[hr] [h1][center][color=purple]The Responders[/color][/center][/h1] [hr] If any of those with a view of the sky were to look 'up' it wouldn't be difficult at all to see the glowing objects flying through the sky far too high to pick out details beyond the short trails of light behind them, and the moon-lit smoke trails left behind those, though it was organized in a pattern not unlike a wing of strike craft The one in the lead spoke, somehow able to be heard by the others despite the ludicrous speed that would normally deafen them. A Chorus of 'aye's' answer the order before the wing formation spread out and suddenly dove... For a moment there was a sound of distant thunder, the sort that was a clear indicator for the educated that the sound barrier had been broken, before the spread out dots of light turned back up and soared higher into the sky and out of view, but the collective shock-waves produced created a wall of wind broad enough to spread over much of the forest, harmless it might be beyond ruffling the leaves, but it did a wonderful job of carrying the dust rapidly off into the distance, and spreading whatever was left, creating a better view for those on the ground 'and' in the air. [hr] [h1][center][color=Teal]The Changeling Crew[/color][/center][/h1] [hr] "Hoooo-wee! They sure got here fast!" The voice of his second snickered behind him. "Of course they did, their whole job is to be as fast as you can imagine... Just be glad they're not here for 'us'." Of course the wind buffeted the ship as it blew the dust away, though the brunt of it was too low to really make it struggle. "They were even nice enough to give us a better view of our 'visitors'... It's fascinating isn't it?" "Yeah, even at this distance there's just 'so much' emotion pouring off of them... unfortunately, it's kindof a sickening pool of negativity, but I have this horrible feeling you're going to suggest we butt into the middle of it all." "Well of course I am! This is the 'perfect' opportunity for us to set the foundation! They don't even know what kind of trouble they're really in yet, we can swoop in and lend a hoof when they finally find out... The feather-heads won't go down for a while yet anyway." "... I'll go make sure everyone's ready for a proper fight..." [hr] [h1][center][color=red]Captain Cloak[/color][/center][/h1] [hr] Eventually the burning wreck in the middle of the forest jostled, Some plate near the engines behind forced out and allowing those within to claw their way out, the first one being the red clad mad-man who'd been in charge, which nimbly clambered his way up onto the edge of one of the silent engines, giving him a good view from above the trees. [color=ed1c24]"Well isn't this just 'fascinating'!? I was sure we were gonna just flatten on the rocket and drift off into the Zea of Black!"[/color] [color=fdc68a]"Yer a fuckin loon Cap'n! A Great Glorious Fuckin Loon!"[/color] The next one to climb out was similarly nimble, and only 'slightly' less covered by their out-fit, revealing fur and a tail. [color=fdc68a]"Though it'd a been a glorious way tuh go out! Teach those Randy as Pirate to try puttin 'us' in chains, Hahah! I still can't believe we pulled off stealin their flag-ship and makin 'them' blow it up for us!... Gods! my Blood is pumping SO HARD right now!"[/color] [color=a36209]"Be.glad.your.blood.is.still.yours..."[/color] The next voice to follow was slow, methodical, almost bland beyond reason, and the hulk of a thing that forced the hole larger to climb out was the most bland creature it could be... It looked like a bunch of dried mud in the shape of a human, a very tall, unrealistically muscular one, 'literally' chiseled from granite... or perhaps, Clay, would be a more accurate comparison. [color=a36209]"My.Brothers.Finish.Remaining.Pirates...Still.Search.For.Bighat.[/color] [color=9e0b0f]"Ah-hah! Claysy! I'm so glad you made it! And Nardy too! If we can just find Cogsy we'll be ready to go!"[/color] He clapped his hands once loudly and pranced up on the edge of the engine port, ignoring the fire and hear spewing from it's center. [color=9e0b0f]"I know you boy's haven't had a chance to catch on to it, clambering for life, but we've stumbled across a hidden world! It just looked like a rock from outside! a rock guarded by an angry sun, an anomaly nobody would risk approaching... but can't you feel it?! This place is RIPE with hours! There's so much here I can 'taste' it!"[/color] The captain went on rambling in a similar manner for 'quite' a while... It was obviously a common thing, as the other two just turned away and started scouting out the other direction without him... [hr] [@ninja][@Rune_Alchemist] The Crashtle... I mean Castle, seemed to project a sense of forbodeing all on it's own, the closer one got the more intense the sensation it produced... though it may be questionable whether or not it would affect an artificial being such as Sparky. Visually though, it did just look like a long abandoned castle, countless large weather worn bricks created an elaborate labyrinth both inside and out, though inside it was the layout, and outside the random debris that made things difficult... More importantly, it was surrounded by a chasm, on all sides, as if someone had elected to just blast a moat out of the ground around it too deep to cross, rather than just fill it with water. Though there were rickety old bridged to cross, and paths on either side that led down into the chasm and back up the other side, not to mention caves here and there on it's walls. There were countless bits of the castle missing, obviously having crumbled over the centuries, yet some parts appeared as if someone had been 'trying' to fix it up, newer doors resided in the front arch, and through one of the ruined walls could be seen fresh tapestries depicting some form of winged quadruped's silhouette in odd colors... Perhaps 'most' importantly, as the curious droid drew nearer to the castle, a voice called out, one that was quite exotic with a thick accent, and yet the sounds that came from the voice were unintelligible and were unlikely to match any language that was on record. Though unintelligible, the vocal tones that followed seemed almost musical in nature [hider=translated]"It must be a Tuesday for me to find such a strange Sight, While great machines fall in the middle of the Night. Pray tell, Strange one, what brings you here, with the sound of destruction oh so near?"[/hider] It wouldn't be hard to find the source, there was a strange, roughly 4 foot zebra-like thing nearby, less spindly than other horses that may have been seen, with a greater range of motion on display as she approached, adorned in an assortment of golden rings and armed with saddle-bags full of various planty materials, a greater range of expression also demonstrated a healthy suspicion of the strange metal being that had inspired her approach. She obviously had no idea that they didn't speak a similar language yet... [hr] [@rangingwolf] How lucky that the ship had landed in a way that at least left it unlikely to go sliding down into the gorge, though it was dangerously close to the edge. Having been among the later crashes, the forest had been thoroughly awakened by the time Verrikan had touched down, and though it might noy be visible yet, with another massive disturbance, things were beginning to get riled up both in and out of the forest It couldn't be seen yet, but things were most certainly paying attention to the ship [hr] [@thedman] It was impressive that the ship had held together while crashing into a mountain, surely a testament to Directorate Engineering, It seemed to have found a stable enough place to land, appearing to have crushed part of a cave to make it even... and eschewing larger vehicles may have been a good idea as well, the terrain might be a bit too unstable, or cluttered in the case of the forest, for them to be effective. Given the thickness of the forest, it was already highly likely that the marine suits would already have some difficulty traversing them without shoving a lot of obstacles out of the way, or stomping them under-foot, but they could at least traverse it with out threat of getting stuck. A bit more importantly though... The adjutant's voice sounded off once more to it's new commanding officer *beepity-beep* "Sergeant, Sensors have been diminished and delayed detection, the cause has been determined to be this planet's air containing a high concentration of an unknown energy signature." *Beep* "It does not appear to be harmful, but it's volume within the forest has diminished sensor integrity considerably. It will reduce range of precision information and limit communication range until adaptive calibrations have been completed." *Beep* "Sensor's have detected distant sources of a similar energy source in much larger concentrations, Eight similar signatures are moving rapidly at high altitudes, and there is a larger source, both are in air-space above the forest." *Beep* "Mundane sensors have also detected minor seismic activity underground, as well as sonic disturbances resembling buzzing insects."