[Event] With Fire and Sword
boombox
They move toward the break, and begin to climb, scaling large boulders as they move up the cliff. Having been disguised to blend in with the natives, they are adequately prepared for the climate.
kola2134
Standing ready they see....
..a girl, maybe 17, 18 years of age, with red hair and green eyes, in a brown simple dress and a woollen jacket, with a clanging bucket in her hand.
She hops along the path merrily, until she spots the two armed strangers on the road, one of the two holding a nocked bow..
For her everything slows down to slow-motion as the the adrenaline takes over.. The bucket slips out of her hand and hits the gravel with a loud clang, rolling along the path before stopping in the ditch. She backs away slowly, holding her hands to her sides, her face being one of fear and confusion. Listening closely one could hear her stammering..:
"No.. please!..
Then, freeing herself from her paralyzing shock, she turns around on her toes, and starts sprinting away, while the gravel rocks fly away from her feet.
Reaching the top they enter the woods, a temperate to boreal forest, with a thick underbrush. The going through there would be slow, but possible. Along the ledge a deer could be seen asing, but jumping off into the woods after seeing the two individuals.
- Edited
boombox
They begin trekking along, slowly heading toward the town called "Forbognilia"
boombox
"A-Ah! Wait!"
He cried out realizing it was a simple person before she seemed to spin and run.
"God damnit, fuck."
He sheathed the blade as the feminine follower returned the arrow to the quiver.
"Stay out of sight, use them damn wings and get Infront of that girl before she gets us in trouble."
All he heard was a quick Roger and the white haired girl was already gone. He picked up the bucket and began jogging to catch up. She swept through the trees with a fast elegance as she slid to a stop just off the path before emerging Infront of the running away girl.
"Stop!"
kola2134
"..No! please- hah!" she stumbles but catches her fall and keeps running. "-Leave me alone!"
The girl keeps on running along the path, more than once stumbling and regaining her balance, before looking about sideways into the thick vegetation and jumping into it, hurried footsteps leading deeper into the woods.
For the feminine flyer the woods were a slight trouble to navigate to say the least, from above the trees there was no visual on the path or whats below, and flying between the trees proved to be a rather distracting task as it involved dodging hundreds of branches, trunks and the like..
ZendikaroftheWest
The going got easier deeper inside the forest as the underbrush got thinner.
There was a distinct smell of beer in the air though, wafting through the forest.. and before long they heard and saw the source of the smell, a cart laden with barrels trundling along a gravel road, towards presumably nearby civilization, being pulled by horses with a singular driver on top of the cart, armed with a crossbow to his side.
He hummed a quiet song while passing along.
- Edited
boombox
It was with a form of elegance as she seemed to glide through all the obstacles. She could stop on the dime, grab branches, or fold in and thread a needle. As she landed ahead the path. Noticing the girl was missing from view of the path. Her ears slightly perked as she listened for the breathing of the girl almost like a hunter. She could hear the moving vegetation as she turned into the deeper woods and followed the path of the girl chasing quickly after.
"God fucking damnit I forgot how fast she was."
The man exhaled as he kept up a fast pace following after. He seemed to tap something.
"Tracking. I'm coming up the rear still."
He said seemingly into the air as he took the turn into the thicker woods.
boombox
As soon as he was spotted, the first one, one Wulf Flakken, the captain of the sub, touched a button on his wrist. Instantly, his blue skin flickered and changed, turning into pale, human skin. The other, did the same. Then, just after the cart passed, the jumped out, and began to assume a pose as "Travelers" beginning to slowly walk in the direction of the cart.
kola2134
The girl fell in the woods over a lying tree and snatched herself up, running in a panicked state, before glancing back to see her pursuers catching on, and pushed away a few branches, revealing a cave entrance.
"Please!! I beg- hah..- of you! Leave me alone!"
Disappearing in the darkness of the cavern, her panting grew more silent..
Looking inside the cave it seemed to be a singular long and thin pathway through the cave, opening up into a room farther in.
ZendikaroftheWest
The road was silent as they marched, with nothing to stop them in their path, though the birds gave them a nice musical to listen to. After a while an oxcart came closing towards them, carrying hay.
The driver, seemingly a farmer halted the cart to look down to them:
"Aye. Ya look new here, can I help ya?"
- Edited
boombox
They send a quick response affirming the Germans, and then sit in waiting.
Meanwhile..
S-22 Kestrel, Special Operative 'Thanatos'.
The Engine of the plane gave a silent whirring as it breached the atmosphere, the bright burning flames of re-entry covered in invisibility, the vessel's gravitational manipulation field bending the light out of the way, which both blinded the kestrel and made it invisible to the outside world visually, only able to see and be seen by sensor systems. The craft quietly made its way on a slow burn towards the forest, north of the road between Forbognilia and Kar. It sat itself down in a clearing, the VTOL engines bringing it to a slow landing. The Gravitiational field stopped its function as it came close to the ground, a flicker and then a slight shimmer as the blackness of the plane's near-vantablack paintjob and sleek, but the angular figure came to view, the landing gear kicking out as dust and leaves are shoved aside. The cockpit hissed open, sliding back as the operative, Thanatos, stepped out.
They wore standard specops gear for a dominion operative, but with a hardy hologram generator hooked up to powerful batteries on their back, with a small pair of supercapacitors on their belt for future recharging while away from the kestrel. The Gender and features of the operative was obscured by the suit, but the voice quickly gave it away as they gave a slight grunt, hefting themselves out of the cockpit and jumping down to the ground with a thud, standing upright. Their voice was slightly feminine, but somewhat deepened by the thickness of their helmet. The Hologram generator would allow them to hide their outfit behind a false one that matches the local populace. She begins to look around the forest, taking in the sights and tapping in the rough coordinates of Kar into the little GPS on her wrist, that would be guided via mapping by the frigate in orbit.
boombox
Sabrina came to a sudden stop as she halted in front of the cave entrance. Giving out a heavy exhale, the human partner soon catching up as he arrived puffing.
"This feels like a trap.."
Her soft voice spoke. The man catching his breath as he responded.
"Y-Yeah... Standby, Onguard."
He pulled the blade from its sheath as he began to move forward into the tunnel. The white hair of the followed lifting somewhat in a light breeze, before going stale as an arrow was notched on a bow.
boombox
Flakken smiles.
"Could you point us in the direction of the nearest town?"
At that moment, he would notice that they are both armed, with Flakken carrying a rapier, and the other carrying a longsword, with a crossbow on his back.
The damp cave seemed to be quiet except for the dripping sound of water from above. On the slick cave stones the traversal meant a slow creep forward to be silent, but the two reached the main room of the cave rather quickly.
The first thing the two noticed was a faint glow from the main cave room..
It was dark in the cave, but it seemed to be an almost circular shape. This circular room was lit by two hastily lit fires on either side of what seemed to be an altar of sorts, consisting of a large stone inscribed in some unintelligeble language and adorned by skulls of animals, maybe cows or horses, left and right. The fires were situated in bowls lighting up the room in a flickering, warm light, a hissing sound whenever water dripped into them.
The girl could be spotted kneeling on a fur infront of the altar, mumbling to herself frantically in an unknown language, her fear could be felt through her voice and body language as she almost cowered while kneeling..
"ᚷᛟᛞᛊ,᛫ᛈᚱᛟᛏᛖᚲᛏ᛫ᛗᛖ᛫ᚠᚱᛟᛗ᛫ᚦᛖ᛫ᛖᚹᛁᛚ᛫ᚺᚢᚾᛏᛁᛜ᛫ᛗᛖ,᛫ᚷᛁᚹᛖ᛫ᛗᛖ᛫ᚦᛖ᛫ᛈᛟᚹᛖᚱ᛫ᛏᛟ᛫ᛞᛖᚠᛖᚾᛞ᛫ᛗᚢᛊᛖᛚᚠ!"
Her voice, while warm and soft, sounded laden with fear and determination through the cavern, and when she stopped speaking, she slowly stood up, looking towards the entrance, her eyes partly hidden by her hair..
ZendikaroftheWest
The mans hand slowly wanders over to his crossbow, as he notices the weapons of the two disguised men.
"Say, ya two. Mind tellin' me where ya from?"
He grips the crossbow.
"We had a problem with.. raiders.. lately.."
With that he tries to understand the two's intentions, looking Flakken deeply in the eyes, the rather old man seemed weak but at the same time willing to stand his ground.
The trees rustle around them from the wind as a tense silence lays between the cart driver and Flakken..
Brank
The forest was eerily quiet around, as all the close animals had been scared away by the landing, but otherwise everything seemed unproblematic;
The temperate to boreal forest around was overlaid by a slight fog, which made its way through the trees at the edges of her vision as she looked around. There seemed to be a clearing here because a while ago people had cut down the trees for wood and dragged them out along a path going towards the main road between Forbognilia and Kar.
Slowly the birds began chirping again, one after another, as nature returned to its normal state, and the sun weakly shone through the fog.
boombox
He stared at this display watching this girl and this weird runic ritual she seemed to be doing. His face filled with a dread before it snapped. As the girls eyes met his.
"Oh Fuck That."
He unholsters the firearm and blasts a round at the girls head that would blow it clean off.
"We are friends now calm down lady."
He tried to say in a calming manner. Sabrina seemed to vanish from view, like she didn't enter the room. She was moving out of sight and unoticable to the sharpest hunter.
She began her walk along the dark foggy path she had set on her GPS towards Kar. Her little defensive handgun was pulled out and in her off-hand as she held her main hand up, keeping track of her direction. she make on a south-eastish approach, aiming to hit to road between kar and the other city before she actually arrived at Kar itself. Her helmet kicked on with a reddish-white foglight system to light her pathway, two little pinprick dots gleaming into bright lights as they kept her path lit. Thanatos hopped over a log in her way and then grunted slightly, reorienting herself back onto her path for the long walk forwards...
boombox
"We are mere travellers, searching the world for natural wonders."
He does not seem to be lying, in fact, he even has a small herbal pouch on his waist.
- Edited
kola2134
the girl explodes in a nuclear shockwave
The girl looks towards him, with one hand pulling her hair out of her face and taking a step forward.
"You say to be friends, but you chase a helpless girl through the woods.. You say to be of no harm, but you bear arms and point your bows at me.."
Her voice is trembling as she speaks, there is still fear in her voice, but also determination and a will to fight..
And while saying the last few words she slowly raises her left hand in an almost beckoning manner with an open palm.. and with a flick of her wrist a ball of fire appears, a crackling sound filling the cave while the fire dances in the palm of her hand..
"Leave this holy place... Or show me you truly mean no harm."
Lowering her hand to her side with the fire still burning, she moves perpendicular to the man, watching him.. holding her hand as if almost ready for a throw.
Her amber-colored hair looks even redder in the light of the fire as she peers at the man standing in the entrance through the cave, fully focused on him, not on the surroundings...
Brank
Making way through the forest proved to be a rather simple task, as there was little underbrush and the going became even easier as the forest canopy got thicker and the underbrush even less.. And soon the road could be seen through the edge of the forest, empty and without life, a simple approximately cart-wide gravel path through the woods, with tracks going both directions..
The first thing noticeable was the trotting of hooves against the gravel, and the whinnying of horses followed suit. From the sounds a number of at least four riders came rolling in from the east along the road, at a trotting pace. Through the fog the shining of lanterns could be seen as they closed in, and breaking through the fog they could be seen:
Armed men on horseback, shortswords at their sides, pikes in hand and a crossbow hung on the horse, a lantern in one hand they patrolled the street. All four wearing the same clothing: A thick gambeson covered by chainmail and a simple helmet. On their pikes, directly below the metal points a banner flag was mounted and flying in the wind of the riders wake, the flag portraying some type of animal of golden color on a blue and black background.
The leading rider reigns his horse back, forcing it to slow down to a walking pace and looks around..
"Hooold!.."
"What is it, Sire?"
He shines his lantern along the underbrush at the side of the road.
"I'm unsure. It seemed to me as if something had moved in the thicket. Keep a watchful eye."
ZendikaroftheWest
The driver considers it for a second, then nods.
"Ah, you can't be too sure. Sorry for the suspicion, friends."
He puts the crossbow back on the cart.
"Do you need a ride by chance? It is quite cold out in these parts at night, as you must've gathered, and the next village is still half a day's march away."
He looks down towards the two, offering his hand to help them up on the cart.
- Edited
With the Parendam Beta being in a confusing hot mess, there is one less spot for privateers to group together, trade intel, resupply, or even receive jobs. Food and fuel slowly running low, intel gradually being more and more outdated and in turn, private contracts become more and more risky. Ao, with her sidekick Ralmia, desperately seeking deals preferably from official bodies, one in which they can at least seize more updated information, and that's when the GSR message gets recognized in midst of the stash of intercepted transmissions.
Ralmia: "Contract coming from the Second German Space Regime, a manhunt, and need to go undercover without stirring too much stuff."
Ao: "Hm...anything about the price?"
"There isn't one...should we contact the officials?"
"Not like we have a choice, route towards the nearest GSR station and just message through the same frequency, with the words "we would like to join the operation, but we want intel and supplies first.""
"Aye."
A contact of a privateer cruiser appears on a GSR border station, hailing over the channel used for issuing the manhunt, and saying something about supplies and intel.
Dumb
(as you joined later im gonna give you a seperate reply here or two to catch up at least a bit so its more fun for everyone)
//Transmission: Local Code//
"Zhis is zhe GSR research station in question, yes, you are correct. Zhe price is 5 Million Reichsmark, and zhe gratitude of zhe Reich. You vill need to bring own supplies, but ve are able to supply you vith a detailed map of zhe area and planet. You should start your search in zhe north near Kar, ve know his capsule vent down north of it, and zhat he operated in zhe area. Any further questions?"
(the map is this: https://azgaar.github.io/Fantasy-Map-Generator/, you have to load the .map im sending you over discord and it will give you a detailed, zoomable map with names)