[MU] - DECEMBER STORYTELLING / MEMORY SHARE

[lifeaftr_mods]

Something is wrong.

This may not very well be obvious, at first. The Storyteller is not present to put forth yet another diatribe, informative or apologetic, and the backdrop of guttering flame and sandy campfire is as present as ever...albeit briefly.



Those who tell their stories will start to notice something...odd taking place. Indeed, no matter how they intend to begin their tale, the land of Mu will immediately start to warp to accommodate it, or something utterly unlike it, until storytellers and listeners alike may find themselves in an exact recreation of a seemingly random memory, in the most stark and painstaking of detail. There is no altering the memory, nor is there any preventing it once it's begun to play - you will simply have to witness memories that are not your own this go around.

Furthermore, stories that take place in worlds other than LifeAftr will be, frankly, inevitable. Those memories, too, will be recreated, to be relived by the teller and lived by the listener.

---

It is time, once more, for you to tell a story...with a slight twist! This is, in fact, our first player plot, as provided by Dragon! The initial setting will be familiar for oldcomers, and newcomers will recognize it from the introduction they received in their dreams.

Yet for this Storytelling only, people can imagine whatever stories they wish, from both their homes and their time on LifeAftr, as long as they don't mind the fact that others will be reliving those stories in the form of an impromptu memory share.

Even those who prefer not to voice their stories aloud are not safe this time around. If the memory is recalled in essence, Mu will shift to accommodate it in full.

There is, however, a benefit to this: those who venture memories to be relived will receive both a befuddled apology from the Storyteller, who will assert that this was most definitely not meant to happen (they're the Storyteller, not the Rememberer!), as well as a tired promise that the relived memories will be worth two offerings each, as if in compensation.

Not that it counts for much, probably.

Comments

ii. An Honor and a Privilege. [Character death]

[thermalwind]

The doors slid open, and he strode inside. Red light shone down on him from all sides, emitted by the delicate lines of circuitry on the spikes hanging down from the ceiling and from the gaping square hole in the floor. "Kolivan, I'm in. Now what?" His com crackled to life. He attempted to put in the missing operative's carefully acquired codes but it did nothing. He tried a second time.

Nothing.

Damn it! The plan was in motion! He couldn't fail. Someone was coming. He ducked behind the nearest piece of machinery as a tall Galra approached the central console. His fingers tapped in the exact same code, but it was denied. Keith noted he looked rather worse for wear just as two dark-robed figures stepped inside.

"And now we know it was you who shut down the system." The Galra spun to face them. He claimed they were too late but it was for a different reason. They'd changed the codes. Thace, that was the operative of the Blades, wasn't it? The robed figures surge forward. Keith bursts of hiding to assist.

They fend them off, taking them out and he introduces himself to Thace. A tiny spark of relief dances in his chest. They hadn't failed yet. He stands watch as his fellow Galra slashes open the terminal and plugs wires in. Wait. "What are you doing?"

"I have to overload the system."

"You're turning the room into a bomb?"

It was the only way. Sentry robots attacked and Thace told him to go instructing him on how to get out. He didn't want to leave but Thace was right. As a Paladin of Voltron he had a greater mission. "It was an honor to meet you."

He leapt into the hole below. It was the last he ever saw of him.

[greatcleavage]

"Noble sacrifices," Roy mused, a frown on his face that wasn't born of anger.

"Why was it the only way?"

[thermalwind]

"Because the plan was already in motion. If we failed there," Keith makes a cutting motion with one hand. "Everyone counting on us to disable the ship would be overrun by reinforcements." He leans forward, hands on his thighs as he considers what else could have been done. Nothing.

"Do you...want to see the rest?"

[greatcleavage]

"Lives on the line, and no other way," Roy mused. At least, no other way they had perceived. Roy didn't know enough about the situation to judge. Though here was an offer... "I would, if you don't mind. I'd like to know how it played out."

True Paladins

[thermalwind]

He had no idea how long it would take the bomb to go off. He had to trust Thace knew what he was doing. Everything hinged on it. It felt like time stretched out, moving sluggishly like the universe was submerged in water. The ship lurched with a large explosive blast and he kept going. To slow down was to die. The blast rapidly caught up with him the light of it signaling its approach. A little further, he was almost out.

He wasn't going to make it. Keith turned in mid-air, activating his shield and putting it between himself and the blast. He shot out of the tunnel like a pebble from a sling. The massive ship shaped like an hourglass glowed with purple light for a few more moments and went dark. "Thace did it." It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. A dark shadow passes over him and he turns, meeting glowing yellow eyes. The Red Lion. It had come for him again. He slips inside and takes a breath. Above the large ship a blazing blue light shines, opening into the static sparking expanse of a wormhole. It grows closer and closer as he guides the Red Lion to join up with the rest of the team.

The ship is swallowed and their base of operations the Castle of Lions detached from the massive ring generating the portal. Together they slip into the hole in space, the lions pulling ahead. The rest is up to them.

According to the plan, they would pull together and form Voltron, a massive weapon of mass destruction to take out key systems on the ship. United in purpose, the five paladins followed their leader, their friend Shiro's commands. they tore into the ship, cutting and carving through their targets as if the metal of the craft were made of paper.
A vast cold energy that swallowed light with its coming hit them in the chest. It felt like his very existence were being ripped apart. They were making for the bridge when the prongs on the lower half of the vessel formed a strange energy that seemed to pull at them, an absence of light.

They had time to turn just before it hit them with force like a blow to the stomach. His mind whited out. It felt like his very existence were being ripped apart and pulled down into some vast hungry mouth. Everything went black.

He came to feeling like several miles of bad road. They had been hit with a device called a Komar that sucked life force out of its targets. Fun. None of the Lions responded to their pilots, and Coran urged them to go. On the inert ship a single door slid open, sickly purple light issued from it like a dark miasma. Keith stared at it, eyes gone wide. He heard Shiro's tightly drawn hiss of pain as a tall-red figure, clearly visible, even from where Voltron hung helplessly in space, rose up from the hole.

The machine spun to face them slowly, like a fighter preparing for battle. It shot towards them like a meteor, growing rapidly larger and larger, seemingly impossible to stop. Allura's voice cut through his shock like a heated sword. "Listen to me! You are true Paladins now! Connect with your lions! Reach out to each other!"

The Castle of Lions streaked past them a wash of pale blue gathering in at the front of the ship and shining like a beacon. "Fight! This cannot end now!" Light blazed punching through space and Zarkon's fighter turned its wings to a shield taking it dead on. The wings angled redirecting the beam back on its own ship. Keith's heart clenched at the answering scream. Allura went silent.

They all fell silent, unable to comprehend it. He didn't know what to say. Shiro's voice, quieter than usual but quickly growing in strength urged them to put all their energy into getting back into the fight. One by one they put their all into it, and Voltron blazed with life and energy once more. They had enough time to summon their blade again before Zarkon hit them. Keith let himself be lost in the dance of swords, keeping his ear out for commands or call outs. He belonged here on this team. A curling black energy shot out of the vast ship and they sought to dodge only to be hit again by Zarkon.

For every strike they inflicted, Zarkon had a counter. Like leaves turning in the wind they spun in space and Keith spotted an opening in the defenses and went for it. Their sword punched through the shoulder and out the back. Shiro hissed, warning them Zarkon had begun to assault his mind right before Zarkon countered with a glowing chain. It burst the lions apart. Keith brought his lion back online and noted the positions of the others. The Black Lion remained floating in space, lifeless.

"Shiro?" Silence. "Shiro!" Still no response. "Something's wrong with Shiro." He turned his gaze towards Zarkon's machine and gritted his teeth. "Guys, we can't let Zarkon get the Black Lion." No matter what they couldn't let Zarkon claim the strongest weapon in the known universe. He put his lion between Black and Zarkon, falling into command without registering he was doing it.

True Paladins 2/2

[thermalwind]

Minutes stretched by, Keith and the other Paladins threw themselves at Zarkon's machine, keeping it away from the Black Lion. He encouraged his fellow Paladins, urging them to keep fighting. It gave Shiro time to recover. The Black Lion began to move, cutting a clear path through space on a collision course with Zarkon.

Keith left Shiro to whatever he'd planned and focused on his fight. The Black Lion's wings glow, and burst into a new shape, each feather of the new wings a glowing blade. Wow.

It punched through Zarkon, turning to energy and appearing on the other side. Lance's voice low and awed inquired, Shiro's answer made Keith smile. "You mean you got your bayard." Shiro's commands eased a faint knot of tension in their group and they flowed back together into Voltron. The battle felt different, more desperate on Zarkon's side and more set on theirs. They charged towards Zarkon and he stabbed the sword of Voltron into the chest and out the back. Zarkon's metal hands clamped onto the robot's head a burst of power ripped through the head. He heard Shiro's pained growl.

He heard his snarl and the blade burst into flame. He pulled the sword back and drove it back in all the way to the hilt. He ripped it up and out, aimming to do the most damage he could on the way out. Zarkon's machine exploded, the wash of energy ripping the lions out of their changed state. Again the Black Lion floated in space, "Shiro!"

"We'll have to tow him back to the ship!" Pidge peeled off beside him, and clamped down on the largest of the lions, activating their boosts as they came back around. Once it was safely in the hangar and they'd landed their own lions, Keith sprinted back to the Black Lion's hangar. He ran up the ramp in the open mouth uncaring of the others following on his heels. The cockpit doors slid open. Shiro was gone. "Shiro?"

It felt like the universe had leaped up and kicked him in the face.