Draconian Wilderness (My first dragon RP!)

[Thundertail]

Mordaza:

Name: Mordaza (Rock)

Species: Gryphon dragon.

Gender: Male.

Age: 16

Appearance: Mordaza has lionlike features: a mane that surrounds a simple face with three sets of spikes. He has no earfrills, but his size and strength make up for his lack of intellegence. He always tries to be serious, but his uneducated remarks always makes others laugh; even though he never gets his own jokes! He is twenty one feet long with a twenty six foot wingspan; and is very rotund - even though it's mostly muscle. Besides his incredible strength, he can spit caustic steam.

Abilities: Though his intellegence is lacking, he is incredibly strong and knows how to fight using a simple wisdom born of old sayings and straighforward training. He can change his mass, making him lighter or heavier; and can spit caustic steam.

Posessions: Has references in all the work he has done before joining the Dragon Guild; from farming to heavy labor on other jobs. Owns an apartment in the dragon Guild headquarters, the standard three saddles and many weapons that his rider uses.

Afiliations: The dragon Guild, Jungtik Tiger, queen Grimoire, Multinational labor groups.

Biography: Mordaza was genetically created at the Dragon Guild cloning facility, then his whole batch was transported to the midwestern United States; where they all were enhanced to be put into service to work in the newly opened cropland there to help feed a starving world. there he and his whole creche grew strong on the labor they were put under; and thier intellegence was not facilitated by education other then farming. Some of his creche was apportioned to other manual jobs all throughout the region; and though some of them received an adequate tutelage, Mordaza was the one with the higher intellegence. So he was moved into higher educational venues.

His strength was sought out by the Dragon Guild, and thusly he was enrolled in a pre-training regimen. When it was thought he was ready, his sponsor enrolled him into Cadet training, and he did an adequate job of it through the training by instructors and peers. With some form of luck, he graduated to become a full dragon knight, and awarded a Rider; of which he had to travel to collect; and with the help of Coffrey Rex, became good friends with his Dragon Rider, Jungtik Tiger.

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Jungtik Tiger:

Name: Jungtik

Species: Humanoid tiger.

Gender: Male.

Age: 21

Appearance: He has tawny, striped skin and wide cheek tufts framing a feline muzzle and sky blue eyes. Full of youthful energy and full of youthful enginuity, he is bright and witty. He is a perfect counterpoint to his dragon steed, Mordaza.

Abilities: Skilled in many forms of martial Arts and thier tactics and weaponry, along with the weaponry of a dragon Rider. he has the ability to think on his feet, and find his way out of any unsavory situation.

Posessions: besides owning all the suits of armor befitting a Dragon Rider and all the weaponry of that post, he is part owner of his uncle malachi's fishing fleet.

Afiliations: The Wastrami Company, the research ship MacGregor, Nautical security sect, The dragon guild, Ikkak Dilophosaur, Mordaza, queen Grimoire.

Biography: Born in Malasia, feeding his family working various jobs in the city and eventually finding a job on his uncle Malachi's fishing junk. He worked his way to making enopugh for college and training in the nautical practices. All during this time he occasionally had time to practice the martial Arts, but never achieved Black Belt in any of the practices. At last he was accepted to the Wastrami Company as a cabin boy on thier research vessel. His first extracirricular duty was to assist a Dragon rider cadet by helping him to fight and study (Ikkak Dilophosaur was thrilled to have a trainer being his own approximate maturity level!), and they became fast friends. He was even more overjoyed when he was accepted to be a Dragon Rider cadet himself! Passing the joint tutelage with the help of Sir Oinkyveck, he received his own dragon, and assisted swimmingly with the Austrailian civil war. When not on assignment with the Guild, he spends most of his time captaining one of his uncle Malachi's fishing junks back in Malasia.

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OCC: I am introducing these characters in pairs because they are Dragon/Dragon Rider teams.

[Thundertail]

Librosteur:

Name: Librosteur (Sand)

Species: Eagline dragon.

Gender: female.

Age: 78

Appearance: Hers is the head of the tawny eagle, yet her body resembles more of a saurian than a bird. Her twin, ratlike tails can cut through any organic material - including flesh! She is an expert flyer, literally the most skilled of her day. She is extremely skilled in all forms of fighting, and can expertly wield any type of weapon the Dragon Guild posesses.

Abilities: Border guard for the Dragon Guild. Gruff demeanor and grim determination counterbalanced by her sense of humor - instigated by others only (If she hears a good joke or sees something funny, she'll laugh; but she would not start the joke on her own.).Her main job, when not on assignment, is a sentenel guard at the dragon guild headquarters; and trains cadet dragons in the many styles of fighting she is skilled in.

Posessions: Besides owning her own apartment at the Dragon Guild headquarters, she has the standard three saddles apportioned to dragon warriors and all the weaponry her position of border guard permits.

Afiliations: The Dragon Guild.

Biography: Born into a creche of only six siblings, it was seen that she had leadership abilities almost before she left that creche. Her grim determination when training proved she would be a fierce warrior one day. Soon her sense of duty and honor emerged, along with a humble air of complacency toward others of higher esteem. She would prove to be a loyal Dragon Guild member, and loved any assignment given her. She became so trusted in the Guild that her nearly permanent assignment of Border Guard became her profession.When she was being trained long ago, she had a secret crush on Glyph; but he showed no real emotion for her besides mild friendship. Feeling gilted and insulted by this demeanor, she now she treats Glyph with an air of superior indifference!
_____

Joanne Prexalis:

Name: Joanne Prexalis

Species: Human cyborg.

Gender: Female

Age: 196

Appearance: Albino and born deaf, dumb and blind; she needed enhancements to make it in the world. She has mechanically irised eyes that change hue when she's thinking, and can shoot silver laserfire from them. Her hearing is enhanced with implants that can detect frequences ultralow or subsonic, and instead of normal looking outer ears, they are replaced with grates. She speaks through a translator around her neck that is physiaclly connected to the speech centers of her brain. One side effect of being this way allows her to be mildly empathic.

Abilities: Skilled dragon rider, but works for the Guild's transportation department when not on missions (Stewardess.). A help to her skills is her mildly psychic abilities (Can read ones intentions and either counter them or assist in them.).

Posessions: Besides Dragon Rider paraphanalia. She has artificial eyes, artificial voicebox and artificial ears.

Afiliations: The dragon Guild.

Biography: Joanne was born in what was once Great Britain (Called 'Concillia' these days because it is the semi-permanent home of the World Council.), to a family directly involved with delegation. Her family is prone to albinoism, though hers was an extreme case. Little hope was given that she would ever go anywhere in life, but her family was determined to give her every chance at success. Several dozen operations and many years later her implants proved the edge she needed to accell at many careers; and one she seemed most prominent in was aeronautics and flying, even though regulations prevented so augmented humans to posess pilots' licenses. Instead she endeavored into the service end of flying, and eventually became a stewadress.

Her love of flying did not halt at that point, and she studied most profusely; even though she knew nothing would come of it. At about this time the Dragon Wars broke out, and ones with such experience was saught out by queen Grimoire; so she signed up as a cadet and quickly became a Dragon Rider. Her prowess behind the saddle allowed her and her steed to be most victorious, and she grew in rank to Sergent; but her joining late in the Dragon Wars and its' subsequent end forced the dragon Guild to cut thier ranks. Instead of completely disbanding all the Riders, other tasks were assigned to them; and naturally Joanne became a stewardess again, serving aboard the Dragon Guild's special fleet of flying craft...

_____

OCC: Ok! That's enough for now! Merry X-Mas!

[Korkoa]

OOC'; Okay, I modified my post.

[Thundertail]

IC: The Dragon Riders; I-N-Salah, Tamanrasset, Algeria; 27*13'0"N.,2*28'0"E.: 2km. southeast of the Auri...

The desert sands that once dominated the Sahara region had not to long ago began to give way to lusher environments, but was still prevailent in some areas. The endless dunes succumbed to the wetter climates brought on by the rising levels of ocean and moisture in the atmosphere. Even so, many patches of desert remained, clinging to an existence that was many millions of years old. The town of I-N-Salah lay in a tract of dune that washed over it and engulfed a whole trading center in the middle of this wasteland; and nothing remained of it but many partially buried buildings and the northernmost end of the single runway that once was used for light aircraft of five thousand years ago.

Coffrey followed his mentor to land on the hot sands beside this tract, gasping at the unused to three hundred mile flight from Aswan. Ikkak squinted at the brightness and slid off to nearly sink ankle deep in the sand. Glyph looked up as Forrest jumped down to see the rest of the dragon Squadron land by ones and twos; and he noticed how the Arcic dragons didn't take kindly to this oppressive heat. As all the dragons landed and thier riders dismounted, Ikkak took out a scanner and played it over the dunes in the distance while Coffrey scanned the oasis-studded terrain in the distance with his enhanced eyes.

"What a desolate place!", Glyph observed.

"The history tapes said it was much worse than this.", Forrest told him. "Before the ice age, there was not enough moisture here to fill a canteen!"

"I found water, sir.", Rider Peter Nolan said as he paced away from Mistress Afilados, his own scanner in hand. "An underground seep, but it's at least fifty yards underground."

"That must have been the well that fed this community.", said Sanchez Puma. "With the water gone, no wonder the place is deserted!"

"Well, we're not here to figure that out.", Forrest Wanders told them all. "You know our mission!"

Just then the Bakal hovered into the area. It floated to within a foot of the level spot of runway and the ramp ratcheted down to the sandy and cracked pavement. Within moments captain Weatherbee and Bovin DeFauche emerged, but Korkoa and Rassena chose to stay inside. The captain removed his cap and wiped his furry brow, and Bovin merely wiped his ringed nose.

"Awk! A balmy one!", Captain weatherbee griped.

"Il fait chaud!", Bovin agreed. "Hot!"

"Ah,... Sirs!", Forrest said as he kicked up sand to intercept them. "If you would kindly stay here so we can use your ship as a communication relay, It would be most appreciated..."

"No worry, laddy!", captain Weatherbee said. "Th' young miss told us! We'd be delighted!"

"Nous ne nous occupons pas.", Bovin agreed.

"That's great!", Forrest said, then joked. "I'll make sure there's something extra in your pay!", then he walked away, leaving the pair to scratch thier heads.

"Uncle Forrest! I located the Auri!", Ikkak said at last. "It's about two miles that way...", He pointed roughly southeast.

"I think I can see it!", Coffrey told everyone. "Over there, beyond those stands of dunes."

"Where?", Lupious asked. "All I see is oases and dunes!"

"There...", Coffrey directed the other dragon's head.

"That ripple over there?", Lupious asked. "That's only a mirage!"

"I never seen a mirage that big!", Coffrey confirmed.

"Quiet, boys!", Forrest directed and turned to the rest. "Alright everyone, mount up and let's get there. Remember, be on your guard! The queen said that the ship's defenses are dangerous!", he turned on his radio. "Mistress Rassena, Cadet Korkoa! You two will stay here and monitor the radio, ok?"

"Sure thing, mister Forrest!", Rassena radioed back. "I'll have Korkoa study while we're waiting!"

"Swell! We'll be back in a bit!... Out.", Forrest told them, and turned to the others. "Dragon Riders!... FLY!..."

The cloud of Dragon Riders presently leapt and clung to the sky, heading to the southeast; where a looming new city stood where once none stood before. Meanwhile, to pass the time, Rassena got to work calling up instruction on the Bakal's computer; beginning Korkoa's instruction and indoctrination into the Dragon Guild...

TAG: One or all!

[Tiasalle and Braveheart]

Zita smiled as she and Kaida took off. This was going to be fun! She knew it was not all fun and games, however, and prepared for anything that would cause her to have to defend herself. "The young raptor seems a good prospect for a Cadet" Kaida's whimsical voice interrupted Zita's preparations
"Raptor? We have a raptor with us?"
"Haven't you been paying attention?"
"Of course I have...not" Zita admitted sheepishly, "Sorry, Kaida"
"No apology nesseccary, sister, a human's mind focuses on only a few things at a time, sometimes on things that do not pertain to the moment"
"Okay, now you're just preaching. Why don't you fly and I'll concentrate on getting us ready for the task up ahead"
"Very well, Zita." Kaida consented with a sigh, "But don't let your mind wander" the dragoness added with a chuckle
"Ha ha, very funny" Zita sighed as they drifted over the desert.

ooc: How was that for an opening? This RP is going to be fun!

TAG: Anyone

[Thundertail]

IC: Rassena, aboard the Bakal at I-N-Salah.

Rassena understood her duty as she sat with her new pupil in the passenger compartment of the Bakal. She was a trainer, and had done this many times in the past; only not with one like this one. Korkoa seemed aloof, and yet showed a certain uncertainty about his current situation - her slight empathic senses didn't lie! At her first few moments getting acquainted with him, he seemed pretty tight-lipped about himself, but his expressions and actions told her that hehated being here. Rassena just took the silence in stride and began showing him the basics of the Bakal's computers. It was a good thing that Ikkak had given him a translator/communicator or talking to him would be a chore!

"Now, state your title and name and it'll recognize you.", Rassena continued. "You're a cadet now, so say that first and then your name...", she watched as he croakingly did so.

The computer bleeped in recognition as Rassena went to another terminal to find something for him to read. she had the computer translate the text she found into the creature's native alphabet - and it was another good thing that Ikkak had written out a whole translation of thier written language, for it was all there! The computer translated all the text before sending it to her holographic screen.

"Cadet Korkoa, your first assignment is to read the rules of the Dragon Guild.", Rassena switched it over to his holographic screen:
_

GENERAL DRAGON LAW:

1) A dragon is strong, skilled and rescourseful.

2) A dragon is helpful, kind and compassionate.

3) A dragon must only use thier powers for the good of all.

4) A dragon must not use thier powers toward any living thing unless there is absolutely no other choice.

5) A dragon must be worldly, educated and honest at all times.

6) A dragon must uphold the laws of the country they are in.

7) A dragon must not interfere with a country's politics unless the dragon guild authorizes it.
_

The screen went on for dozens of pages, displaying hundreds of other rules of general conduct and the like before Korkoa looked up questioningly. Rassena seemed to know his thoughts and and tried to explain a few things to him; only in a roundabout way.

"So, your records say that you once owned a shop on Dinosaur island...", she paused more for effect than to collect her thoughts. "You said that the carnivore uprising that happened destroyed it. You tried for years to recover your losses, but to no avail. Now that's a shame!", instead of replying, Korkoa continued reading.

"I know that a dragon was responsable for the uprising.", she continued. "Quite frankly, we had no idea that Draco was still alive, let alone living on Dinosaur island! It wasn't the fault of any of us dragons except Draco himself - he did that all on his own.", Rassena got closer before Korkoa looked at her. "That is no reason to hate us, you know.", she smiled. "We're really nice,... honest!"

Still that wouldn't work, so Rassena called up some more information. "Maybe if you see all the good we've done for the world, you'll learn to like us...", she activated the text.
_

A BRIEF HISTORY:

The dragons of ancient lore never really existed, save in the imaginations of the ancient, superstitious people that first dreamed up such creatures. It wasn't until the advent of genetic engineering, and the subsequent advances in that field of science that had brought them about in the first place.

Since the beginning of civilization on earth, mankind has been breeding other animals and plants to do the things that they want. For example, before there were domesticated cattle, these wild creatures only gave milk during certain times; but through domestication and selective breeding, cattle now produced far more milk than in thier former, natural state. The grains and vegetables they learned to cultivate and harvest were similarilly manipulated. Given the right conditions, a plant can grow anywhere; but when mankind stepped in and made ideal places for them to grow, thier wild ancesters eventually died out and replaced by these newer, more vibrant strains. Soon mankind could breed other strengths into the plants, like better resiliance to weather, larger yield and the like.

Unfortunately, all this was not genetic engineering in the literal sense. This was a process known as selective breeding. The true art of genetic engineering came much later in human history.

The study of genetic engineering started in various places in the world a few centuries before the ice age began; where scientists first discovered this complex chain of atoms in the nucleus of every living cell. It was so complex that they surmised that it was the codebook the cell uses to replicate and maintain itself; an assumption they discovered was right. Not long after this discovery, they found that they could manipulate small portions of this code to cause slight changes in the overall creature of study.

They experimented on plants and flowers first; trying to change the color of its' flowers. At first thier attempts met with failures, but with years of trial, they finally succeeded in doing so; but thier results proved the opposite of thier expectations. Instead of turning a red flower purple, for example, they produced a white flower by adding the genes of a purple flower. They discovered that the cells have inhibiters in them that detect the excess of a certain gene sequence; and too many of those genes would cause the cell to stop producing that gene sequence! There were many others who made similar discoveries during this time of primative genetic research. One experiment produced wheat that yielded three times that of a normal strain. Some produced vegetables that were many times larger than normal, or fruits of different shape than thier natural predecessers.

Not much progress was made in the animal world concerning genetic engineering during this time; though many unsuccessful attempts were made. Creatures of the animal kingdom proved to be much too complex for thier ancient technology to fathom! They tried by stripping the male genome strand from sperm and incimenate it into a female egg; and eventually they were successful, producing the first genetic sheep. However, this process is known as cloning, and not really genetic engineering at all! They failed to realize that this process happens naturally since the beginning of life on this planet. A process known as breeding. This did not deterr the scientists from persisting, though; and soon, through studying the genomes of many species, discovered the code necesary for life to exist on this planet. They found that this code exists in all life, and can be found in every living thing on earth. A study began to map out the genomes of every species on earth.

Many decades later, this study was completed; and now they could descern by species, what genetic code belonged to which species. A library of these codes was soon amassed, and the subsequent information was stored on media for thier primative computers. Even though thier scientific discoveries advanced all through this era, the inevitability of the ice age soon put all further genetic research to a grinding halt. Thier efforts instead turned to engineering traits into humans as well as certain animals that they could deal with the adverse conditions of a world in perpetual winter. In the mean time, other men of science went to work to try and remedy the earth of it's current frozen state...
_

Rassena let him read all this in silence, his studying of the old texts might help him grasp the dragons' true purpose. It might make him understand that the ones who created her kind as well as his had the welfare of all life on the planet at heart when they did what they did. Finally his gaze fell from the screen, and he turned his head toward her, slitted eyes somber with understanding.

"So you see, Korkoa.", Rassena began. "We are not all like the one who led the attack on your island, and led them to ultimately ruining your life.", she saw this was dawning on him as well. "When one becomes a Dragon cadet, or a Dragon Rider cadet, there is an oath one must say and take to heart. You need not say it now, but perhaps later on in your training; when you feel that you could fully forgive us your loss, perhaps...", she punched it up.
_

THE DRAGON OATH:

"I, (State your name), do solemnly swear to uphold the laws of the dragons, and never let another creature suffer harm. I will be strong, skilled and rescourseful in everything I do. I will do my best to be helpful, kind and compassionate toward others. I will not harm another living thing through my own powers. I will uphold the laws of the country I travel to and never interfere with said country's policies inless so directed to by the dragon guild. By my honor, loyalty and compassion, I so swear..."

_

Korkoa sat there, seemingly considering the words before him; and a whole lot of other things, from what Rassena could tell from his facial features. Many moments passed, and at first Rassena thought she would have her first failure at training Dragon cadets; but suddenly Korkoa turned to her and had the look of making a great decision on his longish saurian face...

TAG: Korkoa, anyone else...

[Korkoa]

IC: "I understand. I don't blame the Dragons anymore. Just Draco." I cleared my throat. "So... Is there some special ceremony, or can I just say the oath?"

[Thundertail]

IC: Rassena, aboard the Bakal at I-N-Salah.

"Well, as I said, you can say the oath any time during training.", mistress Rassena told Korkoa. "Also you may ask any question you like concerning your tenure with us as well as the things you'll be learning.", all of a sudden Rassena's communicator pinged.

"Wait a second!...", she said as she answered it. "It concerns you!... The Dragon guild has accepted your aopplications, and an expense account has been set up in your name with the Guild!", she explained further. "That means that anything you use while training is to be paid for. You know: your training armor and weapons, any food you consume, any transportation you procure and stuff like that. Of course, you will be getting an advance of personal money, but that comes later.", she looked unsure for a second. "Now,... where were we?..."

TAG: Korkoa, anyone else!

[Thundertail]

IC: The Dragon Riders, Tamanrasset, Algeria.

The spires and buildinglike structures loomed out of the sands and trees up ahead like a massive citadel, sprawling out in to an area six miles long and one wde; nearly a thousand feet into the air, each structure looking like they did not belong to the whole until it turned out it, in deed was. A cloud of winged creatures and thier riders were spotted by the ships' automatic sensors coming from the northwest, so it put its' defenses on alert. It had had run-ins with creatures this size before, on a planet many billions of miles from its' current location - wherever that was. It scanned the skies and monitored these intruders, like it was programmed to do; and if these creatures decided to attack, it would engage them like it did with the attacking creatures on... memory banks incomplete, it rattled to itself. It just watched and waited...

Ikkak's scanners detected a forcefield surrounding the massive ship below them, extending a full five hundred yards in all directions - this he radioed to the rest of the group. They circled the six mile long ship, thier saddle and suit telemetry units clicking off every aspect of the outer hull; and Glyph spiraled out over the large oasis it crashed in to find a suitable place to land and approach the giant ship. One was found at a clearing near a large stand of bluffs by the oasis's large, fleeting spring, which led to a natural cistern that disappeared into the rocks below. He landed and Forrest hopped off, many of thier group following suit several moments later.

"The forcefield extends to about here...", Jungtik Tiger told everyone as he neared the edge of the invisible wall of energy, tossing a pebble at it and watching the field fizzle and become momentarilly opaque in that spot. "Ikkak says it's all but impenetrable."

"What does Im... pen-trouble mean?", Mordaza asked.

"It means you can't get through it...", Jungtik whispered to him, then turned and smiled at the rest.

"I can get through it!", Mordaza said. "Watch!", he barreled into the invisible wall with all his mass, weight and strength - and was immediately bounced back by the barrier!

The area he hit frazzled in electric sparks before dispersing. He stumbled and sprawled over a fully grown palmtree that was in his wake, flattening it to the ground worse than any sandstorm ever to hit the area could! Mordaza struggled to his feet and shook off the effect, angry look forming on his face. He was preparing for another try, but Jungtik rushed up and tried to hold him back; and just then sir Oinkyveck flew into the area and helped the humanoid tiger hold Mordaza at bay.

"You can't get through it means you can't get through it!", Jungtik was explaining.

"Woah there, laddy!", Oinkyveck soothed. "Strength can only do so much!"

"You guys are doin' it all wrong!", Lupious said, getting out into the open. "Watch a pro do it!", then he turned into his electrifyed form, looking like a lightning bolt with lightning feet.

Lupious leapt at the forcefield nearly at the speed of light - and was promptly repulsed by the energy barrier! The forcefield became opaque as Lupious' assault dissapated in a shower of sparks. The poor dragon was thrown many yards away to hit a small knoll of rock, where he changed back to his original form, holding his head.

"Lupio! Esta usted bein?", Anna rushed to his aid, concerned he was hurt. "Mi amigo tonto!", she lovingly called him silly when she found he wasn't!

"Bad idea...", Lupious slurred.

"Maybe it's wise not to use physical force,", mistress Atutaki stated. "But maybe we can with our energy weapons!", she shot out red laserfire from her eyes, which dispersed harmlessly and made the forcefield grow opaque in that area.

Pretty soon every dragon so endowed began shooting thier energy fire into the forcefield: Oinkyveck and his pink beams, Coffrey with his green beams (Adding dashes of his acid for good measure.), The ice dragons adding thier own frigid force and all the riders producing fire from thier own weapons, Joanne Prexalis shooting silver beams from her own artificial optics. All this did was make the forcefield a solid wall of energy, which slowly died down as they all realized how hopeless thier efforts were.

"Dragon Riders! Halt!", Forrest Wanders ordered. "There is obviousely no way to get through this shield! Everyone stand down so we can think of another way."

The artificial intellegence aboard the Auri sensed them at her shield, and let them do thier experiments; but when they began using thier energy weapons, that was too much! Deep in the bowels of the ship, in a small hangar that held mostly probes and other robotic 'helpers', ten dozen sentinel drones were activated. Thier single red optic bars lit up and they hovered around to form a squarish regiment of soldiers. Each one resembled a comma, and thier bulbous tops were the size of a soccer ball; and after they all formed up, they swung out of formation to hover single file to a small hatch that would lead to the exterior of the ship.

Once out they scoured the interior space made by the forcefield and tracked where the most activity was taking place. Thier red optic bars regestered a collection of life forms at the shield, each brandishing artificial weapons, or sporting natural ones. At a radioed command from the Auri, the hundred and twenty little terrors hove into range and began thier strafing attacks!

"What in the world are those?!", sir Hophant declared, pointing.

"Don't know...", Ikak began scanning.

"They're getting closer!", mistress Afilados shouted.

"Look out!", sir Glyph said as the first drone fired upon him.

Suddenly the rest of the floating forms opened fire, thier lasers modulated to make it through the shield with nearly deadly accuracy. Automatically, the Dragon Riders' personal shields went on, and protected many of them from any fatalities. The sentinel drones peppered the area where the dragon Riders once stood, sending everyone scattering. They all scrambled for cover, but there was precious little of it where they were. Many of them retreated into the air while thier riders scrambled out of the sentinels' range.

The drones stayed well within the forcefield, and any resistence the Dragon Riders gave riccocheted off the wall of energy. Pretty soon everyone was well out of range for thier weapons to be of any use, and they all stopped firing; escape more on thier minds than attack. As the drones sensed there was no more trouble coming from that quarter, many of them retired back to the ship, or circled the perimeter of the forcefield on patrol. The rest of them stayed at the scene of the attack and eyed the shrinking threat with throbbing optic slits.

The Dragon Riders regrouped a half mile away, panting and trying to figure out just what went on. Lupious was still clutching his head while Oinkyveck stood by Mordaza trying to soothe him. Stubin Penguin went about giving water to the arctic dragons, sweating profusely huimself; and Forrest Wanders stood bent over, tending to Glyph's singed tail. Once all were ready, they turned to eachother as Forrest looked up to address them all.

"Well! We had a fine little battle, did we?", he said sarcastically. "Dragon Riders, of all people, should know enough not to attack an unknown phenomona!", he sighed. "Well, so it shouldn't be a total loss; did anybody get a recording of the battle?"

"I did.", Ikkak said. In reality, every saddle and suit of armor keeps a record of all activity it is exposed to, and each had thier own rendition of what went on. "Those probes had some kind of sophisticated hover technology. Superconductive electromagnetic, not boyant gas like we do. And that forcefield! It was comprised of pure anti-dutrium gas compressed by a gravatic field. Our forcefields only uses focused repulsor fields!"

"Those probes were working in tandem.", Coffrey said. "They used a strategy not unlike the schooling of fish. That suggests to me that they were controlled centrally. Perhaps from the ship...", then he said. "There MUST be some kind of intellegence aboard! Maybe the crew is stil alive!"

"Or maybe the ship has a sophisticated computer system aboard.", mistress Calidada suggested. "You know the computers aboard our ships almost have an intellegence of thier own!"

"Well, whatever the reason, we got to get inside that ship and find out!", Forrest said. "Until we can get through that forcefield, we can't say one way or the other what is aboard!", he looked around, feeling a bit dehydrated himself. "Until then, we should fall back to the Bakal and report to the Dragon Guild. Maybe they have something that can help us with this..."

TAG: Anyone and everyone!

[Talmarka]

[Aswan[Formally Egypt]Algeria International Border /Bakal Data Control Center/1900 Hours/Mission Status: Code Foxtrot

Even though the Dragon Guild had only been in the heat for a few minutes and had just been outmaneuvered by VII-series (which they were being referred to) drone defense systems, Lt. Col. Jefferson had already begun diagnostics on the ship, the force field, and the tactics of the AI. The force field was tough, he had to admit, but it wasn't impenetrable.

Since the time the ship had taken off, there had been numerous advances on how to weaken, crack, penetrate, and destroy force fields. It was highly doubted that the AI would have any modern installments, but they'd still need an Op team to get close.

He'd almost finished requesting the equipment when suddenly his com' disk beeped. The Colonel's list of "assignments" had been updated. Data seemed to flood the screen and out came a picture of what Jefferson first took to be a lizard. As it turned out, he'd now have to babysit some raptor "Korkoa" if it ever had to leave before he finished. More PLs soon came up on his are map. He reached for the Ship's built in Holo Transmission device- he always put quality before quantity.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Jefferson of the DDA and CPS transmitting via Bakal to Dragon Rider team Alpha. Coffery Rex, Ikak Diloposaur, Forrest Wanders, Glyph, Zita, Kadia, or anyone else, please respond"

[Thundertail]

IC: The Dragon Riders, at the Bakal at I-N-Salah.

After the Dragon Riders finished taking care of their dragons' minor wounds, they all mounted up and regrouped at I-N-Salah, near the floating form of the Bakal. En route, Forrest radioed the Bakal and appraised them on what happened; and requested they send a communique' back to the Guild; and they were still waiting for the reply as the dragons all landed with a thud along the crest of the dune that swallowed up the settlemant that was once here. The aft hatch of the Bakal ratcheted down, and Rassena stepped out onto the sands, Korkoa floolwing suit a moment later.

"I transmitted like you said...", Rassena announced. "Nothing came back, though."

"Maybe it takes a while to decide what to do...", Forrest said. "We should wait."

"We're out of water...", Stubin Pernguin said. "Going to have to take it from the ship...", he wiped his beak with a flipper as he waddled inside.

"That won't last long with all of us.", Glyph observed.

"We'll need to find more...", Coffrey stated. "Sanchez! Do you still have the coordinates for that old well?"

"Se'!", Sanchez Puma said, raising his scanner.

"Ok, you get on that...", Forrest said. "And find help for digging."

Sanchez took his scanner and walked over to the correct coordinates in the dune, Oinkyveck, Mordaza, Atutaki and Coffrey following him. Ikkak scurried into the Bakal to search for shovels or anything to dig with; and inside, Bovin DeFauche said they carry no such implements. It turned out that no tools were needed as the dragons got to work.

Sir Oinkyveck flew up over the spot and bored into the sand with his pink cutting eyebeams. The sand immediately liquifyed and boiled off, forming a conical hole in the ground; and the risidual hardened sandstone created around the edge of the hole prevented more sand from rushing in. Seeing this, the rest of the dragons followed suit with increased confidence; and soon the hole was many dozens of yards deep! The rest watched this progress for a few moments, adding suggestions here and there; until Bruga Sapos emerged from the plane with a concernerd look on her humanoid gecko face.

"Uh,... everyone!", she called. "There is a comunication coming through!", this brought Forrest, Ikkak and Rassena coming at a run!

"Is it from the Dragon Guild?", Forrest asked in passing.

"No! It's from LT. Colonel Jefferson, from the DDA and CPS!", Bruga said to Ikkak's back as he scampered past.

"What do THEY want?", Forrest asked as he sat at the console. "Nobody's supposed to know about this, you know!"

"Maybe they were spying...", Ikkak said.

"This is a Dragon Guild operation!", Coffrey seethed. "If they interfere...!"

"Shhh...!", Ikkak told him as Forrest opened the channel.

"This is Dragon Rider Forrest Wanders, to Leiutennent Colonel Jefferson.", the humanoid mutant said. "Please state the nature of this transmission."...

TAG: Lt. Col. Jefferson, anybody else!

[Talmarka]

"It's been too long Wanders," he replied. "Listen, I've been assigned to assist in any way necessary. If you can distract the AI and its "helpers", I'll send my team to make all small yet temporary hole in the shield. Once someone is on the inside, they can disable the systems, .make contact with th AI, and possibly look for any non hostile survivors. Of course, this is a highly risky Op. Off the top of my head I'd say that you'd be a great choice, Ikkak seems to know his way around a console, Glyph would be pretty Good but let,s see...Ah, that Coffrey kid seems to have the balance of fire power we need," the Colonel paused. "Of course, if everyone knows what,s at stake."

[Thundertail]

IC: Forrest Wanders, the Dragon Riders, at I-N-Salat.

Forrest Wanders heard the leiutennent Colonel's proposal, and remembered him somewhat from his involvement in the Austrailian Civil war. Even though he was only a gate guard at one of the airforce bases on the outskirts of Darwin at the time; the past twenty or so years seemed to be most successful to him! The only trouble was he was told that this would be exclusively a Dragon Guild operation. Queen Grimoire herself said that it was they that sent the Auri to the stars to find a new home for the people of the world, and only they knew about it! Forrest didn't know what L.C. Jefferson's game was, but he figured to get to the bottom of it! He signaled Coffrey with his eyes, the dragon got up and left via the rear entry ramp of the Bakal in silence. The dragon knew as well as he did that they had to prepare to expect company!

"Forrest Wanders to Leiutenant Colonel Jefferson.", Forrest began. "We certainly do appreciate this gesture of mutual co-operation at a time like this; but our orders do not state we are to accept help at this time by organizations outside the Dragon Guild. We have been in contact with our superiors, and they will send assistence shortly.", Forrest told him. "We will accept no interference from any outside faction. By the power vested in me by the dragon Guild and Queen Grimore the Wise, I order you not to come near."

Just then, in a shower of sparks appearing just above the small holographic stage, a figure began to coalese; momentarilly forming the figure of Queen Grimoire herself. On Leiutennant Colonel Jefferson's end, the same figure was forming over his communication disk. Queen Grimoire seemed to look at Forrest for a moment, and then to the Colonel before smiling in a hideous way. Both of Forrest and Jefferson looked back at the image, respect showing on the former's face and astonishment on the latter's face.

"Well, well, well!", Grimoire chuckled. "I see everyone is getting along swimmingly!", she turned to Forrest. "Just so you would know, my precious; I had contacted the CPS the moment the Auri was first detected in deep space. They are here to assist in the operation. I know it was wrong of me not to tell you all the details, but you had a hard enough time leading the Dragon Riders!", She told him with a smile, then looked at the Colonel after a moment.

"Now, I assume you have the equipment we requisitioned for you to have...", she went on. "We were aware that the crew of the Auri were working on an improved forcefield, and those drone sentinels were originally planetary probes. They must have gotten desperate to so equip them!", Queen grimoire told them. "Anyway, your two teams will be working in tandem. Your assignments are to gain access to the ship without permanently damaging the ship or yourselves..."

"And another thing:", she went on. "Forrest wanders is right: this is a Dragon Guild operation!", she looked Leiutenant Colonel Jefferson in the eye. "Once access is achieved, you and your team are to stand down and allow the Dragion Riders to complete thier mission."

"Thank you, my queen!", Forrest Wanders said. "Your judgement on this issue is wise as usual!", he thought a moment. "Perhaps they could stay on. There might be security issues within the ship. There is no telling what could be there!"

"A wise assumption, child!", Grimoire said. "Make it so! Queen Grimoire out...", and her image frazzled to sparks on both communication devices.

Forrest smiled quirkilly. "So, what did you have in mind?"...

TAG: L. C. Jefferson, one and all...

[Thundertail]

Hammalgar:

Name: Hammalgar

Species: Porkine dragon.

Gender: Male.

Age: 355

Appearance: Sir Hammalgar's slender, piglike form hides his tremendous strength - even though he's a very old dragon. His piglike face bristles with a pair of lower tusks and excess fur around his piglike ears, and his bristly skinned body ends with twin piglike tails.

Abilities: Besides his great strength, he shoots amber colored beams from his eyes and spits acid. His twin piglike tails can whip out and elongate, grappling his enemy for the final kill. For his size, he can run trememdousely fast, and his stumpy wings mask his ability to fly for great distances - even though he is not the fastest flyer. He is adept in many forms of dragonesque fighting, and can handle any large weapon of human manufacture.

Posessions: besides owning the usual array of Dragon Guild acoutriments(Saddles and weapons.) and an apartment in the Dragon Guild headquarters, he owns a plot of farmland on the outskirts of what was once paris, France, where he harvests truffles.

Afiliations: Sir Oinkyveck (genetic brother), the Dragon Guild, the Wastrami company, International Defence Force, many World financial interests.

Biography: Even though sir Hammalgar is a genetic brother to Sir Oinkyveck, their batches were hatched in different parts of the world altogether. Oinkyvec's creche was conceived in what was once the midwestern United States while Hammalgar's creche originated in what was once northern France. More prone to simpler concepts and advanced schooling than the actual arts of war, he held a rear position in the Dragon Wars; of which his main assignment was Border Guard for the Dragon Guild stronghold. His main contribution to the Guild during the Austrailian civil war was the transport od soldiers and material to the country in turmoil. Hammalgar spends most of his time away from the Guild tending his truffle farm when he is not out traveling.

_____

Harbid Duck:

Name: Harbid

Species: Humanoid duck.

Gender: male.

Age: 87

Appearance: This white-feathered humanoid duck is tall and rather skinny for his kind. He has grey eyes and likes to slick back his head plumage. He has a charming personality, but his temper gets aroused easily.

Abilities: Besides the usual skills befitting Dragon Riders, he has had several jobs before his service that proved helpful. He is an expert swimmer due to his highschool job of lifeguard at the beach. His tenures at various eateries makes him a fair cook. Both of his middle business management employments allows him to organize details in nearly every type of situation. Also, his tryouts as a standup comedian always proves helpful in boosting morale!

Posessions: Besides owning all the acoutriments ascociated with being a dragon Rider, he currently owns a beachside resort near San Andreas, in what once was California; where he does his standup comic routine.

Afiliations: The dragon guild, sir Hammalgar, International resorts consortium, International Business guild, National chef's organization.

Biography: Harbid was born in a glen area just outside what was once London, and being the last male to hatch of his clutch; was always the one getting picked on - and this irked him to no end! So by the time he was old enough to move away from home, he did; and ended up on the continent that used to be called North America. From there he did all sorts of jobs to pay for his education, and ended up being a lifeguard at a beach on the West coast; moonlighting in the off seasons as a waiter and kitchen help.

The heads of the eateries he worked at saw potential in him, and he eventually grew to owning his own bistro. His slanted childhood and his snyde way of speaking about it soon made him famous as a standup comic in his own bistro; and he played there for years. just about then the Dragon Wars began, and instead of joining the local military organizations of the time; he was cordially invited to join the Dragon Guild, where he trained in proficiency unsurpassed by his peers. After his tour was up, he resumed his bistro trade, and does a good business!

_____

OCC: I am trying an experiment on the 'Outer island' board! I am posting this very same RP; and I want to see if it will turn out any different! I'll let the first one who sends thier Charries to me to start it off there (I want to make it more down to earth and less battle!)!

TAG: any and all!

[Talmarka]

"Right...back to that," said Jefferson, still a bit shaken from the last transmitter. He always saw stuff, but his combined Positions as a Spec-Ops leader with the Draconian Defense Alliance and a Military Agent with the Cultural Preservation Society just didn't pay him enough for it, sometimes. "I've requested some gear, which will help most of us get in," he brought up three devices on Forrest's comm disk. "Phase one, a team slips in the shield using the PSDS, or 'Portable Space Disruptor System'. It will only work for a short time, it'll fry in five once activated. Unfortunately, personnel shields go blank for half an hour as well. However, it creates a large whole, so it has and advantage," the Colonel then then brought up topographic maps with lines and figures that flashed and moved on command. "While this happens,"he continued. "The AI will detect the distortion inside the alert zone, and send the drones back. With any luck, ALL of them." he saw Ikkak go a little pale on the ship's cameras. "What I meant was with everyone else making a racket, most of the sentinels will leave, so no one inside gets hurt. Phase two, there's a device in testing I've found. What does is deflects the photons of any light giving-plasma materials, along with gravitational elements of deflections, etc. it only lasts twenty seconds, and its only 3 by 2. That should be enough time to get a few people and the last device in," the third device came into view. "If contact with the AI fails, along with entry of the computer system, this will disable the Shields and damage the hull's infrastructure, and every one came came inside. Jefferson out." he turned of the ship's built in comm and began the wait for the one of the biggest missions he'd ever be in.

[Thundertail]

IC: Forrest Wanders, the dragon Riders, I-N-Salat, Algeria.

"Roger that...", Forrest said. "But as far as damaging the hull. We are to leave the ship intact...", he noticed the communicator went dead. "Wait!...", he got up, exasperated.

Forrest exited the back of the Bakal, Ikkak in his wake. He saw most of the other Dragon Riders and thier dragons forming up in line, ready to take off and defend the area; and Coffrey was there, giving them orders. The rest of his team was still busy, drilling the hole in the sand down to the well. Tralfax had just finished levitating a small pump down the hole with a hose snaking down the depths. Then he levitated Anna Armadillo, who had changed into her armadillo form, squealing in glee at the sense of weightlessness. Down the hole she went, her mission to set the pump up so water would flow.

Rassena and Korkoa was standing near the ship, watching all this activity from there; and stubin was busy doling out the last of the Bakal's water to the wilting Arctic dragons - he was sweating bullets himself! Forreat and Ikkak went out into thier midst and the human mutant yelled to gain thier attention.

"Ok, guys! here's how it's going to go:", Forrest told them all. "You know by now that we are soon to be visited by the DDA. They are here to help us. Queen Grimoire has included them in this mission because they have some devices and tactics to help us get to the Auri."

"You mean we're not gonna nail them?", Coffrey asked, dejected.

"Guess not...", Forrest smiled. "Now I suggest we make room for them, and give them as much cooperation we can. They should be her any time now!..."

TAG: Jefferson, everyone else...

[Tiasalle and Braveheart]

IC: Zita Marttin and Kaida, with the other Dragon Riders

Zita kept off of Kaida's back as much as she could to help her friend cool off once again as she watched the whole scenario before her. "So, let me get this straight. We are supposed to create a diversion while an assigned Rider goes into the ship and disables the system?"
She looked at Wanders quizzically while she placed her hands on her hips, attempting to set the plans in stone within her mind. Hopefully she could get a larger part in this operation. Zita may be young, but so were many other Riders who seemed to have larger parts in the assignments than she received. Zita shrugged everything off as she waited for a reply to her question. Someday Patience would reward her, even if today was not the time.

TAG: Thundertail

ooc: Where's Korkoa?

[Thundertail]

IC: The Dragon Riders, I-N-Salat, Algeria.

"That's the way this Jefferson fella explained it to me!" Forrest Wanders said to Rider Zita Martin as she got down off her panting ice dragon. "We got to get inside the shield to shut it down; but we can't do it with those drones all over the place."

He had explained everything that the Leiutenant Colonel had told him, and Forrest guessed his group didn't take too kindly to having another group interfering! He told them that queen Grimoire herself notifyed the DDA the moment the Auri was detected in deep space. He also ran through the rough plan that Jefferson laid out to him; but it was clear that the dragons around him and thier Riders were still not too sure as to what they were supposed to do! Forrest gasped dejectedly and began again from the beginning.

"Once again, all of you are to form up with the DDA forces and create a diversion.", Forrest told them. "You are to attack the shields from four sides; but you are NOT - I repeat NOT - to fly at all. Stay to cover all you can, and try not to get hurt. I will need one Rider team to help with phase two."

"Phase two entails using the PSDS to punch a hole in the shield and infiltrate the ship.", Forrest went on. "I will be needing the team of Rider Ikkak Dilophosaur and sir Coffrey Rex. Coffrey will fly up directly over the ship and drop us over the forcefield."

"Uh,... uncle Forrest...", Coffrey said. "I can't fly with the both of you on my back. I'm too small to carry two!"

"Relax!", Forrest told him. "You remember the way I change into other things?", Coffrey nodded. One of Forrest Wanders' mutant abilities was to shape-shift into any type of life form. "I'll just change into something really small and light, and then stow away in Ikkak's suit!"

"Attention everyone!", Apaque Wamuti shouted. "There are many anomolies appearing on my scanner!"

"Jefferson's forces are arriving!", Forrest Wanders told everyone.

"Time to lay out the welcome mat!", Ikkak commented absently...

TAG: Lt. Col. Jefferson, any and all...

[Talmarka]

Two identical dropships rolled in from the south east, one with four Spec-Ops members, and the other on with equipment and two more troops. The special infiltration tools were inside the second. The ground wasn't stable though, so they had to land in the ancient airway that barely protruded form the sand. Jefferson came to the "airstrip" with some of the crew that had come along from the Bakal to unload the cargo. After paging the Dragon Guild that the force-field penetrating tech had arrived, he noticed that the crew were unloading some boxes in the back of the storage compartment.
"Put those down!" he yelled without thinking. It took the Colonel a minute to take everything in, particularly what to say tho the crew and their confused faces.
"Monsieur?" one of them asked.
"Uh... I'll take care of those myself. You're all free to go." Jefferson replied. The ship's crew left the room, and fortunately there was no other ship in the land area so there was no other crew anymore since it had been abandoned. Still, he disabled the camera's on the dropship to make sure even himself with all his clearance wasn't aborted from lifelong service. He knew protocol, and one of the Dragon Guild's rules was to not take a life unless there was no other choice. He wasn't in a mood to negotiate. Also, for about several years the country had a ban on arms except for the police force. That's why Jefferson had been so irrational. That's why when he open the crates, all seven of them loaded live-projectile magazines into modified Stunner Rifles.

[Thundertail]

IC: The Dragon Riders, I-N-Salat, Algeria.

OCC: There are no hangars at the ruined airport at I-N-Salat; just sand and more sand! (Perhaps modify so they could land on the remaining tarmack - the runway is still 1/3 intact!)
_

Coffrey Rex had told the others that another team was coming and to be on guard; but when Ikkak told him that they were coming to help them, he did not know what to make of it! Queen Grimoire told them all that it was supposed to be a dragon Guild mission, one to discover what happened to some of thier long lost comrades - not a joint mission! What did these glorifyed mercenaries know of dragon honor? They were trained for war, a thing the Dragon Guild was trying to see done away with. Not to have this be just another battle! They would have found a way into the ship just over the horizon sooner or later anyway!

As Ikkak approached him, he put away his gloomy thoughts and smiled impishly at him, trying to remind his friend of all the good times they had together with his eyes. Ikkak smiled back and punched him on the arm as all the other dragons and riders collected in a group near them. Glyph wass just doing so himself when he noticed two ships dropping into the area, and whole squads of soldiers in Kevlar armor and all the weapons they could carry spill out of them; whom many of them fanned out to form a perimeter of sorts, and a handful of lesser armed soldiers dragged out many crates with contents that were a mystery to them all.

A soldier with an important air led the ones carrying the crates to the Bakal, disturbing the pilot and copilot in the process - they just walked right in like they owned the place or something! Glyph roared to get the attention of Forrest Wanders, and the humanoid mutant hustled over and nearly beat them to the back of the plane.

"Ah! you've arrived!", Forrest shouted, but that was not enough to stop thier progress. "Excuse me....!"

The soldiers did not stop thier work uncrating thier cargo, but the evident leader of the group turned to face him. The only thing on Lt. Col. Jefferson's face that regestered alarm at Forrest's black eyes was a slight twitch in his left one. Instead of speaking, Jefferson shoved a stunner rifle modifyed to shoot missiles into Forrest's hands.

"I see you're well under way, Jefferson.", Forrest said. "I'll meet you outside when you're ready, then we'll go over the plan..."

When Forrest returned to the desert beyond, he handed the weapon over to Glyph and whispered: "You may need this..."

TAG: Lt. Col, Jefferson, one and all!...

_____