Temporal Rift RPG

[The Kingpin]

As the blast engulfed the two vehicles, the Wustenfuchs' energy barrier materialised with a transparent purple warble, the destructive force of the blast washing around it, before another round was fired, this time aiming over the tether's dark tendrils, detonating directly over it, a second singularity round boring right through solid rock as it punched past the formerly subterranean cliff, soaring right into the root of the tether as it detonated, the split positioning of the two singularities seeing to it that the tether lacked the ability to react to both, complex computer models of trajectories lined up by the Wustenfuchs' Tactical Map, just as the two secondary guns fired Hollenfueur rounds, the two powerful explosive projectiles soaring over the upper singularity, arcing around as the intense gravitational pull of its core redirected them, before slamming into the ground mere feet from the tether's core, not far from the second singularity...

[C S]

The droning bellowing rapidly climbed in pitch until it became a soul-rending scream, screeching across the wastes like a banshee. The direction of the wind inexplicably reversed, the swirling currents ceasing; only to abruptly rush toward the black fires which were now contorting around the gravity wells. The shift created a massive dust storm, bright flashes of light going off in the dark brown and tan mist of sand and rock fragments, adding to the mayhem already present due to the Rift storm...

[Giratina93]

The APC, however, wasn't so lucky as the blast slammed into it. Sparks flew inside of the machine as systems went offline from the surge of power. The turrets that had been firing before went down, their very energy overloaded and rendered inoperational for the time being. "Damnit!" Rebin shouted as he got off the turret after trying to fire some bullets, but to no avail. They were now sitting ducks... completely useless from what had happened.

"What the heck just happened? Isn't the APC supposed to be able to stand up to this kind of stuff?" Yukari asked as she stayed on her turret, hoping that the power would reconnect back on. But she knew it wouldn't be so easy. Apparently, the APC hadn't been properly shielded to take on this kind of energy. Then again, she doubted the designers of it had this sort of thing in mind when making the vehicle...

[The Kingpin]

The Wustenfuchs rumbled powerfully as the vehicle reversed, the Artificial Gravity Panels lacing the treads amplifying in power as the vehicle's grip on the ground strengthened, making sure no amount of force could pull it from it's position. "Team two, status report" said Dietrich over the comms, hoping that the residual Rift Radiation being generated in by the dying tether wasn't affecting the APC too severely...




Meanwhile, as Jacob moved through the tunnels beneath the Dead City, a rumble shook the underground facility, bricks falling from the walls and ceiling, dust coming down in sheets as water rippled in the drains alongside the path, a pulse of Rift energy coming up on his sensors inexplicably. "That's right...You SHOULD be wetting yourself...Daddy's home" said Jacob smugly as he continued down the tunnel, scanning for signs of movement, vital signs, rift radiation spikes...anything that would give a clue as to what they were up against...

[C S]

The dust storm coalesced, forming a strange display where the subterranean valley once was. Three massive tornadoes swung around each other, curving and swaying, their tops completely hidden by the violent storm clouds hanging over the desolated landscape. Likewise, where they met the ground was consumed by a dome of white electricity and purple mist. All together, the phenomenon created a low roar that traveled on the wind, bursts of lightning raining down from the sky.


Then it began. The dome started to expand rapidly, ballooning high into the sky to the point the clouds were being dispersed, swept away by some incorporeal wind. The light of three stars, one gigantic blue one and two smaller red ones which were many miles upon miles apart shone down as a heavenly pillar, though the sky was as stark black as a moonless night in spite of both it and the cascade of Rift energy.

It looked as if it would overtake those who destroyed the tether... but then it stopped. The light disappeared in a flash and what was left in its blinding wake was the rock face that stood before, though half formed, as if the clock had been turned back but not everything was effected by the rewind. Thus, a remnant of the past and the continuation of the present remained as one, rocks crumbling down the cliff and into the scorched half-crater now vacant of the shadowy veil... and the limbs from beyond...

[Pyronychus]

As the resonant rumble of shifting debris in the tunnels subsided, so it seemed, did the flow of time itself. Ambient sounds slowed down and lowered in pitch as though someone was running them through a slowed-down record player. At the same time, the two humans in the tunnel appeared to walk in slow motion for a moment before freezing in mid-step. Then, as before, Kane's viewpoint was separated from his body. It turned toward the duo as it left the suit, allowing Kane a distorted, discolored view of himself, momentarily trapped in time. Then it whirled around and flew at speed down the tunnel, passing several narrower side-passages, where smaller pipes branched off of the main line. It zoomed around a sharp curve and abruptly slowed down almost to walking speed as it came to a fork in the passage, gliding slowly, deliberately, into the mouth of the left tunnel before picking up speed once more. This time the viewpoint flew even faster than before, the strobing of barely functional light fixtures on the ceiling only making the swimming, weirdly-colored view more disorienting. Suddenly the tunnel became rapidly smaller as Kane flew over a gigantic pile of rubble blocking all but the top foot or so of the tunnel. The obstacle did little to stop the view from flying on, alarmingly close to the jagged, damaged ceiling as it sped toward what appeared to be the end of the passage. As the end came closer, the view became brighter, blurrier, more distorted. A burst of what could have been static clouded Kane's vision. The viewpoint picked up even more speed as the end rushed nearer, as if it was hurrying to get there and running out of time. But just before it came to the end, the vision was drowned in static whiteness and Kane was wrenched back into his body...

[Godzilla Forever]

The APC sputtered and shook, electric sparking audible form within the APC. The engines coughed and cried, the APC struggling to keep going. The EMP appeared to have had seriously debillitating effects on the APC.

"Goddammit, work, you worthless hunk of metal!" Damian shouted, before he pressed down on the thrusters.

With sudden gusto, the APC roared back to life, as it soon caught up with the Wusterfuchs, the bluish hued flames behind it blazing outwards, before they slowly died down. The APC soon resumed a more reasonable pace. Damian soon exained the swathe of destruction his crew had narrowly avoided beign sucked into. The entire valley... completely destroyed. What was once home to russians had been overrun by shadow monsters, and their own probe had become one of the tethers to this hellhole. As the effects of the EMP died down, the APC's communications soon came back online.

Team two, status report" was the first thing Damian heard come through the communications. And so Damian replied.

"A little bit of a close call for us back there, but we made it through in one peice," Damian replied to Dietrich. "How is it on your end?"

[The Kingpin]

"Situation stable. Shields regenerated to full capacity. Weapons armed and ready. Target condition....nonexistent" responded Dietrich as he examined the diagnostics. "Private. Condition?" he asked as he looked over his shoulders at the soldier inquiringly...

[C S]

Private leaned in the metal door frame, one arm bracing against the side while the other hung loosely at his side. The young soldier slowly raised his gaze from the floor and with obvious strain, he raised his arm and gave his commander a thumbs-up. "I'm... not drunk. I could drive this tank... if I wanted to."


Kane was unresponsive, his suit seeming to have seized up. After a short while however, the servos whirred and Kane shook his head. "Okay, second time that's happened. Now I'm alarmed and annoyed."

[Giratina93]

"Holy... that's a lot of destruction." Yukari whistled as she overlooked at what had happened. They had gotten out of there alive and in one piece, and hopefully that revenant had been sucked in and destroyed as well, but they had lost the probe in the process. It was a terrifying reminder of the power this place held, and how hostile it was...

"Great to see everyone's still alive. Hopefully our count is minus one ghostly monster from here on out." Rebin joked over the communications. The destroyed canyon, it seemed... almost peaceful despite what had happened.

[The Kingpin]

"....How...? -Nevermind. I probably don't vant to know" said Dietrich with a sigh as he shook his head, before Rebin's comments came in over the comms. "Don't bet on it. These things know their realm. It may vell have survived. I believe it vould be vise to leave this place before they return" suggested Dietrich, as he had the Wustenfuchs' weapons return to passive mode, the main turret levelling out and straightening as the other weapons began sweeping scans...


"You know, there was a time I would tell you to suck it up and keep moving, but honestly, that time ended when I started seeing moving plants, mechanical deities and cyborg dinosaurs" said Jacob as he eyed Kane for a moment, examining at a glance the current condition of his comrade...

[C S]

"I... will be in the crew quarters... if you need me," Private said, clearly in a daze. It might have been exhaustion from such a strenuous situation or the effects of having the copious amounts of Rift energy that course through him drained away by the Streitaxt's purification systems; it wasn't exactly clear which was the cause at that point. With a strange humming noise partially distorted by electronic interferance, the young soldier shambled out of the doorway, his clanking footsteps receding into the battle unit's passageways.


"Don't forget vampires and... four-legged wyverns... pseudowyverns?" Kane replied. He shook his head and inhaled deeply. "Right. There's something in here that's apparently able to synchronize with my mind... and it has decided to play tour guide. We'll look into that after we cut another tether loose, but until then, right this way!" Kane took the lead, looking at the piping running overhead and heading down one of the side paths. Soon he'd be at the divide in the tunnel and he'd have to take the left one... the RC launcher should be able to handle the debris with little difficulty.

[The Kingpin]

"...Very vell" said Dietrich as he watched Private stumble out of the command chamber. Checking the mapping system of the Wustenfuchs, he found he had just finished mapping a several mile area around it, using a combination of conventional scanners and scout drones, the small, disk shaped objects landing on the roof of the tank as they contributed to the virtual map. "Damian, there is a city several miles east of our current location. I would recommend ve investigate. Gather supplies, scan for anomalies, perhaps find another tether to your homevorld" came the soldier's voice over the comms...


Unbeknownst to them, the APC had a passenger, a small red bubble sitting on the wall near some of the electronics, looking, for all intents and purposes, like a large button...


"Nah. Dealt with vampires before. Hell, was working with one for a while. Had an obsession with suits as I recall" said Jacob with a grunt. He decided not to comment on the tour-guide revelation, but kept his guard up...It was entirely possible they were being led into a trap...

[C S]

"... Right. I've got a hitchhiker in my head and you've been palling around with vampires. One that liked to dress nicely, at that." Kane shook his head again. "Note to self; research the hereditary potential for the strange and occult," he mused in jest. It did little to ease his growing concern however. It was beginning to seem more and more likely that the phantom's words were prophetic in nature...

[The Kingpin]

"Oh, you have no idea" said Jacob with a low chuckle. Uncomfortable as he was with the situation, he had resigned himself to the inevitable. The odds of the tunnel leading to a tether were fairly good, and he knew that the tether was their objective. He wasn't sure what he'd have to do to get the job done, but he did know that he would not relent until he had succeeded...

[C S]

Navigating by the pipes and his display map, it did not take long for Kane to reach the fork in the tunnel. "At least the backseat driver gives good directions. I wonder if I could put it on Felicity..." he thought momentarily before he started heading down the passage. The mound of rubble came into view, but it was far less imposing than it was in his outer body experience. That was because -unlike then- he was in his body; and he had his mobile suit and Relativity Coil launcher.

"So, what? Back in your day you'd use C4 to clear this out?" Kane asked Jacob. He raised the launcher and started the firing sequence, using his free hand to support the 'barrel' of the weapon.

[The Kingpin]

"Well, that or we'd find an alternative route. I tended to try and conserve the explosives when I could. They're handier when your enemy doesn't know you have them" responded Jacob with a shrug. "And then there's the fact that lately, I don't always need explosives to get through a wall" he added, looking down to his gloved hand, flexing his fingers, the nano-bionic fist clenching with with the faintest whir, hinting it was not entirely organic...

[C S]

"Hmm," Kane hummed thoughtfully. After a moment of contemplation, he rerouted the launcher's energy output and returned it to its primed state, rather than active firing. "Would not tip off our ace in the hole to whatever may be lurking ahead, huh?" the young scientist replied. He clipped the launcher to his waist and then approached the wall of rubble, where he began to carefully pull out chunks of concrete and other debris, removing key structural components as identified by his enhanced reality equipment...

[The Kingpin]

"Now you're getting it" said Jacob, smirking as he watched the scientist start dismantling the rubble. Beneath the smaller rocks and boulders blocking the path, Jacob could see a large slab of concrete cutting off the path, which, by the look of things, was from the underlying layer of the ceiling. That meant that most likely, there'd be little rubble on the other side of it, but considering the chunk of space the slab seemed to have previously occupied, it would take considerable force to penetrate. Glancing down to his arm, he let one of the Monoblades activate, preparing to cut through the remaining debris and create a path...

[C S]

With their combined effort, the obstacle was no longer that, Kane standing on the other side of the wall that was partially obscured by the lingering dust in the air. "Just a head's up," the young man started to say afterwards, staring ahead with a scrutinous gaze. "The hitchhiker -yes that's what I've decided to call it- phased out after going on just a while longer. We'll be back in the dark from here on out..."