest within the group. Targets: Mag targets each casting. Range: Indirect perception (only for enchanting or disenchanting; after that, the range is infinite and ignores all). Duration: infinite. Tags: Enchantment, Disenchant (no cost, at will)
(lo) Pub Proxy Projection: Enchant one location so that you can hear/see/taste and speak/be seen as if you were present. You can keep enchanted up to Mag locations simultaneously. You make an Int roll for accuracy (with a +3 bonus for any pub). Range: Knowledge. Targets: A point in relative space and maximum radius of (Int + Mag) meters, expend mana to cast and expand radius if needed. Duration: infinite Tags: Enchantment, Disenchant (no cost, at will) Spell Complements (lu) Self (Frank): Str +4, Res + 4, Dex + 4, Int +4
(lu) Liora: Wis +4, Cha +4
(lu) Silas: Tech +4
(lu) Petra: Mor +4
(lu) Laetilia:
(lu) Amanda: ???
(lo) Rokatrista Bar "Taco´Bout Trouble Tavern" aka "Triple Ts," Gate, Northern Edge Region
(lo) Petra´s Heat Cliffs, still have no Bars, Gate, North region of the Kings Mountain
Name: Laetilia Gorgath (out) Species: Oioioi XP: 71+7 / 30 Powers Super-Life Magnitude 5 Super-Energy Magnitude 5 Super-Strength Magnitude 2 Super-Resistance Magnitude 2 Super-Dexterity Magnitude 2 Super-Technique Magnitude 3 Super-Beauty Magnitude 1 Super-Constitution Magnitude 1 Super-Luck Magnitude 27 Shardify (oioioi) Magnitude 1 Superior Technology Network (oioioi) - Structural (oioioi) - Know it all (party) - Superior Technology (architect) Magnitude 3 Skills Videogaming (Dex) +2 Piloting (Tech) +2 - Survival (Wis) +4 (fixed - know it all) - - Essence: Reality +3 Days: 126(0) Equipment Bare hands Other Secure private network nano-connector Mk1: enables connection with Mag1 safety 2375 spirit credits on PCU City of Spirits revival service insurance 1x Survival kit (suma fuel cube, suma shelter cube) Access to "The Unforgettables" technology repositories hub Personal aethernet connector (embedded on suma-oioi parts) Suma superior body parts (+27 bonus on any rolls to be raised from the dead, prototype (???) quirk: +3 temporary MMP when in Umbra) Superior airbike, space flight, +9 speed, +9 scanning, +9 dodge, +9 stealth, +9 communication, +3 hacking, pocket servo-droids (x2), +12 survival, embedded suma-oioi hypercube (shelter/fuel/cultural), +12 security, tech-meld interface (1000/1000), stat: +100 HP (base 10) Advanced seeker drone, +13 speed, +12 scanning, +12 stealth, umbral-shift (consumes 1 TP each shift), stat: +100 HP (Base 1), +2 MP, +2 TP (seeking the Golems)
Superior Technology projects People on development Silas, Laetilia 43 research/day People on prototyping (creative mod, may use Tech) Silas, Laetilia 93 research/day People on production (creative mod, may use Tech) Silas, Laetilia, Liora copy (1x), Laetilia copy (1x) 95 research/day Repair rate 950 / day Blueprints Flexoclava Foundation melee weapon + 1x internal energy generator 20 / 20 Research Sci-lab jacket Foundation main protector + regeneration 20 / 20 Research Dual-ray trigger happy riffle Foundation ranged weapon + energy(2) 30 / 30 Research Mister Snoop-Sentry, the 1st Network sentinel of 1st anti-horror 10 / 10 Research Mister Snoop-Sentry, the 2nd Network sentinel of 2nd anti-horror 20 / 20 Research 1st modified Flexoclava +5Fire Melee weapon of 1st circle, +3x internal energy generator 30 / 30 Research (+20 research for batteries on production) 2nd modified Flexoclava +5Fire Melee weapon of 2nd circle, +3x internal energy generator 50 / 50 Research (+20 research for batteries on production) Penta-gun 1st Missile Massacre Shoot weapon of 1st gen, + 5x internal energy generator 110 / 110 Research (+40 research for batteries on production) Prototype Silas´ Flexoclava Damage: d12, melee, Hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produce 1TP / turn (quirk: Silas got +3 hit bonus when using it) 20 / 20 Research Sci-lab jacket of disbelief AC:3, regenerate (quirk: AC:2 for magical defense) 20 / 20 Research Double-trouble Damage: 5, ranged, Hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produces 2TP\turn (quirk: +3 hit when shooting twice a turn) 30 / 30 Research Mister Snoop-Sentry, the 1st Nullify: hacking mag 1, bonus roll: +3 (quirk: on single failure, delay hacking in 1 turn and warns on comlink) 10 / 10 Research Mister Snoop-Sentry, the 2nd Nullify: hacking mag 2, bonus roll: +6 (quirk: on single failure, delay hacking in 1 turn and warns on comlink) 20 / 20 Research Stone Bastion Flexoclava +5Fire Damage: d12+1, melee, Hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produces 3TP / turn (quirk: Petra can free-parry one extra blow against herself every turn, totaling 2 free parries for attacks against her, and one parry against any target committing her action as usual) 30 / 30 Research Flametongue Flexoclava +5Fire Damage: 2d6+1, melee, Hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produces 3TP / turn (quirk: Frank has a +9 fix damage modifier if he ignites it using mana wildly) 50 / 50 Research The Pentagon Damage: 6, ranged, Hit:Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produces 5TP / turn (quirk: up to 10 safe targets, identified with a network key device, that could not be mistarget by friendly fire, the shoots completely bypass those targets ignoring any cover as if they does not exist, adding a +17 surprise hit bonus for all attacks and mobility rolls for one turn, but only in the first time it was used against an antagonist) 110 / 110 Research Production Flexoclava (complete: 2x) Damage: d12, melee, Hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produce 1TP / turn 40 / 20 Research Dual-ray trigger happy riffle (complete: 1x) Damage: 5, ranged, Hit: Dex, consumes 1TP / successful hit, produce 2TP\turn 30 / 30 Research Superior Technology Factory It does not need a blueprint; it requires a material source and 1TP energy for each other's projects. It allows mass production projects. 10 / 10 Research Mass-produced structure (complete: 120 = 1200 HP) It needs no blueprint, protects other structures or devices, and has 10 HP each. (plugged: all on training dojo) 120 / 1 Research Mass-produced auto repair system (complete: 8 = regen 80/t) It needs no blueprints, regenerates a structure at 10HP/turn, and consumes 1TP/turn. (plugged: all on training dojo) 80 / 10 Research Mass-produced energy cell (complete: 38/40x) Need no blueprint, 1 act. = 1TP one-shot, recharge as repair 40 / 1 Research Mass-produced energy battery (complete:12x ) Need no blueprint, 1TP/turn on a plugged device (plugged: 4 for Liora, 2 for Frank, 2 for Petra, 4 for the factory) 120 / 10 Research
The Unforgettables Assembly (Milestones 7/7) Maneuver: 58+6 (condition: Firebreaker on vanguard) Perception: 7+4 (condition: Warden on perception range) Tactical Insight: 5+4 (condition: Firebreaker on perception range) Hacking defense: 47+10 Feats of strength: Use any asteroid in the Solar System as a ball to play bowling (condition: Firebreaker and a solid anchor point to apply the force) Vanguard: Firebreaker, Warden Ranged: Stardust Artillery: Archon Combat Totals Char-action life aural hit dam def mdef dodge TP cost extra Warden 150 / 150
Umbra: -90 MP 7/7 135 10 0+4 regen 9/t War - melee 0+4 5(d12+1)+5 War - parry 45+4 45(d12+2)+5 X-3 X hit/t, 1TF free Exausted Flexoclava
(d12+1) to (d6+1)
(d12+2) to (d6+2)
Change damage dice to d6 Firebreaker 60 / 60
Umbra: -20 WP 2/2
MP 2/2 0 0 17+4 regen 2/t Fir - melee 17+4 58(2d6+1)+5 X-3 X hit/t, 9 fire Fir - melee TF2 7+4 58(2d6+1)+5 X-3 X hit/t, 9 fire Fir - brawl 58+4 58(d4) bare hands Fir - brawl TF2 48+4 58(d4) bare hands Fir - ranged 17+4 85 X-3 X hit/t Fir - ranged TF2 7+4 85 X-3 X hit/t Exausted Flexoclava (2d6+1) to (d6+1) Change damage dice to d6 Stardust 40 / 40
Umbra: -1 TP 9/9 0 0 81+4 Stardust (self) +10X X reaction Star - ranged 81+4 486 X-5 X hit/t Star - ranged TF2 71+4 486 X-5 X hit/t Star - ranged TF3 61+4 486 X-5 X hit/t Star - ranged TF4 51+4 486 X-5 X hit/t Star - ranged TF5 41+4 486 X-5 X hit/t Star - ranged TF6 31+4 486 X-5 X hit/t Star - ranged TF7 21+4 486 X-5 X hit/t Star - ranged TF8 11+4 486 X-5 X hit/t Star - ranged TF9 1+4 486 Star - Blast (rng) 81+4 X(d6) X push Archon 10 / 10
Umbra: -1 TP 6/6 5 0 0+4 Arch - melee 0+7 1 X-1 X hit/t Arch - parry 1+7 1(d12+1) X-1 X hit/t Arch - Blast(art) 47+4 X(d6) X push Arch - Nova(mle) 47+4 2X X all targets