Thérèse spoke to the shipboard computer, her eyes fixed on a small video display of the surface of the planet they were circling. "Give coordinates of suggested landing spot, computer." The computer obeyed. Over these few weeks, the ship's computer had been bullied and cowed into obeying its new master. It was state-of-the art among Shee, and it had a very good artificial brain. It had quickly learned not to question orders. Thérèse smiled nastily, tapping her coppery nails on the dashboard. "Then land! What are you waiting for!" The computer replied tonelessly in its artificial voice, "Beginning descent." In its haste, it didn't take the time to calculate the exact thrust needed. Thanks to Murphy's Law, the ship crashed. Thérèse was unhurt. She dusted off her navy blue robe and sniggered. "Serves that idiot computer right." This would be an ideal planet for her. It seemed surprisingly advanced. The thought suddenly crossed her mind that using the Warp to travel this distance may have not have been wise. Her eyes widened. Was she in the future...

((Alrighty, this is a way for me to introduce my new charrie and also let SB4E introduce hers. Anyone can join with as many charries as you want (within limits obviously, no "I'm playing as a horde of ettins!" please), it's basically just a freeform RP. Let's see what happens!))

OOC: Ooh yay, now I can do the Ecliptica opening scene...not quite in this post, though. Probably my next one. That won't be the start of the War, however. Seeds of War will start once ES gets back to me on her plot ideas. *Is excited*

BIC: In the cold darkness, a pair of red eyes blinked. A Banshee Grendel trudged through the snow, his feet crunching noisily over the frozen ground. He was patrolling the outskirts of a city ruled by his Empress. Behind him, his assistant followed silently.

"There is nothing out here, Darkstorm. Might we turn back?"

"Silence, Obsidia. We must continue on. There are rumors going 'round that a norn was sighted here. We must keep looking."

--------------------------

Phoebus shivered in the cold wind that suddenly came up. He wrapped his tunic around himself, feeling unnerved by this place. It was an unexplored planet, that Her Majesty Aitha Luna had sent him to investigate. He pulled a tiny device out of his tunic, and spoke into it.

"I have just landed on uncharted territory. It is dark and cold, and the moon rarely shines through. I don't see any signs of life, yet. Though that could change..."

The Hardman norn stopped speaking when he heard a noise behind him. He whirled around, and saw a Grendel approaching, a Banshee Grendel. "Oh, dear Aitha..."

"Stay where you are!" The Grendel shouted. Phoebus started to run, but was shoved to the ground by a second Grendel. "Darkstorm, I've got him!"

"Excellent", hissed Darkstorm to Obsidia. "Now we can bring him to the Empress. He must be the one who has been spoken about."

"Empress?" Phoebus thought. A sick feeling came over him. If Banshee Grendels were working for whomever this Empress was, he didn't want to meet her. But there was no use struggling against his captors. Besides, Aitha Luna had taught him to be peaceful. Fighting back would only make things worse.

"Obsidia? What's that ahead?" Still keeping a firm grip on the Hardman, the Grendels ran through the snow toward what appeared to be a crashed spaceship. "More intruders? Ah, the Empress will know of this." Obsidia and Darkstorm's eyes went wide as they spotted a Shee exiting the spacecraft. "We've hit the jackpot tonight", Obsidia growled.

"You there! You'll come with us, at once."

The strange planet's atmosphere swirled with clouds as the small stolen ship approached it. Star Voice had her scaly Chozo feet on the console as she sat in her chair, silently watching the planet. Suddenly, she swept her feet off the console and quickly jabbed at a small blue button with a microphone sticking out next to it
.
"Computer--scan the planet." she said emotionlessly. she closed her eyes and sank into her chair as the contiuous bleeps filled her ears.

"SCAN COMPLETED," the computer boomed through the small speakers on either side of Star Voice. "PLANET NAME IDENIFIED: ECLIPTICA. HOLOGRAM COMPLETED." She lazily opened an eye and looked at the model of the planet now projected in front of her.

"Is it inhabitable? Is there any intelegent life?" she asked emotionlessly. More bleeping.

"SCAN COMPLETED," the hologram zoomed on one part of the planet. A...castle? The young chozo had not seen such architecture since she left Tallon IV. She tipped her head slightly so she could see out the windshield. She could just barely see the structure through a rare hole in the clouds.

The castle then dissapeared, and a strange bipedal creature with spikes on its head replaced it.

"NEW LOGBOOK ENTRY CREATED. SCANNING..." Yet more bleeping.

"CREATURE IDENTIFIED: BANSHEE. SENTIENT LIFE FORM ORIGINATING FROM 'ALBIA'. NO MORE DATA COULD BE RECOVERED."

Star Voice sunk into her chair. Hmm, a Banshee? Not something she'd ever heard of. She decided to risk making allies with it. She once again jabbed at the button.

"Computer; find a spot to land."

Thérèse was instantly alert. "Or what?" she snarled at the Banshee Grendels. She bared her teeth in an instinctual reaction. "I can take the two of you." Rage coursed through her mind, through her blood. She dropped into a crouch, showing her copper-dyed nails.

Obsidia glanced at her mate. "Great...a stubborn one." She uttered a loud growl, and more pairs of red eyes suddenly opened all around.

"Grendels...the woods are full of them!" Phoebus thought frantically. He hadn't even noticed them when he had landed several days ago. They were so silent, like shadows...

Darkstorm grabbed hold of a smallish Jungle Grendel, and took something from his cloak. "Your Imperial Highness...we have apprehended a Hardman Norn outside of the city border. There is a Shee here as well, though she and the Hardman don't appear to know each other. She may be harder to persuade to follow us." He handed the communications device back to the Jungle Grendel, who skittered off into the shadows.

"Is that so?" inquired a malicious voice. Luminous red eyes glowed in the mist, and a very tall figure approached. She held in her hand the random teleporter she had just used, which she then returned to the folds of her robe. All the Grendels in sight of their Empress bowed low to the ground, and remained motionless in that position. In a moment she was standing over Darkstorm and Obsidia, glaring down at the Hardman. In one swift movement, she positioned the end of her staff, edged with dangerous-looking spikes, right over his head. "Now tell me...who are you, and what are you doing on my planet?"

A Banshee! Phoebus had never seen one before, and the sight of this one made his blood run cold. Aitha Luna had told him what happened to her kingdom long ago, on a different planet, in a different time. The Banshee had taken over, killing all of her beloved norns...except for Sundance. The two of them had escaped just as the Banshee entered the palace, using a special type of random teleporter Aitha herself created. They had wandered for hundreds of years, finally settling on a peaceful planet which she thought was far from any Banshee...

"Well?" The Banshee snarled.

"I...I was sent here, to explore the land. I didn't know..." Phoebus answered.

"Who sent you, fool?"

Phoebus closed his eyes, lowering his head. "By Her Majesty's orders, I cannot tell."

"How dare you defy Solaris! Tell me, or die."

The Hardman looked up again, this time, his eyes were angry, defiant. "I told you. I will not betray my Queen."

Solaris snarled, and pulled back her staff, instead striking Phoebus with her right hand, causing him to yelp in pain. When she lifted her hand to the moonlight, her claws dripped with blood, which she wiped off on the fur atop the Hardman's head. "Take him to the prison. We'll get answers out of him." Darkstorm and Obsidia shuffled off into the darkness, carrying Phoebus with them.

"Your Highness..what about the Shee?", inquired a Grendel, gesturing to the spaceship.

The Banshee's eyes opened wide, and she turned to face the other intruder. Her red eyes seemed to peer right into the other's Catstorm, daring her to speak.

Thérèse stared cooly back, unperturbed. "So you're the ruler around here. Very good way to treat your captives, no nonsense, just the way I like it. You want to know why I'm here, don't you? I fled from those goody-two-shoed idiots that call themselves Shee. They're not fit to lick the dust from our feet. Banshee, eh? What say we join forces?"

The air was filled with snow, whizzing around the many pine trees dotting the landscape, eventually leading to a dense forest. All was quiet exept for the wind.

Suddenly, a pair of glowing green lights was visible through the blizzard. They slowly became smaller and brighter, and a black object was revealed to attatched to them.

The small, sleek black object slowly propelled over the forests and stopped over a clearing. It quickly landed. The green lights went out.

The top hatch of Star Voice's stolen ship opened, and she emerged; laser spear and rucksack in hand. She swiftly leaped off the slghtly bullet-shaped ship and landed in the snow with a loud crunch.

Her burnt orange eyes stared at the surrounding trees as her feathers and hair blew behind her. She was pushed backwards against the side of her ship.

Star Voice dug her talons deep into the two-foot deep snow and began her trek through the forests, trying to push herself against the wind with her spear with her sack slung over her shoulder.

Empress Solaris grinned evilly. "Yes...yes, there could be some use for you. You left the Shee?" The Banshee chuckled. "Excellent..."

-----------------

Phoebus cried out as he was thrown into a dark room. A barred door slammed, and he soon found himself all alone. He removed a shiny cloth from his tunic and pressed it against his left eye, where Solaris had struck him. But at least he was safe for the moment. Safe enough to record what was happening.

"Oh, Aitha...the worst has happened. I was captured by Banshee Grendels I never even knew were there. This whole land is full of Grendels, who are summoned by those two; Darkstorm and Obsidia. They seem to be the leaders. And who rules them, but a Banshee. Empress Solaris, she called herself. But don't worry, my Queen. I have not betrayed you. Your location is safe. I wish I could say the same for myself: because of Solaris, I am now blind in my left eye..."

"Who...who is there?" A tiny, terrified voice came out of a dark corner.

Phoebus tilted his head. He squinted his good eye, trying to see into the dark. He could just make out the form of a norn, a female Hardman. She was shivering, curled up in a ball. She looked like she hadn't eaten for days. She was beaten and bruised, with numerous deep scratches.

Phoebus approached her, and she shrieked, hiding her face. "No..it's all right. I'm a friend. Don't be frightened", Phoebus said softly.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Phoebus. I was an explorer here...until tonight."

"So the Empress got you, too?"

Phoebus sighed. "Yes, she did." Tentatively, he took the shimmering cloth from his left eye. The cuts had stopped bleeding. "Here. This will aid in healing your wounds. It kills bacteria, and slows bleeding."

Hesitantly, the norn took the cloth, whispering a quiet "Thank you."

Serena and her companion Chance appeared on an ancient warp pad deep in a forest. Disorientated they shook their heads and looked around.

Serena's nose twitched uneasily and her fur stood on end while Chance merely yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Nice place... you think they'll have Crobsters here?” he questioned peering at the overhanging and unfriendly Fauna.

“I doubt it… This place gives me the creeps… stay close” she whispered to her relaxed friend. Serena’s eyes widened as a putrid scent filled her nostrils.

“Don’t worry about it I’m not that hungry anyway” Chance sighed walking closer. His friend had her back to him so he couldn’t resist. “Boo!” he laughed wrapping his arms around her.

“Don’t do that!” Serena shrieked shaking uncontrollably. Her face held anguish and fear.

“Geez… I didn’t know I was that scary… Take it easy” he smiled patting her head nostalgically.

“Don’t flatter yourself and keep quiet!” she begged in a hushed fashion. Chance’s face questioned this notion. “Don’t you use your nose?” she asked.

With another puzzled look Serena sighed. “Grendles…”

Is this dead?

((I think so. I dunno if I'm supposed to do something here or what))

OOC: Yeah, I was waiting for either of you to make a post. XP

((Same))

( can i be a Spartan Fudge Jesus? )

((Go for it))