The Spring Corps

Cha0sFerret · Post by **Cha0sFerret** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:43 pm

The man is stunned to see Saalima hovering. Then JunJun hits the floor.

"She'll, uh, probably be okay."

To Saalima: "Uh... I... appreciate the gesture, but if you really need it, I, uh... I'd rather you keep it," he responds slowly, still trying to take in everything. He winces as he moves his leg. "Actually, I think I'll take it."

Post by **MadBull** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:47 pm

P'rt looks confused.

"Inter-dimensiona... do I own this Earth too?"

The Monsterworks · Post by **The Monsterworks** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:59 pm

Kuruth'Ondor hangs warily back, not quick to trust any of these people, but then the green hair woman shoves the boulder away like it's a mere barrel and almost falls forward from the effort. She covers her initial surprise well and her near-stumble even better, but his trained eyes notice. The would-be-king or the cripple, he thinks.

The man behind the boulder looks bookish, harmless. His words are uncouth, but more out of frustration. He talks about things that, quite frankly, Kuruth'Ondor does not understand. The magic is strong in this place. It is pulling people and things in from other worlds. I am not on Gorpil. That much, he understands.

Gods, he thinks, if there is work for me to do here, then reveal it to me and I will accept this honour. He finds himself breaking into prayer and makes the diamond with his hands as he drops into a crouch. If not, though, in your power, wisdom, and mercy, see fit to return your humble sworn sword to the land of his birth - to his family, his brothers in arms, and to the green boys and girls who will need his help if they are to learn how to survive in a world of neverending warfare. This I beseech you. Mighty is Rikithru, wise is Kumi. Life is war. War is life.

He returns his attention to the world just on time to see the cripple rise into the air and the man with the injured foot place himself upon the strange...device that an injured person can use to move. He understands her now, and he almost smirks. Control your face. Show the enemy only what you want him to see. He rises to his full height. This one plays the part of the innocent, but she is a viper - never to be trusted. The good deed that she does is for herself as much as it is for the injured man.

Then the green hair woman falls. She is not so weak as to have fainted, is she? He steps forward to gather her up. Perhaps it is you he thinks of the veiled girl.

Kuruth'Ondor picks her up - she's actually quite small - and stands to the side, watching these strange people and wanting nothing more than to be back in Thrithikundor. He likes none of them. The sorcerer is a devilish creature of the water, much enamoured with her world's gods - something that he can actually respect. The would-be-king is arrogant and largely useless. The green hair woman he likes best of all, for she has admirable traits, but she's young and impetuous and will get them all killed sooner or later. He will have to break her like a wild horse. Kuruth'Ondor, however, does not look at the other one as she floats in the air, with her veiled face and veiled intentions. You have much to hide and your magic is powerful. I would not be surprised if your good deeds are a front for something else much darker. Yet, he says nothing. He has no proof, and he is not sure just how strong she is. Instead, he steps forward and asks the new arrival, "Where do we go?"

Cha0sFerret · Post by **Cha0sFerret** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:37 pm

The man climbs into the wheelchair and makes himself comfortable, then rolls over to the hat and picks it up before answering questions.

To P'rt's question: "Own Earth? Probably not. Given the, uh, environmental situation outside the ruins here, I can't think of any reason you'd want to own this planet."

To Kuruth'Ondor's question: "I guess we go to my boss next. His office is at the main dig station, on the edge of the ruins. I have a boat that should be able to hold us all. There's no way I can climb the ladder I used to get up here, though... uh... ah, right! Just a moment!"

He begins to dig through his coat pockets. "Nope... nope... uh-uh...ah, there it is!" He exclaims as he pulls out a small cylindrical device. "The boat has a lifting platform, mostly used to load cargo. I, uh, actually have no idea if it goes high enough to reach us here, but it's worth a shot, right?"

He presses a button on one end, and a mechanical whirring can be heard from below. Within a few seconds, a platform rises up to the far end of the room, and he releases the button.

"Ah, perfect! Looks like there's just enough room for all of us." He wheels toward the platform, but stops short and turns around.

"I, uh, never introduced myself, did I? The name's Gus." He holds up the end of his lanyard. An ID card is attached to it. "Everyone who works at the digsite has one of these cards. Part of the recent, uh, security upgrades."

The Monsterworks · Post by **The Monsterworks** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:48 pm

Security upgrades... The words are queer, but he can make out their meaning. Perhaps they have been under attack. Kuruth'Ondor follows at a thoughtful distance, carrying the fallen green hair woman. "I am Kuruth'Ondor," he rumbles, "first sword to Kogor'Thul, King of all Trogodoluk east of the Thrithikond. It is an honour to meet you, Gus of Digsite Three-Oh-Six."

Post by **MadBull** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:10 am

"Environmental situation? Anything my analyzer can help with?"

Alexjh · Post by **Alexjh** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:51 pm

"Greetings Gus, I look forward to hearing more of this place"

Ixtli then gets into the boat.

Cha0sFerret · Post by **Cha0sFerret** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 5:35 pm

Gus and the rest of the group follows Ixtli onto the boat platform.

"Okay, I guess I'll, uh, lower us down, then," warns Gus. "Going down is, uh, a bit slower than up. So I guess while we're on our way down, I can answer some questions. Starting with, uh... I don't think I got your name, orange guy, but you can tell me later. I actually have a proper response for you."

Gus shifts his hand in his pocket, and the platform slowly descends.

"So, uh, I'm not sure how similar Earth is in your worlds. Or if some of you even know what Earth is. But, uh, a long time ago, there was this really big country called the United States of America. And, uh, they had a scary military. Like, really, really big. And they had these super destructive explosive things they called nukes, and they could launch them anywhere on the planet, so most of the time the other countries tried to avoid making them mad. And, uh, that worked pretty well, up until about the year 2140. Right around then was when something went wrong. Nobody today is sure what exactly happened, but they launched every nuke they had, all over the place. Including their own cities. It was a real big mess. So, uh, yeah... we estimate that something like one twenty-thousandth of the world's population survived the explosions, and the radioactive fallout, and the various other things that come with nuclear explosions. Those who survived, formed, uh, little communities, and started to slowly, uh, come together, and combined the technology that survived to rebuild civilization. More and more of these little groups came together, and technology recovered, too, and eventually they were able to build Haven. It's this big, floating city... or more of a small country, I guess... in the ocean, away from the contaminated land. Considering, uh, how long it's been there, I'm amazed it's still floating. Oh, sorry, I started rambling, didn't I? Yeah... so I guess the short answer is, pretty near all the land is, uh, fucked up beyond repair and, uh... unlivable."

A few seconds of silence.

"So... these ruins? Yeah... this was part of the United States once. Really big port city on the eastern coast, in a region they used to call New Jersey. Whole place got flooded out recently. The radiation here isn't all that bad. I guess, uh, someone could live here now, if they really wanted to. And it wasn't... y'know... flooded."

Post by **Venice Queen** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 6:59 pm

Saalima grimaces with disgust, the expression visible in her eyes and face despite her covered mouth the america here is horrible too then

"ze America in my world is evil too... it acts with impunity, its greed spreading strife and war. ze war that did this to me" she speaks quickly, angrily, gesturing at her legs - or what's left of them - dangling uselessly beneath her. Quieting a bit from her initial rage "zough I came from a time well before you; two-thousand and fifteen. So ze Americans have time yet to wreak zis havoc, I suppose"

the English becomes easier to use as she gets used to speaking it again. before she had been snatched from her time period and existence, she hadn't spoken it in a few days. the vowels are still off, so the accent is still there - that don't leave, really, but she's at least remembered how to pronounce a "p" now.

"I could even be from zis same world, just in the past. zat I would like to know before you return us home - zat is what you plan to do, no?" but is this what I want? do I even know what I want? she pauses again, pondering this. she then realizes she has yet to introduce herself this still could be a trap... it's very convoluted if it is...I've heard stories like this before...kidnappings, never heard from again. later, you see something like their powers, on a battlefield, killing more innocents, the look of remorse on their faces, their bodies no longer in their own control...it's still worth a code-name, I suppose...

"I am Ghost. it is good to meet you, Gus."

Cha0sFerret · Post by **Cha0sFerret** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 7:53 pm

"Ghost, eh?" Gus replies with a smile. "Me and my brother used to use names like that in our tag games with the neighborhood kids. We always took them too seriously. Man, I miss being a kid..."

He stares wistfully into the distance.

"Yeah, uh... we're gonna try to get you all home. Unfortunately, uh, we don't really... have a way to force these rifts open, or control where they lead. I'll try to get my boss to direct our engineering team to, uh, work on that. They can only work so quickly, though. You, uh... you might have to stay with us for a few days. We're interesting folk, though... us in the fieldwork division. Bunch of archaeologists and historians and artistic scholars and such. You won't be bored, hehe..."

"As far as America being `evil,` I, uh, think that may be a little strong of a word. The recovered records, uh, seem to show the launches were, uh... unexpected. And, uh... the fact that they attacked themselves... honestly it looks like sabotage, or maybe an attack on them gone very, very wrong. This was nearly a thousand years ago, though. Who's to say what really happened, right? `Evil` may well be the case, I guess."

The platform continues its slow descent.

"So, uh... if anyone else wants to tell me something, or, uh, ask me something, we're almost down to the boat. And I won't be able to hear you very well once it's running, so, uh... talk now, I guess."

The Monsterworks · Post by **The Monsterworks** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 9:02 pm

Nukes. Whatever they may be, they are a weapon of great power - power to shape the land itself. Kuruth'Ondor remains silent and glances down at the green hair woman, still unconscious in his arms. He wonders what it would mean for his people to have power like that. They would not dare attack us anymore, he muses, and yet... it would not be war. It would be indiscriminate murder. He's unsure how to feel, so he keeps silent and takes in his surroundings.

Post by **That Kode Guy** » Wed Aug 03, 2016 1:53 am

JunJun dreams...
----
She stands alone... in a futuristic world... explosions... all around her... nothing familiar... the earth shakes...

She's never felt it more than right now. Fear. It permeates her very being. Everything around her is chaos, and she can't turn to anyone... for comfort, for answers, for anything.

Suddenly, one of the explosions occurs right next to her, and she flies forward into the ground. There is vague pain, and she cannot feel her right arm. Upon pulling her face from the dirt, she discovers that it is no longer there - instead, there is a bloodied, burnt stump. She simply stares at it, unable to comprehend why... how... where...

...all of which is annihilated in the blink of an eye as a large object catches her eye... it's falling from the sky... no, no she doesn't want it to hit the ground... please no... but it does, and there rises the greatest fireball yet, which swells in size rapidly and overtakes the poor girl... everything is on fire...

...and through the fire, there's a floating city... she reaches for it...

...and JunJun wakes with a pitiful cry that dies in the back of her throat.

The Monsterworks · Post by **The Monsterworks** » Wed Aug 03, 2016 5:22 am

Kuruth'Ondor is slightly startled when the green hair woman lets out a cry and opens her eyes. He has seen that look before. Perhaps, he has made it. He quickly lets her down, trying not to wonder about just what she may have seen in her sleep. "Welcome back," he grunts.

Cha0sFerret · Post by **Cha0sFerret** » Sun Aug 07, 2016 1:58 am

Post by **That Kode Guy** » Sun Aug 07, 2016 2:18 am

" 'Don't run too far ahead?' Why not? I wanna see this place!" JunJun grunts, not happy about having fainted. She doesn't like the idea of some magic fool floating out of their wheelchair and tricking her either. See if I help her again...

Almost immediately when they dock, JunJun leaps out of the boat and gets some 20 feet ahead, staring around.