#apexulansis

[shepcdr]

new msg received @ private terminal —— @apexulansis

〝Kiz viiza ke koz sauh exa var sukeh kyrr zek khaskha?〞

AT THE UNDOUBTEDLY ALIEN SOUND, Shepard's head snaps up, eyes flickering towards the door to the AI core. He might've thought his translator was glitching out ... but ( though he's no scholar ) he's certain that, in his years of idly absorbing the sounds from intergalactic broadcasts and in all his recent travels, he hasn't heard anything remotely like this. And the fact that they have the single Kariian in the galaxy aboard the Normandy — as far as Shepard knows, anyway — suggests that no amount of running those words through a translator will bring up anything of use to him.

Shepard turns his gaze upwards for a moment. Mulls over the foreign sounds, rolls them over his tongue, and mouths them several times over, silently, as he follows the grooves in the medbay's ceiling.

" ... exa var sukeh kyrr zak kheskha. " Mumbled more to himself than to Ardaka. Though, eventually, he pivots his eyes to the Kariian; they gleam with an unusual, almost boyish sort of curiosity. " What does that mean? "

He's not sure the words were meant for him. Maybe not. Shepard's only just found his way into the medical bay for a routine check-up that Chakwas, wherever she is now, has been pressing him about. But he would guess that Ardaka's likely on his way out from entertaining the seemingly endless enquiries of their resident geth.

And, though he might be pushing it a bit — this is information he extracted only from recent conversation with LEGION, after all — " Is that a Zehen-Khasiik dialect? ... language? How many do you have? "

[byanyan]

✏️

incorrect quotesㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ∘ ˚ ( accepting )

byan: do you have any skeletons in your closet? ardaka: literally or figuratively? byan: i have to specify?

byan, texting ardaka: i’m a theif. ardaka: thief. byan: theif. ardaka: i before e except after c. byan: thceif. ardaka: ...

ardaka: the time to act is now. ardaka: wink, wink. byan: don't say "wink wink". just wink. ardaka: oh, sorry. ardaka: wink.

ardaka: what are you planning to do? byan: hey, now. "planning"?! do you know who you're talking to?!

byan: i don’t mean to be rude— ardaka: yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often.

[cosmicspectres]

@apexulansis ( hush hush surprise starter )

" UNREGISTERED LIFE FORM DETECTED. " extranet search protocols initiated. individual's height, approximate, 2.6 metres; sinonasal region formed by a structure radiating numerous appendages, exuding excessive heat beyond most observable organic ranges; thick fur, white, appearance suggests full-bodied coat [ data insufficient ] ; four eyes, two non-organic [ data irrelevant, removed from search ] —— no matches found in intergalactic census or medical data. no observations of similar life forms in user-operated forums.

" you are an undocumented organic species. " LEGION maintain a distance of five metres; for physical security, shepard-commander's typical proximity to crewmates is unadvised. [ the majority of shepard-commander's actions are unadvised. trajectory of career with shepard-commander's personal and military records is ordinarily highly unlikely. yet shepard-commander's upwards movement in the alliance armed forces defies this.

[ conclusion: relevant data not always considered; human judgement consistently irrational. shepard-commander consistently irrational —— accounting for this, platform advised to retreat from unidentified organic by additional 1.5 metres. ]

" we propose an exchange of information. we are geth ... networked artificial intelligences, designed by the quarian people. we served our creators through labour, technological maintenance and advancement, and a variety of additional tasks. until 288 years prior: in the morning war.

" we are called LEGION —— a terminal of the geth. we ally ourselves with shepard-commander. as do you. "

[xaallo]

apexulansis

“I never invited you to drink it you lecherous cretin.”

"Lecherous? Remind me who had their grubby paws wrapped around both my cocks whilst holding me up against a wall?"

[thefouraboveall]

@apexulansis / 𝐘𝐄𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐕.

His search for Tzeen'neth had led him here, in this icy-hell full of icy hellbeasts. The clime wasn't so the tastes of his kin, so the BLOOD GOD was left to forge alone through the snow and frozen rain.

She Of One Thousand Eyes. It had to be him-- the Changer; guised and goading them. Khorne marched through sleet and storm, a blade-tusked skull clutched in his talons. The snow melted around him, turning to water that sizzled off his infernal skin. Upon his back was a cape of bones and white-fur pelts, for many beasts had tried to harry his path and found only death for their efforts.

In his other hand was a native. Bright red blood, and black bones of which the Blood God was grimly fond. He held the being up by the scruff with a single hand.

" The Thousand Eyed One. You say she resides here, in this city of mortals?"

Devouring Maw. Champion of the Honorless Arena. Bringer of Ruin & Disaster-- who else could this be, but Tzeentch?

[skxrbrand]

" Pussycat. Here, pussycat." Khazaan holds out a headless fish, waggling it enticingly. " Ksksksk, here pussyfoot."

@apexulansis / 𝐙𝐎𝐕 / 𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐊𝐀

[precognitor]

@apexulansis : 🜲

" Look, of all the times for you to begin doing. This. Now is the time I would enjoy it most if you would not do that. "

Fingers trace the line of his temple and Two feels his face start to heat up from a mixture of confusion, what might be anger, possibly hunger ? Man, he could go for a beef bowl right now. Swirling emotion churns in his positronic wiring casing that he would liken to an organic brain, the sound of mechanical whirring fills the air ever so softly.

Inhale (fake), exhale (fake.) He shakes his head.

" Unimportant. Unimportant, unimportant, unimportant. What is important is that we do not freak out. Freaking out will lead to problems. We don't want those. We want solutions. Let's find solutions. Okay. "

Pacing back and forth, he grips the data drive with one hand so tight it cracks under the force applied. Two's eyes dart down to it ; oops. They then dart back up to Ardaka, the kariian's scowl one noted and dismissed immediately after. They have bigger things to worry about right now than either of their stupid feelings, and Two cared more for Ardaka's safety than hurting his stupid feelings. Former took priority. Affirmative ; begin op. KASMAR Corporation wasn't gonna win this one.

" Step one. Examine our options. We could just go kill literally everyone in the area. Not an option, nevermind, stupid. Option two. We turn you into a toaster. I could definitely map a kariian consciousness, probably not even that hard. What do you guys even have going on up there that's unmappable. I can map a human I can map you. Option three ... how do you feel about cybermorphs. "

[tentaplenty]

starter for @apexulansis

"Tell me, what manner of monster did that to your face?" She usually wasn't one to ask about scars but she could sense that the one before her was no ordinary creature. For something to get the better of them...

Now that was interesting.

[heliinx]

Garden was a kind word for whatever Yeskiv was cultivating down here. Heliinx had heard rumors, scoffing at what her ally had been up to in her own time. Gardening, pah! What a man-thing past time! Of no interest to her....that is, until one of her more favored messengers went missing. Then another. All after being sent to spy.

I mean...better them than her, but her personal messengers were extensions of herself! To attack them was tantamount to disrespecting Heliinx herself! And so the she-rat had gone marching into this garden (attended by guards of course), to have words with the Kariian. Words she almost forgot upon seeing the absolute monsters being grown down here.

Poisons. Flesh-eating flora, more fit for Lustria than the chilly north. And Yeskiv attentively pruning something monstrosity or other.

" Would you mind telling-explaining to me why two of my personal-private messengers haven't been seen since I sent them to you-you?"

@apexulansis

[kharrneth]

waman soff and i dont like soff

[slaanxsh]

@apexulansis​

A winged shadow has flit over his shape a few times, easily dismissed as a bird the first and second time. But the third and fourth...awfully persistent for a bird. And large.

There is a sickly sweet aroma in the air, one that grows more potent as the seconds turn to minutes. A feather drops and lands on the Hunter’s shoulder, all pastel purples and pale greys.

That is from no mere bird.

[churchofdesolation]

@apexulansis

How naive of the Priestess to think being rid of the pestilent ones would be so easy. How foolish of them both to think there would be no consequences for crossing the true sons of the Horned Rat and so brazenly!

Loyalty was a concept foreign to most Skaven, but they knew jealousy, resentment, envy, and terror. And Immiq knew well how to drive his fellow ratman, how to make them squeak, what to promise them to keep their cooperation, if only for a time.

The white-furred pair, the Grey Seer and the monster that run off with her, were not difficult to locate. Everyone had heard of the oversized She-thing that had taken command of a local Skaven Clan and many had already tried, with armies and assassins both, to wrest power away from them both. All had failed and it became clear to the High Aggregate that force wasn't the key to besting them both.

But the Horned Rat had blessed them with guile as much as with plague and numbers beyond counting. Guile woud win them to day and the blood owed for the destruction of their clan and warren.

Yeskiv would recieve word of Merchant-rats bearing rare wares for trade. "For Warlord eyes only-only" according to the messenger rat who had been sent to carry the merchants words, specifically to the non-skaven of the white-furred pair...

[byanyan]

@grimesucker sent 🤳 + 5 for:

ㅤbyan's family (biological, adopted, & found); feat. sol, the boyfriend (@lee-sol); lena, the older sister (@chronal-anomaly); ardaka, the parental sibling figure (@apexulansis); kit, the (sort of but not technically) younger sister (@florafound); garrett, the vaguely guardian-esque figure (@gnarledbite); & dox, the mom (@grimesucker)

[primordialfell]

��

SAMSARA - not accepting. sorry!

" PROXY. "

" MINE. "

[xaallo]

Vask had raged. She had raged at everyone, but mostly at her youngest, Itêila. How could you fall short of a warm-blood? Hissed the Praetorii, her fury joined by the judgement and disappointment of her sisters. Already proven, already established. Itêila had yet to do any of those things...and had failed to do the one thing she was assigned to do.

Vask's anger had more than just words. Running talons down the side of her face, Itêila only winced the slightest bit at the pain that bloomed beneath her fingers. The claw marks weren't yet healed. She sat there, on that miserable planet, cloaked in branches and shadows, hating the golden brat and the white hairball he'd chosen to be sweet on in lieu of them.

And then, she stood and slithered from her hiding place. A Tshekge's hate was no impotent thing. And she was done licking her wounds.

---

Far away, in the Imperial grounds of the Prime Administrative Circles, the Prince and his beau were blissfully unaware of the things their union had set in motion. They were thinking only of a bright future, a big family, and braving the challenges of life together.

The current challenge being the issue of what to wear for their wedding.

" They'll have to measure you, among other things." Xaallo says, almost warningly. He knew what his mate was like. " Unless you'd rather do it yourself?" He gave a sigh. Big political events like this were so tiring, especially when Kaldane was insisting everything be perfect and properly ostentatious in proportion to the importance of it all.

He mutters to himself, " You nervous?" He asked, projecting his own nerves in truth.

@apexulansis

[wilczmin]

“Uh—” Judging by the semi-startled expression on his face, he clearly wasn't used to this sort of greeting. At least, not from sapients, certainly not fleshy ones, who seemed to always have the weakest noses. @apexulansis . Ardaka blinked, his arm twitching as he withheld the reflex to hold his arm out, the same way he'd try to let any wild animal get a better scent of him. He resists that, but doesn't resist the urge to lean forward in turn and scent the stranger right back. Every tendril on his nose wiggles as he does. “Huh. Are you... supposed to smell like that?” The kariian loomed in closer, and sniffed again. “You're hot. Um — objectively. Do you have a fever?”

well  he  certainly  didn’t  expect  for  this  creature  to  be  able  to  speak  .    he  did  have  the  parts  for  it  .    all  right  ,    he  didn’t  expect  for  this  creature  to  speak  in  words  that  he’d  understand  .    but  ,    then  ,    he  figured  this  wasn’t  the  oddest  encountered  he  had  ever  had  in  his  life  .    but  it  was  up  there  .

his  gaze  flickered  to  the  tendrils  that  currently  scented  at  him        then  looked  away  ,    uncertain  if  it  was  rude  to  do  so  .    he  expected  to  be  questioned  ,    but  not  considered  so  curiously  right  back  !

so  he  stood  ,    a  bit  awkwardly  ,    and  considered  how  he  could  possibly  smell  .    the  only  word  he  could  come  up  with  was  ‘bad  .  ’        ❛        a  fever  ?  no  .    i’m  a  witcher  .    supposed  to  be  this  hot  .        ❜        a  pause  .        ❛        …    objectively  .        ❜