Atlantis

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

Ariana physically jerked when she felt the other mind assault her mentally. Even more so when the phantasm shot right for her, the woman dropping the mental hold she had on the wraith to jump to a different cover before she realized it was an illusion.

“That son of a bitch.“ She muttered to herself, glancing around quickly to see if there were any of their opponents watching her directly, likely the source of the mental assault she was having to focus on defeating. She responded to the mental assault with one of her own, battering back the mental intrusion with a lot of force and a noticable lack of finesse, not used to this field of battle in the least.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

Siphon nodded, pushing everything else out of his mind.

"Alright, lets get there. That damn thing better be working too, or I'm going to be pissed."


They took off down the hall, eventually coming to a stop by a set of mid sized doors.

"Well, this is it. Shall we?"





Ariana found fighting back this way wasn't as easy as it seemed. It was like ramming into a brick wall with the mental defenses these things had, and she had the impression she was nothing more than an annoyance to the wraith who'd targeted her. However she DID get a mental image, possibly a projection of it slamming it's hand down into her chest, pain tearing through her writhing form as she watched her life be sucked out of her in mere moments. She had no doubt that was what it intended for all of them, including the other woman. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched another wraith go down, and even as it hit the floor, she saw one of the Alverans make a move, ducking behind one of the stairwells, moving to ambush the two wraith providing fire for the one she had her own focus on.

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

"Just make sure there's nothing on the other side, hey?" She's making sure there's nothing behind them, but the last thing they needed was to get ambushed when they were so close to their goal. Fate was a bitch like that, sometimes.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

Ariana stopped her mental assault after a moment, rebuffed rather thoroughly. The wraith seemed either to know what it was doing much more than her, or was at least an order of magnitude stronger than her, neither of which boded well for her continued effort. Noticing the alverans starting to push in that direction, she relegated her mental abilities to defending herself, pushing aside the mental images as she prepared to deal with the wraith in a more physical manner.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

Siphon nodded, steeling himself and then sliding the door open, darting a glance inside as he moved to the other side of the door. Fortunately, the room was empty of any other life forms.

"Alright, clear for now. Try to watch my back while I make that cruiser go away please."


When she was ready, he sat in the chair, causing it to light up like a light display. He hadn't been there long when Sho started to hear wraith stunners firing a bit up the hall, and then some other noise that sounded like a roaring noise, or something that was very angry attacking. That was followed by more stunners firing, and then the distinct sound of a wraith roaring in pain.



Ariana could only watch as the lone wraith ducked down out of view, having gone behind consoles for it's intended target. For the moment, the woman was on her own, though the Alverans had managed to thin it down to five wraith, counting her own target.

As she moved, she saw one moving to attack the Alveran heading up the stairwell from behind, however it was in perfect position for her to open fire on and gun down...

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

Ariana found herself a little disappointed as her aggressor ducked away. With how hard she was working mentally, she hoped the alien would have to at least focus on her some, sparing the woman it was originally going after.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she caught sight of another wraith pop up, between and to the side of her and the Alverans in front, aiming to shoot them in the back. She raised her own gun before it had the chance, firing several shots into it before she thought it would stay down, given what she had seen of their toughness so far in the fight. Wasting no time, she reloaded her gun as she followed them up the stairs, catching up to the lead group. "We have to hurry, It's almost on her." She hissed, loud enough to be heard, but hopefully not loud enough to carry.

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

"Hey, sounds like we've got big company," she informs him while he's working on making the chair do its job. "Doesn't sound like it's coming this way, but if you can ruin things for that cruiser, we might want to get going and see what the hell's going on over there." She wasn't about to leave him, on the off chance that the ones chasing them would get through the doors, or something would head in their direction from where the firefight was going on. Then again, there was that.

"And for that matter, what the hell are they shooting at? That doesn't sound like they're trying to blast through a door." Pause. Blink. "Oh, shit. You don't think they found Aya, do you? Wasn't she...Ahcrap."

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

The Wraith dropped like a bag of bricks, dead before it hit the ground. At her words, the other Alverans nodded, taking aim and blasting at the two covering Wraith. One went down, the other managed to duck behind cover, but was now pinned in a crossfire, allowing someone to move forward if they chose ...


And that was when all hell broke loose. The other wraith had reached it's prey, and as it led in with a surprise attack, inflicting pain and causing the other woman to yell out, it suddenly stood ramrod straight up. Before Ariana could fire on it, it began to convulse, then suddenly it and the remaining wraith in the room burst into flame, screaming in agony as they were cooked alive. When the flames died out, there was nothing left of them save their masks and weapons, all flesh had been completely erased from existence. Ariana heard one of the Alverans let out a startled "what the fuck?"

Then suddenly, the woman appeared for all of three seconds, looking at them for a moment before her eyes fluttered shut, and she collapsed to the floor.


Siphon suddenly stood, the room dimming some.

"Cruiser is gone, and let's hope they didn't find her. Let's move!"

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

Ariana stood when the Alverans pinned down the supporting wraith, ready to cross the gap and go for the troublesome wraith when it stood upright, starting to convulse almost immediately as it's attacks on her ceased as well. She shot it anyways, reflex pulling the trigger on it twice before it burned away. Her look of shock matched those around her, meeting the woman's gaze for those seconds until she dropped.

"It was her." She said quietly in the silence, hopping over the short divide they were taking cover behind and checking on the fainted woman. She had let out a yell, chances are she had an injury from the wraith, on top of whatever else she had done to herself.

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

"I'm with you. Lead the way, though I have a feeling we're going to find her this way." By the time Siphon is out of the chair, Sho's already crossed the room to the door leading out toward where the sounds of the fire-fight, now silent, had been heard. The sudden stop probably wasn't a good sign and getting there as quickly as possible was the goal.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

When Ariana reached the other woman's side, she found a cut open portion on her chest where the Wraith had attempted to feed on her. Stunningly enough though, it appeared to be slowly regenerating itself to normal. For the moment, she seemed to be barely alert, looking over Ariana as if trying to determine if she were a threat or not.



Siphon wasted no time going out the door, weapon at the draw as they moved quickly down the halls. His own natural speed kept him several paces ahead of her, and as he rounded one particular corridor, she suddenly heard him let out a startled "what the fuck?"


Coming around the corner, she saw two things of immediate importance. First, at least a dozen torn apart wraith bodies littered the floor, some still seeping blood but all very, VERY dead. Second, there was some kind of shimmering golden light with what appeared to be glass floating within it blocking their path. Siphon was currently staring at it, a surprised look on his face.

"What in the hell is THAT?"

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

Sho slides to a stop behind him, bringing up a hand at the dismembered Wraith, her attention more on Siphon's back and the golden light than the carnage.

"Security measure? Doesn't look enough to tear them apart, though."

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

Siphon hesitated, unusually long for him before shrugging.

"I don't think so, but ... I have no idea what the hell it is. And there's nothing in the database to suggest the Ancients had anything remotely capable of shredding a Wraith to bits like this."


He knelt down by one of the bodies, examining it for a moment before letting out a surprised noise.

"Jesus fuck, I think these gashes are slashing wounds from TEETH. The hell could ..."



At that moment, a roaring snarl came from behind them, and acting on instinct, Siphon roughly pushed Sho to one side. A moment later she saw a shape, a large four legged shape rush past her, and something that looked like a toothy head swing inches past her face, missing her barely. Siphon however, wasn't as fortunate, the side of the head catching him broadside.

Siphon was lifted off his feet, and thrown through the air, and would have slammed violently into the wall, except when he touched the glowing golden light, he simply VANISHED like he'd gone through a Stargate. Which of course left her suddenly facing down a very hungry creature, a massive one the size of a small Rhino, with large teeth still dripping blood. It was unclear if it were Wraith, or Siphon's, but it was definitely blood.

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

"Not necessarily Wraith, but maybe anything that came in contact with it?" It didn't seem likely, though. This seemed pretty...primitive for the Ancients, in all honesty.

"Teeth? What'n the hell can tear u--" She lets out a grunt as he pushes her, momentarily stunned as she slams into the wall. What starts as a "Siphon!" turns into an "Oh shit!" as he vanishes. Pretty clear, then, that this was the thing that probably tore up the Wraith, not the glowy. And now she was left with the ugly.

"Bad...kitty. Thing." Moving carefully and as both quickly and as slowly as she dared, she positioned herself better on her feet...

And promptly shoved herself backward with a blast of wind that also buffeted the creature in the face. Her goal was to get back to the chair room and hopefully put the doors between herself and the creature. Baring that, she'd hopefully have the advantage of height, intent on taking to the air as soon as she was back in the room.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

The creature rocked back as the wind hit it, perhaps startling it, but it barely slowed it down as it lunged forward. Fortunately, her wind blast had moved her far enough that it missed, albeit barely. For it's size, it was incredibly fast and agile, clearly a predator of some kind, and well suited to hunting. Perhaps in the back of her mind would be remembering the number of wraith stun blasts she had heard earlier before it's roar, yet this thing didn't seem fazed at all, a bad sign.


She managed to make it back to the chair room, the doors slamming shut even as the creature slammed into them. Repeatedly.


The doors protested this punishment, probably never having been intended to withstand that kind of punishment, but for the moment they were holding. How long that would last she didn't know, but suddenly as soon as the attack began, it was over. She heard it let loose a loud, angry roar, and then heard it begin thundering off, hopefully in search of other prey. Which would bring her back to one burning question. How bad off was Siphon?




Elsewhere in the city, the roars of the angry beast were loud enough to be heard in the control room ....

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

At least the door was holding long enough for her to get airborne. The thing's size didn't look like it would lend well to being able to jump, but that didn't mean it wouldn't take a flying leap at her at some point. In spite of the Wraith's failed effort, she pulled out the zat, flicking it open while the thing beat on the door.

Even after it seems like the creature had wandered away, she remained close to the ceiling. Granted, the thing didn't look like it was capable of pulling off a bluff maneuver, but you never could tell. Once the sounds it was making seemed to fade, she dropped back down to the floor and approached the door, cocking an ear to it to listen for the thing's footfalls or growls or to gauge how far away the roars were. If it seemed clear, she'd open the doors again and head back to the glowing anomaly, intent on studying it and trying to figure out what in the hell happened to Siphon.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

After a short time passed, it seemed the beast had wandered far enough off that she wouldn't be able to hear it. Given it's size and mass, she doubted it could move about without making a LOT of noise, so it was probably safe to say it was gone. The doors opened, albeit sluggishly, revealing they had been damaged and warped by the beast slamming into them. From the looks, they probably couldn't have taken more than a few more before giving out.


Upon reaching the anomaly, Sho noticed something major. It had grown in size, and seemed brighter now. The more she studied it, the more she might become convinced it was some kind of portal or gateway, but what kind she had no idea. She could feel a warm breeze from somewhere, and it took her a moment to realize it was coming from the strange anomaly. There was still no sign of Siphon, which couldn't be a good thing. He'd been thrown through this strange anomaly, and now it begged the question. Was he too hurt to come back on his own, or had he been thrown so far that he had no idea where the strange portal was. It was clear to her now that the creature she'd just escaped from HAD to have come through, so Siphon should have been able to. The question was, why hadn't he?

 

[Copper]

Re: Atlantis

If more of those creatures existed on the other side of the portal, that would be a good indication as to why he hadn't come back through right away, especially if he'd been tossed into the middle of them.

Getting past this thing wasn't an option and to get around the damn thing, she'd have to practically circumnavigate through a city she knew nothing about that was crawling with Wraith and gods knew what else at the moment. The breeze seemed to hint, at the very least, that things could pass through from the other side.

"You're going to get me killed yet," she mutters, though the intended audience isn't around to hear it.

Digging into the pocket of her trench, she produces a Sharpie. Briefly considering something that was her usual smartass, she decides to elaborate: Pursuing Siphon's dumb ass (because he may or may not be injured) through a glowing portal of some sort that spits out big nasty Wraith-eating creatures. Pretty sure it's two-way from the other side, but if I'm not back in an hour, there's a problem. She will sign the bottom of it and give the approximate time to the best of her ability. If any of the Wraith blasters are still serviceable, she brings one of those along, too. Just in case.

Taking a deep breath, she half-expects him to come back through and collide with her just as she's about to head in. In fact, part of her is sort of hoping that happens. When it doesn't, she takes another breath and steps through.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Atlantis

For a brief moment, just like with the Stargates, she knew nothing, and then suddenly she found herself standing in a wide open area, sparsely littered with small trees and plant life, but mostly what seemed like gravel under foot. The air was warm, a dry heat that reminded her of a desert more than anything. However, off in the distance she could see smoke rising from a rock formation, and it wouldn't take a science degree for her to recognize what she was seeing. A slumbering, slightly active volcano off in the distance, though from the multiple plumes, she suspected it might be more than the one.

Passing one of the small tree like things, she could see it's bark was hard and woody, unlike what she was used to seeing back home. The anomaly itself was situated in a sort of in between rolling hills formation, with only to presentable ways up each side that didn't look like she'd break an ankle doing it if she went on foot. She was trying to decide which way to go when she spotted the telltale signs of blood on the ground heading in what she could only guess was west, since the sun seemed to be sinking downward. At rough guess, she figured she only had a few hours before nightfall, at which point being out in the open in unfamiliar territory could prove fatal. The blood seemed sparse, but seemed to be leading up and over one of the hills, as if whoever had left it moved in a hurry. Still, there was no sign of Siphon at all, unless the blood counted. It would appear he'd been wounded after all, and been forced to beat a retreat quickly. She could only hope he was still in one piece, and hadn't met the same fate the wraith back in the city had. And that was when it hit her, the surrounding area, the way the hills rolled, the land wasn't anything like where she'd come from. Which meant she either had gone to another planet ... or she'd stepped through time into the far past.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Atlantis

When Ariana reached the other woman's side, she found a cut open portion on her chest where the Wraith had attempted to feed on her. Stunningly enough though, it appeared to be slowly regenerating itself to normal. For the moment, she seemed to be barely alert, looking over Ariana as if trying to determine if she were a threat or not.

"We need a..." Ariana said quickly, as soon as she saw the chest wound. The slow healing around the edges stopped her midsentence though. The woman marvelled at the speedy repair a moment, meeting the woman's gaze. "It's alright, you're safe. You got them all." She said slowly, trying to get the woman more comfortable on the ground a moment.

Looking up at the gathering Alverans, she had time to give a nod and 'She'll be fine, just needs a moment to recover." Before the roars of some unknown beast started echoing down the halls. "Oh stars, what now?" She muttered, standing up and checking as far as she could see down the exits she could spot, picking out which one the sound was coming from easily enough. "We should deal with that sooner, rather than later. you got any bigger guns?" She asked with wry humour in her voice, glancing down to make sure the woman was still doing okay before starting down the corridor, stepping carefully and checking corners before she rounded them, hoping to get the drop on whatever was making the racket.