Re: The Grand Battle S2G1! [Round Three: Water...place!]
11-11-2010, 05:13 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.
Jen hadn't been particularly aware of the intensifying shrieking until it neatly stopped, keeping her eyes scrunched shut and trying to block out the horrifyingly not-abhorrent sounds of the Bio-Wyrm feeding. Lifting her head past the sorry remains of the marlcop, she glared up at Xadrez. The tactician was hovering more placidly than the situation really warranted, though the knife (once dunked in the ectoplasm to silence the screams) was tracing lazy geometrica over the surface of the obsidian, dancing round pieces that weren't there.
His damnably semi-human features making it hard to discern whether the tactician was number-crunching Cyk'nl's reappearance or her predicament, Jen just went with the latter.
"Fuck off, Xadrez. You got your fucking knife back, just leave me alone." Fanthalion raised her hideous maw from Archie's chest region and hissed encouragement, if only to try and get rid the residual aftertaste of self-loathing Jen was tainting her meal with.
Something in Jen's pocket thrummed. With another look of loathing, she extracted the jade figurine.
Cyk'nl is bearing down on us, your highness
odds are not particularly favourable that there will be sufficient vertical clearance as it passes overhead
I suggest moving, and finishing your comestibles else
"Fuck. Off."
as you wish, your highness
When you are feeling inclined to assist with our escape plan, please contact me
Xadrez bowed a little in a way Jen could only interpret as deeply condescending, before drifting off after the Ovoid. The tactician mostly disregarded the looming shadow of Cyk'nl, as best as his constantly evaluating processing ticking mind could, instead focussing on the unpleasantly inconsistent link he shared with his chess pieces. The one wedged in the Ovoid was all over the place, mostly just quietly permuting everything the Ovoid got its tendrils in interrupted with violent, unpredictable bursts of aural and edges-of-your-visual loud that only Xadrez could hear.
If he were capable of conscious dislike for anything other than those who deliberately ruined his plans, the spirit would've directed such feelings toward this nauseatingly alien entity. Under different circumstances, Xadrez might've been frustrated with the implacable, unpredictable Ovoid, but one fact was keeping the spirit calm.
Time. The Bio-Wyrm snarling forth from Jen was, for Xadrez at any rate, an oddly calming sight. Five contestants left. Assuming a debacle like the first round was avoided, that meant at most three more rounds - three more deaths - before he could no longer pretend to tolerate the Observer's ridiculous rules to this deplorable game. In fact, it appealed to Xadrez' way of studying the world around him that Kracht seemed to be taking the insidious overlord's side, one grandmaster pitting his unpredictable, rogue entity against Another's.
The tactician let his scheming mind wander off on the logistics of a straight-out brawl between Ovoid and Kracht, before running out of sufficient data and getting back to Fanthalion. Yes, once Kracht was taken care of, Xadrez had all the time he needed to concentrate on destroying the Observer, but the fact remained that the tactician could only avoid the Grandmaster's interference while he was not the sole belligerent. Therefore, anything that increased the odds of the other contestants surviving was fine by Xadrez' book. Yes, Jen was tenacious, smart, and downright formidable as far as adolescent female humans went, but she was still an adolescent female human, and even a billion-in-one chance of something fatal befalling her was still a billion-in-one chance. No romantic ascribings to the power of plot or anything like that, merely that a billion in one chance was, mathematically speaking, still infinitely better than no chance at all.
Which meant the weakest link was... Arkal. The marlcop hadn't mentioned anyone investigating the surface, so the smith was probably still on the raft. Best eliminate Kracht, preferably with the Ovoid's assistance, before the human stubbornly refused to detach from his forge and drowned when a cop on a sailfish tried cleaving his head off.
Ignoring the hyperspace twitch somewhere to the three-dimensional left of him, Xadrez extended out his consciousness to locate the right piece. It seemed to still be on the surface, but displaced. The spirit resolved to find out how that happened, and sooner rather than later.
Arkal.
The Ovoid has contacted me with a message from another trapped in a similar battle to our own. I will make initial contact henceforth, ascertaining the scope of this connection
I believe it would be easiest for you to rejoin us with the Ovoid's assistance
I will attempt to request its intervention, but meanwhile try to find your own way to Hydresther
The authorities should be distracted but I cannot recommend your engaging them if this is not the case
Avoid Kracht, he will act in desperation to restore a timeline favourable to his victory
And for Scout's mercy, Arkal, do not get yourself killed
Xadrez uncrossed his inner eye, mentally returning to Hydresther to the sight of the beige dragon landing in the plaza ahead of him. Composing himself a little, the tactician meandered through the fourth dimension until he found his errant chess piece.
Connect me to this Vandrel Reinhardt, Ovoid.
Jen hadn't been particularly aware of the intensifying shrieking until it neatly stopped, keeping her eyes scrunched shut and trying to block out the horrifyingly not-abhorrent sounds of the Bio-Wyrm feeding. Lifting her head past the sorry remains of the marlcop, she glared up at Xadrez. The tactician was hovering more placidly than the situation really warranted, though the knife (once dunked in the ectoplasm to silence the screams) was tracing lazy geometrica over the surface of the obsidian, dancing round pieces that weren't there.
His damnably semi-human features making it hard to discern whether the tactician was number-crunching Cyk'nl's reappearance or her predicament, Jen just went with the latter.
"Fuck off, Xadrez. You got your fucking knife back, just leave me alone." Fanthalion raised her hideous maw from Archie's chest region and hissed encouragement, if only to try and get rid the residual aftertaste of self-loathing Jen was tainting her meal with.
Something in Jen's pocket thrummed. With another look of loathing, she extracted the jade figurine.
Cyk'nl is bearing down on us, your highness
odds are not particularly favourable that there will be sufficient vertical clearance as it passes overhead
I suggest moving, and finishing your comestibles else
"Fuck. Off."
as you wish, your highness
When you are feeling inclined to assist with our escape plan, please contact me
Xadrez bowed a little in a way Jen could only interpret as deeply condescending, before drifting off after the Ovoid. The tactician mostly disregarded the looming shadow of Cyk'nl, as best as his constantly evaluating processing ticking mind could, instead focussing on the unpleasantly inconsistent link he shared with his chess pieces. The one wedged in the Ovoid was all over the place, mostly just quietly permuting everything the Ovoid got its tendrils in interrupted with violent, unpredictable bursts of aural and edges-of-your-visual loud that only Xadrez could hear.
If he were capable of conscious dislike for anything other than those who deliberately ruined his plans, the spirit would've directed such feelings toward this nauseatingly alien entity. Under different circumstances, Xadrez might've been frustrated with the implacable, unpredictable Ovoid, but one fact was keeping the spirit calm.
Time. The Bio-Wyrm snarling forth from Jen was, for Xadrez at any rate, an oddly calming sight. Five contestants left. Assuming a debacle like the first round was avoided, that meant at most three more rounds - three more deaths - before he could no longer pretend to tolerate the Observer's ridiculous rules to this deplorable game. In fact, it appealed to Xadrez' way of studying the world around him that Kracht seemed to be taking the insidious overlord's side, one grandmaster pitting his unpredictable, rogue entity against Another's.
The tactician let his scheming mind wander off on the logistics of a straight-out brawl between Ovoid and Kracht, before running out of sufficient data and getting back to Fanthalion. Yes, once Kracht was taken care of, Xadrez had all the time he needed to concentrate on destroying the Observer, but the fact remained that the tactician could only avoid the Grandmaster's interference while he was not the sole belligerent. Therefore, anything that increased the odds of the other contestants surviving was fine by Xadrez' book. Yes, Jen was tenacious, smart, and downright formidable as far as adolescent female humans went, but she was still an adolescent female human, and even a billion-in-one chance of something fatal befalling her was still a billion-in-one chance. No romantic ascribings to the power of plot or anything like that, merely that a billion in one chance was, mathematically speaking, still infinitely better than no chance at all.
Which meant the weakest link was... Arkal. The marlcop hadn't mentioned anyone investigating the surface, so the smith was probably still on the raft. Best eliminate Kracht, preferably with the Ovoid's assistance, before the human stubbornly refused to detach from his forge and drowned when a cop on a sailfish tried cleaving his head off.
Ignoring the hyperspace twitch somewhere to the three-dimensional left of him, Xadrez extended out his consciousness to locate the right piece. It seemed to still be on the surface, but displaced. The spirit resolved to find out how that happened, and sooner rather than later.
Arkal.
The Ovoid has contacted me with a message from another trapped in a similar battle to our own. I will make initial contact henceforth, ascertaining the scope of this connection
I believe it would be easiest for you to rejoin us with the Ovoid's assistance
I will attempt to request its intervention, but meanwhile try to find your own way to Hydresther
The authorities should be distracted but I cannot recommend your engaging them if this is not the case
Avoid Kracht, he will act in desperation to restore a timeline favourable to his victory
And for Scout's mercy, Arkal, do not get yourself killed
Xadrez uncrossed his inner eye, mentally returning to Hydresther to the sight of the beige dragon landing in the plaza ahead of him. Composing himself a little, the tactician meandered through the fourth dimension until he found his errant chess piece.
Connect me to this Vandrel Reinhardt, Ovoid.
peace to the unsung peace to the martyrs | i'm johnny rotten appleseed
clouds is shaky love | broke as hell but i got a bunch of ringtones
eyes blood red bruise aubergine | Sue took something now Sue doesn't sleep | saint average, day in the life of
woke up in the noon smelling doom and death | out the house, great outdoors
staying warm in arctic blizzard | that's my battle 'til I get inanimate | still up in the same clothes living like a gameshow
clouds is shaky love | broke as hell but i got a bunch of ringtones
eyes blood red bruise aubergine | Sue took something now Sue doesn't sleep | saint average, day in the life of
woke up in the noon smelling doom and death | out the house, great outdoors
staying warm in arctic blizzard | that's my battle 'til I get inanimate | still up in the same clothes living like a gameshow