[Nexus] Space

[GrandDM]

Here's a thread for anything out in space that doesn't really fit elsewhere. Normal space rules apply - zero gravity, vacuum, radiation etc.

[GrandDM]

[To Space]

Amelia watches the video testing sensors and the boots. She doesn't stay stuck to the floor for too long. So when he comes back she has already unlatched herself and is floating around. She seems pretty at ease in zero gravity. Harald might also get a glimpse at some of her ablities as she floats around. Mainly in the form of her summoning small golden glowing rods that float in the air, she uses these to manuver easier in mid-air.

She follows him through the rocket wishing she had more time to gawk at some of this stuff, or a video camera to record some of this stuff.

If he gave her no warning about the gravity returning she is floating in an awkward postion to land in. Even still she has quick reflexes and twists her legs under her so that one of her feet can make solid contact with the floor. Then with a fairly impressive feat of balance and strength she rights herself without falling or looking very foolish. She does shoot a glare at Harald though.

Harald nods with approval as she lands. He doesn't see the glare, mainly because the helmets are completely full-face. Just smooth, blank metal.

Stepping forward, he throws a hard, fast punch at Amelia's face.

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia doesn't appreciate it when employers attack her. She doesn't appreciate it one bit, even if they are just testing her and not trying to kill her. Not that she is making any assumptions just yet.

Harald should find himself punching a solid plate of light that appeared out of nowhere between his fist and Amelia's face. It is about as solid as a few inches of concrete, so unless he can punch through that he should have a pretty sore hand in a second.

At the same time that is popping into existance a bar of bright golden light appears infront of his where his eyes should be. Even if the helmet stops him from being blinded by the light it should block his vision. This should make it easier for her to sidestep the blocked punch, trip him up and knee on his throat, which is what she tries to do now.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia doesn't appreciate it when employers attack her. She doesn't appreciate it one bit, even if they are just testing her and not trying to kill her. Not that she is making any assumptions just yet.

Harald should find himself punching a solid plate of light that appeared out of nowhere between his fist and Amelia's face. It is about as solid as a few inches of concrete, so unless he can punch through that he should have a pretty sore hand in a second.

At the same time that is popping into existance a bar of bright golden light appears infront of his where his eyes should be. Even if the helmet stops him from being blinded by the light it should block his vision. This should make it easier for her to sidestep the blocked punch, trip him up and knee on his throat, which is what she tries to do now.

As the fist hits the plate, it breaks apart and pieces of metal and wire fall to the ground. The trip is successful, and the knee separates the head from the body, revealing sparking wires. The suit flickers and disappears - a hologram - revealing a dull silver-grey robot. At the same time, a control booth is revealed up above. Harald stands inside it, helmet off, grinning widely.

"Impressive. I wasn't expecting that. I hope you'll forgive me - I needed to see how you'd react in a situation like that. I hardly have to say that you passed with flying colours."

Picking up his helmet, he jumps out of the booth and falls to the ground, a drop easily fifty feet long, rolls, and stands.

"If you'd like to hit me, now's the time. I'd actually appreciate it, as I need to test my new - actually, I shouldn't tell you that. Suffice to say that if you want to hit me, go ahead."

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

"If you wanted to find out how I reacted when my employer tries to attack me you should have tracked down my last employer." Finding him and his goons dead would have anwsered any questions he might have.

Normally she wouldn't hit him because hitting the people paying you isn't a good call. But she is annoyed, and he did ask her two. So a well placed and strength enhanced kick aim to hit him in the stomach, she doesn't give him any warning but he should probably be expecting it.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

"If you wanted to find out how I reacted when my employer tries to attack me you should have tracked down my last employer." Finding him and his goons dead would have anwsered any questions he might have.

Normally she wouldn't hit him because hitting the people paying you isn't a good call. But she is annoyed, and he did ask her two. So a well placed and strength enhanced kick aim to hit him in the stomach, she doesn't give him any warning but he should probably be expecting it.

Harald allows it to impact, knocking him backwards onto the floor.

"Ow. I think something broke. Mastermind, scan please."

"Scan complete. Minor damage to internal organs. Due to mission time parameters, I recommend a body-shift to the Mark 8 instead of one of the experimental Mark 9's. Implement?"

Harald sighs.

"I really thought I'd improved that sequence. Then again, you can never really tell what the result will be with genetics. Implement transfer to the Mark 8 clone, and prepare the Annihilator for transfer. I think I might need it, given the latest scans you gave me."

With that, he collapses fully. A moment later, there's a gurgling sound, like water in pipes from above. When that stops, there's a hiss, followed after a few seconds by the sound of footsteps on the ladder.

Another Harald descends - slightly different to the one lying on the floor, but not anything major. He's dripping wet and wearing only a towel. He moves over to the Harald on the floor, pulls off all the armour and begins to put it on.

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

She doesn't like the sound of the Annihlator thing, sounds omnious. "So you grow yourself bodies to suit your purpose?" Amelia says to Harald as he is putting on his armor. She will advert her eyes to avoid seeing him get dressed.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

She doesn't like the sound of the Annihlator thing, sounds omnious. "So you grow yourself bodies to suit your purpose?" Amelia says to Harald as he is putting on his armor. She will advert her eyes to avoid seeing him get dressed.

"I suppose you could say that. My areas of expertise are coding - hence Mastermind - and biotechnology. Both this body and the one I was previously inhabiting were lab-grown, genetically altered and surgically enhanced, as have been all my bodies for the past hundred and fifty years. I keep at least three spares at any one time, not counting experimental models like this one here -"

He nudges the inert old body with his foot.

"- and I have an implant in all my bodies that allow transfer of my consciousness into any of them. In the event of the death of the body I'm currently in, I'm transferred into the next clone - well, I'm restored into it from a backup, which is the same thing. The body I'm in is the Mark Eight, the latest fully tested model. The one you broke is the Mark Nine-point-One; that is, the first Mark Nine experimental model. I'm scrapping that template, because, as you can see, it isn't up to scratch."

He picks up the old body and walks to the ladder.

"Come on, I'll show you."

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia nods and follows along. She is a bit uncomfortable to find out that Harald is a 150 year old clone hopper, but the suit of armor proabably hides any signs of discomfort. On the plus side at least it should make her job of protecting him eaiser. If he gets "killed" he will just hop to a new body.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia nods and follows along. She is a bit uncomfortable to find out that Harald is a 150 year old clone hopper, but the suit of armor proabably hides any signs of discomfort. On the plus side at least it should make her job of protecting him eaiser. If he gets "killed" he will just hop to a new body.

He's 220. He only figured out consciousness-transfer at 70 in his original body. But moving on:

Harald steps off the ladder onto the deck with the tanks. One is now open and empty. Two more contain Harald-clones, attached to various pipes and wires. A fourth, larger tank contains a massive creature, ten feet tall, with an armoured carapace, wings folded on its back, claws, a long tail, prehensile feet and razor teeth.

He lays the old body on a medical table, and says: "Render down for material. Incinerate unusable components."

Several long, robotic arms descend from the ceiling and begin to butcher the body, carrying parts away into various ducts. If Amelia is watching, she'll see that the skeleton that's left is the same off-white of the suits and ship. This skeleton is picked up and placed in a storage unit off to one side. The blood is sucked up by a nozzle arm.

"Oh, by the way, don't worry about the whole "creepy body-hopper" issue. Everyone gets that when they find out, although I have to admit that 'everyone' in this case is about six people. It will pass, hopefully, and you're taking it much better than most. One person tried to kill me when he found out."

He walks over to the large tank and checks the readouts from the machines next to it, nodding in satisfaction. If Amelia can read medical notations from such machines, she'll notice that the two Harald-clones have readings stronger than a normal human's even though they're in stasis, and the massive creature's readings are truly incredible.

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

So when the machine starts to chop up the body Amelia has to turn away a queasy feeling in her stomach. She briefly wonders how these wonder suits would react to being thrown up in.

She has no idea about any medical notations and doesn't bother trying to look over his shoulder at them. "Hey you aren't paying me to judge you so no reason it should bother me." If he wants to keep jumping between bodies that is up to him.

She does seem impressed with the large thing looking it over. "Though I will admit being unsure why you need a bodyguard when you have a body like this ready."

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

So when the machine starts to chop up the body Amelia has to turn away a queasy feeling in her stomach. She briefly wonders how these wonder suits would react to being thrown up in.

She has no idea about any medical notations and doesn't bother trying to look over his shoulder at them. "Hey you aren't paying me to judge you so no reason it should bother me." If he wants to keep jumping between bodies that is up to him.

She does seem impressed with the large thing looking it over. "Though I will admit being unsure why you need a bodyguard when you have a body like this ready."

"Why? Let me explain. A low-level military vehicle, say, a tank, costs billions. And that doesn't even anything above physical weaponry. How much do you think it costs me to make a fully operational clone, genetically altered and enhanced? How much to run a computer capable of handling a full neural network transfer? How much to get any of the equipment around us?

I've spent over two centuries accumulating enough material, knowledge, and above all wealth and power, to enable me to pursue my science as far as I can take it. Just one of those bodies is worth, in pure monetary value, a whole army of ordinary men plus tanks, planes and artillery. Of course, I can assemble diamonds and the like from their component compounds, but even that only runs at a narrow profit. That clone I had to scrap represented decades of investment for any planetary government, and a good percent of my own total wealth. Of course, it was experimental, so losses are to be expected, but it's still a monumental investment. I prefer to keep expenditure to a minimum."

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia nods figuring that makes some sense. But then there is the part of her brain that figures out that makes her less valuable then the clone body and part of her just rejects that.

"Alright, and I am guessing you found out more about our destination since you told your computer to get this body ready for transfer?" She says doubting it is good news.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia nods figuring that makes some sense. But then there is the part of her brain that figures out that makes her less valuable then the clone body and part of her just rejects that.

"Alright, and I am guessing you found out more about our destination since you told your computer to get this body ready for transfer?" She says doubting it is good news.

"Indeed. The inhabitants of the asteroid are indeed sentient, though primitive. They're currently at the tribal stage. However, there's a severe complication. The god they worship... is the asteroid. They're not going to take kindly to a mining operation. Also, their language is more developed than you'd expect for a tribal society, and I've only had half an hour to learn it. I'm less than fluent, but I think I can get by. The biggest problem, however, is that they're a strictly matriarchal society. That means that they'll attempt to talk to you, they'll assume you're in charge and I'm your servant, and they'll probably point-blank refuse to talk to me. And before you suggest shifting to a female body, I don't have any. I can't make any. Bodyshift clones have to be directly grown from the master template, and to be compatible you can't change the gender. The only female clone I had -"

He stops, wavers, and a terrible expression of pain and loss crosses his face, before it hardens into a cold, dead mask.

"Never mind. Point is, we're going to have a lot of trouble negotiating."

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

"So they are going to try to negotiate with me, while I have no idea what they are saying?" Sounds like Amelia isn't too thrilled about this idea. "So what are you thinking of offering to get this precious metal of yours?"

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

"So they are going to try to negotiate with me, while I have no idea what they are saying?" Sounds like Amelia isn't too thrilled about this idea. "So what are you thinking of offering to get this precious metal of yours?"

Apparently the forums swallowed my post when my antivirus decided it didn't like GITP. So I'm going to paraphrase, because it was quite a long post.

Long story short, Harald unlocks a secret panel in the ladder shaft, leading to a subshaft and goes down it. Down there is a large sphere of the off-white metal (I really need to think of a name for the stuff, actually - got any suggestions?), with a load of tech inside. He programs it to seem 'godly' to the tribe-people, and puts it in the lander.

However, the rocket is now running on severely reduced capacity, and Harald now has to pilot it manually all the way back to the Nexus.

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

((Harlidium assuming Harald discovered it.))

So if I am understanding the plan correctly he is going to give the tribe a shiny new god full of cool and useful tools so he can mine out their other god aka the metorite. Amelia see's only one problem with this plan. "Have you considered the fact that the metorite might be alive and acting as a god to these beings and will be upset with you coming to mine and replace him?

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

((Harlidium assuming Harald discovered it.))

So if I am understanding the plan correctly he is going to give the tribe a shiny new god full of cool and useful tools so he can mine out their other god aka the metorite. Amelia see's only one problem with this plan. "Have you considered the fact that the metorite might be alive and acting as a god to these beings and will be upset with you coming to mine and replace him?

((Good idea, but Harald's not the type to name it after himself. I've worked it out now, though.))

Harald raises an eyebrow.

"Unlikely, but... wait a moment. Mastermind, recalibrate the scan for... I think A-parameter 23, B 78 and C 672. Then rescan the asteroid."

"Scan indicates an energy anomaly within the asteroid. There are patterns within it suggesting conscious thought. It is formed in such a way that it can only inhabit Miannum-"

Harald snaps-

"Have I not told you not to call it by name?! You know what it makes me rememb-"

He stops, and a terrible expression of grief passes across his face before it hardens into an unreadable mask.

"Never mind. The point is, you were right, Amelia - and you thought of something I missed, which is doubly impressive; there have been very few occasions of that happening previously. You've earned yourself a bonus.

Now, as for the spirit, I want an assessment - power levels, abilities, intelligence and so on."

Mastermind looks smug.

"I prepared one while you were talking. It's a low-level power, with limited reality-bending abilities. Very minor - it can't do anything to people directly, though it can do indirect damage by summoning storms, lightning and the like. If I may make a suggestion - we could offer the spirit a new home. The suits are made of refined metal, are they not? They're purer than the asteroid. Plus, the tribesperson wearing it would become the avatar of their god. Both the tribe and the spirit would be happy."

Harald nods.

"Excellent idea. Restore the sphere to its previous place, and send me some clothes; if I'm going to be taking off the suit, I want proper attire instead of a towel. Now, Amelia - any more insights you'd like to share?"

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia thinks then shakes her head. "Just the thought that dealing with gods means you will have to deal with someone with a bigger ego then yours, even if they don't deserve it. If this thing has been worshipped it might have gotten used to it and expects that fro everyone." Negotiating with gods is tricky you know.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]
Amelia thinks then shakes her head. "Just the thought that dealing with gods means you will have to deal with someone with a bigger ego then yours, even if they don't deserve it. If this thing has been worshipped it might have gotten used to it and expects that fro everyone." Negotiating with gods is tricky you know.

Harald's face darkens.

"Believe me, I know."

He shuts his eyes and sighs.

"We shall have to plan our tactics accordingly."

He takes the shirt, tie, trousers and labcoat from a robot that descends on the ladder. As he does so, a photo flutters out of the breast pocket of the labcoat, landing by Amelia's feet. It shows a teenager, brown-haired, green-eyed, laughing at something. Harald dives for it, snatching it off the floor and putting it gently back into the pocket. It's obvious from his manner that the photo means a lot to him.

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia glances down at the photo almost reaching down to pick it up before Harald snatches it off the ground. Her helmet hiding any expression she has from him. She considers saying something about it, but holds off for now. Time to think about the job, not lost love ones.

"Sounds good. How long till we are at the asteroid?"

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia glances down at the photo almost reaching down to pick it up before Harald snatches it off the ground. Her helmet hiding any expression she has from him. She considers saying something about it, but holds off for now. Time to think about the job, not lost love ones.

"Sounds good. How long till we are at the asteroid?"

"Four minutes, twenty-three seconds."

He doesn't look at a clock.

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

"Alright so how are the landings in this thing?" So far she has enjoyed her flight through space, but she always imagined landing would be the scariest part.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

"Alright so how are the landings in this thing?" So far she has enjoyed her flight through space, but she always imagined landing would be the scariest part.

"We won't be landing the rocket. Unfortunately, we can't use the lander, because the spirit in the asteroid will be able to inhabit it. We're going to be skydiving."

Another robot brings two harnesses, which Harald takes. He throws one to Amelia, then pulls across a curtain hanging above the surgical table and switches the armour for his usual shirt, tie, trousers and labcoat, strapping the harness on over the top.

"You'll need to take the armour off and put the harness on. Have you ever skydived before?"

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia shakes her head as she takes off the armor. "No I have not. Might as well make my first time jumping onto an asteroid in space." She puts the harness on triple checking each strap.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia shakes her head as she takes off the armor. "No I have not. Might as well make my first time jumping onto an asteroid in space." She puts the harness on triple checking each strap.

Harald nods.

"Very well. What normally happens on a person's first dive is that they're attached to a more experienced skydiver. So we'll do that here. Once you've got the harness on - actually, one moment."

He reaches out, flips up a panel on the front of the harness where the straps meet and presses a button. The harness tightens and loosens in various spots with a slight whirring noise until it's perfect. Then a green light flashes on the panel. Harald snaps it shut.

"Sorry, I should have told you about that function before. Anyway, the safety check showed up green, so you're good to go. Take the ladder down seven floors, and you'll come to the main airlock. Wait there for me."

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

"All right see you there." Amelia gives a nod and makes her way down the ladder heading to the airlock. She figures the main airlock will be easy enough to find.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

"All right see you there." Amelia gives a nod and makes her way down the ladder heading to the airlock. She figures the main airlock will be easy enough to find.

And it is. There's a large circular door, about two meters across.

Harald shows up after three minutes. He hands Amelia a small earpiece.

"This will translate for you, so you can understand what's being said. There will be holes in the translation at first, but it will get better as Mastermind analyses."

He walks over to the airlock, punches in a long code at high speed, and the door swings open, revealing a room about three meters wide with an identical door at the other end and benches along each wall. Harald enters, beckoning Amelia to follow. When she does, he shuts the inner door behind them.

"Press the silver button on your right hip. That will enable the forcefield. The blue button on the left hip starts the oxygen. Once you've done that, hit the grey button on the clasp and hug me from behind, your arms under mine - the magnetic field generator will lock our harnesses together. If you're uncomfortable with that, I can do it another way, but say now, because we only have forty seconds."

He punches the silver, blue and grey buttons in sequence and waits.

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia takes the earpiece and sticks it in glad to have something that will give her a clue on what is going on when they get down there. She really didn't want to be in the dark. She follows his instructions to get her harness ready. "No problem on my end. I can trust you to get me down to the ground." She says wrapping her arms around him to latch the two of them together.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia takes the earpiece and sticks it in glad to have something that will give her a clue on what is going on when they get down there. She really didn't want to be in the dark. She follows his instructions to get her harness ready. "No problem on my end. I can trust you to get me down to the ground." She says wrapping her arms around him to latch the two of them together.

"Good. This might be a little unsettling... five, four, three, two, one -"

He slaps a button on the wall and the outer door shoots open, propelling the pair into space, spinning wildly. Stars, space and the asteroid form a blur of light and dark.

Harald brings them back under control quickly, and the asteroid, a light grey colour, begins to grow in their field of vision. Harald makes minor adjustments to the flight path by twisting his body slightly, but as the asteroid looms up, flips around so that he and Amelia are landing feet-first.

As they approach the surface and become caught in the asteroid's gravity - very strong for something of its size - something in the harnesses fires up with a thump, and the speed at which the two are travelling dramatically decreases.

As they hit the surface, they are immediately surrounded by men and women wearing hides and wielding stone spears and axes. An old woman - the only old person evident - hobbles out of the ring slowly, leaning heavily on her staff. She says something to Amelia, which the earpiece translates (in Mastermind's voice) as:

"What are you ... on our ..."

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Harald might notice Amelia tense up a bit during her flight. She does her best not to squeeze too hard, she doesn't want him to think her a coward. But this sort of free fall definitly wracked her nerves.

Once they land she turns looking at all the armed people around them. Seems they spotted them coming. She remembers what Harald said about them talking only to her so she figures she should speak up.

"We mean no harm, we are hoping to trade with you." She says hoping they can either understand her or that some gadget Harald has will translate her words for them.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Harald might notice Amelia tense up a bit during her flight. She does her best not to squeeze too hard, she doesn't want him to think her a coward. But this sort of free fall definitly wracked her nerves.

Once they land she turns looking at all the armed people around them. Seems they spotted them coming. She remembers what Harald said about them talking only to her so she figures she should speak up.

"We mean no harm, we are hoping to trade with you." She says hoping they can either understand her or that some gadget Harald has will translate her words for them.

Harald doesn't appear to notice her discomfort, or if he does he makes no comment. Upon landing, he detaches the magnetic clamp, and steps back a pace to stand next to Amelia. When she speaks, the woman looks at her blankly. Harald speaks:

"We come for trade. Your god in the..." "No word for it... let's try..." "Home... place... can be moved. I have... clothing... that the god can be in, purer than it's current place. I would like to ... take some of the substance of ... this place. Purify it."

The old woman narrows her eyes.

"No. You lie. Kill them."

She moves back, and the warriors close in...

((I'm not going to say 'the earpiece translates' or anything to that effect. I'll just put it in gold Fixedsys instead of the normal font/colour.))

[McBish]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia will do her best to place herself between Harald and the warriors. She doesn't summon up her weapons yet still hoping they won't have to fight. Her head slowly swivles keeping an eye on all the warriors, waiting for one of them to move in and attack. If it is possible she will try and make it so her faceplate is clear, so it becomes obvious they are fighting a woman, hopefully that will make them pause.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Rocket Ship]

Amelia will do her best to place herself between Harald and the warriors. She doesn't summon up her weapons yet still hoping they won't have to fight. Her head slowly swivles keeping an eye on all the warriors, waiting for one of them to move in and attack. If it is possible she will try and make it so her faceplate is clear, so it becomes obvious they are fighting a woman, hopefully that will make them pause.

...

Ah. I thought I'd mentioned having to take the armour off?

And after checking, I did, and Amelia took it off. So no faceplate.

As for Amelia being female, she's both a foreigner and not a shaman. So she ranks lower than the woman telling them to kill her and Harald.

The warriors attack is disciplined and proficient - they're obviously highly trained. Spears jab in from all sides. Harald slaps several aside, displaying unnaturally fast reflexes, but is unable to counter-attack.

"How good are you with your powers? Can you put up a shield?"

[McBish]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Ah yes, you are correct. I just kept imagining them in armor. Amelia is sort of wishing they were still wearing it. Or at least wishes Harald was wearing it.

"Not big enough to protect us both. I'm going to try and disarm a few of them, maybe knock them down." She says summoning up her blades of light to fend off the attacks. She is aided by summoning small flat plates of light that are placed to deflect away incoming spears.

When she counter attack she doesn't aim for any killing blows. Mainly she tries to make them step back while she summons up bars behind their legs and ankles to make them trip.

[GrandDM]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Ah yes, you are correct. I just kept imagining them in armor. Amelia is sort of wishing they were still wearing it. Or at least wishes Harald was wearing it.

"Not big enough to protect us both. I'm going to try and disarm a few of them, maybe knock them down." She says summoning up her blades of light to fend off the attacks. She is aided by summoning small flat plates of light that are placed to deflect away incoming spears.

When she counter attack she doesn't aim for any killing blows. Mainly she tries to make them step back while she summons up bars behind their legs and ankles to make them trip.

This is initially effective, but the warriors soon learn to step high, and start feinting to dodge the panels. A spear shears through the side of Harald's labcoat, drawing blood. He rips off both labcoat and shirt (transferring the photo to a trouser pocket in the process, revealing incredible musculature and a deep gash in his side that closes up with inhuman speed, fibres of flesh snapping out across the gap and weaving it back together within twenty seconds.

"That was my best labcoat!"

He grabs the man's spear, wrenches it out of his hand, steps forward and knocks him twenty meters with one punch, which, even accounting for the low gravity of the asteroid, is longer than you'd expect, even for the size of his muscles.

However, a fresh wave of warriors pours in. There are now around thirty surrounding them, with maybe ten attacking at any one time.

He steps back so that he's back-to-back with Amelia.

"Shield, now! Put it up, then take my hand and open your power to me - as if you were about to use it, then push it down your arm and into me."

[McBish]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Amelia seems relecutant to do as Harald says. She knows the limits of her powers, and she has no idea what Harald is going to try and do to overcome those limits. She does her best to cut of spear heads with her sharp light swords. Bright flashing lights in the eyes of her opponents also helps give her the advantage.

Still when pressed too hard she steps back grabbing his hand. She figures the cloest she can do is like she was trying to heal him. So postive energy tries to flow into him. Meanwhile she brings up a thin sheild around them. It doesn't look very thing, like a transparent paper between them and the spearmen.

[GrandDM]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Amelia seems relecutant to do as Harald says. She knows the limits of her powers, and she has no idea what Harald is going to try and do to overcome those limits. She does her best to cut of spear heads with her sharp light swords. Bright flashing lights in the eyes of her opponents also helps give her the advantage.

Still when pressed too hard she steps back grabbing his hand. She figures the cloest she can do is like she was trying to heal him. So postive energy tries to flow into him. Meanwhile she brings up a thin sheild around them. It doesn't look very thing, like a transparent paper between them and the spearmen.

As she does so, she'll catch a glimpse of Harald's mind on the edge of her own. It's cold, all angles and lines, none of the sea of thoughts, feelings and impressions that make up the normal psyche. As she feeds the power into him, she'll feel a sudden wrench as Harald draws a large amount out. At the same time, something that will feel roughly like a red-hot metal spike will work its way through the part of her where she keeps her power until it reaches wherever it comes from and anchors itself, expanding outwards. It will hurt a lot, but not quite enough to knock her out.

As the probe expands, a massive wave of power will surge unceasingly through her and into Harald. The shield thickens and turns white - a side effect of Harald's manipulation of it - and a tendril of it will reach out across the asteroid and come back with the shaman. When she's deposited at the edge of the shield, Harald dissolves it and breaks the link with Amelia, grabbing the shaman and holding his arm around her throat. He speaks to the warriors:

"Try anything and I'll snap her neck."

A whispering voice in the back of Amelia's mind says:

"Don't worry. I won't really - I just need to get them to back off for long enough to talk."

Although the power surge is gone, she might find herself able to draw on a little more energy than she could previously.

[McBish]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Harald might have wanted to find out a bit more about the power he is manipulating before he does it. Where she stores her power and where it comes from are the same place. A magical energy construct in her abdomen. As he surges the power out of her he might get the sense he is banging up against some pretty powerful walls of energy in Amelia. Or perhapes freshly healed scars would be a more apt metaphor, and his energy spike is like a rusty screwdriver jabbing them. So as Harald grabs the Shaman and mental reasures Amelia she has a hard time paying attention. She is having a hard time doing much more then standing up straight. She doesn't try to resummon her swords, figuring she would fail and not wanting to show the warriors that. Figuring she should do something to help though besides not fall over she speaks up. Hoping they will listen to a woman more then Harald. "Stand down or she dies." So she will parrot Harald to add authority to his words.

[GrandDM]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Harald might have wanted to find out a bit more about the power he is manipulating before he does it. Where she stores her power and where it comes from are the same place. A magical energy construct in her abdomen. As he surges the power out of her he might get the sense he is banging up against some pretty powerful walls of energy in Amelia. Or perhapes freshly healed scars would be a more apt metaphor, and his energy spike is like a rusty screwdriver jabbing them. So as Harald grabs the Shaman and mental reasures Amelia she has a hard time paying attention. She is having a hard time doing much more then standing up straight. She doesn't try to resummon her swords, figuring she would fail and not wanting to show the warriors that. Figuring she should do something to help though besides not fall over she speaks up. Hoping they will listen to a woman more then Harald. "Stand down or she dies." So she will parrot Harald to add authority to his words.

As he draws the power, Harald will shift so that he's taking some of her weight for her. Once he's grabbed the shaman, he'll move back to Amelia's side, just in case.

Harald turns his head slightly to look at Amelia. "Sorry about that. I didn't want to hurt you, but I had no choice."

The warriors don't understand what Amelia says, but they do get what Harald tells them:

"Now that I have your attention: I'm not here to fight. I want to trade. I have in my possession a suit that will make the wearer the living incarnation of your god, made of a purified version of the substance beneath our feet. In exchange for this suit, I want to take some of this substance with me and purify it. I'm going to let your shaman go now - but don't try anything. I have more power than you know."

He pushes the shaman away from him. She stumbles slightly, but regains her footing. The gleam of approaching power shows in her eyes.

"I want to see it first. Then I'll think about the deal... but your shaman can speak for herself if you want my true consideration."

Harald shakes his head.

"I'll fetch it, but Amelia cannot speak to you in this language. I am only able to because I have a higher intelligence that has allowed me to learn your language in a short period of time. If you'll put this... tool... into your ear, you will be able to understand her words, as she can understand your words through her tool."

He offers the shaman an earpiece, which she picks up suspiciously, and carefully inserts into her ear. He then hits a few buttons on his harness and floats up, back towards the hidden rocket.

The shaman steps towards Amelia.

"Alright, now we can talk, shaman to shaman."

The voice sounds again in the back of her Amelia's mind: "Don't worry. I'm with you all the way. I can intervene if anything goes wrong, and I'll direct you in what to say. Tell her that I will be a few minutes, and that she is to remove her warriors from the area as a token of peace and negotiation."

[McBish]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Amelia does her best compose herself before the Shaman. Wanting to speak up when Harald says that he could learn the language because he was smarter then her. Just because she didn't have the time doesn't mean she couldn't pick this up. It couldn't be much harder then 13th century German, or one of the dozens of other languages she had partially learned in her past. Still she let's it go more important matters at hand.

"Shaman to Shaman and her clan? Why don't you send your warriors away, we mean you no harm. Then we can talk in peace."

[GrandDM]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Amelia does her best compose herself before the Shaman. Wanting to speak up when Harald says that he could learn the language because he was smarter then her. Just because she didn't have the time doesn't mean she couldn't pick this up. It couldn't be much harder then 13th century German, or one of the dozens of other languages she had partially learned in her past. Still she let's it go more important matters at hand.

"Shaman to Shaman and her clan? Why don't you send your warriors away, we mean you no harm. Then we can talk in peace."

Not exactly what he meant. He was saying he could pick it up in a shorter timeframe because he was smarter than her. He wasn't doubting her ability to learn it, he was just making a factual statement that, because he's smarter, he can learn a language in a shorter timeframe.

The woman leans on her staff and narrows her eyes, but nods.

"Done, but I want them within earshot of me. I won't be left entirely without protection."

[color=#3366FF]"Accept."[/COLOR

[McBish]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Amelia would probably realize that given enough time. When he says it though she is annoyed more the offeneded. Not to mention she is just about to enter into negotions with someone who tried to kill her and anything that lowers the Shaman's views of her is something she doesn't want to deal with.

"Deal, after all I understand wanting security. You were the ones that attacked us." Amelia reminds the shaman.

[GrandDM]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Amelia would probably realize that given enough time. When he says it though she is annoyed more the offeneded. Not to mention she is just about to enter into negotions with someone who tried to kill her and anything that lowers the Shaman's views of her is something she doesn't want to deal with.

"Deal, after all I understand wanting security. You were the ones that attacked us." Amelia reminds the shaman.

From above, Harald descends. He's guiding a large case with one hand. When it lands, hovering about a meter above the surface, he flips the lid open to reveal the armoured suit Amelia was wearing previously. The shaman moves forward, reaching out to it, but Harald pulls the case back.

"Tell her to stand down the ten soldiers attempting to sneak around the hills and ambush us."

[McBish]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

"You can call off your soldiers that are circling behind us. If they were checking for more troops they won't find any. If they were looking to ambush us that would be a mistake on their part. The two of us just want to trade but we will defend ourselves and it is likely many of your tribe would be hurt if it came to that." Amelia explains calmly.

[GrandDM]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

"You can call off your soldiers that are circling behind us. If they were checking for more troops they won't find any. If they were looking to ambush us that would be a mistake on their part. The two of us just want to trade but we will defend ourselves and it is likely many of your tribe would be hurt if it came to that." Amelia explains calmly.

The shaman's eyes widen, surprised. She calls out a strange noise, evidently a signal.

"There. It is done. Now, I want the suit!"

"Tell her she can have it when we've set up our equipment."

[McBish]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

"You haven't really shown I can trust you. Once our equipment is set up and we begin gathering, then you can have the suit." Amelia explains to the Shaman. She puts on her best annoyed boredom look on her face. A look of someone far to important to be dealing with this right now. She wants to make sure it is clear she is in charge here.

[GrandDM]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

The shamaness grunts in assent. The sun is suddenly blotted out as something massive descends from above. As it gets closer, it resolves into a massive platform with four legs at the corners, a colossal excavator emerging through the middle and various pipes and tanks. Harald is next to it, encased in a massive suit rather like the ones from Avatar, except a bit more futuristic. He's holding his hands towards it, but there doesn't seem to be any way that he's attached to it.

As they land, the platform's legs shift, extending and retracting to compensate for the uneven ground. Harald scales it and jumps back down with a massive panel under each arm of the mech. They're attached to the rig by cables, and as he places them on the ground and unfolds them they turn out to be solar arrays. Finally, he presses a button on the holodisplay inside the cockpit and a forcefield shimmers neatly into being between Amelia and the shaman, with Amelia on the inside. Opening the cockpit, Harald jumps easily out, strolling over to her.

"Here's the rig. I think the link's dissipated now - you don't seem to be hearing me. It was only temporary anyway, and I wasn't sure how long it would last. Give them the suit and let's go. I've had some excellent inspiration on this trip."

[McBish]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Amelia leaves the suit where it is for the Shaman to collect. She turns to walk back to the cockpit with Harald. "Glad to hear it. I'd like to talk to you about that energy you hit me with. Once we are back on the rocket and on our way." She doesn't sound very pleased.

[GrandDM]

[Asteroid of Spear People]

Amelia leaves the suit where it is for the Shaman to collect. She turns to walk back to the cockpit with Harald. "Glad to hear it. I'd like to talk to you about that energy you hit me with. Once we are back on the rocket and on our way." She doesn't sound very pleased.

"Very well."

He gets back into the suit, activating it, and picks Amelia up before flying back to the ship. There's no visible means of propulsion. Once he's landed, he puts her down, walks the suit over to a large rig, and jumps out, connecting several wires and cables before dropping easily to the ground, about fifteen feet below him. He climbs the ladder to the cockpit - making sure Amelia's following - and straps himself in.

"We've got a few minutes while we break orbit that are going to be uncomfortable - though not as bad as the original liftoff - then a couple of hours until we hit reentry. Ask away."

[McBish]

Amelia all but collapses into her chair and then straps herself in. "Look I don't know what you did to me down back there but it threw something out of whack. If you wanted a sheild generator you seem to have plenty. When you did whatever you did you took me out of the fight. I was all bluff after that, and if you had needed me to protect you I wouldn't have been able to. Pumping people full of energy without having any idea of what it could do to them is just stupid. I'm still feeling that now."

Amelia looks tired as she talks, the effects of the energy having took a toll on her. Since there was some sort of increase to her power she doesn't look well, one hand resting on her stomach as if she was feeling ill.

[GrandDM]

Amelia all but collapses into her chair and then straps herself in. "Look I don't know what you did to me down back there but it threw something out of whack. If you wanted a sheild generator you seem to have plenty. When you did whatever you did you took me out of the fight. I was all bluff after that, and if you had needed me to protect you I wouldn't have been able to. Pumping people full of energy without having any idea of what it could do to them is just stupid. I'm still feeling that now."

Amelia looks tired as she talks, the effects of the energy having took a toll on her. Since there was some sort of increase to her power she doesn't look well, one hand resting on her stomach as if she was feeling ill.

"Look, I can't just throw a shield down whenever. It's a complex and highly sensitive process. If I hadn't done it, we'd be full of spears. I didn't think it would affect you this adversely, though, and for that I apologise. I would like to point out, however, that I didn't put any energy into you. All of it was yours, I just... opened the way for more of it to come through. I doubt there's any serious damage, but I can get a scan done if you like."

[McBish]

[Rocket Home]

"I think you are confused about what I do. I don't have any magic of my own anymore. What I do is because of a magical construct inside of me. It has power and connects to me to take do what I want. But I don't channel that power, the construct does.

So when you opened me up to the magic of the construct you were forcing something my body can't handle. If you can undo what you did... please do so."

[GrandDM]

"Hm. I see. What I did was instantaneous. Think of it like a rubber band - that band is constricting the pipe between this construct and you. I temporarily stretched that band wider, and then I let go and it snapped back to its original position. However, I didn't compensate properly for the construct, as I didn't know it was there. I suspect there has been some distortion which is causing your ailment.

Once we arrive, I can take a detailed look. I don't have the equipment here."

[McBish]

[Rocket Home]

"All right. Maybe it will fade away on it's own." She says sounding hopeful. She closes her eyes and leans her head back against her chair taking deep steady breathes. It is pretty obvious that she is not very comfortable right now.

[GrandDM]

((Did you mean to have the speech in purple then?))

Harald looks slightly uncomfortable, like perhaps there's something he's not telling her.

"Perhaps. I should take a scan when we get back, though, just to be sure. I've got some painkillers, if you want them?"

[McBish]

((No I did not.))

Amelia notices Harald's uncomfortableness and frowns giving him a questioning look. "No I think I will be OK until we get back. So the mission is done, you got your mining operation set?"

[GrandDM]

"Yes. The rig will power itself from the solar arrays, and all the raw ore will be teleported back to my primary lab for processing. Wait - did I just say primary? Damn."

[McBish]

[Rocket]

Amelia sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb. "Please tell me you aren't sending all that stuff to the wrong spot."

[GrandDM]

[Rocket]

"I might be a living example of the absent-minded professor, but I'm not that absent-minded. I said primary when I shouldn't have, because I have multiple labs and I really did not want to share that information. But then again, you already know more about me than anyone else, except... never mind, don't want to bring... her... up. Bad idea. Have to stay focused.

Anyway, moving back onto topic, once we land, I'll get you a scan and any necessary... treatment... then I'll pay you, in full. Agreed fee, plus bonuses, plus compensation. Plus a gift from me, which doesn't come as part of your pay and therefore is not liable to license tax. Plus an offer of a permanent job, if you're interested. Most stuff you'd be doing won't be anywhere near this strenuous or potentially lethal. I shouldn't have said lethal. Now I'm babbling, aren't I? Sorry, I have pretty much zero social experience."

He seems a little hysterical, a little pale and jumpy.

[McBish]

[Rocket]

Amelia smiles when he mentions the license tax. Yeah like she actually pays anything like that. She actually laughs at the end. A good natured cheery laugh. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to lethal being part of my job description." She thinks about that for a second and frowns. "Almost worrisomely common actually. Also don't worry about the slip of the tounge, I'm good at keeping secrets. Try and relax a bit, I'm not going to try and pry and secrets out of you." Discussions like that usually end up being a two way street. She would rather avoid any heart to heart conversations right now.

[GrandDM]

[Rocket]

"Thank you. I appreciate that. The job offer will be valid indefinitely, by the way. Even if you don't take it now, you can always come back to it if something happens and you need a place to go. The Inside lab will open for you, at least the Clearance 3, 4 and 5 doors."

[McBish]

[Rocket]

"Well I would like to hear more details. But I would be lying if I said it didn't sound tempting." A guy with this many resouces probably wouldn't be stingy about pay. And Amelia could use the boost to her finances.

[GrandDM]

[Rocket]

"Of course. Essentially, you would be serving as a combination of security, bodyguard and lab assistant. You'd be assigned your own suite with dedicated serving bots and Clearance 1 - essentially, you're allowed anywhere except the experimental wing, my personal quarters, the computer core and the fusion reactor. I'm willing to pay you fifty [insert whatever the Nexus's currency is here] an hour, with a standard work period of twenty-one hours a week, distributed however you choose. Overtime pay at seventy-five.

You also get six weeks paid leave per year, indefinite sick leave, and free paid holidays of one week over Easter and two over Christmas." ((Assuming they have Easter and Christmas in the Nexus; if they don't, just ignore that bit.))

[McBish]

[Rocket]

"Wow, that acutally sounds like a great deal. Let me think about it on the ride home." Amelia definitly seems highly tempted. She almost accpted his offer on the spot but held off not wanting to seem desperate.

[GrandDM]

[Rocket]

"As I said, there's no hurry."

((I think we're done here. Timeskip and head back to Inside?))

[McBish]

[Rocket]

((Sounds good to me.))

She nods and will do her best to enjoy the rest of the ride home.