Angel looks at Davis for a moment.
"Good luck, don't get eaten or your brain melted. And um...Front Towards Enemy. I think that covers it."
CrazyIvan
Jade Imperium - Break On Through (to the Other Side)
CrazyIvan
e of pi
Luis nods, and offers Davis a hand, "It's been a pleasure. You're the sneakiest, most paranoid damn bastard I've ever met. Just keep 'To Serve Man' in mind, all right?"
He then turns to Ngawai, "Keep your eyes on anything he ever does, all right? He's a sneaky one. Have fun with the creepy aliens."
He then turns to Ngawai, "Keep your eyes on anything he ever does, all right? He's a sneaky one. Have fun with the creepy aliens."
punkey
Davis smiles at their comments. He nods towards Angel and Arketta, and shakes Luis' hand. "Thanks. I'm sure you three want to get to Boranai as soon as possible, so I won't hold you up. Make sure Jonno makes it home in one piece. Good luck, and I'll see you on the other side."
Admiral Duck Sauce
Arketta, Angel, and Luis follow the tall, spindly, golden androgyne. A glance back shows that the chamber archway has already sealed behind them. The wall-nodules give a warm, inviting light to the smooth surroundings. They are joined on their brief walk by a familiar orb, similar to the shapechanging attack drones used by the higher-ranking Imperial Keepers. In a curious show of personality, the orb shifts into a fluttering approximation of a hummingbird.
The humanoid gives the bird a meaningful glance - perhaps a quick communication - before leading Angel, Luis, and Arketta into a duplicate of the Gate chamber they stumbled into from the Court of Heavenly Purity, minus the grisly bones and spent chemlights. A raised ring in the far wall indicates the presence of an ensconced Gateway. No glyphs and no encoding device are visible.
The golden humanoid projects: "Our ambassador/drone has reached an accord with the species inhabiting the spacetime to which you will be transporting. Your escape/objective is a homeworld/secondary instance within walking distance/6.2 kilometers."
The hum of immense power fills the chamber, bubbling up through your feet to rattle the air in your lungs. The Gateway is powered.
"Follow our ambassador/drone. Do not run. Do not interact with the native species. Do not look back - we/I cannot/will not risk contagion. Do not run."
The Gateway flashes, revealing some sort of massive tomb or ruin. Monolithic superstructures rise up out of view, shading the Gateway's exit area from a dull yellow glow from above. Scattered between them are more familiar shapes; older Imperial architecture, blasted remains of a planetary civilization laid to waste. Black glass stretches across the ground, cracked here and there but pulsing with flashes of bottled lightning across other sections.
---
The chamber Davis, Ngawai, and Swims are in gives another subtle shudder of movement after they bid farewell to Angel, Luis, and Arketta.
"We are now traveling to my/our/your home," the humanoid projects. "Relative time to arrival is 2160 seconds." It steps forward through what vaguely feels like a "forward" archway, revealing an extended observation area/bridge. The rounded walls are extended out into comfortable-looking seats - Davis notes the furniture shapes are improving with each iteration - and the far wall goes transparent.
Mostly, it just looks like space. They are definitely heading towards something, however. In the far distance, there's a bright light shining through mesh, a great gossamer wall larger than Davis' ability to comprehend. Even Ngawai and Swims, people who might have personal knowledge of the astronomical size of red giants, are awestruck by the structure stretching out 9 light-hours ahead of them.
Upon sensing the neural shifts in its guests' brains, the humanoid conjures a virtual overlay, projecting direct optic hallucinations.
"The bunker/habitat/home you see is a network of statites. They maintain position/environment through a balance of solar radiation and gravitational pull. The statites also serve to gather power as well as to mask us from hostiles. There is room for everyone; energy for everyone; safety for everyone."
The humanoid gives the bird a meaningful glance - perhaps a quick communication - before leading Angel, Luis, and Arketta into a duplicate of the Gate chamber they stumbled into from the Court of Heavenly Purity, minus the grisly bones and spent chemlights. A raised ring in the far wall indicates the presence of an ensconced Gateway. No glyphs and no encoding device are visible.
The golden humanoid projects: "Our ambassador/drone has reached an accord with the species inhabiting the spacetime to which you will be transporting. Your escape/objective is a homeworld/secondary instance within walking distance/6.2 kilometers."
The hum of immense power fills the chamber, bubbling up through your feet to rattle the air in your lungs. The Gateway is powered.
"Follow our ambassador/drone. Do not run. Do not interact with the native species. Do not look back - we/I cannot/will not risk contagion. Do not run."
The Gateway flashes, revealing some sort of massive tomb or ruin. Monolithic superstructures rise up out of view, shading the Gateway's exit area from a dull yellow glow from above. Scattered between them are more familiar shapes; older Imperial architecture, blasted remains of a planetary civilization laid to waste. Black glass stretches across the ground, cracked here and there but pulsing with flashes of bottled lightning across other sections.
---
The chamber Davis, Ngawai, and Swims are in gives another subtle shudder of movement after they bid farewell to Angel, Luis, and Arketta.
"We are now traveling to my/our/your home," the humanoid projects. "Relative time to arrival is 2160 seconds." It steps forward through what vaguely feels like a "forward" archway, revealing an extended observation area/bridge. The rounded walls are extended out into comfortable-looking seats - Davis notes the furniture shapes are improving with each iteration - and the far wall goes transparent.
Mostly, it just looks like space. They are definitely heading towards something, however. In the far distance, there's a bright light shining through mesh, a great gossamer wall larger than Davis' ability to comprehend. Even Ngawai and Swims, people who might have personal knowledge of the astronomical size of red giants, are awestruck by the structure stretching out 9 light-hours ahead of them.
Upon sensing the neural shifts in its guests' brains, the humanoid conjures a virtual overlay, projecting direct optic hallucinations.
"The bunker/habitat/home you see is a network of statites. They maintain position/environment through a balance of solar radiation and gravitational pull. The statites also serve to gather power as well as to mask us from hostiles. There is room for everyone; energy for everyone; safety for everyone."
e of pi
Luis studies the landscape on the other side of the Gate. It's a blasted wasteland, like looking at Geurnica or Dresden. He shudders slightly. Trying to stay light, he turns to the others, "Nice place. Think they get many tourists?"
Meanwhile, his mental card catalogue is pulling everything related to Imperium ruins, wastelands, and the like. All that comes up is Bakashara and vague references to worlds the Imperium cut its ties to. "So...where is this lovely getaway retreat, anyway?"
Meanwhile, his mental card catalogue is pulling everything related to Imperium ruins, wastelands, and the like. All that comes up is Bakashara and vague references to worlds the Imperium cut its ties to. "So...where is this lovely getaway retreat, anyway?"
punkey
Davis runs the mental arithmetic, and comes up with around 30 minutes before they get to wherever it is that they're...
The realization of exactly what he's staring at wipes away all trains of thought. Even without the mental imagery provided by the...whatever the fuck these things call themselves, Davis refuses to call them "the Masters", it's obvious that what they're looking at is something incredibly massive, something produced by a civilization far, far more advanced than Earth or even the Imperials.
Staring out the window at a sight beyond human or Wherren comprehension loses it's appeal once you process exactly what the enormous black mesh-like structure is though. At least at this point, where that's all you can see. Davis looks over to the inscrutable golden humanoid. "So, how many of there are you? What are the living conditions like on that...thing? How is this...tour, lesson, whatever it is, going to go down?"
The realization of exactly what he's staring at wipes away all trains of thought. Even without the mental imagery provided by the...whatever the fuck these things call themselves, Davis refuses to call them "the Masters", it's obvious that what they're looking at is something incredibly massive, something produced by a civilization far, far more advanced than Earth or even the Imperials.
Staring out the window at a sight beyond human or Wherren comprehension loses it's appeal once you process exactly what the enormous black mesh-like structure is though. At least at this point, where that's all you can see. Davis looks over to the inscrutable golden humanoid. "So, how many of there are you? What are the living conditions like on that...thing? How is this...tour, lesson, whatever it is, going to go down?"