XCAS Roleplay

[Loonie]

He shook the russian's hand and simply replied: "Martin Kacur. Nice to meet you. Seeing as how I also originate from a slavic nation, I don't think I would have that much trouble pronouncing your name, but OK Ghost or Dimitri it is." He noticed O'Connor and McCarthy approaching the tall man and so he decided to leave towards his quarters for a few more hours of psionic meditation, also because the scar on the forehead was starting to itch. Almost as if it was beckoning Kacur to excercise his PSI.

 

It surprised him that a man as tall as Ghost could sneak up on people without being noticed. However Kacur knew that he couldn't surprise him, since a Psionisist detected brain waves of almost any living entity from quite a distance. But Martin knew that this ability could only be maintained through constant and dilligent psionic training, which was also the reason why he spent at least 6 hours of every free day meditating and amplifying his psionic skills. He wished that he could maintain a body as strong as a Trooper, but despite his muscles being in generally good shape for an X-Com soldier, his Psionisist position could not allow him to have a very powerful body structure. "Ahh well, I guess that even if you are a workaholic you can't have everything" he thought to himself.

 

But in the middle of these thoughts the PA system just buzzed and Richter's authoritative voice was heard: "This is the Commander speaking. Privates Martin Kacur and Tobalt Del Rodriguez, Corporals Lance Stockhart and Kyle Silvermoon and Sergeant Andy Necro report to the briefing room in five minutes." Kacur wondered why they were to report to the briefing room and not his office, but the answer soon struck him. He reorganized his thoughts as he headed towards the team's mission briefing.

 

<<This post just gives you a hint that the AWOLs won't be disposed in such an obscure manner as they previously had been :o >>

[Ion Mage]

<<sending them on a suicide mission, hmmm?>>

 

Howardson quickly heard of the new man's arrival. Though 'new' wasn't the best term for a leutenant. Took everyone by surprise, which is good, because thats what hes supposed to do!

 

He walked outside, where all the greetings were taking place.

 

"Hi, im the new heavy weapons expert, corporal howardson. I don't believe we have met before. Have we?"

 

"No, i dont think we have, Howardson. Nice to meet you, and any other team members that were defrosted while i was away."

 

"Yeah. We've had quite a few new guys. Me, mcbannok and mcbenneth, mccarthy, and of course kacur."

 

"Im sure we'll all get along. At least, i hope. I need to get going, and report to richter."

 

"Ok, bye"

 

 

 

Howardson then left back to his bunk, as always. He wanted to open his book on ascidian a bit, but he had learned quite a bit by now, and felt he deserved a break.

 

Once again, he sifted through any ascidian entertainment goods that were available. A TV, a radio, some novels, and of course some electronic gaming.

 

The gaming proved quite dull; though the graphics were nothing to laugh at, the gameplay was still something from the 1980s (think doom 3 graphics with atari gameplay). Not much to look at there.

 

As for the TV, which they called a 'er`nal`is', or 'watching device', not man channels were available. Mostly the news, which quickly proved boring because not much of it had to do with the war going on.

 

The radio could at least get music, right? right. The Radio managed to pick up some 'music' being broadcast. It wasn't much to listen too. Mostly just a soft version of 'techno music', with an odd drumbeat in the background.

 

By now, it was apparent that the ascidians were more easily amused than humans.

 

Sam, having practically nothing to do, started jogging around the base, to keep in shape.

 

On his second run-through, he noticed kacur sitting on the floor, meditating. A common scene around here, but with one thing making it very, very different from the norm; kacur's scar, which Sam never noticed until this moment, was glowing ominously.

 

Heeding his better judgement, Howardson though it best not to disturb kacur. However, this was a serious ordeal, and could have been anything. He headed down to the med-bay to file a report to yorke regarding such a strange phenomena.

 

Now spooked, howardson then left to hang around the mess hall, where everyone else was. If something strange was to happen, it would be best to be around some allies for backup.

 

<<Hope you dont mind kacur, but this 'rainbow dream' stuff is getting a little spooky, and someone is bound to find out at one point >>

[Loonie]

<<Hahah, Ion if I didn't know you better, I'd say you're reading my mind with this post (are you sure you couldn't go to PSI training? )

 

This post of yours will greatly help in adding depth to my upcoming story, so thanks a bunch >>

[Ion Mage]

<<nice. You got quite a bit of an interesting sidestory going on here, and im glad i spruced it up a bit here >>

[Loonie]

<<A little thing right after the events in the story "Alien Eye" >>

 

Kacur slowly laid back on the table for Yorke's scans to commence after about an hour of his examinations. Now the team, including Kacur, had to find out about this strange scar, that was now beginning to seriously worry the entire team. After a few minutes Yorke finished his scans on Kacur's head and turned towards him:

 

"Well, this is what I can say about this "scar" of yours. The perturbation is now definately different than on that paintball day when I first examined you. At that day, the skull was slightly caved in towards the brain, in fact it was even touching it at its centremost point. This apparently didn't prove to be any problem, although normally a person would experience headaches in that area. Are you sure you didn't fell anything strange?"

 

"No, I already told you. It was itching slightly, but that was most likely simply because of the skin deformation."

 

"Yes, well whatever the reason is, I don't know how to say this, but that centremost part of the scar is different now. I cannot figure it out but the part of the skull at that area has simply vanished."

 

"WHAT?! How the..."

 

"I don't know Kacur! I can't tell you much, since I didn't observe this process, but I can tell you that a very thin layer of skin is right now the only thing preventing us from seeing your brain! Normally that part of the brain would shrivel up and become atrophied because of the direct exposure to external influences in the air, but somehow it is working fine. In fact it's just raised its activity by a very large factor. The bottom line now is that you must stay in the hospital until this thing is fully investigated."

 

"NO!.....Doctor. I know for a fact that this thing was undoubtebly caused by my psionic abilites. As you said, that part of the brain couldn't sustain itself, EXCEPT if there was an unknown factor helping it. I strongly feel that somehow that unknown factor are my psionic skills, therefore I can't afford to stay in the Med-Bay! If I stay here I won't be able to maintain my psionic abilities and they will deteriorate. And when that happens I feel that I won't have enough psionic strength to keep that part of the brain from becoming atrophied. In short I have to maintain my psionic skills or risk becoming mentally handicaped at least"

 

"Hmmm.......Okay you have a point there, but from this point on you will have to report to me on a daily basis, so that we can log how this thing progresses. This could be the same phenomenon that was encountered with the Ethereal brain, but it still could be anything. Understood?"

 

"Sure."

 

Kacur slowly walked out of the Med-Bay. He knew that his PSI abilities were still increasing, but now he was becoming seriously worried about what this could mean. He kept reassuring himself that he would most likely take the same path as the Ethereals. But what if something went wrong? Humans were originally created or modified by the aliens, what if they managed to place some form of safeguard in order to make sure, that Humans would never ascend to their level? He momentarily stopped asking himself these questions as he entered the Personnel Quarters. He had the feeling as if the team was watching him in a very peculiar way and he could sense their primal fear of that scar or perhaps of even Kacur himself.

 

<<Will our Psionisist Kacur turn into an Ethereal or die because of brain infection? Stay tuned for the next episode of "The third eye" >>

[Chrysalid_zombie]

<<Uh oh! I feel like making a serious post! Run for the hills!!!>>

 

Daniel was practicing his diving in the crew quarters. He had to practice every now and again to get the perfect arc and avoid crushing his limbs on landing, which was important when you dive 5 times a day minimum.

Kacur walked in and everyone looked at him, in a way Daniel was a little spooked about. The last time he saw that look an Ascidian walked in, read a small book and said "We go back to my place, bouncy, bouncy?"... The dictionary was made by someone with a sense of humour.

 

Jackson: Yo Kacur! What up?

 

Everyone turned to look at Jackson in an accusing way, as if he'd walked into a funeral and started laughing at the deceased's neck tie.

 

Jackson: What?... WHAT? Oh come one! At least tell me what I did wrong there!

 

Howardson made a deliberate motion and pointed at his own forehead in the universal language of "You really should have noticed this".

Daniel looked at Kacur's forehead... Nothing unusual there. He looked back to Howardson.

 

Jackson: What?

 

There was no real answer. Daniel was getting angry, which was unusual.

 

Jackson: WHAT!?!?!

 

Necro made another forehead motion. There was definately meant to be something there. Daniel looked again, boosting his zoom factor a little. Still nothing he could see.

 

Jackson: WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!?!

 

Still no answer.

 

Jackson: This is like Highschool 6 all over again!

 

Daniel stormed past all his crewmates and into the corridor and headed towards the kitchen, which was his place. As he trudged along the corridor he was going over much of his youth in his head, mainly the bad bits, which was pretty much all of it. By the time he reached the kitchen he was upto "4 Eyes", which was about 6 months before he left on this mission. Man that corridor was long...

Inside the kitchen Daniel started to chop up bits of food on the Feronium chop board, he was using his always faithful meat-cleaver and hitting the board with such force it was jumping around. A wooden one would have splintered into fifteen different segments by now.

 

Jackson: Bloody other people... *chop* making fun of low resolution glasses... *chop* Can't help it if I can't see something... *chop* They see aliens, that's bloody enough for me... *chop* 60 million credits and they can't see... whatever it is *chop*...

 

Inbetween chops Daniel remembered the snow planet mission a while ago. He was almost completely blind because of some higher than average levels of radiation. A blind Sniper! What was that meant to be!?! A joke!? Well, he wasn't head sniper anymore and he still didn't get the joke. Infact he was a normal trooper again. Pah, he remembered when he was a normal trooper last, back on Earth, during the Religious warfare. Damn Cult of Sirius, ruining his life, not even saying thank you to X-com for saving the entire planet twice in a few decades... He liked it when they rioted and gave him the excuse. That was the only thing about Earth he'd missed, revenge. Here it was war, even against the aliens it was just troop against troop, on Earth it was about more than that, it was about him and them. He had no idea who 'them' were exactly, but if he killed enough cult members he'd get to them eventually, it was simple math to work that out. Now he was on a wierd planet without even a chance of finding out who it was... Daniel realised something. He realised how the Ascidians felt.

 

<<Sorry about the whole 'serious post' thing, I think I ate some bad cheese or something. If you want me I'll be chopping up stuff into ever smaller amounts >>

[Loonie]

<<Ehehehey! I really like your post. I'm sure the others think it's quite good. Don't be too afraid to post here jacko >>

[Loonie]

The E'Colus vessel was orbiting the desert planet Um'laut'nierg. Kacur was onboard just making his way to the ship's kitchen. The mission, that X-Com had preformed a few hours ago, was definately not to be considered as a success. Richter was in bad shape, after the temperature settings in his suit went haywire, setting themselves to 75° Celsius and he started panicing. The team then seriously beat him up, by kicking him several times in his guts, before he finally stopped going beserk. He also had serious heart problems, since the heat was making it hard for his heart to pump blood throughout his body.

 

Apart from that Ghost was also captured by the Snakemen, who managed to stun him, whilst he was retreating to the escape ship. By now he was most likely in an examination room, completely naked and being studied by the aliens. Kacur knew that there would be a mission to rescue the Lieutenant, but for now he would have other things to think about.

 

As he entered the kitchen he saw no one in the room except Jackson, who was using a meat cleaver to chop some meat into very tiny bits. By the looks of it you would almost think that he was trying to chop the feronium board. Kacur knew that he must've felt very angry, because no one had told him about his forehead scar and he decided to let him know.

 

"Jackson, I don't mean to interrupt, but you can take a closer look at this scar of mine."

 

Jacko stopped for a moment, whilst breathing hard and looked towards Kacur's scar.

 

"I STILL don't see a thing"

 

"No, use your X-Ray vision."

 

Jacko quickly switched into X-Ray and saw the lack of any bones in the scar's center.

 

"But,.....how come the others knew about it?"

 

"I guess you haven't heard from Howardson, or from Necro who both witnessed it. It glows in a bright yellow colour whenever I use psionics. I'm not sure why, but I do know that if I stop using psionics, then that part of the brain will die off, making me mentally handicaped. Actually no one in the team knows of the last part except you, Yorke and the Commander. But it doesn't really matter, since I really wish that people would stop looking at me in such a peciluar way, whenever this scar begins to glow."

 

Daniel could draw some lines of comparison between Kacur and himself, since he knew what it was like to feel like an outcast.

 

"Hmm, thanks for letting me know."

 

"Don't mention it and Daniel, if you ever feel angry about any problem whatsoever, just say so and we'll talk. It's much more satisfying than trying to destroy a feronium board."

 

Kacur walked out of the kitchen. Now he was certain about one thing though, since Jackson rarely got as angry as he did at that time in the Personnel Quarters. The energy that he constantly showed was almost certainly just a front, to cover up his traumatic childhood.

 

<<Okay, I'm forcing a bit too much of psychology here but, heh, I guess I couldn't think of anything else right now >>

[Chrysalid_zombie]

<<A Nice post there Kacur It seems someone on this rock/ship undertands me . >>

 

Daniel listened to Kacur and was impressed he'd bothered to come and speak to him, even in the close knit group that was X-com (both here and back in Sol) people rarely did that... "Definately councilor material" thought Daniel as Kacur took his exit from the room with expert timing. He'd stayed just long enough to show it wasn't a bet he had with the others but not long enough to let Daniel think of an insult or witty comeback... He often used those at the wrong moment... Most impressive. Although he still wasn't finished with that feronium board! He was convinced that if it wasn't inanimate it would have been laughing at him for being weak. *Chop*

Daniel looked back down at the board and leapt back with suprise.

 

Jackson: Death!! Oh wait... Still got X-ray on... *turns it off and rubs hand just to make sure* Man these glasses still scare the hell out of me sometimes...

 

Daniel was confused again. He couldn't decide if he hated his glasses or not... Sure he could see through them but... What if one day he couldn't? What if a lucky shot blasted them, or something with teeth crushed them? There was only one pair in this part of the galaxy and he knew for sure none of the engineering teams or even Yorke could make a new pair. 60 million credits worth of technology could not be replicated with the X-com equivelent of garden tools. He'd just be a blind guy... All be it a cool blind guy that could dive sideways with amazing skill, but a blind guy none the less. "Something to worry about when the time arrives I think" he thought, "Not worth dwelling on. Now to prepare a... erm... Losing

feast for the crew. Yes that's it, a losing feast, to take away some of the disappointment"

 

Daniel started to cut things again, only this time constructively, and preparing various pots and pans. He only had some Ascidian vegetables and some... whatever the hell they were, but he'd still get at least a large meal out of it! A highly toxic meal if those were engine parts and not food as he believed, but a quick taste test should see to that...

 

Jackson: *Sips some of the... whatever soup* Mmmmm... Full of feronium for growing troops. As well as small machine parts and lubricant. *Throws the soup into a disposal chute*. Just the vegetables then...

 

<<Egads! I've made what... two serious posts in a row? Record for me people!! Woo! >>

[Andrew_175]

<<this is also from the alien eye story>>

 

Necro has been really beating himself up about the loss of the 3 soldiers during his mission for the Ascadian High Council, he had socialised very little since the incident and spent most of this training.

 

He stormed into the CMDRs office slamming the door behind him. Pacing up and down the room he let fly with his anger on poor Wiendhoven, he'd have kicked Jacko if he had been in the room, but he wasn't so punched the wall instead leaving a nice dent in it.

 

"What the HELL went wrong?" demanded Necro

 

"The Ascadian High Council had no idea that the base had been taken over until you literally got back into the transport", replied a slightly intimidated Wiendhoven. He had always seen Necro as an incredibly laid back guy, never like this, almost like seeing Jacko being sane.

 

Necro at that point was fuming, "WHAT? How can you not know a base has been taken over?? They sent us on a suicide mission! We could have lost both out psionists, then what would we do?"

 

After about an hur of Necro letting rip at the CO he'd finally calmed down "I wish to talk to the High leader of the gits and give him a piece of my mind" demanded Andy.

 

"Later", replied Richtor "You're in no fit state, I want you to stop by MeDBaY and talk to Yorke, you've had a terrible shock, do you want some time off?"

 

"NO WAY" shouted Andy "I wanna get back in the fray and make those Barstools pay for this"

 

He got up and walked out of the office slamming the door once more and walked off to the MeDBaY. On the way he passed Howardson, "Hi Necro how yo..."

 

Necros' glare switched from the floor in front of him to Howardsons eyes with a menacing stare that froze Sam mid in conversation . Necro tried to smile and force back the pain but he couldn't. He walked on..

 

"Wow, that guy has problems" the fellow HWE exclaimed.

 

"You have no idea" added Wiendhoven who had been following And up the corridor, "only he can find his peace".

[Ghost]

Darkness, that was the first thing Ghost saw when he opened his eyes again. He tried to get up and groaned, his head felt as if it had been hit by a train. He supported himself on one arm, as the other felt his head and rubbed his eyes a little. "Ugh... okay, now where am I..." He looks around and notices he's in a room he hasn't seen before. The walls look metally, but a little rusted and there is a small trickle of water dripping along it, as well as a small puddle in a corner. There is a little bit of light in the room, but not much. He gets up, supporting himself on the wall and standing a bit unsteadily.

 

Where am I... hmm... The last he could remember was that he was running to the Patton with the rest of the squad, remaining behind a little to cover the retreat. Then he remembered feeling something knocking against him, he turned around a little and then everything went dark. The squad wouldn't just have left him around would they? He walked over towards the door, going along the wall rather unsteadily, and tries to open it. As he presses the button on the keypad, some red letters in a strange language appear, and the door remains shut. He tries it again, and then frowns slightly... the commander wouldn't have locked him up, and he should be in medbay if he were on the Patton or in NAO... He pounded on the door, "Hey there. Whoever is out there, let me out. Let me see your commander or someone in charge."

 

No reply, just a soft strange sound outside, a sort of hissing sound, but that ceased shortly after.

 

He walked back to the one bunk that was in the cell, it was a simple flat raised plate, but the size was larger then would've been necessary for humans, both width and length. Sitting on it he sighed. Well his strength nor his stealth or shooting skill were going to save him from this. He'd best wait for something to happen.

 

Some time passed, but suddenly the hissing sound returned, though it seemed as if there was more then one source this time. The door opened and the light from the corridor somewhat blinded Ghost, and he shielded his eyes with his hand, as he watched who came in, and widened his eyes in surprise.

 

Through the door came 3 Snakemen, entering the room, 2 of them armed with plasma rifles, and one of them seemingly unarmed. The door closed behind them again and the armed ones moved to either side of the door, as the unarmed one moved over to Ghost, and started to speak, surprisingly enough in english, albeit with a little hiss.

 

"Ssso you have woken up I sssee. Very good, I'd almossst think the grenade wasss ssset for too long. Asss you have probably figured out by now, you are our captive..."

Ghost didn't really let the Snakeman finish his story further and looked him straight in the eyes and interrupted him,

 

"And what is it you want with me?"

The Snakeman looked a little surprised at the interruption and then regained his composure, continuing his story.

 

"Like I sssaid, you are our captive now, and ssshould praissse yourssself lucky that we need the informasssion you can give usss, ssso we will let you live for now. If you provide usss with the informasssion we want, you may even leave thisss bassse unharmed, with the exssseption that we will erassse the informasssion you gained here from your memoriesss. Now you can cooperate with usss willingly, or we can get the informasssion from you otherwissse, but I asssure you thisss will be far more painful."

 

Ghost didn't really listen to the Snakeman talking, the same story as usual when you were caught. He had heard this story before when he had been held by the police once when he was still with the Cult of Sirius. He looked for a possible means of escape while the Snakeman spoke, and when he finished talking, Ghost looked at him again. He got up from his 'bunk', supporting himself heavily against the wall, unable to really stand and staggeringly took a few steps towards the armed Snakeman nearest to him. Then he leaned his back against the wall again, facing the unarmed one again and shook his head slightly, while the 3 Snakemen were watching him intently, the ones at the door seemingly calm, but keeping their rifle at the ready. The one nearest to him was uneasily fingering the trigger though.

 

"My team has left me behind here it seems, and I wouldn't really have a choice, would I? They don't really seem to care about me, and you offer me to live at least. Your offer is very tempting..."

 

With these words Ghost pushed himself away from the wall and with somewhat surprising speed he knocked himself against the nearest Snakeman, smashing him into the wall, in the same motion he grabbed the rifle from it's hands and aimed it at the other guard, blasting a few bolts of plasma through it's head before it could fire at him. The Snakeman sank to the floor, dead. As he turned towards the third unarmed Snakeman he realised he had made a fatal error however: Although he had seemed unarmed, he now had a strange device in his hand and before Ghost could fire the rifle he felt a sharp pain through his entire body and fell to the floor. As his sight faded to black he heard the Snakeman hissing at him,

 

"Sssuch a pity, you could've sssaved yourssself a lot of pain..."

Ghost's last thoughts were that he thought the Snakeman didn't really sound as if he thought it was that much a shame, he almost sounded eager. He felt himself being picked up on two sides and dragged away when everything finally went black.

 

<<Sorry Kacur, no dissection table yet And if you're curious what the Snakeman used on me, well it would've been a sort of Stun Grapple, of course not entirely the same, but a similar type of weapon. I hope you enjoyed a little on the side reading, it's not really related to any of the posting here, just letting you know how much Ghost appreciates you guys left him with our good friends the Snakemen And you'd better come save me saturday or sunday, I'll do my best to be at both, and even as I can't play Ghost, I'll play someone else then >>

[Loonie]

Kacur went over to his bunk and sat on his bed. He had been pushing himself both with psionics and with thinking up the best approach to calm Jackson down. Now it was time for fun. He put a strange disc into his Holographic Disc Player and it began to play some music, whilst he laid back on the bed and listened. "The sixties sure were something." he thought as he listened to the words of an American singer of a very peciluar band at that time, that came from Los Angeles. Although the music was phenomenal, he knew that the singer who was preforming it was in reality one of the biggest jerks that the world had ever seen. He couldn't help but sing along.

 

"......week to week, day to day, hour and hour.......Break on through to the other side!....."

 

However he was quickly interrupted by Andy Necro who stormed into the room. He stopped singing although not so much because of embarrasment, but since it would disturb the other person. The Heavy Weapons Expert proceeded towards a strange looking bag, that he had used for training, and began showering it with heavy punches. The man had been pushing himself harder and harder ever since the mission on Kanay V and was hardly talking to anyone else.

 

"It wasn't your fault you know."

 

"What!?" replied Necro whilst giving Kacur a piercing gaze. He didn't feel too intimidated and continued.

 

"We were both there and couldn't know a thing about it. I managed to let their deaths go as they are, but you seem to prefer dwelling on the past. But why? Only because you think that the soldiers safety was your responsibility, or because you think that you weren't skilled enough to save them?"

 

Necro felt furious and grabbed Kacur by the throat with a single arm and pinned him to the wall. The Psionisist knew that it was futile to resist the strength of a Heavy Weapons Expert and didn't move a muscle, whilst Necro began spitting words at him.

 

"Listen to me you wierdo! I happen to be a Sergeant here and anyone that happens to be assigned to my squad is MY responsibility! You have it easy, because as a Private you have no serious responsibilities at all, but I on the other hand have to justify three deaths right now"

 

"But to whom!? Every X-Com soldier here knows that it wasn't your fault except, that is, for yourself. So to whom do you have to justify your actions? To the others or yourself?"

 

"I know what this is about! You've been slacking off after those three died, whilst you should have been training to make DAMN sure that such a thing didn't occur again! Perhaps if you didn't listen to all of these ancient records all your freaking spare time, you could have detected the infiltrators before we got right into their base's center! You think you can make me do the same, don't you? Well it won't work at all! You really are one of the most laziest people I've ever met."

 

The last sentence sparked violent memories inside Kacur, even though he knew that Necro said it simply to protect himself. He barely restrained himself from throwing a jab at the Sergeant, but he couldn't control his voice anymore.

 

"HEY!! What do you think I'm trying to do right now! Ask yourself why the heck did I talk to Jacko recently! Sure it was because of certain personal reasons and for his own welfare, but believe me that the main reason was in order to keep morale of our team up! That's why!! I'm doing a job that you could never even hope to preform in the condition that you're currently in, so for the last time "Sergeant" PUT ME DOWN AND LET ME DO MY JOB!"

 

Necro finnaly stopped his shouting and released Martin's neck, which was by that time slightly bruised. Martin then continued.

 

"The problem with you isn't that you need more training or that you improve your command abilities. The problem you currently face was made by yourself. You, just like Jacko, don't want to let go of the past and move on. For now this isn't fatal, but should you continue doing so, it will destroy you to the point where you won't be able to live with yourself anymore. And when that happens you won't be around when another rookie will get slaughtered, just because you weren't there to help him out and had to dwell on the past instead"

 

Kacur quickly exited the room, since he didn't want Necro to think of a counter to his statement and wanted him to think about his words instead. He didn't know if this would help him out, but at least he tried. He felt very disrupted and decided to go to the storage area in order to calm himself down with meditation.

 

After he was sitting on the storeroom's floor for a couple of hours, he was feeling much better. The anger from his previous confrontation was slowly dissapearing and he felt much more at peace. But a vision suddenly struck him, that would once again disturb him. He saw a man strapped onto a metal board, who was in horrible agony, even though he didn't say a sound. His mind was resisting vile images of his worst fears whilst his body was shaking and twitching. A single word came to Kacur's mind:

 

"Ghost"

 

<<Invigorating, innit? >>

[Andrew_175]

After watching Kacur escape from the room he sat back on his bunk and did something he hadn't done for a very long while, he cried.

 

For what seemed like forever he though about what the Psionist had said and realised what a complete idiot he's made of himself. He thought "shouldn't have gone overbaord at Kacur or anyone, its a war, people die". He got back up off his bunk and went off the canteen for a drink. When he got there he saw Kacur sitting in the corner trying not to make eye contact with him. Necro poured himself a coffee and went over quietly, "I'm sorry for what I said back there, I was out of line, but when you move up the ranks you will see how hard it is especially when you loose team-mates, especially when they have become close friends, but still you have to let it go, this is my way of letting it go, I'll be ok soon".

 

He turned to leave "hey, I'm sorry too" replied Kacur "I shouldn't have poked you like that, everyone has there own way of coping and who am I to tell you what to do"

 

"Thanks" said Andy, as he smiled and walked out of the room

[Ghost]

<<You arses had better rescue me coming weekend, I was going to write a little story here, but can't right now because Ghost is MIA (and it's supposed to play in NAO, I doubt Ghost would have any access to terminals with NAO files in the Snakeman base Leaving you wondering now am I? Well let's just say you'll learn a little more about Ghost's past>>

[DragonHawk]

 

One more thing, guys, I've really enjoyed reading the roleplay for the last page or so. Really nice work. Blending in some compassion, some elements from the past, very nice.

 

However, one thing to keep in mind is that as we get closer to Saturday, we should put more of our posts as being on the Patton instead of NOA. Yeah, I buggered up in the R&D, sorta. We aren't leaving without Ghost. Unless you guys send me cookies. >>

 

A dark look passed over Anne's beautiful features as she gazed down at Um'laut'nierg through the viewport of the Patton's starboard observation deck. Um'laut'nierg, or Planet U as it had been referred to in the mission summary report, had been a haven for the Alien conglomerate. Intelligence had not discovered the fact that a number of alien bases existed on this very planet.

 

On this planet, somewhere, was Lieutenant Dmitri Schmerjchanikov.

 

After X-Com had escaped from the facility, the combat team had returned to the Patton to report. Colonel Cyriacus had contacted the local Ascidian rapid deployment unit. Three hours after being contacted, Colonel Xel'nag'azul of the 10th Royal Ascidian Combat Regiment entered the system. After conferring with Colonel Cyriacus, the 10th deployed its infantry as a quick beachhead via assault shuttle, while heavier ships brought down armoured vehicles. The facility was assaulted, and within the hour, under Ascidian control. Ascidian combat engineers, in addition to search and rescue personnel, swarmed the facility, but were unable to locate the Lieutentant, as feared. Before leaving, the Ascidian troops sacked the remaining facilities, then razed the base.

 

An hour prior to the 10th's arrival, a Harvester had left the oasis base and had flown to a rocky mountain range that was "east" of the oasis. No ships had left the mountain base since the Harvester had entered, but a number of ships had entered. None of them had been small ships; the craft that had been identified were BattleShips and Supply Ships.

 

It was in this base that Lieutentant Schmerjchanikov must be.

 

Corporal Kaitlin Stone sat next to Private Rallwell, but she didn't look down at the planet. She was looking at the face of her friend, a face that was troubled, and a face that wouldn't be soothed by calming words. "Hey Annie..."

 

"Shh... Hold that thought."

 

"Annie, you need to be in bed. If you don't sleep, the op tomorrow is going to go poorly..."

 

Rallwell sighed. "I know Kate, but what else can I do? It's not like Lieutenant Schmerjchanikov is dead. He's missing... And that's what's eating me. What the h*** are those alien fiends doing down there to him?"

 

Stone got up and walked to the observation deck's small kitchenette. "Probably the same thing that our boys did in the first and second Alien War, hon. Interrogation."

 

"That's not soothing."

 

"I know, but it's the truth." Stone opened a packet of powder and dumped part of it into a steaming cup of water. Closing it, she reached down to the tea mix box and grabbed a packet. Ripping it, she poured it into her own cup of hot water. "The Lieutenant is a tough guy. Both of them are, and either of them can withstand an interrogation..."

 

"Can they? There are few survivors from AW1. AW2 was a bit different, the environment was more conducive to deaths than being 'neutralized'. We really don't know much of them."

 

Stone carried back the drinks and handed the first to Rallwell. "Look Anne, we can't just drop down there now and take them out. Have you seen the number of ships entering the base? I overheard Kacur mention that one of those Battleships might have even been carrying Ethereals, the concentration of psionic energy is apparently noticable even from this far away. We got to have a plan first."

 

"But we risk the possiblility of trading away the life of one of us," Rallwell said. "Can we afford to, so far away from home?"

 

"It's just one of many tough decisions," Stone whispered. She took a sip of her tea. Strongly, she said, "We'll need Ascidian support for this. The 10th can punch a hole in the hangar door, or we can use the Patton's weaponry to do the same. If we get the local artillery deployed, they can bombard the base and make the assault that much easier. They should be deploying now."

 

Rallwell took a sip of her drink. Shaking her head, she sighed. "I don't like depending so heavily on the Ascidians..." She took another sip.

 

"There aren't enough of us. Maybe in cryo, but not active." Stone watched Rallwell with a look that gave her codename justice. "That info is confidential, only Richter, Brad, and Ned know. Even so, we are going to need a lot more. Readings indicate the base is huge. We'll be looking for Ghost as our primary objective, but the Ascidians have their own mission as well."

 

Rallwell yawned. "This is all true, but still, I don't like it. In a way, it's getting too integrated, too dependent." Rallwell tried to stand, but stumbled and fell back down into the seat.

 

"Hey Annie, let me hold onto that." Stone gently took Rallwell's cup and placed it on a table. "Only a few hours until go time, ok, hon?"

 

From somewhere in the ship, Stone could hear someone stomping around. At this moment, she didn't bother to wonder who or why. Rallwell tried to stand again, but fell forward. Stone carefully reached out and grabbed her, settling her onto the couch and draping a blanket over her. Walking over to the hardwire comm system, she activated it and opened a channel to MedBay.

 

"Sergeant, this is Corporal Stone."

 

"Kaitlin, have you subdued Anne?"

 

"Yes indeed, Ned. She's asleep in the observation deck, starboard-side."

 

"Excellent. Leave her there, I'm sure she'll be okay. A lot of the other guys are running around the ship in a frenzy... Getting to know one another, I would think." Yorke's sigh was audible over the comm. "I'm not sure if we need to subdue the rest though. Let them know the op is being prepared. Briefing will be in six hours."

 

"I'll tell the others. Thanks Ned, we'll talk later."

 

"Indeed." The comm system cut off.

[Ghost]

"The Lieutenant is a tough guy. Both of them are, and either of them can withstand an interrogation..."

 

"Can they? There are few survivors from AW1. AW2 was a bit different, the environment was more conducive to deaths than being 'neutralized'. We really don't know much of them."

 

<<Just curious, but who is the 'both of them' you are referring to here? I don't have a split personality or anything, and I'm the only captured one that I know of *wonders why DH is playing the both females now, CROSSDRESSER :devil:*>>

[Loonie]

<<Hehe, I'd like to know that too . Well, I did have another different sim planned for Saturday (on how we get Ghost out), but I guess that this scenario that DH put up is also pretty good. >>

[DragonHawk]

 

Kacur, contact me with what you've got in mind, and we'll see what we can splice together.

 

And this is turning into more of a fanfic than an RPG... heheheh. All the babes are belong to me! Hahaha, Ghost, maybe we can put in a "softcore Alliance" post just for you... >>

[Loonie]

Heheh, it really is intersting to reply in just a few minutes of time difference, but the reason is because my sim isn't all too special. It was just meant to fix my previous GMing mistakes and things like that so if Ghost's rescue is to be made I'd much rather have it that someone with experience does it >>

[DragonHawk]

I'm going to be cleaning this up next week.

 

BLeh, I'll message you when I get home. MSN DIE! ICQ 4EVER! (I feel lame now...).

 

Oh yeah, I put "my" briefing up on the non-combat page. Again, plenty of time to change it, that's why it's up early.>>

[Loonie]

<<ALLRIGHT! Time to cut the chatter with yet another post form Psionisist Kacur. Although this will definately be my last this week, since I don't want to strech my activities during sim too much. But if anyone else feels like posting (like IonMage), then go ahead >>

 

Kacur walked around a corner to investigate a female voice. He overheard Yorke's concerns and then tapped Stone on the shoulder.

 

"Anything I can help with?"

 

Katilin quickly turned around and stuttered: "Er..no thanks Kacur."

 

"Liar. If I hadn't overheard Yorke I would have found it out from you after a while. I think Necro is still going around and currently he's thinking a lot of things over. Jacko is surprisingly in bed and I see you just took care of Rallwell."

 

"Well I guess that pretty much leaves me with just one more person now, doesn't it?"

 

Kacur didn't really know right away if she said that so as to get him to bed more easily or if it was an invitation to something a little more intimate. He noticed that she has recently started acting with quite a bit more of a manhunter attitude towards men, especially towards the Colonel. He also remembered his past and his pathetic attempts to talk to women, which were usually a faliure because he lacked the neccesary nerve. Although he did improve slightly just before he left for the mission, he still couldn't control his blushing, which was just starting to turn his cheeks red.

 

"Yes it does."

 

<When uncertain about anything, the best answer is a neutral one> he thought.

 

"Well I guess I'll just head over to this ship's med-bay and try to make the Commander's life a bit more pleasant. Oh and you should get some rest too."

 

And so she quickly proceeded towards the medical bay, leaving Kacur to sit down before he could fall down. <I really have to try and talk to women more. Why in the world do people like me get so embarrased in front of women, even if we try to fix this problem?> he contemplated.

 

He kept asking himself this question as he passed the med-bay on the way to the quarters. He detected a strangely playful disposition of one of the persons in there and although he was almost certain that it was Fox and felt intrigued to keep psionically investigating this, he quickly remembered his vow about psionics.

 

"After all, who knows if something intimate might be going on in there."

 

<<Ain't I a b**ch . Foxy lady if you happen to be reading this, remember that only you can stop this, since next time I will do something a bit more than just suggest at these things :devil:

 

DH thinks that you don't really care about this too much, but I'm sure you do, don't you honey :devil: >>

[Ion Mage]

<<dear god, this is going to result in the end of kacur's virility if she ever finds out . Just giving you a heads up >>

[DragonHawk]

>>

[Ghost]

<<Oh definately, her staff tends to strike at.... unfortunate places No more little Kacurs >>

[Loonie]

<<Okay, I agree DH, you didn't put it quite like that

 

But as for her, well, in a way I hope that she comes around and strikes at that place (I would be much happier if she did, than if she didn't reply to XCAS at all ) >>