Strike Without Meaning [Open]

[quick_strike]

Alendian knelt in a large, flat, and obstacleless area - one she had created for this sensorium trial. Robed and without armor, she had a long rifle in her hands. Slowly, she plinked away at incoming targets far, far out in the distance. Metal machines with weapons that glowed a bright green. No, there was no danger since she had set them to just march forth. No attacks, no weapons blazing. Just mindless machines. Mindless so she could keep her own mind wandering while knocking off head after head on the metallic skeletal creatures known as Necrons.

For Alaitoc Eldar, what she was doing was wrong. She was using a weapon and skills she had gained on a previous path in life but Alendian wasn't quite known for her rule following. Still, she was forced to wonder how much the situation had changed from home. Was this the right thing? Was making use of what she knew really going to cause problems on a scale larger than she could view? Alendian had it in mind to ask the Farseer but she wasn't from Alaitoc. Just as Alendian couldn't understand why the Biel-tan were so aggressive, the Farseer would probably have trouble understanding why those from Alaitoc were so strict.

It probably wouldn't hurt to ask in the end.

With a barely audible noise, another shot left the rifle and pinged into a head of yet another Necron. Releasing a sigh, she realized it was going to be a long day.

Comments

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Sorry, Alendian. Zouichi knows humans. Therefore you will be getting compared to humans in 3... 2...

Irritation when interrupted: fairly typical behavior for a preoccupied human.

"I'm merely here to collect on a promise. You mentioned you'd show me your stealth technology." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Unless you've forgotten?"

[quick_strike]

She halted the oncoming Necrons and pulled herself to her feet. Sheesh.

"You are fortunate because you arrived at a proper time." Alendian tugged at her white robe...or more accurately described as cloth covering most of her body that had a hood.

"This is it."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi looked curiously at the robe. "Mimetic coating?"

There were stealth technologies in personal use on Earth, too, but none of them looked quite like Alendian's clothing.

[quick_strike]

"Cameleoline." With that, she willed the cloak to work and it did. It completely turned her invisible, except for her head and rifle which were not covered. A search on any spectrum of vision would reveal nothing was there. Glorious Eldar technology.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He nodded. "Not bad. Heat signature?"

Human stealth suits generally didn't take the form of robes -- too loose, too many variables to account for. Better to tailor the fit to the body.

[quick_strike]

"Blocked from outside view."

Did he expect any less from glorious Eldar tech? "The only way to detect an Eldar wearing this would be through psychic presence."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He didn't really know what to expect from Eldar technology. That's why he was asking.

"So you're saying it compensates for markering strategies, too?"

[quick_strike]

"You would have to be kind enough to explain what that is." Tau markerlights? She has no idea.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I'll demonstrate a simple one." Zouichi summoned a bucket of paint. He splashed Alendian with it.

P.S. it was bright orange.

[quick_strike]

Did you really do that, Zouichi? The frown covering her face was huge and she didn't waste time in retaliating. The colors of bright yellow and blue come crashing down from above Zouichi. Nope, no response from her yet.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Yes, but did the paint coat her robe, revealing her presence? Because that's what Zouichi was interested in finding out. He didn't move out of the way of the paint.

But he did summon a paintball rifle and duck into the crowd of Necrons. Clearly, this was an invitation to a paint battle. From somewhere among the hordes of mechanical menaces, Zouichi squeezed off two quick shots in Alendian's direction.

[quick_strike]

It did make her stand out...momentarily. With a quick shake, the paint rolled off and she was back to being invisible.

Instead of summoning a new rifle, she just had the sensorium modify hers quickly to fire shards of paint. Dashing out of the way, trees began to sprout up, changing the shape of the field so it would be more conductive to taking part in this type of battle.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi slipped through the tree cover, aiming for her rifle (which was presumably not covered by the robes, if she was using it to fire at him). He moved quickly and quietly, not staying in one place long enough for her to be able to triangulate his location from the direction of his fire.

[quick_strike]

Alendian went the opposite way, keeping her head down. It was in a situation like this that she wished she had her armor instead of camo. Warping was much easier than trying to hide after already being spotted.

She made sure to move her gun so it didn't get smacked by a stray round from Zouichi. This time, she pulled a gadget down over her eye so she could see through the scope of her weapon without peering into it. Hiding behind a tree, she panned her weapon around, seeing what it could see.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi, for his part, was still on the move, ducking between hiding spots and attempting to track Alendian. Well, if she was going to hide... He focused on recreating a device he'd seen in the Media Library earlier, something to level the playing field a little. As it activated, he disappeared from sight, fading away and taking his rifle and other accoutrements with him.

He spotted a suspicious location and fired; two quick shots and then he was off again.

[quick_strike]

Alendian rolled to the side and laid flat on the ground. It was changing, the ground slowly turning white and the trees vanishing. The entire area became a pristine snowscape which didn't favor movement since one would leave tracks in the snow. Now it was to each person to notice the differences in the environment.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

From somewhere above Alendian, a large clump of snow fell from an evergreen branch heavily laden with a blanket of white. Well, not so heavily laden now.

The landscape was quiet, though the occasional wind sent a shower of tiny ice crystals tinkling across the surfaces of the drifts.

Very quiet.

Suddenly, a deer burst out of some nearby brush, bounding through the thick snow on sharp black hooves; it cut toward a stand of trees a few yards away.

[quick_strike]

Be very, very quiet. We're hunting Zouichis.

Once the deer got close enough, Alendian burst forward with the speed of an unladen Eldar, a blur to normal human eyes. Not a problem for Zouichi but that's what the deer was for. To duck behind when the inevitable rain of fire came from wherever he was.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi was in one of the trees -- in fact, he'd dislodged that earlier clump of snow climbing up one of its branches, hoping she wouldn't look up. Now he fired off an extra couple shots at Alendian as the scenery shifted...

To become a howling sandstorm in the middle of a desert. The contrast with the snowy terrain from before couldn't have been more different. There was a cluster of rocks nearby, creating a sort of natural cavern; faint firelight seeped out from the cracks, beckoning.

Exits were North, South, Cave, and Dennis.

[quick_strike]

When she heard the shots fire off, she ducked behind the animal and blindly fired off a few shots of her own. Whether the deer got hit or not wasn't a concern for her. However, it was a concern that it turned into a camel. How queer.

She took the natural course and stayed with the animal, waiting for a moment to drop again and not be noticed.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

We're hit, cap'n Zouichi felt a paint shard splatter his left shoulder right before the scenery changed. Aww.

It was rapidly growing darker in the desert, even as the sands began to quiet down. Soon the only source of illumination would be the sputtering campfire.

P.S. the camel was now covered in paint and irritable. It spat in annoyed fashion, giving Alendian a camel glare.

[quick_strike]

With the darkness, Alendian exposed a hand to wipe off her face. Camel spit was sticky and rather gross. Since this wasn't completely serious, it wasn't an issue. But she did stop and let the camel move on, waiting and looking for Zouichi.