The Impervious Door's Story

Kanto, who had been focusing his attention back on Casren, was completely surprised by the feathery hand landing upon his head. He jumped about a food in the air and let out an involuntary sound of startlement as he quickly turned around to see the culprit.

"Good boy." Usually, Kanto would not like the unwelcome attention, but out of present company and the nice compliment, he let it slide. Watching the bird person as she spoke. He couldn't understand the words as they were spoken, at least not exactly. But the sentiment of her words shone through the him. He nodded to her, before asking, also in a whisper: "But how do we do such a thing?" He said, looking around the room once more, wringing his hands as he awaited the next leg of their journey.

Amid all the chaos, a large pallet of goods landed inside the chamber from above, it contained a powerful diamond-laser borer that the Aschen used to mine Kanvium precursors from meteroid impact craters, a rather large deuterium-tritium fusion reactors, some computer equipment, and a crate filled with antimatter charges.

One Archaeologist was fixated on the happenings within the chamber, her video recorder was out, and carefully recording everything so it could be sent back for analysis.

The second Archaeologist seemed to cow away from the Terra Nova ghost, leaving Solis to simply shake her head.

The Aschen could put these people down with minimal effort.

Moving to the Pallet, Erin unfastened the cables still attatching it to the ship above.

She cut the ties holding everything in place, positioning the laser towards the door.

Ruula

Ruula is a terrestrial planet. It is home to a race of pseudo-humans that form powerful bonds with the local wildlife, creatures referred to as Pokemon.

"All right. This is getting way too hot for my tastes. I gotta get out of here," Jennifer declared loudly over the roar of the dropship's engines. "Gun girl, on me. Same with the gentleman. I don't know if anyone else saw what I saw, but I have an idea as to where another one of the eyes might be located...and I'm going to need someone to watch my back. That, and I don't want you two to blow up the whole valley over who's got the bigger dick. Already had that shit happen once with the volcano."

Casren stood and brushed off his pants.

"That," He looked pointedly at the giant drill, "Seems to be a bad idea."

He thought long and hard about the vision, the map, they had been shown. Casren had never traveled space before. He wondered where it was that mountains rose and airships flew.

"I think we should figure out where that is, the rest of us I mean," for two had walked into thin air, and two more were conspiring to follow, and what was this with the Pokemon. He wasn't sure about stepping through the fabric of time himself, and considered his options.

Aberash

A planet that, at first sight, is simply barren. With closer inspection, however, one can observe a growing, developing planet and all its wonders.

Flynn sniffed at Kanto's head to get an idea of his scent. The reacher committed his face to memory in a long gaze so she had an idea of his shape, the feel of his fur, or the sound of his voice. A professional of her work she carried many a far and deep packing weapons and heavy armor into Losthome. Some times she took more practical ways of getting to know a body, hence her triplets, but discerning senses served just as well.

The feathered dinosaur offered her hand third eyelid blinking away her iris and eyeshine to flat black as hunter's sight returns, "I hold your wrist and drag you across reality. You just need to keep your mind. Focus on me, my willful path, the solidity of my body will be the most firm island of calm for your mind to rest on."

Her outstretched hand shimmered with some colorful plates squirming just underneath the feathers of her body. As the reacher focused a soft ticking sound emanated from darker spaces of the room. Black gears emerging from empty space then translucence as something approaches the plane. Bits of clockwork assembling for purpose.

"Have you ever had drugs that lose your person? This will feel like that. We must move quickly after my path will be much easier to follow," Whispered the reacher to Kanto looking periodically at the healing ripple in reality.

Irral looked to Carson, Golden, Violet-corrupted eyes taking in the Vampire with a near subtle caution. "You are correct, Vampire. Only a fool would venture alone past that door." he said. His gaze returned to the Aschen, who were tinkering with their toys. "And only fools would ignore the commands of the door." he added softly.

Pramia

Welcome to Pramia, please do try to pay attention to warning signs.

Turning to the map once more, Irral's eyes examined it. If he was reading it correctly, the second Eye would be on an Airship above a city within a valley surrounded by numerous Mountains. The Dragon's body began to radiate Golden Light, and a beam of his Holy Magic rocketed into the air, straight up, narrowly missing the Aschen ship. Either it had ignored any possible shields, or it was merely just Light radiating off his body, but either way, it traveled unimpeded straight up.

"I will return when the second Eye is found." he said calmly. And suddenly his body vanished, a small burst of energy being sent off from his last location, shaking the very air around them and rumbling the ground gently. A Draconian Light Magic Circle was left on the Stone floor where his feet had been; indicating where he would appear when the second amulet had been found, whether he found it, or someone else did and brought it to the Door.

The circle where his feet had been glowed dimly, and a magic Hum was audible from it. It was still active. If anyone wanted to follow the Elder Dragon on his quest to find the Second Emerald Eye, they would be able to from stepping through the transportation Array.

Sara's mind was suddenly filled with Images of far off places she had never seen before. Even with her psionic powers she couldn't figure it out having never left Terra. As the vision cleared Sara looked around the room. Soon enough people where starting off in small groups to go to other Planets and try and find this second eye or whatever. Well all but the Aschen...

As pokemon girl said she should come with her Sara sighed. "My name is Sara... but sure I'll go with you... anything to get away from these fools... hope you blow yourselves up Aschen scum."

Sara headed out of the ruins and as they left she turned to her squad. "I'm going on alone you guys head back to HQ and inform command of what's happening here."

The squad saluted and took off in their banshee. As they left Sara turned to the pokemon girl "So where we off to kid?"

Christopher lead his group through the Collenham Mountains for about an hour or so, braving the wilds and yet...strangely enough not coming across any vicious fauna like Christopher expected. Odd...to make things stranger, as he neared the site he was directed to he could feel a strange...pull. This lead him through the Mountain Fortress and just into it, as they approach he spoke up.

"Past this point, it is up to the rest of you if you want to stay. There's something strange...something off. I won't let you strangers get pulled into undue danger - not ones beyond perhaps even my own comprehension." Pulling the rest of the money from his satchel he'd move to offer it to those who had taken the quest. "If you wish to stay, it's not bound by the contract so I'd still take the payment. But either way, you're free to make your own choices...thanks for getting me to here."

Vithimiris grunted.

Whether or not the others would stay, Christopher would approach through the entrance, seeing the door and...stunned. There were already people here? He suddenly felt a lot less special.

Kanto was still a little wary and unsure of Flynn's sniffing and prodding, but he stayed close to her, his tail swishing in contemplation. Being dragged across reality? The description itself did no favors to quell his apprehension. But he had come this far, and Flynn seemed like the friendliest creature he had met in this place.

Kanto watched as the transformation took place across the room, heart racing just a bit as he mustered up some courage, keeping close to Flynn as she asked a question about drugs.

"Kanto has not done this... But he will stay close and move swift!" He said with a nod, offering his wrist to the dinosaur as she had requested, looking at her third blinking eye.

"Maybe you lot can talk some sense into..." Casren Bistreo gestured at the gigantic Aschen drill to the newcomers. He stood by the idea that any more attempts at forcing the door open would just anger it, especially now that it had proven itself sentient to some degree.

"Did you hear the, er, door speak?"

"All right then," Jennifer sighed. "If we're going to take a vacation to where I think we're going, we're going to need to stop at my house for supplies. That would be near Ridgecrest City, and the place is crawling with shadow dudes of all types...it's why I ran to this fortress in the first place. Casren, Sara, and, uh...Flynn? On me. Let's see if we can't slip past their perimeter. The light dragon dude makes me think they aren't quite as strong as before. If it comes to a fight, we might be able to break the line, but we're done for if we're surrounded, so we'll have to move fast."

She put her bag back up on her shoulders. "Back to the main gate. We got a long way to go and not a lot of daylight."

Flynn took Davien's hand with a raking trill the small feathers of it silky soft, "rRrRrRrRr! Your rabid gunners are your problem. We have a way out to follow the elf."

Her head lowered to move her feathered tail curled around him to make sure he knew when to slow down so he'd keep pace. As they neared the ripple in reality left behind Flynn's soft melodic humming followed along with ticking coming from darker corners. The world didn't as much get smaller, though there was likely that sense of vertigo, but everything seeming to rotate in place at some strange angle difficult to properly express. Externally Flynn and passenger got flatter the closer to the Elf's last spot before slipping out of reality entirely. Nothing but a lazy lensing of light as if a small disquiet pond hovered a crater in midair.

The inside of the path lost all sense of time in the endless astral plane reflecting on the soul of the one that passed through it. A chaotic place for the unprepared there was never anything to focus on for long before the hall of mirrors shone a new memory. Except for the black feathered sapien in front of him. Occasionally veering up, or even stopping to smell for the trail in painful looking sharp angles. Below them both the hall of mirrors seemed to prefer memories of footprints as if her own desire to trail Yvandir smashed a toe-claw into the memory and held it there. In all Flynn was the island of calm the panes lurking between her feathers fending off the emitted hazardous will of an astral plane.

It was the loss of the contiguity of time that would be the deepest hazard. When the mind lost its place in the inexorable deep that was the Astral plane. While it might perhaps seem that their trip was still ongoing it was Flynn's ardent voice calling for Kanto's attention that was the present moment. He would have to engage with the present moment than the past.

Sara looked to Jennifer "Well i'm trained for stealth missions and with my Psionic powers I should be able to detect any hostiles and if we are careful... and lucky... we should be able to get in and out quick and quiet."

Sara did a check of her rifle and other gear and nodded. "Ok I'll stay cloaked behind you just lead and I will follow. I can use my powers and suit's tech to render myself unseen even by magic and anti stealth tech. Anything tries to attack us...they will be dead before they know I hit them."

Sara then once again vanished from view not even a shimmer of her was seen.

Havasikaji looked around at the scene before her. "What is this?" She demanded. "Who are you people?"

The Aschen team continued to work hard setting up the pallet with the laser drill, while a pair of scientists that dropped down from the ship above began taking close up photographs of the door itself, along with installing anti-mana charges.

"Solis, you're to take the data gathered here back to Langara, where the data will be analyzed and a course of action chosen." The Radio chirped.

The Aschen woman nodded, extending her hand to take the data recorder from her science team.

"Alright, I need to take this back to the Empire." She said, taking the device.

The scientists nodded, before fanning out and taking additional photographs.

Looking up, Erin watched the Aschen vessel disappear without a trace, it's stealth systems engaging, then she touched a device on her wrist, a swirling vortex of energies engulfing her, allowing the woman to seemingly disappear without a trace.

"This," Casren gestured to the Impervious Door, "Is a great puzzle that we've all, somehow, been elected to complete."

"I," The vampire pointed to himself, "Am Casren Bistreo, and it's a pleasure to meet you despite the circumstance. A pleasure to meet a-" He turned, realizing more people had disappeared, but the idea of the drill was still in motion.

Casren sighed and looked after those headed to Ruula. Though he had arrived here with Jennifer, he really wasn't much looking to go traipsing back through the mountains. Casren wasn't hungry, and he wasn't cold, and if anything he was overwhelmingly curious about what was behind The Impervious Door. He gave it a long stare.

Wait, was it looking at the drill?

His earlier scouting hadn’t truly been met with astounding results, albeit he had noticed something quite interesting in the distance. And that had offered a profound impact upon arrival to the door. They were not alone. Others had gathered at the door, rendering this quest of Christopher’s quite null, in a handful of aspects. Events had seemingly transpired in their absence, important information likely missed out upon before their arrival, and even Christopher himself made it quite apparent that they, those who'd joined him, needn’t proceed onward if they found it unnecessary.

And Vegeshin found it just that. Unnecessary. Quite the collection of individuals had gathered, some having already left for whatever ongoing tasks were required of them. Some remained. An Aschen vessel loomed overhead, and then suddenly did so no longer. Various individuals dotted the area, despite many having left, and it left Vegeshin rather disinterested in the happenings from then onward. His task had merely been to bring individual A to location B. And that had been fulfilled; contract completed.

Before any could question the lavender eyed, violet tressed, individual, he casually defied gravity. “Keep your pay, Christopher. As I mentioned earlier, t’was an obligation to fulfill. Stay safe, and enjoy your further adventures.” He offered with a mild smile and a two fingered salute sort of wave. With that, he made his departure so as to not get drawn in to the convoluted nature of such an event. His duty remained to act as a paragon, not an adventurer.

"I shall stay," Havasikaji said in her thick Solinus accent. "I have nowhere else to go. Thus, I shall stay here and do what I can to assist."

Integra appeared in a swirl of silvery light, nanite swarms pouring out of the rift he'd created and settling like a gloss on his jacket. Eight undead monstrosities, each an amalgamation of different creatures sewn together, then augmented with cybernetics, stepped out of pitch-black rifts of pure night. With a free appendage, they each saluted their Captain and fell into formation behind him, their various weapons at the ready.

It was crowded here, much more crowded than it had any right to be. "Ello, ello, my duckies! My name is Once Dread Pirate Captain Integra Blackheart, no relation, and I'm here to fulfill the prophecy." One of the servitors dropped a cask of femtites, which rose up and surrounded the Captain creating an imperceptible swarm of femtometre sized robots that formed a bubble around him. "I trust we are all ready to begin?"