[Chapter #1.2.2 - Two Strandees]

"Y-yes, we are," confirmed Anna. "Dammit. What a waste of a trip..."

(Move 1 space to the right, then take the ladder.)

"It is better to go then to prolong our stay especially when we have no resources and any means of medical attention is random at best" X01 said as she continued to watch behind them to make sure the enemy didn't approach before activating her thrusters and following the two up the ladder.

Moving 1 right and going up the ladder

The trio turned towards the ladder imbedded in the wall at the end of the corridor to their left. It was a metallic ladder leading up to a hatch. However, as they approached and started climbing, Colette would be the first to notice that she could not actually see anything on top of the ladder. It was as metallic and black as the rest of the decrepit age-old junkyard. And it was also...squirming?

Wires sprawled across the surface of the top of the corridor like intertwined snakes, dancing and wriggling in an endless motioning dance. They whirred and detached as Colette climbed, suddenly lashing out at the party and pushing them downwards from the ladder. Thankfully, no one had gotten high enough for the fall to really hurt, but their bums would likely be sore regardless, X01's excluded.

However, the fact remained that the wires have now detached, slowly making their way towards the party, bending around the ladder. They all originated from the opposite direction from the ladder and following their trail, the party would be able to see what appeared to be a glowing eyeball in the distance, slowly moving towards them.


The Demon familiar to the one Colette and X01 had fought before emerged in the light, moving by using its extendable wires. It faced Colette first then X01 and then finally...

"Anna Hess. One unknown human. One unknown ASSW. Traces of Anti-Space detected. Materials detected. Intentions unclear. State purpose. Freedom is near."

Colette let out a small "eep" as the demon pushed her off the ladder onto the ground. Standing up she brushed off what ever trash or junk got on her clothes well mumbling about annoying tentacles under her breath. Turning to the demon she gives a weak smile. "Yes, I'm Colette Starling, this is X01 and you already know Anna so it seems. We just wanted to get out of here to the settlement that's just beyond here. So we can be safe. If you would be kindly let us pass I would be ever so grateful." she said quickly "I'd even give you an autograph without you having to go through manager or anything if you do." she said not expecting that to do anything like before with the other demon that looked like this one.

Anna, meanwhile, was glaring at the demon with a look of tired annoyance. "No shit it's near - that's why I'm moving in that direction, asshat," she replied with her usual sarcasm, seeming almost glad to have a target for it again. She even got some of her previous energy to return to her voice.

"Anyway, the purpose is to rest and regroup, for all three of us. Those two aren't here by choice, so it seems like they'd be stuck here for a while. Libertaria is their best bet. And I'm going to cash out, obviously. So if you'd kindly let us in..."

She made a motion at the ladder and the tenta... extendable wires.

X01 looked to the creature "This Units reason for being here is due to an accident causing a crash, This unit was attempting to escort Colette to a location of Safety before Resuming search for This units Means of Transport...however if there is a manner to avoid conflict this unit would consider Partnership or Commerce" The creature in question did seem strong if it was in any way like the previous one they had seen.

"Autograph!?" The Demon's voice perked up in a way that blatantly contradicted its previous robotic monotone. And then it brought a wire to where its mouth would usually be, turning slightly to the side while clearing its throat. Now, that would have been a very plain motion normally. But, in this situation, the one performing it was a giant eyeball Demon which exuded quite a powerful aura. So the motion was quite silly.

Anna would have at that point been certain that someone was just manually controlling this thing. With the way it was moving. She knew that the Libertarians had the means to make that happen. Hell, they kept Shadows as hunting dogs and spaceship interception units.

The Demon looked at the party again after having cleared its throat. Colette may have noticed it being slightly more red than before. "Considering. Considering. If only Anna Hess had been a wee bit nicer to me. I shall let you pass if she apologizes."

"You can do that right Anna?" Colette looked at Anna giving her a smile "An apology is easy and you where a little mean to them for just doing their job." she contained before turning to the demon "If it helps I can get you you a collection of one of my photoshoots as well." she paused for a moment "Though i would have to contact my manager for that since I unfortunately don't have one with me. Not that i can really do that either since i don't have anything out here to contact them with." She said rambling on as she thought

"Uh, no," Anna snorted, then turned to Colette to explain. "Just doing their job ain't gonna cut it as an explanation. Not with ladder-throwing, speaking in riddles, and now a demand for respect. As far as I can tell, any actual security concerns have been settled already."

She turned back to the demon.

"So now, all that remains is some loser with a poor, desperate man's tentacled security camera going on a power trip. How apology-worthy."

X01 listened to Anna refuse the request and she looked at Anna "I believe we had an agreement, you would get us to the settlement if we aided you in this place, we have aided you....now we are attempting to enter the settlement...you are currently going back on the agreement in the refusal to provide simple words of Apology" she said simply.

"P-photos!?" The Demon repeated in the same shocked but excited tone as for the autograph. Its eye seemed to sparkle with joy for a moment as it looked at Anna, hope apparent even on its expressionless face.

And then Anna said her thing. And the Demon stopped moving.


"Eh-" It said, starting to shake. A shouting voice could be heard followed by steps running away in the opposite direction as the Demon's body stood still and unmoving in the corridor, just floating in space.

You could probably try moving past it.

Here everything co silent and seeing the demon go still Colette moved forward to the ladder again. "Well looks like we can go by now let get moving." She said as she started to climb the ladder.

"See, four-arms? The power of my words wins in the end," Anna quipped to X-01 as she started to climb after Colette.

X01 looked at the Demon for a moment as she let the other two climb up first "That remains to be seen, as we are unsure if your words will have repercussions once we enter the settlement" she said as she turned on her boosters and flew up after the two.

The Demon remained motionless as they passed it by. Whoever was on the other end (if anyone), seemed to have retreated, stung a bit too hard by Anna's words. However, that wasn't a problem now, right? Besides, Anna was a Libertarian as well. She had every right to enter, with or without two stragglers, so it was the Demon person's problem for making a ruckus.

Event Result:

The hatch leading out opened without a hitch now that the wires were gone. The party climbed up and onto an elevated piece of footing. To their left they could see the Wildlands-a series of tall and jagged rock formations, surrounded by insecure footings, as they had sorely experienced on their own skin. To their right, however, they could see two giant pieces of stone forming a sort of natural gate. Passing those stones, at least hundred meters tall and spiked like drills on top, an even grander sight came into view.

The sight of a city, built into a mountain within what appeared to be the remnants of a spaceship of once massive proportions. Houses, like favella, dotted the gaping maw of the mountain within the smaller maw of the ship, some seemingly even hanging from above. Winds blew, but the bowl formed by the rocky formations protected them from their full brunt. The city as well seemed to have been built within a perfectly protected location.

Anna knew and the rest could likely conclude as well...this was Libertaria. A heated oasis, suspended within hurricanes of dust and the bastion of the runaways and free.

The secret land of pirates...

Music:

Upon drawing nearer, tents became visible as well, which soon revealed themselves to in fact be shops. Food and drink abounded in this area, sweetened and salted scents filling the air. People moved about with smiles on their faces. Children laughed and kicked makeshift balls of cloth, dressed in light sheets. There seemed to be both aliens and humans here alike, but no ASSW. This made X01 stand out like a sore thumb. People were directing confused looks at her and Colette. A child walked up to them with a question.

"Whoa, a robot lady! Who are you?" before running off to continue playing around without waiting for a reply.

If they wished to, the party could try and get some refreshments here. Alternatively, they could explore further. Anna knew where she was going, of course. She also knew sooner or later someone was definitely going to come pick up these two stragglers. And probably her for popping up together with them. They were unlikely to make a mess unless that Robert guy showed up to deal with this issue.