alleyverse Alleyverse Space Travel Corporation

[Spaceferring]

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*hysterical* WHAT IS ARCHER DOING TO MY WONDERFUL SECRET BASE

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@I think I am here. Thats bound to be very effective. 

 

Edited November 25, 2018 by Spacefaring Ferring

[I think I am here.]

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Oh, it was. Lusk effectively turned it into an art-form

...

Again, no questions please 

 

[Archer]

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7 hours ago, Spacefaring Ferring said:

WHAT IS ARCHER DOING TO MY WONDERFUL SECRET BASE

I'm making ambiguous investments!

Spoiler

Which are the best kind because they can become anything you need them to later on. 

And also encouraging you to move to the next phase in this venture to stop Mace from accidentally breaking all your lab equipment. 

Mace tapped his zincmind so he could contemplate the logistics of making an amberite greatbow. I need to start carrying bowstring, he decided. 

[Voidus]

10 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

I’ll have you know Lusk is very experienced at using babies as human shields. It was how he survived the Seven Day War, after all.

...

.....

Please don’t ask too many questions.

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I'm not sure if it's appropriate to upvote this or not.

 

[I think I am here.]

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Oh, it’s very appropriate. He only used dumb babies 

 

[+Ark1002]

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This is actually great. Shifty doesn't think that though.

Shifting Shadows grabbed the baby, then took it back to the alpha of the wolf pack. He bowed down, extended the baby, and handed it to the alpha wolf. The Alpha took it, feeding it. A passing mother walked by, crying and screaming that her child was missing. That's odd. What a strange coincidence.

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Also, I like how it's Shifty instead of Shadows.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Tena woke up from her half-sleep abruptly as she heard a whoosh of air behind her, a sharp, loud clicking of claws accompanying it a moment later. She stood up and turned to see a graceful, sinuous dragon coiled around the bell tower of the church. Its leathery brown scales did not reflect the light of the sunset very well, but its golden eyes gleamed in a way that seemed almost malevolent. It wasn't, of course, but Tena couldn't help feeling a little nervous as she walked along the ridge of the roof to the massive reptile. It climbed down the tower, seemingly conscious of the stone building's frailty, then lowered its neck grudgingly. Tena Steelpushed precisely, sending herself to the base of the dragon's neck. It rose back up, then opened its wings and turned around, Tena wrapping her arms as far around its neck as she could. The dragon jumped off the church, beating its wings and managing to gain height despite Tena's weight on its neck. It was smaller than many legends had people to believe, with a wingspan of only eighty feet, but was just as fast as those same legends claimed, soaring above crowds of stunned Homeless. Tena was by no means afraid of heights, and enjoyed the exhilaration of the dragon's physics-defying flight thoroughly. After a sort moment, the dragon descended, spiraling so as to avoid caving in Tena's house's roof. It touched down, alighting upon the reinforced roof, and Tena vaulted off its neck, landing on her porch in a puff of stormlight. 

I could start a taxi business, Tena thought with amusement, then whistled to let the dragon know that it could go out to find dinner. It lifted off with a powerful whoosh, and Tena couldn't resist watching its ascent. The beast was just magnificent. 

She turned and trotted into her house, plopping down on her couch and closing her eyes. Great Sisters, she thought, Mace is alive. He's really alive. This is crazy. Really crazy. Sort of like me. She spent maybe half an hour thinking about that, then the dragon arrived, as evidenced by the loud pounding Tena heard. She opened one eye in annoyance, then closed it. Need to get Aonic sound mufflers on the roof, she noted as the dragon fell onto its chest and quickly fell asleep, rhythmic breathing audible even through the roof. Tena fell asleep to that sound, knowing that the snores she'd undoubtedly make would be plenty loud themselves.

---

Rena woke up from her nap, then snuck out of the house as quietly as she could. Don't want to wake up that dragon, she thought nervously. She crept to the balcony and Steelpushed up to the top of the crater, then to the marketplace, having forgotten where the place she had to go to was. Once she'd found the notice, she Steelpushed across rooftops to get there, finally landing at the front of the house. She looked around and located Mace, then walked over to him, projecting friendliness. "Hello," she said, then Compounded pewter and aimed a punch at Mace's face. @Ookla the Paragon

---

Tena woke up and pushed herself to her knees, then noticed the claw marks on her floor. "Not you again," Tena said, annoyed. "I am seriously going to kill you this time." She stood up and walked out onto her balcony, rubbing her chin and saying aloud, "Now where would you go? All you want to do is make me miserable, so..." She trailed off, eyes widening. "You wouldn't. You gorramed wouldn't. Oh, you would." She straightened up and Steelpushed to the dragon, then climbed on its back and Steelpushed onto the crater's rim. "This is the last straw." 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Ookla the Grizzled

[Archer]

Mace was quietly minding his own business, totally not participating in acts of industrial espionage, when a friendly looking woman approached him. He smiled. She punched him in the face. It was a good uppercut, the knuckles only dragged along his jawline for a second before the blow landed on his nose, instantly shattering it. Blood began to spew from the wound generously, slicking Mace's arms as he raised them defensively. 

His vision swam. He instinctively flared everything he had, which at that point in the day wasn't much. He felt pewter kick in, that was good, and copper, briefly. He didn't often need to burn that so he rarely had much on him. The cloud dissipated in seconds. He also accidentally sent out a burst of angry rioting. Then he fell to his knees in agony as he started burning tin. Really. Need. Practice, he thought as the pain washed over him. At that point it wouldn't have mattered if he was punched again, or even stabbed. It would just be another drop in the pain bucket. 

Lying on the floor, he formed an amberite sword and waved it in the general direction of the woman who had hit him. Who was she, anyway? He was confused, and hurt. It was fight or flight time. As he lay there, his metal reserves petered out, which was a blessing in disguise. The pain lessened to manageable levels, enough for Mace to draw on his reserves of health stored in his gold metalmind to heal his wounds. That helped significantly, enough that he could start to plan his next moves. 

His brain started thinking with magically enhanced speed. If she's an awakener, tap heat to burn off these clothes. If she has a Shardblade, block with a metalmind, then run. Rithmatists will try to trap you, but increased weight will drop me safely into the basement level. Wish I had bendalloy. Mistborn will use speed and strength to grapple, then hit me with metal. Can I leech? Need to check supplies. No metalminds visible, but that doesn't mean they're not there. I should counterattack to test their capabilities.

Mace flicked wrists, sending a small spray of blood at where his attacker had been last time he'd checked. Then he jumped forward to tackle them. Just need to grab them and they're toast. Mace's grip could be strong when he needed it to be. 

[Karnatheon]

Fae left the building, feeling encouraged by the man's words. Here I thought my Bane would be the end of me, but it turns out it will help ensure my position here! I will still change during the Alleystorm tomorrow, I grow tired of this form. Walking through the town, she stored key pieces of information about what had happened today. She made sure not to store everything, as she couldn't access the information in her metalmind while in another form. She slowly made her way to where she was staying, knowing she needed the rest, but not relishing it. She couldn't afford anything too nice, so she stayed somewhere that was a little too damp and creaky for her tastes. 

Walking into the Inn, Fae pulled out her key, and opened the door to her room. She sat down on her bed, in the too small, too bland, room. I can't wait to get home. I miss being around other Singers. It's been so long. Lying down, Fae closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

Fae woke up with a start. She had been dreaming, of something. Something frightening, but what was it? She always remembered her dreams so clearly. It was odd to have one so thoroughly gone from her mind. Disregarding it, she looked outside. The wind was starting to pick up, it seemed. Signs that the Alleystorm was approaching. Fae stood up, and exiting the Inn, walked to an open square. She stood there, alone, as most people had hidden inside to wait the storm out. Let them hide. They can never appreciate what it is to truly live. To be within the storm, to feel it pulse within you as it's power changes you. I love this. Seeing the storm bear in on her, Fae attuned the Rhythm of Awe. She never got over how impressive it was, the storm. Nothing was quite like it. 

Suddenly the stormwall hit her, making her reel back for a moment. She got her balance though, and braced herself against the wind, opening herself up to its power. She felt it coursing through her, into and out of her gemheart. She felt the change beckoning, calling to her like a lover. She focused her mind. What would be the most useful to her? Talentform, too trivial. Epicform, too much potential for being driven mad. Ah, she had it. Allomancyform. That had the potential for great things, and it happened to meet the requirements that had been asked of her. She focused, willing her body to change. Suddenly she could no longer feel her metalmind, no longer access it's memories, and she knew the change complete. Now, what had she ended up with? She waited for the storm to abate, still relishing in it's glow.

Once the storm left, Fae pulled out a vial of metal, and drank it, seeing which one would burn. Iron lines appeared around her, showing her all nearby sourced of metal. Ironpulling? Fairly useful, though I prefer Steelpushing typically. At least I didn't end up with Aluminum. That was a waste of time. Happy overall with what form she had achieved, Fae began heading back to Zaphoid's place.

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I used a random number generator paired with the Allomantic metals chart on Coppermind to determine what I ended up with. I will do this most of the time, with maybe very specific plot purposes dictating that I choose myself.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Rena aimed a pewter-Comounding kick at Mace’s face, thinking, Killing this idiot’ll teach Tena to mess with me. Maybe I’ll even draw her out and get to kill her, too.

***

Tena leaped into the street she knew Zaphoid’s place was in, ran into the house, and immediately recognized Rena fighting Mace, who’d obviously not ingested many metals. Tena wondered, for a moment, if Rena knew that Mace was a Fullborn, then decided that she didn’t care. She shot forward with a Flare of steel and slammed her cousin against the wall. The younger woman screamed and Steelpushed herself out of Tena’s grip, then away out of the door. 

“Gorram you!” Tena yelled after Rena, sinking slowly to her knees in resignation. There was only one thing her cousin was better at than her, and that was running. She breathed for a moment, and registered what Rena had been trying to do this time: kill Mace. Tena doubted the woman would have accomplished her goal, but the threat was clear. First our grandfather, and now Mace. What will it take for her grudge to end? Tena wasn’t sure what Rena was so mad at her for, but it had to end. 

Tena breathed for a moment, then rose back to her feet smoothly and turned to Mace with a calm expression on her face. “I hope you’re okay,” she said. “I wish I had goldminds, but I don’t. Here.” She held a out a vial of steel. “In case you want to fight anyone soon.”

@Ookla the Paragon

Edited November 26, 2018 by Ookla the Grizzled

[I think I am here.]

Lusk looked nervous, and walked over to Mace as well, a small bead of Atium between his fingertips. “Here,” He said, giving the bead to Mace. “In case you’re attacked again.”

Lusk resumed pouting. It was tiring being nice. To avoid the weird sensation he got when he was nice to people, he found another baby and started indoctrinating it to Ghostblood teachings.

[Archer]

Mace rubbed his chin where the blow had grazed. He accepted and down the vial of steel flakes. "Huh. You could be sisters," he remarked. "You both let your elbow flare out too much when you punch. Thanks for the assist."

He turned to Lusk. He was momentarily confused by the gift, but then he realized what it was. His eyes widened, and he nodded thankfully to the man. "Where?... thank-you. Thank you, sir." For a moment, he stared vacantly at the bottle, then he closed his fist over it. 

"Well," he said, starting to pace. "That was bad. No one has tried to kill me in weeks. Then I show up here and suddenly there's assassins dropping in from the ceiling."

He looked around for his prospective employer. "And where was the boss during all this? Better question, has anyone here actually seen anything space-travel related? Because so far all I've seen has been a bunch of high profile targets." His eyes darted about as he checked which exits were clear, and mentally calculated how long it would take to get to them. 

"This feels like a trap." 

[Sherlock Holmes]

“Sisters is a bit of a stretch,” Tena said, “though she is the spitting image of me, just a few inches shorter and a lot less pretty.” She flipped over to do a handstand, then balanced on one hand. She frowned, then rolled back to her feet. “Also, if you ask me, everything with the name of Klasten is a trap, or anything with a Klasten nearby. Ask your nephew about it. Ask his horse.” She snapped her mouth closed at that; telling Mace that she’d killed his nephew’s horse probably wasn’t going to score her any points. “Anyway, I say caution is in order.

”Also, do I really throw my elbow out too much? You can’t possibly be better.” She punched in Mace’s direction a few times, then frowned. She did throw out her elbow too much. She glared at Mace as though it was his fault, then continued to punch the air in his direction until her punches were better. Her last punch landed a centimeter from his nose.

@Ookla the Paragon

Edited November 27, 2018 by Ookla the Grizzled

[Spaceferring]

Zaphoid, feeling well refreshed by his long walk, walked back the The Cave, where he saw some of his possible employees fighting again. He was about to interfere when another young woman showed up and broke up the fight. 

"You there, the Fullborn," he said, "follow me, as well as any who want to show off a bit." Zaphoid proceeded to walk toward Devaan's training ground, which was where the testing would happen. 

[Sherlock Holmes]

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Oh, Tena is a young woman now, is she? Funny, funny.

 

[Archer]

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Take it as a compliment. She looks young, that's a good thing, right?

Mace hesitated. He was still suspicious of the set up. The last time he had visited the Canton, a group of space marines had beat him up. But the man had called for him specifically, and he was his new boss.

"You go ahead, I'll catch up," Mace told Zaphoid before he left. As the others left for the Canton, he lingered behind. When he thought no one was looking, he stepped into an inner room of the house. It was time to do some snooping. 

Searching the building didn't take long. The place was in a state of ill-repair. Twice he caught sight of beetles scurrying along the floorboards. Most of the rooms were lightly furnished, with only a few boxes or the occasional chair. Judging by the amount of dust in some of them, they hadn't been used in weeks. In fact, beyond the front room and a side closet, none of the rooms appeared to have been lived in recently. 

Mace grew himself a pair of amberite stilts, and returned to the main room. He walked around the perimeter, running his fingers along where the roof met the wall. Huh. Nothing out of the ordinary. While he was up there, he poked at the roof a bit to check for anomalies. Disappointingly, none could be found. 

So if this is a trap, external forces will be brought in. Or this was just a way to get people to the Canton, where the real trap will be sprung. He briefly worried about the people who had gone with the man, but then he remembered who they were. They can take care of themselves. Hopefully. 

Unused space. An odd advertisement. Is he choosing marks? Or is it some other kind of scam? But how does he hope to overcome all these heavy hitters? Mace lowered himself to his regular height as he thought back to what the man had told them about himself. Not much. For all I know, he's invested enough to take us all out. But that doesn't tell me how he profits from all this. 

I could attack him, to see what magic he wields. Risky. What if I set this building on fire? Then I could see if it has any value to him, or if its just a means to an end. I should talk to Him. He'd know what to do. Or ask around, get more intel. 

Mace checked the time. If he hurried, he could make it downtown before the businesses closed for the day. Pleased to have a plan, he exited the building, and started jogging down the street. 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Tena, knowing that no one would get to the Canton nearly as fast as her, teleported back to her house, then Steelpushed across town back to Zaphoid's house. She poked her head inside, and noticed the lack of anyone inside. Walking quietly, she frowned at the loud creaks her weight made the wooden boards cause. She looked up to the skies in annoyance, then started at the lines in the dust at the top of the wall. Those weren't there before, she thought, walking across the floor to one of the walls and dropping a coin, hovering a foot in the air with a precise Steelpush. She sniffed the dustless lines, then sneezed. Resigned, she opened a small purse attached to her belt and swabbed the mark with her DNA sampler. If that's how it's going to be, she thought, then set the swab in a plastic Ziplock bag. 

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It's common knowledge among criminals and detectives that you always bring a DNA swab with you on an assignment.

Quite conscious of the fact that she would forget to have Mya test the DNA, Tena zipped her scientific purse back up and walked back outside. She brought her Canton of Combat Tia card back out and disappeared.

[Archer]

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Uh huh. 

"Sure I saw him. He nearly ran into me." The man paused to sip his drink. "He was so loaded up with papers and these metal rods and the like that he was staggering like Dale on a Saturday night."

Mace nodded, then gestured to the bartender to give the man a refill. While they waited, Mace shifted his weight around, trying to get comfortable on the weathered bar stool he'd chosen to sit on. His drinking companion seemed oblivious to the decrepit nature of the establishment. In fact, he seemed quite at home. The man sloshed his coke, getting some on his scraggly beard as he downed the contents of his cup.

"He was coming out of that place on Fifth that sells writing stuff. Then he went down Main, headed towards the store with the ship in its window." Mace nodded. There was no way of telling for sure if the man's information was correct, but it corroborated what other people had told him. He'd been interviewing townsfolk for the better part of an hour, trying to retrace the footsteps of Zaphoid. He was mentally compiling a list of places he'd visited, trying to find a connection between them all. But so far, the store owners he'd spoken to had all said the same thing: yes, a man had bought some supplies. No, he hadn't done or said anything suspicious. And no, we're not a front for a secret smuggling ring. 

As Mace thanked his informant for his time, he wondered if he had misjudged his new employer. "Still, better safe than sorry," he mumbled as he stepped onto the street. His next destination, the local bank, where he hoped to discover the source of Zaphoid's funding, wasn't far. After that, he'd have a chat with some of the local miscreants and criminal overlords, to see if any felt like confessing to anything. 

"Or maybe some of them could be persuaded to do a job for me," he wondered out loud.  

[Sherlock Holmes]

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Ahem.

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I don't always condone the use of convenient plot devices, but these are extraordinary circumstances.

Thank you. 

 

[Spaceferring]

Zaphoid, having decided not to use any Investiture to get there, arrived of course last. "Line up," he said to the half-dozen of the people there.

"To show me your ability, you will have to go through this obstacle course, which was designed to let anyone with Investiture and a small amount of brains through. It is harder than it looks, though, but if you pass you are guaranteed a job, but even if you fall or don't get all the way to the end, you'll still have a chance. Remember, this is just to test your abilities. You there, you're first, " he said pointing to the young woman the decidely old-looking person. 

The obstacle course was a jumble of platforms and moving parts. There was a net on top to prevent Windrunners and Skybreakers to fly above it. There were a few sections that looked as if they were rigged to drop down. 

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Detailed plan:

1. Metal stepping stones

2. Rope swing

3. Wall to climb

4. Monkey bars

5. Spinning logs with sticks attached 

6. Another swing combined with climbing

She stepped forward and climbed on the platform. 

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I trapped it to make it a little more interesting 

 

[+Ark1002]

Shifting Shadows smiled and sucked in Stormlight, then soulcast  huge bridge with walls and a ceiling. He smiled, walked through, and stepped onto the platform at the end.

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This is how we do it, right? Tell me if I did it wrong, I'll edit it.

@Spacefaring Ferring

Edited November 28, 2018 by Ookla the Ookla

[Sherlock Holmes]

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Allow me to sum this post up: Tena is an athlete.

Bro, Tena can do this practically without any Investiture at all. Also, she would make a great American Ninja Warrior, since she is an acrobat.

Tena is offended, yet flattered, when someone thinks she is younger than she is. They might be condescending if they think she is younger than them, and she hates that, but cannot help feeling good when people acknowledge that she looks as though she’s twenty-five.

Tena stopped burning steel, then hesitantly started again. Blue lines shot out of her chest towards the stepping stones, and she decided it was safer to avoid traps. She sprinted forward and leaped, barely surpassing the first stone, then Flared steel, Steelpushing the metal plate, and flew parallel to the entire stage. She crouched into her landing on the platform at the end, standing up and surveying the next challenge. She stopped burning steel, deciding that accidentally Pushing on something could only end badly, then jumped forward and grabbed onto the bar that connected to the ropes. Her momentum threw her forward, and she used that, swinging to her weight back and forward with the swing, then let go at the prime moment and grabbed onto the next bar. She repeated that process enough times to get her to the next platform.

Given the amount of training Tena had been through, climbing walls, or ceilings, wasn’t much to her. She had powerful arms, was relatively short, and had no excess body fat. All of her reserves had been drained when she’d— no, she wasn’t going to think about that. Instead, she wiped her hands on her trousers and stuck each one into her chalk bag.

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Yes, Tena has a chalk bag. All climbers have chalk bags, even if I don’t use mine.

She swung into the motions, grabbing a handhold and using her legs to propel herself up the wall. It was difficult, so Tena had worked up a sweat at the end. She shook out her short hair and noted the spray that came from it, not as much as normal. One of the reasons she kept her hair short was to prevent her from sweating any needed water away, and she’d gotten a haircut recently. Still in good spirits, Tena faced her next challenge.

 Monkey bars. They looked like difficult monkey bars, so Tena braced herself, then jumped and grabbed the first one. Her arms ached a little from their recent strain, but did not fail her as she did the course. Once she got to the platform, Tena collapsed onto her knees, then grit her teeth and stood up. The next one seemed more nausea-inducing than difficult, and she completed it as well. 

This one looks more fun than difficult,Tena quipped inwardly when saw the swing with a net at the other side. The idea was to swing yourself far enough to grab onto the net, then climb up the net to the top platform. She jumped to get the swing, then repeated her actions of earlier and jumped to the net. She nearly missed with one of her hands, but still managed to hold on. From there, she climbed to the platform on top and walked to the end of the course.

[Spaceferring]

Zaphoid facepalmed as Shifting Shadows Soulcasted a huge bridge. 

"Can't you wait? I called someone else up. That is a very nice bridge, but please make it disappear. I'll call you up later." 

@Ookla the Ookla

 

Zaphoid cleared his throat as everyone started clapping. 

"That was a very nice performance. Let's see who's next! Hmmm... You!" 

@Ookla the Paragon

 

[+Ark1002]

Shifting Shadows smiled and walked back, soulcasting the bridge to air.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Tena walked back to the small crowd of contestees and Zaphoid, then gave Mace a thumbs-up. He could do it.