The Scourge of Xenos
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:05 pm Posts: 2
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The Scourge of Xenos
-Short Story Introduction
The Scourge took a deep breath, slow and deep, then exhaled. The armature folded and relaxed. She took one step and then another, dropping three feet to the earth. From below she gazed up at the kill. She wrenched her arms free, tearing the long blades from the ruin of the Creatures skull prompted fountains of blood to weep from it's hollowed eyes. The weapons folded and reformed, shrinking from four feet to three, to two and disappearing beneath the scourges tattered grey cloak. A bipedal beast stood before her, twelve feet tall, covered in plates of bone and corded with muscle. Without a brain the giant died all the same. The Scourge grinned as it fell to the earth. A mask of black metal hid most of the girl's face but not the mocking smile. The scourge closed the distance, where only moments before she stood eight feet tall she now stood just over five. She unsheathed the carving knife at her side and bent to the task. She tore the beasts heart free after only a few moments of work and held the grisly trophy dripping in her outstretched hand. A heavy gust broke the scourges concentration, and her cloak blew angrily in the wind. She looked up from her prize to survey the surroundings. The wasteland of twisted steel and grey sand, the remnants of the Cradle. The ship was an ugly box of greys and yellows, circling the wreckage. it's engine was kicking up dust and gusting it through the ruins of the cradle. It looked like an insect hovering over the carcass of a whale. The cradle had only lost it's orbit a few hours ago but already this alien world was burying it in dust. The mighty ships secrets may have stayed for an eternity, lost and forgotten. if not for a native beast. who broke the seal, opened the vault and released the scourge. She took a bite out of her rescuers heart, chewed and swallowed. Then turned to stare at the newcomers as they clamoured from their ship. A small thing more a skiff than a ship, it came from another, something powerful enough to down her cradle she did not doubt.
The girls prize exploded in a shower of gore and muscle. The girl turned to gaze at the newcomers, her lips formed into a tight frown as the boisterous Xeno cursed and laughed, the girl didn't respond. She did not look altogether threatening, despite the carcass of the beast despoiled at her feat. The girl stood a little over five feet tall, her limbs where healthy, strong and well balanced. Her waist was thin, with small breasts and a tightly toned stomach. Overall she had an almost boyish appearance. Her garb left little to the imagination, the suit was so tight it seemed closer to a second skin than an actual garment. Tight folding plates of dark metallic alloys covered hips and stomach, as well as her arms and legs. Wherever the body need bend and move the material appeared a very tight metallic fibre weave. Her face was hidden behind a featureless mask of smoothly curved black metal. On her left hip she wore a broad bladed carving knife in a leather sheath, the weapon was aged and had a hilt of bone but was well honed. Over it all she wore a large tattered hooded cloak of faded grey long enough to reach down to her ankles. The garment appeared far too large for a girl her size. beneath it was hidden the armature.
The Creatures where large and bipedal, but not human. Their spines thick and hunched forward, their limbs too long. They stood an average of six feet tall despite the hunched backs. And looked very strong. They dressed in heavy environmental suits, in shades of drab green and brown. The masks they wore obscured their faces but they had three dimly glowing lenses and room for a distended snout. Each carried a rifle of some description. There where six of them, but only one had it's aim trained on her. the barrel of it's weapon still smoking, after having blasted her prized heart into steaming ruin moments before. Their skiff had touched down on a bluff some thirty yards behind them. And they had marched to meet the hooded human. The largest of them was barking at her, The leader decidedly. Commanding surrender, doubtlessly. The scourge ignored the creatures noise and waited unmoving, grey cloak flapping in the gusting wind. the leaders patience broke and it lowered the rifle and began to stalk towards her loud and clumsy he plodded towards her and the others followed close behind.
With a mocking confidence the leader approached her from the front while a lackey approached from either flank, they meant to seize her all at once. The remaining three watched the surrounding landscape, weary of a trap. humans rarely hunt alone The leader approached with a thick fist raised above it's head, approaching as if to strike her. The others did likewise, ready to snatch her up as she fell. The leader came into arms reach, but hesitated when the girls defiant scowl burst into a vile grin.
The Girl jumped. Straight up into the air as the armature unfolded. The stilts burst forth and in an instant she towered above them. the armatures legs connected to her own. Where they extended past her natural legs they bore a reversed joint, a second knee making them incredibly flexible. Each leg ended in a long blade three feet long and four inches in diameter. two fully automatic slug throwers where mounted on the outside of the Armatures arms each was connected to a long blade two feet long, serrated and edged to carve and slash as well as thrust. the arms where as dexterous as her own.
As the arms unfolded the cannons roared to life. The leader cried out as he was blasted apart, at point blank the fully automatic spray ventilated the creatures torso, killing it in a violent spray of gore. The startled slavers tried to raise their weapons to retaliate but two more where dead before they could fire a shot. slashed apart by the scourges whirling blades. The weapons edges could shear through armoured plate and flesh with equal ease. The remaining slavers opened fire and the wasteland was alive with the echoing screams of automatic fire.
The Bullets tore into the bodies of their comrades as they fell in the crossfire but could not seem to land more than glancing hits on the scourge as she dodged and weaved through the air propelled by the long strides of the armature. She surged into the fourth, goring it open in a long thrust with both of her blades. Without wasting a second she scooped up the falling corpse with her living limbs, while the armatures extensions detached as if of their own volition and trained one on each remaining foe. Too late they realized what was happening and failed to find cover before being blasted apart by the deadly volley. And then the valley was silent but for the sound of the wind.
The Girl was bleeding badly. no matter how fast she had been it was impossible to avoid such a barrage, she had been hit in half a dozen places, the suits armoured plates had absorbed most of the impacts but they all left their mark, two in her stomach, one hit her right shoulder one in her left thigh and another had hit her mask over her right eye. One lucky shot had hit her just under her left breast. The bullet had managed to seer through the weaker armoured mesh, puncturing her lung before busting, violently shredding her insides. The armature folded as she fell. She landed on her hands and knees and began to cough out blood. She restored herself using material from the suits armour. Breaking it down and molding it, changing it. The wounds glowed white hot and sizzled as if burning from the inside and slowly began to stitch themselves shut. The repairs too just under an hour. When finally it was finished, she wiped the blood from her mouth and rose to her feet.
The skiff was still where the Creatures had left it. Waiting in orbit the ship that had sent it was waiting for it's return. The sun was setting in the distance, painting the landscape pink and gold. The Black visor split smoothly down the centre and retracted forming up on either side of her face. Beneath the mask the girl had pretty features and smooth pale skin. The iris of her eyes shone unnaturally in the failing light. Glowing from within a deep blood red. Her Silver white hair dropped to her shoulders and caught the wind. The Scourge began to hum wordlessly to herself as she made her way to the skiff, and the ship in orbit above.
-Profile Skeleton
Name: The Scourge of Xenos Age: 21 Hair Color: Silver Eye Color: Red Ethnicity: Caucasian Skin Tone: Pale Pubic Hair: None Height: 5'1" Weight: 99.2 lbs Bust: 32A Waist: 25 Hips: 33
-History
The Scourge was created by a powerful and advanced Species who called themselves the Ancients. They where Immortal beings well suited to playing god. The Scourge was an orphan girl. The daughter of a human slave lost for many long years in dark space. She was selected for a special project at a very young age. The transformation process ravaged her mind but did not kill her as it had every subject prior, the girl seemed unnaturally gifted and stubbornly refused to die. Using highly advanced alien technology the scientists transformed her body into a living machine, her cells are advanced micro machines composed of an advanced alien bio metal that can self re-produce by absorbing alien matter. The cells adapt to take on the form and properties of any other physical matter, including living tissue. The Scourge has absolute control of the cells and given time can reshape her body into any form desirable. In addition the cells contain a limited memory and should the Girl be killed or rendered incapable of mental process, they will regenerate on their own. The end result was an nearly immortal human girl. But all this was just the beginning, next they taught the Scourge how to feed. By manipulating the cells inside of her body she could create new internal organs and machines, even sprout extra appendages or limbs. They taught her how to use her new body to absorb DNA and technology from other sources and memorize every detail and composition. With this knowledge she could then steal and adapt the technology and powers of other species. As an experiment the Girl was a marvellous success. In the human girl the Ancients had created a being with near unlimited potential. The Ancients prided themselves with learning from other species and cultures, they intended to use her as a source of learning. To unleash her upon the world and with every new discovery, better themselves through their creation. adapting in a few days what would normally take decades. but They did not comprehend the human mind behind it all. Instead of being grateful for the power, the knowledge and the eternal life they had given her, she had grown to hate them. She vilified the aliens who had done this to her. Through more than twenty years of pain and suffering as they manipulated her living body into their perfect puppet. She wanted nothing more than to teach the Ancients some measure of the pain they had caused her. When they released the Girl at last into the world she turned violently against her creators, killing many of the Ancient species before they could react. When they tried to stop their creation their own sciences turned against them, her body could regenerate from any damage dealt to it, killing her did little more than buy time. But the Ancients had created this monster they had the power to stop it. Intense cold could slow the multiplying of the bodies cells. It was using cold that they sealed their creation in the Cradle. In the aftermath the Ancients realized that they could not salvage their creation. The body and the mind where one, the human element could not be removed, it was her will that held the whole together. They decided that with the power they had given her she could only bring destruction upon the universe and all life in it. They named their creation the Scourge of Xenos, and sent the cradle on it's long voyage into the Human Sun, where she would be trapped for an eternity. But she never made it that far, The Cradle had been attacked on the way to it's destination. When the massive ship was smashed upon the planets surface it's cryogenic prison lost all power and the Scourge broke free.
-In Depth Description
Her suit is a literal extension of her body, mechanical tissue created using absorbed material. She can repair recreate and even extend and change the suit given enough suitable material, Although the process is time consuming. She wields a varying and ever changing weapon she calls the armature. Similar to the suit, the armature is a literal extension of her body and moves in accordance with her will, although using it in conjunction with her living limbs is sometimes difficult as manipulating the appendages on their own requires great focus. Both her suit, the armature and her weapons require power to function. The scourge herself while human in form, is not sustained in the same way as other humans. Her body’s internal power is created by absorbing it from other sources. All of her machines and weapons are created using the knowledge she gained from her long imprisonment by the Ancients, and what she had learned during her short revolt. They are all of completely custom design and can be reformed and improved given time. In addition she has a massive hooded cloak of old grey leather and a simple carving knife with a bone hilt, the only remnants from her life before the Ancients turned her into the Scourge. Beneath it all she is a human girl in her early twenties. she stands five feet and one inch tall and weighs just under a hundred and twenty pounds. She has slim fit limbs and a tightly toned stomach. Her breasts are small but very firm. Her hair is a stark silver white and falls to her shoulders. Her eyes glow an unnatural blood red. The Scourge appears completely mute, either not understanding common speech or simply choosing not to speak. She appears outwardly hostile towards other living creatures and will almost always attack on sight.
-Personal Notes
When I put this character together i wanted to try something a little off from the norm. In many ways she is more alien and bizarre than some monsters she is like to encounter. In the Scourge I wanted to make a character with some staying power and plenty of room for growth and change. I tried to leave gaps in her history and overall personality so they could change as she does. The idea is to grow slowly from encounter to encounter taking lessons and DNA from each and growing stronger and more generally interesting over time. (and she can absorb DNA through means other than literally eating your heart out, but more direct sources yield faster results.) She has no initial way of communicating with other species through speech, and as such has no way to communicate a name. She refers to herself as the Scourge of Xenos because that is what the ancients named her before they imprisoned her in the Cradle. This means that those she encounters will either have to strip this knowledge from her telepathically, or find their own name for her.
I also tried to create a girl with a little bite, able to give battle to some degree before being put down, even at early stages of development. She is however completely raw and untrained, despite her rather fearsome appearance when fully bedecked with her mechanical limbs. She is not nearly strong enough to go toe to toe with most monsters and will rely on hit and run tactics or try for a quick kill, in any prolonged engagement the weight of her armature will wear her down very quickly rendering her helpless until she is given time to recover. A situation she is liable to find herself in frequently. It's also probably worth mentioning that she is a virgin.
I haven't done any serious role-playing in some time and I hope everything looks okay. If something is not up to scratch or needs a quick change please let me know. also critics are welcome, I'm eager to see what people think of my bizarre little monster
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