Phobia

[SIZE=1][Color=DarkOrange]My apologies for not having been around to do updates, or let you all know what has been going on with The Petal Throne. I've been slightly busy making arrangements for my move, but I'm back and things are going to start up shortly. In the very first post in the thread that contains the sign up, and information on the Factions, you'll see a list of who has made it so far. For those not on the list that have signed up, it is not because I do not like you. If you simply rewrite your sheet to have better quality and description, I shall have no problem letting you participate. As of right now however, those accepted are listed. Information, questions, and even comments can posted in the Underground thread, which is [URL=http://otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=730038#post730038]here[/URL]. Remember to stick to OBs standards. --- Here is my Character. The RPG itself shall be started tomorrow. [b]Name:[/b] Arakinis Destunda [b]Age:[/b] 93 [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Race:[/b] Felis Lycanthrope (Werefeline, of the Siberian Tiger variety for the simple fact that I like how they look)((If you have questions regarding Felis Lycanthrope please feel free to pm me)) [b]Personality:[/b] Arakinis is a gruff, blunt, yet respectable being. He does not see the need to disrespect others lest it is deserving, nor will he degrade someone. Loyalty is something he is known for, as well as his eagerness of being in battle, yet if you ask him, he hates fighting. He is not a pacifist, yet he has still not found a reason for the war, which irks him in many ways. [b]Bio:[/b] Arakinis grew up as any peasant child would, which means on a farm working with his parents and siblings, doing what they could to survive during the war. He had three brothers and 2 sisters, all but one brother older then himself. On the eve of his 19th birthday when he was going to be given a small portion of his family field to tend to himself, disaster struck. The war had come to his village, and in full force. He remembers the night to this day for it is something he shall never forget. It was the night when he was turned, the night when his home was destroyed. The night when all he held dear was destroyed. The Faction known as Canis Lupis had been attacked by the Kitoku in a surprise maneuver, which resulted in a chase that ran directly through his village. In their arrogance and greed, the Kitoku began slaughtering the villagers, destroying homes, farms, and mills. Only for the sole reason that it was Canis Lupis land. In the aftermath of the carnage, a young Lycanthrope saw Arakinis bleeding to death, slowly but surely, and still attacking the Kitoku in memory of his freshly fallen family and friends. The Canis Lupis warrior must have taken pity on Arak, or felt that he would make a strong addition, for the warrior gifted Arak with Lycanthropy. The next Arakinis knew, he woke up in a cave somewhere in the mountains to the north and was told the whole story, albeit rather vaguely. From that day, he has been in the Canis Lupis, and has served them with his blood, sweat, and tears. --- And there we have it folks. I might revise his bio somewhat, but I like it as it is right now. In regards to the Underground thread, I know it has nothing in there at the moment, but that shall change later on tonight. Thanks for your patience.[/size][/color]

Welcome to the Underground thread for The Petal Throne. Information you seek shall be posted here. If you comments or questions, you may post them here also, but remember to stick to questions about the RPG itself and post according to OBs standards. If you have a question about someones Character, please PM them and ask them, for it is theirs, not mine.

[COLOR=DarkRed]Whoops...forgot the rating ^.^; Anyways, now that it IS rated (My bad..) here's the first installment of the story I'm working on. I'll be posting the second part probably sometime around Wednesday or Thursday. Anyways, enjoy what I have so far, and don't be afraid to critique. I could use it. ^.^ --- [SIZE=1]"All right, here's the plan, groupies." The woman's hand snapped to the screen, pointing with a long viboblade to the problem area. "The bastards are being held here- Bradoorn base. Previously, rather. Abandoned for years, it's nothin' but shit and old tech now, so expect the doors that you see in viddies- no hatches. If any of 'em are locked, a kickass'll open it. "Layout." The screen flickered and a blueprint came up. She traced the areas with the viboblade and gestures as she talked. "The base was made by guerillas, and so it's probably the most unorthodox and shitty hole of hell ya'll ever see. It's simple: the northern wing's a storage facility for ammo and old tech bombs, the west's training facilities, the east is underground tech support that's all shitted out by now, and the south's empty facilities to hold old tech air crafts that were all ticked a few centuries ago." The blade snapped to the northern part. "Be careful not to set off any explosives here. The bombs are mostly defective, but there's no way for us to tell if they're all that way. If one of 'em hits the sky, we go with it. "The civies are all held in the central bunker." The sharp point went to the center, where photographs, flashing across the screen, showed heavy security. "By 0300, all you groupies are gonna be ready for takeoff at gate 61A, outfitted in D-period gear. We aren't shittin' round here, groupies. We'll drop six keters south outside Bradoorn at exactly 0500, then make our way in using the SBs." She glanced to the corner. "Blue-6, you'll be dropped six minutes after our drop on the north side. At six keters out, make it 'bout three V-12s on low power, shooting for the north wing, trying to set off the old tech pieces of crap. Then set some fires up their ass on the west. Have them in hell by 0845, then rendezvous with the rest of the groupies at point A by 0848." The map flickered and a red dot appeared at the south-central part of the base, inside the structure of the old facilities. "Yessir." There was a slight snort from elsewhere in the group. "Sure, she gets- " "Sergeant!" the woman snarled, burning eyes snapping to the large man. "If you have any objections, you can strip that rank tab off and leave the op, is that clear?" "Yessir," he muttered. "Good." She returned to her briefing. "At 0900 hours, we'll infiltrate into the central area which will hopefully be mostly depopulated by then, and deactivate their anti-qaud shield systems. Once it's down, the carriers outside will sweep through and kick some serious ass. We need to have the roof blown off by ten minutes after deactivating the shield systems, and the civies rounded up and ready for departure on a L-24 carrier. Any questions?" "What if we don't have all the hostages there by ten minutes past?" one of them called out. "Then we load who we can onto the carrier, and the rest go down with the rebels when we blow 'em to the sky," she said in an unemotional voice. Her eyes scanned the team. "That's it? Good. From now on, this will be called Operation Bradoorn." The screen shut off, and the main lights flickered on. "Three hundred lives are depending on you, groupies. Don't fail them." Blue-6 slipped the thin, wire-threaded catsuit on over her skin, carefully sealing it up her side. Shivers ran up her back at the cold material, but she rubbed them away. Carefully making sure that her suit was fully sealed -a hole would be fatal on the battlefield- she finally turned towards the large suit waiting for her. She resisted the urge to groan with disappointment as she saw the machinery they had attached for the operation. "Do I really need the third- class pulse cannon?" she protested to one of the technicians who was waiting for her to get in so that he could help her put it on. Technician Harcove raised an eyebrow. "Do you?" he replied. She sighed silently and slipped her legs into the padded casings. After adjusting her feet, she stood straight and put her arms out. Harcove pushed the two halves of the torso-piece together, and the personalized padding formed around her body. With a click and a hiss of air, the armor fastened itself together around her torso, and Harcove pushed the hip-joint pieces into place. They went air-tight with a hiss. The shoulder pieces, attaching to the torso armor, connected it to the appendage armor: a single piece of armor already fastened together that covered the hands and arms. She wiggled her fingers in the metal gloves after he had sealed the shoulders, rolling her joints to get the armor all in its proper place. Lastly, she fitted the long helmet over her head, sealing it tightly to the neck armor. The visor, at first, gave her nothing but blackness until it recognized her brain wave patterns and okayed her for use of the armor. Vision returned. "Your utility vest is there," Harcove said, pointing to the nest of weaponry. He couldn't lift it- only she could. The armor not only protected her, but it magnified the abilities of her muscles, based on her commands sent to the armor's computer via her directed thoughts sent to the headset in her helmet. She nodded, picking up the large vest. It was heavy even for her enhanced strength. Six second-class pulse rifles attached to the back, along with a third-class pulse cannon slung diagonally across the rifles. At least nine B12 mines -enough to blow that entire base to the moon twice over- with their double-triggers were safely latched onto the front. Luckily for her, they were specifically designed for the suit. Only a mental command sent through the armor's computer system could activate those suckers. Besides that, the usual four first-class pulse revolvers were ready to go down the holsters along the leg armor, together with two vibroblades and an emergency health pack in case someone else was injured. With a heave, she pulled the vest over the armor, sealing it tight. Pausing, she took a few deep breaths. The front of the suit contracted slightly with the extra pounds. "Too heavy for ya?" Harcove said with a smile. "Not a chance," she scoffed mockingly, shifting her shoulders. "It won't slow me down." She flipped the visor up with a thought. "I better get going. Thanks Harcove," she said, turning to the door. Every step she made echoed through the alloy floor with a dull clunk. The slower she walked, the louder she was. She left the room and made her way down the corridor, plucking a pulse revolver from her hip and checking its charge out of old habit. Full. Excellent. She put the revolver back in its holster and quickened her pace. She only had six minutes to get to the Gate. She arrived just in time. The team was already assembled, wearing their smaller body armor. Their armor could take heavy pulse fire and come out with a few scratches. Blue's could go through a nuclear war and come out smelling like roses. Lieutenant Arin nodded sharply as she saw Blue, then jutted her chin at the hoversled in front of her. "You'll need that," she commented. "Ah, I was going to ask you for one of those," Blue said appreciatively. Without effort, she picked it up by its front handle and slung it over one shoulder, straightening. The chest of the armor tightened more with the weight. Arin glanced at her watch, then motioned for them to load the carrier. "Get on, groupies." Blue got on first since she would be departing last, and she scowled as she edged past the seats with difficulty. Bulky armor was not advantageous in tight quarters. She slung the hoversled off her shoulder to sit easier and held it in front of her as she took her seat. She had to lean forward far so as not to bump the pulse cannon against the inside of the small carrier. Sergeant Lakos sat next to her, and the man flipped up his visor. "You look absolutely stunning this morning," he commented with a grin. "Aw, shut up," she said, returning the grin. "It makes me look fat and you know it." He laughed. Lakos was a young, brilliant officer who obviously was climbing fast in the ranks of the Federation. Blue wistfully envied him, but not too much. He would soon have to start dealing with the politics of the Federation, and while some people were made for it, Blue was not. She was fine right here in the Shadow Unit, thank you very much. "There's nothing to laugh about," Sergeant Bosan snarled. Blue shot him a glare. Out of all the members of her team, Bosan was the only one she couldn't stand. For some reason, he had been envious of her since she had joined the team. Perhaps because she got the dangerous jobs of most of the operations. Or maybe because of her age. Her age put most people off anyway- she was used to that. At least she was older than Lakos by a few months. The carrier cleared the gate and burst across the sky. Blue closed her black visor, and dimmed the light to minimal, leaving her face in darkness. The sounds clarified as her helmet's sensory systems turned on, and she could hear every breath of her comrades. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply against the force of the armor pressing against her chest. Her grip on the sled's handle tightened convulsively as adrenaline shivered through her veins. Some soldiers could use the few hours they had to sleep, but she had never been able to sleep right before a mission. Three hundred civilians. Anger flashed through her mind. How could guerilla soldiers do this? Sure, the rebels all might be ruthless, soulless bastards, but... three hundred? From what she had heard previous to the briefing, the guerillas had invaded a small town and frog-marched the inhabitants to the base. They had demanded that the Federation make the illegal colonies into a separate country, or they'd mow down the civies on public television. Not that the Federation would allow anyone out of their control, even if three hundred died... She stopped that train of thought. Thoughts like that were what got sensible people shipped out to space and its delinquents. To occupy her hands, she flipped her visor back on and began the routine of checking her weapons. She spent extra attention to the pulse cannon- she wouldn't want that monster backfiring. While it wouldn't get through the armor, it could certainly crack a rib of hers if it blew up in her face. She checked all of them once, then twice. By the time she had run through everything twice -including the hoversled-, they had arrived at the first drop point. Arin gave her a salute of luck as they turned to get on their SBs- Stealth Bods. Fashioned like small gliders, they were soundless drifting aircrafts that were the size of a human. They stretched themselves out on them, then launched out of the carrier with six blasts. Her team launched out and disappeared from view. Blue stood and leaned towards the pilot. "The SBs won't carry me, so fly low. I'm gonna drop." "You sure?" he said doubtfully? She smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure." The pilot circled the base at six keters- enough distance to ensure the base didn't see them flying overhead. Coming to the north side, he dipped low. Blue stood at the edge, the air whipping outside of her body armor. She slung the hoversled across her back to make sure it didn't fly away, and with a woop that went no farther than her helm, she leapt out. The heady rush of freefall filled her for a moment as she sent the mental command to her leg armor to increase the shock absorbers to their maximum power. Three hundred feet and she landed with a boom, sinking a foot into the soft earth. It jarred her body, but the shock absorbers had done their job well. She slid to the ground and belly-crawled through the underbrush of the forest. She shook cramps from her legs that had come from the landing, then settled behind a rock to take count of her surroundings. Her visor slid into night vision, and everything suddenly became bright, as if it were midday. She blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the sudden difference, then flipped her visor to screen mode. On top of the vision of her surroundings, small boxes popped up on the inside of her visor, giving her visuals of her exact location, the surrounding terrain, and the remaining power of her suit scrolling endlessly on one side. She absorbed the information and snapped it out of screen mode. 0510. She had three hours and fifty minutes to raise hell. She smirked. Hell? She had enough hell to make the Devil himself jealous. "There's what?" The soldier swallowed nervously in the face of the officer's anger. "There's been an explosion to the north of the base, supposedly by a B12 mine." The man snarled, then bit off his curses. "A B12 mine? It's a distraction! They'll be coming in from a different direction." "From the south, sir?" He thought for a moment, scowling. "That seems too obvious. Probably the west, since there's nothing to the east." A deafening boom shook dust from the ceiling. The door burst open as a panting soldier stumbled through. "Sir! They're trying to blow up the bombs in the north facilities! The explosions keep getting closer!" "Damn those Federation monsters," he growled. "They don't even care about our hostages! Dogs, all of them. All right. Mobilize the men and cover the north and west. Get those old tech pieces of shit that still work underground, do you hear me? Stuff 'em in the east wing." The two soldiers came to attention, then ran off. The guerrilla snarled under his breath. "Federation bastards." Blue thoughtfully fingered another B12 mine, then decided against it. No... it wasn't worth the waste. She already threw stones at the beehive. A volley of explosives launched at her blindly. She ignored them as they fell around her, momentarily deafening the helm's hearing systems. Pulling the third-class pulse cannon from her back, she braced her feet and aimed carefully through the crosshairs. "Rebel scum." The shock sent her back, but the tiny sun shot forward at a phenomenal speed, obliterating everything in its path. It crashed into the walls of the north wing, and one of the bombs was set off. The visor dimmed the glare as the northern wing of the base shot to the heavens in a column of fiery death. She slung the cannon back over her back, and got on her hoversled. Staying low, she put it on high and darted between the trees. Soon enough, larger explosives than just pulse grenades would be fired. She preferred not to be in the path. He stumbled as the floor shook and his hands went to his ears as the sound of the explosion rang in his head. That was no B12 mine, he was sure. That was from a weapon that could only be carried on a machine, most likely a V-12. He swore colorfully, breaking out into a run. These Feds weren't taking any chances! The command room was in chaos. Damage and casualty reports streamed in, and the explosion had messed with the computers. "Status report!" he called as he entered the room. One of the soldiers stood at attention. "The north wing on the surface level is destroyed, though the underground part is still partially intact. It was only one of the smaller bombs." "Where did the shot come from?" "The north, sir. It was from a high-class pulse cannon." "Obviously," he snapped. So he had been wrong. The attack really was from the north. "Is the shield still up around the central area?" "Yessir." "Good," he said with relief. That was the one thing that had worried him most. "Let's see about frying us some Federation chickens, eh?" Blue checked the time as her legs pumped beneath her. She had lost the hoversled to a malfunction, and was left to running. Ah well. At least she didn't have to lug the bloody thing around. The visor's clock signalled 0832. She didn't have much time before she had to meet the rest of the team. Her arms swung faster and her legs increased their pace. Now was not the time to slow down! Sweat was soaked away by the helmet's padding, and her breath rasped in her ears. 0840. Five minutes to rendezvous... She bent low as she crossed the eastern side of the base, cutting it closer to the base than she should have in order to get there in time. But for once, luck was with her- the guerillas were on the north side, either trying to put out the fire, or trying to blaze their invisible enemies with fire. She slipped into the empty south complex of buildings, pulling a pulse revolver from one of her thigh holsters just in case she ran into anyone. No one. It was deserted. Not even a sentry. Idiots. Blue's ear tingled as she caught the soundless signal coming from her fellow comrades. She followed the signal to a pile of rubble. Her signal tickled out as she slid from the shadows and next to Arin. Arin gave her a nod of approval, then took the lead as they ghosted forward into the central area. Blue was last, hefting one of her rifles. Alarms snarled through the corridors, and they moved quickly, the chaos and darkness and flashing red lights covering them. The few soldiers they met were silenced before they even saw the Shadow Unit team. Arin stopped as they came to the end of a corridor, and her hand flashed out in a series of commands. Blue took front, since she was the most heavily armored, and she burst through the door, moving forward quickly as her team fanned out behind her. Six quick bursts of light among the darkness, and the technicians fell dead. Arin came forward, carefully examining the machinery to make sure it was the right one. She gave a nod to Blue, and said quietly; "Fill 'er up." Blue grinned wolfishly as the rest of the team filed out. Hefting another rifle from her back, she braced herself then filled the shield's systems with glowing pulse, both arms shaking from the recoil of each gun. The light of the pulse was dimmed by the hasty visor, but it lit her up like flashes of sunlight. She only stopped when the pulse was empty on both guns. Shoving new cartridges of pulse in them, she dropped the empty ones clattering to the floor. Slapping them across her back once more, she left the mutilated room with her third rifle in hand and a look of satisfaction on her face. Now then. Ten minutes to get the civilians and to use the last of her mines to blow the roof off. "Sir, the shield is down!" His eyes widened. "What?! How?!" "Someone shot up the control room! There's no way to salvage it!" the man said, despair in his voice. The guerilla swore again, but his voice was touched with fear. Of course! The Federation would use one of their Shadow Units for a job like this. "Secure the hostages! Quick!" Blue slid behind a large crate, looking out from between two of them. It seemed that the central area -a domed, large room- had been their headquarters. Crates of supplies and at least two hundred soldiers surrounded the defenseless civilians. She glanced to Arin, who gave them quick directions using her hands. Blue was to take care of the ceiling, while the others took care of the soldiers. Lakos would seal off all of the doors leading into the central area to prevent the civilians from scattering, and to prevent more soldiers from coming in. Blue nodded sharply, and, as the team broke out into fire, she dashed forward, straight for the group of civilians, as she tore the cannon from her back. No amount of soldiers could keep back such a crowd of terrified people. The surged back away from her, scattering to the walls. Good. Just what she wanted. Aiming the cannon straight up, she adjusted the power of the cannon with a flick of a switch, and fired. The small sun, upon impact with the ceiling, burst with a force, blowing the ceiling and even some of the wall outwards, and scattering everyone to their feet. Blue, nearest to the blast, was crushed to the ground, hitting the alloy floor hard. A huge, deafening sound came from the sky, and it wasn't the cannon. Bright lights shown down into the room, making people wince and shy away. Blue scowled as she saw that the carrier wouldn't be able to fit in the central room, and turned the cannon on part of the wall. With the power lowered, it merely crushed away the wall. The carrier landed down, the hatch opening. "Will all civilians please board the carrier. This is the Federation Salvation Unit. Will all civilians please board the carrier." Blue slammed the cannon back over her shoulder, as her team moved forward to make sure all of the civies got on board. Her com unit in her helmet crackled with Arin's voice. "Go catch their commanding officer," the Lieutenant ordered. "Yessir," Blue said, obediently turning. At the door, she shattered it to pieces with a crushing fist, and found soldiers beyond. She smiled as her monstrous form loomed over them. They took one look at her, then turned and fled. Blue shrugged to herself, then ran after them. Most likely, the majority of them would lead her straight to the central control room. Fear made people stupid. She skulked in the shadows after them, and lingered just beyond the door of the room, listening. "S-Sir there's a m-m-monster in the corridor!" one of the soldiers babbled. "What the hell are you talking about?" a voice demanded. Ah. That was the one she wanted. Blue stepped through the doorway. "I think he's talking about me," she purred through the microphone of her helmet. Her rifle rose to aim straight at his chest. The man's eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and his face paled. Why did the sight of her in her armor always do that to people, she wondered. "You're now under my custody, rebel scum," she growled, stepping forward. "Surrender and throw down your weapon before I fill your traitor bones with pulse." His eyes narrowed, though he shook with fear. "Never!" he growled, then shoved the barrel of his gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Blue swore colorfully as his valuable brains splattered across the control deck. Without hesitation, she grabbed up the nearest man, yanked his weapon from his holster, and tossed it to the ground. "Idiots," she growled, snapping cuffs around his wrists. She picked up the corpse, then dragged it and the gibbering guerilla down the corridor and back to the central room. "Here's an idiot for you," she called to Arin. "And here's the man in charge. Unfortunately, if you want to pick his brains, you'll have to go to the control room." The Lieutenant frowned. "That was sloppy of you." "First bad luck of the night, all right? Gimme a break." She looked up as the carrier, full of civies, lifted off. Dozens of smaller crafts loaded with Federation soldiers touched down to replace it. "I suppose our work here is done." "Indeed." Arin knocked the guerilla unconscious with a hard blow. "Not as loud this way," she commented acidly. "All right, I'll take care of these guys. You and the rest of the team are ordered to have a two-day leave. Now get your asses out of here." Blue-6 grinned at the good news, then snapped to attention. "If you say so, Lieutenant!" [/COLOR][/SIZE]

Don't really know if custom stories are still put here...but, here it goes anyway. Here is the first installment of Dogs of a Revolution by ME. WaaHaa! --- "All right, here's the plan, groupies." The woman's hand snapped to the screen, pointing with a long viboblade to the problem area. "The bastards are being held here- Bradoorn base. Previously, rather. Abandoned for years, it's nothin' but shit and old tech now, so expect the doors that you see in viddies- no hatches. If any of 'em are locked, a kickass'll open it. "Layout." The screen flickered and a blueprint came up. She traced the areas with the viboblade and gestures as she talked. "The base was made by guerillas, and so it's probably the most unorthodox and shitty hole of hell ya'll ever see. It's simple: the northern wing's a storage facility for ammo and old tech bombs, the west's training facilities, the east is underground tech support that's all shitted out by now, and the south's empty facilities to hold old tech air crafts that were all ticked a few centuries ago." The blade snapped to the northern part. "Be careful not to set off any explosives here. The bombs are mostly defective, but there's no way for us to tell if they're all that way. If one of 'em hits the sky, we go with it. "The civies are all held in the central bunker." The sharp point went to the center, where photographs, flashing across the screen, showed heavy security. "By 0300, all you groupies are gonna be ready for takeoff at gate 61A, outfitted in D-period gear. We aren't shittin' round here, groupies. We'll drop six keters south outside Bradoorn at exactly 0500, then make our way in using the SBs." She glanced to the corner. "Blue-6, you'll be dropped six minutes after our drop on the north side. At six keters out, make it 'bout three V-12s on low power, shooting for the north wing, trying to set off the old tech pieces of crap. Then set some fires up their ass on the west. Have them in hell by 0845, then rendezvous with the rest of the groupies at point A by 0848." The map flickered and a red dot appeared at the south-central part of the base, inside the structure of the old facilities. "Yessir." There was a slight snort from elsewhere in the group. "Sure, she gets- " "Sergeant!" the woman snarled, burning eyes snapping to the large man. "If you have any objections, you can strip that rank tab off and leave the op, is that clear?" "Yessir," he muttered. "Good." She returned to her briefing. "At 0900 hours, we'll infiltrate into the central area which will hopefully be mostly depopulated by then, and deactivate their anti-qaud shield systems. Once it's down, the carriers outside will sweep through and kick some serious ass. We need to have the roof blown off by ten minutes after deactivating the shield systems, and the civies rounded up and ready for departure on a L-24 carrier. Any questions?" "What if we don't have all the hostages there by ten minutes past?" one of them called out. "Then we load who we can onto the carrier, and the rest go down with the rebels when we blow 'em to the sky," she said in an unemotional voice. Her eyes scanned the team. "That's it? Good. From now on, this will be called Operation Bradoorn." The screen shut off, and the main lights flickered on. "Three hundred lives are depending on you, groupies. Don't fail them." Blue-6 slipped the thin, wire-threaded catsuit on over her skin, carefully sealing it up her side. Shivers ran up her back at the cold material, but she rubbed them away. Carefully making sure that her suit was fully sealed -a hole would be fatal on the battlefield- she finally turned towards the large suit waiting for her. She resisted the urge to groan with disappointment as she saw the machinery they had attached for the operation. "Do I really need the third- class pulse cannon?" she protested to one of the technicians who was waiting for her to get in so that he could help her put it on. Technician Harcove raised an eyebrow. "Do you?" he replied. She sighed silently and slipped her legs into the padded casings. After adjusting her feet, she stood straight and put her arms out. Harcove pushed the two halves of the torso-piece together, and the personalized padding formed around her body. With a click and a hiss of air, the armor fastened itself together around her torso, and Harcove pushed the hip-joint pieces into place. They went air-tight with a hiss. The shoulder pieces, attaching to the torso armor, connected it to the appendage armor: a single piece of armor already fastened together that covered the hands and arms. She wiggled her fingers in the metal gloves after he had sealed the shoulders, rolling her joints to get the armor all in its proper place. Lastly, she fitted the long helmet over her head, sealing it tightly to the neck armor. The visor, at first, gave her nothing but blackness until it recognized her brain wave patterns and okayed her for use of the armor. Vision returned. "Your utility vest is there," Harcove said, pointing to the nest of weaponry. He couldn't lift it- only she could. The armor not only protected her, but it magnified the abilities of her muscles, based on her commands sent to the armor's computer via her directed thoughts sent to the headset in her helmet. She nodded, picking up the large vest. It was heavy even for her enhanced strength. Six second-class pulse rifles attached to the back, along with a third-class pulse cannon slung diagonally across the rifles. At least nine B12 mines -enough to blow that entire base to the moon twice over- with their double-triggers were safely latched onto the front. Luckily for her, they were specifically designed for the suit. Only a mental command sent through the armor's computer system could activate those suckers. Besides that, the usual four first-class pulse revolvers were ready to go down the holsters along the leg armor, together with two vibroblades and an emergency health pack in case someone else was injured. With a heave, she pulled the vest over the armor, sealing it tight. Pausing, she took a few deep breaths. The front of the suit contracted slightly with the extra pounds. "Too heavy for ya?" Harcove said with a smile. "Not a chance," she scoffed mockingly, shifting her shoulders. "It won't slow me down." She flipped the visor up with a thought. "I better get going. Thanks Harcove," she said, turning to the door. Every step she made echoed through the alloy floor with a dull clunk. The slower she walked, the louder she was. She left the room and made her way down the corridor, plucking a pulse revolver from her hip and checking its charge out of old habit. Full. Excellent. She put the revolver back in its holster and quickened her pace. She only had six minutes to get to the Gate. She arrived just in time. The team was already assembled, wearing their smaller body armor. Their armor could take heavy pulse fire and come out with a few scratches. Blue's could go through a nuclear war and come out smelling like roses. Lieutenant Arin nodded sharply as she saw Blue, then jutted her chin at the hoversled in front of her. "You'll need that," she commented. "Ah, I was going to ask you for one of those," Blue said appreciatively. Without effort, she picked it up by its front handle and slung it over one shoulder, straightening. The chest of the armor tightened more with the weight. Arin glanced at her watch, then motioned for them to load the carrier. "Get on, groupies." Blue got on first since she would be departing last, and she scowled as she edged past the seats with difficulty. Bulky armor was not advantageous in tight quarters. She slung the hoversled off her shoulder to sit easier and held it in front of her as she took her seat. She had to lean forward far so as not to bump the pulse cannon against the inside of the small carrier. Sergeant Lakos sat next to her, and the man flipped up his visor. "You look absolutely stunning this morning," he commented with a grin. "Aw, shut up," she said, returning the grin. "It makes me look fat and you know it." He laughed. Lakos was a young, brilliant officer who obviously was climbing fast in the ranks of the Federation. Blue wistfully envied him, but not too much. He would soon have to start dealing with the politics of the Federation, and while some people were made for it, Blue was not. She was fine right here in the Shadow Unit, thank you very much. "There's nothing to laugh about," Sergeant Bosan snarled. Blue shot him a glare. Out of all the members of her team, Bosan was the only one she couldn't stand. For some reason, he had been envious of her since she had joined the team. Perhaps because she got the dangerous jobs of most of the operations. Or maybe because of her age. Her age put most people off anyway- she was used to that. At least she was older than Lakos by a few months. The carrier cleared the gate and burst across the sky. Blue closed her black visor, and dimmed the light to minimal, leaving her face in darkness. The sounds clarified as her helmet's sensory systems turned on, and she could hear every breath of her comrades. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply against the force of the armor pressing against her chest. Her grip on the sled's handle tightened convulsively as adrenaline shivered through her veins. Some soldiers could use the few hours they had to sleep, but she had never been able to sleep right before a mission. Three hundred civilians. Anger flashed through her mind. How could guerilla soldiers do this? Sure, the rebels all might be ruthless, soulless bastards, but... three hundred? From what she had heard previous to the briefing, the guerillas had invaded a small town and frog-marched the inhabitants to the base. They had demanded that the Federation make the illegal colonies into a separate country, or they'd mow down the civies on public television. Not that the Federation would allow anyone out of their control, even if three hundred died... She stopped that train of thought. Thoughts like that were what got sensible people shipped out to space and its delinquents. To occupy her hands, she flipped her visor back on and began the routine of checking her weapons. She spent extra attention to the pulse cannon- she wouldn't want that monster backfiring. While it wouldn't get through the armor, it could certainly crack a rib of hers if it blew up in her face. She checked all of them once, then twice. By the time she had run through everything twice -including the hoversled-, they had arrived at the first drop point. Arin gave her a salute of luck as they turned to get on their SBs- Stealth Bods. Fashioned like small gliders, they were soundless drifting aircrafts that were the size of a human. They stretched themselves out on them, then launched out of the carrier with six blasts. Her team launched out and disappeared from view. Blue stood and leaned towards the pilot. "The SBs won't carry me, so fly low. I'm gonna drop." "You sure?" he said doubtfully? She smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure." The pilot circled the base at six keters- enough distance to ensure the base didn't see them flying overhead. Coming to the north side, he dipped low. Blue stood at the edge, the air whipping outside of her body armor. She slung the hoversled across her back to make sure it didn't fly away, and with a woop that went no farther than her helm, she leapt out. The heady rush of freefall filled her for a moment as she sent the mental command to her leg armor to increase the shock absorbers to their maximum power. Three hundred feet and she landed with a boom, sinking a foot into the soft earth. It jarred her body, but the shock absorbers had done their job well. She slid to the ground and belly-crawled through the underbrush of the forest. She shook cramps from her legs that had come from the landing, then settled behind a rock to take count of her surroundings. Her visor slid into night vision, and everything suddenly became bright, as if it were midday. She blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the sudden difference, then flipped her visor to screen mode. On top of the vision of her surroundings, small boxes popped up on the inside of her visor, giving her visuals of her exact location, the surrounding terrain, and the remaining power of her suit scrolling endlessly on one side. She absorbed the information and snapped it out of screen mode. 0510. She had three hours and fifty minutes to raise hell. She smirked. Hell? She had enough hell to make the Devil himself jealous. "There's what?" The soldier swallowed nervously in the face of the officer's anger. "There's been an explosion to the north of the base, supposedly by a B12 mine." The man snarled, then bit off his curses. "A B12 mine? It's a distraction! They'll be coming in from a different direction." "From the south, sir?" He thought for a moment, scowling. "That seems too obvious. Probably the west, since there's nothing to the east." A deafening boom shook dust from the ceiling. The door burst open as a panting soldier stumbled through. "Sir! They're trying to blow up the bombs in the north facilities! The explosions keep getting closer!" "Damn those Federation monsters," he growled. "They don't even care about our hostages! Dogs, all of them. All right. Mobilize the men and cover the north and west. Get those old tech pieces of shit that still work underground, do you hear me? Stuff 'em in the east wing." The two soldiers came to attention, then ran off. The guerrilla snarled under his breath. "Federation bastards." Blue thoughtfully fingered another B12 mine, then decided against it. No... it wasn't worth the waste. She already threw stones at the beehive. A volley of explosives launched at her blindly. She ignored them as they fell around her, momentarily deafening the helm's hearing systems. Pulling the third-class pulse cannon from her back, she braced her feet and aimed carefully through the crosshairs. "Rebel scum." The shock sent her back, but the tiny sun shot forward at a phenomenal speed, obliterating everything in its path. It crashed into the walls of the north wing, and one of the bombs was set off. The visor dimmed the glare as the northern wing of the base shot to the heavens in a column of fiery death. She slung the cannon back over her back, and got on her hoversled. Staying low, she put it on high and darted between the trees. Soon enough, larger explosives than just pulse grenades would be fired. She preferred not to be in the path. He stumbled as the floor shook and his hands went to his ears as the sound of the explosion rang in his head. That was no B12 mine, he was sure. That was from a weapon that could only be carried on a machine, most likely a V-12. He swore colorfully, breaking out into a run. These Feds weren't taking any chances! The command room was in chaos. Damage and casualty reports streamed in, and the explosion had messed with the computers. "Status report!" he called as he entered the room. One of the soldiers stood at attention. "The north wing on the surface level is destroyed, though the underground part is still partially intact. It was only one of the smaller bombs." "Where did the shot come from?" "The north, sir. It was from a high-class pulse cannon." "Obviously," he snapped. So he had been wrong. The attack really was from the north. "Is the shield still up around the central area?" "Yessir." "Good," he said with relief. That was the one thing that had worried him most. "Let's see about frying us some Federation chickens, eh?" Blue checked the time as her legs pumped beneath her. She had lost the hoversled to a malfunction, and was left to running. Ah well. At least she didn't have to lug the bloody thing around. The visor's clock signalled 0832. She didn't have much time before she had to meet the rest of the team. Her arms swung faster and her legs increased their pace. Now was not the time to slow down! Sweat was soaked away by the helmet's padding, and her breath rasped in her ears. 0840. Five minutes to rendezvous... She bent low as she crossed the eastern side of the base, cutting it closer to the base than she should have in order to get there in time. But for once, luck was with her- the guerillas were on the north side, either trying to put out the fire, or trying to blaze their invisible enemies with fire. She slipped into the empty south complex of buildings, pulling a pulse revolver from one of her thigh holsters just in case she ran into anyone. No one. It was deserted. Not even a sentry. Idiots. Blue's ear tingled as she caught the soundless signal coming from her fellow comrades. She followed the signal to a pile of rubble. Her signal tickled out as she slid from the shadows and next to Arin. Arin gave her a nod of approval, then took the lead as they ghosted forward into the central area. Blue was last, hefting one of her rifles. Alarms snarled through the corridors, and they moved quickly, the chaos and darkness and flashing red lights covering them. The few soldiers they met were silenced before they even saw the Shadow Unit team. Arin stopped as they came to the end of a corridor, and her hand flashed out in a series of commands. Blue took front, since she was the most heavily armored, and she burst through the door, moving forward quickly as her team fanned out behind her. Six quick bursts of light among the darkness, and the technicians fell dead. Arin came forward, carefully examining the machinery to make sure it was the right one. She gave a nod to Blue, and said quietly; "Fill 'er up." Blue grinned wolfishly as the rest of the team filed out. Hefting another rifle from her back, she braced herself then filled the shield's systems with glowing pulse, both arms shaking from the recoil of each gun. The light of the pulse was dimmed by the hasty visor, but it lit her up like flashes of sunlight. She only stopped when the pulse was empty on both guns. Shoving new cartridges of pulse in them, she dropped the empty ones clattering to the floor. Slapping them across her back once more, she left the mutilated room with her third rifle in hand and a look of satisfaction on her face. Now then. Ten minutes to get the civilians and to use the last of her mines to blow the roof off. "Sir, the shield is down!" His eyes widened. "What?! How?!" "Someone shot up the control room! There's no way to salvage it!" the man said, despair in his voice. The guerilla swore again, but his voice was touched with fear. Of course! The Federation would use one of their Shadow Units for a job like this. "Secure the hostages! Quick!" Blue slid behind a large crate, looking out from between two of them. It seemed that the central area -a domed, large room- had been their headquarters. Crates of supplies and at least two hundred soldiers surrounded the defenseless civilians. She glanced to Arin, who gave them quick directions using her hands. Blue was to take care of the ceiling, while the others took care of the soldiers. Lakos would seal off all of the doors leading into the central area to prevent the civilians from scattering, and to prevent more soldiers from coming in. Blue nodded sharply, and, as the team broke out into fire, she dashed forward, straight for the group of civilians, as she tore the cannon from her back. No amount of soldiers could keep back such a crowd of terrified people. The surged back away from her, scattering to the walls. Good. Just what she wanted. Aiming the cannon straight up, she adjusted the power of the cannon with a flick of a switch, and fired. The small sun, upon impact with the ceiling, burst with a force, blowing the ceiling and even some of the wall outwards, and scattering everyone to their feet. Blue, nearest to the blast, was crushed to the ground, hitting the alloy floor hard. A huge, deafening sound came from the sky, and it wasn't the cannon. Bright lights shown down into the room, making people wince and shy away. Blue scowled as she saw that the carrier wouldn't be able to fit in the central room, and turned the cannon on part of the wall. With the power lowered, it merely crushed away the wall. The carrier landed down, the hatch opening. "Will all civilians please board the carrier. This is the Federation Salvation Unit. Will all civilians please board the carrier." Blue slammed the cannon back over her shoulder, as her team moved forward to make sure all of the civies got on board. Her com unit in her helmet crackled with Arin's voice. "Go catch their commanding officer," the Lieutenant ordered. "Yessir," Blue said, obediently turning. At the door, she shattered it to pieces with a crushing fist, and found soldiers beyond. She smiled as her monstrous form loomed over them. They took one look at her, then turned and fled. Blue shrugged to herself, then ran after them. Most likely, the majority of them would lead her straight to the central control room. Fear made people stupid. She skulked in the shadows after them, and lingered just beyond the door of the room, listening. "S-Sir there's a m-m-monster in the corridor!" one of the soldiers babbled. "What the hell are you talking about?" a voice demanded. Ah. That was the one she wanted. Blue stepped through the doorway. "I think he's talking about me," she purred through the microphone of her helmet. Her rifle rose to aim straight at his chest. The man's eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and his face paled. Why did the sight of her in her armor always do that to people, she wondered. "You're now under my custody, rebel scum," she growled, stepping forward. "Surrender and throw down your weapon before I fill your traitor bones with pulse." His eyes narrowed, though he shook with fear. "Never!" he growled, then shoved the barrel of his gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Blue swore colorfully as his valuable brains splattered across the control deck. Without hesitation, she grabbed up the nearest man, yanked his weapon from his holster, and tossed it to the ground. "Idiots," she growled, snapping cuffs around his wrists. She picked up the corpse, then dragged it and the gibbering guerilla down the corridor and back to the central room. "Here's an idiot for you," she called to Arin. "And here's the man in charge. Unfortunately, if you want to pick his brains, you'll have to go to the control room." The Lieutenant frowned. "That was sloppy of you." "First bad luck of the night, all right? Gimme a break." She looked up as the carrier, full of civies, lifted off. Dozens of smaller crafts loaded with Federation soldiers touched down to replace it. "I suppose our work here is done." "Indeed." Arin knocked the guerilla unconscious with a hard blow. "Not as loud this way," she commented acidly. "All right, I'll take care of these guys. You and the rest of the team are ordered to have a two-day leave. Now get your asses out of here." Blue-6 grinned at the good news, then snapped to attention. "If you say so, Lieutenant!"

Wow...As always Ezekiel, your artistic skills show me that you are very talented. I like all of the banners myself, though the two Victor Delacroix ones seem a bit [i]too[/i] dark. I understand, (at least I think I do) what you were trying to do by incorporating him in shadow as he is in the game, but perhaps a dark shade of gray would have been better suited? I don't know, I still think it's lovely though. ^_^ Beauty: I really like this graphic, but I have a couple things that irk me slightly that I think could have been better...But let's start with what I like. I love how you put those custom brushes in there, especially the butterflies and the flowers. It really brings out the woman in the picture itself for some reason. I think you could have possibly taken away that super light colored off-green from around her hair and let it flow into the background and possibly have gotten a better look. Also, her bangs, and the rest of her long strands of hair are just a flat brown color. It really seems weird, especially with the red-brown and dark brown hair..fluff thing (for lack of a better word). Overall the graphic is a beautiful piece of art, and it truly shows your skills with things Ezekiel. I shall continue to haunt you and the rest of you artsy lords(and ladies :P) here on OB in hopes you'll drop some skills by mere luck..or magic..lol. Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing more of your work Ezekiel.

Well, the saying actually doesn't refer to cake itself. It could be made to refer to cake...but for the most part it doesn't. What it means is something along the lines that you can't have something extremely good, or do something worthwhile then expect to be praised for it all the time. At least that's how I perceive it to be, but I never use that saying...I'm always tellin' people to "lay off muh kool-aid!" lol. But yea...that's..the..gist of it I guess.

[color=darkorchid][size=1]Dae ran behind Aaron the whole time, through the city, into the tunnel, and out the other side. He wasn't even breathing hard, but his heart was sending adrenaline into his system at a pace that made everything feel as if it were slow and cumbersome. Before his own mind could make the thought, his twin scimitars were out, blades running the length of his forearm, pointed outwards. He smirked slightly, [i]Time to do what I do best,[/i] and then he was moving between the trees, darting as a blur. For a brief moment, he let his thoughts run rampant before he swirled about a tree, his whole body spinning in a deadly arc of steel. His right hand scimitar lashed out to open the gut of a soldier even as his spin was kept up, and then his left scimitar easily shot out to stab a second in the chest between the first and second rib. Without even bothering to look or make any judgements, his body took him back into the shadows and cover of the trees. It wasn't good odds, so he was going to narrow them down as best he could. As he was running, he leap up into a tree branch and ran across it, only to reach the end and jump off into a dive. Before a second could even pass, he flipped his body forwards while twisting enabling him to land behind a soldier. He easily jammed both blades into the kidney area of the soldiers back, then spun about to cross slice another man with both blades. [b]"It's not nice to try and sneak up behind me. It's also not very healthy,"[/b] grinned as his words ended, his eyes being on the fresh corpse. With a slight laugh of amusement, he licked both of his blades and darted back into the treeline. He noticed Aaron, the Delta team leader, not far off from him, doing much the same as he was. It seems they had similar ways to evening things up. He nodded respectfully toward the man before a soldier rushing at him caused his blind instincts to kick in again, taking control of his own body. A growl of annoyance and slight anger rushed from his lips as his scimitars weaved a deadly tapestry of steel before him. The sunlight that leaked through the foliage caused the twin blades to shimmer when the light caught it at the right angle, which gave Dae an idea. Even before the thought in his head could finish, a soldier suddenly stopped moving and fell forward onto his face, sliding until his head slammed into a tree trunk. [i]Ah, the joys of ice![/i] He laughed softly, [b]"Careful there big boy..You should learn how to ice skate."[/b] Then without further ado, he slammed a blade home into the back of the warriors skull before he heard a twig snap behind him. In a blind rush he spun about with his free blade and managed for the part to deflect a bayonet rushing at his chest. The bayonet still managed to sink into his side and stop when it hit one of his ribs, which cracked accordingly. He looked down at the bayonet, then easily slid his blade in a vicious(sp?) slash across the mans throat. He turned and withdrew his scimitar from the skull of the one man with a sickening squish and slammed it home in its sheath. Daethios' free hand went to the wound at his side and promptly clamped down upon it as he ran into the trees for more actions. Attendance to wounds could come later.[/color][/size]

Well...where to begin...lol. Overall I think your work is beautiful. Some of them catch my eye more then others, but the blue ones are bomb..because blue owns everything. :P My favorite has to be the Ed alone picture, especially the little caption on it. It totally goes with the image, and it just seems to fit his pose and makes it so I can almost feel the weight on his shoulders. The only thing I don't like, however, is how he's hued red. I think it might have been better to leave him alone in stock color, but still kept those scan lines that I can't do, XD. Overall, your work is superb in my book. Since I haven't seen you're past exploits of artsy goodness, however, I can't say "Nice improvement." But I can say this....SQUEEEEEEEEE!*pounces and steals artsy talent!* XDDDDD So anyways..keep up the good work KW. It's the artists such as yourself that help inspire me to become better..so I can do an art challenge!..In like..2 years when I'm at your level. In which case you'll be better...but I'm rambling now >_>;

Well, I'm going to be checking for tutorials more and more to try and get a feel for PSP 8. I've tried using the later versions. Those versions being 9 and 10, but they didn't really appeal to me. It seems they're a bit too jazzed up for my liking. Thanks for the tip with the fonts. I can see what you're all referring (did I spell that right? O.o) to. As for the border thing, I'll see what I can come up with. The reason the stock image looks..well..offset and a bit mutilated is because I still haven't figured out how to properly crop the stock image, or resize it so I could get the whole thing. I also had a hard time trying to make it look as if it belonged as the foreground, or even was a part of the background art. KW: The nifty pink background is just the fire tube on PSP. I just did a bunch of different sizes to get nice contrasts of oranges and yellows, then accidently did something to turn it blue. That's why it looks like there's burn marks on some parts. Then I merely used the Change To Color thing and made it pink. Was my first time usin' pink, but meh. I thought it looked nice enough. Delta: Thanks for that little tip. Soon as I refind my PSP 8 disk I'm going to do some more images. I might try an avatar or two as well. Ezekiel: Yea, I understand about the tubes. It took me about 30 minutes to get those flames looking right. I'm going to drop you a PM so you can tell me how to make custom tubes, because once I know that...WATCH OUT OB! XD You'll be seeing many a weird, sometimes cute, but most of the time just plain "Whoa" things coming from me since I'm not very conventional. Thanks for the tips and criticism guys. It really helps me out now that some things were pointed out. This post will be edited later with some work I manage to do today if I get the time. [COLOR=RoyalBlue][b]EDIT:[/B][/COLOR] Alright well, I put some custom brushes in my PSP, and I almost right away saw what Ezekiel was speaking about when he said not being able to blend with tubes, but having more freedom with brushes. Granted I'm using PSP 7 since my PSP 8 disk disappeared, I just messed around. Now, I know this is very simple, but I wanted to test the brushes thing out and see what all I could do. So, I give you this. [IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/DimensiaP/bn1.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/DimensiaP/MidnightBoredness.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/DimensiaP/EyeInTheSky.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/DimensiaP/DigiPaintTry.png[/IMG] EDIT: I made the last three pieces just now around midnight. Quick little 5 minute jobs messing with brushes, except the rose. I managed to find something I'm slightly happy with and good at. Criticism is a must on the rose! :P I just searched around online, and saved that pic, cropped it, and sent it to my white background. I wish I was able to highlight the leaves and the flower a lot, but once you get down past size 6 on the airbrush, it turns solid and doesn't have a fade effect at the edges, which I simply love. Anyways though, let me know what you think etc. All tips and comments are welcome, even bad ones. Helps me grow as an artist. (Yes you evil people whom only like to hate on things, I'm giving you my artistic permission to slam this so I can write your names down and haunt you. XD) [SIZE=1][COLOR=RoyalBlue]While I understand why you needed to, double-posting is strictly forbidden around here. It sort of clutters up the forums, so instead, you can evil your original post if no one has posted yet to add in extra stuff. Or, if you're just looking to bump it, you can copy the post contents, delete the post, and repost. Get it? I edited your post ... hope you don't mind. Contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks! - [b]Retribution[/b][/COLOR][/SIZE]

Well..prepare for some horrendous work on my behalf. I finally found my PSP 8 disk and installed it into my comp...Then remembered I don't know how to use it for anything. Heh. But, I gave it a shot anyways. Sooo..Since I'm a Jing King Of Bandits fanatic..I took an image of jing as a child, use the picture tube and whatnot, and the other tools I DO know how to use..and made this...........terrible, terrible thing that disgraces Jing, and just artwork in general. See for yourself. [IMG]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/F34Regime/BannerTry1.png[/IMG] Mm..little side note I decided to add.....If anyone like..Ezekiel..or KW..or..any of you extremely talented people whom I adore and envy all at once, wouldn't mind giving me some tips, or pointing me in the direction of some really good tutorials...I'd love you forever and...uh...make horrible artwork for you until the restraining order kicked in. XD But yea, lol. I just..don't really seem to know how to figure out PSP..I think it hates me, or I'm just too stupid to realize all of what it can do. Heh.

[COLOR=LIME][I]They say that to remember the past is to bring defeat to your Faction...I say to remember is to learn, and teach our young. I have always remembered...And I believe I will keep on with my memories until I am dead and buried. Who knows what happens after death. Perhaps I shall be cursed with remembrance even then. I was only a small child of 4 Harvests when my village was ravaged in a battle between the Jade Dragon and the Canis Lupis. The damned animal-men knew they were losing the fight, so they began killing innocents and burning our homes in hopes the Jade Dragons honor would make them see to us. They were wrong. Their antics only angered the Jade Dragon and drove them on into a new frenzy. Every single Canis Lupis in that battle was killed outright. No prisoners were taken. It is as it should be in every battle. But that is neither here nor there child. What matters is the fact that I remember. I remember the tales from my grandfather...Of his days as a Warrior in the Jade Dragon. Of my father after him. And of mine own. Atch! Hush and listen. This is no time for questions. You must pay attention. The war was started centuries ago...exactly how many has long been forgotten. I am sure there are some beings out there from when the war began, though I have no wish to meet such creatures. Exactly why the war was started has many different answers, but this one is the one believed by the Jade Dragon. At one time, the land was under peaceful rule of a King. It was not a familia ruling as most would think, but a ruling by the strongest, wisest warrior of the generation. It is said that back then, peace and prosperity were well known. Hunger was unheard of. Poverty simply did not exist. The King, his name is unknown to us, had a twin brother who wished the throne. I know. It sounds cliche, like the bedtime stories your mothers tell you, but it is what is written in our archives, so shut up and listen. The Kings twin happened to be an almost identical match to the King, even in temperment. So it was with great confusion and disarray when he raised his own army of followers and laid siege to the capital. Some say it was demonic possession. Others say it was divine intervention. Others still say the brother simply went mad. Speculations all, but all very possible. The truth is unknown. What is known is this: The brother laid waste to the Kings City. Not only did he lay waste, but he killed all the old, including women. He also killed all children under the age of 6. Why he did this is a great mystery that the Sages of old tried to figure out. Those left alive in the Kings City were changed. It is from here that the many races that now inhabit our world are said to come from. The many demons, elfs, dwarves, men, and the like. I don't honestly care of my races creation. It bothers me not, but some are into such things. Ah..yes..back to the story. Now, after the King was killed, the land was thrown into chaos. This is when the blank in history comes up. A span of two thousand years is completely unknown, for no recorded history has been found of these times. However, it is believed that this is when all those races began to assert themselves and grow. This is when the Factions began to rise. Seven of the best warriors in Kurkiyo rose to claim the legendary Petal Throne. The throne that was said to be that of the legendary King of old. No one knew why, nor how they knew of these things, for they themselves only knew them as legend and myth. But because of their claims, they fought. They gathered followers to them, then lands, then peasants such as I use to be. That was the birth of the Seven Factions. White Mist; the first Faction, founded by Akya Detrak. Jade Dragon; the Second Faction, founded by Itsugoya Mitomisu. Canis Lupis; the Third Faction, founded by Jetrin Yukth. Shadow Riders; the Fourth Faction, founded by Gregoire Demeisk. Tiger Lily; the Fifth Faction, founded by Aryana Trefleton. Kitoku; the Sixth Faction, founded by Orion Ghengali. These were the original six, and the only ones around for a few hundred years. But then a Seventh Faction arose out of no where. This Seventh Faction..its name is unknown to us. It has no symbol, no leader that we know of. We have almost no information on it. Yet that did now stop its creation. Since those days, the bitter rivalry between the Factions has continued. The ancient lines of the founders is said to have been hidden within their ranks. Some say it no longer exists. I say let the Factions sort it out. That, however, does not seem to matter anymore. All the Factions do now is fight for territory, richs, and people. It seems their once somewhat honorable cause has been forgotten to them. But I remember...I remember... You must keep this information safe child. You must copy this scroll, and hand it to whomever you meet. It doesn't matter whether they believe it or not. What matters is that the seed of knowledge was planted....Now leave..I have much to prepare for with my death so close at hand.[/I] Fretoran Sitchi, [I]Last Sage; Former Warrior of the Jade Dragon.[/I][/COLOR]

H'Okay... Call Me "Masa" this isn't the Inn...it's where an RP is actually played out once the sign ups are done. Now..it seems to me as if you're just throwing this up...I could be mistaken, and if I am, I apologize...but...move this to Adventure Inn dude. :D

[COLOR=DarkOrchid][SIZE=1]Daethios glanced about the port warily, the new smells and sights assaulting his senses, which he tossed aside for later use. His head turned towards the main gate in the distance, its giant form looming above most other things near it, if not all of them. With a slight, barely audible sigh, he walked towards there, his hands resting on the pommels of his scimitars as was customary for him. One could never be too sure, nor too safe these days. His bright, almost like a darkened shade of robins egg blue hair barely moved in the wind, his bangs remaining as they were in a weird jux ta position above his forehead. Dark, almost black lensed glasses covered his eyes, which helped with the sun, though not all the food being slung around. He licked his lips once before he shook his head quickly, [i]No..Food will come later...I have a mission right now,[/i] was his only thought until he reached the gate. He looked at the others assembled there, noting what he could of them for later referencing. He tried figuring out who was the one in charge, but none of them looked to be this 'Rufus' character, at least to him. So, he regretably opened his mouth to speak. [b]"I am Daethios. I am here for the mission,"[/b] his words were short, though not clipped, and had an accent that couldn't quite be placed. [b]"Daethios...You're on Delta team with Aaron. Over there,"[/b] the man named Hiro was the one whom spoke, though Daethios didn't know that. Dae simply nodded and walked over to the man who was pointed to. Dae bowed slightly from the waist to Aaron, then listened carefully as the mission plan and objectives were laid out for him. A few side thoughts ran through Daes mind when Aaron finished, but Dae merely bowed once more and stepped off to the side away from the others. [i]It seems yet again I shall be thrown into the woods in hopes to do what I do best,[/i] Dae thought to himself with a slight smirk. [i]I believe this shall go relatively well if people do not let judgements or prejudices get in the way of their skills and the mission plan Father. Perhaps this shall be my last and I shall join you with the ancestors as was deemed all those years ago,[/i] and then he quit thinking/praying and merely stood in place, his hands on his pommels, and remained unmoving.[/color][/size]

*Blinks a bit at that one...* I'd rather have a computer without Videogames...as is the case now...Heh. Much easier to concentrate on tutoring myself in things too...I get distracted when I have games loaded on, cuz I'll jus' start em up and play for hours and not realize I had an MSN convo going or something, lol. Here's something: Would you rather fit yourself into a 4 foot by foot concrete box with 10 quarts of water for a week? or Would you rather crawl through those old tunnels over in Vietnam that the Vietnamese used with no light..and only a knife?

The Petal Throne In a land where war is life, and not knowing how to fight means death, it is no wonder that factions have arisen for control. The land has been torn apart by war for as long as even the oldest elder of any faction can remember, and before that. Welcome to the land of Kurkiyo, home to the Petal Throne. --- Kurkiyo is a land at war, and rather well at it. Fifty years ago, factions arose throughout the small land, each one being led by a strong warrior. These factions all claim they are the rightful heirs to the ancient Petal Throne, seat of the High King of Kurkiyo. As the factions grew in power, so did the battles between them. It tore the land asunder, much more so then it already was. It left many homeless, with hatreds, grudges, or nothing at all. Just shells. The battles served the factions well however, for when two factions fought, the area they fought in usually left survivors with hatreds and wants of vengeance. They had created a never ending cycle of fighters with nothing to lose. The 7 Factions, know as Petals of the Orchid, each have their own name, their own rulers, their own laws. But the truth of the matter is...not one of them has the right to the throne, for none of them are of the bloodline. This has been revealed to them countless time by the Sages, but because of their ignorance, the Sages were killed and hunted down. --- [color=slategray][b]White Mist:[/b] The White Mist is the first faction to have ever risen to power, and as such, they take great pride in making it public knowledge. The White Mist are knowledgable in magics, mostly of the combat variety. Their members are usually confident bordering conceited, with well-trained magical skills.[/color] [color=lime][b]Jade Dragon:[/b] The Jade Dragon are the most honorable of the 7 Factions in the war torn land of Kurkiyo. They follow the ways of Tatsu almost to a point of extremism, believing to be derived from his ancient line. (Note: Tatsu is their version of Bushido. Think Samurai times radical protester with fighting skills.) They believe their honor should be held up above all, even if it means their death.[/color] [color=sandybrown][b]Canis Lupis:[/b] The Canis Lupis are the strangest, if not most dangerous cornered enemy of the Factions. They, as their name implies, are all beings whom have been cursed in one way or another, mostly dealing with a lycanthropy of sorts. The only downfall is that each and every one of their members, if not born into Canis Lupis, is turned into one. They do, however, have only one form, which is something that looks like a Liger and a man spliced together, though the same size of a man. Their builds range from a normal, average human, to an intense body builder musculature.[/color] [color=darkslategray][b]Shadow Riders:[/b] As their name implies, the Shadow Riders are masters of assassination and subterfuge. Preferring to attack their enemies villages with small forces, taking out important people, buildings, and crops. They believe the will win in the long run due to their strategy. However, when they are attacked directly, and in force, they aren't strong. But if a member is alone, s/he can easily take out anywhere from 5-10 people if their training is at such a level. (Note: Training has to be extremely high for such a thing to occur.)[/color] [color=darkorchid][b]Tiger Lily:[/b] The Tiger Lily are a faction comprised of almost all females. But do not let that fool you, for they are ruthless, and will stop at nothing to finish to their goals. Harsh judgement upon others, cruelty in battle, and no mercy are just some of the things that the Tiger Lily hold dear.[/color] [color=royalblue][b]Kitoku:[/b] The Kitoku are the most radical of all the Factions, and do anything to win, even if it means suicide. They believe they are on the verge of death at all times, no matter where they may be. Suicide tactics are always in a part of the Kitoku Battle Plan.[/color] [color=white][b]???:[/b] The 7th Faction does not go by a name..at least if they do, no one knows what it is. They have always been mysterious, and no one knows who started them. They only know that they rose quickly, and with such power that they had to be recognized as a Faction. Nothing else is known about them.[/color] --- Okay, this is the basic idea of the RP. It's not a well developed storyline yet, but I'm working on it still..sorta. The main idea is each character will be a part of one faction(the same faction for some will be allowed if we get enough people.) Here's the sign up sheet. [b]Name:[/b] (anything can go here) [b]Gender:[/b] (...) [b]Age:[/b] (try to keep it relatively in check for the race you pick.) [b]Faction:[/b] (what Faction your chara belongs too.) [b]Race:[/b] (Nothing uber. Demons are allowed, as well as any other race you can think of, even a made up one. But please have supporting details if its not a well known race.) [b]Personality:[/b] (How your chara acts, socializes, etc.) [b]Bio:[/b] (Two paragraph if you choose to do this, or a character snippet) [b]Snippet:[/b] (Chara snippet if you choose to do this instead of a Bio) --- Alright, seems things are starting to move along rather well now. Here's who we have so far. Sin as Carthage Caznim in Shadow Riders kenshinsbabe as Evanthe Mordecai in Tiger Lily Starwind as Demian Rowe in Jade Dragon silver_blade as Kiris Oth as a possible 7th Faction..questions via pm pending this decision Kura as Touka Ichimaru Sazabi as Grathos Karana bleached as Denzede "The Arc" Kitty as Aoi Ro Takuya as Saeneles mushrumluver, please be a bit more in depth with the bio, the race description, and some of the personality of your character. ---- So far so good though people. I figure I'll start this by Friday, or somewhere along those lines if the sign ups keep going well. We still need White Mist, Canis Lupis, and Kitoku, so hopefully three more people will come and do those Factions. I'm still deciding on if I'm going to make a character in a Faction, or just sort of be like a DM and throw tidbits out to you guys albeit with long post of descriptive things like the area you're all generally in, though that might reveal something I'm pondering...plot twists galore..dun dun dun. ^_^ --- I just finished writing a little scroll from the Last Sage. Neat little tidbit. The information is slightly bias however, since the Last Sage was a Warrior of the Jade Dragon before his..Sageship..or whatever word fits there. If anyone would like to help in writing history, just contact me via pm and let me know, or even toss me some ideas for some history. I am after all..a weird guy who shares his creations as to make them better..cuz frankly, I'm too harsh on myself and press Delete way too much ^_^;;