The Twisted Earth (Post-apocalyptic Role play) (Started - Closed)

[tobi the good boy]

Mortis' had opted to celebrate his victory over the monstrous arachnid with a self congratulatory dissection. He was lucky his predictions had been correct, he concluded that if the bug that had attacked him earlier fell to the pathogenic properties of the 'Sanguine' then perhaps the great dead creature before him would as well.

Mortis glanced over the spider with eye's tuned for detail, with each passing glance an image was stored in his mind for reference or use. The creatures fangs were roughly the length of his forearm and had serrated segments closer to the maw of the beast designed to tear flesh. It's eight legs, within the tips of the Tarsus, contained retractable claw-like blades, likely to grip its food and it's thorax was jagged from the overlapping plates of the exoskeleton.

"You are beautiful aren't you."

Mortis was about to make the first incision on the underside of the abdomen but was halted when he noticed something out of place in the physiology of the spider. The segment known as the pedicle, used to offer movement of the abdomen, was enlarged and more complexly structured. Mortis raised his scalpel high in the air, hovering above this curiosity and brought it down like some sacrificial dagger. As the blade drove through the surprisingly soft tissue in the rear of the spider coiled inwards and a long stinger burst out between the spinnerets nearly impaling Mortis.

"I think I'm in love."

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

Blake stumbled through the darkness of the airship, chased by the cacophony of gunfire, shouts and monstrous screeches. Having strapped the crossbow onto his back, he tightly gripped his beretta, lightly fingering the trigger.

Despite the darkness, occasional shafts of light pierced through small portholes, allowing Blake to briefly investigate. From what he could make out, the airship interior was unlike anything he had ever seen; metal lines and odd contours he would ordinarily assume could never work. As Blake admired this wondrous relic of the Goodman he approached a battered metal stairwell, the railings and a few of the steps warped and crooked obviously from the airship's impact with the ground. Sighing, and with a concerned glance back through the darkness towards the chaotic noise from outside, Blake ascended the steps to continue his search for something that could get them out of this mess.

 

[Dectomax]

Marcus backed into the airship, rifle at his waist. He knew better than to waste precious rounds shooting at the beasts. Once inside, he looked around, taking stock of the area. They were in some kind of storage deck. Containers and other boxes lay scattered around, illuminated by the red glare of a flare. Marcus lifted the lid off one of the wooden crates, inside were what looked like rockets, but much smaller. He looked around, there were roughly four boxes of the same type and size of the one stood in front of him. Looking behind him, he saw a small man hiding in the corner. It was Ford. "Get up you coward, you just gunna get eaten sitting down if you don't move." Marcus laughed.

 

[StormShaun]

BLAM!. Another muzzle flash came from Shaun's gun before he hid again, "Shit, what is that guy doing!" he muttered to himself as he drank quickly out of his flask, "Pheewey, thats some good stuff" Shaun muttered again to himself as he savored the taste of his favorite drink.

Shaun kept on firing at the horde of giant spiders until CLICK, a unhappy sound came from both of his guns, "Crap, out of ammo, sorry you two but you have to be put away now" Shaun muttered quietly before putting Ebony and Irony into his pockets and pulled out his katana once more.

Shaun looked around and saw the the other defenders still fighting the spiders, Shaun huffed and spoke to the nearest person who was Ashe, "Hey, I'm out of ammo, I'm going to see if I can find any in the ship", Shaun then quickly turned around and dashed off, hoping to either find more ammo or that other man who walked off to find a solution.

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

Turning a sharp corner at the top of the stairwell, Blake was suddenly drawn to something spied through one of the dirty portholes. Eyes narrowing as a smile crept onto his lips, Blake looked past the grotesque spiders crawling across the deck of the airship, and fixed his stare on what appeared to be a cannon of some sort.

Continuing down the narrow gangway, the grizzled mutant-hunter rushed through the darkness ignoring the sounds of his comrades fighting down below. Eventually he found what he was after: a sealed metal door leading to the deck, and the cannons. Testing the ease of the doors giant locking mechanism, Blake was relieved to find that it was still functioning, and with a little effort could unlock the door himself.

Running back to the top of the stairwell, Blake saw - through the distorting red mists of a flare - Marcus helping Ford up from the gore-slick floor. "You!" He yelled at the two men, "Need a hand up here, I think I've found a solution to these unholy pests!" Without waiting to see if they'd follow, Blake quickly made his way back to the deck's doorway.

 

[tobi the good boy]

A resounding crunch followed by a sickening bursting noise echoed through the dimly lit chamber filled to the brim with broken machinery and cloaked in spider webs.

"My, my... Did I break something?" Whispered the sinister lullabies of a madman to a bulging jelly-like orb coiled in his grasp. Littered throughout his make-shift operating room were puddles of black and green ichors, thick slabs of obsidian carapace and oddly shaped organs adorned the chamber.

The pale psychopath, Mortis, rose from the mutilated remains of the gargantuan arachnid, bits of thorax, abdomen and segmented legs scattered around his presence. Wrapped around him were thick, fleshy, glistening tubes.

What a mess you've made

Mortis cast the vile raiment from his shoulders and dusted off his stained, worn lab-coat. He proceeded to methodically return his assortment of saws, blades, clasps and other instruments into the various pockets lining the inside of his black leather Doctor's bag.

As he slipped the last tool of the trade into it's resting place a billowing siren ran through the facility catching his attention. Mortis had only just realised that the hail of gunfire upstairs that had accompanied him throughout his ... 'work'.

"Well, I suppose I should give them a hand" Mortis quipped, his rifle raised and began ascending the stairway.

 

[Dectomax]

A spider rammed the side of the airship, then it's brothers and sisters followed. They crashed against the side, long black legs reaching through the small crack. The wood was holding, but only just. Marcus turned and noticed Blake shouting at him and made his way towards him.

Outside, the orange light from the blast door was glowing, a wave of deep colour bathing the plantlife in light. The rain was pouring down and streaks of lighting dashed across the sky, thunder roaring across the plains, like an untamed beast. Just over the sound of the very heavens themselves, came a steady chugging. Shouts of men, and then a heavy thud. Two men entered the dome from the blast door. Entombed in heavy power armour, they looked like walking tanks. One looked across the landscape whilst the other spewed hot fire across the plants, setting the spiders alight and pushing back the swarm. Two Humvee's drove in, side by side and the heavy pounding of automatic machine gun fire rang around the dome. The heavy fifty calibre rounds tore through the spiders, the flashes of light basking the room in sudden bursts of light. Voices bounced around the room and more people rushed in, disciplined and trained soldiers, moving with an air of professionalism. They opened fire, pushing forwards under the wall of fire from the fifty calibres, towards the Airship.

Marcus looked out to the commotion. "Oh fuck, oh piss!" Turning to Blake, Marcus spoke. "The Foundation are here, we need to leave NOW!

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

As the gore and ichor stained the hole that Ashe and a few of the others held she saw the lighting of the storm outside flash nearly blinding her. Spiders and their limbs had littered the entrance to the airship but the sound of heavy footsteps and the sound of motors.

"What the hell?" Ashe said as she loaded the last of her rounds. Then out of the light she saw them. Their thunderous steps, their metal exterior, the sound of their weapons tearing the air with its distinctive fire. They hadn't seem to have changed. It was as if Ashe's past was storming through the dome.

Ashe's eyes froze with hesitation then Marcus' words snapped her back to reality.

"Where to?! They have the entrance!" Ashe yelled back as she looked frantically for another way out.

 

[StormShaun]

Tapping noise came from the Captain's Office, Shaun was eagerly accessing the computer, ignoring the sensation that he felt from his arms, it felt like he was being stuck with hundreds of needles of adrenaline but still he ignored it.

Shaun still heard the gunfire from the survivors around him, his typing speed slowly increases so he may re-join them and help them, but Shaun's typing speed was increasing way too fast, it was...unnatural.

"Mother fucking Eureka!" Shaun yelled as he accessed the computer, he was about to look at the documents but a loud voice came from somewhere, "The Foundation are here, we need to leave NOW!, after hearing that Shaun pulled out a USB that The Scientists gave him on his first mission leave, he uploaded all of the computer's information onto the small device.

The loud gunfire outside was getting more louder, "Ugh, it seems that things never change with these guys" Shaun mutters to himself after hearing the loud gunfire of the Foundation, a noise came from the computer and Shaun pulled the USB out, as Shaun passed the entrance to the room Shaun went to the main captain's chair and spoke "Sorry mate, I need these", Shaun then twirled the chair around only to find a decapitated body. After picking up the ammo for his two guns, Shaun ran towards the area whoever warned him.

 

[tobi the good boy]

Mortis had arisen from the dank web and bloodstained chambers and was making haste through the hurdles of barbed vines towards the single diminishing beacon of light in the center of the dome. He had garbed himself in the thick, fish-scaled cloak the moment he saw the downpour of acid rain cascading from the gaping maw at the peak of the dome.

The closer Mortis got to the Airship, the greater his comprehension of the situation grew. The spider population appeared to have increased by the dozens and by the sounds of heavy gunfire coming from within the great mechanical structure, his comrades had been pinned down. Mortis broke through the abyss into the illuminated core of the greenhouse, his entry managing to grab the attention of a few of the gargantuan arachnids.

"Tag, you're it!" Mortis announced to the spiders he had attracted as he squeezed the hairline trigger of his rifle, the iconic ping resonated from his M1 Garand as his last bullet blasted from the chamber felling one of the beasts instantly. The adjacent spiders recoiled for the briefest moment as one of their own lay sprawling helplessly among the foliage, Mortis took this opportunity and leapt onto one of the wings of the flying machine and bolted along it's chassis.

Mortis had now reached the upper deck of the ship and was trying his best to out maneuver a pair of spiders that had taken a great interest in him since his brief demonstration on one of their kin. One was larger than the other and had a smoother carapace, the other was much like the one he dissected, smaller and more angular. Mortis couldn't help but laugh manically as the adrenaline coursed through his synthetic bloodstream. Despite all his dodges and rolls Mortis was quickly being closed in by the twin arachnids. It was by sheer luck that Mortis had found a weak portion of the deck that gave way as one of the spiders thrust their stinger in a failed attempt to impale the patchwork man. A few evasive actions later and Mortis was diving into the makeshift porthole his hunters had provided and found a temporary solace form the beasts above.

As the spiders clawed and screeched over the loss of their prey Mortis rose to his feet and removed his acid drenched cloak casting it aside like some unwanted burden. As he did so he noted a series of rapid footsteps coming from the corridor connecting to his own. He raised his rifle aiming with one hand into the empty space, waiting. A few seconds later a man, one he had never seen before, raced around the corner and came to a sudden halt before Mortis

"Bang!" Mortis mused to the unknown figure frozen before him followed by loud ping that resonated through the stale silence. Mortis giggled as he lowered the gun watching with cruel amusement as the colour returned to the foreign mans features.

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

Blake cursed as he heard the others' warning of the Foundation's arrival. He'd had dealings with the Foundation before; unholy, ruthless men who care not for the eradication of mutants. Dangerous fighters though. Too dangerous for the group to get into an unplanned skirmish with.

Placing his focus back to the deck's cannon, Blake peered through the porthole and grimly watched the spiders battling with the power-armoured soldiers. "A good distraction..." He said to himself quietly, turning to see if Marcus and Ford had followed him.

Looking down the empty gangway, Blake cursed the young man and his companion for ignoring his order as he rushed back to the top of the stairs.

"In the name of the Goodman, I've found a cannon!" He roared at them, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "If we can fire the cannon we may be able to cause enough of a problem to get outta here alive! But I need some covering fire to get to it!"

The pale-scarred man fumed visibly, his face turning red causing the scar on his head to shine bright and ugly.

 

[Dectomax]

Marcus heard Blake shout and following the sound of his voice, found him on the upper level. Seeing instantly what all the fuss was about, Marcus smiled like a small child at Christmas. "Rockets are on the lower level, get that fucking door open and I'll bring these bastards up. give 'em a bit of a surprise!" Marcus yelled over the heavy thump of fifty calibre rounds. Sprinting down the stairs, Marcus found Ford, cowering in a corner again. "Get up you piece of shit, carry these!" Marcus shouted, thrusting a stack of rockets into his arms and taking a set for himself. "GO! Get to the fucking top!" Marcus yelled, Giving Ford a nudge.
Hesitantly, Ford made his way up the stairs.

As The Foundation continued the firefight against the spiders, a man stepped out of one of the Humvee's, He stood at just over six feet tall, clad in a powerful suit of armour, the left shoulder pad holding an Eagle head emblem. The man yelled to the others and they began forming up into a line, pushing the creatures back. The flamers spread a dense cover of flames as the riflemen let of short, controlled bursts. The new man cocked a shotgun with one hand, before unloading it into a spider. 'BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM!' six shots echoed around the dome as he tore a spider to pieces with the powerful gun. Huge chunks of flesh were torn from it and it collapsed onto the floor.

 

[StormShaun]

The scared Shaun stood on the spot and looked up only to be confronted by a giggling man, Shaun then noticed the noise he heard was a blank "PING", Shaun's faced scrunched up and began to laugh with the strange giggling man with all the gunfire sounds around them.

Noticing the sound of fire outside the two stopped laughing and Shaun was first to speak, "Well, we should help those other guys out, oh, and my name is Shaun, Shaun Pittman" Shaun said in a calm tone with a smirk across his face as he walked up to the stranger and offered a handshake.

 

[tobi the good boy]

Mortis glanced over the mysterious figure standing before him, He was extending his hand, a common gesture used as a form of greeting. Mortis coiled the spindly fingers of his intact hand around his and bowed slightly. The man now identified as 'Shaun' wore a grin in an attempt to mimic his own but Mortis noted all the subtle signs of unease.

"Mortis, I take it you're aware of the armed militia and arachnids outside?" The exchange of words between the two individuals was interrupted by a loud screeching noise. One of the spiders that had been in pursuit of Mortis before his escape had lodged one of it's long, clawed limbs through a hole in the deck and was flailing wildly desperately trying to find it's prey.

"I'll need this" Mortis pulled the shocked man in closer and with his other hand pulled the man's pistol from the holster around his waist. Mortis made a sudden turn and aimed at the bulbous growth at the tip of the appendage. In a loud bang the bullet flew from the chamber and burst through the leg nearly severing it and causing it go limp.

"The growth on at the top of their legs is filled with a liquid that aids in their hydraulic movement-" Mortis explained as he returned the the pistol to the man now identified as 'Shaun Pittman'. "Also, you have something of mine." He added while motioning to the bloodied stump where his hand had been.

 

[StormShaun]

The confused Shaun looked around and at the last moment he looked down and saw the horrifying disconncected hand of Mortis in his left hand where he had been shaking him, Shaun's face looked back up to Mortis's bloodied stump, and back down, back up, and down again, and once more up, "Once more" Shaun spoke as he looked down at the hand and back up to Mortis's bloody stump, "Holy SHI...".

After 5 minutes of explaining from Mortis and shrieking from Shaun, Mortis fixed his hand once more and Shaun breathed in deeply once more, "Okay I think Im used to it now, okay what now?"

 

[tobi the good boy]

Mortis rolled his wrist rhythmically while explaining the nature of his 'Mutation' over Shaun's frantic burst of confusion. By the time the flow of the Sanguine had returned to normal the man before him had calmed to a point where civil conversation was once again possible.

"I'd suspect the best course of action for me would be to return the rest of my group, scan this damnable ship and be on my lovely way." Mortis turned and bolted to the end of the corridor towards the gunfire and yelling of familiar voices.

"Whatever happens to you is of no importance to me" With that final comment he turned the corner waving the mysterious man goodbye. In his hand: a silver pistol with the words 'Irony' etched into the foreign metal and his face illuminated with that same persistent and oddly innocent smile.

Follow the leader...

 

[StormShaun]

Shaun was beginning to like this Mortis fellow, but before he suggested that they go back together he was already looking at the back of Mortis running away, "Son of a' *****..." Shaun muttered before the running crazy man was completely gone.

Shaun was now left in a corridor of the ship drinking on his mysterious flask, "What should I do now, I haven't got anywhere to go I guess, may as tag along with those other guys...hey wait a sec" Shaun muttered to himself before he checked his holsters, one of his guns was missing from the second holster, "NO, Irony, you're missing...how ironic" Shaun laughed at his own misery of his missing engraved pistol, Shaun ran off to find his missing gun and the crazy man with his friends.

 

[Dectomax]

The Foundation moved forwards, accurate fire putting the spiders down before they could turn. The noise of gunfire echoed around the room, flashes of light lit up the darkness like small suns. One of the men fired at a spider who had strayed too close, yet nothing came out of his rifle. Almost comically, the man looked down at this rifle before being impaled by the spider. A sickening scream bounced around the dome as the man was torn in half. The two men nearest to him turned and emptied their clips into the beast, tearing into pieces as another dragged the wounded man back to the trucks.

The solider in the massive suit of power armour, with the Eagle head on the shoulder started yelling commands and the troops began to move towards the airship. The big man stopped, swinging his rifle from his back and fitting it snugly into his shoulder, scanning the ship. He stopped over a small door leading to the cannons. Lowering the rifle, a frown crept over his face and he yelled another order to the men, who began to move faster towards the airship.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Shit...shit...shit..."Ashe mumbled as she scrambled up the stairs. The arms of the spiders crawling about the ship nearly impaled Ashe as she ran up the stairs towards the sounds of her comrades. Ashe was desperately low on ammo and the Foundation was coming hot on their heels.

Luckily Ashe found herself on the deck of the ship looking over the side of the ship, dodging spiders left and right. Ashe drew out her .357 magnum and plugged one of the spiders sending it spiraling back. As she saw the spider retreat she saw the advance of the Foundation. She aimed her magnum once again trying to see if she could make the shot.

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

Sprinting back to the bolted door of the deck, Blake wondered if they'd be able to make it to the cannon unscathed. As he gripped the heavy handle, he turned to see a trembling Ford stumbling down the gangway, arms clutching the odd rockets that Marcus had handed him.

Not waiting for Marcus to join them, Blake pulled his beretta out with his free hand and pulled the door's handle down, making sure it didn't swing open unexpectedly. "You're not looking so good," he said, eyeing Ford suspiciously. A terrified sound from the back of the man's throat was his only response.

Holding out his arms, Blake tried to make his face softer, an obvious effort for the scarred mutant-hunter. "Give me those... You cover me with rifle fire." Ford handed Blake the rockets; they were lighter than he'd expected. Silently praying to the Good Man that they would cause enough damage, Blake nodded to Ford as he threw open the door.

It wasn't far to the cannon but with the uncertainty of the spiders and Foundation gunfire, it felt like ten miles. Running as fast as he could whilst in a half-crouch, Blake meandered towards the cannon, skipping and lunging out of aggressive grasps of the spiders as Ford kept pace, firing wildly to keep them at bay.

Sliding to an awkward halt at the base of the cannon, Blake planted the rockets by his feet and grabbed the first handle he saw. Swinging the chamber open, he placed a rocket inside and pulled the firing lever, cannon aimed straight at the attacking Foundation. Nothing but a dull 'clink' could be heard within the contraption. Blake cursed as he smashed the cannon with his fist, ignoring the panicked shouts of Ford.

Returning his attention to man behind him, Blake turned and noticed Marcus had joined in the action, bringing with him three more rockets. Placing his cargo on the deck next to Blake, Marcus readied his weapon and began defending the cannon alongside Ford.

"It won't fire!" Blake roared over the gunfire, furious at the prospect of his end. Suddenly, Ford turned and grabbed a wheel located at the side of the machine and began turning it. "I've seen designs not unlike this...you gotta turn the wheel to prep it!" Returning once again to the spiders, Ford continued to fire.

Blake spun the wheel until it suddenly stopped with a 'crunch', and then he stood up and lined the Foundation's trucks in his sight. "Praise to the Good Man!" Grinning maniacally, Blake fired.

The rocket shot out with a high-pitched squeal, fizzing sparks trailing behind at it corkscrewed towards Blake's target. Even before the rocket hit the ground a few metres short of the trucks, Blake had already loaded, prepped and fired the cannon again; this time a towards a closer group of Foundation soldiers heading towards the entrance of the ship. The rocket squealed straight and true, hitting the soldiers with a bang, engulfing them and the surrounding foliage in flames.

Blake revelled in the screams of the unholy soldiers as he loaded the third rocket into place. He aimed his sights once again on the Foundation trucks, laughing at the fiery scene that threatened to pin them down if the flames were to spread. Turning the wheel rapidly, Blake noticed that the rate of fire from Ford and Marcus had lessened. Spinning, Blake saw that the spiders were keeping their distance from the cannon not that it was firing. "There's gotta be more of these cannons! The spiders hate them...if we can get 'em going all at once, maybe these unholy beasts will leave us alone!"

Not waiting for a reply, Blake aimed his sights once again towards the trucks. Pulling the lever, Blake watched as the rocket exploded just short of the trucks again but succeeded in setting aflame the rest of the surrounding foliage, trapping the remaining soldiers within. The unlucky ones were either dead, or dying as the fire raged inside the dome.

"Praise the Good Man, heathens!!!" Blake screamed, as he loaded another rocket into the cannon.