Another Planet, Another Galaxy

[Aeric]

Name: Zoe
Setting: Another Planet, Another Galaxy, 2076 (Similar to our own..)
Description:
Zoe is a planet run by a bureaucratic empire. There is no known seperation of countries, states, or any other regional or provincial locations. There is only the Empyre, and everywhere else. Nearly everything is controlled by the massive system of government. It is only those who know the system who can learn to escape its limitations...

(I decided to jump into the future, since it is something that I swore I would never do. I always have thought of the future as too boring to write about, until recently beginning a novel set in it. It has been a surprisingly fun experience thus far, and I would like to incorporate some of it into this thread. Of course, this is only to see how much it can be stretched...Meh...Me and my sick little games... : P)

Immediate Setting: On the outskirts of the Empyre.

Here I Go:
                Arion awoke before the dream could take him any further. He found himself in a collection of moist sheets, which he immediately recognized as having been intruded by perspiration. He did not do well with dreams, which always made him a level above uneasy, though one which could not be described with a name. He rubbed his forehead, moving his sharp black hair away from his eyes as he did so. After a few moments, taken to collect himself as best he could, Arion shoved the dampened sheets away from his body, got up and out of his bed, and walked toward the window, naked.
   There was only one window in his apartment, one large, unframed plane of glass that pertruded over the far left wall, if one was facing away from the entrance. Arion approached it, as he did nearly every morning, and cautiously looked down at the busy street below. Noticing that there was no apparent danger in doing so, he fixed his glance upon the dim blue sky above the polluted city. He stood there, naked, and gazed into the sky, marvelling at its wonder. And there came a knocking at his door.
   Not only did this intrusion of his moment with the sky annoy him, it caused him great distress. He did not know who or what, for that matter, approached him in this manner, at this hour. But any idea he might have had did not ease his mind. He quickly snatched the coat from the chair to his right, and wrapped it around his body as he made to retrieve one of his pistols from under his bed. Having finished covering himself, and slowly stepping toward the door, gun in hand, Arion's mind was scattered with another abrupt knocking at his door. He flinched for a moment, gathered his composure, slipped to the left side of the door, unlocked it, and turning the knob, swung it open with his finger ready to pull the trigger if need be.

[Delak]

(Rather than creating a new char, I'm modifying Kaled. He still has his sword but also carries two pistols, one ballistic and one one laser, and a long range rifle.  He also has access to an array of other weapons though he only uses them when necessary.  He also no longer has magic.)

Kaled came to his senses in a small, grey room.  He was lying on a raised slab that was the equivalent to a bed.  There were no windows and only one visible exit.  A dim light shone from the ceiling and the only furniture was a chair opposite from the bed.  Kaled rose to a sitting position and looked around. What the hell?  Where am I and how did I get here? he thought.  He noticed his weapons and equipment were lying on the chair and he got up went over.  He put on his gun belt and withdrew his pistols.  After checking his ammo, he returned them to their holsters.   Whoever put me here obviously doesn't mind my being armed.  Of course, this could just mean I'm going to have trouble getting out of here.... wherever here is....  He went to the door and, surprised at finding it unlocked, opened it and walked out into the hallway.

[Kain Aerostrough]

(Ok, after a lot of debating with myself and a nerve-wracking coin flip, I have chosen to use Tangar. Only thing is, his thief magic is gone, his Zodiac daggers are just normal daggers, and he uses dual pistols neatly hidden under his...errr...garment thingy, y'know, the one that I don't know what it's called.)

Pain. Tangar's entire body was absorbed in it. Slowly, Tangar painfully raised to his feet and examined his new surroundings. At first everything was a big blur, but as soon as his eyes adjusted, he realized he was in a prison cell. His gear was laying on a table just beyond the laser bars that blocked his exit, laying atop his blue garment.

"Hey, you. You ok? You've been out for days..."

Tangar quickly turned toward the voice, only to see a large, round man sitting in the cell across from him, "Uggggh...where am I, exactly? I can't think straight...."

"That's natural. I heard you took quite a beating when they were catching you."

Tangar's mind suddenly sparked, "CATCHING ME!? Oh man, I didn't..."

"Ha ha ha...that's right, oh great thief, you've been caught. I know all about you and your 'exploits'. Even celebrities get caught in the end."

Tangar slumped back into the cell, How...did I get caught?

[Delak]

Kaled looked down the hall and saw no one.  The hallway was painted the same grey as the previous room though was well lit.  He noticed a few doors leading to other rooms and walked into the nearest one.  He opened it and walked in.  The room was the same size and color of the other, though the only conents of this one were a table and a datapad placed on top of it. Geez, whoever decorated this place must've been one dull guy.

He walked in and picked up the datapad.  He pressed the on button and the screen flickered to life.  A shadowed figure appeared on the screen and began speaking, "So, Kaled, I suppose you're wondering where you are and why you're here.  All I can say is that you are a 'guest' of the Empyre.  This is a prison facility designed to hold the Empyre's most ruthless criminals.  The security here is the highest of any building save for the capital.  Consider this a test of the security system.  If you pass, you are free to go. If you fail, you must pay with your life.  I suggest you start running." 

At that he clipped the datapad to his belt, I may need this later. He opened the door and stepped back out into the hall.

[Kain Aerostrough]

Footsteps filled the cell as Tangar woke from a small nap. He rose, using the nearby wall to support him. A large man, composed mostly of muscle, appeared behind the laser bars. Tangar looked straight at the man, a rebellious look on his face.

Then the man spoke, "My, my...we have a live one here. You must think you're pretty bad, hotshot. We know ALL about you and your dirty crimes. Don't worry, we'll make you pay for each and every one of them..."

Tangar merely muttered "Go to hell..." and pressed his back against the cell wall.

The man laughed, "Why, didn't you know? We're already in hell." With that, the man departed.

Tangar sighed and walked up to the bars, looking straight at his gear. It was positioned on a table just between his cell and the adjacent cell. After quick thought, Tangar called across to the fat prisoner, "Hey! Could I trouble you for your belt?"

The prisoner looked at him oddly, "How do you know I have a belt? Ahhh...nevermind. Just promise to bust me out, too." With that, the prisoner undid his belt and tossed it to Tangar's outstretched hand.

Acting quickly, Tangar lashed the belt out so that it went around the table's leg, then snapped back around and fell into his other hand, then he lightly pulled the table closer to the bars.

Quickly strapping on his daggers and throwing his garment back over his head, Tangar sighed with relief, "This'll be too easy..."

[Delak]

Kaled looked down the hall and saw a lift. I'm guessing the best way out of here is either down to the street or up hopefully to a hangar of some sort.  Of couse, they're probably expecting me to take the elevator. He turned around and drew his ballistic pistol from it's holster.  Don't want to take the chance of wasting energy cells. 

He proceeded down the hall until he came to a right turn and leaned around the corner.  Seeing two guards at the end of the hall, he turned and fired two shots, dropping both of them.  Maybe this won't be so hard after all, he thought while he searched for ammo and useable equipment on the guards.  Upon procuring a pair of IR goggles, a communicator, and extra ammo, he opened the door to the stairwell at the end of the hall.

[Kittyana]

(has a small problem joining thi sthread cause i have no chars taht can really be modifyed but gives it a go as the description sed nothing about there not being magic. And Lannia Can have a gun, or 2)

Pulling her coat tight around her Lannia headed off down the street. her face down and her hands in her pockets. her heavy boots hit the floor and she staggered on. the last night's alocohol starting to drift from her body. She started to feel life again. Shaking her head seh fought off the pain and carried on down the street.

What in life wasworth fighting for any more?
She had no clue. Sighing she looked up at the sky. "oh well" another day of fun to come"

[Delak]

As he proceeded down the stairs, Kaled took out the datapad from earlier and attempted to pull up a map of the building.  After a few minutes, it came up.  Ok, now I know where I am and my best plan of action.  The best plan would be to find the nearest security control station, hack in, and shut down the automated defenses, then he'd only have to worry about guards, and head down to the street-level exit.  He was on the 50th floor of a 100-story building.  Hmm...I wonder why they started me out in the middle. 

He went down a few floors to the nearest detention level door and opened it.   The hallway was lined with laser-barred cells and a security station was at a fork at the other end of the halway.  The two side paths at the end led to other cell bays.

[Kittyana]

Lannia carried on through the town. she watched life fly by. and she hated that.
vanishing into shadows she dwelled thinking and contemplating what to do next.

There were so many things that were open to her but nothing she could think of at that moment all she thought was destruction. and how much she missed it.
watching up and down the way she saw hover cars flying by a short way away. Sighing she looked at them. It was all to tempting. a little glowing ball no bigger than a marbl e appeared in her hand. she gently threw it. It soared at the hover cars and smashed into one with the force of a bullet.
she smiled totally hidden as Hover car after Hover car smashed into one another and fell. She sat and watched the destruction egarly for a little bit but she soon tierd of it and slipped away unseen.

[Kain Aerostrough]

Thinking quickly, Tangar slipped over to the left side of his cell. There he found a small control pad just on the outside of his cell, that could open the cell using a password. Tangar pulled out a hacking device that was stored in his garment and slips the end into a maintenance jack. After a short time, the cell bars disappeared and Tangar slipped out of his cell.

Just as he turned to run down the hallway, Tangar heard the round prisoner, "Hey! You said you'd let me out, too!"

Tangar smiled, "So I did...and just you wait. I'll get you out, and everyone else, too..." Already the plan of a diversion was in Tangar's mind.

With that, Tangar strode quickly down the hall, gun in hand, making hardly a sound despite his quick pace. He stopped abruptly at a fork, one of which led to a stairwell. Taking the right path, Tangar headed straight for a guard station.

As he came crashing through the guard station's door, Tangar let loose a fury of bullets, only two of which found a live target, since there were only two guards, Heh...guess I overdid it.

He surveyed the room. To his right there was a control panel, which remarkably was unscathed. To his left were prison documents, many of which were full of bullet holes. Ignoring the documents, Tangar approached the control panel, "Lesse...gotcha! Cell lock release switch! This'll release every cell on this floor...then I can sneak out while the guards deal with escapees!"

He noticed at the top of the panel was a floor number, 100?! Man, I'm high up!

Tangar them hit the switch and released the prisoners on the floor. Just as he slipped into the stairwell, an alarm went off across the whole complex.

[Delak]

Kaled appoached the security station and started typing.  After about five minutes, he cracked the password.  Wow, security here is tight.  Ok, let's see, first disable cameras and automated defenses.  He heard the whir of the security cameras die down.  Next, we unlock doors and shut down the lifts.  There was an aubible clicking sound as many of the locked doors unlocked.  There's lots of stairwells in this place, so shutting down the lifts shouldn't be too bad.  ]And, finally, I need a diversion, and these prisonsers should do the trick.  His fingers flew across the keyboard hitting the proper keys to power down the laser bars on this floor's cells.  Right after this, he saw the alert for the 100th floor.  Hmm... looks like someone else had a similar idea.  Maybe I should go up instead, he thought, as prisoners came out of their cells.  With this, he started down the left fork to the stairwell.  45th floor.... I've got a long walk down to the bottom.

[Kain Aerostrough]

Tangar quickened his pace down the stairwell, as he didn't know how long the diversion would last.

98...97...96...95...94...man, this is lame...92...91...90...it suddenly got quiet.

Tangar stopped cold. Concentrating on his ears, he listened for any sounds of struggle. All he got was the alarm, but suddenly he picked up a different sound, quite some distance away. It sounded like a different alarm, only in a different tone.

What the..? Another alarm? It sounds different...must be a different floor.

Tangar continued on his way down the stairwell, still without sign of any guards.

[Delak]

Kaled continued down the stair well, 44....43....42...41....Y'know it seems like they'd have some sort of defenses in the stair wells.  As he completed that thought, he heard a slight buzz as he cleared the 40th floor landing.  Uh-oh...must've tripped something.  Maybe they do have defenses here.  With that, guards rushed in from the door leading to the 40th floor.  Oh no...looks like I've got company.  He took a proximity mine from his belt and tossed it behind him as he continued down the stairs and heard the explosion behind him.  That'll teach 'em.  35th floor.... I'm making progress.

[Kain Aerostrough]

Tangar heard a buzz as he passed into the 80th floor, soon followed by the appearance of guards, "Dammit, company!"

Tangar immediately started raining bullets down the stairwell while still dashing towards them, dagger in hand. The confusion of such a quick assault allowed Tangar enough time to get close and strike. Soon ten guards lay in his dust, three killed by bullet, the rest by ruthless stabbing.

It wasn't long before he found himself on the 60th floor, where another batch of guards ambushed him. He ruthlessly slaughtered the poor group and continued on his way.

[Delak]

Kaled heard the commotion from above, Sounds like someone else is making a break for it.  I better be careful of where I step. he thought as he slipped on the IR goggles he picked up earlier.  Much better.  He continued down the stair well, avoiding the laser trip-wire on the 20th floor.  Almost there....

[Kain Aerostrough]

Tangar finally reached the 40th floor of the complex. By now, most of the diversion seemed to be halted, so he had to be more careful. As he headed down the stairwell, he noticed something odd. A large part of the stairs didn't exist!

"What...the...hell?" Tangar didn't have time to sit and gawk. A large gap lay between him and his way down, and he needed to find out how to cross it.

After taking quick stock of his current surroundings, Tangar compiled a brilliant, yet completely insane plan to jump the gap. He walked a bit back up the stairs, then climbed up onto the railing, If I fall off the right of this thing, it's all over...

Being more agile than average, Tangar started a slight dash down the pole, until he was able to just slide along and gain speed. Just before the rail ended at the gap, Tangar lept with all his strength and barely made the other side, just to the left of the rail.

"...let's do that again!"

[Delak]

Okay, by now, they should know where I am, so I think I can expect a trap at the 1st floor landing.  The chatter over the communicator confirmed his suspicions.  At least I was right, he thought, as he came to a stop at the 2nd floor landing.  If I exit here, I can bypass the trap and go throught the floor and into the first floor.

He walked through the 2nd floor door and saw that it was another cell block.  He quickly downed the guards at the end of the hall with a few well-placed shots and walked over the the security station.  Okay, if I blow the computer, it might just be enough to blow out the floor with a little help from some of my charges, plus it'll send them to where I currently am instead of where I'm going to be.  He took some explosive charges and affixed them to the computer console and set the timer for 20 seconds.  He left the room and shut the door, encasing the explosion within the security station.  Wow, I wasn't sure if that was gonna work.  After making sure the room below was clear, he jumped down into it.

[Kain Aerostrough]

A loud noise rang through the halls as Tangar passed the 20th floor, defeating another guard ambush, "What the hell was that? It sounded like...an explosion?"

He continued downstairs until he finally reached the final stairs to the 1st floor, "Great, almost there..." Unfortunately, a large number of guards, more than he could count, came storming upstairs on the exact same stairwell.

Ooooooh...dammit, this isn't good. At all. I'm done for, now...

However, Tangar still drew both pistols and began the struggle for his life.

[Delak]

Kaled took stock of his surroundings and noticed he was in an armory.  Nice, except there's probably a lot of guards on the other side of that door.  He stocked up on ammo and took a grenade out of a box, I'd rather use their weapons against them than waste my own. 

He braced himself on the right side of the door and pushed the panel to open the door.  As soon as he heard the guards move he tossed the grenade in and shut the door, That oughta do it.