Monomachiarum is a multifandom experiece that takes the characters into the chaotic future of the 30th century in the great expanse of space. Our lore is a combination of worlds brought in from other franchises, lore created by the site founder, and user-submitted information in order to make a vast and diverse setting. Add your pages to our grand story no matter who your characters might be or where they came from before. This is a place meant to explore possibilities and open new doors. Canons and OCs are welcome, just so long as they can fit into the setting with a little bit of reasonable modification here and there if necessary. So what are you waiting for? Join us today! If you'd like to get to know our community more, feel free to check out our Discord channel.
May 2023 It's been hectic this last year, but we are alive and celebrating our fifth year of adventure and tales. A lot has been worked on to help make the Monoverse one that everyone can enjoy and explore their story while becoming a part of the greater cosmos. All of you, new and long time players, stay safe, and see you in the Sea of Stars!
The hallway continued several dozens of meters until it led into a large observation room, with several monitors displaying atmospheric conditions and current sustained breathing viability. Strangely, all instruments read that the outside of the tree's canopy was suitable for human habitation, yet they were in the lower reaches of the planet's ozone layer.
"Be advised, containment breach in progress. Unable to verify requested mobile units. Subject CX-2112-176-A is considered hostile and extremely dangerous. Be advised, coordination with resident Kromus occupiers is to be adhered to."
It was otherwise silent, and as the group would find a map directory on one active console, they would find that the entry passage to the larger Tak Lakora facility lay down the adjacent hall, where a heavy set of sealant doors awaited.
No screams, no hollow voices. Just silence, broken by the mercenaries and the voice of the facility VI.
Glaring under his helmet, Eresh turned to face the others once again. That message made him pause in consideration as he pondered the significance of the automated message. Perhaps something broke free that was beyond what either party had anticipated, but the question then was… what? It was almost unheard of for Kromus to willingly collaborate with aliens they considered to be inferior.. so what was on this planet that would convince the pirates to work alongside humans instead of merely enslaving them?
“Maybe we should try to take one of the pirates alive, so we can get a better grasp on the situation,” he suggested as he meandered to one of the consoles, trying to see if there was any useful information that could be gleaned from it.
Post by Tycho Kalhalati on Aug 30, 2023 17:44:26 GMT
"... How is this even possible?"
Tycho had stepped over to the console displaying atmospheric data, tapping an index claw against the filters of his gas mask in idle thought.
"The tree's reached up to the middle of the stratosphere, but the air's still breathable out there. There's no way these aren't natural formations; know plenty of corps back home that'd tear each other apart for this kinda research opportunity... and Faro just... threw in with these gonk-fuck pirates for it? Feels like such a waste, man... industrial suicide at best, if word would ever get out."
A memory of SERI came and went. His gut felt cold, for a moment or two. Of course there were parallels, there always would be. He let out a small sigh and cautiously removed his gas mask, securing it back to his kit and quietly taking in a deeper breath of air. The Vlaka's golden eyes held a pale reflection on the monitor he stared at.
"The hell were they doing here that made that kinda risk worth it...?"
Post by Makoto Nijima on Aug 30, 2023 18:35:12 GMT
While the others searched the consoles, Queen was surveying the rest of the area, eventually setting her sights on the observation window revealing said canopy. She had to admit seeing such a large tree in the middle of space was off putting, which meant it was not a natural occurrence, and perhaps the facility was meant to be some sort of testing grounds. But for what?
"Perhaps they were conducting some sort of illicit experiment? They needed humans for some reason; even if they disposed of them when they were finished with whatever they were doing here. If we do manage to capture a pirate alive, I can try to get some information out of him."
Eresh didn’t seem terribly phased. Truth be told if this was a Chozo colony world he was even less surprised, the old stories often spoke of feats just as fantastical as a miles-tall tree.. and this wasn’t the first time he had seen trees used as atmospheric processors… though none of them were truthfully this majestically/obnoxiously massive.
But it was Makoto who caused him to turn his head to look at her with a look of bemusement hidden behind his helmet. She definitely didn’t look the type to know anything about enhanced interrogation.
“Duly noted Queen, but I think we can handle that part without you having to resort to such matters.”
Lemon tested the air a moment when Tycho started talking about the atmospheric readouts, she guessed she could breathe what was up here and conserve her air supply if they were saying it was safe, save it for when the air was not safe. She was busy looking out the windows until she heard mention of "prisoner", "alive", and "interrogate", and then there was a malicious glint in her eyes.
"Let mae do sum yappin wit whatever sod we find, ah've got a feelin ah'll be able to get sum interestin results. If nothin else, it'll be therapeutic."
There had been more than enough time for the terror to drain away, leaving a burning cold behind, she was in the mood to commit some heinous acts of retribution if she could get away with them. She didn't know advanced interrogation techniques, but she had to guess that even the most tight-lipped loyalist would be unnerved or even start to crack when receiving visions of their own systematic disassembly or other such possible outcomes.
Post by Tycho Kalhalati on Aug 31, 2023 20:45:33 GMT
Tycho looked up from the meteorological console into the middle distance for a moment, upon hearing the word "therapeutic." Turning to look at Lemon with an expression that steadily grew more and more pensive, whatever about that statement gave him pause was only made worse by the malicious look he could see in her eyes. Something about it made him nervous, but even he wasn't really sure what.
"Do your thing," he said finally, with veiled nonchalance. "If it works, it works-- how exactly do we plan on capturing one of these things, by the way? If they're as instinctive as Eresh says, you think we'd just be able to lure one away from his friends?" Looking past the group towards the way from which they came in and jerking his muzzle in that direction, before shifting his attention back to Lemon.
"You think your thought-tricks could make that happen, Neko?"
“We have a simple work around for that as it so happens: when we find a group we will kill all but one of them, then Jankins can try her mentalism on it.” Eresh suggested as he glanced at the others.
Post by Tycho Kalhalati on Sept 1, 2023 0:05:56 GMT
"I'll follow your lead here, you know the Kromus a whole lot better than I do... but we don't know how many of them there could be up here; making enough noise might just get us swarmed."
Tycho hesitantly glanced back over his shoulder towards the canopy outside, before switching back from the handcannon and shield to the rifle. He stepped over to the doorway that led back out into the hall, leaning against the frame, holding the weapon to his chest between crossed arms.
"Might save us some time and ammo if we try to do things quietly."
“Then it’s settled. But keep an eye on your vitals during battle. If anything goes wrong, let me know. Are we ready?” Queen replied firmly, her full expression hidden behind her mask, although by the tone of her voice, the rest of the group could sense her determination. She had taken up position behind Tycho, readying twin brass knuckles in her fists while she spoke.
When the hunters would eventually trigger the sealed doors at the far end of the facility, there would be a heavy hiss as the pressure and air equalized. As the observation center's instruments had revealed, the air was more than breathable for humans and other life forms that relied on an oxygen atmosphere, even this far up from the surface of the planet. A series of metal walkways led out into the canopy of the tree, more buildings visible in the thick branches of the monstrous plant. Some were obviously human in design and construction, consisting of quickly installed portable building units. Others were. Others were of a clear alien origin, doubtlessly the Kromus' own facilities that they had put in place.
Yet some others became distinctly visible as the quartet would explore the "city" in the heights of the tree. Though not immediately recognized by any of the four, there would be distinct resemblances to publicized Chozo ruins in these far more run down dwellings. Letters could be seen scratched into some of the walls, but as yet, the area of Tak Lakora was abandoned. Empty save for the mercenaries. And yet…
The four could feel like something was watching them.
Post by Tycho Kalhalati on Sept 3, 2023 8:33:00 GMT
Tycho's base instincts were screaming at him on the inside, in the moments leading up to that first breath. As if they somehow knew better than the numbers he had seen, as if the reading that the atmosphere was breathable was somehow a lie. When the pressure finally equalized and the pain in his inner-ear faded, when the sealed doors finally slid open and laid bare the mind-bending landscape ahead, that first breath of air was what took him aback.
It was so pure, so clean, that it nearly made him sick. The Vlaka took a step to the side and rested a hand on the railing of the metal walkway, pushing through the sudden rush of light-headedness and nausea, before taking another deeper breath and continuing on.
There was an entire city up here. Some of the buildings were obviously Faro's pre-fabs, but the other architecture was entirely unrecognizable to him. Some of it looked about as new as the Faro buildings, and some of it looked as old as the tree they sat in. He didn't know what to make of either kind.
The Vlaka paused in the center of town once the group would reach that point, eyeing the letters scratched into some of the walls, before looking up to the rooftops of some of the buildings. His ears flattened against his head in silent anxiety... it was beautiful up here, etherial and otherworldly, like something out of a braindance... and yet it was far quieter up here than it felt like it should be. Something felt... wrong, like no matter where he looked, something's gaze was boring into the back of his head.
Eresh had become silent and taciturn again once the doors were opened and the group carefully began to advance. It took awhile for him to notice it, due to the various additions by both Faro and the Kromus, but the longer he looked about as he scanned for potential threats.. but he began to notice some similarities to this tree-borne “city” and the ruins of the colony he explored during his last mission. It wasn’t a large leap, they understood- he understood that this place was of Chozo construction, and that should’ve brought a sense of confidence.
But it didn’t.
He was reminded of what happened in those blighted tunnels, of the.., things that infested every part of the colony. Moreover he was reminded of his own personal failure and how it nearly cost the life of his friend. These thoughts mixed with that strange, almost suffocating feeling of eyes all over him.. and his own would flicker from shadow to shadow.. his grip on his weapon growing tenser. His intuition was telling him that something as off.. but he couldn’t grasp what exactly.
“Stay alert, keep an eye on each others backs. Make no mistake.. someone is sure to know we are here- probably through security feeds.”
Lemon looked around as the party stepped out into the strange city, fixing her gaze on the more alien structures. If her gaze was a laser there would've been holes bored through whatever metals the kromus and other older aliens used, but what she was really doing was listening, searching, for anything she could get her mental claws on. The feeling of being watched reminded her too much of the effect she had on others when she tuned in to their thoughts, and she was of a mind to find whatever it was peering into her own head.
Flashes of imagery played as she both searched for a target and contemplated what she'd do when she found one, snippets of half remembered nightmares, flashes of the troubled past. What better way to get some catharsis than to inflict a bit of what she'd dealt with on the alien dirtbags she was about to fight. She caught a couple of the images leaking out, her focus not fully on keeping her musings private, but quickly clamped down on them after that realization.
"We gots some searchin ta do, lets start clearin tha city, spiral out. Rooms ta clear, recommend tha ones wit shielding take point."
Post by Tycho Kalhalati on Sept 11, 2023 11:35:26 GMT
"Would love to find a perch on one of those rooftops," Tycho muttered, idly adjusting his rifle's scope for a slightly shorter zero, scanning the second and third stories of the buildings in their immediate vicinity. "Just feels like such a bad idea to split up..."
Glancing at the others for a moment or two, then specifically to Lemon, before shifting his haze back out to the "city" again... "Feel like someone's aiming something big right at me, but everywhere I look I just see empty windows. Gonna take all day if we go door to door-- let's pick one of the taller ones, and clear it first. I wanna get a vantage point, and look around a little. Maybe see how many of those weird carvings I can make out from up high..."
He lowered his rifle and nudged his muzzle towards one of said markings scrawled into a nearby wall, looking somewhat-specifically at Eresh, remembering the ones they had found in the corridors of the Faro facility down below. The Mawkin seemed to know what those ones meant, at least. Maybe these ones were the same language.
"Anyone have any idea what these even mean? Might be important, if we can know how they mark their buildings..."