Play Testers Wanted Pt. 13

"You... how the hell did you do that?" Ynariel demanded with an expression of utter shock.

"I didn't. She did." I said gesturing to the shimmering figure of Istus. "I can't take credit for this miracle."

"So humble," Istus whispered. "I have brought your ship safely here as well. Rest champion. Walk these ancient streets and take in their shadows and when you are ready take up arms once more."

She faded from view with a sly smile on her face. I turned to Ynariel. She agreed to be my guide and companion for a time at least.

Echoes of Shadow and Silence:

A week had passed since the city had been successfully translated to the web. I had seen many of its wonders both with and without Ynariel's company. One of those sights was the main causeway that bisected the city in half. Strange how the strand of the web and the causeway merged so seamlessly together. Surely there had to be a connection between Ynariel's people and the creators of the Web. While that was a mystery for another day, I stumbled upon what could only be described as a garage. The first thing that caught my eye were a series of jet bikes. I walked down the line seeing a definite evolution from where the pilot sat upright to the last where they were driven with a nearly horizontal rider.

"Got to drive one of these bad boys," I commented.

'May I be of aid sir?' A mind brushed mine gently. 'I might pass as the keeper of this place.'

"Fantastic! Where are you?" I asked as a gleam of a jewel caught my attention. "You are very kind."

'Remove me and place me in the open slot on your mask so that we can communicate better.'

I plucked the deep violet gem and it fit perfectly into the open sconce. She manifested in my mind and projected as a tall slim elf wearing an intricate body stocking. She showed me the basics of how the jet bike worked and how rider and machine joined. The bike became an extension of the rider. Her experience touched my thoughts so that I got a crash course in not just the controls but the feel of driving. It took razor sharp reflexes to properly pilot a jet bike at full speed. After the virtual tutorial I went straight to the crotch rocket and slid into it. Once my armor tied into the bike, I could feel it like it was part of my own body.

"Once slowly around the city," I giggled. I started off slow so I could get used the feel of the city street below me and the caress of the air over the surface of the bike. It was stop and start at first but soon I was moving with more and more confidence. A few hours later I was speeding laps around the city outskirts. I leaned into tight turns and felt the bike's shields kick in protecting me as much as the surface of the street.

"Care for some target practice?" The pilot offered.

"Target?" I asked as I felt a panel on the underside of the vehicle split open allowing a weapon to deploy. "Oh!"

"Worry not, the projectiles and targets are virtual." She indicated. "Relax and let the vehicle guide you."

The mounted weapon was fixed and so to aim I had to maneuver the vehicle in line with the target. My HUD meshed seamlessly and while the first few shots went wild, I soon got the hand of driving and firing accurately. I spent days honing my skill until I felt that itch to move on. I returned the gem to its rightful place in the garage and sought out Ynariel. She was not in the city but aboard the Ghostdancer. She was on her back with her head inside the open base of my workstation. She wore loose-fitting coveralls and a set of tools radiating around her for easy reach. I found a place on a nearby wall and sat down watching her work.

"Jet bike fan now?" She chuckled. "I don't blame you they are a beast."

"Yes, they are. Um...?"

"I am tweaking your station here. It will be able to do some serious precision work when I am done." She promised. "Just a bit more... you wouldn't believe how many volunteers you had."

"Volunteers? I do not understand." I admitted.

"You encountered the keeper at the garage." She replied. "When my people end their corporeal existence if we are lucky, we are wearing a specialized stone to house our souls. Our technology is maintained and improved by those very souls. Tinuviel, one of the brightest technicians offered up herself in your service. Once the interface is complete her jewel will inhabit the station and help you with design and better use of materials."

I watched her work and once the soul stone was placed, I got an update via my HUD.

Ding!

'Workstation upgraded to smart-station.' 'Inventory updated: Combat jet bike added.'

Ynariel was on her hands and knees as she closed the workstation. I let out a moan of appreciation.

"About damn time," she purred. "I'm all sweaty, does this thing have a shower?"

It was an awkward mix of attempting to undress, kiss, and move toward the ship's showering facilities. Her sweat was deliciously intoxicating. It was less stink and more pheromones. We stood beneath the falling water simply kissing. Her hunger for me was addictive and contagious. She felt things far more intently than I was used to. As our hands roamed over the other her mind touched mine lightly but soon, we shared a deeper and deeper connection. Her thoughts turned to my erection and she dropped down to inspect it for the first time.

"By Eldanesh! What a specimen!" She said as she went through what she called the seven stages of facing a huge cock. The first was shock or awe. She was well into this phase. Next was the confusion stage or will that thing even fit in me. Ynariel pushed passed that into evidence gathering. This involved wrapping both hands around the shaft and giving it a few tentative strokes. Bargaining was next as she made promises to herself and me. This is also the point where she opened wide and slowly let the entire length slide between her lips. I groaned as her tongue swirled and lashed the sensitive head. She was more than halfway there now. Anxiety took over as she doubted her ability to cope with it inside of her. She found her resolve as she stood, bent over, and pulled her ass cheeks apart. I slid inside of her and she let out a gasp of relief as she reached acceptance at last. "You keep thinking about fucking my ass."

"It is a weakness of mine," I said as I caressed her firm plump cheeks. "Besides, you have such a perfect specimen."

"I feel like you are holding back." She purred as I slowly moved my hips. "Please Carreckiam, don't hold back." She begged as she thrust backward. I summoned the Double Dragon and when the upper cock settled between her ass cheeks, she let out a new sound. "You devil you! I comprehend your hunger. Well? I am no pale maiden to be... IRK!!" She fell silent as I pushed forward and slowly impaled her ass. "I am skewered!" She declared as I leisurely picked up speed. Her stamina was nearly as high as mine. In game terms she could really take a pounding before climaxing. When she did, she leaned against me to catch her breath. "You are still hard... my hero."

I lifted her off her feet, pressed her back against the wall of the shower, and she surrendered completely. After ten days of being so close to such a beautiful woman I gave into my hunger. We lost count soon enough to our climaxes both individual and mutual. Was it the intimacy of telepathy but I fell for her hard, much harder than most of the others? We slept in the captain's bedroom. I dreamt of a world with three moons. One was white, another red, and the last a vibrant green. I awoke alone in that huge bed. I was covered in a delightful blend of sweat and funk. A quick cat bath later and I sought out Ynariel. She was in the Ghostdancer's garage. She was prone under one of the two jet bikes.

I lie down next to her and skootched close to see what she was doing. Instead of getting annoyed she began explaining the mechanics behind the engine and how she was tweaking its driver-machine interface. Once she explained that she informed me that she moved the primary weapon from beneath the bike to a spot in front of the driver. It made for more natural targeting for me. She had watched me out on the street and promised when I got into a fight it would be easier to hit. She explained the dual shielding the bike possessed.

"This vehicle was built for hit and run style tactics. The primary defenses are its blistering speed and holographic field that makes it damn near impossible to target directly. Weapons that unleash area of effect damage ignore that if they hit close enough." She paused when she saw me thinking. "The secondary shield is a midline force screen. The pair are connected to the bike's power core via a dual pulse unity interface. It keeps most of the power for speed and maneuverability." She finished her work and we knelt on either side of the bike. She touched a hidden catch and the diamond shaped scoop split open revealing the top of the engine and the power core. She continued to explain all the components that made up the jet bike. "So?"

"I got an idea," I said as I went to the workstation, purchased the plans to the bikes holographic and force field, along with the schematics to a Yautja stealth and force field. "Time to see if these two are compatible."

I displayed all of them holographically and took them apart. Ynariel looked horrified that I dared to even contemplate combining the two technologies. The time blurred as she hit the ship's cafeteria and cooked a meal for us all the while the word blasphemy was never far from her lips. I tried dozens of configurations before I had a single success. Each small triumph built on the next. I was forced to purchase the plans to the bike's power plant to complete things. I had to test the design with energy coursing through it. It worked! It was ugly but with Ynariel's expertise she tweaked it without meaning to I am sure.

"Damn you," she laughed. "It is beautiful!"

I fashioned the parts and installed the hybrid shield with her help of course. I tied it to Left and activated it and watched the bike vanish from sight. I took out a water hose to test how it worked under adverse weather conditions. The water rolled off without revealing the bike. Perfection! I made a second set of parts and we modified her bike as well. I registered the design and wondered if anyone would ever use them.

"Massive power spike Boss!" Traci informed us. "It is coming from the center of the city."

Ynariel and I left the hanger where the Ghostdancer was being temporarily housed. The elegant structure at the heart of the city was splitting in half as slender stalk shaped structures climbed skyward. The center took on a guardian aspect facing outward while the space between began to warp and distort.

"Put on your mask, quickly!" Ynariel urged. "You don't want to startle them." Left did the honors and activated it. The first few figures appeared out of the gateway. Then they appeared by the dozens and then by the hundreds. The outpouring of wanderers, nomads, and homeless poured into the city. Once galactic vagabonds now they had a home. The children of Eldanesh had returned. "Welcome home!"

The gate remained open for days before it finally shut down. The corpse city was now bustling with life as the various castes of this tribe of elven kind returned to their old lives. The priest caste took up their duties in the temples. The warrior caste began their training and took up arms to protect the city. The craftsman flooded the workshops, garages, and hangers. The various subcastes began raising crops, repairing damage within the city, and filling up the schools for training in whatever path called to them.

"Thank Istus," I whispered seeing the once empty spaces now filled with people, and the silence replaced with the sound of voices raised in song or simple conversation. "Time to go."

"Where are we going?" Ynariel asked.

"I have business back at Jerull." I stated not wanting to break character and say I have an unfinished quest involving that planet. The word must have spread for as we prepped the ship for flight the members of the ruling council appeared.

"You cannot leave without accepting a token of our thanks." The high priest declared with great solemnity.

"Take your pick of a stone to aid you in your current path." The exarch of the war god offered.

"Yes, let your wisdom guide your hand," a colorfully dressed figure said with a smile on her lips. She extended a small box that held three identical gems. They were cut in the same way, their color appeared indistinguishable, and their weight matched down to the microgram. I let the mask scan the spectra and found that when they hit the deep ultraviolet, they each had a different glow. One shifted to a dark purple, another shone with an inner radiance, and the last pulsed like a living heart. I removed one of my gloves and touched them. Two of them remained inert while the left stone became suddenly more vibrant and taking on a wet almost bloody quality. I chose that one.

"The blood red one," I said, and they all reacted differently.

"I do not understand," the high priest stammered clearly in shock.

"The war god will not be pleased," the exarch snapped angrily.

"I will be damned! Excellent! Here... let me." The brightly colored figure plucked the stone and settled it into the empty socket on my mask. The rush of power was exhilarating. When I looked for a name or its abilities everything was under question marks for now. I was used to it. Over time they would be revealed. I tried to thank the trio but two of them had already left with only the female that had placed the stone on my mask still there.

"Thanks, I umm is there something wrong?" I faltered.

"She has sided with you. I envy you." She said.

"Well, if I am welcomed back here... what is so damn funny?" I asked when she began laughing.

"You are being silly," Ynariel explained. "You saved the city and through it these people, my people."

"We'll be back at some point," I promised. I whistled and Traci fired up the Dancer's engines and prepped her for flight. Ynariel and I left the colorfully clad female behind and I sensed a connection between her and Ynariel. I did not ask but when she was ready, she would tell me or not. Left let out a yelp of surprise. "What?"

"I just got one serious download of data. They are gate coordinates. It is the Web and every strand attached to it." Left laughed. "Who needs a ship when we have this?"

"Later, I'm not ready to lose the Ghostdancer just yet if ever." I said. "Let's go see what we need to do on Jerull."

Space Station Blues:

We boarded the ship, used the coordinates, and aimed the Dancer at the large gate at the center of the city. Left powered it up by transmitting the code for Jerull. The gate fired off a plume of energy and the gate formed between the watchers. Traci took aim and with a whoop of delight we flew into the gate and a heartbeat later we were above the crater left behind by the removal of the elven city. My HUD chimed and updated my quests.

'Ding! Follow the Ion Trail! Destroy the Xeno-Skrulls or the Galaxy will fall.'

'Title Earned: Heir of Eldanesh. Gear Upgrade: Holo-Suit. Gear Upgrade: Kiss of Death.'

"Ion trail detected," Traci informed us through the ship's speakers. "They must have made an in-atmosphere jump to leave behind a trail like this. Course plotted to follow the ion trail. A hidden vessel has left orbit and vanished from my sensors... after a tight beamed pulse transmission was sent from this ship."

"Make the jump and modulate shields to keep that shit to a minimum." I ordered. Since the other ship had been cloaked it could have been another Yautja vessel, but my gut told me it was Ynariel's friends.

"Initiating first jump," Traci declared as the area beyond the cockpit glowed with a riot of prismatic radiance. The world outside returned to the normal depths of space. "Scanning. The ion trail continues from this point. Calculating second jump."

And so, it went for four more small leaps until we reached the ship's destination. A space station out in the middle of nowhere. It did not orbit anything. This solitary structure just hung in the middle of empty space. Suddenly my HUD chimed and offered me an invitation.

'Invitation: Join multiplayer event? Y/N?'

Yes. I agreed and now I had to select up to two NPC's or nonplayer characters to join me. I was about to pick from my list of available NPCs when Isolenti stepped out of the ship's dojo. She was clad in only a loincloth, a matching tube top, and covered in sweat and ready for war by the look of her. Ynariel smiled at her approach.

"I observed her on the surface before you arrived. She was part of a troop of three." Ynariel declared and continued. "She and her compatriots displayed great courage and likely, if given the opportunity, would do so again."

"Clan chief, is this your woman?" Isolenti asked her voice aquiver with humor and curiosity.

"Clan chief?" I muttered when she removed her mask and I saw the skillfully altered brand she had burned on her cheek originally with Xenomorph blood. The artful modification showed a clear desire to bond to my banner. "I will let her answer that question."

"Damn straight," Ynariel declared her smile wider than ever before.

"She appears sturdy enough, I suppose." Isolenti snickered as she tugged her top off and let the loin cloth join it on the floor. "I'll be in the shower." She declared as she slapped her left ass cheek.

"If you don't shift and break her I will." Ynariel stated.

"I... hold our present position." I ordered as I stripped down. "I've never... a Yautja before."

"She is a female in heat. Do me proud." The she elf urged with a narrowing of her eyes and a naughty smile.

"Well shit, I dropped my sponge!" Isolenti cursed. Twenty seconds later I was standing behind her. "Two! By the gods... Irk!!"

The Dancer hung in space for an hour before we ran out of water for the shower. I strode out wearing only a smile when my HUD chimed.

'Ding! Trophy Earned: Predator Dominated! Trophy Earned: She Dropped the Soap.'

"Damn boss, that was epic!" Left declared proudly.

"Thanks, Left, Traci display our current location." I ordered as I approached the holographic display.

The image flickered to life and I recognized the shape of the space station instantly.

"No fucking way! I have seen this place before. I think. I was locked in a small asteroid and when I broke out this station, or one just like it was nearby. I couldn't get in though." I ranted as Traci brought the Ghostdancer into dock. There were a dozen or so small ships and one midsized transport taking up the main bay. The ship shuddered as clamps gripped it and held her fast. "Let's go."

I removed my more obvious weapons with the single exception of the Darksaber. I carried that with pride. Isolenti, Ynariel, and I entered the space station and found a party going on. Several other players and their guests were in full swing with the food and drink. The conversations died and everyone watched as my little troop joined them.

"Holy shit it is Ghost Fire!" A few people exclaimed and then I was swept up, offered snacks and booze, and a seat on one of the couches. I introduced my guests as did the other players. All the guests were from crossover events. The other players had clearly put time and effort into their characters, and they ranged from a tanky paragon to an ethereal blue haired mage. The NPCs were from a popular war game and they ranged from an Imperial Assassin, a Sister of Silence, to an Adeptus Mechanicus. Yes, the Tech Priest with his hovering skull, just like the servo skull I had found on blasted Jerull. And the others were a Psyker, the dreaded Inquisitor, and the hulking behemoth of a Marine. I bet Thor and him would get along.

The lowest level of the station, and the largest, was a series of entertainment units of varying size and functionality. There were bedrooms for all of us and even those each had a style or uh a flavor to them. None of them were assigned but I took a fancy to the largest of them with a huge bed and plenty of maneuvering room.