《Alt-Tab》 000 - The Tab // ************************************ // // Alt-Tab 000 - The Tab // // ************************************ ~~~ 000.01 found ~~~ Rudie was running like hell for almost quarter night now. It''s raining, so exhausted that every drop felt like needle sting *haa* *haaa* *haa* Out of breath. He kept on running 3 more sets of foot steps can be heard from behind him. He''s being chased by Delmenta Agents; highly trained operatives was sent to apprehend him. *bang* Agent 1: "Split up! We need to catch him before he reaches the complex." Rudie turns to corners, left and right he kept on going. Until he reached what seems to be a dead-end but instead of slowing down he run even faster towards the wall. He flicked his fingers just before the Qan-1 Agent fires another shot *flick* *bang* As he did his body briefly light up then vanish. Agent 1: (over the radio) DAMNNIT! He''s a Switcher! Agent 2: That was never mentioned in his file. Agent 1: I know, You idiot! You don''t have to tell me. : Kren (Agent 3) call the base. We are going back Kren: Roger that Dax Morgh ****************************** In just a split second, after he flicked his fingers Scenery changed in an instant, in a blink of an eye everything changed. He''s now running on a grass field, all wet on a sunny weather. Rudie kept running until he reached the shed behind one of the houses. Trying to catch his breath he tought to himself ''Seriously!? You took a shot at your own son! You demented father!'' Dax-1 Morgh a high ranking official within the agency is Rudie''s father. ****************************** It was the 16th Lunar Cycle and 2125th Night [16C-2125] when mankind discovered the 5th Dimension! Not just a in theory but, actually found it. Better yet found a way to move from one dimension to another. Up until this point the only known dimensions to man was 1st Dim: Line or Width 2nd Dim: Shape or Height 3rd Dim: Object or Depth 4th Dim: Time and now the 5th. Another dimension as humanity long have been fantasizing. Alternate reality, Alternate universe, Different Dimension as they used to call it. Moving from one reality to another happens in just a split second. Like moving from one tab to another in our computer screens. Baffled with new discovery and more important matters at hand. It was given a temporary name "Tab" but, using it for so long it became its offical title 5th Dim: Tab [figure 001 to 003] Specialists gathered from all over the globe to continue the study of this new found world. Here, there are no alternate lives not as we thought from the beginning. People in this other tabs are their own person, own lives. The then government immediately summon agents to scout and learn things about this new world, this 2nd Tab. They find this Tab more peaceful, as humanity here are living stoic or communal lifestyle. Did not advanced in technology as much as the 1st Tab or as what they call themselves Mains. No monetary system, there are mostly trades. Even then, if one person doesn''t have anything to offer for whatever reason. Neighbors would come knocking on his doors to offer what exceed their own needs. And maybe because of this, everyone know that they have to do their part. Master their own trades. Build those who have knowledge about building, plant those who are good with plants, Design and invent those who have creative minds. Everyone is living a happy life. 10 Nights had pass since the discovery, agents went back and report this to the then government. Every person in that room had their eyes sparkle as that of a child who sees gift for his birthday or like a man finding a treasure chest whilst walking by the beach. They decided to bring their religion, science, beliefs, ''Money'' to this Tab. Started to invade bringing troops, soldiers; but even then they utterly failed. Because, you see, this Tab might be behind when it comes to technology but they have gifts. Some can read minds, start a fire with simple chant, harden their skins that could stand even an anti-tank bullets. Didn''t take long. Not even 2 full Nights the Mains gave up on their quest to conquer. Beaten and lost, they decided to offer a trade instead. Technology, knowledge, anything that Gifteds would ask (2nd Tab was called as "Subs" later changed to Gifteds) Gifteds happily accepted the offer, although there was once an attempt to conquer. They did not give it much of attention. They forgave and with arms wide open they welcome humanity from another Tab. With simple set of rules: - Any person is welcome to travel from Tab to another - A person from Mains can travel in Gifteds'' as much as they wants --- can stay as long as they wants --- given that he or she will never, in anyway try to push his/her ideals to any Gifted - Same rules applies for Gifteds in Mains Tab --- with the addition; that if a Gifted was to explore the Mains --- he or she will not be forced to abide the monetary system if he/she so wish not to --- and will be given a courtesy of trades in any form, such as: --- property, labor or anything he/she can offer - There will be no more attempt of such conquest from either Tabs - This rules can and might change in the future With that both Tabs started to build Tabbing Stations where Tabbing Devices [TD] were installed. The knowledge of Mains with the ability of Gifteds, stations were completed within 10 Nights. Curious peoples from both Tabs started to go back and forth, see the wonders of the other world, learn cultures, make friends, build a family. Both Tabs were living harmoniously even with the obvious wide difference in their customs ****************************** In 16C-2382 a new invention was created. A Personal Tabbing Device [P-TD] Everyone is eligable to purchase and register their own P-TD. Convenience of not having the need to go in a Tabbing Station, majority decided to get their own. For many Nights life was peaceful, Mains and Gifteds live harmoniously with each other until one fateful Night. One of the P-TD malfunctioned sending a Gifted traveling to the 1st Tab instead ended up in a different one! ****************************** ~~~ 000.02 third ~~~ Ongdu had just finished working on the barn after a full Night. Received a telergam from his wife that was on the Mains Tab. ----------------------------- Sender: Welinda ----------------------------- Ongdu honey, don''t forget to get the milk before coming home. ILY!!! ----------------------------- ''Ohh, I almost forgot the milk.'' He packed his things; securely strapped all his tools so it wont get lost while traveling in the TabPar. As he is about to flick his fingers, one of his tools got caught on the hinge of his P-TD creating a miscalculation in the travel coordinate. Ongdu tilted his head since he doesn''t recognize the neighborhood he was in. Traveling places from a Tab to another for so many Nights, this is the first time he''d seen this placeStolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Not only that he can''t recognize the place, many people around him shooting their eyes in his direction. Almost everyone have shock, fear and puzzled look. A child even cried so loud but no one seems to hear the child''s wailing. Seconds that felt like hours passed and almost at the exact same time. People pulled out talisman, symbols made of wood, weird looking necklaces and such, started chanting, murmuring to themselves. As a Gifted himself, Ongdu casted a protective spell of his own perparing himself for any projectile that might come his way. Waiting for minutes, nothing seems to be happening, people just kept murmuring, some even kneeling down now, raising hand as if waiting for someone from above to grab their hands. It was then at that time 10 huge armor-clad men encircled Ongdu. Spears, broad swords pointing at him. To their eyes, Ongdu appeared out of a thin air. Unknown kind of cloathing, unfamiliar face Someone from these men finally started speaking and asking questions. The only one who isn''t wearing a head gear, long braided hair, thick moustache. Christoff: "I Christoff, head of the Templar Guards of Augustin''s, asking you. Who are you?" "Do you understand what I''m saying? Where are you from? What is the purpose of your appearing here?" Barrage of questions was thrown at him, made Ongdu became even more confused. ''What the hell?'' but, in the end he decided to calm his thoughts and started answering questions. Ongdu: "I''m Ongdu. Yes, I understand your language" "I''m from the marsh of Sylbiondel, Tab of Gifteds. I just want to go home to my wife and family an-" He was cut-off by Christoff who obviously have tons of other questions. Christoff: "Are you here to pillage our village?" Ongdu, realized that the conversation that is taking place would not come to an end anytime soon, specially when they are shouting while conversing like they are doing now. Raised his hand, slowly lowering it and hover to the clip of his tools bag as if saying ''do not freak out'', unclipped his bag. Settle it on the ground a foot far from him and speak. Ongdu: "Christoff, is it? I''m sure you have a lot of question as am I, but we won''t clearly understand each other if we continue to do so like this. I mean no harm, that''s everything I have with me (pointing at the bag). Let''s sit and talk, besides I need to rest my legs as well" Still a little hesitant, Christoff order one of his Knights to grab the bag carfully open it and see various tools, some familiar some don''t walked slowly towards Ongdu. The latter offered his hand and after a brief moment the Templar took it. ****************************** In Monitoring Centre in Mains Tab, one of the students jumped out of his chair in surprise. Student: "Sir! Sir! There''s something wrong!" The manager of Monitoring Dept. now running towards the station of the panicking student. One of the screen blinking non-stop showing a single serial number .-------------------------. | No out portal detected! | .-------------------------. | | | G53 - PTD007352 - SLBmx | | | ''-------------------------'' Only one reason an alert window would show up like this one. It means a P-TD was used to open a portal from one Tab but the other end of it can not be traced anywhere on the opposite Tab. It was feared that the person who jump on that portal got stuck in the Tab Particle, the space vacuum between Tabs used to travel from one to the other. No one knows excatly what is happening out there. This certain warning was seen only twice since the discovery of 5th Dimension The first incident was in the early stage of P-TD testing period. A group of 20 volunteers jumped using thier own device but only 14 made it on the other Tab Second was when a merchant who frequently travel between Tabs suddenly disappear without any trace. Trixan: "Go call the office, tell them what is happening right now!" Student: "Yes, manager" ****************************** *ring* *ring* *ring* Dorothy: "Speak." Man on the phone: "Ma''am! there''s another incident of lost portal!" Dorothy: "Tell me the details" The man explained everything that happened in the monitoring room. Dorothy''s expression gradualy getting darker as she hear more details Dorothy: "I''ll be there in 15" *hang up* Dorothy: ''This is it, we have to trace it while the trail is still hot'' She picks up the receiver again and pressed and hold a single number Dorothy: "Monitoring room, bring everyone! 15 mins." ****************************** Ongdu was sitting across Christoff in the middle of the Village Square. While everyone have their lips shut tight, the two have a gap between their lips as if wanted to start the conversation but neither know where to start. Finally, Ongdu as he figures that since he is a lone person in this place who weren''t originally from here started to talk. Ongdu: "As I mentioned earlier, My name is Ongdu, from the marsh of Sylbiondel, Tab of Gifteds" "I''m not entirely sure but -" He stopped, thinking of his current predicament. Althought he have an idea, he doesn''t have all the evidence and a bit hesitant to ask the counter part. There''s only one reason why he''s hesitating to confirm his theory, they might suddenly attack out of fear once they found out that he is not from this world. Ongdu steel his resolve and decided to ask the questions he have in mind Because he can''t think of another way to verify his theory. While looking around the structures that look more like a shack than a proper house Ongdu: "What you say this village is called again?" Christoff: "I didn''t, but this village is named Truchubar in Molaive district" Ongdu: "In what country and continent?" Christoff: "Amaltacara of Augustin Church Empire, how long have you been hiding in your cave?" "everyone know for a fact that humans can only live in one continent, The Dyth." "for 10 Cycles now, us humans can''t even get 15 kilometers far from the coast becau-" Darthe: "Those damned Borxars eat whatever they see moving!" "I swear I''ll kill every last one of them once I get my own Grace. SO that my brother can finally rest i-" Christoff looked behind him to look at Darthe the talking Guard the latter realized his rude behavior and bowed to apologize to his superior. While listening to all these things there''s only one thought that comes to Ongdu''s mind ''Oooohh! Fuck! I''m on another another dimension'' Ongdu then explained everything that he knows to this group of Guards. About his dimension and another besides that of his own. Tell them how he was able to travel between Tabs and so on. Some might say that the faces of these Guards have a new expression that just got invented at this very moment. Confused, excitement, doubt, shock and more emotions can be seen to each ones faces. As Ongdu was explaining the details of his sudden appearance, something pierced the top of his head that came out below his chin. In an instant a tounge split in two at the end, wraps his entire body and pulled him inside the mouth of the creature. One of the Guards: "It''s a Climaek!" *AAHHHH!* *AAHHHHH!* A Climaek, dog like creatures that can grow as tall as 8 meters and is believed that there is no other creature faster that these ones beside Hell Hounds. No furr, front paw that look almost the same as human hands because of its long fingers, thick horns coming out from shoulder instead of its head, no tails, huge fangs Christoff pulled out his sword and point it towards the sky. "... Bless!" Spoke a chant and in an instant his body glows a deep red hue, and after a couple of seconds an armor materialized out of a thin air covered his entire body. Pure white with gold lining. His body still glowing but now in a bright white instead of the previous deep red Christoff: "On position! Protect the villagers. Ythros go evacuate the civilians" Ythros: "Yes sir!" Christoff:"Come! You hell spawn! I will send you back to the abyss" // ************************************ // // End of Alt-Tab 000 // // ************************************ Notes: - 1st Tab: [Mains] Technology / Space - 2nd Tab: [Gifteds] Nature / Magic - 3rd Tab: [Faiths] Religion / Supernatural - Dimensions / dim: --- 1st dim - Line, Width --- 2nd dim - Shape, Hieght --- 3rd dim - Object, Depth --- 4th dim - Time --- 5th dim - Tab - Tabbing Device / TD --- used to travel from one Tab to another - Personal Tabbing Devices / P-TD --- specialize for each individual --- was forbidden by the tribunal --- order to be destroyed was issued by the tribunal - Tab Particles / TabPar: --- the vacuum on which particles travel to get to another Tab --- a timeless space - 1 Lunar Cycle: --- when the 2 moons and the sun aligns - 1 Night: --- when 2 moons align - Earth Year Comparison --- 1C = 150 Earth Years --- 16C = 2,400 Earth Years --- 1C = 2,400 Nights --- 1 Earth Year = 16 Nights --- = 1 Earth Year = 365 days = 8,760 hours --- 1 Night = about 515.3 Earth Hours = 21.5 days --- 16C-2125 = 2525 Earth Years // ************************* // Characters: // ************************* - Rudie: Run-away Switcher, son of Dax-1 Agent Morgh - Morgh: Dax-1 Agent, Rudie''s father - Kren: Qan-1 Agent working under Dax Morgh - ..., N-Dax, N-Lyx, N-''Or: Rank identifier - Delmenta Agents Ranks: --- Gro: lowest rank [ 1 - 3 ] --- Qan: mid rank [ 1 - 5 ] --- Dax: high rank [ 1 - 4 ] --- Lyx: commander rank [ 1 - 2 ] --- ''Or: general rank [ 1 - 8 ] - Ongdu: had the first malfunction of P-TD, killed by Climaek - Welinda: Ongdu''s wife - Christoff: Head of the Templar Guards of Augustin''s Church in Molaive''s Branch - Darthe: one of the Templar Guards under Christoff - Ythros: one of the Templar Guards under Christoff - Dorothy: Director of P-TD monitoring department - Trixan: Manager of Monitoring // ~~ Creatures ~~ - Borxars: sea creatures that lives near the coast of every continent --- body like snake, but have multiple fins like that of a shark --- 4 distinct spikes coming out of the end of it''s tail --- 2 hands although thin and quite weak, it''s effective enough to pull food towards its mouth --- Length: 20 - 55 meters, Width: 2 - 5 meters - Climaek: believed to be 2nd to the top of food chain. dog like creatures, fast --- No furr, front paw that look almost the same as human hands --- Thick horns coming out from shoulder, no tails, huge fangs --- 5 - 8 meters // ************************* // Locations/Affiliations: // ************************* - World Tribunal --- consist of leaders from each Tabs --- the new law - Switcher: --- people who we''re able to save their personal tabbing devices when its was banned --- living normal lives --- hiding from the world Tribunal and Delmenta - Delmenta: --- opposing the tribunal --- want to remove tribunal --- ranked soldiers based on the achievement - Sylbiondel - Southern region of Gifteds Tab - Dyth - only continent in 3rd Tab [Faiths] where humans can live - Amaltacara - East of Dyth - Molaive - district of Amaltacara near the shore - Augustin''s Church - one of the religion in Faiths Tab 001 - The Appearance // ************************************ // // Alt-Tab 001 - The Appearance // // ************************************ ~~~ 001.01 metal ~~~ The Climaek is staring at Christoff with burning eyes and all of muscles in its body clenching, ready pounce at any moment. As both Christoff and the creature were locked in an intense staring contest something from behind the creature jumped towards the Guards. Another Climaek! Although smaller in size, it doesn''t look any less powerful than the one that ate Ongdu just a moment ago. One of the Guards was caught by its claw, tore his armor like a piece of paper and just like that his body was split in half, his upper torso fell lifeless on the ground. Christoff swinged his sword towards the creature that took the life of his man, it dodged with an increadible speed but he was anticipating that and pointed his hand at the creature with open palm Christoff: "Strike!" Lightning came out from his palm and shoot towards the creatures side. *Khiiiiiek!* It cried as a thousand volts of electricity rampaging through its body. The creature fell on the ground and after flailing for a while, the Climaek that got strucked by lightning stand back up, steady its body and launched towards Christoff once again. This time other Guards intervened and eventually they were able to slay the rampaging creature. Everyone was exhausted, wounded, one of them even lost an arm trying to save his brother who almost became a breakfast for the creature. While they were fighting the smaller Climaek, the bigger one that came first was just staring at them. Christoff: ''Its good that these creatures does not have the sense of cooperation'' Little did he know, The huge Climaek was just studying their movements, skills and coordination. Just a brief moment when the smaller Climaek died all Guards turned their gaze towards the bigger one and then, as if waiting for this specific moment, the creature opened its mouth and with an ear-shattering shriek, a dozen of smaller Climaek emerged from behind the creature. Guards: ''ohh fuck!'', ''God help us...'', ''I don''t wanna die'' ****************************** Dorothy arrived in the Monitoring room and with a quick glance she can see that everyone already know what happened Dorothy: "Report" Trixian stepped forward holding a binder, started reading the report. Trixian: "Tab 2 locale 18-3 sector 2, a portal was opened using a P-TD" "Registered to Gifted: Ongdu Malau, ID G53-PTD007352" "But, no out portal was detected on the Mains tab" It was a known fact that once a portal was opened in one Tab, the out portal will be opened on the exact same location on its counterpart. All P-TD was programmed to do exactly that, so anyone who use a personal device can be monitored. There are also security measures that was placed inside the device to restrict anyone who tries to alter its program. Trixian: "Although the coordinates showing for in and out portal are exaclty the same" "There is no trace of out portal on the opposite Tab." "From the old records that we pulled up, the first incident when 6 out of 20 volunteers gone missing" "4 of the P-TD still showing coordinates like this one while the other 2 completely lost its signal" "For the second incident, it shows coordinates as well" Dorothy: "Does this mean... never mind continue" As if reading Dorothy''s mind. Trixian: "Yes, the coordinate showing on these records might be nothing but a glitch or bug on the previous version" "The Discovery team were trying to find another Tab for more than 250 Nights now so it highly unlik-" Dorothy: "I''m fully aware of that" "Anasthasha, your thoughts?" Before Dorothy come to the monitoring room, she phoned someone. That someone is none other than Anasthasia, the very first sucessful genetically engineered human. Together with 4 other enhanced like her, they are called GEOP (Gene-Enhanced Op). A highly classified group that only 6 person alive today know its existence including of course Dorothy, not even the highest seats in the government office know about them. Anasthasia: "Pull up the complete logs from the P-TD, starting at the very first time it was used" Trixian: "From... first use? But that could contain hundreds of millions of lines!" Anasthasia: "Not your problem, we''ll deal with it" Urcena: "It''ll be nice if you could bring the logs for the old incidents as well~" Trixian and others who have no idea who these women are, were just staring at them not sure what is happening right this very moment. Beside the fact that these women are enhanced (although no one knows that at the moment), they have an insane request to get the whole log for the P-TD that malfunctioned and not just one but all known cases. Although the biggest reason is that each of these women could go head to head with Athena the Greek goddess in a beauty contest and a body that could put all the most celebrated models to shame. There was a brief silence after the 2 asked for the report that they needed *...* Dorothy: "Are you all deaf?" She may have spoken in a very calm voice but everyone beside the GEOP felt shiver run through their spine. Monitoring room: "R... right away ma''am!" Dorothy: "30 mins" Again, Trixian and others were dumbfounded for yet another insane request, but no one in their right mind will protest to the orders of this woman. With just one word everyone started running around as if the world is going to end unless they complete this task in 30 mins. Dorothy: "Now" ****************************** 30 mins had passed Anasthasia were looking at the full log of the P-TD that malfunctioned most recently, from the time it was first used until this very moment. While the others we''re going through the old cases. Hundreds of millions of lines are nothing to GEOP and their deft reading. Since each of them were genetically modified towards IQ spectrum this seems to be a light reading for them. Eilla was the one reading the logs for the P-TD used by the merchant who got lost a while back, found something none of them expected. This might be because the incident was like an ancient history or someone tried to bury these evidences, no one knows why all the serial for the P-TD''s that malfunctioned was removed from the monitoring list. As she was about to close the file the last line caught her attention and made her grasp Eilla: "What the hell! Take a look at this" Dorothy: "Tell me" Anasthasha: "The last line, it says that the P-TD was used again 7 Nights after it was declared lost" "And it created an out portal to the Gifteds Tab." Nythm: "Haha... How the fuck did the ''Specialists''~ miss that crucial information" Dorothy ignored the mocking comment from Nythm, although it affect her deeply since her father was one of the Specialists that worked on the early stage of P-TD. No one actually know that except for Anasthasha, who elbowed Nythm so hard that the latter almost broke a rib. Dorothy: "Get me that coordinate" Anasthasha: "Yes ma''am, I''m sending it to your station now" While all this exchange is happening, Urcena found something different from the logs she''s handling. The registered speed of the particle accelerator inside the P-TD was 10, no, 20 times faster than what it was originally programmed. In addition to that, there are traces of different elements in each of the devices. Urcena: "Everyone there''s more. I found some logs indicating traces of various kinds of metals" Anasthasha: "Check all files and see if we can compare it to this one" For a regular humans these differences are so small that they won''t even bat an eye if they come across it, especially if one is going to read millions of words from a single file. GEOP started to list all the elements they found that wasn''t suppose to be there. Separate the elements found on those that show coordinate and those that totally lost its signalSupport the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Urcena: "Here, this is the list of elements I found here" Eilla: "Here''s mine" Urcena: "This one element is consistent on all 6 that malfunction at the same time" Anasthasha: "It''s not present on the merchant''s and on the recent one" Urcena: "Ohh but look at this. There''s not much of a difference on the frequency" "And there''s this, another element present on those P-TD that lost signal" "The frequency are far off too." Anasthasha: "Director we need to call some Specialist who knows the program" "so we can identify the elements assigned to these IDs" *...* For a while Dorothy stayed silent, thinking if she should call that person or not. But the matters at hand are far more pressing than her skepticism over the man. The GEOP absolutely have no idea what she was talking about so thet just gave their nod in agreement Dorothy: "I''ll call him in" *nod?* ****************************** ~~~ 001.02 wiped ~~~ No one can deny the fact that the Guards are far too exhausted to continue fighting dozen of these creatures and it''ll be quicker if they just stand there and die from the hands and fangs of the enemy, after all they were reduced to this state before they can even kill one. It matters not to the Climaeks how pitiful these Guards look like, for them these are just preys to be hunted. Didn''t take long for the creatures to start attacking again while Guards try to defend with all their might and because the situation was so dire that two of them sacrificed themselves to grant their fellow Guards a Temporary Grace. Darthe: "Arrgghhh!" Seeing his fellow Templar, brother-in-arms being reduce to ashes just to give them a slight chance to win this fight or at the very least survive this predicament made Darthe cry out loud. As soon as the bodies of those who sacrificed their lives was completely gone, Darthe and four other Guards felt the blessing going through their bodies, and since Christoff already have his own Grace, he instead recieved a blessing that make him feel 10x stronger. Christoff: "NO!!!" Christoff tried to stop his men to attack without any plan, since all of them just rush in to the center of their enemies. Christoff: "Come back! NOW!" Guards: "Arrgghhh!!" As if they lost their hearing from despair and grief, the Templars are attacking aimlessly. Hitting the Climaek here and there but nothing fatal that even if these creatures received the attack head on it won''t even make them blink. This continued for a while until one of the Guards got cornered by the Climaek. Darthe: ".. Protect!" Darthe tried to protect his fellow Guard with his Temporary Grace but a bit too late, the claw of the Climaek reached the temple of the Guard who was defending from 2 more creatures in front of him. Christoff used one of his abilities "Roar" Christoff: "Get back here! NOW!" Darthe: "Everyone pull back" Christoff: "That was stupid of you, all of you. Don''t you think?" "We can''t afford to fall here, this many Climaek if they were to get pass us" "those villagers who just got out will be food for them as well." Guards: "Please, forgive us..." Christoff: "No time for that, we have to move as one. Darthe you seem to have a defensive Grace" "you hold the rare, Tristan on my left, the two of you focus on the Climaek I''ll push towards my right" Guards: "Yes sir!" With their formation and better coordination they were starting to get an upper hand. As soon as Christoff launched forward the rest follow close behind him. Throw lightning to two Climaeks in front of him the creatures jumped towards his right and then the 2 Guards used their Grace to slay both of the Climaek that went their way. Darthe providing defensive abilities while Tristan adding buff to their attacks, compare to how they fight earlier their attacks now are ten times more efficient and effective. Once more using the same tactics they were able to kill another one, although it didn''t last long. The huge Climaek let out another shriek and all smaller ones moved as one unit, this time killing the two guards on Christoff''s right. Darthe tried to block off all the attacks but it can only take so much damage before breaking. This time things look more dreadful for them Three Guards left, nevertheless they plan to hold as long as they possibly can with the hope that the civilians will be able to reach safe haven before they all fall, what''s more they intend to lessen the burden to their fellow Guards who one day might encounter this group of Climaek. This time Darthe dropped his defensive stance and plan to give everything he got to this next attack, Christoff and Tristan did the same. *huff huff* Christoff: "If we could at least bring that huge one with us. I would happily meet the divine." Darthe: "Yes, you read my mind sir. Hopefully my brother would not get mad at me for following him before I can even revenge his death to those damned Borxars" Christoff raised his sword and gathered lightning on its tip, while Darthe fend off the attacks as much as he can and Tristan giving full support while Christoff is channeling his ability Christoff: "Buy me some time as much as you can" Darthe/Tristan: "Yes sir!" As soon as it was ready, Christoff lowered his sword and point it towards the huge Climaek. Christoff: "YOU''RE COMING WITH ME!" Bolts of lightning shoot towards the huge Climaek but 2 smaller ones jumped in front of it. Taking all the damage from the attack and died, cloud of dust formed between them and the creatures. As the cloud settles, Christoff kneeling down on the ground asked the other two if they can see the Climaek''s corpse. Tristan: "There''s 2 small ones and..." Darthe: "The... The huge Climaek isn''t there!" It was quick but Darthe was able to see a glimpse of the huge Climaek, activated his defensive ability but in just a split second the huge arms of the creature was almost in front of them aiming to now exhausted Christoff. Darthe jumped in between Christoff and the creature. The force was too great that Darthe''s shield was like non-existent, the creatures claw pierce through Darthe; head, shoulder, chest and stomach. He didn''t even have a chance to utter a single word. Now there''s just two of them left, the Climaek was about to attack once more after ripping Darthe off his hands, another swing aimed Christoff once again but it hit a broadsword instead. A huge man that came with Ythros blocked the Climaek''s claw, Ythros who was tasked to evacuate the civilians came back with 4 other Guards. Ythros: "We''re here sir, take a rest for awhile" "The Bishop sent his personal guards to back us up and of course all the resident of Molaive are safe" After hearing this Christoff was able to relaxed a bit. The other three Guards started attacking the huge Climaek that''s being held back by the one who block its claws but the huge Climaek backed way and send the smaller ones. Again to observe how these new adversaries fight. Since each of these newly arrived Templars have their own Grace, the battle is a bit easier for them, they were able to kill 2 creatures with their solid team work and individual strength. But, there''s still the huge Climaek that seems to lead these creatures and 5 smaller ones After few more exchange the huge Climaek started to move again. As the time went by, both sides are loosing numbers, up to this point Christoff was just recovering his strength as much as possible. It was then when everyone''s attention was being drawn by the smaller Climaeks, the huge one dropped from the sky knocking down everyone. Ythros was thrown farther than the rest, he went through one of the shacks and hit his head so bad that he lost consciousness Then there''s two creatures left, 2 Guard and Christoff who decided that he have rested well enough to join this final clash. The huge Climaek howled and in an instant appeared in front of the 2 Guards biting one''s head off and blowing away the other, the smaller Climaek followed through and finish off the Templar that got blown away. Seconds felt like hours in Christoff''s mind. Christoff: ''I have to do it! Everyone''s dead even the ones that came to support us'' ''I have to! At the very least bring this creature down with me'' He then stab the ground with his sword, the armor that he summoned from the start of the battle vanished and a halo formed on top of his head. Christoff: "Take thy servant, use me as vessel to cleanse this world..." After finishing his prayer blinding light enshrouded Christoff, the bright light exploded killing himself and the two Climaek on sight. The preassure hit Ythros as well, pushing him few meters on the ground and he regained consciousness. Ythros: "God! No Christoff..." As he''s mourning for the death of his superior and fellow Guards, he heared something from the shack that he went through when he got knocked out. The smallest of the creatures that they were fight was blown away as well when the huge Climaek dropped in the middle of the Guards earlier. The creature was more disoriented than Ythros since it was nearer to the light explosion than he was. Although, he''s not confident to win even against the smallest and disoriented Climaek on his own. Ythros decided to just hide behind the huge rock near him. Planning his route to get as far as possible to the creature, then he saw the young Climaek acting a bit unusual. It is sniffing something here and there then finally look into his general direction. Ythros: "Arrrgghhh! HELP ME!" He ran like the devil himself is chasing him. ****************************** The GEOP was discussing their findings while waiting for the Specialist that Dorothy called in. While they have the general idea on what to make of it they decided not to act based on their assumption alone. Couple of minutes had passed and Nythm was about to inquire Dorothy on how much longer they have to wait when the door slides open. A man wearing a particular kind of clothing that can only be found in one of the tribes on Gifteds Tab walked in. This man is named Kahle one of the space and light attibute person in Gifteds, meaning he specialized in the manipulation of space and light elements. Kahle: "You guys are not far off you know." Dorothy: "Explain" With Dorothy any greetings and pleasantries are nothing but a waste of time, specially now that there are more pressing matters at hand. Kahle: "Of course." *bows* Kahle: "As you all thought there are certain elements that mixed in when the portal was created and bacause of that the course of the program inside the P-TD was altered." "But! to tell you exactly which element it is I have to see the logs myself and to tell you how much it would affect the course of the portal" Nythm: "Yeah yeah, but who are you exactly?" Kahle: "I am Kahle, from Shinugao Tribe residing in the northest region in Gifteds" *bows* Kahle: "We specialized in space and light attr-" Nythm: "And why is a Gifted like you joined the Specialist? I thought you guys desire for nothing." Kahle: "Yes that is true we live off the things that we have and not ask for more than we need" "But, I do have a reason for being here. I want to know what happened to my father." GEOP: "Fathe-?" Kahle now staring at Nythm as if he wants to put a hole in her face. Dorothy: "That''s enough, Kahle get to it" Kahle: "Of course" *bows* Kahle: "For us to be able to arrive to the answer we all seek. Let me tell you exactly how this devices work and what contributes to its discovery" // ************************************ // // End of Alt-Tab 001 // // ************************************ Notes: - Templar = Guard - Specialists/Discovery Team: --- group of people who are continuously searching for other Tabs - Grace: --- an ability granted by the divine to Templars who reached a certain amount of faith - Temporary Grace: --- using ones life as sacrifice to the divine in exchange of blessing --- a fellow Templar, giving them a temporary ability to fight off creatures of the abyss - Roar: adds tenacity to allies, disorient enemy // ************************* // Characters: // ************************* - Anasthasha: lead GEOP - Urcena: Member of GEOP - Eilla: Member of GEOP - Nythm: Member of GEOP, mocking the Specialists - Tristan: one of the Templar Guards under Christoff --- Buff, support ability (Temporary Grace) - Kahle: Only Gifted working inside Monitoring, --- space/light bending ability or teleport // ************************* // Locations/Affiliations: // ************************* - Gene-enhanced Op: --- people who undergone a gene alteration procedure --- group of people who had IQ alteration - Shinugao: --- northest region of Gifteds Tab, NorthPole in our Earth