alleyverse Alleyverse Space Travel Corporation

[Archer]

Quote

Let's just assume Mace finished up his investigation, then hurried over here just in time to be called on. 

Mace nodded when the man pointed at him. "Let's get this over with," he said. He stepped up to the starting line, looking over the course. It seemed simple enough, so he felt confident he could ace it.

Upon the starters' orders, he stepped forward, onto the ground in front of the first stepping stone. It immediately gave way beneath him, dropping him unceremoniously into a shallow pit. He managed to slide downwards without hurting himself, but it still hurt. He decided it would be best to store his senses as he went through the course. He had a feeling it was going to be painful. 

Mace grabbed the top of the first stepping stone, which he could now see was a large metal column, and hefted himself up on top of it. He then stepped forward, and fell into a second pit trap. This time he didn't bother to get out. Instead, he created an amberite shovel, and started to dig his way to the next pit. The amount of dirt between them was small, so he had soon made his way through to the next hole, which was dark and stuffy. Minutes later, he arrived at what he calculated to be the last one, so he used his shovel to punch his way through the surface, then climb up to the end of the stepping stone section of the course. 

"Time!" he called. "How'd I do?" One of the people watching shook their head and pointed to the other course.

"But he said to start at the metal platforms," Mace complained. "You want me to go up there?" Feeling a little embarrassed for having run the wrong course, he trudged his way to the ladder, and climbed up to the platform. 

"I can't fly, you know. This will end badly." He no longer felt confident. "Three, two, one, let's get this over with. Again." Mace stepped out onto the first metal stepping stone. Then he stuck his leg out to get to the second one, but found he couldn't reach it. Shrugging, he shifted his weight forward anyways. 

As he plummeted towards the ground, he had time to reflect upon the fact that this was one of his worse ideas. As his used some stored health to heal his broken legs, he thought about all the ways he could have approached that obstacle better. 

When he had recovered, he re-climbed the ladder and stood on the platform. When he got there, he grew himself a pair of amberite stilts, to make him tall enough to reach the net that hung over the course. As he released the amberite and it crumbled beneath him, he stored as much weight as he could, and drew on some strength, allowing him to hold himself up by grabbing onto the net. Then, like a kid on the monkey bars, he began working his way over the course. 

"Is it lazy? Yes." He called as he worked his way over the spiked log. "But I don't like the look of those obstacles. And I see you put a trap in by that bar. Why didn't you think to put any on the net?"

At that very moment, an automatic catapult began launching stones in Mace's direction. "I spoke too soon," he complained as he took the hits. It still beat going through the course. When he got to the end, he let go, and dropped to the ground. It broke his legs again, but he didn't mind. It was fun listening to his bones click as they fitted into place. 

"Don't tell me my time," he said, then flopped on his back to catch his breath. 

Edited November 30, 2018 by Ookla the Paragon

[Sherlock Holmes]

“Anticlimactic for a Fullborn,” Tena commented. “But he is pretty old.”

[I think I am here.]

“Now watch how a real Fullborn does it,” Lusk said as he promptly sprinted into the first obstacle, knocking himself out.

[Spaceferring]

"Congratulations!" Zaphoid told the unconscious person on the floor. "You did very well on your run!" 

Turning back toward the assembled people, he declared, "And that is how you do not do it." 

"You there! Your turn!" 

@Ookla the Ring

[Karnatheon]

Fae stepped forward. This definitely isn't the ideal form for this, but given that some of the others already revealed some of the hidden traps, it should make things easier. Looking at the stepping stones, she began burning Iron, seeing the lines appear.She didn't see anything immediately useful, so she merely jumped over the gap to the first stone. Making sure of her balance, she again jumped to the next stone, and landed easily. Feeling more confident with herself she leaped over two more stones before she made a jump that was a little short of her mark and began falling through the thin layer of dirt into the pit. She managed to pull herself onto the column before falling, and grabbing onto the top, held herself in place.

She stopped pulling on the column immediately next to her, and readying herself, let herself fall to the ground. Paying close attention to the lines, she forcefully pulled on the top of the column, launching herself up into the air, and as soon as she got above it began moderately pulling on the last stepping stone. This slowed her momentum dramatically but also sent her flying toward the end of the path. She quickly began falling forward toward the last stepping stone, but at the last moment pulled sharply on the one behind her to lessen the impact as she slammed into the last one, then pulled herself up and stood on it. Doing this had of course knocked the wind out of her, and used some of her metals, but gotten her across. She jumped off the stepping stone and looked at the next obstacle.

This appeared to be a rope swing. Whoever had gone last had left it hanging in the middle of the pit, so Fae didn't have easy access to it. She looked up and was pleased to find that the rope was attached to a beam, which had some metal supports. She walked to the edge, and burning Iron, pulled herself out into the abyss. She stopped pulling in time to fall forward into the rope, and barely hung on. Thankfully she was light, and the knots tied into the rope helped. After dangling there for a minute, she lightly pulled on the last obstacle, and then released, beginning to swing. She continued to make small pulls on the column, gaining height and momentum to her swing each time. Finally, judging she had reached high enough, she let go of the rope and flung herself at the landing platform. Her landing was anything but graceful, but she did land without injuring herself, so that was something.

Approaching the wall, Fae attuned the Rhythm of Irritation. This was entirely too difficult. What was the point of making them prove the athleticism? Wouldn't something else have been more suitable? She analysed the wall, but didn't see any metal lines coming from it. That meant she had to get creative. There did seem to be some metal behind the wall, which may be useful. Getting up close to the wall, Fae began pulling on the metal on the other side, slowly increasing the strength of the pull. Once she judged it was adequate, she began crawling up the wall, her Ironpulling keeping her from falling down off it. Reaching the top, she could feel her metal depleting, as she reached out for the edge and stopped burning it. She pulled herself over onto the top, and then climbed down the ladder on the other side.

Looking forward she saw the metal she had been pulling on. Monkey bars. They were pretty high up, and not close together. Pulling a vial out and swallowing its contents, she stepped forward. Reaching out for a monkey bar a few in, she pulled on it, launching herself toward it. She grabbed on tight when she hit it, immediately ending her pull. Hopefully she didn't sprain a wrist doing this. She then began lightly pulling on a bar a few more down, and increasing the pull until she felt herself inching that way, she let go of the bar she was holding onto. Effectively using her Allomancy as another rope swing, she swung down and then back up, her momentum continuing the arc. She pulled herself the last few inches to the closest bar, and hung on. She continued this over the entirety of the monkey bars, finally landing on the other side, exhausted. 

Looking forward, the next test seemed to be more about balance than anything else. She gave herself a moment to recover, then began inching her way over the logs. She kept her arms out at her sides for balance, and maintained a steady but slow speed forward. She was almost across as suddenly she saw a rapidly approaching metal line and she ducked, almost losing her balance. A metal bar swung over her head, as she tried to stay on the log, while also staying under this new hazard. It seemed to have a pattern to it, though it wasn't constant. Watching the line she was able to move a bit, crouch as it swung close, and keep doing this til she made it across. 

Finally approaching the last obstacle, Fae sighed. She looked at the rope and the net with some apprehension, not knowing if her strength would last. She backed up, getting some distance for a running start, then sprinted forward. She jumped right at the edge and sailed through the air toward the rope. She reached out for it but her hand barely brushed it as she missed it, and fell the remaining distance to the ground, not having any nearby metal to pull on. She landed with a sickening crunch, as immediately all she could feel was pain across her entire body. Unsure if she could move or not, she called out as loudly as she could for help, hoping someone had seen where she had fallen.

Quote

Sorry for the long delay on my post. I forgot I was the one everyone was waiting on.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Tena had been watching the Parshendi femalen doing the course, and thus saw when Fae fell. She felt a sense of urgency immediately, probably her spren, and then Steelpushed on top of the net, landing near Fae. She summoned her spren as a Shardblade, then cut through the net and fell to Fae, her legs complaining at the treatment. Tena ignored them, crouched next to Fae and healing her with Progression. 

[Archer]

Mace had been watching Fae's run with interest. As such, he watched her fall. Keeping his eyes fixed on where he had last seen her, he got to his feet and rushed towards the spot. As he followed the sound of her voice, he unclipped one of his goldminds. If her fall had been anything like his had been, she was going to need it. 

Ducking behind a supporting pillar, he came across her and Tena. The sight distressed, but didn't disturb him. He'd seen injuries before. Thankfully, her wounds didn't look fatal. Mace crouched next to her, and began speaking in a firm voice. 

"Ma'am, I'm here to help. I'm going to stay with you until we get this sorted out, okay? Take this, and..." He trailed off, staring at the goldmind in his hand. That's wrong, came a thought. What are you doing?

Mace sat down next to Fae, intently focused on the metal in his hands. It wouldn't work. It's sealed. And I don't know how to unseal them. The splint would dissolve. She can't store pain. What was I thinking? 

Mace began having an out of body experience. He could hear his voice begin his mantra again, but he wasn't consciously directing it. "You're in good hands. We have access to the best facilities..."

I can't save them. Anyone. Never could.

"If you focus on my voice, it's easier to cope. Don't move. We need you to be still..."

Why am I here? They're all gone. All the brave ones.

"Everything will be okay. Help has arrived. Just stay with us..."

Came through the jaws of death. Why? Back from the mouth of hell.

"All that was left of them, left of six hundred."

[Sherlock Holmes]

Mace was mumbling to himself, Tena noticed. Apparently his family had a thing for that. She felt more worried this time, though, than when Klasten had started ranting to his horse. That wasn’t all that odd, she supposed. Mace looked really disturbed, and was going through the ‘you’re all right, you’re in good hands’ mantra. What was even more ridiculous was that she was worrying this much about him, despite the fact that he was obviously unaware of her existence. She’d never quite beaten that worrying about him out of her, though in past times what had worked was tragedy. Her daughters’ miscarriages had driven all love from her for quite a while, and in the second case had nearly made her kill the father. 

No, don’t think about that now, Tena told herself. You won’t fail Fae. You won’t. You can help her. She kept on healing the femalen, wiping her eyes with back of one hand. No, it’s been so long. You can take it. Stop. Crying. She looked at Mace nervously. He appeared to be having a mental breakdown of some sort, and that made her want to hug him, but she had to heal Fae first.

[Karnatheon]

Pain. That was all Fae could feel. Her senses were overloaded with it. From the taste of blood in her mouth to the broken bones, everything worked in concert to tell her she was dying. Everything else was blocked out.

Slowly the pain lessened, and eventually went away entirely as new muscle and skin grew to replace what had been damaged, new bone bridges the gaps where others had broken, and she was healed entirely. She slowly realised two people were next to her. Two of the other entrants. They had both been the ones to complete it successfully. One was healing her with stormlight, the other holding a gold metalmond and rambling. But regardless of who had healed her, they had both come to her aid, and a debt was owed.

Slowly sitting up, irrationally worried any sudden movement would undo the healing, Fae attuned the Rhythm of Appreciation and said, "Thank you. Both of you, for your assistance. Without your intervention I would have died, I could feel my life ebbing away. I owe you my life." As Fae finished speaking, she stood up, and bowed to Mace and Tena. "Not many humans would care enough to try and save a Singer like me. I am indebted to both of you for that."

[Spaceferring]

Zaphoid was about to carry the woman to the nearest hospital with a nicrosil-enhanced Steelpush, when he saw the others rush toward her and start healing her through Investiture. 

I'll wait to see how well they get her, and if it gets dangerous, I'll take in. 

Surprisingly, the woman sat up after a few seconds and Zaphoid let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. 

"All right. You three, you're in on the team. Next please!" 

@Ookla the Guacless

[Archer]

"No problem. That's what we're here for," Mace told Fae, seemingly back to his normal stuff again. In the distance, he heard Zaphoid tell them they'd passed. That pleased him. 

"C'mon. Let's get you out of the next guy's way," he continued, putting his arm by her back to help her move. She still looked rough, and he didn't want her to fall. 

Thank you, he mouthed to Tena, then shot her a wink. 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Ookla the Paragon

[Sherlock Holmes]

Tena grinned at Mace, mouthing back, You’re welcome. He still looked a little out of sorts. I hope he’s okay... well, at least he acknowledged my presence this time. She picked up Fae and Steelpushed up to the top of the pit, still loading the femalen with stormlight. Anxiously he looked down at Mace, guessing that he didn’t have as much experience with Steelpushing. “Wingardium levio...” she started saying, then stopped, frowning. Shouldn’t have read those books.

Tena set Fae down. "Sister, I don't care that you're a Singer. We're all just people in the end, after all. Some of your folks hired an assassin to kill the Alethi's king? Chill. Pretty cool, actually."

Edited December 4, 2018 by Ookla the Meme-Thief

[Karnatheon]

Fae felt a lot better as Mace helped her stand up and reassured her. After hearing Zaphoid, Fae confusedly said "But I failed the course. How did I pass if I wasn't able to complete it?" Tena flew them up back to solid ground and also seemed to shrug off her thanks. "I really don't know anything about that whole business with the king. But most people are so used to their dullform slaves they can't even begin to see me as a person. Thank you again."

Feeling a lot better, Fae headed back to the start of the course to watch the next person.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Tena followed Fae, wondering how the noble would do.

[little wheel]

Quote

Am I too late to join? What is the goal of the team?

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Quote

What? Is that... no, it couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. 

Has my son come to visit his mother? Possibly?

Also, yes, I think you should still be able to join. Just have your character stroll by the Canton and notice his mom doing her acrobatic gag.

@Ookla the Memelord

Edited December 5, 2018 by Ookla the Meme-Thief

[little wheel]

Quote

Sweet. Also, when does this take place?

Silas was walking near [insert location here] when he saw his mother. 

"What's up, mom?"

@Ookla the Meme-Thief @Spacefaring Ferring

[Sherlock Holmes]

“I just got accepted for a job. Something about building an Allomantic spaceship. Completed this here course,” she waved her hand at the trials, “and saved Fae here. Not that hard, I think.”

[Gancho Libre]

Xena pointed at the building in the horizon.

"You sure that's the place?" she asked the old man with whom she had been conversing.

The old man laughed. "Of coarse, my deer,"

Xena resisted the urge to wince at the poor spelling.

"What exactly do they do there?" she asked.

"Space!!!" the old man wheezed. "Eyev never bin in their myself, but they do space stuf!"

Xena sighed. The spelling was just getting worse.

"Watz the matre?" the old man asked.

"I before e except after c..." Xena mumbled.

"Wut?"

"Thank you," Xena said, loud enough for the old man to hear. "'Space stuff?' Sounds like a place where interesting things are happening,"

The old man laughed. "Yoo cud sai that, yue kuld sae that..."

Xena turned very quickly away from the old man and started speed walking towards the building.

Nobody understood the torture she went through.

Then again, Nobody was an invisible man from an old story on Earth, and most likely even he didn't know her plight.

Xena sighed. Sometimes, it was hard being the most intelligent person you met.

It was also hard to be so humble.

Xena approached the front door of the building. In her mind's eyes, she imagined knocking, but having her fist stick to the wood, with the crazy blue light. The door opened, and a clawed hand pulled her in-

Xena sighed. Her imagination was getting out of control.

She knocked loudly. Not on the door itself, mind you, but on the doorframe.

She wasn't stupid, just careful.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Ookla the Libre

[Spaceferring]

Quote

@Ookla the Memelord Sure you can. 

Zaphoid noticed the young man strolling towards the woman called Tena, and wondered how alien food would taste like. 

Quote

@Ookla the Guacless Still waitin'

 

[+Ark1002]

Quote

Mentions in spoiler tags don't work.

@Ookla the Guacless

[Archer]

"Hey Tena, what's your range on steelpushes?" Mace asked out of the blue. "And what's the heaviest amount of metal you could Push into orbit? If we want to launch a rocket into space, we're going to need to know if Pushes are a viable method." He refrained from asking the question of the unconscious man. 

********

Meanwhile, at the HQ, Xena knocked on the door frame. The unsavory character Mace had hired to watch the house stepped out from behind the bushes and approached her. 

"House's empty, miss," he said, extending his soot-covered hand. "There all at the Canton. Can I help you?"  

[Sherlock Holmes]

"If I wanted to Steelpush something heavy, I'd need an unkeyed pewter metalmind, or something like that. The most I can Steelpush is about two hundred pounds with the right momentum, and if I'm above it. What I mean is that I could make myself go about, say, two hundred feet into the air." Tena cocked her head at Mace. "You could probably do better. You are a Lerasium Mistborn, aren't you?"

@Ookla the Paragon

Quote

Oh, oh, oh, also, I call rights as the guy who thought of that.

 

Edited December 8, 2018 by Ookla the Meme-Thief

[Spaceferring]

As the unconscious man failed to rise, Zaphoid sighed and asked if someone was willing to drag him somewhere else. It looked as if he wasn't suited for the job. 

@Ookla the Guacless

Quote

Sorry, you're out 

He overheard Mace's and Tena's conversation and said, "Don't worry. The power of your abilities will not be significant". 

He smiled inwards. How mysterious I'm acting... 

[Archer]

Mace laughed at Tena's comment. "What? No. Don't be ridiculous. My spirit web was permanently altered by an ankh-morporphic incarnation of death. The effect was the same though." 

He paused, furrowing his brow. "I think I could do a few hundred pounds. For the initial launch, I could increase my weight, removing the need to anchor myself with a second Push. That would allow me to focus solely on moving the ship. But once it gets high enough, I'd have to Push off the ground to stay within range of it. Breathing wouldn't be a problem, but I'd get pushed backwards more the higher we went. Eventually gravity would win. I don't think we'd be at the minimum... hundred? I think's it's a hundred miles."

He started pacing. "We could chain it. Have him launch the ship and follow it. Then Push a steel block after him to Push on. Then we launch me up, and you send a block after me so I can keep the other going. Past halfway we have someone who teleported up there start Pulling. But the distance is so far..."

Then Zaphoid said something infuriatingly mysterious. "What do you mean?" he asked.