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Hahoalki

The Saturnian System wrote:Anastasia Novikov removed from power

The Saturnian government has announced that the Empress, Anastasia Novikov, has been removed from power by the interdimensional authorities known as the I.D.C. The removal has been approved by the Saturnian Judicial Department, and the empress has been convicted of committing several crimes and is awaiting trial for her misconduct and egregious crimes.

The Saturnian government has released several historical records revealing all the Empress's crimes, inciting violence that prompted the Saturnian civil war, assassinating the Saturnian Federal Council, and later selling their bodies to the collector Trazyn, oppressing and forcibly integrating the Uranian people, enacting the genocide of Zyrothius robots when they first rebelled, and many other things.

"The Saturnian people have been held hostage for 2 decades, no one thought it was ever going to be freed from her tyranny, we were surprised by the events that transpired in the first place." a political observer analyzed.

However, due to the removal of the monarch, the nation has entered into a constitutional crisis and any large-scale decision-making has been effectively paralyzed. The Saturnian Commonwealth has become a royal regency under an AI government. It is unknown how long this crisis will last or who will take power.

Anticipating the potential chaos, Hahoalki sends multiple teleological projections to FT-13, varying in size and nature from human-sized proxavs, to an 11.5 km torchship. The most capable of these serve as direct advisors to Denise and Mary, and remain within about a light minute of their respective locations. Others serve a similar role to more local officials. One appears to have been designed to serve as a personal tutor for the young (and publicly unknown) heiress to the throne, and it is made clear that normalizing relations with the Allied States will require allowing this particular proxav to fulfill its intended role. Permission is requested to place other members of the Royal Family under surveillance.

Hahoalki is not infallible. But e does not make the same mistake twice. Every scrap of data about every individual likely to play a role in the coming months and years is scrutinized and sent back to FT-36 for processing by eir larger mind. E trusts no one, not even those e likes. All is laid bare by the analysis of a Postsingular Intellect.

Mhybe

Arathion wrote:Tumbling through the rift at 60 times the speed of sound pulsating strongly like a supernova the Snowglobe made its way to whatever destination would wait for it, no one could know where it came from, but it was old. More ancient than the rift itself, with so many centillions of years behind it, so old that no man had ever set eyes on something as primordial as it, the great artefact of Ezion. A snowglobe carrying the legacy of Arudol within it.

Whatever creature laid hands on it would be pulled inside to a fantasy world of adventure. Whoever inspected it would have their perception of time twisted, anyone who attempted to break it would find themselves unable to even scratch or dent it.

And now it was time for this item, this magical snowglobe to enter the realm most suited to harbour it.

A door opens. One of many in a never-ending cycle of unpredictable realities. But this is not by any coincidence or chance, this time it's not the capricious nature of the rift the one that decides the destiny of the magical artefact, but something much more... interesting.

By the wishes of a strange being, the great artefact of Ezion find itself wandering between banks of stardust and convulsive energy. An endless view of eternity among the primordial broths of what once was and never will be. A repetitive image among many realities, except for a small detail, this one is marked by the lack of an emerging matter or future meaning. Without future or past, being barely tied to the present.

Those same celestial fields, full of blurred images, inaudible sounds, and nerve-racking sensations; slowly started to make sense around the artefact. The formation of atoms, molecules, and subsequently complex structures happened at amazing speeds, ignoring the mess of spatial elements that surrounded it. It was but an instant, before the artefact found itself in an endless nothingness, in which only the sound of itself shifting at boundless speeds caused.

That nothingness, as quickly as it was formed, turned into a pleasant garden. The nature of this change was much more complex than the first one, an atmosphere was now present, and the garden consisted of countless plants and flowers; The artefact, although still in motion, remained sustained in that space that was moving at the same speed and with the same course.

But all that wasn't nearly as interesting as the creature sitting on the newly created bench of the garden. What can only be described as a poor try from a one-armed ape at drawing a human from memory, was sitting placidly as if on a date with the Snowglobe.

"Welcome to... Well, I guess I didn't give it a name... yet." The creature spoke with great difficulty, perhaps due to its incorrect facial construction to produce sounds typical of a human.

The silence from the Snowglobe was nothing but to be expected.

"Not much of a talker, are we?" The creature held this form for an instant, before completely changing its physiognomy to that of a properly formed human. To some degree.

"Apologies! I seem to have forgotten the basics of this species. I learned from the last incident, to stop presenting myself as I truly look. Bad idea" A white robe appears out of thin air to cover its body. "Much better"

"You caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting visitors" Its cordial and calm tone is surprising compared to its previous voice. "Even less hold a reception"

While saying this, it raises its arms, as if it wanted to show its garden, but after an awkward silence, it returns to its normal position.

"You really don't speak now, do you?" The humanoid lets out a sigh. "You are the first to enter on your own! Well, if on your own it's to move between realities without a destination and then, suddenly been brought here without granting any kind of consent."

The creature pauses before understanding the obvious.

"Well, the no destination thing was more of a prediction of mine" Its face seems to stop being calm and changes into a more nervous one. "What if you were the cure for a deadly galactic disease that desolates a whole civilization, and your arrival was the only hope for salvation....? Well, it would be interesting... If I could watch it that is."

The creature seems to have become sad, more for not being able to observe the hypothetical situation it has just formulated, than for having held the artefact hostage.

"I'll tell you what, I'll let you go on your way and you'll forget this whole encounter. You don't seem like the fun type anyway, so how about we cut our losses and move on?" The creature smiles more than a human mouth allows, resulting in a ghoulish rather than friendly sight.

Again, the silence from the Snowglobe was nothing but to be expected.

"I'll take that as a non-verbal yes!" The humanoid extends its arm to shake hands with the Snowglobe. Whether having touched the artefact is a positive thing or not remains to be seen.

The Immortal Magocracy of Kaniros

The Saturnian System wrote:Anastasia Novikov removed from power

The Saturnian government has announced that the Empress, Anastasia Novikov, has been removed from power by the interdimensional authorities known as the I.D.C. The removal has been approved by the Saturnian Judicial Department, and the empress has been convicted of committing several crimes and is awaiting trial for her misconduct and egregious crimes.

The Saturnian government has released several historical records revealing all the Empress's crimes, inciting violence that prompted the Saturnian civil war, assassinating the Saturnian Federal Council, and later selling their bodies to the collector Trazyn, oppressing and forcibly integrating the Uranian people, enacting the genocide of Zyrothius robots when they first rebelled, and many other things.

"The Saturnian people have been held hostage for 2 decades, no one thought it was ever going to be freed from her tyranny, we were surprised by the events that transpired in the first place." a political observer analyzed.

However, due to the removal of the monarch, the nation has entered into a constitutional crisis and any large-scale decision-making has been effectively paralyzed. The Saturnian Commonwealth has become a royal regency under an AI government. It is unknown how long this crisis will last or who will take power.

Kaniros, still in the midst of civil war, gives no response to the legal proceedings of FT-13 as it does not yet concern them. As ordered by the Sorcerer King, just after the summit, the space station is to halt all communications or trade with the Saturnian government and the IDC, however they continue to monitor the situation.

While the three children of the Sorcerer King hears about the Saturnians, they have no relations with Anastasia Novikov and ignores it entirely.

The Dragoncrown Supremacy of Azucur

The Saturnian System wrote:Anastasia Novikov removed from power

The Saturnian government has announced that the Empress, Anastasia Novikov, has been removed from power by the interdimensional authorities known as the I.D.C. The removal has been approved by the Saturnian Judicial Department, and the empress has been convicted of committing several crimes and is awaiting trial for her misconduct and egregious crimes.

The Saturnian government has released several historical records revealing all the Empress's crimes, inciting violence that prompted the Saturnian civil war, assassinating the Saturnian Federal Council, and later selling their bodies to the collector Trazyn, oppressing and forcibly integrating the Uranian people, enacting the genocide of Zyrothius robots when they first rebelled, and many other things.

"The Saturnian people have been held hostage for 2 decades, no one thought it was ever going to be freed from her tyranny, we were surprised by the events that transpired in the first place." a political observer analyzed.

However, due to the removal of the monarch, the nation has entered into a constitutional crisis and any large-scale decision-making has been effectively paralyzed. The Saturnian Commonwealth has become a royal regency under an AI government. It is unknown how long this crisis will last or who will take power.

It takes a while for these new to reach the ears of the Azucurian government, but once the king catches wind of it, he calls Rimiris to his throne room to inform her of the Empress' incarceration. At that moment, Rimiris asks for permission to travel, which the king allows, although he tells her not to cause any trouble in FT-13 not knowing that Rimiris intends to travel by way of starship which requires her to first go to Kaniros, as Landowar remained safe under the council, she would not be exposed to the civil war while in Kaniros.

She wouldn't have much difficulty being allowed a shuttle by the council.

The Dark Empire of Nathrasil

The Saturnian System wrote:Anastasia Novikov removed from power

The Saturnian government has announced that the Empress, Anastasia Novikov, has been removed from power by the interdimensional authorities known as the I.D.C. The removal has been approved by the Saturnian Judicial Department, and the empress has been convicted of committing several crimes and is awaiting trial for her misconduct and egregious crimes.

The Saturnian government has released several historical records revealing all the Empress's crimes, inciting violence that prompted the Saturnian civil war, assassinating the Saturnian Federal Council, and later selling their bodies to the collector Trazyn, oppressing and forcibly integrating the Uranian people, enacting the genocide of Zyrothius robots when they first rebelled, and many other things.

"The Saturnian people have been held hostage for 2 decades, no one thought it was ever going to be freed from her tyranny, we were surprised by the events that transpired in the first place." a political observer analyzed.

However, due to the removal of the monarch, the nation has entered into a constitutional crisis and any large-scale decision-making has been effectively paralyzed. The Saturnian Commonwealth has become a royal regency under an AI government. It is unknown how long this crisis will last or who will take power.

Still rebuilding their civilization to the best of their abilities with a bit of help from Kaniros, Nathrasil gives no formal statement to the Saturnian situation, being far more interested in restoring their civilization and waking those members of their society still petrified on the many other planets of their empire.

It can be assumed that the council thinks the Saturnian Empress got what she deserves, as the Nathrasilians holds no love for the IDC after the actions of the Iron Warriors and Saturn, believing the entire alliance to be hostile.

The dying universe

The Saturnian System wrote:Anastasia Novikov removed from power

The Saturnian government has announced that the Empress, Anastasia Novikov, has been removed from power by the interdimensional authorities known as the I.D.C. The removal has been approved by the Saturnian Judicial Department, and the empress has been convicted of committing several crimes and is awaiting trial for her misconduct and egregious crimes.

The Saturnian government has released several historical records revealing all the Empress's crimes, inciting violence that prompted the Saturnian civil war, assassinating the Saturnian Federal Council, and later selling their bodies to the collector Trazyn, oppressing and forcibly integrating the Uranian people, enacting the genocide of Zyrothius robots when they first rebelled, and many other things.

"The Saturnian people have been held hostage for 2 decades, no one thought it was ever going to be freed from her tyranny, we were surprised by the events that transpired in the first place." a political observer analyzed.

However, due to the removal of the monarch, the nation has entered into a constitutional crisis and any large-scale decision-making has been effectively paralyzed. The Saturnian Commonwealth has become a royal regency under an AI government. It is unknown how long this crisis will last or who will take power.

Hahoalki

The Gods of Chaos

Northesta

Azucur

Kaniros

The dying universe

Cascadian Free State

Zyrothius

Nathrasil

TDU only wishes for a fair trial, but otherwise cares little about something as menial to them as this.

The Republic of Northesta

The Saturnian System wrote:Anastasia Novikov removed from power

The Saturnian government has announced that the Empress, Anastasia Novikov, has been removed from power by the interdimensional authorities known as the I.D.C. The removal has been approved by the Saturnian Judicial Department, and the empress has been convicted of committing several crimes and is awaiting trial for her misconduct and egregious crimes.

The Saturnian government has released several historical records revealing all the Empress's crimes, inciting violence that prompted the Saturnian civil war, assassinating the Saturnian Federal Council, and later selling their bodies to the collector Trazyn, oppressing and forcibly integrating the Uranian people, enacting the genocide of Zyrothius robots when they first rebelled, and many other things.

"The Saturnian people have been held hostage for 2 decades, no one thought it was ever going to be freed from her tyranny, we were surprised by the events that transpired in the first place." a political observer analyzed.

However, due to the removal of the monarch, the nation has entered into a constitutional crisis and any large-scale decision-making has been effectively paralyzed. The Saturnian Commonwealth has become a royal regency under an AI government. It is unknown how long this crisis will last or who will take power.

Northesta is too worried about internal affairs at the moment



The Holy Kingdom of Arathion

Mhybe wrote:A door opens. One of many in a never-ending cycle of unpredictable realities. But this is not by any coincidence or chance, this time it's not the capricious nature of the rift the one that decides the destiny of the magical artefact, but something much more... interesting.

By the wishes of a strange being, the great artefact of Ezion find itself wandering between banks of stardust and convulsive energy. An endless view of eternity among the primordial broths of what once was and never will be. A repetitive image among many realities, except for a small detail, this one is marked by the lack of an emerging matter or future meaning. Without future or past, being barely tied to the present.

Those same celestial fields, full of blurred images, inaudible sounds, and nerve-racking sensations; slowly started to make sense around the artefact. The formation of atoms, molecules, and subsequently complex structures happened at amazing speeds, ignoring the mess of spatial elements that surrounded it. It was but an instant, before the artefact found itself in an endless nothingness, in which only the sound of itself shifting at boundless speeds caused.

That nothingness, as quickly as it was formed, turned into a pleasant garden. The nature of this change was much more complex than the first one, an atmosphere was now present, and the garden consisted of countless plants and flowers; The artefact, although still in motion, remained sustained in that space that was moving at the same speed and with the same course.

But all that wasn't nearly as interesting as the creature sitting on the newly created bench of the garden. What can only be described as a poor try from a one-armed ape at drawing a human from memory, was sitting placidly as if on a date with the Snowglobe.

"Welcome to... Well, I guess I didn't give it a name... yet." The creature spoke with great difficulty, perhaps due to its incorrect facial construction to produce sounds typical of a human.

The silence from the Snowglobe was nothing but to be expected.

"Not much of a talker, are we?" The creature held this form for an instant, before completely changing its physiognomy to that of a properly formed human. To some degree.

"Apologies! I seem to have forgotten the basics of this species. I learned from the last incident, to stop presenting myself as I truly look. Bad idea" A white robe appears out of thin air to cover its body. "Much better"

"You caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting visitors" Its cordial and calm tone is surprising compared to its previous voice. "Even less hold a reception"

While saying this, it raises its arms, as if it wanted to show its garden, but after an awkward silence, it returns to its normal position.

"You really don't speak now, do you?" The humanoid lets out a sigh. "You are the first to enter on your own! Well, if on your own it's to move between realities without a destination and then, suddenly been brought here without granting any kind of consent."

The creature pauses before understanding the obvious.

"Well, the no destination thing was more of a prediction of mine" Its face seems to stop being calm and changes into a more nervous one. "What if you were the cure for a deadly galactic disease that desolates a whole civilization, and your arrival was the only hope for salvation....? Well, it would be interesting... If I could watch it that is."

The creature seems to have become sad, more for not being able to observe the hypothetical situation it has just formulated, than for having held the artefact hostage.

"I'll tell you what, I'll let you go on your way and you'll forget this whole encounter. You don't seem like the fun type anyway, so how about we cut our losses and move on?" The creature smiles more than a human mouth allows, resulting in a ghoulish rather than friendly sight.

Again, the silence from the Snowglobe was nothing but to be expected.

"I'll take that as a non-verbal yes!" The humanoid extends its arm to shake hands with the Snowglobe. Whether having touched the artefact is a positive thing or not remains to be seen.

As his hand touched the cold glass of the snowglobe, there was a new sensation as an unknown force suddenly grabbed hold of him and attempted to pull him into the world within the snowglobe, the world of Ezion. As he was still within the universe that he himself commanded, it would most likely possible for him to resist the pull if he tried, however should he not react in time he would fall to the ground in a new location.

Whether he resisted the pull or looked into the snowglobe it would be the same, a vast plane of grass with a large lake to the south, to the west and east were two thick forests, overgrown and probably home to exotic beasts not seen elsewhere and to the north, the village of Goldpass.

There didn't seem to be anyone nearby, the snowglobe had been unable to talk as it was an inanimate object, but the presence of a town would mean that someone or something would likely be there, villages and towns did not build themselves. But there was no telling what would be there, perhaps humans or perhaps elves, perhaps dwarves or perhaps a completely different species, for all he knew it could be a world consisting entirely of gnomes. Maybe he was about to be gnomed.



Hahoalki

The orkz

"So let me get this straight," Darien broadcasted into the half-formed Battlemeld. "Hyperion, the local Mind, has basically abandoned the locals, and let these monsters take over half of Skrag's Vindication?"

"If ya stay in this line of work long, you'll quickly realize that questioning the Minds doesn't get ya answers. It'll just make ya crazy. Could be an attempt to save face. Could be that these biological weapons were designed by somethin' bigger than pe can handle. From the briefin', seems Hyperion's always been trouble when it comes to sophont rights, so pe might just not care. Happens more than ya think, Minds bein' apathetic. The Chief's a bit of an odd one that way," replied his commanding officer, Yod-Resh-1824.

Yod was, apparently, a fourteen thousand year old veteran of the Grag Yiadai, with a trillion year lineage in per own proper time. From what Darien could piece together, that was significant. Plii Anakalai seemed to be designed to replace casualties quickly with no loss of skill, so it was reasonable to assume that they weren't exactly expected to live long.

The old saying, "beware the old man in a profession where most die young," took on a whole new light where Yod was concerned.

There were other members of the unit designated Armageddon Squad. Rog, of course. An amorph by the name of Splorb with a fondness for fusion weapons. Two Ultimates, Z-K-5759 ("Zed"), and Phi-Alpha-3882 ("Phi"). And a Serhask, claiming the title of "Liz'zard Argent Orzoci," who had been less thoroughly augmented, but - if the sim-training was to be believed - was capable of impossible feats.

Two things happened very suddenly. First, the starship carrying them turned off its Jenner Drive. This could not be felt. The only sign that something had changed was an alert from the ship broadcast across the 'meld. Second, Orzoci "spoke" into the 'meld for the first time.

"There is a disturbance here. Psionic in nature."

"Yer flavor, or somethin' else?"

"It draws on something more... volatile than the children of Chodroanath are willing to disturb."

The 'meld was filled with a chorus of confusion. Yod alone did not join in. So Orzoci explained.

"The soul-art my kind has developed is based on the higher powers of the mind, and draws power from the Unchanging World, and the Light of Reason that emanates from it. We allow it to order our souls, and it allows the gifted to wield a fragment of its power. But the mind has many facets, some more... corruptible than Reason and Knowledge. Emotion. Sensation. Ambition. Beliefs. Hopes. Dreams. Nightmares. These cast reflections in the Changing World, and such reflections have power. That is the sort of disturbance I sense."

"Can ya deal with this disturbance of yers?"

"Perhaps the most troublesome manifestations of it, but its source is too distributed. There is a gestalt in the Changing World, and the will of those producing it must be broken to restore tranquility."

"That'd make a good secondary objective, then," Yod said, as the ship itself reported that they were approaching the insertion zone. "Alright, ya builds of glitches! It's drop time! Give full permissions to the 'meld, get in the zone, and pucker up yer arse if ya got one! Yer gonna kill ya some extradimensional monsters!"

Darien followed Yod's orders. The small, bee-like orbs floating around them glowed briefly, and in a moment, he saw through the eyes of all his comrades - all except Orzoci, who needed to keep his perceptions out of the minds of the rest for safety reasons. Darien's sxraser was an extension of his own body. He could feel Rog feeling the same way about his hellbore. His armor was his skin, and could feel things that weren't touching him. The Squad floated into the drop chamber. The doors opened, and he was hurtling through the blasting wind. Descending on the largest concentration of materiel on the field - the Mega Gargant.

Orzoci's surface thought reached them. "Answer the call of your descendant, Davendeoss!" And Darien braced himself for the ensuing arcane/psychic shock, as decades of paracausal charge stored in the fang of some giant, ancient beast was released in an instant, and transformed into psionic energy.

----------

Arakoa was scared. She had watched her father torn to shreds as her mother ran with Arakoa on her shoulder, holding off green monsters. That was two weeks ago. The refugee camp was cramped and stank of Karigan waste. There was no help coming. There was nowhere else to go. Mother said that the army could hold off the tide of green. But Arakoa could hear the lie in her voice when she said it.

Now, there was a mountain of steel towering over the wall around the camp. The army had slowed it, but the mountain - an effigy of the great green monsters - was here. And Arakoa was scared. Mother held her, as much to reassure herself as to reassure Arakoa.

Then, something big came screaming from the sky. A cloud of specks fell from it, streaking towards the mountain. One of the specks flashed, and she heard a roar like nothing she had ever heard before. But she did not hear it with her ears.

And descending on the armored monster was a creature made of lightning, but with a shape she recognized from human fairy-stories: that of a dragon.

And then she saw some explosions on the mountain-monster, and the rest of the specks disappeared into one of the explosions. But the dragon landed on the wall, facing outwards, towards the green monsters. She couldn't see them, but she knew they were out there. Then there was a jet of crackling energy from the dragon's mouth, down over the wall, into things she couldn't see, and towers of debris flew into view.

"Mommy, look! The dragon is fighting the monsters!"

Arakoa's mother didn't answer. Arakoa's mother was still in shock.



The orkz

Hahoalki wrote:The orkz

"So let me get this straight," Darien broadcasted into the half-formed Battlemeld. "Hyperion, the local Mind, has basically abandoned the locals, and let these monsters take over half of Skrag's Vindication?"

"If ya stay in this line of work long, you'll quickly realize that questioning the Minds doesn't get ya answers. It'll just make ya crazy. Could be an attempt to save face. Could be that these biological weapons were designed by somethin' bigger than pe can handle. From the briefin', seems Hyperion's always been trouble when it comes to sophont rights, so pe might just not care. Happens more than ya think, Minds bein' apathetic. The Chief's a bit of an odd one that way," replied his commanding officer, Yod-Resh-1824.

Yod was, apparently, a fourteen thousand year old veteran of the Grag Yiadai, with a trillion year lineage in per own proper time. From what Darien could piece together, that was significant. Plii Anakalai seemed to be designed to replace casualties quickly with no loss of skill, so it was reasonable to assume that they weren't exactly expected to live long.

The old saying, "beware the old man in a profession where most die young," took on a whole new light where Yod was concerned.

There were other members of the unit designated Armageddon Squad. Rog, of course. An amorph by the name of Splorb with a fondness for fusion weapons. Two Ultimates, Z-K-5759 ("Zed"), and Phi-Alpha-3882 ("Phi"). And a Serhask, claiming the title of "Liz'zard Argent Orzoci," who had been less thoroughly augmented, but - if the sim-training was to be believed - was capable of impossible feats.

Two things happened very suddenly. First, the starship carrying them turned off its Jenner Drive. This could not be felt. The only sign that something had changed was an alert from the ship broadcast across the 'meld. Second, Orzoci "spoke" into the 'meld for the first time.

"There is a disturbance here. Psionic in nature."

"Yer flavor, or somethin' else?"

"It draws on something more... volatile than the children of Chodroanath are willing to disturb."

The 'meld was filled with a chorus of confusion. Yod alone did not join in. So Orzoci explained.

"The soul-art my kind has developed is based on the higher powers of the mind, and draws power from the Unchanging World, and the Light of Reason that emanates from it. We allow it to order our souls, and it allows the gifted to wield a fragment of its power. But the mind has many facets, some more... corruptible than Reason and Knowledge. Emotion. Sensation. Ambition. Beliefs. Hopes. Dreams. Nightmares. These cast reflections in the Changing World, and such reflections have power. That is the sort of disturbance I sense."

"Can ya deal with this disturbance of yers?"

"Perhaps the most troublesome manifestations of it, but its source is too distributed. There is a gestalt in the Changing World, and the will of those producing it must be broken to restore tranquility."

"That'd make a good secondary objective, then," Yod said, as the ship itself reported that they were approaching the insertion zone. "Alright, ya builds of glitches! It's drop time! Give full permissions to the 'meld, get in the zone, and pucker up yer arse if ya got one! Yer gonna kill ya some extradimensional monsters!"

Darien followed Yod's orders. The small, bee-like orbs floating around them glowed briefly, and in a moment, he saw through the eyes of all his comrades - all except Orzoci, who needed to keep his perceptions out of the minds of the rest for safety reasons. Darien's sxraser was an extension of his own body. He could feel Rog feeling the same way about his hellbore. His armor was his skin, and could feel things that weren't touching him. The Squad floated into the drop chamber. The doors opened, and he was hurtling through the blasting wind. Descending on the largest concentration of materiel on the field - the Mega Gargant.

Orzoci's surface thought reached them. "Answer the call of your descendant, Davendeoss!" And Darien braced himself for the ensuing arcane/psychic shock, as decades of paracausal charge stored in the fang of some giant, ancient beast was released in an instant, and transformed into psionic energy.

----------

Arakoa was scared. She had watched her father torn to shreds as her mother ran with Arakoa on her shoulder, holding off green monsters. That was two weeks ago. The refugee camp was cramped and stank of Karigan waste. There was no help coming. There was nowhere else to go. Mother said that the army could hold off the tide of green. But Arakoa could hear the lie in her voice when she said it.

Now, there was a mountain of steel towering over the wall around the camp. The army had slowed it, but the mountain - an effigy of the great green monsters - was here. And Arakoa was scared. Mother held her, as much to reassure herself as to reassure Arakoa.

Then, something big came screaming from the sky. A cloud of specks fell from it, streaking towards the mountain. One of the specks flashed, and she heard a roar like nothing she had ever heard before. But she did not hear it with her ears.

And descending on the armored monster was a creature made of lightning, but with a shape she recognized from human fairy-stories: that of a dragon.

And then she saw some explosions on the mountain-monster, and the rest of the specks disappeared into one of the explosions. But the dragon landed on the wall, facing outwards, towards the green monsters. She couldn't see them, but she knew they were out there. Then there was a jet of crackling energy from the dragon's mouth, down over the wall, into things she couldn't see, and towers of debris flew into view.

"Mommy, look! The dragon is fighting the monsters!"

Arakoa's mother didn't answer. Arakoa's mother was still in shock.

Big Cogz is none too happy with this new threat descending upon his Mega-Gargant. He had just kitted it out with all the newest and sleekest gubbinz, and now this ethereal, energy-breathing git wanted to ruin his fun.

Sitting in the control booth, Big Cogz angrily slams the controls with his Power Klaw, before diverting power to both the Gaze of Mork and the Kustom Force-Field.

"MY TURN, GIT."

He cranks one of the many levers, and the walker's Gaze of Mork crackles to life– the energy beam is jagged and large enough to dwarf most dwellings in the size of its width. It goes straight for the projection of the dragon as it fries countless Orks and their mechanical monstrosities.

Meanwhile, inside of the Mega-Gargant, the Armageddon Squad finds themselves within quite the area.

Think of everything that comes to mind when one hears the word "machinery." Turning cogs, conveyer belts, churning pistons, whirling fans. Mechanisms of every conceivable design and then some, cranking and pumping away in a space so vast that no floor, ceiling or walls could be seen in the distant darkness.

Now, imagine somebody threw all that away and hired a group of particularly ingenious scrappers and salvagers to remodel.

Fifty or sixty years of neglect later, you might have something close to the cavernous, cacophonous hell the Armageddon Squad had crashed into.

From the angered and fearful screams, it quickly becomes apparent they're being assaulted by thousands of shrieking Grots.

Warzone colorado

The orkz wrote:"YOWZA!" Big Pyro yells as he reels back from the phosphorous explosions, "DESE GITZ KNOW 'OW T' MAKE FINGS GO BURN!"

He clubs one of the soldiers over the head with his splash burna, before painfully reducing them to a half-fleshy half-metallic soup of charred bone with a wave of plasma from the weapon.

"WHAT'D DEY CALL DIS 'ERE STUFF? 'WILLY PETE'?" They cackle as they light up a burna bottle and lob it in the direction of enemy cover, "I GOTTA GET ME SUM!"

Meanwhile, Kaptin Gurgord continues to rampage forwards, shrugging off practically everything thrown his way. Even though he was unlucky enough to take a direct hit from a white phosphorous shell, the walker continues to surge forward-- seemingly only made angrier by the fact that it's currently on fire. Perhaps he has the machinations of the Ork gestalt to thank, perhaps his own innate resilience. Who can say?

Dudruz uses the flaming Deff Dread as a form of cover from the gunfire, occasionally peeking out and taking potshots with his Kustom Snipa-Shoota. The weapon's rate of fire combined with the aiming skills of its wielder make for a truly deadly combination.

"OI, BORK!" He yells, "GET YER SQUIGS RUNNIN' AMOK, WHY DON'T'CHA?"

"I FINKZ I WILL, BOSS!"

Ducking into Da Fixa-Uppa's shield for a moment, he throws back his cloak.

Upon his body are dozens of writhing, slavering Face-Eater Squigs. They gnash and hiss upon exposure to the light.

The Weirdboy gets a whistle carved from a hunk of human bone from his satchel, and blows into it while pointing at the largest cluster of defenders with a crooked, gnarled finger. The sound it makes is too high-pitched to be heard by the human or Orkoid ear, but the squigs definitely hear it. Upon the sound reaching their ears, they surge forwards with startling speed.

The snake-like creatures prove to be startlingly resistant to gunfire, and aim for the eyes and throats of those they get into close range with with their dagger-like teeth.

Meanwhile, while all this is happening, Nogdad is sneakin' about behind enemy lines, murdering gitz all sneaky-like with Da Gutcuttaz or his silenced shoota-- it helps tremendously that he's literally invisible.

In particular, his attention seems drawn to a certain furious gunner...

The continued pressure by the Orks was breaking the opposing soldiers, as they were continually burned alive, shot at, cut up, and now getting eaten alive. One such soldier, realizing his position and squad was about to be compromised by the incoming Squigs. He accepted his fate and used himself as bait for the incoming face-eaters, unpinning a couple of M67 hand grenades as they neared him and spread his arms out, letting them lurch at him. "HAIL WASHINGTON!" He shouted energetically, letting the grenades detonate in hopes of taking some of the Squigs with him.

This would set a precedent for the kinds of soldiers they were facing. While some still fled in fear, others were willing to lay down their lives and suffer brutal deaths if it meant their comrades could get into a better position to fight. By the same token, this did mean that the frontal checkpoint wasn't going to hold for much longer, as many of the soldiers were being dropped left and right.

Gurgord, even as he ran passed the White Phosphorus, still found himself under fire from further passed the checkpoint. A Technical with an M2 had positioned itself just outside the walls of the military outpost and was firing down at him. The individual riding shotgun poked his weapon out the window and began firing his assault rifle in the general direction of Gurgord.

The M2 Gunner was still on the turret, firing away every last shot still on the belt feeding his weapon. Even as White Phosphorus was spreading near him, he held his ground and continued shouting hate-filled, and perhaps racially charged insults towards the incoming Orks. "That all you got, puke-skins?! I'm gonna mount your ugly heads to my cabin wall!" He adjusted his fire, shooting towards the nearest Orks he saw. He hadn't noticed Nogdad's fixation on him - after all, he was invincible invisible.

The Stratocratic Republic of Cascadian Free State

The Saturnian System wrote:Anastasia Novikov removed from power

The Saturnian government has announced that the Empress, Anastasia Novikov, has been removed from power by the interdimensional authorities known as the I.D.C. The removal has been approved by the Saturnian Judicial Department, and the empress has been convicted of committing several crimes and is awaiting trial for her misconduct and egregious crimes.

The Saturnian government has released several historical records revealing all the Empress's crimes, inciting violence that prompted the Saturnian civil war, assassinating the Saturnian Federal Council, and later selling their bodies to the collector Trazyn, oppressing and forcibly integrating the Uranian people, enacting the genocide of Zyrothius robots when they first rebelled, and many other things.

"The Saturnian people have been held hostage for 2 decades, no one thought it was ever going to be freed from her tyranny, we were surprised by the events that transpired in the first place." a political observer analyzed.

However, due to the removal of the monarch, the nation has entered into a constitutional crisis and any large-scale decision-making has been effectively paralyzed. The Saturnian Commonwealth has become a royal regency under an AI government. It is unknown how long this crisis will last or who will take power.

The Free State of Cascadia was inevitably informed of the news. Despite their closed-door policies, they had more than a few methods of obtaining information; namely through areas such as FT-01 and their embassy with Northesta. Either way, there was a good chance they would obtain the needed information.

The announcement of the existence of the Rift was still fresh in the minds of the Cascadian people, and so the populace by in large didn't quite know how to feel about the situation, despite surveys stating that, with all the facts presented to them, they by-in-large supported the removal. Cascadian history with Saturn remained mildly negative, in that previous attempts to subjugate Cascadia through subversive treaties were proposed and promptly rejected, leaving a bad taste in the mouth of the nationalistic people of the Free State.

However, in the upper echelons of Cascadian society, the news was met with mixed responses, though generally positive. This wasn't to say the Empress was popular to the Cascadian Executive, Legislative or Judicial branches of governance - quite the opposite. The mixed responses ranged from general apathy to mildly positive. While a few saw it as the I.D.C bringing the Empress to justice, many patiently awaited the outcome. President Mac Alistair himself made a statement, citing that Cascadia's stance and policies will remain unchanged towards the I.D.C until the results of the trial were revealed, citing "only through excising the entire Saturnian government of the Empress and the cronies loyal to her will restore trust between the Free State and Saturn." He chose the words "Saturn" and not "I.D.C" carefully, as the Cascadian government has no interest in joining the I.D.C, knowing the kinds of nations generally accepted into it include ones generally chaotic and "demonic" in nature; that alone was a deal-breaker.

Mhybe

Arathion wrote:As his hand touched the cold glass of the snowglobe, there was a new sensation as an unknown force suddenly grabbed hold of him and attempted to pull him into the world within the snowglobe, the world of Ezion. As he was still within the universe that he himself commanded, it would most likely possible for him to resist the pull if he tried, however should he not react in time he would fall to the ground in a new location.

Whether he resisted the pull or looked into the snowglobe it would be the same, a vast plane of grass with a large lake to the south, to the west and east were two thick forests, overgrown and probably home to exotic beasts not seen elsewhere and to the north, the village of Goldpass.

There didn't seem to be anyone nearby, the snowglobe had been unable to talk as it was an inanimate object, but the presence of a town would mean that someone or something would likely be there, villages and towns did not build themselves. But there was no telling what would be there, perhaps humans or perhaps elves, perhaps dwarves or perhaps a completely different species, for all he knew it could be a world consisting entirely of gnomes. Maybe he was about to be gnomed.

In a matter of blinking, that manifestation was subtracted from its native reality and pushed towards the unknown world of Ezion. The resistance was null. What power, after all, does a simple and recently created manifestation have over a power as arcane and unknown as the Snowglobe? His arrival in that world was somewhat rough, not by the arrival itself, but by the immediate separation of the source from his projection.

The manifestation writhed on the ground, constantly changing his shape and cellular structure until he managed to get used to his new environment. The creature, still in his human appearance, got up confused and breathing sharply. He took a look around and fell into a sitting position. Only after having his fingers touch over the grass, did he utter his first words in that strange world.

"You... You didn't look like the fun type..." A smile spreads across his pale face. He stands up awkwardly.

He tries to get his bearings, raises his right hand with his index finger extended upwards, just below his gaze, and with dilated pupils moves it around as if surveying his surroundings.

"Now... Where should I..." Suddenly, the manifestation looks up at the sky, cutting off his own words. It does so for more than five minutes.

"...Go..."

In a movement as fast as it was unnatural for the normal human body, the manifestation began to walk towards the town. He didn't take more than five steps before stopping again. He looked at his hands, and on the tip of one of his fingers, he found a thistle. He carefully removed it, red blood oozed from the tiny wound.

"Look at you, so small and fragile - He turned his head towards the tiny drop of blood on his other hand - yet so capable of causing me inconvenience"

The manifestation put his finger to his mouth and sucked what little blood was left in the wound; Then proceeded to undo the thistle between his fingers. He stayed in that position for a moment, not moving. It seems that incident had taught him something.

"Perhaps a stealthier approach would be more sensible."

He took his tunic and began to fold and unfold it, each time making it bulkier as if he could with such a movement increase the material of the garment. He did so until it covered most of his body, he placed a hood over his head, and then and only then he continued to walk towards the town.

"No one wants the fun to end so quickly" Once again a smile was drawn on his face, certainly not the last.

The Holy Kingdom of Arathion

Mhybe wrote:In a matter of blinking, that manifestation was subtracted from its native reality and pushed towards the unknown world of Ezion. The resistance was null. What power, after all, does a simple and recently created manifestation have over a power as arcane and unknown as the Snowglobe? His arrival in that world was somewhat rough, not by the arrival itself, but by the immediate separation of the source from his projection.

The manifestation writhed on the ground, constantly changing his shape and cellular structure until he managed to get used to his new environment. The creature, still in his human appearance, got up confused and breathing sharply. He took a look around and fell into a sitting position. Only after having his fingers touch over the grass, did he utter his first words in that strange world.

"You... You didn't look like the fun type..." A smile spreads across his pale face. He stands up awkwardly.

He tries to get his bearings, raises his right hand with his index finger extended upwards, just below his gaze, and with dilated pupils moves it around as if surveying his surroundings.

"Now... Where should I..." Suddenly, the manifestation looks up at the sky, cutting off his own words. It does so for more than five minutes.

"...Go..."

In a movement as fast as it was unnatural for the normal human body, the manifestation began to walk towards the town. He didn't take more than five steps before stopping again. He looked at his hands, and on the tip of one of his fingers, he found a thistle. He carefully removed it, red blood oozed from the tiny wound.

"Look at you, so small and fragile - He turned his head towards the tiny drop of blood on his other hand - yet so capable of causing me inconvenience"

The manifestation put his finger to his mouth and sucked what little blood was left in the wound; Then proceeded to undo the thistle between his fingers. He stayed in that position for a moment, not moving. It seems that incident had taught him something.

"Perhaps a stealthier approach would be more sensible."

He took his tunic and began to fold and unfold it, each time making it bulkier as if he could with such a movement increase the material of the garment. He did so until it covered most of his body, he placed a hood over his head, and then and only then he continued to walk towards the town.

"No one wants the fun to end so quickly" Once again a smile was drawn on his face, certainly not the last.

It was just about noon, so the sun was still high in the sky, it seemed to rise in the east but judging from its trajectory it would never position itself directly over the world of Ezion, how there was a sun inside the snowglobe was unknown but so was a world of magic.

His peripheral vision revealed what lied past the woods in the west, he could see a mighty mountain range in the distance, which blocked everything beyond it. The same happened on the east, although the mountains seemed much further away, curiously he could see a lot farther than was normal on any planet, this world existed as a flat pane.

As he moved towards the village, some local fauna came into view, at the outskirts of the forest there was a majestic beast. Like a white stallion it stood watching him, a long helical horn protruded from its forehead, but it soon vanished back into the forest. There were many other small animals about the forest and grasslands, but they kept their distance.

The village was a very generic fantasy town by the looks of it. Old but large stone walls surrounded most of the city, with battlements and guard patrols armed with bows and crossbows. They had metal helmets placed firmly upon their heads, but to not impede their sight, the face was open, the archer’s armour seemed to be leather.

A gate stood before him guarded by two armed and armoured men, they wore metal plate armour like that seen in olden days two unicorns engraved on their armour to show their allegiance to the holy kingdom of Arathion. Their faces shrouded by their metal helmets, the armour took some inspiration from crusaders, they wielded both swords and shields, yet another pair of unicorns painted upon the shield.

There was no telling what awaited on the other side of the wall, but he could see a few spires over the large wall, possibly from a place of worship like a church or a temple. It didn’t look like this was the capital, but it was most likely quite well-off.



Hahoalki

The orkz wrote:Big Cogz is none too happy with this new threat descending upon his Mega-Gargant. He had just kitted it out with all the newest and sleekest gubbinz, and now this ethereal, energy-breathing git wanted to ruin his fun.

Sitting in the control booth, Big Cogz angrily slams the controls with his Power Klaw, before diverting power to both the Gaze of Mork and the Kustom Force-Field.

"MY TURN, GIT."

He cranks one of the many levers, and the walker's Gaze of Mork crackles to life– the energy beam is jagged and large enough to dwarf most dwellings in the size of its width. It goes straight for the projection of the dragon as it fries countless Orks and their mechanical monstrosities.

Meanwhile, inside of the Mega-Gargant, the Armageddon Squad finds themselves within quite the area.

Think of everything that comes to mind when one hears the word "machinery." Turning cogs, conveyer belts, churning pistons, whirling fans. Mechanisms of every conceivable design and then some, cranking and pumping away in a space so vast that no floor, ceiling or walls could be seen in the distant darkness.

Now, imagine somebody threw all that away and hired a group of particularly ingenious scrappers and salvagers to remodel.

Fifty or sixty years of neglect later, you might have something close to the cavernous, cacophonous hell the Armageddon Squad had crashed into.

From the angered and fearful screams, it quickly becomes apparent they're being assaulted by thousands of shrieking Grots.

An iridescent blue paracausal barrier flashed into being behind the dragon just in time. Davendeoss's spirit took the brunt of the blast for a moment, using up nearly half of the paracausal charge remaining to it. But with the refugee camp safe, the dragon launched itself into the midst of the Green Tide, leaving a trail of destruction with tooth and claw. If the Mega-Gargant wanted to continue trying to shoot it against that particular backstop, it was welcome to try.

The dragon moved like sinusoid chain lightning. The orkz, kanz, and 'nauts - or more accurately, their pieces - flew far and high in its wake. And, if Big Cogz was intent on shooting it, his attempts would cause horrific damage to his own army.

Meanwhile, inside the mountain of steel, Armageddon Squad got their bearings. The swarm of floating marbles (actually femtomatter drones with soliton forges, micro-Jenners, and Langston grids) expanded to fill the room, ignoring the grots. In a second, they pieced together the structure of the room, thickness of the walls, what was on the other side in each location, and what each element of the titanic mechanism was doing (though not, of course, how it did so - that was determined as much by the WAAAGH! as by physical structure) - as well as all the life signs and power sources within, and the strongest and nearest ones without.

This information was encoded into intuitive knowledge of a form useful to each member of the Squad. Darien knew exactly which portions of the room were structural, and would be able to line up his shots to avoid them. Which was important, as he was already taking fire.

Not that it was having an effect. He was surrounded by a halo of bullets... and one particularly enthusiastic grot, flailing at him with a crude knife of some kind, trapped in midair by the Langston Grid that served as Darien's personal shield. With an act of will, Darien sent the irate creature hurtling into the darkness below.

The Squad opened fire. Four were armed with sxraser weapons, firing pulses of soft x-rays that ripped through air, grot, and mechanism alike, looking and sounding for all the world like bolts of straight lightning.

Splorb's fusion weapon had similar penetrative power, but operated continuously, fed a steady stream of lithium deuteride, and unleashing a beam of high-energy neutrons, accompanied by a plume of twenty thousand degree plasma. The neutrons would melt, embrittle, and irradiate the target, while the jet of plasma would blast away its molten, broken, and/or sterilized remains.

Rog's hellbore didn't have the same penetrative power, but as each nearly-relativistic plasmoid impacted its target, the x-rays from the resulting explosion would scramble nearby electronics, while the shockwave would pulp organics in a similar radius.

They would fight their to the portion of the wall or ceiling with the highest concentration of life signs on the other side in this manner, leaving a trail of high energy carnage behind them. Once there, Splob would cut through, and they would fight their way to whatever passed for a cockpit in this damnable contraption.



The Stratocratic Republic of Cascadian Free State

Kaniros wrote:Chiazi thought for a moment "Oh, yes. I believe the Commander notified our brigade that the President of Cascadia was sending volunteers to Gaia Ulterior to aid our recruitment drive as well as training our soldiers." Chiazi responded, she didn't know much of Erika's plans as the supreme commander rarely met with the deputies directly, deputies got their orders from their commanders got their orders from the chief of staff who got their orders from the supreme commander.

"You may send them to the Grand Elysium, when the commander arrives, he'll know what to do." Chiazi said, while she tapped a few buttons to alert the army commander in charge of Gaia Ulterior, he wouldn't be on duty until 10:00 but in certain situations the deputy could call him to office early when necessary.

"Copy that, we'll have 'em down there E.T.A... Twenty-Thirty minutes, though make room for Murphy's Law. When the Third Brigade comes, we'll let 'em know. Yakima out." The radioman concluded.

With that, the ships stationed at Yakima packed up and departed for the Grand Elysium ten minutes later. When they landed, they immediately began organizing the two Brigades vaguely throughout the Grand Elysium. Many of the men presented were Special Forces or veterans who have served in Special Forces - specifically under Light Infantry outfits. Cascadian Airborne, Army Rangers, and most predominantly, the Citizen's Guard. Many of the Airborne and Rangers were older males, typically aged between 24-40 with moderate to hefty combat experience, whereas the Citizen's Guard were typically younger men typically aged between 20-30, with only a few having seen action from other Special Forces outfits or from Infantry and Combat Engineer companies. Virtually every individual who was presenting themselves here and now arrived voluntarily, having signed up for it and received waivers permitting them to transfer to the Revolutionary Army.

The soldiers sent were bearing their own symbolism, separate from usual Cascadian symbols, though several flag patches were still present. They often bore symbols of the Union, during the American Civil War; symbols depicting the face of Abraham Lincoln, two arms pulling their chains apart, a fist gripping a snapped chain - such symbols were utilized on their uniforms. Lincolnites Division, that was what they went by, following the historic tradition of the abolition of slavery under President Abraham Lincoln. They were under the command of Major General Fairburn, an experienced General whose proven to be unafraid of seeing combat himself alongside his men in places like Hawaii and Montana despite his position; a highly charismatic leader respected by his men, and a popular figure both to the Cascadian Army and to the National Unity Party of Cascadia.

Mhybe

Arathion wrote:It was just about noon, so the sun was still high in the sky, it seemed to rise in the east but judging from its trajectory it would never position itself directly over the world of Ezion, how there was a sun inside the snowglobe was unknown but so was a world of magic.

His peripheral vision revealed what lied past the woods in the west, he could see a mighty mountain range in the distance, which blocked everything beyond it. The same happened on the east, although the mountains seemed much further away, curiously he could see a lot farther than was normal on any planet, this world existed as a flat pane.

As he moved towards the village, some local fauna came into view, at the outskirts of the forest there was a majestic beast. Like a white stallion it stood watching him, a long helical horn protruded from its forehead, but it soon vanished back into the forest. There were many other small animals about the forest and grasslands, but they kept their distance.

The village was a very generic fantasy town by the looks of it. Old but large stone walls surrounded most of the city, with battlements and guard patrols armed with bows and crossbows. They had metal helmets placed firmly upon their heads, but to not impede their sight, the face was open, the archer’s armour seemed to be leather.

A gate stood before him guarded by two armed and armoured men, they wore metal plate armour like that seen in olden days two unicorns engraved on their armour to show their allegiance to the holy kingdom of Arathion. Their faces shrouded by their metal helmets, the armour took some inspiration from crusaders, they wielded both swords and shields, yet another pair of unicorns painted upon the shield.

There was no telling what awaited on the other side of the wall, but he could see a few spires over the large wall, possibly from a place of worship like a church or a temple. It didn’t look like this was the capital, but it was most likely quite well-off.

The manifestation was amazed by everything on which his gaze rested. The forests, the mountains, the fantastic beasts and above all the sky; all characteristics of a complete and complex world. Just what he was looking for.

His decision to go towards the town first was a more rational one than one driven by his true intentions. That world and its creatures were waiting to be explored and sensorialized, they did not judge or present any objection to his existence in that plane to which he so obviously did not belong. Beings endowed with higher intelligence, on the other hand, generally resisted the idea of extradimensional invaders beyond any logical justification he could give to avoid trouble. Intelligent beings always gave trouble.

Therefore, going to the town first was the easiest way to first understand the beings that could most likely present a threat to his pleasure trip in that world. It was more of a necessary stop than an enjoyment like most of his interactions with constructs from other realities. Perhaps his contempt for intelligent beings came from pride and the idea of superiority which is a well-known side effect of believing yourself to be the most intelligent thing in your field of understanding.

Even so, this did not prevent the manifestation from being distracted by any small detail that it managed to make out in what, for the manifestation at least, was its first reality different from that of its birth or better-called creation. In fact, it was strange that this lack of experience did not represent a substantial problem when it came to be in contact with other beings independent of the influence of the Overseer. Or at least it didn't yet.

The village seemed particularly interesting to him. Not because of its beauty, much less its exoticism in the eyes of a being who had seen many of its type, but precisely because of that peculiarity of being present in such varied realities and with so few differentiating details. He wondered if this was an anomaly in the fabric of reality itself, or just an effect of an older, more encompassing anomaly.

He cleared this thought from his mind upon reaching the gates of the town. The manifestation paid attention to the creatures that guarded the entrance to the town, he found them amusing, especially in their crude attempt to protect their frail bodies. Yet the symbolism behind their elaborate attire informed him of their part in some larger group; confirming the existence of some kind of authority in this world.

All this information was undoubtedly useful, what was not useful were the three minutes that the manifestation passed standing in front of the guards contemplating them without any kind of clarification or logic behind it. The compression of time in the space-time relationship was particularly difficult for him.

All this, accompanied by his, not at all suspicious clothing and his erratic attitude managed to make single-handedly useless all the previous strategies formulated by him just a few minutes before.

The Immortal Magocracy of Kaniros

Cascadian Free State wrote:"Copy that, we'll have 'em down there E.T.A... Twenty-Thirty minutes, though make room for Murphy's Law. When the Third Brigade comes, we'll let 'em know. Yakima out." The radioman concluded.

With that, the ships stationed at Yakima packed up and departed for the Grand Elysium ten minutes later. When they landed, they immediately began organizing the two Brigades vaguely throughout the Grand Elysium. Many of the men presented were Special Forces or veterans who have served in Special Forces - specifically under Light Infantry outfits. Cascadian Airborne, Army Rangers, and most predominantly, the Citizen's Guard. Many of the Airborne and Rangers were older males, typically aged between 24-40 with moderate to hefty combat experience, whereas the Citizen's Guard were typically younger men typically aged between 20-30, with only a few having seen action from other Special Forces outfits or from Infantry and Combat Engineer companies. Virtually every individual who was presenting themselves here and now arrived voluntarily, having signed up for it and received waivers permitting them to transfer to the Revolutionary Army.

The soldiers sent were bearing their own symbolism, separate from usual Cascadian symbols, though several flag patches were still present. They often bore symbols of the Union, during the American Civil War; symbols depicting the face of Abraham Lincoln, two arms pulling their chains apart, a fist gripping a snapped chain - such symbols were utilized on their uniforms. Lincolnites Division, that was what they went by, following the historic tradition of the abolition of slavery under President Abraham Lincoln. They were under the command of Major General Fairburn, an experienced General whose proven to be unafraid of seeing combat himself alongside his men in places like Hawaii and Montana despite his position; a highly charismatic leader respected by his men, and a popular figure both to the Cascadian Army and to the National Unity Party of Cascadia.

It hadn't taken long for the army commander to finally have made his appearance, he was at the Grand Elysium's dock he had arrived fully armed and armoured with only his elite soldiers with him, Chiazi was still at communications. He didn't expect any trouble from the people that the Supreme Commander had put her faith in, but he still wanted to make a good first impression, and was already present by the time the first few soldiers made their appearance.

The elites would direct the volunteers to the various training grounds, while the amphitheatre where Erika and Elijah met was one such place, the Revolutionary army had put most of the available land on the Elysian Plateau to good use, whether as training grounds or for lodgings, there were a few revolutionaries who had begun training on the planet's surface, although such exercises were put together to train them in survival.

The Army Commander of this division was a human male, as he was completely armoured it wasn't easy to tell at first, but the lack of armour compensating for a tail or animal traits made it clear he was neither shyde nor demihuman. Whatever files the Cascadians would have on this division would most likely at least have released his name: Siegfried Withers. In the case anyone used his first name, he preferred it shortened to only Sieg. He and his elites stood in a stance befitting of the most highly trained soldiers.

The Holy Kingdom of Arathion

Mhybe wrote:The manifestation was amazed by everything on which his gaze rested. The forests, the mountains, the fantastic beasts and above all the sky; all characteristics of a complete and complex world. Just what he was looking for.

His decision to go towards the town first was a more rational one than one driven by his true intentions. That world and its creatures were waiting to be explored and sensorialized, they did not judge or present any objection to his existence in that plane to which he so obviously did not belong. Beings endowed with higher intelligence, on the other hand, generally resisted the idea of extradimensional invaders beyond any logical justification he could give to avoid trouble. Intelligent beings always gave trouble.

Therefore, going to the town first was the easiest way to first understand the beings that could most likely present a threat to his pleasure trip in that world. It was more of a necessary stop than an enjoyment like most of his interactions with constructs from other realities. Perhaps his contempt for intelligent beings came from pride and the idea of superiority which is a well-known side effect of believing yourself to be the most intelligent thing in your field of understanding.

Even so, this did not prevent the manifestation from being distracted by any small detail that it managed to make out in what, for the manifestation at least, was its first reality different from that of its birth or better-called creation. In fact, it was strange that this lack of experience did not represent a substantial problem when it came to be in contact with other beings independent of the influence of the Overseer. Or at least it didn't yet.

The village seemed particularly interesting to him. Not because of its beauty, much less its exoticism in the eyes of a being who had seen many of its type, but precisely because of that peculiarity of being present in such varied realities and with so few differentiating details. He wondered if this was an anomaly in the fabric of reality itself, or just an effect of an older, more encompassing anomaly.

He cleared this thought from his mind upon reaching the gates of the town. The manifestation paid attention to the creatures that guarded the entrance to the town, he found them amusing, especially in their crude attempt to protect their frail bodies. Yet the symbolism behind their elaborate attire informed him of their part in some larger group; confirming the existence of some kind of authority in this world.

All this information was undoubtedly useful, what was not useful were the three minutes that the manifestation passed standing in front of the guards contemplating them without any kind of clarification or logic behind it. The compression of time in the space-time relationship was particularly difficult for him.

All this, accompanied by his, not at all suspicious clothing and his erratic attitude managed to make single-handedly useless all the previous strategies formulated by him just a few minutes before.

The gate was closed before him, and the two guards watched him although a few of the archers on the wall had also turned their gaze to him, no matter how convincing he thought his clothing made him it was quite rare to see a cloaked and hooded man coming from the lake towards the town.

Especially considering these guards had not opened that gate this day and any travellers would most likely come by the road through the gates on the eastern and western sides of the town.

He was at the south gate, a gate that had only been installed because the Lady of Goldpass Anaslenna Hartford enjoyed going to the lake in the evenings, a time that had not yet come this day, when he got closer one of the guards stepped forwards and raised a hand “Halt there, traveller.” he said.

“By order of the King of Arathion, we must ask all newcomers a series of questions before they are permitted entrance into Goldpass.” by the voice of this guard, he seemed young. A military man being young was to be expected of a realm stuck in medieval times, in such ages, living past the age of 45 was rare.

The guard asked his questions “First, who are you? Second, where do you hail from? Third, what are your intentions in the city of Goldpass?” he asked, the other guard had already brought forth a piece of paper and a quill. “Fourth, are you now, or have you ever been, a sorcerer?” The city’s attitude to sorcerers weren’t too easy to see, but if he wanted to enter the city he should probably watch what he said.



The Immortal Magocracy of Kaniros

Athreric had been following Canirdis movements for a while now, he had been able to stay out of his range despite his irregular route, Canirdis had a tendency to leave corpses burnt, charred or completely torn apart. Even Athreric could not use their body parts, that was until he entered one of the caves whose inhabitants Canirdis had killed a week earlier. Like everywhere else there were the remains of a murdered red dragon but not only that, for in the corner were a number of white shards from destroyed dragon eggs and one dead hatchling. As the hatchling had been practically newborn its hide was bright red with only thin shells covering its body, the hatchlings demise had most likely come as a result of the mother’s untimely demise. The hatchling had died of neglect as it could not handle itself.

But this was an opportunity for Athreric, the hatchling was in decent condition. He summoned a hunting knife to his hand and carved into the skull of the dead hatchling, its hide wasn’t very tough, and the knife carved through like the hide was hot butter. Athreric retrieved its eye and inspected it, like he assumed, dragon eyes resembled those of crocodiles with pinhole pupils. But the colour was different it resembled a coal of fire staring back at him, unblinking. He had preferred the eye of an adult dragon, or at least juvenile, but this would do. Placing the eye in his pocket he scried for Canirdis location and hastily made his way back to the stronghold.

Even with the eye of a mere hatchling, a dragons eye held untapped potential, if he could bring its power forth and harness it, Athreric would be unstoppable. Kyrenaz was watching him from a cliff “So he was after the Dragon’s eye, huh. Give him some time with alchemy and transmutation, and he’ll be at a level rarely seen among even shydes.” he said, then chuckled.

“No, you are already at that level Athreric, whether you, Illuli or Atirre, you’re all at a level that I never dreamed possible for us to rise to. Watching how the victor will rule Kaniros. I cannot wait to see it.” he stated before vanishing to check up on his other children.

The Immortal Magocracy of Kaniros

While Athreric had been scouring for the Dragon’s eye, Atirre had tried to find ways she could increase her power, her first idea was to break into the Tomb of Kings where the Philosopher’s stone would no doubt be resting. Opening the doors of the tomb wasn’t too difficult, the problem was to remove something from it. Every corpse and item was protected by a mystic shield that according to her father could not be breached by anything. The philosopher’s stone was no different, preserved in the antechamber behind an invisible wall.

Atirre kept researching possibilites to breach these walls but came up with nothing, she assumed a Resimesar could do it. But since the ages since their discovery one of the former kings or Kyrenaz himself would have taken measures against that.

Atirre had one last idea, there was a laboratory in the Iron Palace, her palace, that housed items from Kyrenaz’ youth, early experiments and trashed objects created from before he gained the philosopher’s stone and a very few from after. It was strictly forbidden for anyone but Kyrenaz to enter this room, but with Kyrenaz gone, no one had the authority to stop Atirre from entering. On Xaraco it was Atirre that held the highest authority, and she entered.

Within the laboratory, there were piles of broken and meaningless magical items. What she searched for were gems and weapons that held magical power, although most of these items would no doubt be prototypes of items that Kyrenaz had built. The final products he would most likely either keep with him, by now they would be in his coffin, or he had left them in Landowar.

Kyrenaz stood by the door watching Atirre, yet his form could not be seen, his presence not sensed, and his words silent. “If I were not following the rules of our gods, I would have grounded you for entering a room that you knew better than anyone was off-limits… But…” Kyrenaz sighed. “Without my creations, you don’t stand a chance against Athreric and his new toy.”

Atiree opened a dusty old chest, within, she found an ancient branch of some kind of tree, she looked at it before grabbing it. As she did, a surge of magical energy coursed through her body, so much so that it caused her pain. She dropped the branch as a reflex. “What? Is this a branch of a world tree? No, this, it can’t possibly be a branch of the Ithskjall, can it?” Atirre wondered.

Kyrenaz chuckled, “If only I had such a thing. No, that branch is from a completely normal ash tree, although I did enchant it to stockpile any magical power used on it, it then transfers all its power to the wielder. And then you’ll have to start over.” he said, even though he knew Atirre would not hear him.

Atirre carefully picked it up again, only to notice it was devoid of magic, it was now just a dead branch. She placed it back in the chest and closed it, she noticed something glinting in her peripheral vision, under a pile of rubble, moving the rubble away she grabbed it and held it up. It was a glass vial filled with some kind of red liquid.

Kyrenaz scratched his chin “So that’s where I placed it, what you got there is a vial of alchemical blood, the only one in existence, actually. The blood of shydes, auldrans and humans, bound together by my magic. The Almatzi would kill to get their hands on that, not worth much in a fight, unfortunately.”

by the time Kyrenaz had finished his explanation, Atirre had placed the vial on a desk and moved on to one of the other items in the room, this time it appeared to be a sword, it appeared very similar to the one Atirre already had, but it had an inscription, on the side, it was written in ancient draconic, but luckily for Atirre, Shydean and Draconic were very similar.

“Sygom’s bane. Blood-Red Sky.” she read, and cocked her head. “Sygom, the traitor king?” she asked bewildered, as she looked it over.

“A replica actually, the real Sygom’s bane is somewhere in those black waters at the bottom of the sea, probably next to whatever remains of Sygom. Maybe one day they’ll rediscover his body as a fossil, as well as the sword that killed him.” he looked at Atirre, “Now let’s see just how much you know of our past, Daughter.”

Atirre inspected every inch of the blade. “Sygom’s bane, the blade that drinks the blood of its victims and grows in power as it kills.” she said, there was little information about Sygom and the time when he was king of Xaraco. But Atirre was a learned young woman, she placed the sword on the desk, uncorked the vial and doused the blade in the alchemical blood.

She watched as the blade absorbed the blood and Atirre felt the sword growing in power, she grabbed it and the blade began to empower her. She placed the blade in her scabbard, switching it out for her original sword, even in the scabbard it continued to empower her.

Kyrenaz shook his head, “Blood-Red Sky. It drinks the blood of its victims, or any blood it is exposed to. Then it empowers itself and grants the wielder its gratitude in the form of raw power.” Kyrenaz said, “Well, a mighty blade versus the eye of a newborn dragon. I guess the blade will measure up to the eye eventually.”

Kyrenaz vanished, and went to see what his last child, Illuli was doing to counter the two others.



The orkz

Hahoalki wrote:An iridescent blue paracausal barrier flashed into being behind the dragon just in time. Davendeoss's spirit took the brunt of the blast for a moment, using up nearly half of the paracausal charge remaining to it. But with the refugee camp safe, the dragon launched itself into the midst of the Green Tide, leaving a trail of destruction with tooth and claw. If the Mega-Gargant wanted to continue trying to shoot it against that particular backstop, it was welcome to try.

The dragon moved like sinusoid chain lightning. The orkz, kanz, and 'nauts - or more accurately, their pieces - flew far and high in its wake. And, if Big Cogz was intent on shooting it, his attempts would cause horrific damage to his own army.

Meanwhile, inside the mountain of steel, Armageddon Squad got their bearings. The swarm of floating marbles (actually femtomatter drones with soliton forges, micro-Jenners, and Langston grids) expanded to fill the room, ignoring the grots. In a second, they pieced together the structure of the room, thickness of the walls, what was on the other side in each location, and what each element of the titanic mechanism was doing (though not, of course, how it did so - that was determined as much by the WAAAGH! as by physical structure) - as well as all the life signs and power sources within, and the strongest and nearest ones without.

This information was encoded into intuitive knowledge of a form useful to each member of the Squad. Darien knew exactly which portions of the room were structural, and would be able to line up his shots to avoid them. Which was important, as he was already taking fire.

Not that it was having an effect. He was surrounded by a halo of bullets... and one particularly enthusiastic grot, flailing at him with a crude knife of some kind, trapped in midair by the Langston Grid that served as Darien's personal shield. With an act of will, Darien sent the irate creature hurtling into the darkness below.

The Squad opened fire. Four were armed with sxraser weapons, firing pulses of soft x-rays that ripped through air, grot, and mechanism alike, looking and sounding for all the world like bolts of straight lightning.

Splorb's fusion weapon had similar penetrative power, but operated continuously, fed a steady stream of lithium deuteride, and unleashing a beam of high-energy neutrons, accompanied by a plume of twenty thousand degree plasma. The neutrons would melt, embrittle, and irradiate the target, while the jet of plasma would blast away its molten, broken, and/or sterilized remains.

Rog's hellbore didn't have the same penetrative power, but as each nearly-relativistic plasmoid impacted its target, the x-rays from the resulting explosion would scramble nearby electronics, while the shockwave would pulp organics in a similar radius.

They would fight their to the portion of the wall or ceiling with the highest concentration of life signs on the other side in this manner, leaving a trail of high energy carnage behind them. Once there, Splob would cut through, and they would fight their way to whatever passed for a cockpit in this damnable contraption.

More and more grots flood towards them, shrieking and flailing. Slowly, they start to be accompanied by heavier and heavier forces; first the occasional Killa Kan, then Deff Dreads, then Kill-Krushas rolling across the massive masses of meandering machinery.

Meanwhile, Big Cogz observes Splob's advance on his Gitfinda.

"WELL DEN, DIS IZ A BIT UV A PIK-UL. LET'Z PUT A STOP T' DAT GITZ FUN, EH?"

He slams his hand on a button, engaging layer after layer blast doors to slow Splob's advance.

After that, the Mekboss then activates the other weapons on the Mega-Gargant, firing the Skullkrusha Mega-Kannons at the psi-projection of the dragon while launching a volley of Krooz Missiles at the camp.

"'ERE'S A DILLEMA FER YA, GHOST-GIT! HA!"

Meanwhile, Flakka-Dakka Guns and Big Zzappas move in, trying to shoot down the projection with their kinetic and energy-based firepower.

Mhybe

Arathion wrote:The gate was closed before him, and the two guards watched him although a few of the archers on the wall had also turned their gaze to him, no matter how convincing he thought his clothing made him it was quite rare to see a cloaked and hooded man coming from the lake towards the town.

Especially considering these guards had not opened that gate this day and any travellers would most likely come by the road through the gates on the eastern and western sides of the town.

He was at the south gate, a gate that had only been installed because the Lady of Goldpass Anaslenna Hartford enjoyed going to the lake in the evenings, a time that had not yet come this day, when he got closer one of the guards stepped forwards and raised a hand “Halt there, traveller.” he said.

“By order of the King of Arathion, we must ask all newcomers a series of questions before they are permitted entrance into Goldpass.” by the voice of this guard, he seemed young. A military man being young was to be expected of a realm stuck in medieval times, in such ages, living past the age of 45 was rare.

The guard asked his questions “First, who are you? Second, where do you hail from? Third, what are your intentions in the city of Goldpass?” he asked, the other guard had already brought forth a piece of paper and a quill. “Fourth, are you now, or have you ever been, a sorcerer?” The city’s attitude to sorcerers weren’t too easy to see, but if he wanted to enter the city he should probably watch what he said.

"Arathion... Goldpass" The words mixed with the thoughts of the manifestation as he tried to engrave in his memory the names of the land he had been pushed into.

His arrest by the guards was unexpected for him, not to the point of concern but to the point of disappointment that his plan had not paid off. He partly knew that it was his fault for stopping to observe such small details, but on the other hand, what was his purpose there other than that? It would be unfair to judge his actions since he followed his goal to the letter. Technically of course.

He didn't like the guard's interrogation one bit, even after leaving behind the cliché with the last question, the line of questions seemed very repetitive and somewhat bland. He didn't think much before formulating his story. He didn't have to lie, after all, he just have to make sure his story fitted with the logic of this world.

"I am Mhybe, -He performed a small bow- and I am nothing more than a mere traveler who comes from distant lands to observe this beautiful country." The manifestation considered the implications of the possible answers to the last question. It was evident that the people had an extreme opinion before the sorcerers, otherwise, they would not ask the newcomers so suddenly. But there was no way of knowing if this opinion was positive or negative.

In the event that there was a resentment of some kind against the sorcerers, it could prevent his full observation of that world. On the other hand, the guards themselves weren't particularly something to be alarmed about but it would be foolish to make enemies for no reason; Not to mention that these, as he had already stipulated earlier, belonged to a kingdom whose capabilities to stop him were uncertain.

On the contrary, if the view on sorcerers was positive, this would mean new opportunities for experimentation that he couldn't even imagine. Of course, this considering that he was able to imitate the powers of such "sorcerers" if they had any to begin with. In short, it was impossible to guess what would be the most appropriate answer.

"A sorcerer? What is a sorcerer exactly?" The manifestation inquired with the more convincing face that his understanding of human features would allow.

The manifestation was no idiot, he knew that he had total control over his body in this world, and could easily fool the guards with a cheap trick. But what if these wizards weren't like in the other realities he had seen? He had to secure his play.

The Holy Kingdom of Arathion

Mhybe wrote:"Arathion... Goldpass" The words mixed with the thoughts of the manifestation as he tried to engrave in his memory the names of the land he had been pushed into.

His arrest by the guards was unexpected for him, not to the point of concern but to the point of disappointment that his plan had not paid off. He partly knew that it was his fault for stopping to observe such small details, but on the other hand, what was his purpose there other than that? It would be unfair to judge his actions since he followed his goal to the letter. Technically of course.

He didn't like the guard's interrogation one bit, even after leaving behind the cliché with the last question, the line of questions seemed very repetitive and somewhat bland. He didn't think much before formulating his story. He didn't have to lie, after all, he just have to make sure his story fitted with the logic of this world.

"I am Mhybe, -He performed a small bow- and I am nothing more than a mere traveler who comes from distant lands to observe this beautiful country." The manifestation considered the implications of the possible answers to the last question. It was evident that the people had an extreme opinion before the sorcerers, otherwise, they would not ask the newcomers so suddenly. But there was no way of knowing if this opinion was positive or negative.

In the event that there was a resentment of some kind against the sorcerers, it could prevent his full observation of that world. On the other hand, the guards themselves weren't particularly something to be alarmed about but it would be foolish to make enemies for no reason; Not to mention that these, as he had already stipulated earlier, belonged to a kingdom whose capabilities to stop him were uncertain.

On the contrary, if the view on sorcerers was positive, this would mean new opportunities for experimentation that he couldn't even imagine. Of course, this considering that he was able to imitate the powers of such "sorcerers" if they had any to begin with. In short, it was impossible to guess what would be the most appropriate answer.

"A sorcerer? What is a sorcerer exactly?" The manifestation inquired with the more convincing face that his understanding of human features would allow.

The manifestation was no idiot, he knew that he had total control over his body in this world, and could easily fool the guards with a cheap trick. But what if these wizards weren't like in the other realities he had seen? He had to secure his play.

The guard scratched his chin underneath the helmet as the other once scribbled down everything Mhybe said, the guard who had asked glanced at his comrade before turning back to Mhybe "Evil spellcasters, masters of dark magic. If you've never heard of them than it can be assumed you are not of their number." he said and walked back to the gate, he lifted an arm and shouted "Open the gate!"

The gate slowly opened outwards as a few men within pushed the gate's doors out finally revealing the town of Goldpass, there were more guards inside patrolling the town's streets, it was a bustling city with stalls lining every street selling whatever goods they had made or brought from other lands, horse-drawn carriages making their way from one end to the other, the houses were built so close to each other than nothing but a mouse would be able to fit between them and into the alleys beyond. The houses were quite colourful as the people that lived here had painted their houses in colours that fit their style rather than keeping their homes the stale white colour of the materials used in the structures with no regard for what colours their neighbours had used, sometimes making bizarre contrasts between the houses.

Closer to the middle of the city the spire he had seen from outside came into view, it was atop a tower, and within the top level of the tower was a large bell, it seemed to be, without a doubt, a church. A bit farther to the north, there were mansions and other large houses, likely the part of the town where the nobility lived.

Occasionally he'd see a few shady figures through the small spaces between the houses, one shady figure receiving coin purses from the richer members of society, likely from a less than legal activity how they got there was a bit harder to realize, but it was probably a door in one of these house that lead into the back alleys. To say that this town was a busy town would be an understatement, this was the market area where most people could find what they needed in their daily lives, some stalls sold meat from hunting in the nearby forests, others sold local spices and salts and yet others sold fruits, most often fresh.

There were a very few stalls that sold small trinkets, but they didn't seem to get a load of business, even if a few of these items were magical their power was miniscule, as this society mistrusted sorcerers it would be no surprise that magical objects would suffer the same distrust as them.

Hahoalki

The orkz wrote:More and more grots flood towards them, shrieking and flailing. Slowly, they start to be accompanied by heavier and heavier forces; first the occasional Killa Kan, then Deff Dreads, then Kill-Krushas rolling across the massive masses of meandering machinery.

Meanwhile, Big Cogz observes Splob's advance on his Gitfinda.

"WELL DEN, DIS IZ A BIT UV A PIK-UL. LET'Z PUT A STOP T' DAT GITZ FUN, EH?"

He slams his hand on a button, engaging layer after layer blast doors to slow Splob's advance.

After that, the Mekboss then activates the other weapons on the Mega-Gargant, firing the Skullkrusha Mega-Kannons at the psi-projection of the dragon while launching a volley of Krooz Missiles at the camp.

"'ERE'S A DILLEMA FER YA, GHOST-GIT! HA!"

Meanwhile, Flakka-Dakka Guns and Big Zzappas move in, trying to shoot down the projection with their kinetic and energy-based firepower.

Darien saw the first of the walkers approach after they breached what the tac-net had deduced was an arterial traffic line within the Mega-Gargant. He was the first to see, and the Squad saw through his eyes. He, Yod, Zed, Phi, and Rog activated the coaxial disruptors on their respective weapons. The Langston Effect was an incredible revolution in military technology, and was capable of far, far more than merely acting as a shield. By exchanging energy, momentum, and information at FTL rates, it could, in fact, produce nearly any physical effect - including the local neutralization of enemy shields.

There were limits to this, based on the power of the grid and its radius relative to the power and size of the target shield. But, if a grid were specifically designed for use as a weapon, it would produce effects disproportionate to its size, producing gaps in shields much larger than it was, and scrambling the quantum information of more "conventional" matter behind.

Add in an intense beam of ionizing radiation, or a barely sub-relativistic plasmoid, along the same axis and the effect was devastating. The sxraser weapons most of the squad was equipped with were capable of handling anything short of a Gorkanaut. Rog's hellbore would be capable of one-shotting Stompas through their shields, at least on the highest setting.

The downside was that it would now take multiple hits to fully disable a target - not because of the shield, but because the size of the targets now presenting themselves. A sxraser could deposit energy equivalent to a demolition charge in an Ork. Substantially more energy would be deposited in a Kan, Dread, or Tank, but not enough to make up for the increased size.

Darien knew all this instinctual, setting his sxraser to full auto, and hosing down the hallway, even as the swarm of orbs filled the air. He felt Zed follow suit, covering their entrance from the opposite direction. He felt the pressure in the room spike tremendously, as Rog started putting meter-wide craters in a tank approaching from Zed's end of the hallway.

Yod's plan coalesced, and Armageddon Squad understood. Yod and Darien would cover the advance, Zed and Phi would suppress enemies coming from behind, Rog would blast anything too big for a disruptor/sxraser to handle, Orzoci (whose strange dagger was now a sword of crackling psionic energy, matched by a shield in the Serhask's left claw) would remain on the lookout for metaphysical threats, and Splorb would prepare to cut through the blast doors. No orders needed to be given. Everyone understood what they needed to do, and why.

From the moment of breach to the formulation of the plan, less than a second had passed. Now, Armageddon Squad didn't so much charge down the hallway, as fly - micro-Jenners embedded in their bones (or, in the case of Splorb, per lack thereof) allowing them to move in seeming defiance of gravity.

Meanwhile, Davendeoss did indeed have a conundrum, but not the one Big Cogz thought. The spirit-dragon had begun the battle with about 57 Terran hours of activity to it. Tanking a shot from the Gaze of Mork and producing the barrier over the refugee camp had, between them, reduced that to about 30 hours. Providing enough juice to the barrier to prevent the refugee camp's destruction would cost an additional two hours - hundreds of times more efficient than trying to play the part of a living (?) barrier, but still a significant cost. The real problem, however, was the continuous fire from the Mega-Kannons. While psionically gifted enough to scan possible futures for danger, the inaccuracy of Orkish weapons meant that Davendeoss got no warning until the shells were actually in flight. Usually, this was sufficient. But with the Flakka-Dakkas and Big Zappas brought to bear, many of the places to which the spectral dragon could dodge were also filled with enemy fire. Continued activity at this scale would exhaust Davendeoss's paracausal charge within ten hours - which, from the looks of the army arrayed against him, wouldn't be nearly enough time.

Descendent, what have you gotten yourself into?

"A war, most honorable ancestor," came the telepathic response.

Davendeoss chuckled to himself, while dodging multiple Flakka-Dakka shells.

I can see that. We went about war a little differently, in my time. More tooth and claw, less... whatever the hell that mountain of steel is supposed to be. I don't expect I'll be able to deal with that much iron magically.

As Davendeoss dive-bombed the nearest anti-aircraft battery, hoping to bring Mega-Kannon shells behind him, he got a most concerning response from little Orzoci.

"Yeah, uh, my team and I are dealing with the Mega-Gargant, most honored ancestor."

What exactly do you mean by that, child?

"Ummm... I'm inside it. Helping break it. Don't concern yourself too much with my fate, most honored-"

The formalities are unnecessary. I trust you have fathered at least seven hatchlings? Davendeoss inquired, dodging and weaving around Flakk-bursts... for the most part.

"Yes. The seventh is a daughter. Zoreni."

Then I will look forward to working with her in the near future, and to seeing you in the afterlife.

The spectral dragon hurtled through the air, not five meters above the last of the Flakka-Dakka Gunz.

"I as well, though the future may not be so near as you think."

Davendeoss decided not to antagonize his descendent any further, and risked a glance back at the battery to survey the damage. He had felt several Mega-Kannon shells detonate nearby, but he didn't know whether they had been close enough.

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