Tales of the Cosmic Lords

[Starfire]

Great story! I really hope you find the time to tell us all the rest of it [img]smile.gif[/img]

Originally posted by Starfire: Great story! I really hope you find the time to tell us all the rest of it [img]smile.gif[/img]

I will, but it will be over a long period of time.

[ 11-13-2003, 11:49 PM: Message edited by: SecretMaster ]

[dplax]

Cool story secretmaster, hope you will keep this updated.

[ 01-21-2004, 07:12 AM: Message edited by: dplax ]

Here is what I have written so far. Will continue ASAP

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Roderick and Grimpak
We left Paluke’s shop quietly, not wanting to draw any attention. We knew this city was buzzing with Kui’sa-ka. If I’d have to put money on it, the Dark Savant had given those mad machines orders to kill us. He obviously didn’t want his grand prize stolen.
“Hmm, dare we take the eastern exit? It sure is closer to Upkyr, but it might be too dangerous to travel through the entire city.” Jorlon asked.
Arxite shifted his eyes, or at least I think he did, “Well, those Kui’sa-ka’s are extremely dangerous, and they are programmed to attack us and us only. If only there was a way to control them…”
SareClaw sneered, “You’re kidding right. I mean, c’mon, there’s no way we could control those things. The Dark Savant controls them from his black ship!”
Sensing a fight, I quickly extinguished this would be fire. “Ok, let’s not fight on how to stop the Kui’sa-ka. I’d go with the eastern exit; we need to spare no time. We’ll stick with the *back roads*. Stay by the wall surrounding this city, the allies, and we will snake southwards to the docks. Then, we follow the east wall to the exit, how hard can it be. Worst comes to worst, we can seek refuge in the bank.”
Everyone nodded, and without further talk, we started walking southwards, staying close to the wall. We all walked stealthily, vigilantly, and none spoke a word. There was an eerie silence in New City, there always has been since we arrived on Guardia. But the city wasn’t as quiet; we could here whispers, and sometimes normal voices in houses. It was a sign; a sign that things were returning to equilibrium. This would most likely be our last time in the city. But there was so much to do here, but so little time. How I longed to stay behind and free New City from the Kui’sa-ka, along with rebuilding the now shattered Gorn Empire. But like everyone says, all good things come to an end. But perhaps this wasn’t such a good thing, or maybe it was. Who was I to judge?
We had reached the docks, and were making our way to the bank, when our lives to a sudden turn.
Without warning, we heard a voice from behind. “Get down immediately soldiers!” And all of us did. We all recognized it as an Umpani voice. As soon as we slammed into the mossy tiled road, we heard a shot from a musket. Jorlon looked at what was wrong, and screamed.
“Incoming Kui’sa-ka! Prepare for a fight dammit!” Jorlon quickly got up, and aimed his blunderbuss. I pulled out his bow and began to fire. Arxite whipped out his returning shurikens, one in each hand. SareClaw ran around the corner, preparing to strike from the shadows. And Lorka, she started to concentrate. An orb of white fire began to appear, burning brighter than the sun. It was hard to aim properly with that magnificent ball of energy in your eyes.
“Everyone take cover!” Yelled Lorka. You should always listen to a magic user, because when they mean something, they mean something, even if there are 10 Savant Kui’sa-ka charging at the person.
The Umpani listened to her too, and he ran like the dickens, along with all of us. There was a blinding flash from behind, followed by a large sonic boom, earthquake, and a huge explosion. I fell due to the shockwave, along with Jorlon and Kaldrea. As we fell, another large patrol of 8 Kui’sa-ka spotted us, and started advancing. But as they were running, they all stopped, short circuited, and exploded into millions of pieces. I was baffled, in fact, I think everyone was.
We all got up after the smoke cleared. Three houses were leveled, and thankfully they were unoccupied. The streets were cracked and destroyed, and some houses had definitely broken seven or more building codes after that spell. We all walked back to Lorka, who was panting heavily.
Out of the smoke we heard a voice. “Where in the hell did that come from? Since when did the I.U.F. hire such mavericks?”
We all looked at the Umpani, who was now full of dust, and bruised a bit. We heard the quiet feet of SareClaw from behind, and he was also amazed, judging by the look on his face.
Lorka coughed, and spoke a few feeble words. “I, I focused all of my power to *cough* summon up a nuclear blast spell, though it drained my powughhh…” Trailing off on her last word, she collapsed and fell on some rubble.
We all rushed to her aid immediately. Jorlon examined her vital signs, being the closest person to a doctor. “She’s in some form of a magical comatose. I remember reading about it when I took basic medic field training. You know how every magical field draws it’s powers from some place; clerical from divine powers, Psionics from the mind, alchemy from nature and powders. Well, mage’s draw their power from energies, and focusing it into a certain form. The form they choose is the spell that is cast. Well, there are three factors that can put a mage into a magic comatose, and those are potency of spell, the raw power of the spell, and your training in the form of the spell. So, if you use a fireball, which is the raw power of the spell, at maximum potency, and you are not very skilled in fire magic, you can expect yourself to go into a comatose, though it is unlikely due to the fact that the raw power is insignificant to other spells that generally cause magical comatose.”
SareClaw processed all the information quickly, and for some odd reason blurted exactly what Jorlon said. “So basically, she wasn’t very skilled in the type of magic it was, which in this case was fire magic. Then, she used a spell that was extremely advanced, and tried casting it at maximum potency, and failed miserably at it. But she still she still was able to cast the spell, which is good.”
Jorlon rolled his eyes. “Yes SareClaw, how very perceptive of you to figure that on your own.”
SareClaw snapped back instantaneously, “Hey, shut up for once! Anyways, the one thing I don’t get is how the hell did she succeed, when she was probably not very good at fire magic?”
“Well, you see, there is always the slight chance that one may succeed even though it may seem impossible. But even the most skilled user in fire magic can go into magical comatose. You generally draw upon lots of energy when casting such a spell, which will drain her spirits physically and mentally, with the culmination of the three factors mentioned above and I am not surprised this happened. But there are ways to avoid this. Those who have mastered magic and have reached a point where they have a seemingly endless amount of intelligence, they may begin studying the art of Power Cast, which will prevent this comatose. But just remember, it’s not always fizzling the spell or successfully casting it. You can successfully cast it, but it can backfire, which will be bad for us. Anyways, the point is the duration of this comatose varies with the spell. I’d say she will be in this state for a good three days, if not more.” Jorlon wiped from sweat from his forehead, and started applying herbs to Lorka.
I was curious at what he was doing, and it piqued my interest, so naturally I tried to help.
“No, Zaxmar, I don’t need your help. Unless you know the proper treatment for this ailment, it is best that you leave it to me. And for all of you who have no clue what I am doing, I am aiding this recovery by applying some magical herbs that can restore her powers.”
Everyone stood in deep silence for some good ten minutes, until we were interrupted. “*Cough*. Well soldiers, I’m sure you are just dying to know why I am here, just watching this medic with you…”
Jorlon was startled, and looked at the gruff Umpani who had battle scars all over his thick, plate like skin. “Oh, I am so sorry Sergeant uh, sergeant… You know, I don’t believe I know your name Sergeant.”
“That’s ex-sergeant soldier! Get it right, I am no longer enlisted, and I would assume you aren’t either, or you’d already be on the Horatha and trailing the Dark Savant!” Snarled the Umpani. “And my name is Roderick Rackston, ex sergeant of the S.T.F.T.U.F.S. of the I.U.F!”
“Wait a minute. You’re in Special tactical forces of the Trained Umpani Force Scouts! And you’re telling me you just abandoned them, abandoned your entire race?” SareClaw blurted out.
“Listen you pipsqueak, you have no clue about our race dammit! How the hell can you make such an accusation as ‘abandoning my race’. The I.U.F. is more than a militaristic empire hell-bent on mobilizing the world’s largest army! The I.U.F. is one of the world’s greatest trading cartels in the universe, and we one of our primary concerns is to maximize business. Secondly, I left the I.U.F. for my own reasons, mainly because of moral conflict. But I am still fiercely loyal to the Umpani cause, and I will have no regrets turning you in to the local I.U.F. constable unless you tell me what you are doing here!”

[ 11-13-2003, 11:51 PM: Message edited by: SecretMaster ]

[Starfire]

cool! you write very well and your story is very interesting, can't wait to read more [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Rezdude03]

ALRIGHT! Finally a fight! its just getting better!

Go Roderick! [img]graemlins/2gunfire.gif[/img]

keep on writing secretmaster!

[ 11-12-2003, 07:47 PM: Message edited by: Rezdude03 ]

I will, just having a bit of probs recently. I'm trying to make this all work out. I have the whole story in my head, but the final copy (what has been written and posted) is different from the original thought. So I have to make it all work out and make sense. And I'm also formulating the next book, aka Wiz9, YES I AM MAKING ONE. But its very far ahead

Okay, the story is reopened, i've had it for awhile, but i've not really been on for a loooong time, occasional visits don't count, I can't remember when was the last time I was actually on like everyday. But hopefully, this will change, I've just gotten out of a huge gaming phase, and i've got to get cracking now. Just remember the no. 1 rule...
NO SIGS PLZ

We all tensed up. This Umpani meant business, and we didn’t want to anger this man. We all slowly backed away, leaving Jorlon to do the talking. No doubt SareClaw was planning to run for it.
Jorlon cleared his throat, and said in the strictest tone, “Sir, we are still here due to some confidential reasons, and by all means we did not mean to leave the I.U.F. forces. It was more of an accident, and I’ll have you know that we were just heading out to Upkyr, in chance that another ship will come to send reinforcements.” Jorlon looked content, and stared Roderick fiercely in the eye.
“Are you the soldiers that had that big showdown with the Dark Savant and the ones that executed that T’rang spy?” The Umpani demanded.
“Yes sir that was indeed us. But might I ask how you know about that fight, and how you knew it was us.” Jorlon asked.
It was a mystery; we all had thought none had known about the fight. It was also for the first time that we learned that the T’rang and Umpani had come shortly after our fight with the Savant.
I whipped out some parchment, if I recall correctly, and started writing for my book. The Umpani looked at me, and pulled a musket out from behind his back.
“Just what in Uhrinna’s name do you think you’re doing, writing down something while you are explaining yourselves to an officer?”
I was dumbfounded. Didn’t he just say he was a former officer? “Well sir, I am documenting this. I am writing a book, one that summarizes the life of our party. One may never know how long this Dark Savant may be living, and I am ensuring that this book will help future adventurers. And did you not just say that you were an ex offi-”
Roderick cut me off instantly. “I know what I said dammit. Don’t say anything like that. But now I am sure you are the people I am looking for. I’ve found you a ship, soldiers, one that is ready and waiting for us.”
A rather unexpected twist of events I noted.
I cleared my throat and my companions and glanced at each other, each of us now completely baffled by what was happening. They all gave me this look like I was the negotiator. Finally some respect for a Bardic Ranger… “Well, er, that’s just great. How very kind of you, Sergeant Rackston. But, I’ve a bone to pick right now. You never answered our original question. How did you know it was us?”
“If you truly must know the specific details of how we found out it you guys were responsible, you obviously didn’t pay attention during I.U.F. Recruitment. Did you ever wonder why they asked for you’re boots, feet size along with hand and finger prints? Well if you didn’t, I’ll tell you now. I.U.F. has employed some of the finest rangers and trackers the galaxy has to offer. Even some better than the T’rang, though the T’rang are the real experts. We keep a digital track of every soldier that enters the service, everything about them stored on a massive database codenamed EWAXX unit .5. State of the Art and yet this is all classified information. Well I’ll brief you further on this EWAXX unit later, we must get moving immediately.” Roderick snapped and we all prepared for a journey.
We had no clue as to how he could have obtained a spacecraft located in Upkyr, especially since most Umpani soldiers had already departed from this world. But Roderick gave naught but a clue. “Mook” he said, and that’s the only word we could pry out of him, other than the groans of agitation. So we gathered all our supplies, and departed (Lorka finally got out of her comatose, and was restored to full power). By all luck imaginable, we did not encounter any more Savant Kui’sa-ka, and as soon as we hit the eastern exit, we recklessly bolted.
But even the god’s themselves seem to hate us. We heard a mad swarm of buzzing quickly approaching from behind us, and still we kept running on the pebbly dirt road.
Roderick however, was not so eager to run. “To hell with this!” He yelled, and we stopped to look at Roderick. His blunderbuss was on the ground. He pulled out two pistols, and started firing. “I’m so sick of this damn Dark Savant and his Kui’sa-ka. No more running!” And with those echoing words, he began to shoot at the Kui’sa-ka with a deadly look in his eyes.
The rapidly advancing Savant androids took no heed to Roderick’s words, and they just kept advancing. A bullet whizzed by the leader Kui’sa-ka, and another hit what would be the robots knee, causing the machine to collapse to the ground. Another one got hit by the 1st bullet that ricocheted off the ground, hitting the chest and that tripped over the leader droid. Roderick fired 5 more shots on the 3 advancing androids. Two bullets smacked into one of Kui’sa-ka’s head, causing it to short circuit. One bullet strayed off between the second and the third Kui’sa-ka, and the other two hit the chest and shoulder of the 2nd droid, slowly its advance.
By now the two remaining Kui’sa-ka were closing in on Roderick, so Roderick threw down his pistols, and drew his walriblade. He was just in time, for the third droid was just about to bull rush him. Roderick strafed to the left quickly, ducked a bit, and swung with all his might downwards into the oncoming droid. The Kui’sa-ka met with Roderick’s blade with such force that it flipped over and it’s upper body was severed from the lower body. It was now a mess of wires, sparks, and metal.
Not to quickly did Roderick savor his victory, for the other damaged Kui’sa-ka was nearly at Roderick’s side. It punched at him with its sword hand, but Roderick ducked, and got behind the machine. With such ferocity, Roderick swung his blade into the back of the robot, penetrating its metal body and destroying the internal circuits and wires. Sparks flew at Roderick’s face, but he did not flinch. He kicked the robot to the ground, and grunted happily.
I remember that fight well. We were all dumbfounded; we just stood there, for 5 minutes with our jaws wide open. Finally, Roderick muttered “C’mon!” and we followed him.
After a few short rests, we were nearing the entrance of Upkyr when we were ambushed. SareClaw was still amazed by the fight back at the exit of New City, Jorlon, Lorka, and I bugging Roderick about how we could get off Guardia and Arxite, well Arxite was off in his own world ruled by his complex and nonsensical theories that had robots using tea as a power source- don’t ask, to this date we still don’t understand it either.
“Roderick just tells us how we are getting off of Guardia, that is all we want, nothing more.” Pleaded Jorlon.
“If you don’t shut up anytime soon, you’ll end up like that Kui’sa-ka squadron back at new city, now just shut- Ambush!” screamed Roderick. He drew out his blunderbuss, along with Jorlon. I drew an arrow, waiting to make my shot. SareClaw was caught off guard (figures) but Arxite had that 6th sense that always made him seem ready, with those deadly shurikens.
But we were too late. Hooded creatures had already surrounded us, wielding throwing knives, bows, and shurikens, along with baselards. Arrows were shot in front of us and close to our feet. We heard screeches and chattering teeth from them. A long furry brown tail and their brown fur gave their identity away- Rattkin. Not just any Rattkin, the Razuka, the Rattkin mafia and the real crime syndicate on Guardia.

[dplax]

Starting to shape up nicely. Looking forward to the rest.