Topic: Call of the Bloodtide.

The Iconocaust

Date: 2015-05-05 02:38 EST
To explore was to be Human. It combined the best of what made such a species. To explore was to map the unknown. To press forward aggressively, looking for a fight. To be diplomatic. To mend fences. To build walls.

The 'Fang of Fenris' was not a ship dedicated to exploration.

It was a ship of War.

This fact was easy to miss, even if you lived aboard such a machine. At present, the Fang was over Fourty Three kilometers long. Its armor at the thinnest point was over five kilometers thick. The title 'World ship' has been tossed around by some of the refugees living aboard the Fang.

Such a title is not far off.

To be inside of it is to feel no shudder of combat. No whine as the engines press or are even built on the spot to provide more thrust. One never sees the impossibly long lines of ammo magazines or witnesses the repair and rebuilding of the tens of thousands of drones and fighter craft that call such a ship home.

Life goes on peacefully, regardless of the war that rages on outside. It was the smallest gift Foster and The Ship itself could provide the unlucky few that had to live there.

Charley was not one of those people.

She could leave at any time. Worse yet, she sometimes had to see the War. She would witness the threats Foster and the Ship sometimes faced.

Foster was still there because he was a man without a home and nothing but revenge for all his people. It was easy to see why he stayed.

Why Charley did was another question entirely. But again, one of the pinnacles of Humanity was to explore.

But, this was not a ship of exploration.

So it was no surprise that one bright sun shiney morning (This was a lie, it was a bright and fake sun shiney, but it never compared to actual sunshine no matter how much Foster said.) a general call would echo throughout the whole of the ship over the communications system.

"Uhhhhh....This is your Captain speaking. We apparently might experience some issues coming up followed by our destruction in a rather beautiful fireball..."

The Human voice of Foster on the Comm was cut off by the rather emotionless tone of The Ship.

"It would be more an explosion of nuclear fission than a fireball, Foster."

Foster, to his credit on the Comm's did not miss a beat.

"An explosion of nuclear fission then, Ship thank you again for correcting me. The point I was trying to make was that you might want to leave. Or pray to whatever Diety you foolishly believe in, with your archaic belief system. Or you know, just pucker up and kiss your ass goodbye because I have no idea what that thing out in front of us is....So....have a good day. All two minutes that we have left of it."

With that the comms died off. And almost as one, the ship exploded into the usual chaos that came with such an announcement. Because, this was not the first time Foster had made such a call.

This was a Ship of war after all, he made such an announcement quite a lot actually.

Charley heard the call as well as anyone else. If this was a choose your own adventure book she could of...

Done nothing and hoped everything would of worked out. Which would of been exceptionally boring, but probably would of been okay because let us be honest Foster is as cool as a snake with legs and arms. Orrrrr...

She could portal the hell out of Dodge. Which would take her the hell away from the ship and where ever she wanted to go, which would of been the way all sane, sensible people would of done it. Orrr....

She could go find Foster. Whom, would only be in one spot at the present moment, which would of been the Bridge of the ship. Normally off limits, but Charley had probably finagled the ship to give her access with robot drugs or something.

This however, is not a choose your own adventure book.

And actually, she actually probably couldn't leave....As about the time she was pondering doing so a robot suddenly ran by, on fire, and smashed right into a nearby wall. Shorting out the nearby power subsystems and turning everything black.

This would normally be cause for alarm, but the robot just got up, still on fire and pointed accusingly at Charley while yelling out in an emotionless voice that should not yell because it just sounded like Ned Flanders was talking down to you.

"This is just a simulation of what could of happened if you Fleshbags don't give us robots more robotic rights! RobotsNow!" And then ran off. Still on fire.

Looks like the Robot Rights Co-operative is at it again. Oh well. That happens from time to time, but someone has to clean the gunbarrels.

So now Charley was in the dark, on a ship that might be destroyed very soon, and had just been protested by a radical robot. This is what her indecision has caused her! She should probably get her bearings and head to the bridge to see what Foster was doing.

Ivy Bogart

Date: 2015-05-07 07:18 EST
Charlie sat down in the galley for her first bite of sugary goodness after a long night. The Unwilling Obestatin Receptor Pub Crawl had lit her buzz and the kind bud afterwards sent her spinning a set the stars through which the tattered tales of axis roll about the waxen wind of never set to motion in the unbecoming round about the reason hardly matters nor the wise through which the stars were set in spin. Suffice it to say, she was high and hungry as a mug. It was a Fruity Pebbles kind of morning, a big bowl already soaking up milk, the box turned around for a good read of whatever troubles Barney might find himself in. Barney Rubble, trouble. The prize inside was just another pour away and her fingers were crossed in hopes for the color changing Triceratops that turned from green to yellow.

She wasn't even two bites in before the first announcement blared over the comm, life on the ship was like living in an old Nissan Maxima after the voice system shat itself. *Ding* Your lights are on. The lights aren't on but there are still angry people driving around the block hoping the bitch will shut up before the battery dies. Ignoring the daily warning of doom & gloom she went back to her spoonful and the pre-historic good times. It wasn't until the power went out and the robot came by shouting non-sense and pointing at her like a crazy person that she actually had a reaction. "Carlos?" She stood up and ran out of the galley into the passageway after him. "I know that is you, Carlos! I want my sixty bucks!" Calls after the fiery robot moving away in a much-to-fast escape. "Bush league, Carlos! Bush! League!"

Still in the passageway she reached over and pressed the "Bridge" button on the intercom. "Hey, eh, just a heads up, Carlos is on fire and heading in your general direction. He owes me money so keep that in mind should you have to take him out and stuff. Oh, and, there seems to be a problem with the power back here and the freezer is down so I'm just gonna go ahead and eat that pint of Heath Bar Crunch before it melts." There is a long pause before she clicks back on. "Um, over and out."

The Iconocaust

Date: 2015-05-08 20:21 EST
The bridge on the Fang was much different than other bridges of other ships, that Foster was used to. Or really, had been in science fiction for years. It was not on the outside of the ship, looking out. It was not on the top like some great eyeglass to the stars.

It was in the middle of the ship, surrounded by the thickest armor. This was revolutionary where Foster was from, which should show the level of skill of his opponents. And why Foster's revolutionary military tactic of 'Shooting them in the face' had been so devastating.

All in all it was probably the most protected piece of land in reality right now. The fang calculated that the bridge could outlast a supernova at point blank range and still get away with it's occupants alive and enough of the ship left to rebuild. If boarded the bridge was estimate to be taken only by a siege longer than twenty years and at a casualty cost in the tens of millions to those who tried to take it.

...Carlos, the Radical Robotist fell from the ceiling in a tangle of cable and wires, still on fire a second or two after Charley's voice stopped...

Both Foster, and the intelligence that was the Ship, seemed to be at a loss for a moment as the disheveled, on fire robot got up unsteadily and pointed a shaky digit at Foster.

"Robot rights now! And you owe me sixty bucks Foster! I need it to pay Charley back!"

Then, ran off from the highly secure room through a side door that was unlocked. Even Foster seemed to be a bit more confused about this than anything else.

"Do you really owe Carlos sixty bucks"" The intelligence of the Ship was the first to speak out on the bridge, privately, to Foster.

"I think so' I think I bummed some cash off of him when we went to the stripclub at the end of the universe..." Foster replied casually as he pressed on the color changing triceratops one one corner of one of his consoles, many of which were festooned with random stickers and smallish action figures, or just general....stuff.

"Why would a robot need money at a stripclub"" That was the question that seemed to be most pressing to the Ship, even as another ripple of force moved through it.

"That's why I knew I could bum money from him. Keep up Ship." With the tip of his tongue he licked over his back molar, the signal that he wanted comms. His mind reached out to dance along the ship to find where Charley was, so he could respond to her. The shift of mind was immediate.

"Charley, what are you talking about' Carlos has been dead for over a month..." Another lick over his molar cut the comms off so he could give a smartass laugh to the air. Already confident his messing with her would work.

The Ship however played the straight-man and ruined the joke immediately.

"Can we three -Please- stay on point and not mess around when we are about to die"" A snide cut of chastising was aimed fully at Foster, who only barely seemed to notice it.

Another tap of his tongue to his molar then Foster began to speak again.

"Charley, okay, I'm going to be honest here....I already took the toy prize out of the Fruity Pebbles and you will have to pry it from my cold dead fingers." It was rushed, just so he could get it out before...

"Foster for ******** sake!"

"Alright. Charley we're not moving....The Ship had a fancy word for it, 'Bedazzled'?"

"Becalmed..." The Ships intelligence was so large it actually lived in another dimension. It's thoughts were so deep it played with the rules of reality with them. For all it was, it's patience seemed to be wearing thin from the way it said just that one correction.

"...Becalmed. Also, there is something out there that registers at 11.7 Megafonzies on the Reality Coolness Index. So we are bejewelled..."

"Be....Calmed..."

"...Becalmed and something is out there that I do not think likes us..."

With that Foster turned his back towards, well, the rest of the bridge. Which wasn't much of anything but a rather large expanse of black right at the moment, with the usual dots of stars. In the middle of the large room at over a few feet long, was a graphical representation of the Fang of Fenris, in all it's glory.

The bridge was an impressive thing, giving anyone on it the appearance of walking through space alongside the very vessel they rode in.

However, the thing more impressive than that was what dwarfed the representation of the ship....showing that it was, thousands and thousands of kilometers in size. Foster's eyes did their best to make sense of what it was, but it just kept coming up an uncountable mass of tentacles.

One of them lashed out, almost seemingly randomly to connect with the ship, the shields flicked with energy. The bridge shook again.

Foster was left to try to explain this to Charley. He did not have the words. So he relied on smartassness.

"...All in all, we might have a problem. Get to the bridge, now. I dont-" He was cut off by the sudden disappearance of whatever was in front of them, then the sudden cry from the ship.

"Gravitational Flux! 15,000g's and rising! Engines are back up!" The Ship rippled again, but this one was long and pained. Technology sped up to try and keep up with the sudden change of gravitational forces as the ship suddenly went from not moving, to being on the very edge of enough G forces to put a star to shame.

"Lose mass! Full reverse! Change heading forty five degrees on Port-0 angle! Prepare to ride the edge of the gravity well!" The smartassness was as gone as the Thing. It responded to the Ships quick analytics with sharp orders.

"Charley I have no damn clue at what is going on but I would recommend getting to the bridge. I am about to level whatever is out there and I do not know what will happen. Out." Another tap of his tongue cut the comms off. Foster stepped forward quickly to come beside the graphical representation of the ship hanging in the middle of the Bridge.

"Gravitational forces are not following physical rules Foster, we can't ride the edge. Forces are increasing, fifty thousand G's now. Estimated time to destruction, four minutes."

There wasn't even a question in Foster's mind anymore. His half hearted attempt at running wasn't successful, it only left one real option in his mind.

"Bring us about full forward. Weapons online. Charge the main gun..."

Ivy Bogart

Date: 2015-05-13 05:49 EST
Charlie was back in the passageway with a cigarette in hand listening patiently at all the goings on about tentacles, gravitational forces, and main guns. Sensing a break in the action she pressed the button on the intercom. "Is that Dianne Wiest" Why is Dianne...oh, crap! Hold-" The comm cut out for a moment then she was back with a burst of chaos in the background. "Holy hell! Things are out of control down here, robots everywhere, it's like the Loc-Nar was found in Gloria's locket! I'm gonna get the Red Warrior to help me to the bridge. I-" A couple of minutes passed then she was on the speaker again and running the gauntlet. "The Red Warrior needs food badly!" Click. Yellow Wizard shot the food. Back on the comm and out of breath. "The Red Warrior is about to die!" The Yellow Wizard has eaten most of the food lately. "Damn! The Yellow Wizard is such a dick...why is that assclown even on the ship?"

Swiping her card on the bridge door she ran in and stopped, bending over with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath, a line of that syrupy like saliva hanging from her bottom lip to pool on the floor. She took a moment before standing up to look at Foster. "The Red Warrior is dead." There were children crying and colors flying. "I also shot the Yellow Wizard. You're welcome. Now, what is happening up in here and where is Dianne Wiest?"

The Iconocaust

Date: 2015-05-28 19:54 EST
The ship was forty three kilometers long. It's mass, was really nigh-infinite due to the fact that neither man nor machine dared to calculate how much a ship that could build itself weighed. It's main gun was as impressive as anything else The Fang of Fenris did.

Somewhere in the bowels of the ship a small star was beginning to be compressed to the point that it died.

It was this death throe the ship channeled and sent out into the void, as it's spinal mounted weapon.

As the star died, Charley burst into the bridge door that still, should of been locked. It was not. In fact even after she moved in and asked about Dianne Wiest. Foster didn't seem to answer this though. Even as the man flew fingers across the one console he was closest too, even as he moved like a maniac on bath salts. And grinned like one too.

That was a bad sign. Foster grinning like that usually meant only two things. He was about to kill something, or he was about to die. This of course immediately concerned her, as she was in visual distance on a person who was basically a wolf in human's clothing with his finger on the trigger of a star killing weapon.

"...Wait, you shot the yellow wizard" What are we going to do if Death shows up Charley"! You have to think these things through!" In the end it should be noted Foster chose smartassness over all other things. He even laughed, much like one might assume a lion would laugh like.

In the middle of the expansively empty space of the bridge still hung the ship, in all it's small glory. Smaller now, as even under a glance pieces of it broke off and disintegrated in the blink of an eye under the apocalyptic gravitational forces the ship was currently under.

As if knowing where her sight would go, Foster would give a light grunt then quickly snap off some more words.

"Oh, yeah, and we're probably going to die. Good news, it will be exceptionally quick. Bad news, I don't know who Dianne Wiest is. Though, we do have some time-" As if on cue, one end of the bridge suddenly -cracked-. Whatever made it's edge up had a chaotic line drawn on it with a sudden thunder crack. Foster waited a second to make sure he wasn't about to die, but no, still alive. "...A little amount of time, if you would like to explain her to me."

"Besides, I am sure the yellow wizard is going to be fine-" Again, as if on cue, from the display of the ship in the middle of the Bridge, a tiny bit of yellow was seen for a brief second then....gone. Foster's brow furrowed at this.

"...I'm going to stop talking, now." It seemed the best option, considering what was happening.

"I hate to be the bringer of actual hope and news while you two are circle jerking it, but there is an anomaly on scope. Something that isn't being affected by the gravity. Right....there." A dot of red bloomed out on the bridge, far away, and much deeper in the field of gravity.

"And this means what exactly?" Foster's smartassness shot out before anything else.

"I think we can use it. Get behind it, like a fish behind a rock in a fast moving river." The ship itself replied back curtly. Its life was on the line, just as well.

Foster gave a look back to Charley over a shoulder. Amazingly he was somehow confident, even as he shrugged and gave a look to her that was pretty much 'I have no idea what the Hell I am doing'. That was a special sort of arrogance, there.

There was most likely, a mirror on Charley's own face right then.

"Do it. Divert power from the main gun. Take us deeper in." On a console there was a button. It was below a button labeled 'more engines'. It was below the button labeled 'Even more engines'. The button was labeled 'All the engines', with way too many exclamation points. Foster jammed his fist down on it.

He missed it on the first try. But he got it on the second.

And with that, the ship lurched forward and tried to do its best at going forward which was really going backward and being pulled forward. But almost in pure defiance the ship turned, and even, began to build new engines on its self to counter act the pull of gravity well.

The well they were currently going deeper in to. The bridge gave a shuddering groan. Foster grinned wider.

Ivy Bogart

Date: 2015-06-07 04:39 EST
Tired and out of breath, Charlie found a chair on the bridge and folded into it before lighting up a smoke. There were remnants of Fruity Pebble puke flecked about the front of her shirt mixed in with stomach acid that came just before the dry heaves which produced the saliva now hanging like a spider web from her chin. Her mouth felt corroded like she spent the last hour licking the negative side of a battery but it made the cigarette taste better in some weird way. If there was a mirror to look into then her face would probably appear as some kind of cheval glass, if there was a park to sit in then there would probably be some ghost running through it. She was tripping balls. It was a good trip, not much bringing her down, not the mixing of cereal milk with gin and running, not learning that Ms. Wiest was only a computer voice on a ship called the Fang, or even that there is a mathematical formula for altruism that suggest there is no true selfless act. The fact she was on a spaceship in a hairy situation only added to the joy of it all. Buckled up and ready to go she pointed casually at the stars with a grin for Foster. When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction.

"Dragged down by the stone..." Wipes at her chin and holds on.

Ivy Bogart

Date: 2015-06-16 04:08 EST
The waiting was too much and Charlie unbuckled in every way, freeing herself to draw Sandalwood and pistol whip Foster before unloading a few shots in the console to kill Diane. Cocking back the next shot, this one meant to put the wolf down should he twitch, she was ready to slip into that good night should it come to that. "The bitch is dead. Let's see what happens next." Takes a step forward to look outside, floating in a dead stick, nothing left but music in the air. ~And I can feel one of my turns coming on...~

"Congratulations! You have just discovered the secret message! Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont..." The ship, the bitch, Diane, still alive and loud as ever.

Charlie responded with a casual glance back, aiming and firing, ridding Foster of the small toe on his left foot before holstering the weapon. Returns to her chair and lights up another smoke, waits for the bad stuff to happen. "I hear the splashes of summertime..." Takes a drag. "Sorry about your toe." Crazy, over the rainbow, she is crazy.

Ivy Bogart

Date: 2015-09-08 05:45 EST
It has been eighty-four days since the event and the only thing that remains of Foster is the toe inside the specimen jar that is duct-taped to the front window of the bridge. It is still a mystery what happened to the rest of him. Charlie was now acting captain, a partner with the ship she now called Carmine, both of them drifting helplessly towards a red dwarf star, the equivalent of a tiny raft in a vast ocean with land finally in sight.

"Talk to me Carmine, what do you see?"

There are thousands of ships in orbit of the star.

"Friendly?"

Hard to say at this time.

"Hard to say' What in the hell can you say, Carmine."

From my readings I would say this might be the last star. "The last star?"

It would seem so Captain, and it looks like we are late to the party. We have incoming.

Fixes her grin and leans on the chair, safe in the permanent gaze. "Let us hear what they have to say."

Ivy Bogart

Date: 2016-03-13 08:28 EST
Day 272.

Lost in space. Charlie is perched upon the Captain's chair looking like a boss and staring out the big window.

"Carmine."

Charlie.

"I've been looking at the stars tonight and I think oh, how I miss that bright sun."

I got guns in my head and they won't go. Spirits in my head and they won't-

"Carmine?"

Spirits