POOHEAD189

The Sorceress and the Slave

"Yes master" Rhaak said as they moved, fear mounting in his broad chest as he heard the sounds of battle and hissing behind him. It was to Amira's and Rhaak's fortune that his legs were as powerful as a mules, and he leaped when he could not run past a vein of golden trinkets. It was indescribably heinous to throw a Pasha's treasure in front of Rhaak, the former thief turned slave, and yet he could not grab any of it.

At the edge of the tunnel, Rhaak set Amira down and the statues as well, making sure to place them before he and his master so any snake who pursued would think twice before striking. Indeed a few did turn their great heads, but with an almost supernatural intelligence, they decided to return their attentions to the guardians, a much more immediate threat. The fact serpents the size of small rivers could deduce strategies was chilling.

Rhaak then felt along the wall, drawing an upraised eyebrow from Amira that he did not see, his attention elsewhere. Once when he was a boy, he had fallen into a tomb much like this one, though far less perilous. His days as a trinket hunter and tomb robber served him well, and he knew there had to be pressure plates upon the ground or within the wall. Slight uneven patches in the stone spoke of previous work, and he placed his weight along various stone segments before one slowly slid further into the wall, and a door sized slab was removed as if by some mechanism.

Placing the Statues of the heathen Gods at the doorway, he and Amira fled further into the tomb through winding tunnel ways. If not for the sorceress's magic, they would have been lost and died of starvation as the darkness was nearly all-encompassing. Thankfully, the tunnel suddenly began to incline upwards, the dust covered ground an easy foothold as they began to ascend. Gripping the wall of stone and helping Amira forward, they were finally led to the exit.

They stood at the doorway, and their eyes drank in a beautiful sight. An underground chasm, where stone and earth had created areas where vegetation and even the odd flower grew. The air was humid and pleasant to breath, a rise in the ground from where they stood led down in a small pathway to the center of the cavern. Light filtered in from small holes in the ceiling, centering on the pool of water that bubbled lightly from the small waterfall that tumbled over a slab of stone, where intricate, flowing script caught the eye in its mesmerizing swirls.

"By allah..."
@Penny

Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

Seconds turned to minutes, and Neil yet again wished he'd brought his archiac MP3 player to listen to. It always helped him think better anyway. Ahead of them, the station loomed closer, growing exponentially larger. It looked like they were going to hit the station on the neck, between the first and second platforms.

"You know..." Neil said as they floated through the void. "We might need to think of investing in some space suits with thrusters. This is a biiiiiit dangerous." He inflected as if he was joking, but Junebug and he both knew just how terrible any one miscalculation could be out here. Even simple debris could cause a death in the endlass sea of space. He could sense that he brought the mood to a grim level, so he added with "but hey no pressure. So good so far."

"Remind me again why I don't order you to shut up sometimes?" Junebug said, though he only saw the back of her as they streamlined through nothingness.

"I'd like to think it's my insatiable charm." The Pilot replied with a smug attitude. Her next words he expected. "If we were not hurtling out here I would hit you."

"Oh come on. You'd miss me if I was gone." He still spoke as if they were at the drinking table. He would hear her sigh, but before she could utter a reply he felt a small bump on his chest and looked down to see an asteroid the size of a melon trucking along, causing a rupture in his thrusters. Even as close as they were, it would veer him somewhat off course. Turning his head to the left to save Sayeeda the movement, he saw it was merely the vanguard of a larger cluster heading for them. Thankfully it likely wouldn't reach them in time to hit them again, but he had changed trajectory somewhat.

"Ok don't panic" he said out of the blue. "But uh..." A cold sweat began to bead down his forehead and he let out a breath. "I might miss the station." He replied with as little emotion as he could. As they drew nearer, he could see it was the truth unless a miracle happened. The young crack pilot glanced junebug's way. "Just keep going to the destination. If I can, I'll meet you there." Neil tried to talk as if he was not floating toward oblivion. Looking straight ahead, he could see nothing but the impenetrable darkness of the nether.

Mere meters away from the slim base of the station, Junebug caught herself. It would give her the leverage to see Neil floating past the only anchor, and his face was illuminated in the light of the station. There was an acceptance on his face, yet a fear in his eyes. "Good luck, Captain. It was fun."

---

It took more credits than it should have to pay the engineers to cut a few wires, but in the end it worked. Though that wasn't what Lars Aldoon was thinking of at the moment. All he saw was processed prey stuck in a can. Thirty years as an assassin and bounty hunter, this was an easy job. Casually, he lifted his left hand and placed his forefinger and middle finger on his temple, and the eye began to glow as it searched for entrances into the Highlander they could exploit.

Behind him, the hard men Kramer had hired were armed and ready, though somewhat relaxed. They had expected to fight a reputable mercenary commando and a wanted fugitive. Those two were apparently gone and in their place was a scared girl they had with them, locked inside their high class freighter. Lars decided not to keep his entourage waiting, so he stepped forward, confident the girl had her AI turn on the cameras and comm.

"You there." He said. "You have to know there's no way out. If you come out now, you won't be harmed. We just have some questions. Will you comply?" His last words sounded nearly mechanical, as if his voice was amplified by some cybernetic means.
@Penny

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

I can't look at Tucker Carlson without thinking of this

Hider

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

Explain to me, what all these genders mean and what their differences are...I want the science backing all of these terms.

@SleepingSilence

Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

"Yeah I remember that." Neil said nonchalantly when she relayed what she remembered. He was glad they weren't facing each other, but Sayeeda could almost feel the mischief in his barely suppressed grin, not that she needed to because she'd hear his amused laugh a moment later. "But I agree. It felt good not caring what happened next after having to be so serious the past few months or years or, what-the-fuck ever."

As they trucked along in the junker, Neil was satisfied the groans and sudden breezes of compressed air didn't startle Sayeeda. She was a hard woman under fire and in rickety ships like this one. Anyone else he'd need to calm them down every few bumpy minutes. All in all, they made good time. A lucky asteroid cluster moved on the ship's left, and Neil decided to sway the rig a bit and approach behind that to make the going extra safe. There was no way in hell even an AI could pick them up now.

At first it was just a loud, incessant beep that penetrated their ears every few odd seconds, but about a minute or two later he could see the outline of the Kramer satellite around the big asteroid known as XL4-D556. A tall structure, with three circular platforms connected along a tower/cone-like design, spinning idly in the void of space. "Alright, Captain." Neil said, slowing the rig down, causing it to shudder almost uncontrollably for a moment until it calmed down. "What's the plan then? I can probably dock this thing near an exhaust port and get us in but they might spot us at some point. The other option, of course, is we can always bullshit our way in too."

---

Nondescript. Late 40's, balding. Clothing unremarkable but functional, and a bionic eye that allowed him to keep track of notable individuals. Lars didn't even look at Taya as she walked away, confident he could follow her trail as long as he stayed within 500 feet of her. The agent bit into his sandwich, casually drinking in the bustling sight of the Node, the tingle of exhaust ever in the air.

He counted down from twenty, slowly and methodically, and then turned. Immediately his right eye would see a soft red glow at the edge of the Commons, indicating Taya's fading image and last whereabouts. Even without his eye, he knew that corridor led to the hanger. What the boss wanted of the Highlander crew he wasn't entirely certain of the details. But it all hinged on seeing Cheng removed, and Lars guessed his new 'friends' were causing needless complications.

He began to move, slipping past a hulking green xenos. One of the few allowed on the station, fingering the trigger of his laspistol a bit just in case until he made it out of the crowd, and down the corridor Taya had fled into.
@Penny

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

Oh you mean in the aftermath of that financial crisis? ;)

@Penny

Haha! Was that not a world event? Or was it just us and Greece?

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

<Snipped quote by POOHEAD189>

Debateablely, I mean you guys had been fighting two massive foreign wars for 6 years by that point.

@Penny

Well, they were costly, not massive. But even so, I more meant the domestic situation.^^

Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

"Well," Neil sighed, running a hand through his hair and placing his hands on his hips as the bay door opened. "She runs hard and jiggles when you hit the thrusters. But that pretty much describes the substitute university instructor I lost my virginity to. I think I can handle it." Within a minute they were inside the cramped ship, dark and nearly too short to walk through. Multiple levers of unknown purpose jutted out of the wall at random intervals. There were only four seats at the helm, and each were sunken into the floor to allow a normal sized human a full area to sit.

He placed his hands on the steering levers, and noted even those had a ragged, sandpaper-like quality to them, bits of leather peeling off from frequent use. He'd driven enough stolen vehicles to know if he lifted his hands up he'd see dark smears on his palms. "If she blows up halfway there, just remember this wasn't my idea." He quipped, though he was just trying to lighten the mood. He wouldn't have gotten in it if it didn't look safe enough. Granted, safe enough for me is hazardous for most.

He saw her raised eyebrow and he returned a smile.

"We got luck on our side. The babe on the side reminds me of Zalli..." He said affectionately, and pulling the 3rd lever to the left, the junker began to jiggle and shake, before wafts of smoke suddenly billowed outwards from an unseen porthole. Yanking the rudder and keel thrusters, it slowly began to lift upwards as Neil entered the exiting codes. "By the way, do you remember anything that happened last night? Felt like I was hit by a Kerminian BulGor," he said, referring to those legendary horned animals that could send small tanks flying from their charges.

Soon the rectangular mining junker was out in open space, moving at its fastest pace, which was still about a thousand kilometers per hour slower than the Highlander's cruising sublight speed.

@Penny

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

@POOHEAD189 I moved here (semi permanently) in 2010

@Penny

You got here right when things went down hill then.

Scotland, Norway, or Brazil for me someday^^. Or I might just travel a lot I suppose. But it's a goal of mine to have multiple houses in multiple countries.

@SleepingSilence This is probably a dumb question since I am 99% sure, but you're American?

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

Fun Anecdote: When I first came to America I watched an episode of the Colbert Report (which seemed weird without the context) and then saw The O'Riley Factor for a while I though O'Riely was just a less funny version of Colbert. Eventually it was broken to me that he was actually intended to be taken seriously.

@Penny

LOL. What year did you get here?