Phantasy Star: Dark Realms

[Knight Thaniel]

Let The Journey Begin....It starts....with The Oracle.

Cue theme music for piece one of this journey.

The Oracle:

[SPOILI]

[/SPOILI]

The Oracle, one of the single greatest inventions mankind has ever seen. It's busy, robust, and bustling with technology and intergalactic patrons from across the universe. It was supposed to be the answer to all the issues and fallacies that came with space travel, and more. Even without the invention of the Arcs The Oracle was still the ideal candidate for traveling in both style and safety. It was a well protected vessel of gigantic proportions that also served as a marketplace, a defense system, a living environment, a captained ship, a battle unit, and a safe haven for the sick, tired, and wounded. It was a turning point for another era for technology advancement, ready to go above and beyond and still upgrade to points no one else has dared venture to before. But now with the universe once again in peril The Oracle is struggling to retain it's reputation as a safe and illustrious getaway to far off places and slowly stays a drift in this newly forged nightmarish condemnation. Outside The Oracle is a universe in a deep darkness, countless planets and galaxies in need of cleansing and help from the Black Sun's devilish creations. But inside The Oracle, is a fascinating and intriguing place flourishing with a driving economic society and blossoming with a high capacity of top of the line trade goods and weaponry now being sold and bartered with any and all willing to fight against the Black Sun's spawn.

The leader of The Embassy, Captain Paradine, a renowned Fulf decorated for his achievements and risks in countless space battles, helps keep The Oracle afloat and it's still thriving inner society safe and sound. He mans the entire vessel from The Bridge, which is the front most part of the ship. Very few dare to question his authority, technique, or tactics to win this newly formed war of worlds. While he's busy above, he enlisted a mayor of The Oracle to oversee the community and economic aspect of the ship. The mayor is named Mayor Wiley Winnsfeld, an old and wise Newman who does the opposite of the captain, he listens to people's needs and concerns within his office in the central most part of the ship, which is known as Neptune Lobby. The entrance, shop center, trade center, weapon and ammunition center, armored goods center, and meeting place of the entire ship due to its large and spacious area for thousands of guests, warriors, mercenaries, and travelers to mingle and do business. With housing availability and smaller apartment complexes located just a few clicks away from the lobby on the edge of the ship itself.

Crime is subtle on the ship in times of war. Many are working together in these dark times rather than fighting eachother to ensure the main focus is against the Black Sun. Besides, any crime at all on board will not be tolerated by CAST security officers on the ship, nor by the captain himself. Those seen fighting will be forced to enlist in the war and sent off to battle, which many consider the worst possible punishment. If one walks more around Neptune Lobby and observes further, they would see that there are team pods connected to the corners of the lobby. There are dozens of them. These team pods can be used to transport constructed teams into private rooms to conduct team business and battle plans for Arc missions and other important tasks. Those abusing them for anything other than team meetings will be sent to war alone with no means of survival. When teams complete Arc missions, they will be rewarded with new weapons, ammunition, supplies, and food found in their team pods for helping with the war efforts. Each team is registered first, then usually assigned a team pod according to availability.

Another enforced rule on the ship is to be safe and cautious of shady individuals and schemes. To make a living, many on board bribe others into being a team mate and then running off with any reward or supplies from a mission after doing very little to be a part of it and departing from the team almost instantaneously. Looking around you can usually tell who the scum are of the vessel. They are usually wearing cheap armor, have cheap weaponry usually found from a mission on the ground and in need of repair, and tend to be alone somewhere nervously looking around them for their next victims. These are coined as Slum Soldiers, and only seem to be recruited under emergency situations. There are other devious and cold hearted individuals on board that simply like to con their victims in trading bad items for good ones as well as pick pockets, beggars, and alchemists that like to poison and inflict disease on those that are dumb enough to try their fake potions and concoctions for healing. All sorts of sketchy thugs litter the ship in all the wrong places. CAST security because of their more robotic personality, often overlook them and only react to immediate emergencies unless otherwise told of a crime.

But the prize of the entire vessel that everyone on board checked nearly daily would be the mission request and rewards board. This very central area was a jackpot for any soldier and treasure hunter to utilize for their teams needs and their own. Various missions, quests, and countless rewards were offered on this board to those willing. Teams got to choose for the most part, what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go, as well as who gets what part of the reward and how to split it evenly. This was a giant plaza near Neptune Lobby that was almost always filled to the brim with teams and lurkers to get work known as Venture Junction. This was also a very popular and thriving place for those looking to form teams or make their teams bigger. It is also one of the most highly secured places on the ship with a major food court next door.

Baynin was taking this all in. Yes he ran away from home, and yes he is recovering from a dark and sinister past. But once leaving home, Baynin grew bitter after his brother's murder from a band of space pirates and needed to forget about it somehow. But being a Slimin race, mimicking was in his nature. He shifted into the very pirate that killed his brother and formed his own pirate crew. He became the very thing he hated most, and it consumed him. He didn't know who he was anymore, or why he could no longer be himself after his brother's death. He simply needed to survive, and survive he did. After traveling the universe with his crew, he realized the Black Sun was growing far too rapidly, attacking them at every corner. After the dangers grew, he split from his crew and now he was here. They were...who knows where. He found The Oracle. He was safe and alive. He had nowhere else to go, and no choice but to keep moving forward.

Looking around now, Baynin was scouring Neptune Lobby for a new crew, and a new start. He didn't have to get along with them, he just needed bodies to start going to the Arcs and eliminating the creatures that took over his planet. He had no idea who he'd find, and if they were any good at fighting or not, but he tried not to look so desperate. He decided to take it easy and relax at the food court near Venture Junction. The place was incredibly packed. There were teams and bantering every which way. He kinda wanted some ear plugs. He ordered a plate of hot rice, fish, and saki. If he was going to prepare for being in a war, he needed to be energized and alert. He did hope though nobody interrupted his meal, he hated that. From there, he let patience decide his fate and who was going to be his chosen party for the first Arc he seeks.
​

 

[E.T.]

It was an absolute mad house. Sights, sounds, and smells were being hurled from every which way, creating a confusing mess that thoroughly overwhelmed the senses. The worst was the press of people, to many people in once spot always made for an uncomfortable time. Sara herself had found it very challenging to make her way through the jostling crowd. Living in a city, a smaller city but still a city, all her life you would have thought she could easily deal with crowds. But, at home at least she could dodge quietly through the seldom used back allies to get where ever she needed to get, and besides the worst crowd she had ever encountered there would probably be a slow day here. It wasn't really helping that she had arrived late last night aand spent a couple frantic hours trying to find some place big enough that could fit her and ZEN but, wouldn't totally eat up their meager savings. That morning hadn't been much of a lift on her jet lagged spirits, but, ZEN being nice as he was had gone and got her breakfast while she was still in bed making her attitude turn from borderline sour to positively sunny.

They had then spent the rest of their time making their way towards the center hub of the ship, Venture Junction. The going got progressively slower as they made their way closer and closer to their target and the crowd become more densely packed with people from all walks of life. Sara was enthralled with all that she saw and so she did not mind the slow pace, and ZEN although he did not outwardly showing it ws also very curious about his new surroundings. Also as they got closer to the inner ring the crowd got to be more and more pushy, although ZEN did not seem to be having the same problem, Sara found herself constantly giving more ground than she got until she was barely making any head way. But thankfully she had an over ten foot tall body guard who was willing to become a very convinient mode of transport. So now she was positioned well above the crowd ridding on ZEN's wide shoulders. From her perch she was getting more than a few odd looks as people passed by, the general stream reluctantly giving way infront of the the towering robot.

Resting her chin on the top of ZEN's head Sara let her eyes wander around looking for a place for both of them to sit down and get out of the crowd. From her vantage point she saw that a little ways away there was a food court where the crowd was substantionally thinner and there was chairs. Leaning over so that her head was right next to one of ZEN's "ears" she asked him to head over there so that she could get something to eat and they could wait out the crowd. So cutting a path through the crowd they quickly made their way through the food court. Choices for tables were a bit limited as CAST didn't really need to eat so there were only a few table that had the reinforced chairs that would hold ZEN's weight. In the end they decided on a small circular table a off on its own with not to many people around excepted for a slimin who was eating nearby.

Hopping down off ZEN's shoulders Sara went over to get something to eat from one of the food venders while ZEN quietly sat down. Soon coming back with a tray loaded with food Sara set it down before settling into her own seat with a heavy sigh.
"Well at least the food is relatively cheap." She said taking a big bite of rice, leaning heavily on one elbow "At this rate we will survive the week without having to find a team."
"I thought the objective was to find a group to affiliate ourselves with." ZEN replied his voice blank.
"It is, but, in this crowd I wouldn't even know where to start." Sara replied glumly "It will take forever to find a team, and look around there are many who go through teams like you go through bolts, we would end up hauling the trunk from one area to the next as soon as we touched down again."
"Correction." ZEN said "You would make me carry the trunk as you would say that my stuff weighs the most. Stuff I would have taken out but, you thought it better not to."
"Alright that's because your stuff consists of a five foot cannon and enough rounds to take down a small army." Sara insisted taking up her side of the argument a little to seriously "And besides you saw the hotel guys face when you dropped the trunk spilling the custom gun that I made. I thought the guy was going to start shitting bricks."
"While an interesting statement it is physically impossible for someone to deficate bricks." At ZEN's level headed statement Sara couldn't help but to burst out laughing, eventually subsiding to a broad smile as she attacked her lunch.

 

[Knight Thaniel]

Baynin was finishing up his rice and fish in a hurried fashion as if eager to start team hunting and heading to the Arcs until he suddenly overheard a young lady talking about finding a team herself. He licked his lips and put down his utensils leaving some chips of cash on the counter and slowly sneaking away into the crowd directly behind this strange woman to spy on her a bit. She was sitting with a tall and rather unusual CAST model, a type of CAST in which Baynin has never seen before. He was massively sized for a CAST, which made Baynin wonder if it was a prototype, and if it was, how much different it would be from the originals. Maybe it meant more power, more weapon capabilities, and more use in the battle field. Baynin's eyes lit up but then turned into a confused glare as he began wondering what he was doing paired with someone so young. She's so feeble and scrawny. Baynin thought this to try and decide if she was even worth being on a team with. The CAST was an obvious choice, but he knew that if he tried to recruit the robot, he'd have to bring her along too. Ofcourse he could try and lose her somewhere down the line and trick her into being solo and then running off with the robot itself, but Baynin didn't quite know how smart the CAST was either.

Curiosity continued to conquer and dominate Baynin's mind as he eyed a trunk that was with them. What could possibly be inside that thing? Baynin thought, now completely intrigued by this rather peculiar duo. A unique CAST and a young girl with a mysterious trunk, the possibilities of what all these connections meant drove Baynin crazy. He had to approach them now, he had to talk to them and get to know their intentions, but yet show his dominance, and what he wants in his team. He felt he was always a leader type, regardless of what happened to his brother and in his lifetime, he had evolved into a natural born leader, he manned a pirate ship with a full fledged crew of the gnarliest space pirates to ever roam the galaxies. He knew he could turn even the most strangest of people and weakest of teams into full fledged armies of destruction. He smiled putting on his fakest friendly face imaginable, and went for the introduction. He needed to take this risk, his chances of finding another group in need of building a team in such a vast and chaotic place, and getting along with them no less, was minimal at best. He took a few steps towards them in a valiant manner, walking with stride, but suddenly tripped over a packet of ketchup on the floor below and crashed right in front of their table.

A few giggles from the crowd around him filled his ears and he made a frustrated look pushing himself back to his feet and dusting himself off. Being a Slimin wasn't easy, they were a race known for being clumsy and humorous, they weren't exactly known for their abilities. Not many people knew Baynin on a personal level, they always assumed, never made the effort to know him. He was a vicious Force class, he has been in many bouts with all kinds of creatures and thugs. Times like these were times of temptation to show his skills in a bad way, but he remained calm, playing it off as if he meant to trip and fall, when really it was his slimy outline from his current shape shift form of a pirate captain he killed ages ago that made him fall. Whenever he maintained a shift form and not his original form for so long, a slimy film forms around him to keep his Slimin identity. His race was never fully capable of taking on a shift form without showing their green skin texture and slimy extract from the pores. It was one of the few faults the Slimin race had in their gene pool. When he was finally close enough and passed the moment of humiliation, he greeted the girl and her CAST in a proper hello.

"Hello there you two. My name is Baynin, I'm a Force caster of the Slimin race from the planetary confines of my home of Equinox, I would like to extend my greetings and possibly chat with the both of you about accompanying me in a team to help purify the Arcs of The Oracle. I'm sure it would benefit all of us in some manner or another."

Baynin wasn't a pro with hello's, but he felt he did pretty good. He wasn't his usual intimidating and jerk bag self. He was content, well structured, and pristine in his approach. But being kind can only be tolerated so long from him, especially if they turn down his offer or laugh him away. He couldn't stand when people underestimated him or ignored him entirely. He didn't have the time or the energy to play coy or mess around, he needed a team and he needed one as soon as possible. If they were to decline his offer, he wouldn't be a happy camper, he'd have to resort to finding desperate recruits such as Slum Soldiers as a last resort, and he didn't ever want to fall to that level again. He has worked with them once before with his crew of pirates for a covert mission, and they took every last chip they had and scattered. They did fight well, but their intentions were volatile. Not to mention his old pirate crew themselves were incredibly hostile and very greedy, so it was almost like he was working with a bunch of criminals the entire time he manned his ship. He had hoped this time around he was lucky enough to forge a responsible and trustworthy team capable of great battle skills and honest intentions. Then again, a Slimin's luck was always lacking.

 

[E.T.]

ZEN watched patiently as Sara continued to devoir her meal of rather crunchy rice and over cooked chicken, while Sara watched the crowd with a great amount of interest. On Taltus the population was mostly composed of humans so this was her first time seeing such a large percentage of the different races all grouped together in this great melting pot. This is not to say this was the first time she had, ever, seen the different races. No, working as a mechanic had taken care of that, good work at a good price always attracted and interesting host of characters. A sudden disterbence caused her to turn in her seat her eyes still bright with curiosity, her spoon clamped in her mouth in a comical sideways manner. It was a Slimin man, he had tripped very close to their table pitching forward onto his front. Sara started a little as she felt something large move through the air next to her, a flash of green that stopped at the edge of the table closest to the tumbling slimin. It was one of ZEN's large arms, circling forward swiftly just incase the slimin fell to close to their table. The CAST would have probably caught him but, he happened to be sitting at the opposite end of the table and the guy fell a good ways out of his reach.

Startled out of action Sara was going to ask if the guy was okay, but, as he jumped back up onto his feet she felt that it was pretty safe to assume that he suffered no real damage, other than that dealt to his pride. Looking back over at ZEN, who had since retracted his arm she pulled her spoon out of her mouth and let it rest back against the plate with a small click of metal hitting metal. She supposed that they had best get moving if they wanted to get anything done today beside a little sight seeing. She was actually reaching down to her pocket to get when she heard ZEN give a little raspy mechanical sound that was actually his version of a person clearing their throat. When she had first heard the sound she had been very confused. It had taken her a month of him using that strange little sound to finally figure out what he was trying to hint out. In this instince he was using it to indicate that someone was approaching. Looking up Sara first turned her gaze on ZEN, before twisting around to glance behind her. The same man who had tripped only a few moments ago, was walking right up to their table and it was clear from his expression that he intended to talk to them. Fixing him with a stare from her large dark brown eyes she kept her expression pleasent but neutral, unsure what he intended to talk to them about although her expectations were not particularly high.

However, as he began to talk Sara's mouth dropped open into a very expressive O shape. At first she just didn't know how to react, the only thing that came to mind was an old saying that her dad had used frequently "The squeaky wheel gets oiled". In the back of the mind she wondered if the Slimin, this Baynin, had been listening in on her and ZEN's conversation. In the front of her mind however, she didn't really care. She was a little taken aback at Baynin's very direct greeting, but, in a way it was rather refreshing, the guy was very no frills but that meant that she probably wouldn't have to worry about him sugar coating things. Something that her father had often done to her, trying to protect her from the hurt of the world, but, she was at least, emotionally tougher than she looked.

"Hello Baynin, I'm Sara. I'm a technic from Taltus." She finally replied managing to get herself together. Indicating ZEN with one of her hands she continued "This is my friend,"
"ZEN. Also from Taltus." Zen said introducing himself, indicating as he did so the silver lettering on the upper left side of his chest plate that was his namesake.
"He's a ranger. Please, grab a seat." Sara offered indicating a free seat nearby. "As to your offer we have been looking to form a team at some point."