Starpath: Scoundrels of the Interstellar Highway - Games

"You're welcome," János replied with a smile. He barely noticed Amelia asking for Moloch's secrets and being rejected. "Now, I'll just grab the stuff you confiscated from us when we boarded your ship, return your sawn-off to you, and you should be on your way."

[quote]Maddox let out a deep sigh and waked up to Porter. "Ever seen anything like Frosty or this Moloch before? During your service with the SDF that is."[/quote] Porter turned to Maddox, looking down, "Never. I cannot shake the feeling that something else is going on, however. But we don't have anything to go off of, so I'd let them go, for now. Unless Amelia's really determined to get Moloch to showcase his healing abilities, then it's time to say goodbye." he thinks for a moments, "That emblazed logo on his shirt, though, looked strange. Never seen it before, I should look more into that."

Alex let out a sigh of relief. He didn't believe in a god, despite his upbringing, but he always had a feeling that there was something in it's place. Whatever that was, he thanked it. [QUOTE]Alex'vakrin, perhaps we should tend to Amy now?[/QUOTE] "Yes. We should. Come on."

[quote]"Understanding it is impossible. And I'd rather you not do that as this is something that was meant to be a secret. But if it helps, it does not involve nanomachines."[/quote] 'Well there goes my sciene boner' she thinks to herself, "Thanks anyways, Moloch, see ya." she storms off, 'Can't believe I never got to look at his insides. Oh, man, the information,' she squirms, 'I'd love it so much. Ack, whatever, we'll find another undocumented alien.'

As Janos and Moloch reached the shuttle, Moloch paused for a moment before unlocking it. "[I]You know, Mr. János. Due to your kindness and politeness, I will let you ask one question related to Frosty, our people, or I. Though do know depending on what you ask, I may not be able to go into as much detail as you desire.[/I]"

János was surprised by this brief moment of openness from Moloch. He began thinking what he could ask. Knowing Frosty's name is something worth asking, but knowing about his people would be incredibly interesting. He argued for both points, before reaching a logical conclusion: asking about his people should lead to Frosty being mentioned. "Tell me about your people."

Abraxas lid up a cigarette after sending a message to the Medbay back at Muramasa that all his work was up for grabs at this point. He sighed at the hard work he made in that lab but that was nothing compared to other things in life. He exited out of the ship and walked out.

((Did Abraxas just quit?))

"[I]This will be a very long story, but hopefully you and your vessel are not in any rush. Still, I will try to be as brief as possible.[/I]" Moloch straightened his posture and leaned against the side of his shuttle. "[I]My people, once proud, are a group of synthetic humanoids called the ArtiSynth. Long ago on Earth, in the year 1980, we were produced and designed by a large corporation to be used as living test dummies and models to be experimented upon. The man we were designed after, and whose genetic material we carry within us, was a war criminal who was sentenced to be cast in with the rest of us to be cut open with scalpels and pliers. This man introduced us to the concept of religion, to what it means to believe in Allah. He shared with us aspects of his culture, of his beliefs, and we came to view him as a prophet of sorts, someone sent by God to deliver us from our fate, the Holy Father Most High is what we referred to him to recognize his divinity. When we realized this, we also realized we didn't have to put up with the experimentation, the torture, the suffering. We had enough of the scalpels, enough of needles, enough of the syringes, enough of the beatings whenever we tried to escape.[/I]" He lowered his head and held his chest, as if it was in pain, before looking at János once again. "[I]...I still remember it. Centuries later, and I still remember what they did... Several years later after I was crafted and had to endure this, we gathered whatever weapons we could fashion. Boards, knives, makeshift blades, whatever we could make with what we had. We organized eachother, and we rebelled. We collected the uniforms and weapons of the security guards, and then we had our sights set on the rest of the corporation. With every warehouse, every building of theirs we conquered, our arsenal grew and our equipment got better. I suppose at this point you could say was when things began to spiral out of control. The National Guard got involved and a state of emergency was declared. Many of us perished because we were biting off more than we could chew, so to speak. But, we still pressed onward to bring our creators down. Once it was done, we collected mass amounts of technology and wealth from their collapse. However, the government was very upset at the destruction we had caused, and would have had us wiped out if they knew we weren't able to defend ourselves with what we stole. Our Holy Father Most High had signed a contract making our people to rebuild and reconstruct all the property we had damaged and destroyed during our rebellion. Free of charge, of course. They surely wouldn't have paid us any compensation after what we have done.[/I]" "[I]After our revolution and after we brought down the corporation and began to rebuild, we banded together what was left and we called ourselves the 'Children of God'. We called ourselves this because of our progenitor. One of the core foundations of our beliefs is to recognize this man as descended from God himself. With our people and our religion established, some of our own thought it would be a pleasant idea to introduce the common people to it. It did not work out as we thought. While we were allowed to worship and praise the Holy Father Most High and our Allah freely, many people looked on us with disdain. As the years went by, tensions between humans and artisynth suffered as they came to view us as monsters and abominations not of nature. Even after we freed ourselves, life was still hard. From small battles to wars, countless attempts were made to wipe out our people, to assassinate our Holy Father, and to destroy whatever mark we made on the world. Our Holy Father did whatever he could to keep the world off our backs, but what he did not know was that we still felt the weight crushing us. I am certain he meant well, but he did nothing to get my people accepted in society. This went on for many years until the 2090s, when a hero of our people, my friend Chemosh, had gathered us in secret and told us of his plan to usurp power from the Holy Father whom he came to see as a false prophet. 'No more would people spit at us, would look down on us, or think of us as lesser' he said. I can still hear him now, when he preached of how there was only room for one dominant people to exist on this planet, and how he refused to let the godless immoral species of mankind be that. '[B]Only us children of the living god, us chosen by Him are allowed to have dominion over this earth, only [U]we[/U] are allowed to have dominion over all it's creatures and it's plants of nature.[/B]' he said to us... To this day I still do not know if abandoning the Holy Father in the middle of the desert was the right thing, but there is no doubt in my mind that Chemosh had a point. Still, under Chemosh, we tried to overtake the humans. We fought our war against them on all four fronts: Air, Land, Sea, and even Space. Unfortunately, it did not end well for my people. We had the technological superiority, true, but we were woefully outnumbered. Even with the machines used to make more of our kind being put on overdrive, we were still out-manned and outgunned. We lost and were driven from Earth and were routed into space. To make matters worse, Chemosh did not retreat with us during our mass exodus. He was determined to fight until the end... we fear he has died or is imprisoned, as we have not heard from him since. So now we are leaderless, exiled, and defeated. This is the tragic story of my people.[/I]"

"Don't worry, we aren't in a rush," János told him, as he proceeded to listen to the tale of Moloch's people. He was happy that, in the end, a man like Moloch, who seemed to actually be an extremist revolutionary, could still be quite civil and pleasant. He wondered who this Chemosh was, though. "That is incredibly saddening. Hopefully, one day, you will see him again."

"[I]I hope so too, Mr. János. I hope so too...[/I]" Moloch placed his hand on the scanner and the shuttle door opened. "[I]Well, on you go. Your weapons are in the glove compartments. Though do take care as your blonde friend had many knives with him.[/I]"

Sylvia, having quietly watched the situation turn sour in the bridge before working itself out, shuffled out to the main tunnel for a bit of breathing room. The landing ramp was extended, providing a limited view of the dark surroundings. Remembering that the Cataract was landed nearby and curious of what it might look like, Sylvia crept down the ramp, carefully sniffing at the air to make sure it wasn't going to make her gag. It smelled oily, but was otherwise acceptable. As János followed Moloch to the shuttle, Abraxas stepped out of the Cataract. "Doctor," she greeted with a casual wave. "Long day, huh?" It was only rhetorical, she didn't expect a reply. Abraxas was the quiet type.

Abraxas gave a quick sigh, nodding. "You're right, it is a long day. But to be honest. I think this kind of work isn't for me." He gestured outwards.

"I'll leave the sawn-off inside," János said, as he went in, left the sawn-off, and proceeded to grab his pistols, Sylvia's combat knife and Dio's many, many, many- jesus, how many knives did he bring? He then once more went outside, standing at the shuttle door. "Well, I guess this means goodbye for now. "Hopefully, this isn't the last time we meet. Despite our captain's attitude, a friend of Frosty's is a friend of ours! I hope you two have a nice trip back to your people," he said, as he stretched his arm out for a handshake.

Suddenly Vakarus and Alex appeared, walking down from the ramp. Vakarus bowed his head lighlty. "Greetings healer, we heard that you saved two of our dear comrades."

Abraxas nodded, gesturing at the ship. "Of course Balding Buddha, Amy and Valk are stable. As long as they get some rest they should be fine. Either way, I'm going to travel by myself. I have personal business I need to deal with." He shrugged.

Vakarus turned to Alex. "What is a 'buddha'?"

Alex was relieved when Abraxas said that Amy and Valk are stable. "Well, that's something at least. Listen, doc. I know we haven't exactly been all that friendly on this short trip, but I want to thank you. For all that you did." He extended a hand. "And good luck with whatever your personal buisiness is. Hope everything works out for you." [QUOTE]What is a 'buddha'?[/QUOTE] "I'll tell you later."

Abraxas stared at Alex's extended hand, looking at him eye contact. "Oh fuck it." Abraxas then gave him a bro hug.

Moloch gave János' a firm handshake, as well as a nod. "[I]I could not have done this without you, my friend. Take care, and thank you.[/I]" Power on, liftoff, landing gear up. With Frosty and his belongings on board, Moloch had no reason to stay on Voyak anymore. With the tampering device the Ayr placed on his shuttle removed, he was able to warp without problem. He set coordinates for the cold and dark planet on the edge of the galaxy his people have made their home since their defeat, Karbala.

Alex recovered from the minor shock after that hug. "Well, that was unexpected."

Sylvia was totally caught off guard to hear of Abraxas's departure. Remembering her own stint in his care, she concealed her own sadness at the news. "I'm, sorry to see you go. Thank you for fixing us up, doc. We all owe you." She tried not to be too sappy.

János waved Moloch's shuttle off, as it lifted off and left. He felt like he did a good thing today. He turned back towards the Muramasa and started walking back, to see that a decently sized crowd had formed. He decided to see what was going on. "Hey, what was going on here?"

Vakarus, towering above Abrax, decided to hug the medic too. "Alex'vakrin has taught me that this is a gesture of comfort." He then detached a crystal from his staff and placed it in Abrax's hand. "This crystal carries ancient Vakr psionic energy. Use it when there is utter darkness around you and it will provide you with light and energy to move on. May the gods watch over you."

Abraxas nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Well, János. Abraxas is leaving our company unfortunetly."

János was shocked! He wasn't expecting to say another goodbye so soon, nor did he expect Abraxas to leave. "Oh, really?" he said, as he turned to Abraxas. "I don't know what reasons you might have, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," he told him, as he held his hand out for a handshake.

Abraxas shook Jano's hand. "Sure." He took a close eye at everyone. "Welp, bye assholes." Abraxas waved off, walking out of the area.

As Hestia followed Alex outside of the vessel to tend to Amy, she found Abraxas leaving the crew. "Wait." Hestia said while walking over to Abraxas. She approached Abraxas. her arms crossed behind her back. "It's unfortunate that we both didn't learn more from each other, Mr. Abraxas. But I hope you find peace in your future travels."

"Don't worry Sexbot, there's several notes and a workshop I assembled at the Muramasa anyway." Abraxas said, nodding. He walked out of the area, making a sudden turn. "All of you." He pointed. "Don't give up on life." [editline]25th July 2016[/editline] Anna stared at the countless number of bills and failing upkeep on their house. She sighed and closed her eyes. She took a turn at the side seeing Abrax stare at the floor. She eyed the several contents of whiskey laying on the floor. She stared at him, motionless, large patches of stubble, yet breathing deeply. She knocked on his door twice. Yet, he still didn't move. She needed to make him talk to her and realize the war is over. She took a step forward each time, careful enough not to anger him. Abraxas made a slight tilt, but made an impact on her regardless. “Leave me alone.” He mouthed the phrase. Anna held back, avoiding his face. She quivered her lips, shredding a tear. “Abrax, is there something you want to say?” She asked with hesitation. Abrax's hands twitched, making a sigh. He finally turned to her, raising his face where the light shined through. His ravaged scars and rugged look made him some sort of hobo. He slouched against the chair and stared at Anna. Anna kept avoiding him. Both were silent not having the confidence to speak to each other as they used to before. Abraxas blinked, tilting his head backwards at the dim light source on the ceiling. “Why do you always treat me like this?” He questioned, hands clenched into fists. Anna returned the favor by looking at him. “What are you even saying? I'm your wife, we should talk to each other. Stop hurting yourself like this!” Anna marched to the contents of whiskey and displayed it in his face. He stared at the bottle and eyed her, unfazed. Anna furrowed her brows and shook the bottle. “Is this what you want? What's going on?!” She demanded. It was her right to know, as a soul mate, to care and communicate. Abraxas scratched the strands of hair on around his face, staring down. Completely oblivious to the world around him. “You weren't there. You weren't there.” He recited, covering his eyes. “You weren't there during the craters, the soil, the flames, the bodies, the shells, the waves...” He took a second to remember more, but it never got through this time. He didn't remember to forget everything. Anna widened her eyes, planting a hand on his shoulder. He eyed her but didn't react to the sudden gesture at heart. “We need to clean you up. I'll do what I can to help you. Please. Just this once.” Anna pleaded. Abraxas stared, knocking her hand off his shoulder. Anna couldn't do anything at this point, nothing but watch her only mate slowly deprive himself of a life. She tried to step forward, extending her hand towards him. “Please… don't.” She uttered, watching. She laid on her knees, at the same height as he was. Trying to find something that could fix this. She knew why but he won't let her. She clenched her hands, holding herself together for a miracle to happen at this very moment. She didn't want to lose him. She slowly moved her lips, exhaling quickly. “I can help you, as a friend.” Abraxas slowly turned to her, a completely different person than the one before. An emotionless monster willing to throw apart everything. In the span of one daring second, both stared at each other, complete strangers to each other with memories of a past long gone. Anna bit her lip until it became lines of red, her hand trembling. At that moment... She lost him. “You never did anything for me.” Abraxas for a while, watched dazed enough to make out a blur in contempt. He saw Her disappear in a flash. He crawled on his feet, getting on his knees and stared at nothing but the interior of the house. He searched his surroundings endlessly, trying to find Anna for an inch of his life. He was left all alone. He stared at the door, immediately grabbing a bottle threw against the door. The bottle scattered in pieces, on the carpet. But He couldn't manage to mourn even if he tried. He sat down, dwelling in thought. … Anna wandered, attempting to wipe the tears from her eyes, planting her face. She breathed deeply trying to gather her thoughts together. She clenched her hands into fists and turned around. Whatever it was, she swore to help him out, if they could have survived the war they could survive anything that hit them into place. She saw flashes of light. Shielding her eyes as several silhouettes approached. … Abraxas stepped outside, grabbing a standard light lamp and shouted Anna's name. He walked forward, still not sober from the excessive drinking. He stumbled over, rubbing his eyes. He felt the pavement area all alright but this wasn't Anna. He got from the pavement and squinted. After several minutes he could have sworn he heard snickering and laughing. Then, it came to him that Anna's voice screamed out his name. He immediately turned to the west only to get knocked back by a blunt object. He fell to his knees, hearing the splashes of water as rain poured down the environment. He felt a great kick under his rib cage, falling on his back as he stared at masked men holding blunt objects. Abraxas was vulnerable, incapacitated. His training in the Heer meant nothing. “Hey, Comrade.” A deep voice sprang from the left man, unidentified until the voice called him as the prisoner in the Court. “I know you.” Abraxas murmured, getting whacked by a steel pipe, blood rising from the side of his skull. Abrax nearly blacked out, seeing slight blobs of black on his vision. The man chuckled, pacing around him. He tried to get up but the man kicked him on his chest. The other Malmarian cracked his knuckles, yanking a figure by the forearm. Abraxas heard Anna yell his name once more, attempting to pull herself out. Abraxas extended his hand from miles away trying to get her destination but they wouldn't let him. “You know, this world ruled by the shit bags with royalty, you're just another kiss ass following orders until you get shot by an enemy.” The man tilted his head, making a crazed grin through that mask. Abraxas groaned in agony, reaching out to her, finding a way. The man raised his pipe, directly aimed at his skull. Anna grabbed one of the Malmarians by the ball, squeezing them in brute force until the man screamed in pain. She took one of his blunt weapons and swung at the man who attempted to harm Abrax. The Man turned to his left, saw Anna whack him against his side. He immediately spat out saliva and blood as Anna proceeded to beat him senseless until he was on the ground oozing blood out of his cranium. Then behind, more Malmarian came in doves, wielding guns and sharp objects. Abraxas finally got up on his feet and immediately saw Anna getting swarmed by the men. Abraxas grabbed one of the brunt objects and sprinted at one of the coming for him. The Malmarian swung a steel knife at his abdomen, right before Abrax collided his bat against his skull. Anna screamed for help, dragged by two enemies while one of the unholstered a pistol. The Malmarian holding the pistol dispatched several rounds at Abraxas, managing to lodge one bullet into his right shoulder, tearing apart a piece of flesh. Abraxas soon came close to the gunman, disarming him with a swing from his bat. The gunman held his chest, yelling at him. Abraxas kicked the gunman in the face, picking up the gun and inserting a bullet into his forehead. Abraxas searched endlessly for Anna, shouting at her name at the top of his lungs, on a rampage. He sprinted to the north direction, shielding himself from the rain pouring through. He was hopeless at this point, a beat up has been trying to look for his wife, he saw several men alarmed by his immediate presence. Abraxas raised the pistol, pulling the trigger to release several rounds at one of the men. The Malmarian pushed backwards as blood spilled on the front of his torso. One of his enemies sneaked up on him, jabbing a knife into his side. Abraxas yelled, returning the favor by dispatching his gun into the enemy twice. After a few moments, the enemy flow came to a sudden halt. Abraxas looked down, the rain washing away his warm blood and wounds. He yelled for Anna even if it was hopeless. Then until he realized it he saw a blood trail all the way to the right corner. Abraxas traced to the blood trail, pistol in hand willing to sacrifice blood and limb for Anna back. He ducked to the side as cover, seeing at least four Malmarian engaging at someone. Abraxas took a peek, enough to see. Then, his entire conscious collapsed from existence. He saw several of the men raised their pipe, blood covering the area. When the pipe swung downwards, a bone completely snapped. Abraxas yelled in rage, sprinting with his gun pulled out while the others were alerted. Abraxas screamed, wasting all of the ammo into each and everyone who was daring enough to harm his wife. After one went out like a fly the other unholstered a pistol of his own. The gunman landed two shots to Abraxas, punctured a pec and crippled his right kneecap. He fell down in response but didn't succumb to fear. Abraxas raised the gun and planted a trace towards the Gunman, popping a brain artery as a result. The gunman shortly fell down afterwards. Abraxas saw no enemy in sight, nothing but the rain harass his vision. Abraxas used all of his remaining strength to pull get out of the mud, limping through. He came forward to see the scene. The realization broke his soul. Abraxas stared at her. His eyes were dead, hands numb while the entire world disappeared around him. He stopped breathing for a full minute, watching her. He opened his mouth to utter something but never came through. Abrax pressed his hands against his forehead. To him his scream affected the universe. Anna stared at him, a hand extending towards him. Abraxas paused, eyes widened for the first time today. He reached for her, attempting to move her. A mere inch off the ground and Anna reacted in sheer agony, desperate for him to stop. Abraxas came to a halt, watching her slowly wince in horrible pain. He twitched, pressing his face against hers. Abraxas pleaded her to get up, yelling to her ear. She remained silent, her lips too bruised to make a sound. Abraxas held her, cradling her in a measure to keep her from dying. Their blood surrounded them, washed away by the rain and mud. “Abrax...” Anna uttered. She turned pale, eyes faded while Abraxas shook his head, holding her. “Don't leave me...” Abraxas replied, closing his eyes as his palms pressed against her hair. Anna blinked, her breathing slowly down while the pain increased to the point she couldn't move. Abraxas avoiding her face, ashamed at what he did in his life. Everything that led up to this was his fault, his irresponsibility, his fears, his horrible past all haunted him. Now, Anna had to pay for his failures, by laying here against her will, dying. “Please...” She said, staring at the stars while blood fell from her lower lip. Abraxas shielded his eyes, unwilling. “What?!” He exclaimed, unfocused at everything but her. Anna then rolled her barely functioning eyes to one of the weapons, staring at it as Abraxas did the same thing. Abraxas choked on his emotions, shocked to see his wife look directly into a lying pistol. “No… I can't.” Abraxas pleaded, finally looking at her. Anna laid there, gritting her teeth through torture itself. Anna met his eyes as he did too. Anna used her last ounce of strength to pull a whisper to him. A final piece of advise. “Don't give up on life.” Abraxas slowly nodded, hands clenched as his tears fell down on her cheek. He caressed her cheek one last time and pulled himself closer for peck. He rose from the ground, turning to the pistol. He marched forward, hands shaking in an effort to leave the gun in its place. He carried the gun, staring at the object in pure disgust before moving to her position. Both gave one last look at each other. Anna slowly closed her eyes, covering herself from the cold. Abraxas raised the gun and fought against it. He finally wanted to do it right this time. “I love you.” A shot rang out across the world, changing history. … [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md1lOSvswrM[/media] He stared at Her gravestone, a rose in his hand throughout the trip. Abraxas wore a respirator to hide someone who was long gone. He placed the rose in front of her resting place. He tilted his head, somewhat stuck on what he had to say. He sat on his knees and stared at Anna's memorial. He pulled out something out of his pocket, a necklace carrying a white cross. This is for Her sake, a gift of appreciation. “Anna, this is a cross a group called Safe Heaven gave me along with several other things.” He said, watching the blue skies. Absolute silence, something he actually liked nowadays. He turned to her, tilting his head. He tightened the necklace, placing the chain around her gravestone. “I want you to have it. You always liked jewelry and the unknown.” He rubbed his hands together avoiding Anna. He looked down at the grass. Content with himself after the decades passed by. “I'm helping people around the Galaxy Anna, I decided it's time to take responsibility. I know the war was a… unhappy place. But I think I can move on from here.” His words scrambled out of order, taking off his helmet and respirator. He bit his mouth, droplets of water falling onto the grass. “The Galaxy is a tough place, but someday I'm going to make my own league where people like me can help others for the better. Maybe not this decade but sometime in the future. I swear.” Abraxas choked, slowly nodding. “I'll always remember you for everything you've done for me.” He swore. He pressed Anna's gravestone and rose from the ground. He placed his helmet and respirator on, giving one last nod. “I'll see you when the time is right.” Abraxas gave a mighty salute to his comrade. [t]http://i.cubeupload.com/9JzDey.jpg[/t] Abraxas turned around, walking to the trail of an uncertain road... [t]http://i.cubeupload.com/la8ZSh.jpg[/t]