Shadow of Death (IC)

[Andrew B.]

Down to only a couple? Alright, I need to put all that I have into this or I probably won't survive. Valzar saw a strange read out in his sight saying, "Flames at full strength, activate finishing strike by pressing central unit," and showing an image of a firefly with its wings spread.

Central unit? What central unit? Valzar looked down, and saw the firefly on what appeared to be a belt buckle on his waist. This central unit?

[Tyg3rW01f]

Colt taps Valzar on the shoulder. "Hang on, pal. I have the feeling the blindfolded ninja-gal has this."

[Mytical]

Your group actually never finds out what occurs. Next thing you know, the three of you are in the IDP main office..and everything is back to what it should be. Except, well Valzar is there also. Of course it would be his first time with the IDP, and adjusting to that will be interesting .. but nobody at the IDP seems to have noticed anything amiss. Which means that the time line was set straight, but that does not explain why Valzar is still there (with the timeline fixed, he should have never been met by Colt or Sapputiyok.

Then again your memories should have been altered to not remember anything that happened, and they have not been. Means something or somebody ensured that you remembered and that Valzar remained with you.

Almost as soon as he sees you, Strongarm calls you into his office. "Good timing, need to start training the new recruit (meaning Valzar). I'd like him to work with you two until you think he is ready to be out on his own. Means a month of training here, then however long you need to train him in the field. Sound good?"

[Tyg3rW01f]

Colt looks around, suspicious, but decides it is best to accept things.
"Yessir, Boss. So, how DO we train Iron Man here?"

[Andrew B.]

Valzar looks at Colt and says, "If I might make a suggestion, could the first thing we do be to try and figure out how to get this suit off?"

[Tyg3rW01f]

Colt grins and chuckles evilly. Licking his teeth, Colt asks VERY quietly, "Anyone have a plasma-cutter nearby?"
He chuckles a bit longer then says, "No, in all sobriety... I think I might have a REAL idea on that. Unless I'm mistaken, Steel here might be able to interface with your suit and see if it operates on a similar premise to himself."
Or am I fantasizing again? Colt tapped his shiny friend, who was currently in shiny vest mode.
"If Steel is either uncomfortable or unable to do so, there is our department mechanic..."

[Andrew B.]

"Right, let's try that. Maybe this thing has an instruction manual in its programming," Valzar said, with a bit of trepidation.

[Ghel]

Sapputiyok stands in Strongarm's office, looking confused. Xe looks at xer hands, to see that yes, xe's back to xer own form. Sapputiyok opens up xer sixth sense, trying to "view" as much of the Nexus and of Strongarm, suspicious of what's happened.

[Mytical]

With Valzar's permitting access Steel is able to power down the suit and allow it's removal.

Steel communicates with Colt. "It's strange... this thing is almost like me .. but it is not also. Like some of the other ultralinks ((What Steel and those like him are called)), it manipulates the elemental forces. Yet its core programming is foreign to me. I can not access it, even with permission. It can also keep me from accessing it at all without it's host's permission. As for an instruction manual..can't help you there. Oh and don't forget about going to the red coin sometime to figure out what that one Utopian meant about a crooked IDP member."

As Sapputiyok opens xer senses she does not pick up anything out of the ordinary about the Nexus or it's inhabitants. However, a voice enters her mind. "The balance is shifting. The 7 swords are being sought. If they are found by your enemy, no force will be able to stop death. He will be able to summon the riders, and the apocalypse will begin. Find the swords, destroy them, or all will be lost." the voice is then gone.

[Andrew B.]

As the suit powers down, the buckle on the belt rotates itself clockwise until the firefly on it is facing down and then splits in half, causing the suit to dissappear. Valzar stands there, two inches shorter and in his night guard uniform.

[Tyg3rW01f]

Out loud, Colt said, "Okay, Steel. You managed to at least remove the suit, now is there any way you can tell our new friend HOW you did it, and if there's a way HE can do so?"

[Andrew B.]

Valzar responds, pointing at his belt, "I think it has something to do with this. Let me see..."

Valzar puts the two pieces back together, and hears a voice saying "Standby." He then looks at the emblem an remembers the image facing differently.

Maybe if I rotate it?

[Ghel]

Sapputiyok mentally notes the change in Valzar's aura as he deactivates his suit, but says nothing. Addressing Strongarm, xe says, "This may sound odd, but do you know what the seven swords are?"

[Mytical]

Steel confirms that the belt controls the suit, just as Valzar finds out himself. He is also able to tell Valzar that the belt can control the power output of the suit. Instructing him how to increase and decrease the power. Out loud Steel says "Wish I could do something like that, instead of my abilities only working in certain forms."

Strongarm looks up when Sapputiyok mentions the seven swords, and for the first time ever Xe sees absolute fear on his face. "I can only hope you don't mean THE seven swords, and there are seven swords I am not aware of. The Seven Swords are artifacts created by a collection of seven of the worst evil 'deities' ever. Each of the deities were bested/destroyed by their good counterparts, but the swords.. even the good deities could not figure out a way to destroy them. Each has a positive ability, but prolonged exposure to any of the weapons will corrupt even the saintliest of people."

He pauses to access some controls on his desk, and seven holographic swords appear. As he talks about each, one of them will increase in size to show what each looks like.

"There is Pathfinder. Able to lead you to anything your heart may desire." This sword has what looks like a road emblem on its hilt.

"There is Fatespinner. This one is a bit weird, sort of has a mind of its own. It will give its holder tremendous luck, and anybody trying to attack it's holder tremendous bad luck. However, it will sometimes just decide to NOT work. So like luck it is a bit fickle." This one has a pair of dice emblem on its hilt.

"Shieldbreaker. Able to break through any defense, or anything at all, with ease. A wall is no more an obstacle to its holder as a twig in the road would be. However, it's user grows more violent over time, even more so then the other weapons. Only one thing can stop it, and that I will talk about next." This one has a broken shield emblem on it.

"Reflection. Whatever force used by an enemy is turned back on that enemy. Any attack, power, ability, or such comes back upon the person trying to harm, hinder, or slow its wielder. However, along with becoming evil over time, the wielder slowly turns into glass." This one has a mirror emblem on the hilt.

"Mindbreaker. Gives the wielder the ability to control minds, read minds, and even wipe a mind clean. This one may be the most dangerous, because the wielder not only can control your actions, but make you a vegetable." This one has a brain on its hilt.

"Lifebringer. The only one that does not turn its user evil. It can not damage anybody or anything. However, it's touch heals any wound.. and can restore life. It's wielder often plunges the blade into their own body making them virtually immortal as it will heal anything instantly." This one has a pair of hands clasped in prayer.

"Despair. Pretty self explanatory with its name. Even it's wielder is not immune though, so it is brought out only as a very last resort. Mindbreaker can somewhat offset the mental aspect, and lifebringer the physical aspect of not desiring to eat, move, or such.. but not even combined can they over come it totally. Some think this makes it more dangerous then Mindbreaker, but because its wielder is loathe to draw it.. I have my doubts." This ones hilt has a blank spot on the hilt.

"These seven swords have been lost to time. Nobody knows where they are. Though if pathfinder is found it can lead to the others .. it would be dangerous to do that though. Keep in mind that Pathfinder will eventually turn whoever wields it evil."

[Tyg3rW01f]

Colt looks at Steel and taps him. There's genuine camaraderie in Colt's voice as he says, "Hey, c'mon. You have been more help than you think, Steel. You kept us both alive in that warehouse, and you gave us both a VERY distinct advantage back on Venus. Keep selling yourself short, and I'll have to start thinking I'm a bad influence on you."