+- Discovery Gaming Community (https://discoverygc.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Role-Playing (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=9)
+--- Forum: Stories and Biographies (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=56)
+--- Thread: Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra (/showthread.php?tid=11680)
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Zapp - 11-21-2008
A Corsair man, large, sneered at Jason's Sabre. There was a twinkle of respect in his eyes, at knowing what damage Outcasts and Hessians could do with the ship, yet a silent disdain that would make him choose the Titan over it every time.
"Obviously," he said, the sound of Crete heavy on his tongue, "that is not going to carry all of us off this hellhole, si? We need ships."
A chorus of agreement came, though some people were eying the walls around them with fear. They could come at any time.
"Whatever we do, we gotta move - now." That from a Liberty Navy Ensign, by the markings on his uniform. Young and with brown hair. Right nearby was a weapons locker, strategically located to repel boarders that saw fit to land boarding parties on the cruiser's launch deck. Loading up, they began the trek to the cruiser's second launch deck, hoping that there were ships there they could use. They also had to open the bay doors - no easy task, as (after one of the Order techies had a crack at the controls near the launch deck) it was being controlled from one overall, remote console.
Finding it was the hard part, of course.
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Zapp - 11-30-2008
Several gunshots rang across the hall as every human that had a clear shot took out a Nomad. It was tense, fear-scent heavy in the air. They all got to the hanger, and found the ships, but the doors were still closed. Jason volunteered himself to find the control panel, though the same Order techie managed to trace the remote control station to one that was on the bridge.
"Senor, maybe some of us should..." started a Corsair, but Jason was adamant.
"I go alone, I know how to handle myself. Nomads don't scare me." And he wasn't lying.
On to the bridge, Jason ran across several Nomads and infected humans. The first infected human was unarmed, but had inhuman strength. Luckily, Jason matched him by smashing his skull into the bulkhead. Farther down the hallway, Jason drop-kicked another infected human wearing a Navy uniform, then practically severed his head with a blow to the neck. He ran on, ignoring the Nomads that crawled from the corpses. He was gone before they could see which way he went.
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Zapp - 12-06-2008
He approached the door which he remembered passing so long ago. It sure as hell felt like years. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to open it and enter, but before he could it opened itself. On he other side was a single man. He was medium-height, and had his back to Jason. His hands were clasped together behind his back, so Jason could see that he wasn't holding anything.
"Are you coming in?" he said, voice devoid of all emotion. Jason cautiously stepped into the bridge, steps slow.
"Who are you?"
He turned around, eyes glowing a shade between purple and blue. No big surprise there. What was a big surprise was that his body itself had weird growths all over it, blue and purple, pulsing. Underneath, it was obvious he had had the uniform of a Navy officer.
"I am what you would call the central hub of this ship. I am the control point. You may call me Robert Foster."
Icicles crept down Jason's spine as he heard that name. Twice he had killed men claiming the same name, and apparently the second one had been right: Foster was unkillable.
Jason's instinct kicked in, and he took three long strides forward to grab the skull of the human/Nomad b****** and slam it into something, but he was deflected off some sort of energy field.
"You will not succeed this time, Moore. You will die, as the Order copies of you did." The fact that he spoke in a monotone, without emotion, made it sound a lot scarier.
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Zapp - 12-10-2008
Robert Foster raised his hand, pointing at Jason with a curled index finger. The room was bathed in an eerie purple glow, and something inside Jason screamed in defiance. MINE! Lightning bolts laced across Jason's vision, and it took him a few seconds to realize that they weren't just random neuron firings in his optical nerves, but literal lightning. Blue flashes against a purple backdrop. What the...
Power, as if he had been hooked up to a generator, volts of energy flowing into him. One second Jason stood defiantly, the next he was on his knees, powerless to move as the electrical shocks locked up his muscles, made them twitch but overall motionless. Paralysis. Not fun.
His thoughts were sluggish, so it took him some time to realize that Robert Foster was gripping his head with both hands, as if trying to tear something out of his mind physically. Screams of outrage and pain filled Jason's mind, though they were not his - his thoughts were numb.
Nomads bounded into the room only to fall to the floor, writhing in agony.
As if submerged in a pool of cold water, Jason came back to his senses, regained motor control, and he took advantage of this by once again approaching the man that claimed the title Robert Foster, enveloped his skull with one large hand, and slammed it against the wall that he had backed up against. Bits of brain matter and blood flew on Jason, the wall, and the corpse.
He let the lifeless body fall to the floor. A few moments later, a voice came across the comm link. It was the Corsair. Control of the launch doors was just given to our console. We are leaving..... thank you for saving us. Adios.
Jason was left to retrace his steps to his Sabre. The ship was in chaos, but nothing raised a hand - or tentacle - against him.
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Zapp - 12-12-2008
Pain, outrage, loss...
For a moment, the Nomad fighters circling the Tundra were confused. What had once been showing up as a friendly capital ship was now an enemy. They couldn't tell why, but somehow it was so. Confusion reigned prevalent. Obviously it was them, but they were not it? Were they part of we? So many would think, but many were not sure. Something had happened. In the state of utter babel the Nomads were in, Jason Moore managed to slip away unseen.
The LNS Tundra flew off in another direction, knowing that the Nomads would not accept them without the link. It needed something to make it whole once more...
Mindshare lost... Light lost... MOORE!
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Zapp - 01-03-2009
The dark recesses of space are widely avoided by sane humans, as the void is great enough to daunt even the most hardy of minds. The Nomads are less choosy. The Tundra, of necessity, hid in the places where none else would go, human or Nomad. On the outskirts of the system known to the humans as Omicron Delta, to the Nomads as something unsuitable for human vocal cords, the Tundra waited. Inside the purple cloud of obsidian shard asteroids, the ship attached itself to an asteroid and began repairing.
Though it had technically been running the entire time, the Tundra's computer reasserted itself at this point, running system checks, deploying nanobots, and the like. It did not recognize the Nomad enhancements, but otherwise ignored them.
Almost a year without any repairs, it had sustained damage slowly but surely. The hallways had not been cleaned, the bodies of dead were not moved. Nanobots joined together to form larger robots, midgets by human standards, that began cleaning the ship. Blood stains scrubbed out, bodies moved, and the like. Any dead Nomads had long-since dissolved into the ship.
The crew of the Tundra at this point was a mismatch of the original crew and captured Corsair, Order, and Zoner pilots. They were not many, but they worked with grim determination, apparently the human hosts resigned to their fate.
Nomads loped along the hallways, different sizes and shapes, and who could guess what tasks they fulfilled?
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Zapp - 01-06-2009
Silence. The many-minds of the mindshare were lost to the Tundra. Moore had killed their connection, the sieve through which the entire ship and everyone in it saw the rest of the Nomad collective. So they floated, aware that Nomads that had not seen them would open fire. They sent out probes, searching for the answer.
And it came.
Slowly, it moved on relentlessly, like a wave. The asteroid field was no impediment to it, as it never entered cruise. The floating rocks even seemed to clear a path for it.
Harbinger
And they were one, and then the Tundra saw the Nomad mindshare once more.
Keeper
Slaved through the Harbinger, they were all one. Keepers yet not Keepers.
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Zapp - 01-07-2009
Jason Moore's Sabre arrived at America base about two days later. He practically collapsed onto the deck, as the amount of sleep he had gotten in that time was simple to calculate: none. A pair of medics ran from their at-ease positions against the wall, apparently not expecting anyone injured yet prepared to deal with those who were. Jason was hefted onto a stretcher and taken to medical, where the doctor decreed that all he needed was some sleep and food.
Later, Jason was up and about. The Tundra was still out there, but he had never meant to do anything about it. At least not right away. What he had done was scouting out the opposition. Now he sat, and planned on how to take out the behemoth.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Meanwhile, the Tundra was in orbit around Xerna, the Nomad planet on the edge of death. A ship approached. Scanners confused it, as it showed as neither human nor Slomon K'Hara, an oddity. It sent out a docking request, which was granted.
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Zapp - 01-08-2009
Running.
A long corridor that stretched on for as far as the eye could see lay before a frightened Jason. The light was dim, and came from everywhere - no bulbs burned, no candles flickered. The sound of pursuers almost overpowered the beating of his heart and the ragged breaths he took. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see naught but darkness, in contrast to the light ahead.
Abruptly, he ran into a wall. The corridor with no visible end had stopped. Jason turned to face the inhuman predator, and was faced with a Nomad.
Awaken.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jason jolted awake in a cold sweat, thrashing the blanket aside and tumbling to the floor. He landed on his knees, and a jolt of pain -- barely registered -- told him that he was awake, finally. It was the third night in a row that he had dreamt, each one distinct yet always with the same ending. Whispers, in the back of his head, spoke of things unknown. Always, they accompanied the end of a dream.
Bone-tired, for those unusual dreams apparently didn't count as sleep, Jason knew he had to do something. He couldn't go on like this. So he listened closely to the whispers. Getting off the floor, he quickly got dressed, packed his flight bag, and went to his Sabre in the docking bay.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Somewhere in the deep Omicrons
An alien world unfolded before Jason. He had been led here by that which resided in his mind, speaking meaningless gibberish that Jason tried to guess the meaning of. But most importantly, the Tundra was there.
Dock.
So he did.
Jason Moore II -- The Untold Tale of the Tundra - Slomon K'Hara - 01-09-2009
A small ship gliding nearby the Harbinger, it was unlike all the others, being without the trademark translucent surface, it was instead covered with solid plates of matte organic materials. The ship had approached Tundra's docking bay and proceeded inside.
Life detection systems onboard the Tundra struggled in attempting to figure out how many were onboard that vessel; after much hesitation it just reported error in procedure. The ship docked successfully. There was a strange feeling in the air, Moore was never told to expect guests yet somehow he knew this had to be important, to him personally.
The doors slid away, a human figure silhouette slowly coming out. As the lights fell on the face of the guest it revealed a woman in richly decorated cloths, seemingly of almost alive, organic materials. The decorative patterns on them were shifting, re-arranging in a mesmerizing dance and hypnotizing rhythm. Her face was partially covered with strange tattoos the like of which Jason had never seen before, long ash hair, sharp and striking her appearance was nonetheless beautiful in its own outlandish way. Tall and confident she was, yet there was an ethereal feeling to her presence onboard the vessel. Of the many things he had been considering, this was not what Jason had expected to arrive. For a brief moment he noticed there were two strange, nearly invisible, slightly shimmering silhouettes following her behind as the guest approached him.
Spectre high priestess Ashari, a rare sight. They are the messengers of the Mindshare Advisors and there is two always accompanying her on the voyages. Despite what you may see... she isn't exactly a human.
She looked around until her eyes met with Jason's. A very human feeling, a chilling sense crawled up the Jason's spine.
For a moment he found himself standing elsewhere. It was like a port somewhere at a planet that seemed familiar, but he struggled to recognize it. The place was highly crowded and very loud. Roaring aerial and space vessels were landing and rising back into the sky only to be replaced in brief moments with the shouts, echoing through his ears, of workers putting cargo down on transporters. Individuals, entrepreneurs, travelers, businessmen and simple folk, a typical mess in a good work day. Unwillingly he glanced to the right. It was a delegation, probably; coming down the stairs of a business class shuttle. In the middle of the group was a man around his forties in a suit that mostly fits diplomats who spend their time outside of homelands, such as ambassadors. Aside from numerous body guards walking on his sides, Jason noticed another figure he might have otherwise easily missed; its face was covered with a hood. As they passed beside him suddenly the hooded figure turned it's head towards Jason's direction. Only now he realized who that person was.
"Indeed..." - almost a whisper, a distinct voice Jason barely could hear.
Their eyes crossed again and Jason once again was onboard Tundra, although in an echo he still heard fading ambience of the starport he was just at.
Blinking for a brief moment and coming to senses from the vision, Jason noticed there was a strange smile her face.
"You may not know me yet but I know much about you and your journey."
There are few of them were ever born. They are gifted with some of our powers. And also travel among the human populace, in disguise. You do not remember but in your past... you have met some of them before, and her too, several times in fact.
As the two walked through the corridors of the Tundra their conversation continued, along there Jason was trying to recall where and when could he have seen her before but the memory was silent this time. When Jason asked what the reason was for her visit Ashari explained to him briefly:
"We are sent to those who need our help, although it happens rarely. The change you have undergone already is but a part, it's a stage of the transformation and part of you is still confused, uncertain of what you are dealing with and where it will go. You have seen the others along your journey, each has its own way and not everyone ends up meeting their new fate. We are to look after and help you to see to it being accomplished. What you call telepathy is difficult to understand and master, and so we have decided that for the time being it would better that we speak in this crude and rudimentary way instead, the lack of clearness may prove a difficulty but in time you will see more and more. All fragments are eventually bound to be complete."