Zakalwe
Inactive Member
Avatar of Kohana:
"Excellent"
Lenwe steepled his fingers in front of his face and looked down at the report he had just recieved from his assistants in the Nether Reach. It seemed that his aquisition of some salvaged goods from the Star Army had vaulted his little pet project forward. Soon, he would have a working colosseum, and plenty of fighters, but first, there was something he needed to take care of.
Standing up from his seat, the ashen skinned elf walked out onto the balcony of his villa. The waters of 'his' lake glittered in the rising sun, and he could just make out the figures of deer and some small mammals getting a drink on the banks. The scene was serene, but Lenwe's mind was hardly on that. His mind was on the problem that the world was not his, and that he had yet to get anything close to approval to rebuild the ruins of a Kee'Awloo temple into his arena. And that meant that something would have to be done to sway those in power, those who bent only for Laughing Rain.
Lenwe clenched his jaw at the thought of the leopardess. How she had played him all these monthes, giving him an inch, but requiring that he give her a mile. He had given the codes to the PANTHEON system around her planet, and she had given him corrupted strains of Kohanian DNA. But now, now that he had the basis for cleaning up those samples, and using them to create his fighters, he would take her tiny offering, and turn it into something that would make even the Queen take notice. And that was just what he planned to do...
---------------------Several Weeks Later------------------------------
It had all come to fruition. Lenwe's plan to slowly buy salvaged goods from the wars between Yamatai and the Mishhu had payed off in spades, as now, he stood in the lab of the Nether Reach where the combined might of the Kee'Awloo and Dy'Unnar intelligence had been able to reconstruct ST tubes, and the systems needed to run them. The only problem was, there was no way of powering such a complex system with the current capabilities of the Kohanians. That was what he had been called down to the labs to try and work out.
Lenwe sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he bent over the computer system again. There had to be some way to get ahold of a power source stable enough to power the system for at least three days. After that, it could all fall to peices for all he cared, because he would have his fighters, and would be able to pull in enough income to purchase the parts he needed new, instead of just salvaged junk heaps. He had been bent over this problem now for almost four hours, and he was no closer to finding an answer. He looked over the history texts he was able to pull from the Star Army databases, but they gave no information on how the other races powered their technology, other than the Aether Tap, which was right out. The closest thing he could find was something from a long dead race, called a Psyker. The only information he could find about them, though, was that they were beings of unparalelled mental capability, who had their psychic abilities drained to power their master's technology. It was a very brutal process, but something that Lenwe was not above using, if he could find one of the creatures.
Then the answer hit Lenwe square in the head. A wicked grin came to his face as he realized that he may not have Psykers to power his system, but he did have a race who could tap into the infinite power of the universe in the capability of magic. He would just need to get his hands on a well trained Kohanian, remove the barrier they are trained to put up between their rational minds, and the part that draws forth the magic, and they would become living batteries which he could suck the magic out of them to power his cloning machines, and they could still function when they were all used up, as menial labor, or martial artists in his arena. It was a plan without fail, other than how to convince someone to give up their power, to see their race move so far forwards...
----------One Week Later--------------------
"Shhh, you gotta be quiet or we'll trigger the alarms. Don't forget that we're not supposed to be down here..." The Sha'Nai student whispered to his two friends as they snuck through the stone floored corridors of the underground lab.
"Snow, this is a horrible idea. We shouldn't be down here. What if your dad finds out that you took his security card? He will be so mad! Or what if Master Night realizes we are not in the dormatories? You know that he has the power to track us down through the Twilight..." One of the others, a smallish black leopard commented.
The leader, Snowfall, put a finger to his lips and snuck up to the next cross section in the path, where he searched one way, and then the other to make sure no one was coming. Finding not a single guard patrolling the area, the four students crept up to the large metal door and Snow slid his father's clearance badge through the scanner. The door to the lab hissed as compressed air escaped, and then slid open to allow the four Kohanian teens in.
Snow went immediately to the two large tanks along the far wall, trying to see what was in the dark purple liquid within, but it was just too dark, even with the lighting all around. He was joined by two of the others, who tried to make sense of the readings on the sides of the tanks, while the other, the one who had expressed a dislike of the situation just sat by the door, tailtip in his hands, petting it.
"This is so bad, we're going to get caught, and probably shot for seeing this stuff...We're going to die, that's it, we are going to be sliced open and have our organs used as food to some alien invader. I know they're here, I have seen them. The Dark Ones will find us, that's probably who is running this whole operation. They have sucked out your dad's brain, Snow, and are using him like a puppet to draw the rest of us in here for food...They know! They can sense your thoughts!" The outcast whined, letting go of his tail and cradling the sides of his head, ears folding backwards.
Snow looked to his friend and shook his head in disapproval of his whining. But then the images on the screen caught his eye. One one of the tubes was a large batlike creature. It had the wings of the bats of Sha'Nai, but it's body was like that of a weasel almost. It's eyes glowed red from beneath a concealing hood, and held in the crook of it's right arm was a massive black bladed scythe.
"Whoa, look at this! This is so wicked! I wonder if this is what they are trying to make?" Snow blurted, his voice reverberating off the smooth metal walls of the lab. Footsteps could be heard walking along a suspended catwalk, and a security guard looked down into the lab. But sensing their mistake, Snow and his friends had dove for cover behind the tubes or computer banks all around, and so were not seen by the guard.
Once the coast was again clear, Snow moved right back to the computer system, pushing buttons in the hope of bringing the image back. A small squeak came from behind him, and Snow turned to the student by the door. The young Unnar was standing up, facing the now open door, which was being blocked by a tall figure in a pinstriped suit. The figure was not Kohanian, but not human either.
"Ah, I see that you have taken an interest in my latest experiments? It's wonderful to see the next generation taking such an active role in how the tomorrow of his people will be shaped." The figure commented, stepping into the room, right past the frozen Dy'Unnar.
"Tell me, Young One. What's your name and how did you get past my security to get in here. This area is highly classified, you know?" Lenwe asked as he sat down in a chair from one of the computer banks.
"My name is Snowfall, and I am in line to take over the ruling of the Sha'Nai Shadow hands. Your security was mere child's play for the likes of me." The Sha'Nai responded, puffing his chest up and trying to look as large as possible.
"Oh was it now? Then could you tell me why it was that you couldn't even get past the first level of that security? Why you tripped the silent alarm the moment you and your...friends, stepped into my facility?" Lenwe asked with a crooked grin. The Sha'Nai's confidence deflated.
"But...you said...You said we bypassed your security? And now-" Snow held his head in his paws, trying to make sense of it all. Lenwe spun in his chair and called up the security footage of the four Kohanian students sneaking over the stone wall of Lenwe's compound, and then across the courtyard. Snow shook his head and turned away.
"I didn't expect that you would be some crazy paranoid freak...I took care of all the normal security measures..." He was just trying to save a small bit of dignity with his friends.
Lenwe chuckled softly to himself, but it quickly stopped when a small message began flashing on his screen. He turned to Snow with a look of genuine panic in his eyes. The elf was about to speak, when the tanks behind Snow rumbled and blurbled as bubbles of air floated up from them.
"Boy, I strongly suggest that you get out of here right this instant. If you do that, I swear your headmaster will never find out about this prank. But I do believe that your careless button pressing has triggered a system I was not going to use for some time..." Lenwe stood quickly and tried to shepherd the young Kohanians out of the lab. All but Snow took the advice, sprinting from the lab, back down the hallways and into the night.
Snow on the other hand dropped a shoulder as he was being pushed out, and rolled to the right, trying to get back to the tubes while his friends fled.
"What did I do? What is going on in here?" He asked, pressing his face to the glass again.
"If you must know, these are cloning tubes. I am taking some data I found floating around on some long unused networks, and some salvaged computer equipment, and I am trying to bring back fighters from your people's past...But the system that powers this machine wasn't ready to be booted up. Whatever you did, you started the energizing process..." Lenwe explained, walking up behind the shorter male, and laid his hands on Snow's shoulders.
Snow then felt the first tinges of fear creeping into his mind. He could die here, and all because he wanted to prove to his friends that he was tough and brave. He tried to break away from Lenwe, but the elf had a rock solid grip on the boy's shoulders.
"Please, let me go. I don't want to die here, I didn't mean to do it, I just wanted to see the cool picture again!" Snow struggled against Lenwe's grip, and soon broke free, sprinting out of the lab as the elf folded his arms over his chest and watched the liquid sloshing about within the tanks, a wicked smile coming to his lips.
"Soon, very soon, you will see the image again, my little one. You will be the first that will see it..." He chuckled to himself, and then went back to the computers and locked down the lab, no one would come in until the process was complete.
