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[AlanL]

That's part of the reason... the other part of the reason is that it was AI controlled, and it was using sequential targeting (it targeted Blitukus first)

Really though, I was also assuming EM sensors including and other than visual, so after the visual ones were destroyed, that would work best.

[ January 16, 2008: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Armok]

Beyond Quality!

This is far to short, but I don't have much more to say...

[AlanL]

Thanks  :p

I noticed that as this has gone on, people have had less and less to say... it's an indicator that this has gone on for...

...about 3 months...

It was on this very day, 3 months ago, when the last post in AKQ I was written.
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Blitukus and Kazo continued walking through the bleak wastes, nobody else in sight... eventually, Blitukus drank the last of the water he had, and ate the last of the food. It was dark all the time, but he could still tell much of his day had been spent. Blitukus checked his timepiece... it read "07:08 AM, Granite 2, 2066". He only had 6 hours left. Hopefully, whatever transit he would find would be swift... They continued walking... a while later, they began to approach the facility. Their transit likely would be rather swift... it was an airbase of some sort. Much of the facility was walled off, and guards kept an eye out around the main gate, the rest of the facility surrounded by electrified fences, guards on patrol around the perimeter. A flying machine flew overhead, slowed to a hover, then set down in the airbase... it had flown right over Blitukus and Kazo. Eternal night was eternal cover. As they approached, the guards were on opposing sides of the base, the side they were approaching was unobserved by patrol. Blitukus walked up, and stopped away from the fence, noticing the humming around it. Kazo spoke, "I'm hungry... THAT looks delicious!" Blitukus noted Kazo looking upwards. Kazo smiled, waved his tail around for a moment, then leapt up to the top of the fence... he held on to a cylindrical device with many thick wires on it. Kazo then bit the device, tearing part of the external metal away, then bit into the devices insides... Kazos eyes seemed to glow brighter. The device made a very loud and powerful buzzing sound. It seemed to grow hot... it eventually glew with heat, and then promptly exploded in a shower of sparks. Then, all of the humming was gone. Kazo hopped down. An alarm sounded. Kazo snickered, then slashed at the fence, cutting a hole big enough for Blitukus to move through. Blitukus then moved through the hole in the fence... he touched the fence several times, and nothing happened. Kazo hopped over the fence. The alarm blared, and guards were approaching. It seemed the hangars and tarmacs were housed within a walled facility... they would have to go through the facility first. Blitukus noticed a door open, no guards behind it, and ran to it, entering the corridor. Kazo followed, shutting the door behind him. Kazo pressed his fingertips against the contact point of the doors edge, and sparks shot out as he fused the door permanently shut. Kazo spoke, "I'm eager to see what's in this building! Let's find out!" Hopefully, they would find an unattended aircraft in the building, hopefully also where it could be launched without damaging it. Blitukus walked down the hallway... the alarm still sounded. They approached an intersection with a door to the left... heavy footsteps of heavy guards could be heard approaching. Blitukus gestured to Kazo to head to the door... Blitukus then opened the door, Kazo entering as well. Kazo shut the door, and fused that door shut as well. A moment later, a guard could be heard bumping against the door. The door handle moved and twisted, the guard unsuccessfully trying to open it. The next attempt was more forceful... the guard kicked at the latch on the third attempt to no avail. The guard then grunted in anger, kicked the door, then left. Kazo snickered.

Ahead was a stairwell downward. Blitukus walked down the stairs quickly, Kazo simply dropping down from one level to the next. At the bottom, they were faced with a large storeroom of sorts, several crates around. There was a loud beeping sound, and on both sides, the doors shut... the doors were connected to a controller high up on the wall to their right, the controller becoming active seemingly causing the doors locking shut. The room was very tall, and there was no way up to the controller. There was a cable running from the controller to the front of an inaccessible ledge on the other side of the room. A small freight elevator was present near the ledge though. Some crates had hooks atop... there was a small crane near the inaccessible ledges. Blitukus thought, he could ascend to the crane, have Kazo move a box into the freight elevator and send the freight up a level, grab the box with the crane, carefully position it on the cable, where it would slide down and hit the door controller, causing a panel to come open. There, another box could be used to hit the innards of the device, hopefully causing it to unlock the doors involuntarily. Unfortunately, it was a risk that would have to be taken... unlike previous doors, these were thick and solid. Kazo would not be able to circumvent the lock. Unfortunately also, the ladder and stairs that led to the top of the crane were broken, and it seemed someone had thrown spikes across them, and at the very top, a whir of a turret could be heard... likely two turrets. Kazo would likely fall through the broken stairs... Blitukus spoke, "I do not think this will be fun..." Kazo snickered, "Of course it will be!" Blitukus replied, "The stairs will not support your weight... I will have to do this by myself..." Kazo smiled, "Who said anything about stairs?" Kazo then ran toward the small freight elevator, designed to only lift one crate at a time... Kazo slapped the button near the elevator, jumping at the platform and crouching in midair. Kazo landed on the platform just barely making it under the top of the entry as the platform ascended. Kazo stood and snickered, standing right above a warning, "DO NOT RIDE". The freight elevator carried Kazo up the shaft, to a platform near the top of the room. Kazo crouched and made his way out of an area intent for crates only, onto the platform under the crane. Kazo then jumped up onto a very narrow ledge on the supporting structure of the crane, ran down it, and then jumped again, landing on the now not-so-inaccessible platform. Kazo then made his way across the cable, reaching the control box of the doors in person. Kazo smashed the panel open, then pulled the control wires, causing the doors to revert to their default state. The doors unlocked. Kazo dropped down, landing gracefully. Kazo stood from his landing, and smiled, "I just LOVE doing things like that!" Blitukus managed to smile... for a moment this helped cheer him up.

Blitukus then opened the further door, and continued up a small set of stairs, and down a hall, Kazo following. Next, they opened the door and emerged into a dark room made completely of stone. There seemed to be a deep chasm running through the middle of the room, two bridges across... both bridges led to separate areas. One bridge was retracted, controlled from the opposite side... the second was guarded by quite a few heavily armored guards... although these guards hadn't seen them. Their chances fighting against so many heavily armored guards near the edge of a chasm were not encouraging... but it seemed it was a must. There was no way to get to the other side of the retracted bridge. Blitukus spoke to Kazo, "It seems we will have to fight our way through... I am not sure about the depth of this chasm but should we fall, our fates would be the same. Do whatever you can to avoid the edge..." Kazo smiled, "Forget about them!" Kazo then ran down the edge of the chasm, leaping down onto the supporting railing of where the bridge would be should it be extended. Kazo ran across extremely narrow steel supports, jumping over the rusted portions. It seemed that although Kazo lacked the decent ability to compensate for upset balance, once he had established balance, he seldom ever lost it. Blitukus watched, hoping to himself that Kazo would make it across without slipping... Kazo leapt over the large gap between the two halves of the structure, landing on another narrow curve on the other side. Kazo made his way to the opposite end, and hopped up onto solid ground. Kazo then proceeded to pull a lever, extending the bridge across the chasm. The guards took notice of this... even though the chasm prevented them from running directly to Blitukus, they opened fire. Blitukus jumped back, ran back, then darted forward, bolts falling behind him. Blitukus jumped across a smaller gap, landing on the edge of the nearly extended bridge. Blitukus then ran across... Kazo was already finishing up opening a locked door. Kazo opened it, and they both entered. Inside, they saw several imps and lesser demons fleeing the room... when they had all left, the doors blocked off by bulkheads slamming down, blocking all exits. They seemed to be in some sort of control room... computer terminals were all around. Blitukus heard a voice sound through the building, "NO you sh*tf*cks, I want him to myself! F*ck off dammit before I throw you in the furnace!" There was the sound of a throat being cleared, "Well, Kobold and lizard, You've managed to stir up a bit of a ruckus! I always enjoy a good helping of bloodshed and chaos, but not when it's a kobold doing it... I wanted to stab you with this... but I guess I'll just have to dismember you with it instead. Goodnight." Suddenly, there was a hissing... a gas was entering the room. Blitukus looked around. Blitukus sniffed the air, and the air seemed to weaken him slightly... eventually, it would weaken him entirely, but he was still conscious. Blitukus looked around... it seemed there was nothing either he or Kazo could do. It seemed it was the end... the room was sealed without any escape, and when Blitukus awoke, he would either be in a torture chamber... or it would be too late to return home anyway.

Blitukus looked around... there had to be SOMETHING he could do! He pulled out the sphere of direction... perhaps it would point him to the right place... perhaps to the controller of the machines of this room, or something linked to the controller... It pointed Blitukus toward a computer near the wall. Blitukus ran over to the computer... it seemed its previous user left with haste, leaving everything still running. A small connection icon was present in the computers interface... it was the same icon he had seen in 1999... the demons used the very same network, perverting it into a tool of oppression. Blitukus looked around the computer, and quickly tried to find a way to stop the gas... but this computer was nothing more than a terminal! There were no controls open... Blitukus looked around the physical computer... cables... slots... one slot had a shape and size that was rather familiar. Blitukus recognized it immediately, and pulled out the artifact gift his mother had given him... the gift didn't look like an artifact at all, rather something that was likely an every-day object in this future... perhaps the artifact was what it contained. Blitukus looked at it, then slid it in to the slot. It fit perfectly. A moment later, a box popped up on the display of the computer. It listed the contents of the drive... there were quite a few contents, but one was different, labeled "NOTE TO SUCCESSOR". Blitukus selected this bit of information, and viewed it... he lacked the time to read through the chunks of text, but instead quickly glanced through it, reading little, only getting the general idea of what each other program did. One program was mentioned as being able to "stop it dead in its tracks"... whatever 'it' was. Blitukus selected that program, and viewed it... as the program started, it prompted Blitukus, asking whether he was sure... Blitukus did feel rather sure he wanted to survive. He confirmed... a plane popped up on the display, lines of text whizzing by faster than any being of flesh and bone could ever hope to read... then, suddenly, the computer spat out Blitukus' gift, error messages popping up all over, then spontaneously powered down. A few moments later... several of the other terminals did the exact same thing! A moment after that, a voice could be heard throughout the base, an urgent and frantic beeping in the background, "Alas, machines do not bleed... FUUU-" Then, there was static, and silence, the hissing fading away. Many of the machines in the room were stopped entirely by an invisible force permeating the network... but this force was stopped by something. Blitukus was still trapped, but at least now he had gained much more time to find a way out. Blitukus let out a sigh of relief... he walked over to one of the still-running consoles, and used it to read this "NOTE TO SUCCESSOR" again, Kazo approaching to read as well... It read,

"If you are reading this then it means I am dead and either my friends or my superiors see you fit to carry this. If, on your mission, you ever find yourself close to death, you HAVE to destroy this. It will never be salvaged by the demonic hordes. This is all I have to say on that subject.

Good luck, for your sake and that of the Coalition."

Blitukus read further, the technical specifications of the various programs listed below. There were many programs for many purposes, to protect a network against intruders from afar, to commandeer sections of networks should the occasion call for it, and finally, 'Hammerer', the most advanced program, a program that sends itself to all computers connected to that one, and forcefully shuts the computer down, creating a wave of machines stopping. All of these programs packed a large amount of automatic routines within a very small package. Indeed, all programming was of the highest quality, the code menacing with spikes of digital information. It was also noted that the machines of those who were free were independent from the demonic network. After the completion of the second demonic network in 2070, the demons had established system countermeasures... Hammerer would not be effective on anything larger than a small-medium network. Apparently Hammerer dated to 2088... but the countermeasures were really only first established in the years following 2070?... Blitukus stood in the year 2066. He possessed a weapon against evil built with technology yet to be invented, using methods yet to be discovered, only susceptible to countermeasures yet to be invented... the demonic network was entirely unsuspecting, and entirely defenseless. But still, something had stopped it... it could not be a distant countermeasure... it had to be stopped by a machine within that very room, and that machine now stood between Blitukus and his goals. His time was running short... which one was it? Blitukus looked around the room...

[Reign on your Parade]

FIRST POST! Even though I don't have time to read it.

My brain has been broken by that last bit.

[ January 17, 2008: Message edited by: Reign on your Parade ]

[Armok]

Beyond Quality!

This one is a peak again after the birthday gift. Awesome.
Speaking of birthdays, three months... feels like much more.

I like how Kazo cheated those game-like "physics puzzles", he is just amazing!

I don't really know what to do about these posts being far to short.

[AlanL]

Thanks  
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Blitukus searched... and notice one machine different from the rest. It was much larger than usual, and seemed quite active, connected to the network through multiple wires. Blitukus looked around once more... the network... the computers... once the main, characteristic tool, providing benefits for all in a grand civilization... now perverted to be nothing more than an instrument of oppression. It sickened Blitukus to his heart... he was now here to do away with a wondrous invention gone wrong... perhaps once and for all. Blitukus once again accessed the contents of his gift, this time in the larger computer... he ran 'Hammerer'... upon clicking yes, the program started to spread itself and topple the system... but it did not get far at all. The port listing the operations closed, and numerous 'Function terminated by overseer' messages popped up onto the display. Blitukus closed them... this machine was important, connected to many places... but it was protected by a nearby computer. The machine spat out the gift as if it were repulsed with it. Blitukus picked it up, and looked around. There were many computers still running... but these smaller computers were likely vulnerable. Blitukus walked over to one, and once again, inserted the gift, and ran 'Hammerer'... this time, the machine was stopped, and several of the machines around it. Blitukus then repeated this with another active machine... as the machine shut itself off, Hammerer spread itself, and shut off the nearby machines... now... only one machine was left. Blitukus walked up to it, and used it to run 'Hammerer'... as with the previous uses, it asked Blitukus if he was sure... likely a measure to keep it from being accidentally used... but still...

I am sure my quest will be completed successfully... no need to ask.

Blitukus selected yes... the computer promptly undid its own operations, and shut down, spitting the gift... obviously now a data storage unit of some sort... out. Blitukus retrieved it... now there was no 'overseer' computer to terminate anything. Still... Blitukus realized... he was about to undo one of the greatest things to have evolved from the devices he had inspired... The full realization dawned on him as he slipped the data storage unit into the slot again. The inventory of the device again popped up on the display... Blitukus moved the pointer to Hammerer... he felt his heart slowly begin to sink with sadness. The hammerer obviously compromised a computer in more ways than simply shutting it down... for no longer was the demonic operator able to control gas flow. He was about to destroy information... he was about to destroy a world wonder... and as he observed this, it would be unrecoverable. He noticed the connection icon again. He remembered 1999... the database... this network was once the collaborative electronic mind of a grand and beautiful civilization... it provided knowledge and tools to all who requested... Blitukus felt his sadness deepen. He forced himself to run Hammerer... it prompted him, "Are you sure?" Beautiful metropolis, the wondrous technologies benefiting all, utopias metropolis, his dream in reality... A shining beacon of hope for the future... and this one remnant of it, Blitukus was about to destroy... What had happened to the skyrises before the cliff? The wondrous flying machines and vast cities? So many people... Blitukus thought, hundreds of millions... no, billions... and it all was no more. What had happened to the peaceful, simple towns... so long ago? Blitukus sniffled. Before his time travel... before flying machines... before it all... all was well... peace and prosperity permeated the open lands and open skies, simpler times where one was free... Remembrance of these times... when he was but a child... it brought tears to Blitukus' eyes. Once again, he wanted to stand upon the rooftop of his familiar castle, the wooden buildings around... a peaceful town upon the deserts, green, untamed fields beyond, the sun cascading over the pristine lands where the land and the future were both full of brightness... he wanted to be able to be with his mother one more time... his hero, his mother, his best friend... in many ways, his inspiration through life. The one kobold to stand in a world where kobolds were hated, to stand for all kobolds, to stand for all against evil... and win. She still was his inspiration... Blitukus felt it welling up in his heart. Even if his love for his mother was one of the only bright things in these dark, bleak lands, it would prevail. He would succeed... no matter what, his quest would be carried out until its final action. No force of evil, no matter how powerful or advanced, would extinguish his love. He once again found himself in the cold enclosure of a bleak future... the computers and wires all around, metal walls and glowing lights... the display immediately ahead, asking, "Are you sure?" He had told himself that he would succeed... no matter what it entailed... even if it meant the destruction of one of the last great relics of the grand civilization he helped to inspire. A tear dropped from Blitukus' face. Blitukus selected, "Yes." Blitukus watched as the program ran, text being displayed and rolling off the screen so fast it became a blur... soon, error messages popped up as the machine churned out its last functions... the error messages flooded the screen, and finally, the machines innards ground to a halt. The data storage device was spat out, the display turned black, then the machine suddenly and crudely shut down its own power supply... Blitukus had just let loose an illness among the machines from 22 years into the relative future... the entire network was indeed defenseless. There was the sound of yelling and swearing above. The lights flickered... suddenly, the lights shut off, a moment later, the room was lit by dim red lights along the walls, the lights slowly dimming, flashing back up in brightness, and slowly dimming again in a cycle. Blitukus raised his head, and sniffled slightly. He got up, took his gift with, then walked away. Kazo smiled, "Looks like these machines provide a whole new arena for combat! I'd love to try it out!" Blitukus replied, "Perhaps some day you will... now, we must escape from this facility. Please help me with this bulkhead." Blitukus walked over to a metal bulkhead blocking the exit. Kazo replied, "Sure thing!" Kazo walked over, and then, both working together, they slowly managed to pry the bulkhead open, the mechanisms formerly locking it shut having been disabled. Blitukus walked through... a stairwell lead up for quite a ways, likely to the surface. Blitukus began to ascend the stairwell, Kazo leaping up toward the top.

Meanwhile... all around the facility... all around the nearby prison... demonic operations ground to a halt as their networked, computer-regulated machines spontaneously shut down and refused to restart. A kobold was running from a guard, and made it away, but found himself at a dead end, a turret popping out of the wall behind him. The kobold pressed his back against the end of the dead end... he expected it would be the end of him... but... the turret stayed popped out, doing nothing. Moments passed. The kobold walked up to the turret... the turret now pointed at the wall, unmoving. The kobold pushed the turret, and it slid in its guides limply. The hum around the fences ceased. The kobolds who were strong enough to do so realized this opportunity, and began to climb the fences to flee. The guards immediately opened fire, but as kobolds poured out of their enclosures, and fled through the now unlocked-by-default doors in the concrete walls, the guards, taken by surprise, could not stop them all from escaping. The one who had nearly been killed by a turret was one of the ones to successfully escape... As this one kobold ran, he felt vengeful for all he had seen within the prison... he had seen friends tortured to death at the hands of demons... it was then this young kobold decided to join one of the free factions, and train to use the demons very own weapons against them... he would not be satisfied as a regular troop either... he wanted to wield the highest technology against them, to protect his friends and the friends of others, to finally put an end to the demonic grip on the world... he decided, he would have to somehow work his way up to becoming one of the very few special ops. He felt confident he would succeed... he was still young... and he needn't worry about running out of fuel for the flame of his vengeance. As this all took place... at the top of the OmnireCo tower, the CEO... a dark being, clothed in thick, dark clothes, was watching the latest propaganda regarding a kobolds body slowly being dismantled alive, starting with the eyes... suddenly, the image went to static, and then went to blue, the text "SGNL FAIL" on the screen. The CEO was taking a drink from his diamond and gold adorned glass... he slammed the glass down, cracking it, then stood. He yelled at the screen with a demonic roar... but it did not change the fact, the screen still read, "SGNL FAIL"...

Blitukus and Kazo finally neared the top of the stairwell. They opened the hatch at the top, and climbed out. All around, the facility was dark. A thunderstorm rocked the skies. Rain poured down, and wind blasted across the black surfaces. A rapid thudding seemed to approach from behind. Lightning revealed something moving over the tops of the buildings. The thudding grew louder... eventually, it revealed itself from the building tops right above Blitukus. It was a a flying machine with very small wings, its rotor on top spinning, creating a loud thudding overhead. Lightning flashed again. Blitukus stepped back as the flying machine turned. revealing the glowing red eyes of its pilot. Blitukus knew what was about to happen next would likely best not involve him standing right there. Blitukus darted away, Kazo hesitating, but following. A bright flash was visible beneath one of the small wings of the flying machine... a rocket then streaked forth, striking the ground behind Blitukus. Blitukus dove to the ground. The explosion sent out several bolts, which fragmented further on impact. Blitukus got up, and noticed Kazo was gone. Blitukus darted away as the flying machine then began to fire a hail of bolts that glew blue, engulfed in blue flame. It seemed the bolts themselves burned with extreme heat. The pilot must obviously be new... for at these ranges it would be difficult to miss with an explosive rocket and all these bolts. Then, Blitukus realized... the wind was blowing the flying machine all over the place, and the rain obscured the pilots view. Blitukus found cover, and hid behind it. The flying machine then ceased firing, maneuvering around to try to get at Blitukus. Where had Kazo gone to?... Was Kazo OK?

The demonic pilot reloaded the heavy crossbows mounted to her flying machine. The flying machine suddenly rocked and a loud CLUNK was heard. She immediately thought the crossbows had jammed... no, it was alright. Likely just the wind and debris.

Blitukus kept crouched behind the cover, a small service vehicle connected to a fuel tank... likely the pilot would have little concern about its own home base, and would soon blow up the vehicle AND the tank, sending Blitukus with it.

Lightning struck in the distance, the flash illuminating the compound for a split second... the pilot noticed two blue, glowing eyes looking in the canopy at her. Kazo smiled, licking his lips, and spoke, "Hello!" Kazo then pried the canopy open. The tentacle demon pilot spoke, horrified, "Adamantine..." The demon then reached for a weapon, but before she could reach it, Kazo dug his claws in to her, biting her face and slashing her throat out with his one free hand. Kazo then stepped back, and stabbed her with his claws, latching on firmly and lifting her out of her seat with it. The canopy open, he held her over the front of the flying machine, and then tossed her upwards and back. The tentacle demon pilot struck the blade of her own flying machine, the rotor chopping her into several pieces, then promptly scattering the pieces. The flying machine drifted downwards... drifted downwards faster... and finally smacked into the ground, sliding to a stop, leaving a shower of sparks... it was a rough landing, bending and scraping off a bit of the exterior metal and frame, but actual damage to internal components was minimal. Blitukus was already on his way to the flying machine, having started running upon seeing Kazo on the canopy. Blitukus ran toward the flying machine... he saw Kazo sit down in the front seat. The winds caused by the rotors pressed Blitukus back, but Blitukus ran through the wind, reaching the cockpit and pulling himself in. It seemed they now had a means of transit. Kazo grinned, "I just LOVE flight! Let's get moving! I want to see what this technological flier can do!" Blitukus replied as he sat in the copilots seat, formerly empty, "Agreed! Thank you again." Blitukus then shut the canopy, and seated himself. Although the thought of riding in a flying machine with Kazo as the pilot didn't immediately seem appealing, Blitukus realized, Kazo likely had more than a lifetimes experience with flying machines of one sort or another. Kazo spent a few moments studying the controls... the seat was made for a larger creature, but adjusting the seat combined with the use of his tail allowed him to compensate. Directly in front of him were several displays, on the panel, they displayed text, on the glass panel in front of the window, text and lines that showed the relative position of the horizon, as well as visual navigation markers, all in blood red colors. Kazo twisted a dial, causing it to brighten to a fiery red. Kazo then sat back, and pressed the throttle forwards. The engines of the flying machine let out sounds of increasing pitch, and the flying machine then lifted off again. Immediately, the flying machine was pushed and turned about by winds, rain covering the canopy. A flash of lightning was once again seen. Kazo countered the motion of the aircraft, and flew it above the tops of the buildings. Kazo opened the canopy slightly, looked around, spotted the railroad, then shut the canopy again. He turned the aircraft, tilting it forward, guiding the aircraft on a path back down the railway. They soon flew over the prison... luckily, there was only one road leading out, and the road could be seen through the rain. Kazo then turned the flying machine, flying down the road in a crooked manner, fighting the wind. Kazo flew quite fast down the road... a bolt of lightning struck the ground behind the flying machine, thunder heard quite loudly. Kazo slowed the machine... lightning struck the ground in front of it. Kazo tilted the flying machine, causing it to move to the left, lightning striking the ground to the right a few moments after... Kazo then quickly turned the machine almost entirely sideways to the right, a moment later, a bolt of lightning striking so close to the left that it rocked the flying machine, causing the displays on the control panel to flicker. Kazo snickered. Kazo returned the machine to flying down the road. The lightning around intensified... but it all seemed to be happening in a more distant area. Soon, the rain and winds began to subside... they were leaving the storm behind. As soon as they had left the storm, Kazo laughed, and pressed the throttle all the way forward, the flying machine ascending quite high and reaching high speed. It seemed as they ascended, the sky became slightly less dark. It was still rather dark though. Blitukus sat back... when he had arrived in Rametaru, he had nothing but his clothes and a friend... now he had all of that, plus armor, a weapon, and an apparantly powerful flying machine. It would have never been possible had they not both worked together. Blitukus was now returning to what was left of Rametaru, and no matter what he faced, he told himself, he would succeed. Still... he would be faced with direct resistance from OmnireCo itself... He decided, those who would attempt to stop him in his quest would never succeed. The flying machine ascended through the skies, tilted forward, rotor pulling it up.

[Armok]

FIRST POST!

RRL: real response later.
////////
Edit:

Kazo as a hacker... I can imagine it.

Sorry I don't have the BQ award for getting the first post but I'm currently so tired my eyes fall of so I wait until tomorrow when I can do it properly.

[ January 18, 2008: Message edited by: Armok ]

[AlanL]

It wasn't really meant to hint he would be a hacker or anything.

Fitting you got post number 666 though.
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Blitukus sat, and tried to calm himself... quite a while passed. Blitukus managed to calm himself from the previous combat... but he still felt bitterness and anger. So much... was all lost... what was to come of the world but a burnt out cinder? He could only hope that it would somehow turn out alright... he knew in his heart he would succeed... he would make sure all would be alright. Blitukus sighed... Kazo kept flying forward along the road... it seemed Blitukus had likely slept for quite a while, for there was a large distance to be covered. They continued on... Eventually, Kazo spoke, "I think you should take over for a while. I'm hungry!" Blitukus nodded. They carefully exchanged seats, careful not to upset the delicate balance of the aircraft. Blitukus seated himself in the pilots seat, Kazo moving to the rear of the cockpit, sliding a panel open, and rather than biting through the wires beneath, carefully found a power wire for the outside lights, unhooked it, and began to transfer charge from it, all done in a manner to avoid damaging the aircraft. Blitukus noticed it became a bit more difficult to navigate without the lights, but he continued on the same course. This aircraft seemed to be very responsive, using electronic controls and machine-regulated control surfaces. More time passed, and the fuel reading began to decline noticeably... eventually, Blitukus checked his timepiece... 1 hour left... he sighed, then looked up... there was Rametaru near the horizon. Blitukus flew the aircraft directly toward it. He would soon be upon his goal, but would he have enough time to retrieve the component? As Blitukus flew over the edge of the city, the lights below began to shut off as if a wave had emanated from where he had entered the city. Some of the buildings remained only visible with red internal lights... one of these buildings being the OmnireCo tower. Blitukus' heart was filled with anger at the sight of it. Blitukus flew towards the tower... the outage below likely was the reason why he wasn't being fired upon from the ground. Kazo was sitting in the copilots seat, looking out at the darkened city. Blitukus looked at Kazos adamantine exterior, and realized... the component was nearly indestructible and likely at the top of the building where it wouldn't be crushed under anything. The building was not so indestructible... right near the building was a guards barracks... there was no way he would make it to the top of the building, and it would be quicker to sift through rubble anyway. Blitukus quickly checked the sphere of direction... it verified his goal lay at the very top of the building. It seemed the building was centered upon the same space the castle had once occupied... its small base made it unstable. Blitukus circled around it... he noticed the weapons settings on the panel... including the options CBW, RKT, and MIS. Blitukus selected the rockets, and aimed at the base of the building, the side facing the guards barracks... He sighed... not wanting to have to use such an abomination of technology... but it had to be done.

Blitukus aimed carefully, and pulled the trigger on the control stick. The aircraft rapidly launched multiple small rockets from salvo containers towards the base of the building. The rockets flew, leaving a white streak behind them, and struck the base of the building with successive explosions, blowing out windows and knocking down walls and pillars. Blitukus sighed again... a moment after, the dust churning near the impact sites, a plume of dust shot out of the bottom of the building... a moment after that, another plume shot out, carrying debris with it. A moment after that... the bottom of the building erupted in a plume of dust and debris, the building shifting, and beginning to topple. Blitukus quickly flew the aircraft out of harms way as the building toppled down, glass, metal, and other debris flying all over the place as it toppled down right onto the guards barracks, destroying it, the sound of crumpling metal and shattering glass echoing throughout the city... below, the mind-numbing devices having been disabled, the strictly and oppressively ordered system that held down the people of Anthath was falling apart. Blitukus looked at the ruined building... something was flying above the ruin... Blitukus checked his sphere of direction again, and it pointed right to this flying object. It either was or had the fourth component, whatever it was. Blitukus felt his heart fill with both dread and anger at the sight of this object, whatever it was, for some unexplicable reason... he tightly gripped the control stick, finger on the trigger. A voice boomed over radio, "YOU DARE DEFY MEEEE?! Your family shall DIE BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES!" Blitukus spoke back into the aircrafts transceiver, "You are too late... my family... is already long dead." Blitukus felt his dread diminishing... his anger darkening and simmering. Blitukus drew nearer... it seemed to be a large, dark demon... the demon carried a dark mace in one hand, the other entire arm consisting of metal and machinery, the arm itself serving as a ranged weapon. It seemed almost half of the demons body, including half of his face, consisted of metal and mechanisms... one of the demons eyes was blood red, and glew with hatred and unjustified fury... the other was black glass and metal, a small, electric red dot in the middle. Indeed... it seemed technology was the only thing holding this demon together... the demon seemed quite damaged by the acidic rain, wings having become useless due to holes in them... but the demon was wearing a thruster pack of sorts, capable of producing much more thrust than mere wings could. The demon wore an immaculate business dress with a long tie... out of everything this dress was undamaged by the environment. The demon yelled, "KOBOLD?!"... this seemed to surprise the demon quite a bit... the demon continued, "Kobolds are only fit for being slaughtered. Your kind should've STAYED IN YOUR HOLE IN THE GROUND!" This demon seemed to have an especially deep hatred for all of koboldkind... and... this demon knew of when kobolds existed only in small caves? That mace... The thought brought Blitukus to a very startling conclusion... Still, Blitukus was beyond the weapons range of the demon. Blitukus pointed the bologauge at the demon, opening the canopy slightly to allow for a direct view, and then began a reading. The demon continued, "Your kind will bow before me so I can chop your heads off, BOW BEFORE KING IZ-" Blitukus finished it for him, "-rolronum... Gustem Izrolronum..." Gustem replied, "I NEVER told ANYONE my old name... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Blitukus replied, "I am Blitukus Siegedriven... your reign has ended." The demon screamed with demonic fury, "SIEGEDRIVEN?!?" The demon then flew toward Blitukus, Blitukus standing his ground... figuratively speaking. It seemed there was only one way to get the fourth component now... Blitukus heart was full of anger... if that was how it had to be, so be it. Blitukus spoke as Gustem readied his weapons, slowly approaching, "My mother faced you alone with nothing but a simple sword... she had told me she had thought herself destined to die that day... but she stood victorious that day. Here, I face you wielding the greatest of your own weapons, a powerful friend by my side... your defenses are gone, and you are weakened. What chance have you? Prepare to be sent back where YOU belong, Gustem." Kazo smiled, "This could get interesting!" Blitukus quickly spoke to Kazo, "Be ready to defend." Gustem had nearly closed within weapons range, speaking, "Anthath Sizet is mine, but now I'm the CEO of OmnireCo... I own the world." With the resources of an entire planet... what could a tyrant demand to be researched and produced? Perhaps Gustem would really be a threat... Blitukus hoped he would prove to be nothing more than a threat. Kazo climbed out of the partially open canopy, and stood atop the aircraft, near the very front, readying himself.

Blitukus turned, and aimed at Gustem... Blitukus switched to missiles, and as Gustem got within range, Blitukus fired. The missile shot out... and as it zipped toward Gustem, Gustem squng his mace through the air with great precision... the air between the mace and the missile seemed to break down and become electrically conductive, an arc of energy detonating the missile before it reached its target. The bologauge finally produced its reading... sort of. It alternated between "SNSR SATRATD" and ">9000 W". Gustem flew with accelerating speed. Gustem fired... a bright, glowing green bolt flew, surrounded by flames of all sorts and small, relatively hard to notice arcs of energy. Blitukus jerked back on the control stick, the flying machine ascending suddenly. The bolt whizzed beneath it, and continued back, exploding powerfully on impact with a building, sending glass and debris flying all over. Blitukus then flew towards Gustem, firing all remaining missiles save for one. Gustem fired at the incoming missiles, creating an explosion which engulfed and detonated all of the following missiles. Blitukus switched to the aircrafts crossbows, and fired again, gustem flying backwards, away from Blitukus. Blitukus felt he should save that last missile for when it could really count... The bolts flew toward Gustem, and struck him... bouncing off, doing little else than tearing up his now not-so-immaculate dress, revealing the metal below in some cases, in others, making a shallow impact into flesh and falling away. Gustems long sentence in the very heart of hell seemed to have toughened him... Blitukus kept firing, Gustem firing back. Kazo reached out and used his willpower and mana to apply a force on the incoming bolt from afar, deflecting it away. They flew over what seemed to be pumps near the ground, the dark, gooey liquid being burned nearby, producing toxic fumes. Gustem began to approach... it seemed Blitukus was now out of ways to fight back... Gustem fired again... this time, Kazo deflected it with a narrower margin. Behind, collateral damage was adding up... but that was Gustems doing... Gustem flew right up to Blitukus' aircraft, and swung his mace... Blitukus quickly jerked the control stick to evade, but it was partially in vain. Rather than striking the cockpit, the mace struck the wing, breaking clean through it, then ripping it off entirely. The flying machine was thrown to the side a bit by this. Gustem then brought the mace up again, readying another swing. Blitukus pulled up. Kazo then leapt from the front of the aircraft into the air. Kazo landed on Gustem as Gustem swung, the mace striking the very nose of the aircraft, mangling some of the sensors and shattering the cockpit glass. The flying machine was knocked nose down by this. Kazo climbed onto Gustems back... Gustem drew his mace back, and readied to knock Kazo away with it... a mace like that wielded by someone like that... could really do some damage to Kazo... and combined with the immense fall... Blitukus had to do something! But what?... All attacks were ineffective but some parts were more vulnerable and critical to hit for certain circumstances. Unfortunately, using the last missile would probably knock Kazo off if it hit at all. Blitukus fired as Gustem began his swing... the bolts traveled to the left... just as Gustem swung, one of the bolts struck a nerve on Gustems hand, causing gustem to lose hold of the mace, which promptly went flying on its own path. Sparks shot out from behind Gustem. Gustem yelled, and began to fire rapidly at Blitukus... Blitukus was forced to retreat away to a further distance, several bright, glowing green bolts coming close to grazing the aircraft. Blitukus sighed in relief... THAT hit he had just made was true luck... and now Kazo was free to do whatever he needed to do. Blitukus then realized... Kazo might need to hop back. Blitukus flew back towards Gustem, despite the bolts... if his aircraft were to be struck by one of those bolts... it was almost guaranteed to be the end of it. Blitukus flew in anyway, firing constantly even if his bolts had little effect. Sparks kept shooting out... Eventually... a larger spray of sparks shot out from behind Gustem... his equipment shifted... Gustems thruster pack then seemed to part with him, flying high up into the sky. Kazo leapt from Gustem, leaping high into the air... finally landing atop the aircraft, barely staying on. Meanwhile, Gustem yelled, and fell, flapping his useless wings futilely. Kazo smiled in at Blitukus, moving to the very front of the aircraft. Blitukus opened the canopy, letting Kazo come in, then closed it afterwards.

Gustem yelled as he fell...then finally fell upon a broken pipe near a tank of one of the tanks of gooey, dark liquid. He was impaled through the gut on the small but long pipe. Gustem yelled... a moment later, aiming up at the still flying flying machine. Gustem fired... and the bolt fell short, flying far too low. Blitukus spoke from the anger in his heart, "Go back to hell... and STAY there this time." Blitukus then fired the missile. It struck Gustem, blowing Gustems lower body away from his upper, and creating large leaks in the tank. Flaming goo poured onto the ground. Gustem yelled in pain as he slowly pulled his upper body forward with his hands, quickly bleeding out. As Gustem bled, the flaming goo overtook him, engulfing him in flames and toxic fumes. Gustem screamed, burned alive for a while... then finally moved no more. The tyrant had fallen... again. What would happen to civilization now?... The demons would reestablish themselves, it seemed. Still... at least somewhere... there would be hope. That battle had proven to be merely a battle... but had it not been for his luck, and his friend... it could've, likely would've, been the end of him and his quest. The end of his quest was soon anyway, as he would be completing it successfully... but what would happen as a result of his actions?... whatever happened, it would be worth it. The fourth component was now his for the taking... he just had to get down there, get it, and bring it back to his home... whatever would happen next... there was no way to really predict.

[Armok]

FIRST POST!  
RRL.
Edit:

Beyond quality!  
Don't really have much to say and is to exhausted to say it anyways.

"This is a !!magnesium!! Beyond quality award.
It mences whit spikes of clear diamond.
On the item an image of humans and kobolds in saphire, the humans are calebrating, the kobolds are celebrating.
On the item in an image of a kobold and a kobold in star ruby, the kobold is hugging ("embracing" created weird images...) the kobold, the kobolds are smiling."

"This is an obsidian Beyond quality award.
It mences whit spikes of black diamond.
On the item is an image of humans and demons in jade, the humans are figthing the demons.
On the item is an image of a demon and a kobold in star ruby, the kobold is striking down the demon, the demon is screaming"

Ok, two mediocre BQ awards.
These are meant for visualizing, please do so for the full effect of the gems.

[ January 19, 2008: Message edited by: Armok ]

[AlanL]

Thanks, and yes, I do visualize them every time  :p
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The explosion and flames was guaranteed to attract unwanted attention. Blitukus slowed the aircraft, turned it around, and slowed it to a hover, descending towards the flames. There was surprisingly little activity around... it seemed the guards were busy elsewhere. Blitukus set the aircraft down on the road near the burning building, and opened the canopy. Luckily, Gustems remains were near the edge of the flames. Blitukus stepped out, and slid down the nose of the aircraft, landing on the road below. Blitukus stepped toward the flames, but stopped short of entering them. He hadn't the time to wait for it to burn out, and thanks to the goo, it wouldn't be able to be extinguished properly. Kazo ran by, jogging into the flames, "I wonder what's left!" Kazo walked up to the dead, separated half-a-body... the chest consisting of metal, a radiation-hazard sign on it... since the bottom half was already blown off, Kazo was able to cut through the fleshy stump and get at the innards of the dead demons chest... Blitukus realized, in order for the demon to have over 9000 watts of power available without magic, the demon must have a very compact and very powerful power source... Kazo fished out a lot of wire, and small metal bits, as well as various bits of gore... eventually, Kazo put his foot on the body, and yanked at something quite forcefully... he ripped out a small, spherical device... he then repeated this, ripping out a disk-shaped item. Kazo picked them up, cleaned the gore and ichor off of them, and then walked to Blitukus. Kazo spoke, "These are some interesting finds! Here you go!" Kazo then handed Blitukus the disk-shaped item. Blitukus spoke, "Thank you again... thank you so much, good friend... now, we should leave before the guards manage to get here." Blitukus walked back to the aircraft, Kazo following. On the way, he observed the disk-shaped item... it had an adamantine rim, and held by the rim was a disk-shaped matrix of spiraling ruby crystals, spiraling from the outside in, large crystals on the outside, but shrinking toward the middle, the very center containing a fundamentally small ruby crystal structure. Here he held the fourth component... now it was time to finally leave this hellish place and return home. Kazo curiously looked at the spherical device... it seemed to be made of titanium and various other materials, and its surface had several complex devices upon and sticking through it, most prominent a motorized array of 6 capped rods protruding from the top right portion of the sphere. On the front of the sphere was a radiation-hazard symbol. There were several points on its surface where one could connect a wire to it, and likely each connection had a different purpose. Blitukus and Kazo reached the aircraft and hopped in again, Blitukus shutting the canopy after they were both seated. Blitukus then took off, flying the aircraft back toward the now toppled tower. Kazo took the opportunity to gain a bit of extra charge from the lights again. Chaos between the guards and the populace was erupting below. Blitukus flew the aircraft to the rubble, and landed in front of the now short and bare wall, metal supports and broken glass laying about everywhere. Blitukus set down, and shut the aircrafts engine down, opening the canopy, and hopping out. Kazo stopped transferring charge and followed, bringing the spherical device with. Blitukus hastily walked back to the alley that he arrived in... the rift wasn't there. Blitukus checked his timepiece... 5 minutes left. The alley was blocked off, and covered with debris. Kazo walked up to Blitukus, and spoke, "I can't wait to see what this does!" Blitukus replied, "Indeed... although my quest will soon end, it may prove beneficial to you." Kazo smiled, and still toyed with it, trying to figure out what it did and how. Blitukus kept watch for any guards... twice, guards ran past the front of the alley, but never bothered to look in. Blitukus turned back... the rift had appeared... it seemed Kazo was too busy with the device to observe the rift. Blitukus spoke, "Come, the rift has arrived!" Blitukus then ran through, crossing to the other side, Kazo following close behind.

Blitukus felt a sudden surge of energy as if he had been suddenly awakened... it was the feeling of mana flux... something even over the period of one day he had begun to miss. He did it... all four components and the relic frame were in the same room...

May I need never return to that time again...

Blitukus took off the gas mask, and tossed it into the magma, the mask bursting into flame and quickly melting. Blitukus heard footsteps... he looked back to see a guard running at the rift, mace drawn. Kazo stood his ground. Blitukus ran back to the control panel... as he turned, the guard was just about at the rift... Blitukus cut power to the portal ring... the guard leapt into the rift... the rift destabilized and collapsed, with the guard in it. The guard seemed to implode within the collapsing fabric of space... blood and gore was shot out of the collapsing rift, flying about the room... Blitukus ducked as the flying gore bounced about and finally came to rest. Kazo laughed. Blitukus stood again, and sighed... he was tired... but it was finally about to be done with... Blitukus took off his coat, took off the armor, and held the fourth component, looking at it. Now was the time to finally end his quest... Blitukus shut down steam flow to the dynamos, then walked back down to the cat relic... luckily, the flying gore had missed it despite it being relatively close to the portal ring. Kazo watched as Blitukus unhooked the cat relic, and held it... Blitukus spoke, "These components you have helped me so much in retrieving are parts of this device... a device capable of rewriting space and time... now, we shall make use of it..." Kazo immediately knew what Blitukus meant, and approached. Kazo asked, "Do you know what the side effects are?" Blitukus replied, "No... but whatever they are... it is irrelevant." Kazo smiled, "Let's find out... I want to tell Arkus!... Arkus..." Blitukus nodded, then inserted the disk into its slot... it fit snugly, then latched in.

The device was now complete... suddenly, the device seemed to get heavier. All four components glew slightly, each gem glowing its natural color... a dull, white light was visible in the inside. Blitukus held it... and focused his willpower within it... he sensed the immense complexity of the device... it truly was the most advanced item he had ever seen... likely anyone had ever seen. Kazo positioned himself on the other side of the device. Blitukus felt the devices power... driven by an energy of extreme density, present throughout all the universe, but even tapping into it required such immense measures... there was enough energy present to do anything... Blitukus tried to fully power the device up by drawing energy through it... but it refused. Something was insufficient about this approach... then Blitukus realized... this energy was most efficiently tapped from every angle... Blitukus focused himself further, allowing his consciousness to expand to view all dimensions of reality... though the world around changed in this view, and though the device appeared differently, the inner workings of it and its ability to tap into this omnipresent power source became much more clear. Blitukus tried again, this time drawing the energy forth from angles and directions unobservable by conventional means... this time, he felt energy come forth as if being sucked through a small hole... This was the first time Blitukus had seen a device that needed this mode of comprehension to simply be able to even operate it... the white glow within the device intensified, and began to grow as power slowly built... and as power built, its flow increased, resulting in an exponential buildup... eventually, the increasing energy was regulated by an immense drain... Blitukus felt an odd feeling in his hands... he felt odd entirely, as if the fabric of reality itself were ready to be dislodged. Blitukus felt this sensation, and drew it out... he sensed Kazo was ready for when the change was to be made... The sensation grew... Blitukus felt that, through the device, he had the power to pull space and time free from its bindings and reconfigure it entirely... doubtlessly, the energy and power he held in his hands was more than enough to reduce him to fundamental particles in order for this to be remotely possible... and now he wielded this power to finally undo his mothers death... to once again live among the people he grew up with, to see the tops of those simple stone buildings, presiding beneath a pristine horizon... to be able to meet his mother again... gone would be the days of heartbreak and hardship, and everything would be alright once again... he told himself, this was it. There was no turning back, nor would he ever want to. Blitukus held the device up, and shut his eyes, a tear running down his cheek. He focused his will through the device... the device was covered in sky-blue, lines of purplish aura running through, and black, lines of green, sharp light running through. Blitukus felt the device at work... his existence... the existence of all nearby... reality was becoming unraveled, and seemed to be dissolving, liberating itself from the constraints of certainty... soon, it would all be over, he thought, sure that thought would be his last... then, the fabric of reality all around him seemed to explosively snap down, hitting its former state like a rock falling from miles and hitting concrete. Blitukus grunted loudly, and dropped the cat relic, opening his eyes... reality still was as it was.

Blitukus slowly took in a breath... something was horribly wrong. Kazo had a similar reaction... A voice above boomed, "MORTALL!!! You DARE toy with the enginezs of the GODSZS?!?" Blitukus felt his heart fill with anger so quickly, fear had no time to take root. Blitukus looked onward, "The gods have no claim to these 'engines'. I will make use of ANY engine I need to complete my quest. Step aside... this is beyond you." Armoks presence ignited with fury, "YOU DARE DEFY MEEEE?! PUNY SSZLAVE! I will KILL you, take that device, and dump your soul and YOUR MOTHERZS szoul into OPPOSSITE CORNERZS OF HELL! You will NEVER SZEE EACHOTHER AGAIN! You have until autumn to enjoy your melancholyyy... I will be obszerving you... your probability trickzsz won't ssave you now!" Blitukus exhaled through his nose, feeling no melancholy whatsoever, for anger had displaced it. Without manipulation of probability... the cat relic would not be able to function... it seemed the shackles within Armoks slave camp had grown 7 more dimensions... When Blitukus had first dug to reach the adamantine, when he had breached a pit leading to hell, he had looked down it, and thought to himself... only as a last resort. He was down to his last resort. Perhaps he would be able to rescue his mothers soul by getting to the dumping point first... He had until the end of summer to prepare. It seemed his fate truly did lay down below... but the question was, on whose terms would it be?

[Armok]

BEYOND QUALITY!

First Post!
... again.

Edit:
hmmm, if you are considering jumping into hell LITERARY then you are quite desperate.

"this is an astral  Beyond Quality award.
it mences whit spikes of !!energy!!.
it is encrusted in mana.
in the item is an image of oil and a demon in memories, the oil is striking down the demon, the demon is scremng.
On the item is and image of happiness in memories, the happiness is withering away."

These BQ awards is just getting worse and worse.

[ January 20, 2008: Message edited by: Armok ]

[AlanL]

I still find your BQ awards to be pretty creative  :p
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The presence of Armok faded into the distance, but some of it stayed in proximity, observing all around. Blitukus sighed... he tried to extinguish his anger, in order to focus on the task at hand... but he found himself fighting back a yell instead. Perhaps he would have to let the flames diminish on their own... indeed, his anger combined with his exhaustion made it difficult for him to see properly. Kazo spoke, "Arkus..." Blitukus spoke to Kazo, "Perhaps my actions will be... visible... enough for you to use the cat relic... if that becomes so, I leave it up to you to bring both of our quests to a successful end." Kazo hugged Blitukus, "Thanks, friend! I will!" A moment passed. Blitukus then replied, "Thank you, good friend... now, I must rest... we have a long season ahead." Blitukus then shut off the magma and water inlets, venting the boilers, then retreated to his room. He lay in bed, and found himself falling asleep almost immediately.

That day, Blitukus felt he had a dream, but didn't remember it. When he awoke, he opened his eyes to find Dracha sticking her head in the door, and Kazo standing nearby. Kazo smiled, "Good timing! We just got back!" Blitukus looked at Kazos smile... he felt it himself. He realized... though this would be the last part of his quest, for better or for worse... he was about to defy the will of a god... and, he told himself, he would succeed. Blitukus felt his anger had declined, and was being replaced... he smiled... not even the forces of hell itself would stand between him and saving his mother. The very act of Blitukus smiling seemed to annoy Armok... which only made Blitukus smile more. Blitukus stood. Dracha spoke, "I'm here to help ya however I can!" Blitukus thought... although he felt confident... he needed the means to back up his confidence... he needed to travel swiftly and he also needed to protect himself from the forces of hell... he needed his armored vehicle. But, none of his tunnels were wide enough to drive it down to the pits, and the tunnels of hell would likely be worse... but, in 1999, he had seen a dwarven drilling machine. He could mount a drill on it, which would also serve as a weapon if need be. Further, it would NEED some very impressive cooling... likely, all of this could be enhanced by magic as well. He really didn't want to have to ride into battle again in that monstrosity... but it was his best chance, for what he pursued far outweighed the cost on all levels. Blitukus spoke, "I say we retrofit the armored vehicle... it may be our only chance. I am thinking of adding a drill and cooling to it... perhaps plating it with adamantine for good measure... I also might need to enhance it with magic. Please, I need your help with the last part." Kazo replied, "Sure thing!" Dracha replied also, "Yeh, sure!" Blitukus spoke, "Thank you... you are truly good friends... unfortunately, time is short." Blitukus then walked down to the armored vehicle, Dracha following behind, Kazo riding atop Dracha. They reached the storage room, and entered. Kazo hopped off and stood by the door as Dracha examined the machine.

Dracha eventually spoke, "Looks Like I can help ya with the coolin' and the drill. You'll need some more gems for it though. I can design the runes while you dig for 'em. To call it safe we'll a few good helpings of sapphires for power and some ruby for heat management. If ya get enough ruby we could even enhance this cannon of yours, making the magma hotter and faster!" Kazo continued for her, "And emerald's a good all-purpose gem too! What do you want me to do?" Blitukus replied, "Help Dracha please, I will plan out the technological improvements, then I will dig out the gems. Dracha, I understand you also must prepare for your journey... thank you for your help, despite this, but I hope for you to be ready by the end of summer." Dracha replied, "I got it taken care of, I'll be ready, don't worry!" Blitukus nodded, "Thank you still... this would not have been possible had it not been for you two." Kazo and Dracha smiled, Dracha speaking, "No problem!" Blitukus nodded, "Let us begin..." They then got to work, Dracha and Kazo using wall space to plan out runes and crystal arrays. Blitukus investigated the machine, the bottom and what was beneath... the modifications would be fairly simple... but they would require more material on top of the gems. Blitukus finished his planning, and walked back down the hall, retrieving his pickaxe, then took a drink from the river and quickly ate a meal before proceeding down the tunnels. Blitukus walked to an outcropping of sapphire... the last one he had available... and dug through both pockets... both times, he was surprised to find the main gems hidden away in unusual locations, causing him to shatter the gems accidentally... no more sapphire? This might be a problem... He forced it from his mind, and continued down the tunnel, past the magma, unearthing rubies and emeralds... perhaps the emeralds would work as a substitute, being an all-purpose gem... he brought a large amount of raw emeralds back, and cut them, returning for the second large bunch. He found it somewhat ironic that he unearthed these gems near the previously sealed pit.

He then returned for the large helping of rubies, brought it back, and cut them to the best of his ability, preserving as much as possible. As he carried it back, the bronze bolts laying on the floor reminded him of his battle with the demons... now it lay in the future again, and it would be on a much larger scale... likely it would be his last battle. As long as he succeeded in his goals, it mattered little. Blitukus noticed Kazo bringing an adamantine plate out of the work room as Blitukus entered. Blitukus brought the gems one load at a time into the storage. Dracha commented, "Ah yeh, emeralds'll work just fine!" Blitukus smiled... it was very good news. Dracha and Kazo were plating the back of the armored vehicle with adamantine it seemed... adamantine with runes engraved in it. Blitukus walked up to the wall, and observed the design. After studying it, and figuring out what was what, he proceeded to help Dracha and Kazo put together the heart of the magical side of the improvements. They worked for a long time, the moon moving through the sky. Blitukus stopped for a drink, Kazo stopping to recharge. Blitukus decided to drink from the water channel in the cavern as Kazo harvested energy. Kazo spoke, "I was a bit too wrapped up in your other inventions to talk about that statue... It's very well done!" Blitukus smiled, "Thank you." Kazo continued, "So you really like yourself I see!" Blitukus replied, "Well I was the only kobold around to model a statue after..." Kazo snickered, "I see!... All I have to do to make a statue of myself... is fall asleep!" Blitukus snickered. Kazo continued, "I figured out what that sphere does! It makes power, LOTS of it! I'll figure out how it works later. I'd like you to put it in with the cat amulet... when this is done, of course!" Blitukus nodded, "Of course, friend." Kazo smiled. They finished tending to their needs, and got back to work. They took adamantine, made it into plates complete with mounts for gems and runes in some cases, and plated the armored vehicle with it, placing the gems in the designated pattern. The barrel of the cannon was lined with ruby, the hatch and mechanisms behind it lined with the general-purpose emerald. They continued for quite a while more, the sun rising... eventually, Blitukus once again found himself tired.

The heart of the magic improvements to the center of the armored vehicle was complete... but there was still much more to do. Blitukus felt exhaustion getting to him... he had still accomplished quite a bit. He decided to call it a night and return the night after... As Blitukus walked away, he heard the voice of Armok laughing, "Pathetic mortalszss... you don't even know you're doooomed!" Armok continued laughing...

Perhaps I am doomed to death... but I will not die before my quest is complete.
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I know it's a bit short and monotonous... perhaps the calm before the storm? This seems to happen in my stories.

[Armok]

Beyond Quallity!  

first post, although that hardly means much anymore, were are you reign, I've seen you in other threads so I know you are not dead.

The calm before the storm, yes...

"This is a steel Beyond Quality award.
It mences whit spikes if titanium.
It is encrusted whit clear diamond
On the item is an image of a city and demons in chrome, the demons are striking down the city."
These awards mean less and less...

[AlanL]

I'm grateful to see your BQ awards period  :p

This update's a bit on the short side thanks to my sickness... but it's better than writing nothing.
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Blitukus walked back down his tunnels... he passed by the moonstone he had dug out those years ago... the cassiterite he had dug through... it had been such a long quest... and it was finally nearing its end. Blitukus reached his room, and lay in bed, finding his exhaustion allowed for him to fall asleep quite rapidly.

That day, Blitukus found himself strolling the dry and hot lands of his home... he saw Rametaru... it looked so small, after having seen its future self. He spent a long time in this dream ascending up the spiraling incline to the top of the hill, and looking back down at the small, distant suburbs... then, it faded as the dream ended, the following dreams being forgotten.

Blitukus awoke, hesitated for a few moments, then stood, stretching and yawning... likely, this was the second to last time he would sleep. They Dracha and Kazo doubtlessly got much more done as he slept... but he still had to produce the technological improvements. This would require more metal... he hadn't the time to produce enough steel, so bronze would have to suffice. Blitukus took up his pickaxe... 8 stacks of bars would do. Blitukus dug out the needed 4 lumps of cassiterite, then dug a new tunnel to reduce hauling time to the other part of the malachite vein... as he dug through the malachite, he realized... this was the last time he would be mining from his tunnels... and soon, he would smelt and forge for the last time. Blitukus brought the cassiterite and malachite back, one large lump at a time, and then smelted it into bronze. He looked into the molten metal as he did so... bronze was the metal he had begun with access to, and now it was the one he ended with. Blitukus checked over and over to make sure the bronze was of the highest quality he could produce, and then poured the bars, repeating the smelting process again afterwards... he had more than enough bars resulting from this. Blitukus then took the bars, and forged them into two large pistons and a crankshaft to drive the drill, one piston to aim the drill, as well as the air pumps and radiators that would serve as proper cooling. As Blitukus forged, Kazo smelted adamantine into wafers, then proceeded to patch the wafers together into plating. Some of the adamantine had been used, but there was still quite a bit left. When Blitukus was done, he shut off the steam-powered inlet to the forge... it had served him well. Blitukus sighed, and stopped to drink and eat. All in all, it had taken a long time to forge these components... now he just needed to install them. In order to do so, he would need to remove the armor at the front of the machine, and put a hole in the metal there for the shaft to fit through... he had made the shaft long enough to properly aim, and thick enough to take a lot of force. The reason he needed to be able to aim the drill vertically was that the drill would have to be a bit on the small side in order to not get in the way of his view. Blitukus took the components to the storage room, having to make several trips to do so. He noticed that the adamantine plating was beautifully enhanced with a few large runes... what they did... he would find out eventually. Blitukus returned down his tunnels, and eventually came across his automatic crossbow... he had an automatic crossbow from the future he could use, and so didn't need this one. He could use the steam loop from it though... both to heat the bronze of the front of the vehicle enough to punch through it, as well as to replace one he had taken from the armored vehicle prior.

He brought it back, and upon reaching the storage room again, he saw adamantine plates beneath one of the treads. Dracha grunted as she lifted up the other side of the armored vehicle, Kazo slipping adamantine plates beneath the treads. When that was done, Dracha let it come to rest upon the adamantine. Dracha spoke, "I never thought I'd be workin' on a project with Kazo again! I gotta go back to my lair and double check everything before the big day though. I'll know when to teleport the relic out... Thanks again, my fuzzy friend! Bye... it's been nice knowin' ya all this time!" Blitukus replied, "Thank you, Dracha... your help was needed. I understand this is the last time we will see eachother... Goodbye, and good luck..." Dracha hesitated a moment, then parted. Kazo watched her leave, then commented, "Let's get this done. I'm eager to use the relic!" Blitukus replied, "Agreed." Kazo then began fusing the steel to the adamantine. Meanwhile, Blitukus took the steam loop and the crankshaft, walked to the front of the vehicle, removed the armor plate where the drill would go, and heated up the bronze on the vehicle to glowing heat with the steam loop. He then placed the end of the crankshaft on the middle, and hammered it through, creating a hole in the metal. Blitukus pulled the crankshaft out... now he needed to wait for it to cool before doing anything else with it. Kazo stopped to recharge after fusing the plates... apparantly, the act of fusing metal required a lot of energy. Blitukus began to install the radiators and air pumps beneath the cabin... if it weren't for these cooling systems, he would probably be cooked alive before completing his tasks. Blitukus also noticed a stack of adamantine plates with runes carved in them, encrusted with ruby... and on all of them the rune was the same. When Kazo returned, Kazo noticed Blitukus installing the cooling systems, took those adamantine plates, and began to slide them beneath the radiators, fusing them to the bronze. Likely they would keep both the cabin and the radiator cool. When the cooling system was installed, proper drives, connections, and control linkages connected to it, Kazo went back to plating the treads. Blitukus then stopped for a drink, returning to install the crankshaft and pistons to drive it, the bronze having cooled enough. When they were properly mounted, connected back to the boiler, the control linkages fed through to the cabin, Blitukus slid out from beneath the vehicle, and looked at it.

The night was nearly over, but the improvements were nearly complete. Blitukus was beginning to feel a bit drowsy, but he wouldn't stop for that. Now, Blitukus needed a drill... and no material was more suitable than adamantine... Blitukus returned to the work room, smelted adamantine strands into several wafers, then forged the wafers into an enormous adamantine corkscrew... the adamantine was quite lightweight, but this unfortunately presented a problem. Should he encounter some hard material with it, he might need enough momentum in the drill to break through it. Of course, he wouldn't need to add that much weight... he forged bronze into weights and mountings, placing the bronze on the interior of the corkscrew, the bronze also serving as a good mounting point between the corkscrew and the crankshaft. Blitukus dragged the enormous corkscrew back over the bridge and to the storage room... Kazo was already done plating the treads. Kazo approached, then looked at the corkscrew. Kazo spoke, "So it looks like you'll be digging through some tough rock. The rune at the front can help you channel power into the drill! I want to find out what you'll do with it!" Blitukus replied, "If nothing else, perhaps it will help my digging speed." Kazo smiled, "I'm eager to find out!" Blitukus nodded. Blitukus then took the corkscrew and mounted it onto the exposed end of the crankshaft. Kazo watched as Blitukus installed the steam loop, walked out to the wave generator, salvaged its steam loops, then returned, installing them as an auxiliary supply through the inlets of the drills pistons. Blitukus then exited from under the vehicle. That was it... the sun had risen, and the night was over... but all the modifications were complete. Blitukus and Kazo stood looked at what they and Dracha had accomplished...

It was adamantine plated and menaced with spikes of emerald and ruby crystal... hopefully it would guarantee that he would survive long enough to reach the dumping point and distract Armok enough to get Armok to stop observing the cat relic. Blitukus spoke, "Tomorrow, we will have time to discover how that spherical device works, and I will install it for you." Kazo grinned, "I can't wait to try it out!" Blitukus smiled for a moment... it would be his last favor for a friend before his final battle... Blitukus felt very grateful for all his friends had done for him, for soon it would be the end.
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The corkscrew wasn't supposed to look that small... unfortunately, there's only so much you can do with ascii.

[Reign on your Parade]

FIRST POST! Beyond beyond quality!