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Early 98 P.A. - Somewhere in the deserts of former New Mexico

It's the final round of the poker tournament and Bill Stein is on a roll. He's dominated four rounds and now he's facing the high rollers. oO(This could be it! I can afford to retire and maybe start my own community! Just have to pay off Armin first, if he doesn't try to take all of it.)Oo The ante is 10,000 credits.

There are four players left. Bill, Armin, Julio and Brittney are the finalists. Bill is sitting at 900,000 credits. Everyone else is sitting on at least one million credits; enough to retire on. Everyone is wearing their sunglasses. Armin is big blind, Bill is little blind.

The dealer is a specifically built robot to deal cards, catch cheaters and deal with them, and to declare winners and losers. It's all silver with dealer neatly decaled across it's forehead. It deals out the cards. Bill waits, to see facial expressions, but so does Brittney. Brittney's waiting for him to look at his cards.

Round 4 Game 8:

Julio has no expression, yet, he folds, sighing. Brittney goes all in; blind. Bill finally looks at his cards (5D and 9C). He calmly folds. Armin smiles and matches Brittney's all in bet, still leaving himself roughly the same amount that Bill has. The flop is produced (one card burned, three cards turned). Up turns 2H 4H and 7C.
oO(Good thing I folded)Oo

"With all in, please turn up your cards," The dealer's robotic voice takes getting used to, but he's getting there. Armin and Brittney both reveal.

Armin has AS and 6C (Potential straight)
Brit has KD and 7H (potential flush and already has a pair)

oO(If she had more money, then I bet she'd be betting her soul by now)Oo Bill would have.

Another card is burned and the bridge is turned. 3C. Armin is even closer to a straight. Brit is still winning. oO(It all boils down to this last card for these two)Oo

Another card is burned and the river. 8H. "Brittney wins with a pair of sevens. Please collect your chips, Brittanee!" The robot declares. "Please prepare for Game 9. Ante is increased to 50000 credits."

Round 4 Game 9:
oO(Glad ante already went by)Oo Bill strokes his beard and looks across at Armin.

"What are you lookin' at, Momma's boy?" Armin says threateningly.

"Please show courtesy and manners, Armin." The robot demands.

Bill just ignores Armin while Julio sighs at tossing in his chips for big blind. Armin follows with little.

Cards are dealt. Bill decides to look right away instead of waiting. 8D 6D oO(Woohoo! Suited) He tosses in his ante. Brittney does the same. Armin folds. Julio calls.

The Flop: 9H 10S 8C

oO(Holy! I only need a seven and already have a pair!)

He tosses in 400,000 credits. "400K credits to you, Julio."

Julio folds. Brittney calls, pushing in her own 400K in chips.

The Bridge: 4D

Brittney smiles, waiting for Bill. He taps the table, "Check."

Brittney checks as well, keeping a close eye on Bill.

The River: 7D

oO(Straight face... straight face...)Oo "Check." He says plainly.

Brittney smiles, "How much do you have there, Bill?" Staring at his chips. She knows how much he has, but she's just rubbing it in.

"Four hundred K," Bill replies, "Really?"

"I'll bet 400k, then," She states with a smug smile.

"Please turn your cards face up." The dealer demands.

Bill turns his cards up to reveal a straight. Brittney's smug expression quickly fades. She tosses her cards in without revealing them, essentially a fold.

"Please prepare for game 10."

Round 4 Game 10:

oO(Okay, I need something amazing here)Oo

Brittney tosses in her 50k while Julio does his small. The cards are dealt and Bill recieves KC and KS. oO(Pair of Kings!)Oo

Armin ponies up his ante. Bill does as well. Julio puts the rest of his ante in. Brittney calls.

The Flop: QH QC and QD

oO(Keep calm... I have a full house, but someone could have the four of a kind)Oo

Armin checks. Bill pushes 400k to the middle. Julio folds. Brittney calls. Armin also calls.

Bridge: 9H

oO(Damn)Oo

Armin goes all in. Bill copies, Brittney calls.

"Please everyone place your cards face up."

Armin: KH AH

Brittney: AS 10S

Bill: KS KC

Both Armin and Brittney's eyes grow large, even visible through the sunglasses.

River: 10C

"Bill has won the tournament. Please turn in your chips and collect your ten million credits and resolve any further debts." The dealer announces as it stands and moves back to it's storage unit.

"Hey, Bill." Armin walks over to him, "Congrats on the win. I'll meet you out back in fifteen minutes. Don't be late."

"Well, this time, you know I'll have your money." Bill grins.

As soon as Armin walks around the corner, Bill hurries and collects his money from the cashiers booth. He then runs to the parking area and climbs into one of the hover transports and covers up with a canvas tarp. Moments later, the transport, along with several others leave, heading north.

Bill peeks from under the canvas to see Armin, pistol draw, running around the encampment, obviously looking for him. Armin, enraged, walks up to Brittney, argues, then shoots her, sending a red mist from the opposite side of her head. oO(Must hide!)Oo He prays that the Lord will save him as he clutches "The Holy Bible."

oO(This is amazing! Mayor Lee would never allow this! This Lord Stein does)Oo Maya Nguyen walks around with her trusty antique Nikon camera, hoping to catch some great stories to sell to the Smith Falls periodical. The periodical, which comes out monthly, sometimes weekly, has been her main source of income when she isn't hanging out with Sam and Steve, or in school. oO(So many great photos)Oo She feels the exhilaration of the crowd, the excitement of the games and shops.

She slides her hair behind her ears as she takes another photo of the obstacle course. The contestant, a middle-aged woman, from Smith Falls, hears the buzzer to start. Five minutes to complete eight difficult obstacles before reaching the checkpoint. Most never complete it, very few make it to stage two. Only a handful of people have ever made it to stage three. No one has ever made it to the final stage.

The final stage, a fifty foot tower, in which an exhausted competitor would try and reach the top within the impossible twenty-five second time limit. If anyone could, then they would receive a thousand credits. That's enough to buy a house!

Maya watches as this woman runs, full sprint, towards five narrowly angled stepping platforms, staggered across from each other to the second obstacle, which would be an enormous log, which rolls down a set of parallel bars and a few surprise drops. Unfortunately, this lady forgot to tie her shoelaces, trips and bloodies her nose on the wooden launch pad. She made it a total of seven feet, before reaching the first obstacle. Jeers, quips and insulting jabs erupt from the crowd, either celebrating the early injury or condemning the poor woman for doing poorly. Maya snaps a photo of the woman, as she wipes the blood from her nose, creating a massive red streak along her forearm.

The woman returns for attempt two. Some of the crowd begins booing. The woman ties her shoe. The buzzer sounds as as she breaks into a full sprint once again. She easily completes the quintuple step, reaching the opposite platform. She climbs onto the log, for rolling thunder, and grips tightly. She rolls halfway down the bars when the first drop causes her grip to slip and she plummets to a safety mat below, embarrassed. All the while, Maya snaps more photos.

Another contestant, a young native from the Indian tribe, begins his attempt when someone taps Maya's shoulder. She turns to see a sheriff's deputy with the name 'Chala' above her right pocket. "Young lady, if you would like to try the obstacle course, I'd gladly pay and take pictures for you."

It's like a dream come true! Maya gladly accepts and gets into the long line, visiting with the deputy, whose name is Sherry. She's the only deputy not riding a horse, so far as she knows. Within twenty minutes, Maya is the almost to the launch platform on the stage. Deputy Chala pays the credit for her two tries and gets close to the side of the arena, camera at the ready.

Maya makes sure that her shoes are tied. She stretches and jogs in place, trying to warm up her muscles. The young kid in front of her fell off the first quintuple step and was too scared to try again. She approaches the announcer who quietly asks her name. "Maya Nguyen," she replies nervously.

"Up next! Maya Nwhen!"

oO(Close enough, I guess)Oo No one ever gets her last name right.

The buzzer sounds. The adrenaline kicks in. She runs hard. The steps are 40 inches apart at the beginning, increasing in distance each step, yet, she makes it look as easy as playing speed hopscotch. She proudly realizes that this is her first time ever doing this.

Next is rolling thunder. She grips the log as tight as she can as it begins rolling. She's nervous that it may shift on the bars and either smash her or her fingers, but that never happens as the first drop happens. She feels her grip slip, but keeps rolling. She closes her eyes to keep from getting dizzy, making the second drop more of a surprise. The logs stops rolling.

She opens her eyes to see the next obstacle; a simple rope swing. She grabs the rope and swings to the opposite platform. oO(Easy enough...)Oo

She sighs as she notices a bowl shaped hole ahead of her, much like people would see at a skatepark. On the opposite side of the 'bowl' is a wall which ramps straight up and almost curves back. This is the warped wall. Maya needs to gain enough momentum to run up the wall, jump and grab the top and pull herself over. She slides her feet down into the hole, placing her butt on the ledge. She launches and runs so fast that she impresses herself. She leaps, reaching up and back, feeling her fingers grasp the ledge at the top. She hastily pulls herself up.

She glances at the clock countdown; oO(Just over four minutes left)Oo Ahead of her, is a log suspended on two rotating anchors, causing the log to spin. She must walk across it, while it slowly rolls, without falling. She walks across so quickly that she feels like it's regular ground.

She looks at her sixth obstacle, a four foot drop to a trampoline, which she needs to jump and then use her hands and feet to wedge between two plastic walls. Afterwards, she has to try and climb, using the friction of her hands and feet, to climb all the way past the walls, over and under an obstacle. This is the spider jump and climb.
She drops down, trying to relax until the moment her feet depress the trampoline at maximum, she then jumps. She nearly overshoots the top of the wall, but manages to wedge herself between them. She quickly starts short hopping with her hands and feet along the obstacle, hearing members of the crowd shout things like, "Woah, chick can JUMP!" and "Who is this girl? She's insane!"

With renewed confidence, and quick spider hops, she reaches the end, already examining the next obstacle, which is a zipline. It would be easy if she could just walk up and grab it, but she has to jump from this wall, without a floor, and catch it. She jumps, but her right foot slips and she misses the handles by just an inch and plunges to the safety mat.

oO(Damn, I should've had that!)Oo The adrenaline is still pumping and she realizes how incredibly fun it is and why so many people spend most of their day, getting back in line, trying to defeat just the first stage.

The announcer erupts with, "Give it up for Maya Gnuyen! Here comes her second try!" He said her name right this time. She realizes that she gets a second try. She looks down at Deputy Chala and gives a thumbs up as she goes back up on the launch stage. The announcer winks and asks, "Was that your first attempt?" Maya nods, "You might actually beat this one. Good luck!"

Maya makes sure her shoes are still tied, then looks at the course with stoic determination. The buzzer sounds. She launches into a full run, easily breezing through the quintuple step, hanging on in rolling thunder, swinging across the rope swing, easily scaling the warped wall and makes it across the rolling log in three strides. She makes the spider jump and climb look simpler than last time. She then reaches her nemesis, the transition from the spider climb to the zip line. She takes a deep breath, then exhales as she leaps. She feels the handles hit her palms as she firmly grasps them. The wind on her face is cool and fresh when she realizes that there isn't a platform past the zipline to the last obstacle, the cargo net.

The zipline hits the end of the line and she flies towards the back of the cargo net. She has the option to go underneath or climb over. If she goes underneath, she can't touch the mat underneath, so she chooses to climb over. Unfortunately, she gets tangled in the net on the way back down. So badly that the time runs out with the checkpoint only a few feet away. Tears fill her eyes. oO(So close! I can't afford to try again...)Oo

Some of the workers had to untie her out of the cargo net because she was so badly tangled, stalling the next contestant for about ten minutes. Once out, Deputy Chala hands her camera back, "I took a picture of each obstacle that you tried. That looks fun!" She says as she pats Maya on the shoulder, "Chin up! You made most of the men look ridiculous."

Maya smiles at that, oO(Just wait till Sam and Steve hear about this!)Oo

OOC: Hmm... that sounds vaguely familiar. Something about ninja's and swords or something.

OOC: I mixed ninja warrior, ultimate beastmaster, most extreme elimination challenge and the Viking Ultimate Obstacle Course. All the while, remembering some obstacle courses that I've done to re-enact the feelings of what it's like to try them.

Larry Elmore, the Festival obstacle course master of ceremonies, walks backstage to reveal a secret to his workers, "This freaking kid may have just been our huge paycheck!" A local, named Teddy, has just conquered stage one. The secret is that he won right after another promising contender, named Violet, horribly twisted her ankle on the warped wall. oO(May have to change that part of the course next time...)Oo The injury, as with most injuries, drew a large crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of the injury. At that moment, Larry had gotten Teddy to start the course, with nearly one thousand spectators observing. He'd easily completed the course creating the illusion that many in the crowd felt that they could do it as well.

"I want cameras out when this kid goes on stage again at noon. If he even barely fumbles, then don't disqualify him. We need a hero for them to root for! We may be able to draw a larger crowd! If this kid actually beats this course, then we need to hire him!" Larry grins proudly, "In fact, if we beat 2500 entries, then I'll double everyone's wages for this festival! Understood? Make this the biggest event for this town!"

Larry smiles as his workers motivate to work twice as hard; allowing the show to speed up and accommodate the players for the competition. oO(In fact, whoever's bright idea to spread the rumor that that poor girl died; drawing the crowd in to watch Teddy? Genius! Glad I thought of it...)Oo He guffaws with dramatic enthusiasm as he returns to the stage.

2099 A.D.

Captain Andrew Wilson blows his breath up the inside of his helmet, trying to divert the persperation, which threatens to flow into his much needed eyes. Normally, the USA-106 "Silver Eagle" combat suit is a pinnacle of comfort and combat technology. Yet, thirteen hours of combat has taken its toll on comfort. The absorbsion pads, saturated with sweat, threaten to cause a rash on his forehead. oO(At least the temperature controls still work. If this creature makes it to Billings, then they're all dead!)Oo

"Fall back back to the rimrocks!" He shouts into his TACCOM, "We'll use them as cover," He checks his ammunition. oO(Almost out of 25 mm rounds. We'll have to salvage rounds from the downed combat suits)Oo The end of his C-40RAR prototype rail gun is already showing signs of melting, which affects his aim.

The Silver Eagle is a silver mirrored combat power armor with wings and thrusters along the back. The great plains dust and frost blows off of his suit, bringing the armor's silvery luster back. He swoops down and behind a cliff and lands on a ledge slightly before the summit. He peeks back up seeing the remaining four suits, of his squadron, land on his ledge, desperate for a moment to recollect themselves. oO(Four soldiers left... four... out of twenty four)Oo He sighs.

Liuetenant Harper lifts his faceplate, "Sir? I'm almost out of ammunition. Maybe we can double back and salvage those other guys' ammo drums?"

Sergeant Smith laughs, "I've conserved my rounds, commander. I have almost a full drum," as she pats the circular case, attached to the back of the power armor.

Sergeant Campbell scoffs, "Maybe help us more, instead of conserving?"

Corporal Jacobs finally lands, blood streams from the upper arm of his suit, "I got hit..." Is all he can grunt out. A boulder, thrown by some evil-looking giant, had struck him, tearing through some of the power armor and breaking his right arm. "On the plus... side... I have most of my ammunition..." A result of not being able to use his gun arm.

"Alright, it'll take that thing about five minutes to get within range." Captain Wilson says, "We need someone to head down to what's left of Billings and see if any military, law enforcement or militia are still alive down there." He glances back only to see the black smoke rising from downtown and the rest of the city is shrouded in a dark haze. Random explosions occur either from these supernatural, maybe even alien, invaders, or from random societal deviants looting and robbing from the innocent. A bright bluish white line, which many have popped up over every landscape, runs straight through the city. A second one crosses it close to downtown, with a bright beam shooting straight up from an oval bright bluish portal.

As he peeks over the summit again, he sees the nearly sixty foot tall humanoid, brimming with horns and claws, lumbering across the plains, towards the rimrocks above the great Montana city of Billings. The banks of the Yellowstone have overflowed and flooded half of the lower part of the city. Rumors of a massive tsunami tell of the Mississippi River backing up into the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, causing nationwide flooding.

It's been weeks since the chaos erupted. It all happened in less than an hour. Some say alien invasion, others say creatures from storybooks came to life. Some say it's the end times from the bible or the Day of Judgement from the Quran or even the end of Kali Yuga for the Hindis. Some believe it's other dimensions or universes blending with ours.

Captain Wilson's team started with over twenty. Now he only has five. The first dozen were lost on the first day. It was absolute chaos and madness. Other teams from Luke Air Force Base probably made it out alive, but he hasn't heard anything over long range communications. Since then, two committed suicide, where their power suits were buried with their owners near a small farming community somewhere in Idaho. Another two pilots disappeared in the middle of the night. Another one died to some demonic creature that could make itself look like a little girl. The little girl was found eating him. His team had to execute another of their pilots. He'd lost his mind and held the team hostage from their own power armor. They'd had to wait for him to fall asleep and extract him before he could react. They lost another in the ensuing fight, due to being bitten in the neck. That was in Cody, Wyoming. They left both of their power armors there, buried in an old mineshaft. Since then, they'd picked up two pilots from Edwards Air Force Base. Both were lost in the fighting against this giant demon.

The sun hasn't shown in nearly a month. Rumors of seismic and volcanic activity has been rumored to the west. Some say that the Yellowstone Super Volcano is about to erupt, if it hasn't already. The sky has been raining ash since the chaos started. oO(Wouldn't that just be the icing on the proverbial cake?)Oo Captain Wilson scoffs. He's heard from the California pilots that his brother, Carl, has had a bit of luck in finding a defendable stronghold in the desert. oO(And how does Carl ever expect to survive in the desert?)Oo

Suddenly, the giant demon stops. It seems to be looking at the ground at something or someone, miles away. Then turns and runs north. Slowly becoming smaller until it disappears over the horizon, towards Huntley.

Captain Wilson and Sergeants Smith and Campbell go to investigate, only to find a young beautiful woman, laying in amongst frosted sage brush. Her exhausted eyes peer up to meet Captain Wilson and his team, "It won't be back," she croaks before fainting.

The next day, after getting the young lady to the safe outskirts of the Billings Heights, what's left of them, the young woman wakes up. An interrogation reveals her name is Margaret Ericson. She was originally from a small Montana community, known as Miles City. Her town had banished her, upon discovering that she could control things with her mind. Wilson, at first, was skeptical that she's another evil demon, but after a few hours of questioning, realized that she'd saved them by simply convincing the giant demon to leave and never return. She demonstrated being able to hypnotise, move objects without touching them and being able to walk on hot coals with nothing more than some red marks.

Over the next few days, Miss Ericson has shown some precognitive ability, voicing concern that Billings will soon be invaded by some unknown threat. Very few will survive. Captain Wilson makes the informed decision to gather parts an ammunition from the downed pilots north of Billings and double back to Wyoming to collect ammunition from their buried spares.