[New RPG] Confinement

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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Sector 7 R&D, Location: Classified

Simmons smiled at Sparkplug's confusion. "Oh, don't get me wrong. Your ancestors didn't wear Starfleet attire and shoot down little green men, no. It's more about the discovery of this alien artifact, this Slab. Let me tell you a story about your ancestors. And mine. Have a seat."

Ignoring the sounds of the fire extinguishers in the background, Simmons strode over to a table and placed his hand over a black file marked with the word 'Witwicky'. It was very neat, and the edges of the paper seemed so neat that it seemed like you'd get a paper cut by jut holding the file. Simmons flicked the file open, then plopped himself down on the office chair next to it. Gesturing at the other office chair beside the table, he opened the file.

"Now, your great-great-great grandfather Archibald, he's an archaeologist in the 1880's. He was the one that suggested the hidden chamber in the pyramids, and was Susan Hoffman's mentor. Without him, we'd never lay our hands on that weird extraterrestrial slab of sacrophagus over there." Simmons flicked to the next page. "He also had a theory that the pyramids were not aligned with the stars, but also with other points on Earth... incredibly smart man, but sadly people were less forthcoming back then, and he was trussed up in an asylum."

Simmons raised an eyebrow. "I buy into his theory, personally. I mean, we all know the Egyptians didn't build the pyramids, not by themselves."

Simmons sighed. "Now this one, I regretted. Sadly it was handled by my predecessor. Your Grandfather, Samuel, was an astro-physicist who observed the space. He spotted strange flashes, and an object colliding with the moon." Simmons smiled a little, his eyes still looking as unhinged as ever. "This, my friend, is Impact Luna One. You see, your grandfather discovered an alien ship crashing on the moon, which would later spark the space race between us and the Russians. Sadly, because your gramps had wanted to make this public, my predecessor had caused his research to... disappear. We compensated him, of course, with a ridiculous amount of money -- that I could only dream to achieve with my lousy government salary -- in his bank account, and he retired afterwards. Lucky man."

"Now, 1984, your father, Buster, alongside Susan Hoffman, was one of the people who were involved in the excavation in Giza and discovered the Slab, right where Archibald said it would be. However, in circumstances that are very much not involved with Sector Seven, seven years later your parents and grandparents were the victims of a tragic hit-and-run... no doubt someone wanted to keep this Slab silent, and as a result of your father's regrettable demise, the Slab disappeared into the dark and dank corners of the Smithsonian until yours truly managed to recover it..."

Simmons waited, waited for Sparkplug to make a reaction.

Hit him in the face, probably. Simmons was used to that.
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Brave Maximus
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Sector Seven

Post by Brave Maximus »

"Hold on.... Are you saying you guys are responsible for killing my parents and grandparents?!?!?"

Sparkplug's hands instinctively went into balls. Standing there, looking cocky and smug, while talking about the events of his families tragety like it was some sort of timeline (There was something to what Simmons said though, some pieces that seem to fit. Daniel filed them away to think about later, right now, he had other things on his mind). He wanted to do nothing more than to take Simmons down right then and there, wipe the smugness off his mouth. But he was a Marine. He had more discipline than that - for now. Right now, he wanted information - he wanted to know exactly what Simmons knew about his family. And then, he wanted to know how to make a clean exit, once he did beat this man down.

*************************************************

Northern Minnesota

If someone had stumbled upon the scene, they'd have thought it was a rich model club or perhaps a test site for minatures of some private developing company.

Out in a clearing, hidden away from prying eyes by a kilometer of forrest on any side. In the center of it, there appeared to be men and women in strange mechanical suits unloading a sports car and transporting it's contents into a large model rocket.
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Sector Seven

"What? No, no no no no!" Simmons said, although he did not look at all apologetic or shocked by Sparkplug's reply. "We have... inconvenienced them, yes, but we do not operate them. The unfortunate accident that claimed their lives, certainly, was not one that was engineered by us."

Simmons folded his fingers together and shook his head. "That's not how we- or the government- operates, kid. If needed be, we take them out under witness protection, or recruit them, or something similar. Like giving your grandpop an outrageously large sum of money in compensation for taking his research. Now, that was all we did to them. The accident was very regrettable-" Not that it didn't do them a favour by not necessitating another hush-up, Simmons thought "-but it was not in any way related to us."

Simmons's eyes went wild. "Although, who's to say another alien-hunting agency is not behind this- nay, dare I say... the aliens themselves?"

There was no way for Simmons to know it, but inside the innocent-looking Egyptian slab lying nearby covered with extinguisher foam, an extradimensional eldritch alien was laughing at how close the truth is.
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Brave Maximus
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Sector Seven

Post by Brave Maximus »

Sparkplug didn't know what to do. He sat there shaking just a little, partially in shock, partially in incredulity. He had, on the days where he allowed himself daydreams of faciful flight, let himself fantasize that his family had been involved in some sort of plot about secret societies and finding out too much. Perhaps the language was an ancient code used by the Templars or the Illuminati and maybe what his father had found was the first step to finding their vast fortunes. But what this man, this government agent, was telling him, was beyond even his wildest dreams.

"So...." He said, trying to maintain his Marine calm. "What you're trying to tell me is that my family has been wrapped up in some alien plot, for the better part of 200 years, and that the government has, more than once, paid them off to keep them away from it.

"Further more, that these aliens roam the country, and even the world, and we haven't, or is it can't, do anything about them?"

Daniel shook his head and looked right at Simmons:

"Why am I here sir? Is it just to dig up old wounds and pour a bit of salt in them, or can I actually help out in some way?"
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Sector Seven R&D

Simmons nodded, trying oh so very best to look like a proper government agent, to look impassive and emotionless like that bloke who played the villain in the Matrix, but clearly the slightly mad agent couldn't pull off that look. He looked so excited, so giddy, that it was a surprise that he didn't hop around on the spot like a little bunny.

"Yes, yes, that's the gist of it. To be fair, my family's been wrapped up in the same alien plot, I just inherited the mantle from my father who inherited it from my grandpappy who inherited it from... well, you get it." Simmons frowned. "Aliens roam the country? Well, I suspect that happens, I suspect that is how your parents were murdered, but my superiors insist that is something done by the commies or some other secret organization."

Simmons leant forwards. "My theory? The aliens killed your family to keep it hush-hush." He grinned, "And, we do have... some... experimental weapons. More on that later-"

A muffled explosion chose that time to sound off. More screams and shouts from another part of the facility Simmons sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That would be our experimental weapon. I told them we should test them outside, but nooo, I'm just a field agent, I don't get to make decisions on R&D."

Simmons waved his hands. "But, ah, yes, to get to the point..." Simmons strode over to the triangular sacrophagus which, unknown to anyone on the room, or on the planet, was the gate to Fallen's extradimensional prison. "You are military, and you are well-versed in runes. And Wickity, I vouched for you because I thought you deserve to know what your family's been involved with. Sooo... here. The slab daddy's discovery led to. Our researchers are all baffled, but I think you may be able to help, hmmm?"

Simmons added quickly, "Just don't touch it, 'kay? It kind of blew up when someone else touched it."
_________________________________

Two of the insects approached the Rift, the still-sealed gate that led from this thrice-accursed interdimensional prison to the real material world.

One of them had a very chaotic mind, full of wonder and curiosity but not much else. Not even fear. Good. Chaotic is good.

The other seemed to be more orderly, yet full of confusion, a mixture of hate, anger, pain, fear, and, yes, curiosity as well.

Keep prodding, little monkeys Fallen thought. Enough curiosity, and they might well break the Rift from the other side. Fallen himself drew his Void Scepter and slammed it against the Rift again. His newly-changed form's multiple fingers gripped the Scepter hard.

His imprisonment had clearly done the opposite of what Vector Prime intended him to do. Instead of taking away all his powers and leaving him a dead, powerless shell, the Avatar of Entropy had instead evolved, transformed. His newly-fashioned body might not have all the full powers of Entropy at his command, yet it was powerful in its own right. Fallen felt it.

The panels running down the side of his head rippled and tinkled as he twirled the Void Scepter, likewise mutated by the constant change here -- with nothing else to influence, Fallen's entropic powers can only influence him and those imprisoned with him.

It felt good in his altered hands. It felt very, very good.
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Brave Maximus
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Sector Seven

Post by Brave Maximus »

Daniel looked perplexed for a second. Did they really pull him off base just to look at a slab of rock. It wasn't exactly his area of expertiese by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, it was what he was studying and.... it really did look the same as the fragment that his father had sent him. It couldn't hurt to look while he was here - it could, at least, help him with his own personal research. Still... the idea of it being alien...

Sparkplug walked away from Agent Simmons, through the blasted wreckage and over to the slab of stone. He couldn't make out where his fragment came from, probably somewhere on the back. He did, however notice the lines of glyphs along the edges. At first glance, he noticed a few that... were similar... there was a feeling of... he should know what they ment. He felt something coming from the stone... a heat and a cold all at the same time... He reached a hand out.....
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Sector 7 R&D

Simmons raised an eyebrow as he trailed after Daniel Witwicky into the room with the mysterious slab.

Daniel reached a hand out, as if to touch the stone... or the weird glyphs around the stone.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you... the last guys who did that are in the infirmary right now." Simmons said, in a conversational manner, but did not try to stop Witwicky. After all, he brought the kid in to see what he would do...
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Brave Maximus
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Sector Seven

Post by Brave Maximus »

If Daniel heard Simmons, he didn't show it. His hand kept moving forward, almost of it's own volition. He couldn't have stopped himself even if he wanted to, and the fact was, he didn't. There, before him, was the culmination of his families legacy. Generations had died to find it, and having found it, even more died to keep it a secret. He had to touch it, he had to make contact with all those past generations.

When he touched it, he didn't know what to expect. Nothing, is what he would have told you, if you asked him. But in that secret part of his mind, he had expected something. An alien planet like John Carter, a whosh of stars and a worm hole like in Stargate, or perhaps a little baby who knew everything like David Bowman. What he got, however, was exactly nothing. Not the nothing of... inactivity. He felt himself move, pull free and leave the Earth and more.

Where he arrived was nowhere, nothing, the lack of any sort of reality... and there he floated.
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Post by Blackjack »

???

Simmons had reached out his hand and touched Daniel's shoulder at the very moment that the soldier had touched the sarcophagus. "Listen, kid-"

And then he was transported away, into something else.

Simmons found himself and the Witwaticky kid floating in a swirl of nothingness. Was this death? Was this space? Some portal into some alien plane or planet? He found he could breathe... then kicked himself. This wasn't space. It wasn't all black with stars, and colours swirled all around them. Mostly purples and reds and blacks, although other colours appeared now and then.

Was this space? Was the dark, hollow space surrounding their galaxy just a small patch in this whole wide universe, while there might be wide expanses in space like this, breathable air, a background like what someone would draw when they are high? Simmons couldn't overrule it, of course. It would be like living in an oasis desert and thinking that the rest of the world is pure sand while there are massive grasslands and forests far far away from the desert.

"Kid, kid you all right?" Simmons asked Daniel.

"<RELEASE ME>" A voice spoke.

The voice was deep, and it sounded... metallic? It spoke in a heavy language made up of words Simmons was sure he could never repeat with his human vocal chords. Simmons looked around for the source of the voice, then mentally kicked himself. The alien, ghost or whatever had dragged them here... it might be invisible, it might be telepathic, it might be flitting between planes...

"Who are you?" Simmons called out.

"<RELEASE ME>" The voice repeated.

Before Simmons' eyes, the swirling nothingness swelled, and a vaguely humanoid figure, shrouded in the smoky nothingness, pulled out. It was close to forty, fifty feet tall, although sense of space seemed to be eschewed in this place.

The being burst into flames, and Simmons thought he could see a face, with burning eyes an what looked like an old knight's helmet, complete with a segmented mouthplate...

"Whoaaa." Simmons said, mouth gaping open. This wasn't what he was prepared for.

The being seemed to ripple, and his form changed, into what appeared through the fire and flames to be a horned demonic figure, then changed again into something with a long face, gangly arms and splayed legs, then swirled again, and again...

"<RELEASE ME!>" The being roared, and Simmons felt a massive throb through his head, as if the being was prodding around there. "RELEASE ME!" It roared again, this time in perfect, if deeply accented English. It reached out through the smoke and flames surrounding it, an eleven-fingered, metallic hand with veins that looked as if magma was flowing through it moving towards the humans.

"Holy-" Simmons did a double take...
__________________________________

And found himself beside Daniel Witwicky again, back in the Sector Seven Research and Development facility, mouth open. Sector Seven agents and technicians were surrounding them, talking animatedly.

Simmons ignored them and brushed off a medic that attempted to look at him. "Witicky, did you see that? Did you-" Simmons trailed off.
__________________________________

So close.

He could have reached at the pitiful insects, touched them, follow them through the slight, tiny gap in the Rift.

He had seen their mind, learned their language from it. Their mind were deliciously chaotic, full of distrust and discord.

Pity that they escaped through the gap.

But he knew that the gap was breakable. Of course. The Law of Entropy dictates that everything must break down, even Vector Prime's pretty little complex prison. With time, everything decays... even in a place where space and time held no meaning.

Oh, dear brother, time is working against you!
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Brave Maximus
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???

Post by Brave Maximus »

Daniel was floating in nothing... well not nothing... but nowhere... well not nowhere... but... a complete lack of anything. It was both growing and shrinking. Gaining and losing. It was.... beyond comprehension. At least... beyond the comprehension of a simple Marine.

Energy moved around him, changing states, flaring and flashing and dissappearing before his... eyes? He didn't really seem to have any of those... it was more the sense or the remembering of eyes. He floated there, in an abstract thought... wondering what was happening. He knew he wasn't alone, he could feel Simmons near him. But he couldn't see him, touch him or move toward him.

There was something else though. Something massive and very very old.

It's voice was a flame in his mind. A sharp, deep, spike of solid fire and liquid ice.....

<Release Me> The voice was metallic. The sound of flint dragged over steel. He could see an outline, a form... It was... mechanical. He could see/sense pannels moving, flipping and folding into place. He could hear metal cables moving like muscle and sinue. He could feel the power radiate from it.

Danial floated, unsure of what to do or where to go. He didn't want to be there, but running wasn't in his nature. It was hostile, but not attacking... He needed more information.

<RELEASE ME> The voice was talons in his head, fingertips digging into the back of his skull. The voice ripped into him as the image infront of him of him wavered, like a heat mirage. The long arms were replaced by armour - hard and dark as a moonless night. Darker still. It was if it was sucking in all the light that existed in this never-place. Behind the armour was fire. The fire of rage and anger and hatred and death. Sparkplug could see the armour was old... like a knights... but... there was more, attached to the back and legs... and weapons... lots of weapons...

<RELEASE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!> The voice screamed and Sparkplug moved back, towards the area he percieved as where he came in. The form in front of him was just a shadow. It was pure white, negative against the dark behind it. Something greater, more evil than Daniel could have possibly imagined, lurked behind this metallic monster. It was horns and claws and wings and endings.

Sparkplug was in full retreat, and in full denial. He hit the floor, feet first and realized he had never moved... but he had been there....

Sector Seven

"What...."

Daniel's voice was a hoarse rasp. His knees were jello and the only reason he was standing up was force of will.

"What the hell was that?!?" he finally managed to spit out.

"Simmons, did you see that? Did you feel that? It wasn't human.... it was so.... evil..."
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Post by Blackjack »

Sector Seven R&D, Classified

"I'm fine, I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine!" Simmons rattled off, brushing off the agents and soldiers that had rushed aside to his and Daniel's side. "Hey, hey kid, you okay?"

Daniel spoke just then, which Simmons took as a sign that the kid was not hurt. Not physically, at least.

"Sir, you just... you just disappeared in a flash of red light! Like, like, one moment you're here, the next you're not." A young female analyst said, face white.

"Dis-a-ppeared, huh?" Simmons muttered. "Seems like, Witicky, we just had a close encounter with an Extra-Terrestrial. An alien." Simmons shrugged, "Of course, it could be a being from another dimension or what people would call a god or Cthulhu, but hey, we call them all aliens."
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Post by Blackjack »

(OOC: moving things on...)

Sector Seven R&D, Location: Classified

Simmons had left the cleanup to the techies, while he pondered, appropriating a seat for himself. Daniel had been very quiet, not that Simmons blamed the poor kid for freaking out. That was a first-person encounter with beings that are... that are not from this world!

Simmons was very, very excited.

"Okay, we've got a confirmed encounter." Simmons said very quickly, more to himself than to anyone else. "Yeah. Aliens, big giant creature that seemed to be... psychic? He changed forms, at least. No clue what he's speaking, though we shouldn't be surprised. Doesn't seem friendly, but neither did it kill us, so he- or she- or it- let's call it a he for convenience's sake- he's probably as freaked out at us as much as we are with him."

Simmons stood up and began pacing. "This thing is probably a gateway, some sort of interdimensional relay between our world and whatever we went to was. Definitely not space as we know it, although then we don't really know much about space at all, do we? It's got breathable air, although I'm not sure we're even breathing. Probably why the ancient Egyptians locked the thing up. They believed in jackal-headed gods of the dead, not much of a stretch if they thought it was something similar a gateway to the underworld or anything... Gardner, Thompson, run checks on Egyptian legends- heck, all legends in the area. I want to know every little legend about some rock or portal transporting people to another world."

Pause.

"Also, legends about people disappearing after they touch rocks, if that's what happened to me and the Wichity boy just now." Simmons added. They needed to have something, though... Like the Wicket boy said, the alien felt... evil. If they turn hostile, they needed something bigger to take them down. Is the figure they see the same as the ones that built the ship which crash landed on the Moon?

"As for you tech guys... focus everything on those experimental weapons. Just in case." Simmons sat down again and rubbed his hands together. This was so exciting...
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Blackjack
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Post by Blackjack »

Sector Seven R&D, Location: Classified

Twenty-Four Hours Later

Having left Sparkplug to do his job, Simmons had dispatched a group of guards to be around the mysterious sarcophagus. No one but Sparkplug is allowed within the thing.

Simmons had gone to his office, given his report and debriefed himself to the heads of S7, including his great-grandfather Walter (who's still able of advising S7 strong despite his age), and his Uncle Felix. They had decided to discuss the matter, and afterwards Simmons had taken a quick power nap to recover from the encounter. After he had woken up, Simmons had done a quick check-up on Sparkplug, and was now walking down the halls. Nearby, in secure rooms, work was being done on the reverse-engineered weaponry.

Simmons peeked into one of the viewing glass, watching as a large gatling gun was being worked on by a group of engineers. The experimental LM-85, dubbed the 'Stinger' by its inventors, had been retrofitted from the technology recovered from the parts from Project: Luna. It was a weapon designed to be mounted atop vehicles, as a rapid-fire assault weapon.

Simmons watched as a testing round began, and the Stinger began to spit out its armament at an unused tank. The rounds tore onto the tank's armour like bullet through flesh... but even Simmons was knowledgeable enough to realize that the fire rate was unstable... he walked away. The engineers had work to do, and he was doing them no favours if he bothered them.

"Report." Simmons said as he entered an office.

The officer, a man also dressed in black, saluted Simmons. He was Agent Johnson, which wasn't very helpful in Sector Seven... there were eight different Agent Johnsons, all with the same general appearance as this one. Simmons doubted this Johnson's real name was actually Johnson. "Work on the Stingers and Phaestons are not making any significant progress. The Predator missiles are in its final prototype stages. The Icarus and Damocles projects are still not approved by the government. Allodyne Industries has delivered more titanium to Area 53, transport is pending. Agent Reynolds has intercepted a possible UFO sighting in Oregon and is heading in with a team to investigate."

Same old.

Simmons nodded. "What about the Cybernetics?"

Johnson's poker face actually flitted with the barest hint of a smile. "Mister Androdov has not shown any significant side effects, but we do not recommend releasing it into the public just yet."

Simmons nodded. "Understandable. Has the old man made contact again?"

Johnson shook his head.

"What of Black Knife?" Simmons asked, rubbing his hands together.

"No progress as of yet, sir." Johnson said. "It has been only twenty-four hours since the incident."

"Very well. Carry on, then." Simmons said as he walked over to the viewing window on the other end of the room. It overlooked a large empty area where the weapons are being tested against jet and tank wreckages. Simmons watched as a Phaeston rifle was taken out and fired, sending not bullets, but blasts of bright, blue energy slamming onto the ruins of a jet, boring and burning holes into the vehicle's hull. Simmons smiled.

When the aliens come... If they are hostile... they'll be ready.
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