A no longer used millitary installation installed during the cold war.

>>>>>>>>From The Crash Site>>>>>>>>

Starshard led the non-earthly denizens and Matt into the bunker.

"Make yourselves at home, and then...."

Her beautiful face looked puzzled. "You...you're speaking my language. Don't tell me you have some sort of Universal translator or something.."

  Archeirae said "Universal translator, no.  Telepath, yes.  I picked your language out of your heads so we could communicate effectively.  And shared it."

--> Crash Site

  Matt's face meanwhile could be the subject of one of those 'Same Facial expression listed for every emotion' posters.  "You can skip the Klingon, that's fictional nerd talk."  Or so he hopes, now that he's dealing with legit aliens.  He makes an effort not to be annoyed at the no effort language pick up compared to his half efforts.  These guys actually needed English compared to his picking up Spanish so he could watch Spanish soap operas do reasonable things.

  "I don't suppose there's a functioning surveillance system in here still?  Even if they want to avoid notice, they probably wouldn't mind knowing what's going on inside here."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:15, Sun 15 Apr 2012.

Halkor nodded. "Its a useful ability. Now I believe I owe you some answers." He looked around locating a seat and taking it closing his bright red eyes for a moment to compose himself. "My name is Halkor of house Maranth and I come from the planet of Arkalia. I led my house the best I could until, one day, the Emperors soldiers came to my house, accusing me of treason. I was tried and sent to the mines of Arcturos which is where I met these two also falsely accused of crimes we did not commit. We escaped stealing a ship and were attempting to clear our names while staying one step ahead of the bounty hunters that pursued us. They found us as we were heading through a wormhole tunnel we lost our nav and ended up here."

Starshard nodded as Halkor explained his situation. It was one thing to have a coup staged....but it was another for it to happen on a completely different world. And yet, here they were: living, breating, non-Earthen aliens, in her midst. And now...she also seemed to inherit abilities granted by the aliens' star-drive.

She concentrated for a moment, which then shimmered the uniform of Starshard off, once again resulting in the form of Regina Cordoff, still in her torn flightsuit.

"That....that's a fantastic story. And yet....you've gotta be on the level. Because somehow it seems that your power source flowed into me."

She ran her fingers through her hair, slightly nervous.

"Give me a moment..I need to come up with a cover for both of us. That was my plane that you met up there."

Bringing out a radio, she began to talk into it.

"Tango Alpha....this is Bandit 139....had encountered a flash of light...aircraft down, but I am unhurt. Will report in when possible. No rescue necessary."

She turned off the radio, then put it in her pocket.

"That will buy us some time."

  Archeirae nodded, even as she was neatening the hastily grabbed wrappings of her friend's body.

"Lets head outside with Barklee lets not put this off anymore than we need."

  "Well, 'That Sucks' probably is an understatement.  Too much to hope for your sake that if you had no idea where you would end up, the ones chasing you wouldn't have any better idea?"

  Finding more chairs meant going all the way over there, where chairs were.  Considering his present company Matt finally let his head tail free from it's concealment, spiraling once at waist height and again against the ground before taking a 'seat'.  "For what little it's worth, I'm glad most of you made it out of there alive."

  He turned towards Regina, "I hope whoever was on the other end was glad to hear you weren't hurt, instead of annoyed you crashed."

"A mixture of both, though it's hard to tell with my C.O., but I appreciate the concern" Regina replied. But she knew that they would have to debrief her, and she was going to have to leave some details out.

ESPECIALLY the aliens and cosmic powers part.

"Is it all right if we observe?" she asked Halkor.

Azrith stifled a low toned growl.

"Disrupt in any way, and I promise you great pain. That is all."

Halkor nodded and turned to leave. Outside the bunker he immediately began gathering timber until he had enough for a fire.

Regina followed with the rest of them. She had been to enough military funerals to know that this was a sacred time. One to honor their fallen.

  So on the one hand, he barely knew these people.  On the other, lonely funerals could suck.  "Last thing I want to do is disrupt this sort of thing.  I'll keep my distance, you'll have to look away from the proceedings to notice me."

  Well, unless they arrange themselves in a circle or something they yeah probably someone would look in his direction.  Matt hung somewhat further back than Regina.

  Archeirae carried the body outside, and laid it gently on the bier that Halkor built of timbers.  She backed up enough not to burn, and began to sing a low, eerie tune that followed alien laws of music.  It made chill feet creep up the spines of those listening.

Halkor drew his sword as he sat crosslegged in font of the pyre. He began chanting softly at first and then  louder. As the chanting increased in volume he held his sword out and touched it to the wood which ignited in flame.

Suddenly from the darkness stepped a red cloaked individual with glowing red eyes. "If it isn't the crew of the Brilliant Blade. Looks like you've already lost a crewmate. How wonderful. " He reached up throwing his cloak away as a large barbaric aryan wielding  glowing axe stepped beside him. As the cloak fell away it revealed a black cybernetic exoskeleton. With a shwing two wicked looking blades popped out of the cyborgs arms. "This has nothing to do with you natives we're only after these fugitives."

  "Couldn't you at least wait until the funeral is over?  Not to mention it's hardly the peak of professionalism if you can't find your targets without a large bonfire and religious ceremony."  Maybe if they were really lucky, this guy was insecure enough to be embarrassed into coming back later.

  Or maybe Flash Gordon would come and save them, that seemed just as likely.

"There's no reasoning with him. ANy of them really. Be on your guard this isn't their whole crew." Halkor stood holding his sword before him in both hands as he stepped around the funeral Pyre and squared off against Sorian.

"Oh Halkor, You know me so well. You won't be getting away this time. There's no where for you to run to now."

  Matt leaned against his pipe, considering the area all around them asking Archeirae and Azrith "So, one of you two not busy facing down Axe man.  What have we got to look forward to facing that follows this guy around?"  Sword, sword (well, at least one in Azrith's avatar), axe, Matt was expecting 'Ace Sniper' any second now just to try and catch any recent preconceptions off guard.

  If Halkor's associates in the mine escape game were not rushing at Sorian, Matt figured that so far it may be for the best not to do so himself just yet.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:44, Mon 16 Apr 2012.

  She answered silently, but he heard her just fine in his head.  {{There are four of them.  A sniper.  A strong axe-wielder.  Two others.  The sniper is amphibious.}}

Almost if on cue a bolt of energy went flying at Halkor. Standing in a nearby tree was a lizard looking woman wielding some kind of high tech rifle.

As the blast went flying at Halkor his sword moved faster than the human eye could keep up the bolt richocheting into the sky. "You'll have to do better than that." He said as He held his blade out in one hand beside him and began running at Sorian.

As Halkor  dashed toward Sorian, Nyklos stepped in front swinging downward iwith his energy axe.

  Damn it was good having selective psychic filtering.  All the perks without any of the embarrassing revelations about the time you didn't realize your pants were on backwards in kindergarten.  Not that this had ever happened to Matt, that would be crazy.

  Okay, so.  Cyborg Ninja, Space Barbarian, Sniper Lizard and...  One more jerk lurking around if Archeirae was accurate.  Not a gun on their side in sight, and he wasn't just going to assume just because Regina could glow and fly that it came with EYE LASERS or something along those lines.

  "Hey sniper, heads up."  Matt didn't exactly want to kill anybody.  So hopefully a crazed space bounthunter would be able to dodge impalement with a warning right?  Sure.  Matt hurled his unreasonably durable pipe at the tree perched Lizard with enough force to punch through the tree even if the business end hadn't been sharpened.

  In the meantime, Matt leapt towards the base of the tree almost as fast with a pushoff assist from his tail.

  If they were shooting at Matt, that meant they weren't shooting at someone else...  There was a flaw in this plan, probably the part in the front.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:01, Mon 16 Apr 2012.

Halkor stopped on a dime and rolled to the side avoiding the energy axe before coming up on one knee slicing at Nyklos.

Regina was in solemn observation of the funeral rite. Then it seemed as if these aliens' enemies decided to crash the party. She knew enough of the history. Enough to know that these were not the ones who were in charge, they were usurpers.

Concentrating slightly, she once again shimmered on her "Heroine" uniform.

"All right...you just encroached on the sovereign republic of the United States of America. Leave and face no repercussions. Stay and..."

Both of hands began to pulsate with star-born power as she awaited the response of the "other" aliens.

The lizard woman merely dropped grabbing onto the branch she was standing on with one hand before falling to the ground in a graceful crouch.

   Matt couldn't decide if he was glad Regina had the professionalism to talk first, smash face later.  Or to be annoyed because he was biased against people trying to shoot at recent acquaintances.

  Matt stuck the landing in the literal sense as he crouched on the side of the tree.  "Hello, I'm going to punch you now."  Then he swung a kick at Arlianne while his tail snagged his pipe out of the tree trunk.  Clearly we are working with a master of deception.

As Starshard is busy yelling at the alien bounty hunters a blast comes flying at her from the sky. From above she sees what looks like some kind of alien battlesut.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:19, Tue 17 Apr 2012.

In reply to Matt Matthews (msg #30):

As Matt aimed a kick at her head she ducked low dropping her laser gun and swinging at him with nasty looking claws.

The blast hit Starshard, but instead of being vaporized, now she had a splitting headache. A protective field came around her, which protected her from some of the impact of the beam.

"Holy.....damn..." she said, shaking her head, then seeing the alien battlesuit.

Her hands began to crackle with purple cosmic energy. Instinctively, she pointed her hands at the alien suit above and a purple blast of energy came out of her hands, headed towards the suit.

"How...how did I...?"

  Fortunately unlike Starshard, Matt had plenty of practice fighting...  Human thugs, oh.  Matt managed to halfway dodge, claws shredding the front of his hoodie and leaving shallow scratches across his chest.

  "Hey, that's not how this goes.  I call my attacks then you call yours and wait no that's dumb.  Eat pipe."  Ignoring his own realization, Matt stared swinging wildly with the blunt end of said pipe staff while his headtail lashed out lower to try and trip up Arlianne.

  Archeirae snarled, revealing wicked fangs, and she spread her hands wide, wicked claws emerging from her fingers, and pounced the one that did not have the rifle nor the axe.

As Sorian pounced on Sorian Halkor squared off with Nyklos. The Large alien swung low with his axe attempting to cripple the alien swordmaster. Halkor leaped straight over the Axe snapping one leg out to hit Nyklos in the face staggering the huge alien.

In reply to Matt Matthews (msg #34):

Arlianne ducked under the pipe but  took the headtail smack going flying backwards. As she falls she rolls to her feet drawing a smaller laser from her hip and firing at Matt.

In reply to Starshard (msg #33):

The suit flew up over the blast before coming down in a dive both fists out towards Starshard.

  Matt reeled back in shock of getting shot right in the face, a sizzling blast mark where normally a left eye would be.  "Note to self, get eyepatch."  Eyepatches were still cool right?

  Half hearted attempts at subtlety and skill didn't seem to be working out at all, this fight had been dragging on for like, a whole minute.  Matt drew on past Human experiences and decided to just try and sack Arlianne like she was a football player who owed him money.

  Attempted headbutting would probably ensue if that worked out.

Sorian stabbed at Archeirae with both of his armblades .

Halkor rolled to the side standing up and slicing the space barbarian across the chest. He cried in pain.

In reply to Matt Matthews (msg #39):

Matt manages to tackle the lizard chick and head butt her unconcious.

In reply to Sorian (msg #40):

Archeirae twisted in a way that should have broken any terrestrial creature's spine, then slashed at him as she stabbed with her mind, aiming to confuse and distract while she slashed with monomolecular, serrated-edged claws meant to rip and tear flesh and anything else.

Suddenly the cyborg assasin shouted. "TORAK SLIDESHIFT NOW!" ANd in a flash of blue light, they were gone.

In reply to Torak (msg #38):

Starshard had a thought. A VERY brief thought. These powers were like the jets that she flew. She was both the jet AND the pilot. And so she used that knowledge to help adapt to her powers.

It came to use VERY quickly as he was able to avoid the armored battlesuit bearing down on her, and she looked determined to blast at him once again.

That was, until he and his little entourage disappeared. She frowned for a moment, looking at the spot where they had been.

"So...those guys, I take it....are the bad guys, right?"

  Archeirae nodded, and said "Yes.  Those are the bounty hunters."

"Theres a price on our heads. They aim to collect. Arcturos is a prison planet used by a varieties of planets and species. Prisoners serve as miners." Halkor shook the blood off his sword before sheathing it.

  Archeirae wiped her claws off in the grass, and said almost bitterly "Sometimes, though, the 'crimes' are so ridiculous, it's almost funny.  Would you like to know my 'crime'?"

Starshard was visibly intrigued by the "crimes" that the bounty hunters were pursuing them for.

"Yes....tell me more. I want to know why they're so hell bent on trying to get you."

  Archeirae said "I am very much guilty of my 'crime'.  My homeworld is a totalitarian state.  The government assigns you a home, a job, a mate, everything.  In return, your nutritional and shelter needs are met.  You are not to deviate from your assigned place in society.  I am a criminal, because I did something outside of my assigned lot in life.  I took up the hobby of painting, and I was caught in possession of ten paintings, and the materials to paint additional pieces.  Two waterfalls,  two mountains, two forests, and two meadows with wildflowers.  The last two were pictures of a beach at night.  There were no people in them.  Nothing to cause civil unrest or anger.  But I painted them.  So yes, I'm guilty as it gets.  But would you consider it a crime?"

"If that is a crime, then I'm just as guilty of it as you are," Starshard replied to the feline woman.

She then looked towards the sky.

"What sort of tracking devices do they have? Anything to track you back to the bunker?"

  Matt's thoughts of victory were the same realization any 19 year old would have after knocking out a female space alien.  'Sweet, Free laser gun!.  Sometimes our expectations of the teenage mind are a bit on the optimistic side.  Though knowing his luck, the zap guns went along with the Bounty Hunters.  Probably for the best, Matt had never fired a gun in his life so would it really be a good idea to trust him with a death ray?

  He considered his gloved hands as Archeirae dealt with nail care, 'Oh, right. I have claws.  And I'm a big idiot for forgetting I have them in a fight.  To be fair, he had never wanted to slash someone up before so no great loss yet.

  "Yeah, that about confirms my assumptions that my life is fantastic by any comparison."  Nobody had come to take him to Space Jail for making pencil drawings of the cityscape with Godzilla fighting a giant Rockem Sockem Robot added in, after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:10, Tue 17 Apr 2012.

"Hrmph! It would seem that all of us are criminals in our fashion....and these dogs do nothing but serve their infernal masters," Azrith said with great contempt.

  "Well, now that the unpleasant distraction is dealt with...  You should probably finish the funeral while you still can."  That funeral pyre wasn't going to burn it... actually it would burn itself.  Handy.

Halkor nodded and stepped over to the pyre clasping both hands and closing his eyes before Barklees body. Then he opened his mouth and he began to sing. An alien yet beautiful sound full of mourning and sadness. Though they cannot understand the words this song is one of the most beautiful things the humans had ever witnessed.

Starshard had been to a few military funerals in her time with the Air Force. And they were all profound and reminded her of the ultimate sacrifice that her brothers and sisters in arms had undergone. But this alien melody from Halkor...it was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for these aliens and their fallen comrade, wishing her a safe passage into whatever afterlife they may have believed in.

  Archeirae sang too, the tune beautiful, eerie, and alien.  She was carefully singing something not of her own world, but of Barklee's.  She'd asked, once, what to do if her friend ever died away from home.  Barklee had taught her the rite, and begged her to make certain it was performed.

  While he never met the departed, Matt was glad to have helped make sure Barklee got a proper send off with those who clearly cared for them present.  Really when you get past the ceremony, Matt felt that was the most important part of any funeral.

  Maybe if he had any tears these days he'd have shed a few on the alien's behalf.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:37, Sat 21 Apr 2012.

  Archeirae fell silent after the song, then asked Matt and Starshard "Will you bear witness, and remember Barklee even when we are gone?  The only true immortality for her race, is the memory.  All of us are wanted, but if you remember her, even if we too pass, she will be immortal."  Her voice was quiet, and respectful of the dead, but had rough edges from sorrow.

  Matt nods,  "My memory has always been a good one.  Unless something happens to me, then Barklee shall be remembered for a very long time to come."  He is silent for a moment, before adding.  "If it's not too much to ask, if I happen to go before you do...  Can you be there for this? No rights or anything, just enough that you're there."

OOC Style: Barklee's name shall be immortalized in the most ancient and trusted of tomes, the Scratchpad.

Halkor nodded at both of them. "Thank you. Though I must ask." He said looking towards Matt. "You do not look like other residents of this planet? Are you a visitor too? Or a mutattion of some sort?"

  Archeirae said simply "I will never forget those who help us.  And you have chosen to help us."

"Though I may have never met your friend, I feel like I know her after taking part in this," Starshard said quietly. "And I'm glad to help....I know a little something about being the new kid on the block."

  Matt would smile but blah blah we've gone over this.  "Thank you, it means a lot to me.  You're doing just fine so far Starshard, and not many newbies can say they gave a freakin military bunker to someone."  It would be like if Robin gave Batman the Batcave.

  He considers Halkor's question.  "A lot of crazy stuff happens around here, the fact a battle like this in general took place isn't anything new.  It's just that the majority of it looks as Human as ever around here, and I'm not actually sure if people from space has ever turned up in the news.  As for myself... I don't know."

  Another quiet moment passes.  "Been Human 19 years since I was born, I guess if you wanted to be generous you could consider me just barely an adult, up until I... Died I guess."

   Matt considers the funeral pyre, headtail swishing gently "Did some digging around, found out my Father paid a small fortune for next day cremation and burial despite the comical circumstances of my death I will not go into.  Before he split town"  Matt guesses he should be thankful that Tony didn't just scatter the ashes down a sewer grate and had the decency for at least a headstone and proper burial.  Maybe he was too afraid to try.

  "Roughly a week or so later, I'm out of the ground and walking around again despite that.  I have no more idea what I am than anyone else.  My father might have suspected enough that he was scared to be anywhere near my remains, no matter their condition.  But I don't think he knows either.  Still..."

  Matt considers the cast adrift aliens before him,  "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'd hate to be in your situation instead.  I feel like I'm whining just talking about my issues by comparison."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:09, Sat 21 Apr 2012.

Halkor nodded taking a seat. "I have only one goal. To clear my name and return home to my family, my wife and children. But now that we are here. That seems nigh impossible."

  "I wish I had any insight into how you could pull that off, or at the very least have them know you're still alive.  Well, I guess if your family paid attention to the latest in wanted signs they'd know."


This message was last edited by the player at 03:41, Sun 22 Apr 2012.

Starshard powered down, taking on the visage of Regina in the flight suit.

"OK...I'm going to have to report to my base. Just so they don't get suspicious. The more suspicious they become the more likely they are to send a search and rescue team. But don't worry...your secret is safe with me. Partly because I share a secret as well. These new powers."

"Any communique sent to them would be intercepted and traced. I have not spoken to them in a long time....My eldest should have past his trial of manhood by now." He closed his bright red eyes for a moment.

  Matt nods, and waves goodbye to Regina.  "Thanks again Regina.  I'm glad you didn't end up like your jet...  Of course, I'd be glad about that even if you weren't being all kinds of helpful."

  He turned to Halkor and said, "If he's anything like you seem so far, I'm sure he made the other manhood examples look bad."  Deflecting lasers with a sword is always cool, though for some reason Matt finds it more impressive with a sword like Halkor's as opposed to a glowstick.

  All those Star Wars nerds going on about how a Lightsaber blade having no weight made it hard.  Riiiight, try deflecting stuff having to heft around a chunk of space metal.

Regina soon left, leaving Matt with Halkor and Company.

He smiled. "Thank you. That is high praise indeed.' His smile quickly dissapeared from his face. "I wonder if they believe me innocent...."

  Matt shrugs,  "A Father can be forgiven for a lot.  Even if they aren't sure about your innocence, they may still care about you anyways.  For now though, we should finish up any last details with the funeral pyre then get back into the bunker before the Military rolls along"  To swipe their crashed ship probably.  But he doesn't want to encourage these guys to get into a Tow-Truck style argument with a tank.

  Matt may have plenty of practice getting around and blending in Ignored Homeless Person style, but that has yet to be tested against the freakin Airforce.  Besides, he wants to see what there is waiting for them in the Bunker to play around with beyond the entrance.

Barklee's body had already been consumed by the flames by then so Halkor nodded at Matt. "We should be finished here. Lets head inside and figure out our plans."

Azrith nodded at that.

"Yes....the sooner we get inside, the better it will be. I do not like being out in the open, especially with enemies at all sides. I'm also wondering about the Terran female. I hope that she does not betray us."

"You are too Paranoid my friend. If she was going to betray us she would not have fought alongside us against Sorian and his crew. She has had many an opportunity to betray us before now and has not taken them.

"Forgive me, Halkor...we've seen enemies all around us, so it is difficult to see anyone helping us if not for their own selfish motives."

  Matt didn't exactly blame Azrith for the paranoid Everyone Is Trying To Kill Us mindset.  Considering up until now it had been true, and had still included familiar faces from his Trying To Kill Us crowd.

  "Well, I suppose if you were that worried I could just stick to living on the streets while you hide in a concealed military complex."  Not that this would stop all usage of sarcasm.  Matt would punch in the entry code once they got back to the bunker entrance.

To Underground bunk-... Wait a minute, we're already there.

  Archeirae said softly "We will gladly accept all the allies we can get.  We are just so used to being hunted . . . that paranoia is second nature more now."

Halkor steps over to the large Lion man patting him on the back. "Tis alright friend there've been times when its seemed the whole galaxy's against us. But we can't survive on an alien planet we know nothing about without some help."

"You are right, of course, my friends," Azrith said to them. "Seeing enemies at all sides...eyes become red with rage, I could not help but question anyone's motives."

  "I wonder if the phrase 'It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you' is a universal saying?" Matt comments as he enters the Bunker.  He's not expecting to find anything like guns or hand grenades, but there is some small hope that there will be enough cold-war era anti-communist propaganda in a closet somewhere to make a fort out of.

  "I do find myself wishing I had a bit more to offer than the fact I grew up here.  It's less my appearance and more the fact I'm currently a legally dead nothing that is my problem." Plenty of people on the street didn't give a damn when they saw his "face".  But knowing how his luck tends to run, odds are the people who would care are ones in charge of services and legalities he would need.

"Remember we are but three now friend a disgraced sword-master, an exiled prince, and a wanted artist cannot hope to survive on an unknown planet on their own. And for now that must be our goal. To Survive."

  "Well, for the moment that goal seems accomplished.  Probably for the near future too at the very least."  Matt felt he was forgetting something simple there, what was it?  They had shelter designed to survive a cold war going hot.  So that took care of all his survival needs.

  ...Oh, right.

  "Speaking of survival, we should probably look around and see if this place was stocked before it was abandoned.  This sort of bunker had long term stays and long shelf life, low taste foods in mind."  These Aliens probably still needed to deal with that whole eating thing.

Azrith sniffed around.

"There does seem to be an only slight aroma. First order of business is indeed our survival....which can be made easier with some sustenance.."

  Archeirae nodded, and asked Matt "How hard to acquire ARE groceries?"

  Matt provides the sound of a sigh, "In normal circumstances not so hard, as long as you can pay for them.  I've been lucky in the fact that despite finding myself legally dead, no access to my college savings, etc.  I don't need to eat anymore.  Takes a lot of the edge off the homeless situation."

  Sure, the wallets of purse snatchers and alleyway muggers had been a form of income that he hadn't really had any need to spend yet.  But that wouldn't last very long if put to use on properly feeding a handful of people.  He knew a few convenience stores that the apathetic clerks didn't care about his situation so long as he was buying stuff at least.  Some days, people not giving a damn about you is humanity at it's finest.

  "If there was any food stored here, it'd be the heavily sealed longevity and nutrients over flavor kind.  A couple decades back everyone, including the governments involved, were worried someone would get fussy and launch nuclear death, and then the other guy would just to take them with them, and so on.  Now we just quietly pretend we can't level eachother with a button press for the most part."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:57, Fri 27 Apr 2012.

  Archeirae asked "And if we need nutrients that aren't human compatible, that could be problematic too, could it not?"

  Matt shrugged (It's looking to be his favorite physical expression at this rate) "One problem at a time I guess.  You haven't fallen over dead from our atmosphere after all.  I also kinda doubt that slave mines for a multitude of species would really care amount ensuring you all got hand picked meals to your biological liking, and you would all put most of our athletes to shame.  I could be wrong there of course, I don't know how the average prison planet is run."

  Either way, Matt started exploring The Bat Cave Bunker.

OOC Style: So, just what IS in here anyways beyond rooms and a fancy hidden entrance?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:20, Sat 28 Apr 2012.

The bunker is dark and obviously hasn't been used in some time. There's a section with a four bunkbeds a small kitchennette stocked with canned food MREs and other things that won't taste good but will last a long time. There's a small arsenal with a variety of cold war era guns as well as a communication station.

Soon, the entrance could be heard opening on its own, and in stepped Regina, who was dressed a bit more casually now, in jeans and a dark blue T-shirt.

"Well...here's the deal...I'm off the hook for the time being, but the Air Force has placed me on leave because they were concerned that....well....that I wasn't in my right mind when my plane crashed. And don't worry, no details of you or your friends were disclosed. I figured with the powers I acquired, the Air Force would want to probably strap me to a table and dissect how these powers work. Which I'm not a big fan of that."

"Thank you very much Regina, we would not like to be dissected either. I do have a question though. We will need to find a way to.... 'fit in' with this society. What do you suggest we do?"

  Matt does his best to give Regina an incredulous expression, Insert 'Has No Face' comment here.  "Seriously?  That's even more cynical than I am.  What, civilians can take act on the para registration deal and get paid for it.  But if you already work for the government they put you on a slab instead?  Seems kinda backwards."

  ...Oh, right. That was a thing.  Why hadn't he looked into that more?

  "Of course, I don't know how that turns out when it comes to Aliens that never had a social security number, or recently dead people that have fallen off the humanity scale.  I figure I need some time to adjust to myself, before I'd ever submit myself for someone else's approval at least."  There we are, flimsy excuse is go.

  "Though speaking of government surprises, glad for the food stocks still here if grocery store runs can't be managed for the recent arrivals.  I'm probably gonna stay away from the guns myself though."  Matt figured he could aim one well enough, but he wasn't gonna trust that as a guarantee of shooting someone in the shoulder not turning into shooting a face as they try to dodge.

Regina simply shrugged.

"The reason for that is because it's a new source that spawned a Para....me, in this instance. It had nothing to do with radiation, magic, or lineage...it's a source from a cosmic place that's now a part of me. But....we can dwell on that later. Did you guys find any of the provisions in the bunker?"

Azrith looked at the shorter Earth woman.

"To be honest...I half-expected you to betray us. I am glad that I was wrong in this instance, and I apologize. Be assured that Azrith The Mighty stands with you if and when you ever need his aid."

  Archeirae nodded, and said thoughtfully "It looks like most of the nutrients we all need are in there, but some of them are not in very high levels.  And I didn't see any arsenic."

  "Lack of consistent standards in the Government, gotacha.  I wish this surprised me more." Of course, Regina was the one who had actually worked for them, so at least a accurate source... Though Matt wouldn't exactly mind if she was wrong in this case.

  "This would be due to the fact arsenic is poison to the usual local life Archeirae, regardless of some of the crazy things people eat anyways." After all, if you wanted to stretch facts then Hot Sauce was pretty much Baby's First Neurotoxin.

  She frowned, and said "That could be problematic for me then.  Since it is an essential nutrient to my species."

  "Huh.  Not exactly something you'll find in the supplements isle."   Not to mention mail order science kits also were not as convenient as they used to be for people in their situation.  The postal system and mail order industry liked bank accounts and delivery addresses that were not unlisted.

  "We'll probably manage to get some eventually, but how long are you able to go until deficiency is a debilitating thing?" Matt wasn't going to bet on his influence being a substitute for proper diet... Though it was, he may spend some hours of the night perched on top of homeless shelters every so often.

  Archeirae answered "It is an essential nutrient to keep the sheathes for my nervous system healthy.  I can go without it for a span of time, I have to correlate the time difference to see how many standard days I can go and how many of your days I can go."

  "Right, I'll just assume 'real soon' then."  Note to self, check just what quality of communications were available in the bunker, though he doubted he'd be taking any frequencies for a spin just to chat and see if it worked.

  "Despite all the problems that can turn up in this city, I find myself suddenly doubting often talked about arsenic contamination of some water supplies is one of them.  Purely because that would actually be helpful to us right about now.  I... think that my presence might delay the problem, but honestly I haven't had much experience or experimentation with my influence on others so I'd rather not rely on such things."

  She smiled, and said softly "I will gladly accept any help you wish to give me, Matt.  It is important to take into account, any real 'solidity' I seem to have is due to how well my muscles and nerves work.  Unlike many species, we have no true endoskeleton.  It is all flexible, excepting our jawbones."

Regina smiled.

"I know you guys are far from home but I hope that at least we can make you relatively comfortable."

  Matt nods, "Any reservations I have are purely uncertainties in my being able to provide help.  Even if I can, always good to have options available to you that are self sufficient."

  He considers Archeirae's revelations about her physiology,  "Hmm, perhaps later you can give me some mindset pointers.  My physical actions are still guided by my life experience with a skeleton, these days my flesh is just... flesh."  He considers the length of his headtail, as it raises to head height and it's spines extend then retract.

  "Everything I remember from biology class doesn't seem to apply these days.  I'm as biologically viable as ground meat sculpted and hardened into form, yet I move and think.  But that doesn't matter if I forget basic things like the fact I have claws now."

  Matt nods to Regina, "This bunker goes a long way towards that, more than most would have been able to provide in the first place."

  She nodded, and said "Then you should be able to use one of the combat techniques my own people use.  We dance and weave between oncoming blows by bending in places where we do not look like we should be able to bend.  We normally keep a 'joint pattern' so that we do not alarm other races as much, but that's mostly courtesy."

  "Well, I have my old mannerisms for the sake avoiding the Uncanny Valley down at least."   One awkward moment had been a concerned citizen checking to see if he was dead while examining a library book.  Since then, Matt had remembered to get back into the habit of 'breathing' whenever he'd be holding still for any length of time.

  "Oh, right.  There's a Coms room down here but I figure I'd ask you if we should bother touching it, or at the very least any particular frequencies to avoid Regina?"   Boy would it be awkward he the dialed up the Communist Invasion Warning Hotline or something.

"Just as long as you don't hit on Frequenct 104-9....I don't know who it is to specifically, the only thing I know is to avoid it...which I have," Regina said, now sitting down. She looked at her hands and concentrated, purple energy glowing briefly.

"I guess I'm one of the first Paras with powers from outer space."

  Matt would question Regina's claims, but it's not like he knew otherwise.  Besides, just because he was working with Space Aliens didn't mean their powers were from Space™ anymore than the usual Earthbound Para.

"Thanks, sometimes 'just don't touch that' is good enough reason when you are already wanting to be cautious."  Note to self, check around conspiracy nut sites later when he gets a chance.

"Best not to send communications for now, but we can use it to monitor others communiques, can we not?" At the mention of the word 'para' he frowned. "What is a, 'para'?"

  "I'm hazy on how these coms work.  Could be safe, or it could let whoever is on the other end know that someone is listening in from someplace they would not otherwise look for us.  Though frequencies that are not on a 'Do Not Touch' list we could probably listen in on safely.  As for catchall terms, usual full word is Parahuman meant to describe people like Regina and myself who have....traits, beyond normal Human capacity.  Though it tends to be applied things not so Human as well.  Most humans are...  Well, there is nothing particularly dangerous or noteworthy biologically about the average Human."

  Matt shrugs.  "We have a violent history and ingrained tendency to freak out at things stronger than us beyond our control dating back to when we lived out of caves and had to hunt things over ten times our size that could crush us with a passing gesture for food using sharp wooden sticks, during an ice age.  It's probably why we're alive at all in the first place, but it's also kind of a problem when our survival instincts lead us in the wrong direction in more peaceful times."

"What he says is right," Regina added. "We unfortunately have a habit of fearing things we don't understand. Well...I"m an exception to the rule, I guess you could say, which would explain why you're here in this bunker. But... to elaborate a bit more....Paras have been spawned by magic, by radiation, and different things along those lines. But never in my knowledge has a Para been created by anything from the stars. I think your power source may have had an odd interaction with me. Rest assured though, I'll use this power to aid you guys."

  Archeirae chuckled, and said "Your people don't have cold fusion yet?"

  "Some people don't understand how a ballpoint pen works and that's no cause for paranoia.  I think its more the 'can hurt us' than the lack of detailed knowledge on 'this is how their hurting us works'.  If a guy throws a truck at you through the power of his mind, that's enough to work with understanding wise."

  Matt turns to Archeirae "Not unless they are hiding it somewhere, no." He'll save any digs about how they don't have people sent to The Mines over landscape art either, for if anything actually insulting about Earth comes up.

  Archeirae said "I'm not laughing at your race, but at the irony of it.  The person who could have most helped your race's technology, was Balkree."

"Balkree....that is unfortunate.....but we've got you guys," Regina added. "As for what I can do.....it seems I've been enhanced.....I can fly, nearly at supersonic speeds, there's some sort of blastfield that protects me...and I can shoot bolts of light from my hands. I've been trying to think if there's any sort of weakness that I should be aware of..."

  Matt shrugs, "While nice to hear you aren't amused by the comparative tech level, I'd have also preferred your friend live even if no personal benefit came of it."

  He faces Regina, "Just in case, I'd avoid hand to hand combat with things that can crush bricks in their hands.  Or exotic metals like Rodium."  Matt is not weak to Rodim, there is just a small part of him hoping that if the rumor spreads them some poor idiot will spend a hilarious sum of money on the stuff trying to get at him.

  'Faberge eggs!  My one weakness!' would sound a bit less convincing.

The Blue man frowned. "We have no such beings on our planet. Each clan is connected to an element and uses its strength accordingly. Each Arkalian must train for years to master their abilities however."

  Archeirae nodded, and said "I am not certain how much the rest of us could help, technology wise.  But we are certainly stuck here without a viable starship.  Please, tell me how we can best try and blend in?  Is there much hope for, example, for me?  I appear to be pretty tall, for this planet.  And have too many digits."  At almost eight feet tall, she was definitely on the tall side.

  "I have NO idea.  Certain literature has lead me to believe that that a hat and coat is enough for anything from six foot tall walking turtles to robots that turn into cars...  But I don't think that would actually work."   Matt may be seven feet tall these days, but he slouches and fits underneath most of an outfit, so it's all good.

  "As for spontaneous compared to training, at least you have a better understanding of what you are doing... Though there are sorts lurking around here who seem to have taken that path as well.  Regina being part of the Air Force I'd assume at least has the basic training of snapping the average man in half if they look at her funny with her bare hands.  I'm a bit more... Informal in my learning there so far.  Though you could probably guess that from seeing my end of the fighting."

Regina looked at the strange entourage of alien life that was with her, her face in deep thought.

"Blending in? Um....do you have anything like a holographic projector that might change your appearance? Or like a reverse cloaking device?"

  Matt would expect a reverse cloaking device to just make something more visible.  Though he was curious if Halkor could get away with claiming he was a reverse albino.  Or just a very tall Smurf.

  "Yeah, this is probably going to be tricky.  Halkor's more passable as a Human than I am aside from the skin color though, and I wander around at night and some days allright.  Though blue is a bit more eyecatching."

  Archeirae purred her amusement, and said lightly "Well, there's always the option of, well, trying to 'slump', I suppose.  Let me get a better look at our hostess."  She moved, fluidly moving along to get a much better, closer inspection of Regina.  Clearly trying to absorb the details of her stance and posture.  Moving from two legged movement to four and back, like a great predatory feline as she studied Regina.

Regina had a slightly nervous smile as the "Alien Cat-Lady" studied her.

  Archeirae asked "I'm assuming you're a typical specimen of the native life, since Matt says he is not.  Am I incorrect?"

Regina nodded. "Aside from the fantastic starborn cosmic power I've got flowing through me now....yes, I am pretty typical."

  "How do we know you didn't get one of the lame start picked on in star school anyways?... Okay that felt like it was going to sound more funny and less moronic before I actually said it."