04-14-2016, 11:37 AM
With his gauntlets off, Ratione ran his fingers through his hair. The bristles barely came up to his palms, and he could still feel sweat caking the scalp. The Furtumin leaned against the wall of the water pool, left knee draw up and right leg stretch out. All of his limbs were somewhat spread out, his arms slightly hanging to the side, due to the rest of the armor. The Novan barely lifted his own head as he stared at the white “ground”, vacant gaze unmoving.
“Where do I go, Bonent?” He thought out loud. “I suppose sitting around won’t do me much good.” It was around ten minutes later before the man finally stood up with slow, deliberate movements. His left hand gripped the edge of the fountain, vibrating as it supported his own weight. Even with the armor’s strength enhancements, the soldier felt like he could not move a muscle without it crying. Soon enough he was on two feet, the gauntlets stuffed into his helm fingers first, up to the knuckles, the whole bundle held under the arm at his waist. The old man scanned all over, eyes hesitating on large half-circles of some sort in the distance, forming a circular perimeter. Somehow they glowed with a more intense white than everything around him.
Ratione had been exposed to many different religions, many different ideals of a “paradise” after death, or a hell for those who were not worthy. It seemed that he had been thrown into one of the two, of which faith he had yet to figure out. The scenery around did not match anything he knew about, but there were thousands of races that each had their own beliefs. He had only met the tiniest fraction of them.
The Novan’s middle finger pressed down against the side of his helm, on a small circular bump.
“Command, pull up current system location and nearest colony.” His helmet was silent for a long moment before a voice lacking any inflexion sounded out.
“Unknown. Cannot make connection to galactic web. System will continue to make attempts to connect until successful.”
“Command, do not attempt to make connection, save battery life.”
“Understood.”
“Command, activate short range radar.“ The helm was slipped back on and locked to the armor, “Display a topographical map on HUD.”
“Processing.” Ratione’s eyes snapped to the upper right of his visor as a mini-map was displayed, a completely blank space.
“Command, refresh mini-map.”
“Processing.” Again, the same blank square with only a single dot in the center symbolizing his own position. Something was definitely screwing with the short range radar, which was either a natural process of wherever he was, something artificial, or possibly… supernatural.
“Command, remove mini-map from HUD.” The square disappeared. “Command, display structural integrity.”
“Processing.” A Novan figure made of boxes popped up, all sections showing green. “No structural damage.” The old man nodded slightly.
Turning about, Ratione walked around the fountain, eyes glancing to black dots and lines as he did so. It was not before long before the bodies of white-armored, bizarrely proportioned figures suddenly registered in his vision. All of them lay still, either with a burnt and black hole through a part of their body or chunks missing entirely.
“Meria…” The Novan let out a curse in his own tongue. His knees bent as he went down to roll one over, only to find what he assumed was the face completely ripped apart, the helm having been punctured with an enormous force. He was certain he was not in some sort of afterlife now, there would not be something like this in a place for the dead.
The arrangement of their bodily form was eerily similar to his own. All other intelligent races he had encountered followed the same general body pattern, bipedal with two arms and a head. Of course even this biological template varied greatly, with wings and gills and fur and such, but whatever these were they must have an almost identical evolutionary pattern as his own species. Size was also the more common distinguishing trait between everything, and these, what Ratione guessed were soldiers, were on the shorter side. They were also not invincible, and an encounter could most likely be handled. Unless they were still greater than him, in which case a shiver ran down the Furtumin’s spine to think of whatever had eliminated them so… efficiently.
The Novan’s hand went to the side of his helm again. “Command, scan for any radio frequencies, intercept and display a list. If no radio frequencies, scan for wireless communication, intercept, provide list.”
“Processing… nothing found.”
“Forina…” Ratione whipped his head around again, struggling to find some course of action. There were still the glowing half-circles forming a ring, a good ways away.
“Command, what are my raw energy reserves.”
“Processing. Currently running on 90% power, estimated depletion in under three days.”
“Command, display jump-pack specs.”
“Processing.” A new display popped up on the HUD, showing that the two miniature rockets protruding from his back were operational but needed a warm up.
“Command. Warm up jump pack.”
“Warming up jump pack.” Ratione could hear a low rumbling as something behind him clicked on, the sound glowing louder. The whirring soon reminded of the roaring a cyclone gave for a few seconds before finally calming down to a small hum.
“Ready to burst.”
“Burst!”
Training kicked in, and Ratione’s body went limp as he was suddenly propelled up and forward, pointed at one of the white half-circles. Soon enough the forward propulsion ceased, and Ratione was falling up high into the air. At some point he reached his maximum altitude, and the decent began. Only a short ways above the ground his jump pack’s automatic systems kicked in to give a smaller burst to break his fall, and as he slammed to the ground his suit took the rest of the shock. The Novan looked back and forward, seeing that the edge was still very, very far away.
“Command, set jump pack to slow burn.” The Furtumin tilted his body forward as the pack slowly started up this time, building to enough force to push his body forward. His legs moved underneath, making large and long steps in order to keep his body from slamming into the ground.
About an hour later and the glowing “thing” loomed over the old man, and he was forced to crane back his neck in order to see the top. Ratione’s skin crawled as he felt something radiating off the monolith, unable to put a word on the invisible presence. Yet as wary as the Novan felt about this object, he also sensed a tug pulling him closer. His steps carried him forward, right up against the white.
“Warning: unstable energy fluctuations detected. It is recommended to vacate the immediate area.”
Ratione’s hand sank through the glow.
“Warning: unstable energy fluctuations detected. It is recommended to vacate the immediate area.”
The mass of armor was absorbed into the abyss.
“Warning: unstable e-“
“Where do I go, Bonent?” He thought out loud. “I suppose sitting around won’t do me much good.” It was around ten minutes later before the man finally stood up with slow, deliberate movements. His left hand gripped the edge of the fountain, vibrating as it supported his own weight. Even with the armor’s strength enhancements, the soldier felt like he could not move a muscle without it crying. Soon enough he was on two feet, the gauntlets stuffed into his helm fingers first, up to the knuckles, the whole bundle held under the arm at his waist. The old man scanned all over, eyes hesitating on large half-circles of some sort in the distance, forming a circular perimeter. Somehow they glowed with a more intense white than everything around him.
Ratione had been exposed to many different religions, many different ideals of a “paradise” after death, or a hell for those who were not worthy. It seemed that he had been thrown into one of the two, of which faith he had yet to figure out. The scenery around did not match anything he knew about, but there were thousands of races that each had their own beliefs. He had only met the tiniest fraction of them.
The Novan’s middle finger pressed down against the side of his helm, on a small circular bump.
“Command, pull up current system location and nearest colony.” His helmet was silent for a long moment before a voice lacking any inflexion sounded out.
“Unknown. Cannot make connection to galactic web. System will continue to make attempts to connect until successful.”
“Command, do not attempt to make connection, save battery life.”
“Understood.”
“Command, activate short range radar.“ The helm was slipped back on and locked to the armor, “Display a topographical map on HUD.”
“Processing.” Ratione’s eyes snapped to the upper right of his visor as a mini-map was displayed, a completely blank space.
“Command, refresh mini-map.”
“Processing.” Again, the same blank square with only a single dot in the center symbolizing his own position. Something was definitely screwing with the short range radar, which was either a natural process of wherever he was, something artificial, or possibly… supernatural.
“Command, remove mini-map from HUD.” The square disappeared. “Command, display structural integrity.”
“Processing.” A Novan figure made of boxes popped up, all sections showing green. “No structural damage.” The old man nodded slightly.
Turning about, Ratione walked around the fountain, eyes glancing to black dots and lines as he did so. It was not before long before the bodies of white-armored, bizarrely proportioned figures suddenly registered in his vision. All of them lay still, either with a burnt and black hole through a part of their body or chunks missing entirely.
“Meria…” The Novan let out a curse in his own tongue. His knees bent as he went down to roll one over, only to find what he assumed was the face completely ripped apart, the helm having been punctured with an enormous force. He was certain he was not in some sort of afterlife now, there would not be something like this in a place for the dead.
The arrangement of their bodily form was eerily similar to his own. All other intelligent races he had encountered followed the same general body pattern, bipedal with two arms and a head. Of course even this biological template varied greatly, with wings and gills and fur and such, but whatever these were they must have an almost identical evolutionary pattern as his own species. Size was also the more common distinguishing trait between everything, and these, what Ratione guessed were soldiers, were on the shorter side. They were also not invincible, and an encounter could most likely be handled. Unless they were still greater than him, in which case a shiver ran down the Furtumin’s spine to think of whatever had eliminated them so… efficiently.
The Novan’s hand went to the side of his helm again. “Command, scan for any radio frequencies, intercept and display a list. If no radio frequencies, scan for wireless communication, intercept, provide list.”
“Processing… nothing found.”
“Forina…” Ratione whipped his head around again, struggling to find some course of action. There were still the glowing half-circles forming a ring, a good ways away.
“Command, what are my raw energy reserves.”
“Processing. Currently running on 90% power, estimated depletion in under three days.”
“Command, display jump-pack specs.”
“Processing.” A new display popped up on the HUD, showing that the two miniature rockets protruding from his back were operational but needed a warm up.
“Command. Warm up jump pack.”
“Warming up jump pack.” Ratione could hear a low rumbling as something behind him clicked on, the sound glowing louder. The whirring soon reminded of the roaring a cyclone gave for a few seconds before finally calming down to a small hum.
“Ready to burst.”
“Burst!”
Training kicked in, and Ratione’s body went limp as he was suddenly propelled up and forward, pointed at one of the white half-circles. Soon enough the forward propulsion ceased, and Ratione was falling up high into the air. At some point he reached his maximum altitude, and the decent began. Only a short ways above the ground his jump pack’s automatic systems kicked in to give a smaller burst to break his fall, and as he slammed to the ground his suit took the rest of the shock. The Novan looked back and forward, seeing that the edge was still very, very far away.
“Command, set jump pack to slow burn.” The Furtumin tilted his body forward as the pack slowly started up this time, building to enough force to push his body forward. His legs moved underneath, making large and long steps in order to keep his body from slamming into the ground.
***
About an hour later and the glowing “thing” loomed over the old man, and he was forced to crane back his neck in order to see the top. Ratione’s skin crawled as he felt something radiating off the monolith, unable to put a word on the invisible presence. Yet as wary as the Novan felt about this object, he also sensed a tug pulling him closer. His steps carried him forward, right up against the white.
“Warning: unstable energy fluctuations detected. It is recommended to vacate the immediate area.”
Ratione’s hand sank through the glow.
“Warning: unstable energy fluctuations detected. It is recommended to vacate the immediate area.”
The mass of armor was absorbed into the abyss.
“Warning: unstable e-“
"Our fear is our weapon."