Dark Void: Dawn of Eternity

[An Enemy Spy]

[Hector Alrost]

The chamber you are in is dark, with only the light of Fenris, Loki's largest moon, shining through the window to give you anything to see. There are four of you: Allutian prisoners captured on various battlefields across the stars. You were in a prison before, a dank dark hellhole teeming with venomous rats and fire roaches, in overcrowded cells filled with the filth of the prisoners. It was a nightmare, with no room to lay down to sleep and the brutality of the guards. The only part of the day anyone looked forward to was the feeding time, being served insufficient amounts of the watered down slop even the rats wouldn't eat. If you were to weak to fight for your share, you died. This was how the prison kept it's population under control, for there were always more POWs coming in from the front of a losing war. Of course, that was if you were lucky and didn't have to go to the labor camps.

Sometimes however, the warden decided to bring in some extra money by having people come for his "sporting events". You have never witnessed one of these, but whenever a group of prisoners was sent off to one of these events, none ever returned.
But here you are, ready to go out into the colosseum, you can hear the crowd cheering outside. They are ready for blood.

[Evicia]
You have spent several days in the women's prison. It is identical to the men's side, only here there is the constant danger of the guards, their animal like lust and their willingness to take what they want. It has been horrible.
And now you are being taken to one of the labor camps. You have heard about these places, though you have never laid eyes on one. The prisoners here simply worked until they dropped dead. There is no other way out. You are chained to a train of a hundred or so other women, being marched down into the dark valley of the camp. Most of the women around you are so weak they can barely stand. Every now and then one will fall. The guards will stop the procession and check her for vitals. If they are alive, they will be loaded onto a truck headed for a different camp, where a far more horrible fate awaits them. Most however are simply left in the dust behind you, their bodies will be grinded into food for the prisoners and for the fierce spike-hounds the guards use.

[whoiam]

[Evicia]

Prison had been harder for the cyborg than it would have been for most. Her first 'visit' from the guards had been ended by the production of a small cutting tool, and she had felt things would be manageable from there on in.

She was wrong.

Showing defiance simply made you a target, and a small retractable cutting tool the guards could not confiscate simply meant that when they came into your cell, they came in armed and they came in as a group.

What is worse is the rapid discovery that her tools were also useless for escaping her cell - true, she did have cutting tools, but nothing anywhere near large enough to get her through a door, or past an armed guard.

The work detail, though... that held promise. Depended how closely they were watched, really. Certainly, that little laser could handle the chain... No use in a fight, but then that was not her plan. No, the plan was to cut the largest section of chain she could, allowing a whole bunch of the other prisoners to make a break for it at once. That would give her a chance to find an exit, unmolested... Maybe unlock the others first.

That some, or possibly even many, of the others she would be freeing would be actual criminals had crossed her mind, but she reasoned there was little she could do about that. She did not know which prisoners were which, and it was unlikely they would accurately report their own crimes even if she had the opportunity to ask...

No, she would let them all out and hope it worked. Now all she had to do is wait for the right moment...

[alexeduardo]

Hector Alrost
damn...this was it. He was going to die here...butchered in a colisseum for the amusement of some brutes. If only I knew exactly who captured me...I'm certain that either Freyan or Allutian commands would intimidate them.
Well, I was in a cell with Allutians...seems a safe bet...

As soon as he goes out he stands upright and shouts:
In the name of the almighty Freyan Emperor, and the glory for which he stands, I command thee, loyal sufferers, to stop this carnage, AND LIBERATE ME AT ONCE!

[An Enemy Spy]

Evicia
You are marched for miles through the dusty wasteland. By the time you arrive at the first gate of the road leading into the camp, almost half the original party of prisoners is gone, succumbing either to the heat or the exhaustion, some even snatched and carried off by the giant birds of prey that inhabit the area.
A guard at the gate orders the procession to stop. As he approaches the captain of the guards leading you, you catch him looking right at you, giving you a meaningful look.
He exchanges a few words to the captain and suddenly in the blink of an eye, he has drawn a combat knife and plunged it into the captain's neck. At that moment, the guards on the tower open fire on the soldiers leading the prisoners.

Hector
Everyone in the room ignores your rambling, they are too absorbed in their own fear and misery to care about the ramblings of a man who has clearly snapped under the pressure.
As if on cue, the massive iron doors on the side of the chamber slowly open, casting bright sunlight into the room. Beyond the doorway is a long corridor of sandstone leading out into the arena. All along it's walls are swords, axes, maces, spears and all manner of other ancient weaponry for you to choose from. The other prisoners nervously walk down the corridor, taking weapons off the wall as they go.
OOC: btw, Freya has an Empress

[whoiam]

Evicia

Perfect!

The chains linking her to the person directly in front of her were the first to go, then the person behind, and then those binding her wrists together. Mentally, a coin went up as to whether she'd free the other women, or just make a run for it herself... and she ran for it. Freeing the other prisoners when there were guards watching was a good idea - since it would have given too many escapees for the guards to control at once - but right now, with the guards already distracted, the others would simply get in her way.

A more empathetic person would probably have tried to rescue some anyway... but Evicia wasn't really in the right mindset for empathy. She was in the right mindset for getting the hell out of there...

...which did, of course, lead to a problem. Namely, where would she escape to? But her mind suggested that the best start was to be far enough away from the column of prisoners that she could evade recapture if the guards survived the ambush, so she started with a run along a line perpendicular to the line of prisoners. Not so far she couldn't watch the ambush's progress, but far enough to give her a headstart...

Spoiler

Show

(1d2)[2]

[An Enemy Spy]

Evicia
A stun mine designed to keep prisoners from escaping goes off, throwing you to the ground. You are unable to control your limbs and thrash about like a fish for a few minutes. By the time you regain control of your body, a woman in a soldier's uniform is running toward you.

[whoiam]

Evicia
Well, that's just great. Of all the things they could have decided not to give me, why did they have to pick a mine detector? Well, that and weapons. Here comes a soldier and I'm not armed!

...Play dead. Yess... She'll probably believe I'm still stunned if I stay still enough, and what I need most right now is a chance to get a drop on her...

Thankfully, playing dead as you recover from a stun mine is pretty easy...

[An Enemy Spy]

Evicia
The woman comes over to your postrate body, and gives you a kick. "What are you running for? Can't you tell when you're being rescued?"

[whoiam]

Evicia

Eyes open, Evicia glances up at the woman. Her eyes don't match - the left eye's an implant, and they never bothered adding an iris to it. "...Apparently not. I did think you made a good diversion, however."

Well, if I needed the element of surprise to take her out... there it went.

[An Enemy Spy]

She unholsters her pistol and hands it to you."You're going to need this." She pints off in the distance. "There's a chopper hidden a few miles from here. If we hurry, we might make it out of here alive. Name's Dess by the way."
By this time a group of four men and another woman have joined you.
Dess takes your hand and pulls you to your feet.

[whoiam]

Evicia

"Now if only there was a targetting program in my system, this would be perfect!"

If only there was a targetting program in my system, they'd have never captured me in the first place.

Still, she took the pistol, and she'd follow her rescuer. Better than staying here, after all.

With any luck, I'll be able to get into the chopper's guidance system...

[An Enemy Spy]

One of your rescuers, a giant dark skinned man, pulls a pair of cuffs out. "Put these on. We need you to look like a captive."

[whoiam]

Evicia
Evicia glances once at the handcuffs. Then glances down at the pistol. Then back at the handcuffs.

Even I can spot the problem here. Do I refuse the cuffs or keep the pistol?

"I think you may need to take this back, if I'm to pass myself off as a prisoner." Holding the gun out first, and once its taken she'll place her hands in the cuffs.

No contest, really. I can laser my way out of cuffs, but I couldn't shoot to save my freedom.

[An Enemy Spy]

Spoiler

Show

Evicia
Evicia glances once at the handcuffs. Then glances down at the pistol. Then back at the handcuffs.

Even I can spot the problem here. Do I refuse the cuffs or keep the pistol?

"I think you may need to take this back, if I'm to pass myself off as a prisoner." Holding the gun out first, and once its taken she'll place her hands in the cuffs.

No contest, really. I can laser my way out of cuffs, but I couldn't shoot to save my freedom.

OOC: Sorry bout that. Total brainfart on my part.

He looks at you like you are a complete moron. "What? You've never hidden a gun on yourself before?"
He slaps an adhesive pad on the gun puts it under your shirt. Then he puts the cuffs on you.
"The guards should still be trying to round up the other prisoners right now. With any luck that'll keep them busy long enough for us to escape." Dess says

[whoiam]

Evicia

"No" came the probably truthful reply. "To the best of my knowledge, this is the first gun I've ever held."

Literally true. Of course, I was probably a soldier before... Or something embaressing.

"I do not have any cutaway panels or the like in which I could hide such a bulky weapon. Prison Garb is not made to be so loose and flowing as to allow easy concealment of a weapon. If my assessment of the situation is in error, please input corrected operating instructions."

Sometimes things just come out a little more robotic than I intended them to...

The adhesive pad came next, and cut Evicia off in mid-rant. Her originally intended ending was replaced with a more reasonable, "Ah. I understand." Followed by a quiet following of her 'guards'.

[An Enemy Spy]

You make your way through the barren wasteland for some time without incident. Every now and then, a patrol of guards will pass by looking for the other women trying to escape, but they buy Dess's story that you are a particularly feisty captive being taken to the torture pit. Dess informs you that the other people in the group are named Finlay, Myles, Troy and Katungi (the men) and Adriana (figure it out).
After over an hour of marching, you notice a series of streaks in the air far off in the distance. Dess stops and watches them for a second. A look of horror and anger come over her face. "Oh no, not now! Why now?!"

[An Enemy Spy]

Blaine
When you open your eyes, you see sunlight pouring in through the open window. A warm tropical breeze blows in, causing the thin drapes to flutter. You are lying in one of the softest beds you have ever encountered, with silk sheets and a pillow stuffed with down. Lying next to you, Noelani stirs. She smiles at you, her beautiful eyes lighting up (figuratively of course) when she sees you awake.
"It's early." She says, her voice soft and sweet. "Don't leave yet."

[mrpitchfork]

Blaine

"Not yet." muttered Blaine. He shifted and lay closer to Noelani. "Hi. How are you?" He touched her hand and shifted again. He does not feel lonely and he likes Noelani.

He remembered the message he got from his Freyan consort earlier in the week. He knew that they were probably suspicious of him, and even if they weren't he had to act as if there were no reason to be suspicious of him. There were some things he knew that he absolutely couldn't let them know he knew, even though most of them were relatively trivial. It was their triviality that made them difficult to conceal.

He remembered he couldn't share anything with Noelani, because, even though she's smart enough to handle it and even to help, this would compromise her safety and it would be unnecessary. But if she found out she would get mad at him for not telling her. He doesn't want to lie and he has a hard time with that but still concealing the true nature of his work. He says he 'works for the government' which is true but still deceptive. He doesn't want to hurt her.

He remembered he has to keep jumping through stupid annoying hoops to make sure people remember the name "Mr Pitchfork" and keep taking it seriously. He hopes Noelani isn't concerned enough to figure out what the details of his profession are.

[An Enemy Spy]

She kisses you tenderly. She wraps her arms around you and positions her lithe slender body on top of yours. Several minutes later she asks you the same question.

[alexeduardo]

Hector
Everyone in the room ignores your rambling, they are too absorbed in their own fear and misery to care about the ramblings of a man who has clearly snapped under the pressure.
As if on cue, the massive iron doors on the side of the chamber slowly open, casting bright sunlight into the room. Beyond the doorway is a long corridor of sandstone leading out into the arena. All along it's walls are swords, axes, maces, spears and all manner of other ancient weaponry for you to choose from. The other prisoners nervously walk down the corridor, taking weapons off the wall as they go.
OOC: btw, Freya has an Empress

Hector takes a short sword and approaches the other prisoners.
Look, I know I seem crazy, but that was just a trick to throw them off balance! If we work together, we'll make it out alive. I've seen combat, so you just stay together near me and everything will be alright, ok?

[whoiam]

Evicia

"What is the problem?"

Either it's some form of monster, or some form of airforce. If it's the air force...

"We would suggest that if it is an insurmountable one, we should move inside the city. Disguises are questioned less when you are not somewhere where noone is supposed to be."

[mrpitchfork]

Blaine

Have I been expressing discomfort or frustration? Does she suspect me of hiding something? No, whatever, I'm just being paranoid. My poker face is impeccable. There's no way she's seen something, let alone enough to figure out what I do.

"Thinking about work. Recently, they've had me dealing with relations with the Freyan Empire. They're terrible diplomats."

That's all true. The Anasazi Empire does want me to do relations with the Freyan Empire, but it's almost certainly an effort to get me to mess up and reveal that I'm a double-agent between them. The Freyan Empire wants to do something similar, but they're bad at diplomacy and they're better communicators in-person. Communicating solely through text or an audio feed with a monotone voice makes it difficult for them to read you, and calling yourself Boss when dealing with the most ferocious nation is ballsy, if not arrogant. They're learning to take me seriously even if they do suspect me of being a double-agent.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

[An Enemy Spy]

Hector
They don't even seem to register your existance. As you go down the long corridor, the roar of the crowd gets louder and louder. It opens up into a giant circular arena, with high sandstone walls and banners depicting the Serpent and Hammer of Freya proudly flying all around. The ground is covered in sand and stained with the blood of the men who were in it before you. The crowd numbers in the thousands, all screaming for your deaths.
In a large balcony up at the top of the colloseum, a man steps up he slowly raises his arm and clenches his fist. The cheering stops.
"Loyal citizens of the Freyan Empire!" He says, his voice filling the building "We are gathered here today to witness the deaths of our enemies, the evil Allutians." An enormous screen behind him activates, showing footage of Freyan ships destroying Allutian ones, Freyan soldiers charging heroically at the enemy, a shot of a soldier planting a flag on a hill as jets soar past. "Every day, our ships and soldiers take more and more land from the enemy. We are winning this war. A massive cheer goes up from the crowd. "We have for your enjoyment, four Allutian spies captured from all over the Empire. Their goal, was to destroy us from the inside, to burn our cities to ground and to kill our men and to take our women. But thanks to our brave men and women in uniform, we have beat them at their own game.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honored to announce that today, you shall all be introduced to a creature unlike that which you have never seen. Beyond the far reaches of our great Empire, we have discovered a loathesome beast, a monster so terrifying that a full squad of soldiers was required to subdue it. These Allutians will battle the deadly beast for your enjoyment.
And now, without further ado, LET THE GAME BEGIN!!!"
The crowd goes absolutely wild, the moment they have waited for is finally here.
Slowly, an iron door on the far wall of the arena opens. Many in the crowd gasp. For out of the doorway steps an alien creature, 7 feet tall and covered with chitinous armor. It has four arms, two with enormous clawed hands and the other two sporting deadly scythes of bone. It's muscular leags are clearly designed for long jumps. On top of it's head is a large bony plate (like a triceratops). It lets out a loud high pitched scream and charges at the four of you.

Evicia
"There are no cities around here. It's an Allutian lighting raid, I'd hoped we would be able to get out of here before it arrived so the Freyans would be too preocupied about the attack to search for a lost prisoner. We have to get out of here now."
Myles, takes out a knife, and hits a button on it. The whole blade crackles with energy. He cuts your manacles off with it. The whole group takes off at a run.

Blaine
"I'll go make us some eggs." Noelani gets up, wrapping a sheet around her body, and leaves the room. Seconds later your hear her start to scream, and be cut off almost immediately.

[An Enemy Spy]

Robert
Explosions fill the black void, eerily silent. All around, ships are firing crimson red pulse cannons and launching missiles, filling space with thin trails of smoke. The ship you are on, the Caleuche is fleeing from a massive Freyan fleet, filled with battleships and carriers. Most of your fleet has been destroyed. You sit in a ball turret at the back. All around, enemy fighters dart at high speed firng on your ship. A freyan destroyer is closing in in the distance.

[mrpitchfork]

Blaine

Damnit! I've been found!

Blaine slips quietly out of bed. He puts on his bathrobe and unlocks his desk drawer and grabs his gun. He also grabs his knife, in case there was going to be a melee, where guns would be useless. He hides both in his sleeves and walks quietly to the doorway and tries to glance around the corner. He hadn't set up a surveillance system or any inconspicuous mirrors around the house for this, because Noelani would inevitably notice them.

She might not be dead. If she's not dead, they might not know I'm here. If she is dead, they'll know I'm here and I'm most certainly next. If she's alive and they know I'm here, then they want to negotiate. Chances are, they know I'm here... No, wait. Maybe it's some surprise party thrown by Noelani's friends. But I told her not to let people in my house. She wouldn't ignore that kind of request. They must have found out, or they suspect me enough to bring me in for questioning.

"Alright. Tell me who you are and why you're here. Leave her alone."

[An Enemy Spy]

"Good morning Mr. Pitchfork. Or should I call you Blaine. I assure you that the girl has not been harmed, though if you do not come around that corner with empty hands in four seconds, her safety cannot be guarunteed." A voice says. It sounds like a man, somewhere between middle aged and old.

[mrpitchfork]

How well can I conceal my gun? I know I can conceal the knife very well. It's not worth it to keep the gun concealed. If I want any chance of gaining this guy's trust later, I should comply with his demands and not try to trick him or let him know I've tricked him. He hasn't contacted me conventionally. He doesn't think I'll comply with his demands, whatever they are. He'll probably take me captive. I can't stop him if he tries to gas me, but he may try to club me. I should keep my back to the wall when I reveal myself.

I have to dispose of the gun and make it seem like it's the only thing I'm carrying. If I drop it loudly that might be too obvious that I'm trying to call attention to it. I could drop it normally and kick it out to him. He might be lying. I'll keep the knife in my sleeve.

Blaine drops the gun very obviously, so it's obvious to the man that he wants the drop to be seen. Then he comes around the corner, back to the wall, hands up. "Answer my question please."

[An Enemy Spy]

A thin reedy white haired man sits in a chair with his hands folded in his lap. Noelani is gripped by her arms by a large thuggish looking man. Two more thugs are in the room, one pointing a pulse pistol at Noelani, the other pointing one at you.
"I'm so glad you didn't feel you had to resort to violence Mr. Pitchfork. I would hate to end the life of such an exquisitely beautiful specimen. And the woman too.
But now Mr. Pitchfork, I would love to engage in lively conversation, but I am a very busy man, and business is the reason I have paid a visit to your lovely home. You see Mr. Pitchfork, war is a very profitable business, and the longer it is allowed to continue, the more lucrative it becomes. Unfortunately, the war between the Freyans and the Allutians that have made such a great deal of people quite wealthy indeed, is beginning to end. Oh, I know what you must be thinking, Mr. Pitchfork, 'why, the war is still going quite strong, how could there be and end in sight?' Well, Mr. Pitchfork, as cynical and jaded as I like to think of myself as being, I must acknowledge the fact that heroism in fact does exist in war, and that one single commander could change the fate of the known galaxy."
He pulls a small holoprojector out of his pocket and turns it on. In the air floats an image of a young man wearing a long black leather overcoat. In the air floats the word Cpt. Desmond I.F.S. Pale Horse along with a list of medals and honors he has accomplished.
"You see Mr. Pitchfork, this young man here is responsible for the success of nearly every campaign the Freyans have launched against the Allutians. It could be that he is in possession of a keen tactical mind and a willingness to take risks. Personally, I believe him to a mediocre captain at best who is merely in possession of an extremely powerful warship. One of the only Freyan battlecruisers in existance in fact. Though as a government triple agent, I'm sure you are already aware of this. Besides, I did not come here to discuss the merits of this fine young man.
I came here to give you a mission, unlike any you have ever had before. My employer is the one who gave me the mission, but he left it up to me to decide who shall carry it out. Do you know why I chose you Mr. Pitchfork? I have read your entire record. Oh, don't give that look, of course it's top secret. But no secret is safe from anyone is it Mr. Pitchfork. You of all people should know this.
Your job is to join onto the Pale Horse's crew and capture the captain. If at all possible, you are to capture his second and third in commands as well."
He pushes another button on the projector and to more people show up on it, a man named Com. Michael Torres and a woman named Lt Com. Celine.
" When you have accomplished this task, I will send you a message. In the meantime, to make sure that you continue to be a good little worker for us, my associate here," He motions to the thug holding Noelani, "will stay with your little beauty here. Do not attempt to contact us, and do not alert the authorities of our presence, or we shall melt away into the shadows and never be seen again. I'm afraid we'll have to take the woman with us. I hear a dear sweet little butterfly like her could sell for a fetching price on the slave market. If you have any questions, Mr. Pitchfork, now is the time to ask."

[mrpitchfork]

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Double-agent.

Well now.

"Hahaha. That's it? You guys could have just come to my door." Blaine puts his hands down and reclines against the wall, breaking eye contact with everyone. He had to communicate that he was unimpressed, very nonchalant, and that he had seen better. The guns were just for show.

"So, old guy. Tell these guys to listen to me. Don't worry, I'm way more civil and reasonable about things than you are. I just want them to escort Noelani to the kitchen, where she can make eggs and tea and put on music for everyone. Supervised. And she will treat them nicely, because she's a very hospitable host and she's very nice to people." He looks at Noelani reassuringly. Then he looks to the thugs menacing Noelani and asks them, sincerely and friendly, "Hello, people. What are your names?" He addresses both thugs menacing Noelani but keeps eye contact with the one holding her. He wants to disrupt the tree of authority here by downsizing the old man and making the thugs feel respected by him but not by the old man. This is both an effort to intimidate and impress the man by showing that he himself is not at all impressed and to display his powers of manipulation.

[whoiam]

Evicia
With a quick nod, Evicia joins the group in sprinting for what, presumeably, is the helicopter.

How much do they know about me? Well, I may as well go for the obvious.

"Why were you sent to retrieve me, specifically?"

If they know it's because I'm... altered... then I can do what I like to get out of here. IFF tricks, I think.