Zarkun

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

Rave "The Shadow" Mallard

Frixion Prime

@FrankenDaughter

Rave was confused by her question as he continued his search, not sure why he should feel pain, and it showed on his face. "This was a part of me from the moment I was born, though control didn't come until I was eighteen. While it's been difficult learning, it was never painful." He grins wryly. "Well, for me anyways." As he searched though, he noticed her wince as she performed a task akin to pyrokinesis, though clearly it's nature was different. He reached out towards her as he noticed the subtle pressure being applied subconsciously from her to himself and winced when he touched it and felt her pain.

Suddenly he could see why it was inconvenient for her. Withdrawing from all the minds for the time being, he ate a couple more fries and took several bites of his burger in silence, thinking. What was so different between here and where she was from that something she did with practiced ease in her memories was suddenly such an incredibly difficult task; hell almost insurmountable obstacle if he was honest about it. "What precisely happened to you when you were left here to change things so much for you?"

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

Rave "The Shadow" Mallard

Frixion Prime

@FrankenDaughter

Rave sighed as she projected her thoughts and shook his head. "That's what I was created to do, what other Ghosts and Spectres are created to do, to break and kill those without our talents. The difference is that Spectres are more aware of what we do, we have more of a choice. Ghosts...they're like slaves, though under Valerian's leadership, Ghosts are beginning to understand what they're doing more readily, where as before it was mindwipes after every mission, with hardly any idea of what the missions they were doing were about after the fact." Picking up a fry, he dips it in the ranch before eating it and chews slowly while thinking. It was difficult to explain what things were like without taking her there, and even that wouldn't be enough, as things were still in flux. Never mind that he didn't trust that Broodmother not to make a play for some new DNA from her.

"In all honesty, the only Terrans I've seen a Protoss do that to is those who they're fighting or the Ghosts who go prying where they shouldn't. They used to have this strong mental link called the Khala, it allowed them to communicate and share everything basically instantly as well as keep track of each other over great distances. While they remain powerful Psionics, they've since lost the Khala due to a dangerous and powerful foe, too long a story to get into." He fell silent once again and then reached out, looking for the location of the arms dealer's shop amongst the minds of those around them. He'd brought around two dozen spare clips for his AGR and his C-150, but it never hurt to find someone who knew how to fabricate more ammo.

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

Rave "The Shadow" Mallard

Frixion Prime

@FrankenDaughter

As soon as Rave asked the question, Akagalcia's eyes went wide, she threw her free hand to gesture all around the bar and began her tirade. "Have you not seen anything interesting since you arrived here?" Rave couldn't help but chuckle lightly as Akagalcia quickly snatched her hand back into her lap and gave an apologetic smile to another server whom she'd almost pushed into a table before turning her attention back to Rave. "This place... My world, before I was taken, was nothing like this. My tribe hunted animals and used ...psionics... it is all we knew, to live and travel and search and fight. There were cities, there was seekegatha-erhm... there were civilized places. But no one knew the ingredients for sunfire or how to trap air and float rocks into the deepsky. No one even thought of it. Everything here is interesting, Rave. This world is different to me. And no one seems to know what I know, or know that they know what I know when they do know what I know."

Admittedly, that last part took the Spectre a moment to process and make sense of before he could reply properly, and she'd once more referred to being awake, which by now, he interpreted to mean that they were extrasensorily aware of the world in ways that others weren't. Still, it would seem she was very much not from here, anymore than he was, but the setting, the people, only bits and pieces were new, and this bar certainly wasn't one of them. "Only some of this is new to me, Akagalcia. I grew up in a place where we had interplanetary travel, plasma weaponry, though mainly for vehicles, powered armor. And all that was nothing against the Protoss, who are such powerful Psionics, I've seen them turn a Terran into a vegetable, person who only knows how to breathe and nothing else, with no effort. Their technology is centuries ahead of us."

He shakes his head and takes another sip of his whiskey. "Still, there are advances in technology here that'll help back home, and that's amazing enough for me."

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

Rave "The Shadow" Mallard

Frixion Prime

@FrankenDaughter

When she looked around, Rave half expected his unexpected friend to ask what he meant, but she soon closed her eyes and sniffed the air, almost like a hound dog would before declaring which way the prey was, before looking at him with a smile.
"I know how I know that... but how do you know that?" And once more, the Spectre wondered if she'd even encountered someone with psionic powers before, but answered the question directly anyways as to make sure.

"I'm a psionic, a person who's mind has been honed into a powerful weapon and tool. With it, I can essentially reach into another person's mind and know what they're thinking, they're feeling, and every piece of knowledge they've ever known, even if THEY can't remember it for some reason. I'm also, and this is unique to only a few psionics, able to produce and control ice and reduce the temperature in an area to create deadly blizzards and ice storms. I'm basically what's called a Crytokinetic. There's more, but the only part that pertains to answering your question is I read the minds of the people here. As I said, unguarded thoughts are dangerous things."

When his whiskey arrived, Rave took a moment to remove his helmet, which allowed a better view of his red hair and green eyes, along with his face. Taking a moment to enjoy the drink, he then ordered a simple burger and french fries with ranch for the fries. "So since you arrived here, seen anything interesting?"

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

Rave "The Shadow" Mallard

Frixion Prime

@FrankenDaughter

Rave's eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she spoke of her teacher, but he didn't pry, stopping outside the bar and listening to her. Then her tone changed as food became mentioned and he frowned. Serve? Apparently being a decent person doesn't exist where she's from. Rave beckoned her inside and waited until they were seated to speak, indicating he'd take some whiskey to the bar tender. "Look, I don't know if the concept of just doing something to be nice is familiar to you, but that's what this is. Order some food, a drink if you're up to it, and let me worry about paying. Thanks to the Dominion back home, money isn't exactly an issue for me. Or, won't be until I manage to tick off someone important in accounting anyways." With that said, Rave began perusing the thoughts of the surrounding patrons.

In his time on the run back in the Koprulu Sector, such searches had turned up bounty jobs that had kept him fed, revenge opportunities to punish a former Confederate who'd been involved in the atrocities he'd committed before joining the Sons of Korhal, and helped him dodge Ghosts on the hunt for him, since they had a habit of leaving quite the impression on those they questioned. Here, it informed him that a hustle had failed after one of the hustlers had left, that the hustler who'd left had left with the son a an arms dealer who was now in prison, and the second hustler had left after a heavily armed and augmented lizard person, called a Sykrott after some additional digging was done, went after a red-haired man with a dog. He sighed, taking the name and appearance of the arms dealer before retreating to his own mind with a sigh. "Seems we missed quite the party earlier."

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Jericho Joranis|Ride of the Valkyries

Jericho had been on the flank for all of five minutes when Ryder's SAM contacted him with a new set of orders; find and destroy anywhere this enemy might be able to rest during the six daylight hours that this planet has. "Copy that, I'll start searching right now." Carefully moving away from the frontlines of combat, and silently wishing that this mysterious enemy would quit hiding in the foilage and come out to fight fair, he returns to the Shadow Chaser and boards it, raising the boarding ramp behind him. Taking a seat, he opens a channel to Sarah. "So, are we looking to just annihilate the forest within a, I don't know, 15 or 20 kilometer radius of us? Or more limited? Because taking out a few hidey holes won't be enough to discourage further attacks by itself."

As he finished speaking, the Chaser finished it's take off and began to fly in ever widening circles as he scanned for the hiding places it seemed these guys would need to rest during the day. Of course, he was also hoping they didn't have any anti-air capability too.

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

Rave "The Shadow" Mallard

Frixion Prime

@FrankenDaughter

When Akagalcia asked what he was apologizing for, Rave shrugged, looking for somewhere to eat as they walked. "For the AI, since I knew the thing wouldn't apologize for interrupting us itself. Kinda makes me miss the adjutants back home..." Shaking his head wistfully, he walks in silence for several minutes, eventually turning off the main thorough fare towards a side street in a less nice neighborhood. Hopefully they wouldn't draw as much attention there. A bar stood out, it's sign reading as Nova and the Spectre nodded to himself, that would do.

"So what part of the universe are you from? Koprulu Sector maybe? Some unexplored corner of it? Or somewhere else entirely?" She was currently the only person he knew, so the psion figured making small talk would only help to keep the mood light.

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

Rave "The Shadow" Mallard

Frixion Prime

@FrankenDaughter

The excitement that came from the strange woman as she began to shoot off questions as if they answered his own, though the first one certainly came the closest to it. How truly I want to know the world? I was born into this universe, though until recently it was only the Sector... Still, he let her continue her speech, though he was ready to intervene should she forget that was a blade of plasma she had near her face. However, before she could finish, the droid owner of the shop came back out and she replaced her hilt solemnly on it's stand, and then turned around again.

After a moment, she smiled again and introduced herself as Akagalcia followed with asking for his own name. Instantly, his first reaction was to give only the alias that used to give Dominion Ghosts something to think about before pushing on, a moniker that had given him just enough anonymity back in Koprulu that his enemies approached with caution. Then his brain caught up and he caught himself just before the words left his mouth. This was a new start, better to give his real name than an alias here. "Rave. Rave Mallard, Spectre with Raynor's Raiders, not that that means much out here."

"Excuse me sir, but are you going to pay for that blade?" Mentally facepalming, the Spectre turns to the droid and, after several minutes of working out the currency translation, buys it for 200 credits, which translated into 2,000 bits, somehow. Turing back to Akagalcia, he beckons out the door.

"Sorry about that. Anyways, how about we find somewhere a little more private for the rest of our conversation?"

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

@Zarkun

Quick aside: The weapon definitely walks and talks like a duck. However (for now) while Akagalcia is near it, it literally can't erode or be damaged. There are a few parallels between psionics and Voidmongery, and given Rave's experience with psionics he might 'feel' something strange. It's your show.

@FrankenDaughter

Ninja'd as I was typing my post XD I'll wait one more post to notice if that's alright.

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

Rave "The Shadow" Mallard

Frixion Prime

@FrankenDaughter

The woman seemed as confused by their claims as the owner was that it had happened at all, even offering the Spectre her knife. As she did so, her thoughts echoed asking how awake he was and Rave frowned at that. Awake? Did she maybe know he was Psionic? As he took her knife and closed the visor again, flipping to the magnetic vision, he spoke to answer her question about the steel and plasma. "Well, no, it shouldn't. Plasma is a liquid gas at such a high temperature, any metal it comes into contact with basically melts or vaporizes on contact. If the proprietor would provide a sample of steel..." The robot hustled into the back and came back with a block of machined steel, setting it on a table used obviously to demonstrate how well built the blades were.

The psion beckoned for the woman to follow him and approached it, igniting the ice blue blade of the energy blade he'd picked up and then holding it in front of him after handing the knife back. After a moment of focus, a single slash carved through the steel block, where the blade had met it slagged into molten metal as the two halves fell to the floor. "That's the usual result of untreated steel versus plasma. Doesn't end well for the metal, as you saw." The robotic owner quickly picked up the two blocks and carried them back towards the back, muttering to itself about how odd it had been that a demonstration be needed at all since common sense dictated that was how it worked. When the robot was through the doors, Rave's visor rose again and he locked eyes with the woman. "A warning for future interactions with psionics; guard your thoughts and guard them WELL. Unguarded thoughts can betray more than you want." The Spectre paused a moment, unsure if he should press on, but ultimately deciding to do so, though much quieter as he had noticed the sudden lack of a machine body whirring it's movements on the other side of the door. "And what did you mean when you wondered how awake I was?"

He'd heard lots of different terms people who were unaware of Psionics and what they could do had used, witch, witchdoctor, psychopath. But awake? That was a new one, and one he wasn't sure he wanted to hear again, since it spoke volumes about a normal person comparatively.