Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Superstitious Sands (Closing Soon)

The eastern hemisphere of Acta, home to a confederacy of independent Reptilian Humaniods. Regarded by the majority of it's western settlers (And perhaps even the eastern natives themselves) as a capricious, superstitious, and above all, a very dangerous place. The outbacks and deserts are home to dangerous and aggressive beasts, where natural selection at it's most terrifying takes place. Even so, water and nourishment are very rare. Corpses of unfortunate colonists, foreigners, and even hardy native tribesmen are buried beneath the sand, by the sulfuric storms and engulf the outback. Even the jungles of the far east bear no mercy. As abundant of food and water they may be, such places are rife with deadly poisons, and fierce predators.

Though even in this glorified Deathworld, civilization is still common. Those who are content with the hemisphere's unforgiving landscape are rewarded with life within safe, though isolated cities. Gigantic walls of futuristic materials protect the Eastern Actarians from the horrors that lurk outside. Lucky Jungle cities are spoiled by feasts of plant and animal based food. As well as the abundance of water. And those who wish to live upon Acta no longer, can be taken to the outer colonies and cities to seek new shelter. The Actarian native tribes are very spiritual, and know their local outbacks and deserts like the back of their hands, and are content with their lives by the deserts.

Though, such times are starting to change. Extortion from the Western Dominion, a galactic power, and leader of the major Actarian colonies, is beginning to worsen. Bankruptcy is inevitable, and it is only a matter of time before the civilized easterners will be forced into glorified slavery, in a last ditch effort to repay their funds. But, there are dark rumors, that not even the Westerners can ignore, linking to Acta's ancient past. Superstitious cults begin to rise throughout the eastern tribes. A sort of calling is beginning, the fundamentally spiritual shamans of the eastern tribes talk of a tampered spiritual reality beyond death, of which they refer to as "Hell." A word used to describe the tampering of spiritual fabric of reality, so many thousands of years ago. However, this narrowminded idea has not aged well upon the space faring planet of Acta, ignored by majority of her population. However strange documents of unidentified beasts, indoctrinated militia, as well as an unusual Hum, which happens all across planet Acta, is beginning to make even the least spiritual peoples question their beliefs.

Xiara stood upon the mouth ancient cave complex, deep within the eastern outback. His only form of transportation was a small land speeder, of which was stained by the desert stand. As he looked in his direction, he examined the rotting corpses which had been left to decompose here. Those were his Order brothers, and this was a burial ground. He carried with him the bodies of two newly dead Order men. Their faces hidden under their disturbing helmets. He let go of the left body, the corpse of Aetrii, of whom had become secretly maddened by exposure to dark cults, and committed suicide. The corpse on the right of Xiara's shoulder was Cijan, who had died attempting to restrain Aetrii from killing himself. He lay their bodies onto two burial mounds, preparing to give them their last rites of respect.

(Any Humaniod or alien is allowed to join. Though this takes place mostly interplanetary, as well as having some fantasy elements to it, it has more of a futuristic approach.)

An odd speeder flew towards them, leaving a trail of ripples. As it neared. It jerked up till it was sideways. Vagabundo jumped off, walking towards him with a machine gun in his left hand. His full body tattoos went up to his helmet, which was a mix of round in the back, and square in the front. "What are you doing?" He asked, a Mexican accent on his rough voice.

The sight of this person jumped Xiara for a moment. He did not look like any Actarian he'd ever seen before, and probably was not. But Xiara was not one to change a topic from start, simply because he was somewhat stunned. He kept himself in a humble composure, with both the corpses of his Order brothers beside him. "I.. am preparing the burial of my deceased fellows..." His voice somewhat muffled beneath the skull helmet, as well as the dark purple tint of the sky reflecting upon his armor.

The sulfuric clouds upon the sky seemed to grow more restless and the question of this being's sudden appearance finally got to him, he was forced to ask. "You do not look like one of the natives around here, from where do you hail..?" Xiara asked as polite as he possibly could.

"E.D.N. III." He replied. "Planet covered in ice, patches of jungle and sand." He said, walking forward. "Burial was rare and sacred. I will help if you need it. It may be different from your tradition, considering we had a fiesta afterwards to celebrate their life." The top of his helmet was spiked, and the front had a yellow hand mark on it.

Ice. Something Xiara could long for, a change from the usual days of searing heat, and sulfuric storms. But enough of that. Even though he knew little about this curious stranger, Xiara was happy to know that he was willing to help with the burial, though he knew nothing of what a "fiesta" was.

"I am glad that you are willing to help me, friendly stranger." Xiara replied, hoping to keep his humble tone. "There's much too complicated to Serpentine burials. First the armor is removed from the body, of which is then placed within this cave complex. The thick layers of sand preserve the body, and then the armor is strung up by the entrance, as a decoration." He explained the very simple burial process to the foreigner, hoping that the rite would be understandable.

Vagabundo nodded in response. "On my planet, we burned the bodies. We leave nothing for the Akrid. Then we feast, dance, sing, celebrating their life as if they were still here." He said, walking over to him, putting his gun on his back.

"We honor our dead also, much like yours" He said as he unclothed the corpse Aetrii. He kept upon his body the full undersuit beneath his armor, for that was all Xiara needed. As he gazed upon the corpse of a man he once called brother, Xiara was saddened great. "However, I do not think... that I could honor all who are buried here was the same pride..."

Aetrii's corpse was riddled with self mutilation. Even before his death, it was easy to see that he had been harming himself great in his insanity. Stab marks were riddled around his undersuit. His head suffered the most however, even with the wounds. His lower jaw was literally cut into two, and there was a gaping wound above his head, the final wound that killed him. Xiara shook his head with grief, disappointed how such a waste had come to pass.

"Where should he be carried?" Vagabundo asked. "It is obvious how he died. There is no shame in it. The shame is his, not yours."

"The fact that not only he killed himself, but also took the life of another Order brother angers me greatly" Xiara hissed, frustrated as he looked upon Aetrii's corpse. "I would've normally simply left him in the desert and let his body rot, but it best to think of his endeavors before he... changed" Xiara began to unclothe Cijan's corpse, the one who Aetrii had murdered. "If you wish to carry Aetrii, It does not matter to me where you place him within the cave." Xiara answered. "For all I care as of now, you may as well throw him a lonesome ditch."

"Very well. I see. So you want me to send down a survey team to the new planet? And if it's tainted with Chaos?" Captain Robbins, the Captain of the Battle Barge asked his superior. They were talking via an audio and video communication device on the bridge, the Command and Control, or C&C for short. The Battle Barge and escorts were supposed to go home, but they were redirected by the Admiral to check out a planet they had just found.

Robbins stood 5 feet 11 inches tall, and was one of the only humans to actually command a ship bigger than a light cruiser. He had blonde hair that went down to his shoulders, and deep blue eyes. A beard, not too big, was growing on his face, but the sideburns were the biggest, and they always would be. It was blonde, too.

On top of his head was a red beret, a symbol he made up. It had a gold wreath on it, and in front of the gold wreath was a ruby star, and on that star was a golden hammer and sickle, symbolizing the commanding officer. The red beret meant Boarding Party Special Forces. They called them the Spetznaz, in honor of Field Marshal Vladimir, who was unfortunately not going to be with them. If it was just a red beret with the star, it would be a commanding officer in the navy, but with the wreath, it meant Spetznaz.

The rest of his clothing was above standard Imperial Guard clothing: Camouflage shirt, camouflage pants, and special armor plates. For his knees, thighs, and shins, he wore power armor strapped onto them. They looked like FLaK armor, but they weren't. For the torso, one big piece of power armor, and it looked like normal FLaK. For the arms, it was thinner pieces of power armor, and a squarish shoulder plate for his shoulders. On them, his rank: the wings, and a red star in the middle of them.

"Wipe the planet out, but save as many as you can. Vladimir out," And the comm channel was shut off. Now he knew what to do.

"Pilots, bring us out of warp as soon as we get there. Boarding party, get ready. I want 50 Spetznaz and five Space Marines with me on the double. We'll take the Thunderhawks down. As soon as we're out, do NOT engage with anything. Don't do anything, don't say anything, don't breath. If we tell you to bomb the hell outta that place, do it." Robbins ordered, and left the room. "Lieutenant, you got the comm,"

He and his men walked to the hanger of the massive ship, and began getting ready. They were to appear peaceful, but ready to act. With them was some scientists and other people, and they would study the land. There was one heavy weapons squad, three attack squads, and one SS squadron with them. Everything was to go smoothly. They would establish contact, and that would be all.

As soon as they piled into the four Thunderhawks, the ship got out of warp, exiting the huge hole they created and began orbiting the planet. From the side, four Gunships shot out. The men, and Captain.

((Basically, the Warp is like a hell. So it would explain the images those people get, no? And I don't plan on using the ship, really.))

Vagabundo nodded, carrying him into the cave. He placed him down on one of the shelves, pulling the sand over the body. He walked back out a few minutes later.

(OMG IT'S A 40KER! Yay! Oh, okay. Just wanted to make sure. Have fun! Just so you know, I do these things a bit differently. Most of the things I use is a 40k modified to suit my custom needs.))

The Thunderhawks made it into the atmosphere with relative ease. Their small void shields managed to absorb whatever energy they encountered while going in to land. They flew over the air, past the civilized portions, and nearing the area the other two were. They left behind a massive trail of smoke and fire, like a comet.

"Okay, boys! Ready up! I want you checking everything you have! Load up your carbines, SMGs, and MGs. Attach bayonets, and make sure your signalers are ready. I want everything neat, tidy, and deadly. We'll have one large transport craft: a land raider. It's going to be our HQ. Don't use it unless you have to. Ready?"

"Sounds like a ship." Vagabundo replied. "Why would a ship be out here?"

"Perhaps they are either explorers or illegal colonists" Xiara replied. However, there was something very unclear to him. "If either, how did they manage to get through Actarian space..?" As he spoke, he carried his dead Order brother into the entrance of the cave, leaving his body by a shelf with his arms folded up. He then approached the armor, stringing it up by the entrance.

He had left Aetrii's armor somewhat concealed, his distasteful actions earned him a place away from his brothers. Xiara then approached Vagabundo, "I am almost done here, perhaps we should investigate this sound, dark and crude things have been happening upon Acta recently..."

"That would be a good idea. If they are adventurers, we don't want them 'exploring' the graves of the fallen." Vagabundo said.

The Gunship hit the ground hard, the landing gear absorbing the shock. With a bump and a hiss the Thunderhawk settled in, slowly getting ready. As one, all four doors opened up, their fronts digging into the dirt and slamming down. One land raider, 50 Spetznaz, and 5 Space Marines stepped out onto this new landscape. They made it not too far from Xiara, but their first order of business? Set up shop, and get ready.

"Alright! Space Marines! Patrol the borders of our camp. I need ten people setting up barbed wire and trenches, ten people setting up the tents, ten people getting the guns ready, and I want five people with me. Where's those bikes?" Robbins shouted, and everyone got to work. People started digging and setting up their places to sleep and work, while six bikes were brought out for them.

The bikes were Space Marine bikes, and had a pair of bolt guns in the front, and supplies on the back. They had the Spetznaz symbol on them, and were enhanced so that the boarding parties could control them easier. Robbins got on one, and the other five Spetznaz got on the other. "Roll out!" He shouted, and drove off, unknowingly heading for the community that Xiara was in.

Vagabundo turned, seeing the sand billow up from the bikes. He reached on his back, pulling out his machine gun. He ducked under a ledge, then got above just enough so he could aim and shoot from it. "Hey! Guys are heading our way, Amigo!"

Tucker walked through the sands as he did every other day, Well ever since his ship was destroyed by Actarian's, They had mistaken there Drop-Ship for smugglers and one thing led to another, He only survived because he was piloting that ship, And unlike most would assume it went bottom first not nose, He had been here for, What was it, three too five years? He gave up counting the days a long time ago, He was something of a small hero here, he helped camps and small colonies in any way he could, whether that be helping them stop raiders or helping people hunt or find any water they could, He would even help people make cloths or armor on occasions, Or help Guard the occasional traveling merchant, He had large amounts of military armor but if it was not for the cooling systems he had installed about six months prior to his landing here he would have ditched it, He was Human, But no one knew that, They only knew he was humanoid, His armor Was grey but the years of being in the sun and sand had dulled the color down to an almost white color, And his ammo was almost gone, He had yet to stop at the few places that could supply him with the resources required to make ammo, And even then he would often have to stop at multiple places for multiple things, he was about 6.8, About 138 pounds, Though he assumed he had lost ten too fifteen pounds at least here, due to all the walking and scares amounts of water, He had a shield systems in his armor but it was busted beyond repair in the crash so there was a lot of scratches in his armor, along with dents and the occasional bullet hole, He continued walking when he heard a ship in orbit, and the voices of people, he took out his Sniper Rifle that was all but useless after it ran out of ammo he could not remake the ammo, So he used the scope to find things, He calmed up a hill and looked through his scope while crouched and saw two people, He thought about going down and saying hello, Lots of people knew him, But if these two did not they would probably think he was going to attack them, He slowly walked down, with his sniper aimed at the sky, it also got a clear view of the lack of a clip loaded in his rifle and approached the bike "Hail Traveller! I am Tucker, May I ask who you are hiding from?" He said, still aiming his rifle up at the sky

Vagabundo pointed at the approaching speeders, hoping that this man was not part of them.