"Jumps re-quire a cool-ing down per-i-od and a warm up as well. They are not pract-i-cal mid com-bat to at-tack a foe, bar-ring a great deal of fore-sight and plan-ning."

"The length of both de-pends on length of jump and sur-round-ing space."

"I know noth-ing of how to aim the jump. That is a Le-gion con-trol-led sec-ret. If you are plan-ning on us-ing this ship to tra-vel, I would re-com-mend a gate and a low pro-file. If you jump blind, you will like-ly live, given that space is most-ly em-pty, but I will have no i-dea where you will land, or for how long un-til the next jump."

Spirits seem to be high, although Anthony doesn't share the excitement. He's holding his controller half-heartedly, going through the motions of "activating" Thirteen.

I rub my forehead is concentration.
"Great. None of us have a clue how to target a jump. And our only other option is to ask nicely to use a gate when we lift off without the Legion's permission... I Have an Idea on how to learn how to target a jump. But I don't know what Side Effects it will cause.

I'm not seeing an alternative to using magic. Do you see something?"

"Per-haps you are ap-proach-ing this in a straight line, when non-lin-e-ar op-tions ex-ist for you. Still, do what you must to fun-ction. But I have a re-quest: I want you to con-vince An-tho-ny to hand you my con-trol-ler with-out him feel-ing neg-a-tive a-bout it."

Thirteen's head rotates, like he's seeing who is listening. It seems to be no one, at the moment. "I am cur-i-ous to see how you will do this. That is all."

"Ok. I up to learning the wisdom you have."

I walk over to Anthony.
"I see that you are not happy with this. I also see that you took the flak for the things Thirteen said."

"Huh?" He was rather deep in thought, and just seemed to notice you. "Uh...yeah. That is not normal. But, what can you do? Maybe if he gets what he wants, nobody will worry about it anymore."

He looks at you with concern clear on his face. "Look, you don't honestly think this is a good idea, do you? I mean, yeah, the Legion can be a bit on the harsh side, but they keep the Dinos and the Hunters away, and I know Thirteen doesn't like to hear this, but I've read up on Vic, and listened to some of the old timers talk about him, and Vic wasn't exactly a nice guy. He used an entire planet as a shield to fight the Legion, forcing them to choose between killing them and going for him. I don't really think anyone was a good guy there."

"I can see where Thirteen is coming from. I couldn't imagine being forced to pretend that I wasn't sentient.

What are the Rules for the Legion to let you go and settle somewhere else?"

"Normally, you'd have to put in a petition to do this sort of thing. You would ask them. I don't think they would take to-" Anthony looks behind you, and then looks outside though an unfinished window. "Say, where is everyone?"

You notice how silent it has gotten here, too.

"Great. Something is going on. Stay low, I'll take a look."


I'll sneak up to a window and peek outside to see what is going on.

You see nothing out there. The strange thing was, you swore it was daylight outside, and now the skies are dark, with no stars visible. Only the light on the site itself is allowing anyone to see anything at all.

"Thirteen?" Anthony is whispering into the controller. "Come on, big guy, tell me what is going on?"

He is not getting a response. Anthony is very visibly worried.

"Something strange is going on Anthony. Grab one of those Lightning guns and follow me."

I'll draw my proton accelerator.

While he does that I will do a quick breathing exercise to calm my mind and allow me to notice things better.

We'll look around the building to find the others. Going slowly and taking advantage of cover.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:25, Fri 26 Aug 2016.

Anthony and yourself move to the shed the weapons were stored in, and you encounter a problem: someone has visibly sabotaged the lightning guns. You hear a distinct click behind your head, and a voice you have heard before. "Do not move, demon."

"What are you doing here?" Anthony seems less surprised than he should be.

"Doing what you have failed to do. Theft, rebellion, intention to murder Legion soldiers...you are making the wrong enemy, demon."

I don't move.

"Hello Lucius. Seems like a little bird told you where I was. Anyway, your explanation from before didn't fill me with confidence. So I decided to go somewhere else so I wouldn't have to deal with the Legion. So what do you really do to versers on Earth?"

"Classified." He speaks coldly. "They do not tell me, and there are questions I do not ask. My sympathies, for what they are worth, if that does not answer you."

"What have you done with the others?" Anthony's voice is expressing a dawning horror.

"Bagged, of course." Lucius sounds annoyed at having to answer what he felt should be obvious. "Pray they are honest, Anthony. It will make things easier for everyone."

He returns to his business tone. "Now, where is the machine? It is not accounted for, and I already know the remote means nothing."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:51, Sun 28 Aug 2016.

"I do not know where Thirteen is. if I had to guess, I would say he is about to burst though that wall and punch you.

Lucius, You Want to take me alive correct? We versers generally don't care if we die. Sure we don't like it, but it's no big lose to us.  Would you be willing to make a deal with me? In exchange for Me going with you quietly, You will blame all the wrongdoings that the workers here did on me. And let them go with minimal punishment. You will also let me take Thirteen with me and not harm him.

Or would you rather just shoot me?"

Anthony clinches his fists in anger. "Thirteen is not leaving with you to be dismantled. Period."

Lucius seemingly ignores him and continues speaking to you, although you sense a wash of killing intention aimed at Anthony before disappearing just as fast. "I had already figured out you were responsible for this, intentionally or not. That is not what we are going to be asking the workers here. We want to know other things, like about that stockpile of weapons, and where they got them. The machine's fate is also not your concern anymore. Anthony, its location, please."

"I don't know where he is, either!"

You hear an annoyed sigh. "Use your controller, and speak into it tell him the coast is clear. Then step aside as we do what we must."

Anthony drops the controller. "No."

"I admire your rebellious convictions, Anthony, more than you will ever know." Cold killing intent floods past you like a tidal wave, and time momentarily slows as that sensation washes over your mind.

I can't let you do that Lucius.

I force my body to move almost inhumanly fast for a brief second to suddenly turn around and grab Lucius's gun and force it to point at no one.

Then I'll weaken it's structure so that I can Crush it with my grasp.

Then I'll throw a hook across his jaw to soften him up.

You spin and just as you grip the gun, it discharges. Thankfully you managed to throw his aim off enough to only become deafened momentarily in that ear as an energy pulse cracks the air apart like lightning, a ringing noise being all you can hear for now.

His gun is crushed in your grip, and the strangest thing happens in that moment. You see yourself, holding you, and both of Lucian's guns are now in your hands, except the one 'you' are crushing. The expression on 'your' face moves from cold anger to extreme confusion, before simply punching you.

'You' then attempt and fail to seize the gun from your left hand. He also moves to the side with the gun, and you hear the weapon that was just crushed beginning to make an increasingly high-pitched beeping noise.

You feel a bit weaker, and everything is somehow a bit larger. This will take some getting used to, whatever just happened.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Sun 28 Aug 2016.

Did I just pull that trick that the Ginyu Captain did in DBZ?

I'll Throw the beeping gun somewhere where it wont hurt anyone by exploding.
I'll throw the other gun somewhere else.

I'll fight defensively and give ground.

I'm going to try to reverse the switch by trying to do it again.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:50, Sun 28 Aug 2016.

He is uncoordinated in your body, and you easily control his movements to where you need them. The first gun is kicked away, and detonates with a flash, cooking a hole in the wall. The other one simply drops to the ground. While his form feels strange to you, you adapt quicker due to your experience with strange situations as this one.

The earth moans and rumbles beneath your feet, sending you to the ground, with him on top of you, clutching your throat. Anthony shouts into the controls. "Thirteen..!"

At that point, all goes silent except for a quiet ringing in your ears, and you are now clutching a furious and disarmed Lucius by the throat. Your head is feeling light, however, and from the look on his face so is his.

I move into a mounted position for the grapple. Using my weight and skill to hold him down.
Then I punch him a few times to soften him up.

I suddenly grab one of his arms and move into a figure 4 arm bar.
"Next move is me breaking your arm if you don't listen to me.
I want Anthony, His Workers and Thirteen to be let go without any repercussions.
If you do this for Me, I'll go to Terra without incident. But if any harm comes to them, I'll tear reality asunder to punish You and the Legion"

Lucian's facial expression indicate pain and he spits out one of his teeth. You cannot make out a word of what he is saying, but it seems to be refusal.

You see a crackle of electricity around you. Thirteen approaches him while down. Lucian seems to be responding to something he's probably saying, but the agent seems to be finished with verbal responses, and you see his chi channeling itself in preparation for an attack.

Thirteen waves a hand at you, like he is seeing if you are paying attention, and just looks at you. Anthony is holding the controller in relief.

I'll break his arm to stop the attack.

I'll try to say
"I can't hear anything."

You notice a much reduced reaction from Lucian, not the facial expression of a man incapacitated from pain. He just stares at you coldly while his arm goes out on him.

Thirteen raises one finger, and walks away. He comes back into your field of vision after you feel something cold in your ear. "-t better?"

"I hope so." Anthony is talking. "I'd ask where you were, Thirteen, but I'm glad you are safe."

"Can that stuff fix his teeth I knocked out?

Anyway, I assume you refused my offer Lucian. Can all of you repeat what you said while I was deaf."

"I did not refuse." Lucian is very calm, all considering what is happening to him. "I cannot do as you ask, even if it means my death. I am a field agent, and of no higher rank. Not everyone has the conceit to believe they are above authority."

"Your aut-hor-it-y can go-"

"Thirteen, can we please save this discussion for later? We need to get low and stay that way for a long time." Anthony sounds rather tired. "Lucian, you can reassign me, right? Just say these two work for me, and we will all get out of the way of the Eyes. It's win-win, right?"

Lucian groans. "I wish it were that simple. I am not in charge of that. I can execute you for disobedience, yes. But I cannot reassign you. And even if I could, Magnus here is far too important to ignore for long. We have no desire for you to make contact with our foes, and I cannot aid you in this endeavor."

"But good luck all the same, demon. I also do not fear death."