~In The Beginning~
Time: Third and Three Quarters of HighTime
Tutmose; ???[Tara]For someone who had never experienced such advanced technology, Tara's assumptions would prove to be genius - and extremely accurate. Pressing the button on the small control panel caused her place of rest to start levitating, though the levitation was sudden enough for to cause a little fright. Regardless, she would be no longer confined to the small box the doctor had left her in - she was free to roam, as a small joystick appeared where her left would be resting on the "bed's" armrest. It would be comfortably in her reach, and easy enough to maneuver. However, exiting the room would more than likely be more than difficult that reading and pressing an on button.
The door in which the first nurse bot and doctor had left had only shown itself twice, and Tara would have only been able to catch a glimpse of the lightning fast shutter that currently prevented her from exiting the building. Assuming that she would attempt to leave the room, she more than likely would find some difficulty finding the door to begin with. However, this would only be a small road bump - the nurse bot, on the other hand, would prove to be an obvious annoyance.
"Patient - mobile." The nurse bot would announce, scanning the room once more as Tara maneuvered herself about the room. "Unauthorized use of transportation in progress." The nurse bot would make towards the bed-bound girl, tethering itself to the floating bed with a blue-colored laser. This, unfortunately, would cause Tara's joystick to disappear back into the arm rest - freedom seemed so far away now.
However, fate was not done with the flame haired girl just yet.
"Repositioning patient, in progre--" The nurse bot's announcement was cut short, halting in position. A computerized beep, as if an error message occurred, and then the robotic annoyance continued, "Objective updated - prepare for transit." The shutter door then miraculously opened, and Tara found her bed being led out of the room by her once jailer and into a white-washed hall. The low ceilinged hall, was very much like her room - very white, and gently lit, the entire ceiling one giant light going either direction of left or right. The floor was evenly tiled, perfectly aligned for maximum smoothness and carefully crafted to resemble a clean hospital.
Such details, however, might be lost on the girl as the nurse bot pulled her along down the hall, clearly on a mission, and not stopping for anything. The alarm had grown much louder, blaring down the hall as armored individuals jogged quickly in either direction, going in the same direction as Tara, or in the opposite. Dozens of nurse bots were also present, swarming this way and that, calling out given commands and announcing their task in one monotone babble. As for the armored soldiers, to where they were going, she would not know, for no one talked. They only moved swiftly in pairs, and as if on an, important mission. Minutes after she left the room, three more nurse bots would latch themselves onto Tara's floating transport, announcing themselves as the first nurse bot had:
"Objective updated - prepare for transit."
The winding of halls and constant movement of the same cloned robots and armor would soon make it impossible for Tara to know where she had been or where she was going, but she would soon know her destination. The robotic medics had only increased their speed with numbers and the red head would soon find herself entering through another large shutter door and into a fairly large, polished white room. In the room, a transport was already humming, its doors, as if waiting for something or someone. An armored figure stood off to the side near the door, similarly armored as those Tara had seen before, though he had a different helmet on.
"Transit in-progress."
The nurse bots would board the ship, carefully guiding the floating bed to a pedestal, where it would gently touchdown and allow Tara's guides to untether themselves. "Transit complete - beginning rest cycle." All four of the robotic orbs would station themselves in circular openings in the shuttle's bay, and shut down, folded in some sort of hibernation. The armored figure would be boarding the shuttle, closing the doors as he did, "Hiya, sweetie. Need anything before we take off?" If Tara began to signs of distress or confusion, the pilot would fill her into the details, removing a tablet from his side and showing her a schedule of sorts, with written notes. "Don't worry, sweets - we're just moving you from this dump to a better place for you to get patched up. After all, this is only a field hospital."
He would pat her gently on the shoulder before passing her, and into a "room" beyond, more than likely the cockpit. There would be a brief silence before Tara would hear a whirr of machinery, and a rush of movement. Suddenly, either wall to her left or right would slowly start sliding down, revealing a wall sized window for Tara to see everything that was happening.
She was flying.
The white room that she had been escorted into had opened like a blossoming flower and allowed the ship to exit, flying high above what appeared to be a city. And unless the future had cities the size of Tutmose, it would be the largest collaboration of houses, streets, and walls that the red headed girl had ever seen. She could see it all (though she would not know what it was) - the vast, chaotic expanse of The Lows, the wall separating Tutmose from the WildWood, the engraved walls of The Middles, the towering, reflective surface of The Highs - all of it she would be able to behold. If she had any questions, they would be more than likely be answered by the pilot, hopefully anyway. It would all so much to take in, not only from the sheer size of the world below her, but possibly at the fact that she could possibly realize she was no longer anywhere near where she had spent her life.
The shuttle hummed with the efficiency of a well maintained engine, covering a large amount of distance in a moderate amount of time. At this time, Tara would be able to wonder and think as she pleased, but she would eventually be interrupted by the pilot, who strolled through the cockpit door with a confident ease. "Well, she's on auto pilot now." His helmet would be removed, a smile stretching across his face, "Soon, we'll be in The Highs, you can be as snug as a bug in a rug, and you'll be able to get out of the bed." He laughed before continuing, "Maybe you'll even join the ranks - that's how I started anyw--" Suddenly the ship would rock violently, as if something heavy had it it. Warning lights and alarms went off as the pilot swiftly put his helmet back on, "Shit!" he would yell, bolting back to the cockpit. Near the doors, a red-hot circle had begun to form, spinning clockwise as the nurse bots suddenly came to life, announcing their intentions:
"Intruder - Rear entrance!"
"Intruder - prepare defensive action!"
"Intruder! Prepare patient for evasive maneuvers!"
"Intruder - prime weapons!"
Tara would find a series of metallic clamps moving around her, the robot's hands moving quickly over her, pulling a seatbelt-like across her chest as the shuttle began to tilt to its starboard side. "Hang on!" The pilot yelled as the ship span in a complete circle. Whatever had been causing the the red hot circle stopped briefly, but it quickly started once more - flares were starting to emerge from the outside. Something was definitely cutting into the ship.
"Prepare for enemy contact!" The pilot yelled as the medic droids began to form a tight circle around Tara's bed. Tara would be helpless in the meantime, but if she really wanted to, she could unbuckle the seatbelt and try to make her escape...
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The Lows; Old Boar's Inn, Western Alley[Chad M.F./Fitz/Missle/Jeannot]The reaction time of both Chad and Fitz were that of skilled and experience warriors, practically instantaneously repelling the shapeshifting demon's panicked attack. The demon's screams increased, however, not pain, but in rage. It had pulled itself together, its full size beginning to tower, ready to bring its large forearms down on Chad. Well, at least until Missle had plummeted into it, ripping a woman-sized in its back and causing it topple on to its face due to the force of which Missle had hit it. In theory, this would have given any one of the defending individuals to finish it off, but the chaos that had only started to begin became incarnated.
As Halcyon emerged in full form, shadows drowning the air in shadows and malice, one could almost swear he heard a sickly cackle emerging from the mouths of the fallen flesh golem, who slowly was rising as Halcyon made his speech and took his leave, shooting into the sky, shadows leaving as he did. Then it happened:
Chaos. So much chaos.
The golem let out a roar, sprouting four massive limbs from its back, fully intending to smash Chad as it swung them down simultaneously in a vicious, quadruple arc. Meanwhile, Missle's exit had not gone unnoticed - as she slunk away, cutting herself to help revive a not-so-healthy Bess, the golem's gaping back hole began to form into a single, giant tentacle, slithering its way to the women, its bone ridden flesh scraping on the dirt covered stone, fully intent on ensnaring one of the women. Bess herself was in a state of shock, her eyes wide with fright, her skin giving the appearance of being acid bitten, as well as poke with so many holes it looked like someone had shot several rounds of buckshot into her body after raking it over a cheese grater.
Meanwhile, Jeannot's antagonizing of the whole situation had surprisingly not attracted most of the present individual's attention - even the golem, with his many eyes, did not see the soul thief's attack on Fitz, nor did it see him flailing in a panicked state on the roof top. However, someone did: The Boar.
"SOUL THIEF!" His bass voice boomed like thunder as he pointed his golden mace at the soul-entangled man. The Boar was upset, enraged. The usually rational being had fallen under his family's curse - battle rage. With another terrible roar, The Boar leapt from the second story hole in the Old Boar's Inn and did the unthinkable; for someone of his weight and size, the battle scarred warrior was astonishingly agile - his strength would also leave the greatest of weight lifters gawking at what would transpire.
From his perch, The Boar only stepped back twice before charging out into empty air - amazingly, his strong legs propelled the animal humanoid across an almost impossible space between the wall and the golem. With a tremendous impact, The Boar collided with the flesh golem's back, causing the four limbs that were intended for Chad to overextend as they came crashing down. The result? Four shrapnel covered smashed into the alley's wall above Chad, causing bone to splinter as spittle sprayed from the golem's mouths, a painful screech filling the air. But The Boar's rampage did not stop there - up the mouthed and eyed back, The Boar continued to charge, swinging his might mace at anything that moved or twitched - including the base of the tentacle that was stalking both Missle and Bess. The hunting limb writhed and struggled as it was blown off from its body, bashed away by the golden mace as The Boar leaped from the flailing limbs of the flesh golem and towards the roof in an epic fashion, golden mace swinging over head in a vertical blow, threatening to snuff the soul thief's life out of existence...
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The Highs; Council Palace[Marn]The pressure was rising - Marn was given only a split second decision, and a decision he did make. His swift actions relieved the immediate danger of soldiers potential discovering their quarry limping away into the crowd, but what lay beyond the door, may be far worse. As Marn burst the door and closed it behind him, he would find himself in a most awkward position.
The first thing Marn would possibly noticed was a woman would be seated behind a desk, sitting in a large chair, looking to Marn with a slightly disdainful smile. "Can I help you?." Any response from Marn would cause her to touch the bridge of her nose with her right hand's index and middle finger, before make a "shoo" waving motion as Marn spoke. If he spoke for too long, she would cut him off, readjusting her decorative wrappings around the curved horns on her head, "To be frank, I don't really know why you're here or what you're planning on doing, but leave. Now. I already have far too much on my plate with this twi'lek bitch trying to--" She would stop abruptly, immediately pulling at her throat as if an invisible hand were choking her.
A blood red figure, dressed in dark garb, stepped out from behind the chair, a cynical smirk on her face. "Well, you had been able to leave, but since she--" The seated woman gasped as the grip seemed to tighten, "Decided to reveal me..." The twi'lek motioned to a corner seat where a sofa would be sitting, next to a grandly carven book case. "Take a seat." If Marn refused to comply or attempted to open the door behind him to make an escape, the red skinned alien would somehow magically lift Marn and slam him down into the chair, breaking the piece of furniture in the process.
Turning back to her victim, the twi'lek would continue to speak, "Now, where were we,
m'lady?"