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Post by MugiwaraBlair on Feb 28, 2016 6:49:06 GMT
RISING SUN DOWN
*Empire of Asia Outer Wall Perimeter*
A large dust cloud lifted up from the edge of the frontier, rapidly progressing forwards, one of the wall’s Shishi Wardens soon caught sight of it, putting his drink cup on a rampart border so he could put his helmet back on and signal the others through the integrated radio.
<inferred japanese> “This is Yokuto, all hands to posts, possible hostile incoming”
The approaching figure took notice of the raising level of alertness and accelerated, reaching the wall in a split second before jumping straight up to the ramparts. The pair of SWs this took by surprise soon regained their senses, only to realize they were already dead, a third one attempted to intervene;
<inferred japanese> “This is Hiroto, I have visual, i-
He was interrupted by a swift kick that sent his broken body hurtling off the wall and into the distance, crashing into the side of a building in the skyline. She didn’t pause to see it however, by the time he had settled into his final resting place she had jumped down and ran past the structure where he would be embedded a moment later. It is soon after the 1st obstacle of note showed itself, in the form of Shogun Tsunenaga, a tall, somewhat lean figure, encased in sleek black armor, wielding a similarly colored tachi.
<inferred japanese> “You have committed a grave mistake, whoever you are”
“As have you”, the cloaked figure replied
The Shogun stepped forward, closing the distance in the blink of an eye, sword swing already in progress. His target disappeared before his eyes and he barely had time to react to the fact before his wrist was grasped and her knee snapped his arm. He grunted from the pain and dropped his weapon but otherwise didn’t miss a beat and counterattacked with his other hand, which saw his other wrist gripped in a crushing vice and the power core of his armor teared from his chest. He threw a kick as a futile last ditch attempt, she ducked and cut off his standing leg above the knee before kicking him dead center and sending him into a nearby supply truck which folded around him, skidded sideways and rolled over several times, finishing it’s course by plowing through the base of a mid-sized structure.
Immediately after she took a quick step back to dodge small globs of projected plasma, using the momentum to spin sideways, ending the movement when the front of her right elbow smashed into midair. Crackling current sparked and the cloaking flickered as Masako flew backwards a small distance, but she quickly regained her balance and landed on her feet. Her helmet heavily damaged, including the two pairs of external ocular sensors, she was effectively blinded however, and so she needed to remove it. Upon taking it off though she couldn’t spot her opponent, the Shogun didn’t have time to turn around before the latter’s heel shattered 2 of her lower vertebrae and made made her faceplate into the road. Her assailant had gone off by the time she pried herself from the ground and rolled over on her back.
The next roadblock was a pair of foes this time, Shoguns Katahide and Ujisato, hulking piles of mechanized death crowned with unsettling single eyeballs instead of heads. For all their brawn and grit however they were positively sluggish in comparison to their peers, and thus they were as infants before the blinding speed of their last enemy, who left them in a heap of scrap parts consumed by chemical fire.
Wynter didn’t encounter any foe of note for the rest of the way to the Imperial Palace, in front of which stood the remaining three top lieutenants of Asia. Shogun Teru, a sadistically sultry figure adorned with a white gown decorated by a single large red spot. Shogun Yoshikage, heavily armored, red glowing grilled plate as a visage, he was, raw characteristics speaking, the physically mightiest individual in the empire barring the Emperor himself. Shogun Katsumoto, the top military commander and 2nd-in Command for Warlord Tenzin, he occupied the same respective office as she once did.
Yoshikage was nominally the first to attack but Teru was faster and reached their collective adversary before him. Wy-nter deflected Teru’s attack and dodged Yoshikage’s, then lightly kicked Katsumoto’s sword arm to counter his attack. Yoshikage slashed at her again, she jumped over him, deflecting attacks by the other two before landing again. She drew her twin ninjato, blocked attacks by both with each one, dodged Yoshikage again, kicked Katsumoto away and turned around to slice Teru diagonally in half along two different lines, one at the level of her collar bone and into her chest, the other from her upper abdomen to just above the opposite hip. She sprayed CIF3 at Yoshikage to keep him distracted and this time countered Katsumoto’s attack by lopping his arm off mid-swing. Using the cancellation she dashed through his swinging arc to reach his side, facing the same way as him and used her 2nd blade to cut him in half mid torso. By this time Yoshikage returned to renew his assault, even as he was engulfed in unquenchable chemical flames, sure to take his foe by surprise at the culmination of her last move. She intercepted his 2-handed overhead swing with her forearm, holding the juggernaut’s struggling strength at bay. She stabbed him through the abdomen, plunging her blade to the hilt, before kicking him off of it, giving the fires a way into his carapace. He could be heard grumbling erratically as the building he had been sent into crumbled on top of him.
As she was grasping the door’s handle-knob the entire front side of the Palace flew apart, splintered by a hundreds feet long creature of flesh and metal, with a gaping maw, rows of claws and a saw-toothed trident at the end of it’s whipping tail. She had jumped back immediately and was now standing atop a skyscraper across from the Palace, untouched by the outburst. The monster jumped through her vantage point, destroying the entire upper segment of the structure. During her freefall to the ground below she spotted and grabbed tension cables off the steel skeleton of the building. When the Kaiju turned around to press the assault she used them like an extra long whip to wrap them around it’s front legs, ran under it then vaulted over, ensuring that the cables firmly encircled the beast. Effectively having eyes all over it’s body, Delta didn’t lose track of her but still struggled to follow. It decided to rapidly dash sideways, hoping to drag her along. Unfortunately for the behemoth Wynter then used her power to run a sheath of energy across the cables at that exact moment and so it diced itself with the glowing razor wires.
<inferred japanese> “Wynter ? Is it ? An honour to meet such a mythic figure. You are much more powerful than I expected, I’m going to need new lieutenants”
“There’s no need to worry about your future, I’m here to take it away”
The God-Emperor of Asia chuckled lightly, or scoffed perhaps. With virtually no interval he was in her face, this adversary couldn’t be taken lightly, he was this world’s god of speed, the fastest of all Warlords, and by all accounts also the world’s best swordsman. But she had prepared for him, she made sure she was ready to put both claims into question.
She dodged his slash, launched one of her own, he unsheathed a second sword to block it, their respective 2nd slashes clashed.
<inferred japanese> “Quite fast, but not-
He was surprised mid sentence by her 3rd slash, which was a direct hit. The Warlord’s armor wasn’t penetrated, only a shallow slash mark was left on it, but the force of the blow pushed him back. They clashed swords for moment, to outside eyes a short instant of blinding sparks. Jumped back and sheathed blades, dashed past each other, a loud clashing of blades resonating when they met.
He would outmaneuver her, ‘I’m going to blindside you, Wynter’ he thought. But as he dashed around he saw that she was following him step for step. ‘Bakana!’
They resumed the rapid clashing as they zipped around, surroundings becoming collateral damage all around their path. The battle raged on for several hours without the slightest dip in intensity, both opponents had drawn their main weapon, the Warlord was surprised to realize that this Wynter was actually faster than him, though he still held the advantage in strength, she couldn’t block hits head on nor get caught in a blade lock. However he knew speed was a greater factor, he would have to draw his trump card and resort to his power.
He went for a blindside again, this time propelling himself with a gale of wind, and he did it, while using his power he regained his speed superiority, if only in terms of straight travel velocity. As soon as he outpaced her enough he planted a foot down and rotated, switching directions on a dime and getting behind his foe, ready to cut her down.
Wynter reacted quickly, without hesitation she reversed her katana and impaled herself upwards through the abdomen, activating her power as the blade made it’s way through, readying it for the time it would emerge and sink itself into Tenzin’s chest. The Warlord, even so deeply hurt didn’t stop his attack, although it’s effectiveness was compromised. She caught his swinging arm in a lock and before he could struggle it free turned on the stun pack of her weapon to overclock, emptying the entire reserve of her hardsuit and auxiliary systems to electrocute them both.
He roared and went somewhat limp, though still strong enough to stand, she pushed him off of her sword and pulled it out of herself. He stood back up and charged for another slash, this time she used her power to destroy his last blade, splitting it along the blade, he let it go just before it would have sliced his hand and without missing a beat immediately went on with his assault using martial arts. She pushed away the first blow, ducked the second, grabbed his shoulders and headbutted him, shattering both her gas mask and his Oni samurai mask, kneed him in the stomach to shove him back, drew her twin ninjato and, activating her power again, jammed both on either side of his upper chest as he dashed at her again, let go of them to use her katana and slashed him across the middle of his torso.
The God-Emperor finally fell to his knees. “Anata wa watashi wa ni anata o kasudarou ka ? Watashi wa meiyode shinitaidesu” <Will you lend me one of yours ? I want to die with honor>
“Teme wa ore no chimu ni sore o kyoka shimasendeshita” <You didn’t grant it to my squad> she replied as she pulled off the remains of her helmet
“Dominiku-chan !? Hah” *pause* “Karera wa anata ga unmei yobidasu naze ima watashi ga sansho shite kudasai” <Now I see why they call you doom> He took off his helmet and looked at the rising sun, the sky getting brighter as his vision dimmed.
*Reyes Forge CIC*
“Lord Marcus sir ! We have an urgent report !”
“Not now, I’m looking into sightings of this “Wynter” merc”
“This is related sir, we received report that Warlord Tenzin was killed in battle”
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Post by Knukails on Feb 28, 2016 23:36:38 GMT
Within a couple hours the Transport craft returned from Asia, its cargo within its hold. Marcus sat upon his throne in full Dragons Kin Armor flanked by his four most elite warriors; The Four Horsemen. Dra the Amazon, Joker, Black Rose & First Sargent Rodriguez stood in a triangle formation in full battle regalia with Vokun at its peak. Arianna & Sheila watched from an upper landing with each of the Horsemen's respective guards. Vokun was taking no risks, the chance of Wynter being an Assassin for the destroyers was too high. He no attempt to contact Duchess for an examination of Wynter, knowing she was watching somehow anyways. When he felt the Assassin near the throne room doors Marcus opened them & said; "Enter & come before me...Assassin".
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Post by Lady Ruliya on Mar 1, 2016 5:06:37 GMT
Having woke up and been unable to sleep after reading responses on Skype, my mind went into writing mode, and I had to get this down. Having come here and read the above, meh. I'm still going to post this.
**
An alarm registered in her periphery, like a small ping, noted in her subconsciousness. It took her a few moments to locate its source. Asia, Japan, the Imperial Palace. Now this was interesting.
"Sheila," She asked through her minds neural link to her network, "are you monitoring this?"
"Yes," came the reply in her mind, " Pinged at the same time here, Lord Marcus has been notified and he'll be awaiting you in the War Room once you arrive."
Duchess had already arrived at her transportation module, it had its uses being able to do everything mentally and on the move.
Not too much time had passed by the time she made it into the War Room, which was unusually empty aside two figures. Marcus, and Shiela.
"What's this I hear of an attack on Warlord Tenzin?" Marcus asked as soon as he spotted her.
Several monitors pinged on showing the area of the battle currently taking place. Infra-red, thermal, gamma-rays, all kinds detection software, including one screen that was black aside two glowing white dots, one fairly larger than the other.
"As you can see, we have a very talented individual taking on a Warlord." Duchess said motioning towards the screens.
Marcus studied them, "What's that last one show?"
"Light infusion," Duchess said walking over to the large round table in the middle of the room, where the three of them now stood, "As you can see, this person is quite well juiced."
"But from where?" Marcus asked.
"An interesting question," Duchess pondered, "I have a few theories."
Marcus eyed her a moment, knowing just what she was about to say, "Not this again."
Duchess didn't miss a beat, "I'll remind you, sir, that a body was never recovered."
"That's not proof that-"
Duchess cut him off pulling up a map of the Philippines, a small base out in the jungles, "Six months ago, a certain Captain, one Junpei Inafune, was killed, as was his entire base. From what my hyper-sonic aerial recon teams picked up, it was a total burn mission, no survivors, or nothing much of anything left really."
"Who's this Inafune guy exactly?" Marcus queried.
"No one in particular," Duchess responded, "He's just a Captain in Tenzin's army stationed in the Philippines, doing nothing of worth, until you realise he's had several skirmished with a commander in Reznov's army, one Nikolai Zhukov."
"Never heard of him either," Marcus snorted.
"You're not really supposed to," Duchess retorted.
"Then why do you know so much?" He laughed.
"Because information's my business remember?" She looked at him, "Helps you effectively run this empire of yours. Knowledge, as they say, is power."
"Okay, okay," he nodded, "so these two hated each other, so what?"
"So, Zhukov couldn't beat Inafune on the battlefield, that much was obvious," Duchess said walking around the table towards Marcus, "So who would you ask to do it for you? It wouldn't really be anyone from another Warlord faction now would it?"
Marcus shook his head.
"And as well armed as some of the African powers are, I'm not sure they'd have made such a clean job of it."
"You're saying it's some kind of super powered merc?"
"In a manner of speaking yes," Duchess confirmed, "One we know fairly well."
"Not this-"
"A woman going by the alias of Wynter has been contracted for several very large and deadly jobs over the past year or so," Duchess said.
"Wynter?" Marcus pondered the name, "Yes, I think I've heard that name before. She might have been contracted a few times by us."
"By you," Duchess corrected.
Marcus narrowed his eyes at her, but she'd already turned back to the table, it now showed a map of Madagascar.
"Approximately three months ago, a so called raid happened to one of the four Princes of Madagascar," Duchess explained, "as you know, for a none Warlord state, Madagascar is pretty damn well defended.
"So?"
"Look at the feeds, " Duchess said, as the map span around complexes in Southern Madagascar, "This was a fast, clinical strike. Not many aside the Prince himself were assassinated, and no one was any the wiser til the morning."
"That still doesn't prove that it's-"
"Look at these graphs," Duchess said pointing to a monitor besides the light infusion image, "See these spikes here, and here?"
"Yeah?" Marcus said getting closer to the monitor.
"They're power usages," Duchess said.
"You can track the use of our powers?" Marcus said almost surprised. Though he guessed there was probably nothing she wasn't able to track at this point.
"Our power and energy signatures are all very unique," Duchess said, "think of each of the as a different wavelength, something very distinguishable from each others. See how when this one spikes it hits a high waveband? That's Tenzin," she said pulling up charts ranging from a few years to a few days ago, "Identical to every other time he's used his powers."
"And these others?" he said pointing to the second line, Is...?"
"Well, we'll know soon enough," Duchess said returning to the table, a map of the quickly deteriorating Imperial Palace on it. Two unidentified people, from the satellite images, but wholly identifiable through the data, "Tenzin is weakening."
"How can you tell?" Marcus asked, seriously wondering how she knew.
"Tenzin's abilities may have made him faster than me," She smiled sourly, "but he never did have the stamina for long engagements. And you know who did."
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Post by MugiwaraBlair on Mar 28, 2016 1:20:31 GMT
Autopilot set for the Reyes Forge, she sat leaning against the inner hull of the cargo hold. Having put the half broken gas helmet back on to help her breathing as she healed, one hand over the gash on her upper abdomen. The bleeding had mostly stopped, amply enough that the cellular regeneration was now replenishing the loss. The material repair had been faster, armor plates were back to usable condition.
The trip was relatively short, only a few hours, by which time she had recovered to a minimally acceptable state, not that she expected the need for combat readiness. As she approached the gates they opened as if by themselves, a clear sign of her mentor’s presence. And indeed there he was, clad in his personal hardsuit and flanked with the RF division heads, the tentatively designated “Four Horsemen” likewise harbouring their full battle regalia.
She stepped into the Throne Room as the King’s vocal request echoed across it. Winter noted the lack of his usual prime advisor but was no less certain that she was as present in thought as she was physically absent. The popular grunt adage that you couldn’t breathe without sending data to the New Themyscira server farms wasn’t far from the truth.
The assassin stopped and stood several meters from the triangle formation. Warlord Vokun waited for her to stop before taking to speech again.
“You’re done operating in secret mercenary, state your identity and your point of origin”
She removed obstructing garment along with her verbal reply. Taking off the cloak “As you wish”, unclasping the helmet “I no longer need to remain covert..” , lifting it off her head and letting it hang from her grasp as she put her arms back down “..sir”
The reveal shook the room, but before anyone else could verbalize their reaction Marcus dryly and bluntly responded:
“Bullshit, you can’t be, she died years ago. Crushed under a building and bombed to hell, there was nothing left”
“Are you really sure dad ?” a voice argued from an upper landing. She couldn’t so easily deny that her older sister was back, and even objectively it wasn’t irrational, Duchess theorized it, and to her more convincingly, she still recalled what she was told half a decade ago by the last person she would expect it from.
***flashback***
“I can’t believe it…it can’t be”
<Yes it can’t, precisely> a voice told her, echoing from a growl as a shadowy figure emerged from the floor.
“What are you on about Slender ? This isn’t the time, you can slip everywhere, you searched, she’s gone”
<Yes, I can slither in every crevice. Yes I can’t feel her mind anymore. Not in my spirit, but in my core. I know she is not>
“You in denial ? Really ? I’d like to believe it too, she’s my big sister, but facts are facts, the place is destroyed, we can’t find her, it’s over”
<Your sister, that may be so. But you don’t know her like I know her. Lord Vokun assigned me to her back when he took her in, I have watch a devastated child become the person you met. I was there when she was Forged. Have you ever seen someone be Forged, or heard of it ?>
“..y,Yeah. Dad said it’s painful”
<His highness does tend to sugarcoat. There were 10 people then, everyone one of them cried out in agony, convulsed in pain, contorted with anguish. Most of them died, not from damage, from being too shocked by the pain. But not Doom. She didn’t say a word, hardly made a sound, frowned a little. This child I met is a monster, she will not die like this. Doom is alive. Doom is not dead>
***end flashback***
“Yes I’m sure. If I wasn’t sure I’d still be searching those debris. We looked, for weeks, she’s gone”
“When looking didn’t work you should have relied on your other senses sir”
“What did you say ? Where did you hear this assassin ?”
“From you sir, back in that moonlit snowy forest. Back then you said I was on my way to being your best soldier and you’d watch my back until then. I’ve been your best for some time now, you don’t need to worry about me”
“So you’re ready to watch mine ? This meeting is over, to my office. I’m sure you remember the way”
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Post by Lady Ruliya on Apr 19, 2016 22:14:27 GMT
Lesson's Part 2 - Changes
The pair walked into a grand chamber. A large oak desk took centre stage at the back centre of the room, intricately carved, behind it were two massive arch windows, each with more intricately carved oaken surroundings, the windows looked out onto the massive sprawling metropolis below. A long cushioned bench sat along the right wall as you walked in, draped in the finest silks, large bookshelves filled with old, possibly ancient books ran along the left wall and ornate rugs sat on the marble floor.
As Duchess walked behind the desk the armour she was wearing retracted into her skin, something that Arianna was still not used to. For a few seconds Duchess was completely naked, though Arianna could only see her from the back, and she knew Duchess didn’t need to transition to skin before reconstituting clothing from her nanites, it was just to embarrass her, and sho she had averted her eyes.
When Arianna looked back up Duchess was wearing a yellow floral dress, which surprised her, “What are you wearing?”
Duchess turned around and looked at Arianna, “You don’t like yellow?” she asked, and the colour shifted to a light sky blue.
“It wasn’t the colour so much,” Arianna said slowly, “It was theee…. Uummm… thee-” she was cut short as she stared in complete amazement at what was happening in front of her eyes.
Duchess had grown about five inches, her shoulder length red hair turned brown and fell to her waist, her face changed too, it became longer and sharper, her eyes stayed blue though. Her bust dropped from Double D’s, to B’s.
“Is something wrong?” Duchess asked, her voice sounded deeper.
Arianna pointed a finger at the new woman standing in front of her, “How did you… what, I mean… wha?”
Duchess chuckled, “Like the new me?” Arianna was tilting her head trying to figure out what just happened, “Don’t hurt yourself sweetie.
My Nanites are more than just tiny machines, they’re also biological organisms, or can be,” she explained, “I use them to quickly create stem cells my body then uses and creates new cells, and more metallic nanites can quickly extend the cybernetics, allowing me to really change my appearance in more ways than just my hair length and colour, and my eye colour.”
Arianna took a few seconds to ingest the information, “And your bust,” she said with a wry smile.
“Noticed that did ya?” Duchess said smiling back.
“Yeah,” Arianna said, giggling, “It drives my father mad.”
“That’s because he doesn’t know,” Duchess said picking up a watch off her desk, “No one does.”
Arianna looked stunned, “But you’re showing me?” she asked.
“I trust you,” Duchess said without missing a beat, throwing the watch to her.
Arianna looked at the watch and turned it over in her hands, before stopping and looking at Duchess, “wait,” she stared staring, with a confused look on her face, “If you can look however you want, why do you…”
“Stay five-foot four?” Duchess finished, “Tell me, do I normally look menacing to you?”
Arianna sheepishly looked away, choosing her words carefully, “Not... exactly.”
“Judge me by my size, do you?” Duchess giggled.
Arianna looked at her a little confused, so Duchess continued, “The battle is won before the fighting even starts, because they think me small, and weak,” Duchess then moved from behind the table, across the 5 meters to Arianna in the blink of an eye, “so they’re dead before the even realise it’s started.”
Arianna gasped, as she turned around, “whoa.”
Duchess smiled and then nodded her head towards the watch in her hand, “Put it on.”
“Oh,“, Arianna looked down, she’d almost forgotten she’d had it in her hand, “Okay,” she wrapped the red metal strap around her wrist, the silver dial on top.
“Now what?” she asked Duchess.
“There’s a mirror on the far wall,” Duchess motioned, “go see for yourself.”
Arianna walked closer to the mirror, and gasped as the walked in front of it to see her reflection, she swivelled on her heels to stare at Duchess, “What have you done to me?” she demanded!
“Nothing Arianna,” Duchess said, “That’s not a watch, it’s a hollow emitter, it’s projecting a holographic image over your body, making you appear differently, to look inconspicuous. Just as I now am.”
Arianna narrowed her eyes, “Why?”
“We’re taking a trip!” Duchess said gleefully.
“Where?” Arianna said, eyes still narrowed.
“Outside, into the capital.” Duchess said turning around and walking towards an exit door on the left hand side, beside the bookcases.
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Post by Knukails on May 21, 2016 3:34:59 GMT
Trials
Marcus walks grimly down the hallway with the mercenary in tow. Neither said a word as they made their way to Marcus’s office. “Pick it up Winter…your lagging”. He said without turning. The footsteps behind him increased in speed. As they approached the Office, large tungsten/steel doors silently slide open. Marcus rounds his desk & sits while Winter stands before it at the position of attention. A couple minutes later the Four Horsemen enter & stand behind the Mercenary. Marcus’s Four Horsemen are his strongest soldiers. Each the heads of their respective Units. Alexandra the Horseman of War, Commander of the Kails Brigade. Joker the Horseman of Pestilence, Commander of the Similie Special Forces. Drake the Horseman of Famine, Commander of the R.F. Army. Rose the Horseman of Death, CSM of the Wara Guard. “Lets cut to the chase Wynter”. Marcus started. “You understand your position correct”?
"You're accusing me of desertion. It's a fair assumption”. The Mercenary replied. "Fair is an…understatement”. Marcus shuffles some papers. "The name Wynter...I assume you rediscovered your heritage”? “I never forgot it Sir”. She replies. “The Wynters died in Canada”. Marcus nods solemnly. "Would the tribunal read the charges”? "One count of falsifying death". Says Rose. "One count of Desertion in the midst of an combat campaign". Says Dra. ”Several counts of aiding other Warlords". Says Joker. “& One count of Assassinating a Warlord”. Says Drake. Marcus leans forward. "Katherine Dominike Wynter, how do you plead"? Dominike clears her throat.
"Innocent of the 1st charge, I was declared KIA by the state prior to assuming a covert identity. Innocent of the 2nd charge, although covertly operating laterally to the state I maintained my mission objective. Guilty of the 3rd charge, with attenuating circumstances, I aided foreign parties solely against each other, I have caused no harm to the RF or it's allies. Guilty of the 4th charge, I engaged and terminated Warlord Tenzin”. She stated. “Sir…”. Rose began speaking. "Katherine Wynter was one of the most formidable soldiers in the world sir". "In the first count she is technically correct". Rodriguez popped in. "A technicality does not absolve her of not returning to duty within her station Wara". He said coldly. "The deserters objective seems to have included a mass of wealth and destabilizing carefully constructed lines among the warlords". Marcus looks back to the defendant. "Anything to say”?
"I wished to atone to myself for my failure before coming home, it was unprofessional and I apologize for any slights it may have caused, sir" Dominike says to her former Warlord, ignoring Drake. Who in turn presses her. “Apologies won’t bring back the soldiers that died because you abandoned your post. “Morale hit a breaking low for us & soared for the enemy when the news broke”. “Your Wara’s where hit especially hard, ask Rose”. Dominike shot him in ice cold glare. "I never stopped upholding the values of the RF and never harmed it or it's allies, don't question my devotion”. Drake scoffs. “You’ve been known to attack Warlord held convoys, bunkers, high level officials & thieving technology”. “As for upholding values…Joker, what is tenant one & nine of Vokun’s Codex”. Joker clenches his jaw. “ I serve Warlord Vokun. No other Warlord is higher & I will never surrender & i will never abandon my station”.
"You speak of the law, I speak of the values the state was built upon, the same values I have held unfailingly since I was child, and the values that drove me as I laid the foundations of the RF alongside Warlord Vokun himself. I spilt the blood with which the law was written, while you were a mangy grunt serving greed and lies. How dare you question my dedication?" Wynter stated in a low tone. Drake is unfazed. “I was fighting wars before you were wearing training bra’s. I fought in the same army Vokun fought in, hell, we deployed to the same place”. “Values are good & all, but in combat they’re easily broken or bent”. “Laws are laws, set in stone”. “A dedicated soldier comes back into the fold after an attack…they don’t tuck tail & ditch”. Rose tries to interject but Marcus cuts her off with a gesture.
Wynter’s voice carries a harsh tone. "You fought to serve corporate interests, I fought for the preservation of life on Earth. Laws were bent and broken in the old world and they continue to be. Values are only broken by the meek and cowardly. This is why I wrote values for the Waras rather than laws, they are the Dictum that I follow. I have not denied trespassing the law, I only defended the legitimacy of my deeds. This will be my final statement: I have declined to report my KIA status as inaccurate, this I did out of a refusal to burden others with my responsibility. I have engaged and killed 17 Imperial forces, notably including Shoguns Katahide, Ujisato and Katsumoto, as well as their God-Emperor Warlord Tenzin, in this I have mantled the 7th Precept of the Dictum. If anyone here is of a mind that I deserve death for my actions, I invite them to try”. Marcus leans back in his chair silently for a few minutes. “How does the tribunal decree”?
The horseman looked at each other, traded subtle expressions & stern gestures. Rose stepped forward. “Three for life, one for death sir”. Marcus nods & looks Wytner in the eye. “Well, the tribunal has given you life”. He stands. “Katherine Dominike Winter…i sentence you to Death”. Wynter & the Horsemen are struck with shocked expressions. “There’s a rule about killing Warlords”. “However…the strongest soldiers are to be warlords”. “In Tenzin’s territory, said rule had a literal connotation”. Marcus smiles. “There is a way for you to be executed & still have life”. “Drake will show you the way, but I’m sure you remember how to get there”.
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Post by MugiwaraBlair on Jul 3, 2016 5:30:51 GMT
The Final Test
*circa early-conquest* *aboard stealth VTOL*
“Warm-up over Dominike, we’re approaching the insertion zone”
The young trainee stopped the situps she was doing and stood at attention.
“Mission parameters sir ?”
“Target area is a US Army Black Site, objective is full depopulation, as your test complication this will be an OSP operation so off with that body armor and drop those 2 rifles, that pistol and those…however many knives you have”
“17 sir” she told her mentor as she began piling her gear on one of the personal benches.
“ETA 1 mike, I’ll switch to hover mode a tad off base where it’s a good vantage point, when the craft is set I’ll open the door and you can take 20 seconds to survey the layout before jumping”
“Understood sir, is there a time limit ?”
“Let’s see” he mulled as he pulled back his left sleeve “it’s 9:58 now, so let’s say, dusk. The last guy has to go down before the sun does”
Shortly after Marcus rotated the propulsors and the aircraft sat still among the clouds, his apprentice observed her quarry as she finished strapping a parachute on.
“There’s one last part to your briefing, this base is where the regiment who attacked Revelstoke is stationed”
The last second revelation gave her pause, during which he opened the opposite side door and made the craft do a barrel roll, sending her flying backwards out of the vehicle.After a few somersaults she regained balance and aimed herself towards one of the more densely forested spots near the black site, keeping a straight nosedive until she passed what she estimated must be around 100m in altitude, proceeding to flip over so her feet now pointed at the rapidly approaching ground and opened her parachute. It slowed her fall barely enough before catching the tip of a pine, though thankfully the tree top flexed somewhat, which slowed her down further. She unclipped the straps before the contraption left her hanging and landed on her feet on a large branch a few meters below, then moved to the trunk to climb down.
Keeping a low profile she soon reached the outskirts of the base, sneaked up behind a perimeter guard and snapped his neck. Thankfully the place being a black site meant the personnel stationed there carried covert equipment, she took his knife, his suppressed M4 carbine and a couple extra magazines. Next she entered the interconnected indoors area through a nearby door after making sure the 2 soldiers inside had their backs toward the entrance, stabbing one through both jugulars and breaking the other’s neck, quickly grabbing both by the back of their vests in order to slowly lower them and avoid making noise. The adjacent room was quarters, where the night shift personnel were still sleeping, it was a clean sweep as she simply slit their throats. Following one had been repurposed as a communications centre. She put her hand over the closest comms technician’s mouth and slit his throat, the noise of him slumping on his chair made the other 2 turn around. She swiftly pushed her knife in-and-out of the 2nd one’s neck then threw it into the remaining one’s trachea. While she was there she picked up one of their headsets and disabled off-site communication. The next several rooms were simply refinery related, not parts of the hidden military complex but nevertheless patrolled by soldiers. The combination of the rifle’s suppressor, knowing general positioning from radio chatter and her quick, surgical approach made the sweep clean and relatively quiet.
Her covert condition didn’t last much longer however, entering a crossroads of hallways one man grabbed and pulled her gun as another from the opposite side threw a front heel kick. She let go of the rifle, pushed the other man’s leg up, making him crash to the floor backwards, kneed the one who now held the rifle in the head as he was tripping up, which sent him into the nearby wall where his cranium fractured on the corner. She grabbed the gun back and shot the second man, who had got up by then. All the resulting noise put the rest of the base on alert. Those in the longing area and the cafeteria poured into the hallway almost immediately, she emptied the rest of the last magazine she had into one side of the reinforcements then threw it far into one of the empty hallways before drawing her knife. She ducked and did a sweeping cross-leg to the entire 1st row of the right hallway, threw her knife into the eye socket of a guard behind them, using the distraction to pull the pins on two of his grenades and kicked him back into the rest of the mob on his side, rolling away backwards and using the frontmost ones as cover from the shrapnel.
By the time she got up the group from the second hallway had surrounded her and a soldier on each side firmly held both of her arms. The rest approached from the front, intent on to taking advantage of the situation to enact payback. She kicked the 1st few in the middle of their faces, killing them nigh-instantly from hemorrhage in their airways. Then one managed to catch her leg on his shoulder, she put her other leg on his other shoulder and snapped his neck, simultaneously using the spinning momentum to make the ones holding her let go of their hold. She kicked one in the groin, making him fall unconscious almost immediately, and by her calculation never to wake again as internal bleeding would soon take him. The other one she punched in the front of his neck, collapsing his windpipe. The brawl went on for a few more minutes, dodging a punch, drawing the man’s knife, going around him to stab another from whom she also took their knife, throwing it into yet another. It finished when she grasped one’s windpipe, firmly digging her into his throat and slammed him into a wall near a foot from the floor, the last one grabbed her other arm, she spun and jumped on his shoulders, where she proceeded to hit him on the top of his head a few times, severely disorienting him. In fact he likely would have succumbed to the trauma eventually, had she not cut it short by drawing his knife from his chest and jamming it into his skull.
The black site now on high alert, she stocked up on grenades, extra mags, knives and retrieve the discarded M4 before heading outside to meet the reinforcements. She pulled the pins on as many tear gas grenades as she could hold, tackled open the outer doors and rolled into a prone position to avoid the mass fire aimed at center mass height as she threw them at the feet of the tightly grouped soldiers. She then rose back to her feet and calmly gunned down the choking and coughing men one by one, rifle-butting to the ground the odd few who managed to stubbornly stumble their way up to her with the same equanimity. When all of them played on the ground she slinged the rifle over her shoulder, unholstered the 1911, looked over the latest batch of victims and finished off the not quite dead ones. Once she was done confirming the kills she checked and replenished her current mags, then keyed in the comms as she was making her way to and down into the ground hatch that lead to the underground portion of the black site.
“Attention to underground personnel: all surface forces are dead, outside communications have been disabled”
At this point her first encounter with underground troops occurred, she outdrew the 1st two and aimed dodged the 3rd one before shooting him too, then resumed her announcement with the same poise.
“9 years ago you were tasked with subduing a psionic called Nathan Wynter, the engagement resulted in the deaths of him, his wife and his infant twins. Over those 9 years you have engaged and neutralized many other psionics, you have been in hard fights before, but this fight you’re in now is the fight of your life. After so many victories you have finally discovered a war you’re unable to win”
Her speech was interspersed with short interruptions filled with screams and gunfire.
***Command Center***
“Men, give me a target ID”
“Unknown sir, it’s a g-“ *bang*
“Oh shit ! *background trade of fire* dammit, it’s a, looks like a teenager sir, maybe 16 or 17. Carrying some of our gear, she has a bandage over one eye, sh-“ *bang*bang* “fuck!”
“Are you telling me you’re taking casualties from a teen girl with a blind spot ? Please try to do your jobs”
“-..” *bang*
***undisclosed hallway***
“You seem puzzled, allow me to enlighten you. Some of your commanders may remember that the infant twins had an older sibling, a young girl that they counted as a casualty. This was an erroneous report”
***Command Center***
“What the fuck ?!”
*chuckles* “Well I’ll be, heh. We brought death to her family and now she’s bringing death to us”
“I’m glad you find heavy casualties funny”
“Untwist your panties, I’ll take care of it” *keys comms as he grabs a gun and exits the CC* “Sup missy ? Mind if I join the party ?”
***hallways***
“Chatter as you wish, your annihilation is unavoidable”
She emptied a magazine down the hallway, downing several targets.
“Enjoy the scenery, it’s the last thing you’ll be looking at missy”
He met up with a squad of 12 and took command of them, guiding them a large open storage area, well furnished with cover and ambush points. She soon came across it in turn. Partway through the engagement she ran out of ammo and had to resort to surprise knife attacks to take out the rest of the squad.
“I’ll say missy, you should thank us for how your life turned out, this is your true vocation”
He was somewhat frightened momentarily by the closeness of the voice who responded.
“An unfortunate truth” *pulls on his rifle to tense the strap, cuts it and kicks him away*
“Ha! You fuckin’ ninja ! So you like knives huh, how about some close up fun missy ?”
*click*click*
“You cold bitch !” he said half laughing. “It’s print locked I’m afraid”
She threw the gun behind her and took a fighting stance. He threw one of his blades and ran immediately after it, she deflected it with hers, he got up to her and knocked it out of her hand, she blocked his next two swings and punched him in the face then profited from his recoil to break one of his knees with a swift side kick, he stumbled forward, she pushed his counter swings aside to open his guard, grabbed his shirt to pull him him, kneed him in the diaphragm so as to rupture it, then elbowed him in the temple, pushing him sideways into a storage case and he subsequently fell to the ground, out of air and brain damaged.
***Command Center***
“Fuck, colonel I think she got Alex !”
“This is nonsense ! What ability does this one have ?”
*comms* “None apparent sir ! Far as we can tell s-“ *bang*
“She’s just shooting us, no pow-aaaah!”
“She’s throwing knives !”
“Disengage ! Disengouahhhe*gurgles*
“Fall ba-*snikkt*thump*
“Open the safe room sir ! Open the *bang* “Aagh! OPEN THE R-“ *bang*bang*
“What should we do colonel ?”
“Seal the room ! Now ! Don’t let this thing get in”
“What about our men ?”
“You hear the comms as well as I do, they’re, they’re already dead”
*several minutes of gunfire, panicked screams, snikkts and thumps*
The colonel almost jumped on the intercom button. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU !? WHAT DO YOU WANT !?!” A C4 blast blew open the room. The assailing teen girl stepped through the wreckage, discarding the comms headset as she walked into the room. No longer carrying a rifle, now simply holding a pistol. The blast had killed one of the other 3 commanders and gravely wounded another, whom she casually snapped the neck of with one of her feet before taking care of the last one by throwing a knife into his throat. The colonel fell back from his chair and scurried further back until he hit a wall, his ears still ringing. He blabbered words he couldn’t hear, the only sound of his world the girl’s boots hitting the floor”
Her steps were as muted echoes. “My name is Dominike Wynter” *bang*
***A short while later, back on the surface***
*Putting on an earpiece pulled from her pocket*
“Area clear sir, mission completion time 1304 hours, ETA to HQ 1700 hours"
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Post by Lady Ruliya on Jul 18, 2016 23:26:52 GMT
Two miles below the Australian Wastes
“Please,” a girl's voice pleaded, “It hurts.”
“Just a little bit longer Cassandra,” Duchess said, watching a semi-transparent, holographic monitor that seemed to float in front of her face.
“I can’t… hooold….iiiit,” Cassandra said, her voice straining.
The energy spikes Duchess were monitoring on her screen flatlined. She took a silent moment, as Cassandra hunched over breathing heavily. Duchess deactivated the screen with a motion of her finger. She looked at the young girl, only nineteen years old, “You did well Cassandra, I’m very proud of you.”
Cassandra turned to look at her, saw the warm smile that was beaming at her, and even though she was in pain, she couldn’t help but smile back.
Before Duchess could walk over to Cassandra to help her up, a voice came over a tannoy system, “Warlord Duchess, you have an urgent call,” the voice paused for a moment before continuing, her voice now with a hint of disdain in it, “from him.”
Duchess looked apologetically at Cassandra, “I’m sorry, I have to take this. But please, get some rest,” she then turned around and spoke again, this time to the woman on the other end of the tannoy, “Lara, please see that Cassandra gets safely to her quarters, and is looked after. Today's test was very… stressing.”
“Confirmed,” was all that was given in reply.
Duchess then walked out of the testing room and down a long corridor before entering an elevator. As the doors closed, she pressed a finger to her forearm, and a new screen flashed up in front of her face, as it did, she was greeted with the face of a man she knew very well.
“King Marcus, it’s always a pl-” she began but was cut off.
“Cut the crap,” Marcus said, clearly annoyed, “Where the hell are you?”
“Indisposed I’m afraid,” Duchess said plainly.
He eyed her suspiciously, “doing what exactly?”
“Sir, please,” she said, her face a picture of calm, as was her voice, “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say.”
“The hell you aren’t!” his voice became raised, and he was visibly angry.
“My apologies,” Duchess said, “but am I not a Warlord? A head of my own state and subject to my own motives now, no longer needing to report everything to you?”
Marcus gritted his teeth, “You are.” he said slowly, “And no, you don’t. But…”
Duchess cut him off, “My Lord, is the point of this call to know my whereabouts, because if that is all you need, then...” she let her voice trail off.
Although the response inflamed him a little more, he visually seemed to calm down, “No, that was not the reason of my call. Though I have been attempting to get in touch with you for the past three days.”
“Again, my apologies,” Duchess said, “For these rare instances of unavailability. What is it you require of me?”
“I needed you to look after Arianna while I sorted out some business,” he said looking away.
“What sort of business?” Duchess asked on purpose, fully knowing what his answer would be.
“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say,” he said with a sly smirk believing himself to be witty, “At any rate, how long will you be unavailable for?”
“I would say a week,” Duchess said and then a large grin grew on her face, “but seeing as Arianna is in need of my services, I can be available again in about two days. I hope that serves your needs.”
“It will be acceptable,” he said, then ended the call.
The call ended, she pressed a holographic button on the wall to take her up to her destination.
Several hours passed and Duchess went to check up on Cassandra. She found her in her room, lying on her bed.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
Cassandra was on her back staring at the ceiling, an arm laid across her head, “burnt out.”
“I understand that,” Duchess said softly, “But you’re improving, and that’s good news.”
“Is it?” Cassandra said before sitting up on the bed, swinging her legs off the side and looking at Duchess, “When can I get out of here? It feels so cramped.”
Duchess frowned, she was about to say something apologetically, like every other time Cassandra has asked, but then she had an idea, “Actually, that’s one of the reasons I’ve come to see you.”
Cassandra’s face lit up, “Really?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes, as a matter of fact,” Duchess said smiling, “I have someone I’d like you to meet, who I think would enjoy meeting you too. You’re roughly the same age so I’m sure you’ll get along great!”
“Awesome!” Cassandra said jumping up off the bed, “When do we leave?” She looked around her sparse room. Though it had a bed, a table and chair with a computer set up, and a tv on the wall allowing her to access whatever entertainment she wished, the room didn’t have much else. Not even a window, with it being so far underground.
“In two days,” Duchess told her, “ after you’ve had some rest, and I’ve run a few tests to make sure you’re okay to travel.”
Cassandra’s face dropped and she looked visibly deflated and fell back onto her bed, “Oh, okay.”
“It’s only two days Cass, it’ll go quick I promise, and then you can finally see everything I’ve been working towards, everything I’ve been wanting to show you since I found you. And I hope after this, you’ll understand why I’ve done what I’ve done.”
Cassandra looked up, “I believe you Tara, I know you’ve always got my best interests at heart, I trust you.”
Duchess smiled at her, “Thanks, that means a lot, now get some rest. We have a lot to do,” she turned around and exited the room.
Cassandra laid back on her bed a wide smile on her face, she couldn’t wait.
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Post by MugiwaraBlair on Nov 5, 2016 6:17:23 GMT
A Rebellious Alliance
“Horsemen ? As in Pestilence, War, Famine and Death ?” Kovun pondered aloud, not hiding his partial disbelief.
“As in the last three at least, since I’m the Knight of Pestilence, or I was, maybe Grava replaced me I ‘unno”
“Ok so where are they ? Let’s get ‘em”. The young rebel said as he set his glass down with determination.
“Hold your horses boy (pun intended), one at a time. Plus y’know, they’re pretty spread out so not like we actually could rush this”
“Right ok, so who’s the strongest one ? Let’s start with him”
“Well see the thing is, it’s not a bad call but that might be problematic. See the OG Knight of Death was Warlord Doom, you might have heard of her (oh yeah it’s a her btw), but she’s uh, missing at the moment. Right after the Invasion, poof!, like a ghost or a ninja. Or a ninja-ghost”. He chuckled to himself for a short moment. *ahem* “Anyway I know what you’re thinking now, she was replaced right ? And we have a winner, yes she was. By the Black Rose, current Commander of the Wara Imperial Guard. So…yeah…”
“I thought you said we could get them ?”. Kovun spouted irritatedly
“I did, and we could. But let’s put that one on the back burner for a while cause right now your army’s a cloud of flies and the Waras are a band of Bug Zappers”
“Gee thanks” He relied in a tone barely above deadpan. “Let’s go with War then, War sounds good to have”
“We could go after her sure-
“Another ‘her’ ? Are you the only guy in there ?”
“No, it was 50/50, your gramps was all about equal opportunity. Anyway as I was saying, we could start by tracking down Dra but seeing as she’s not the cuddliest person I’d like to suggest that we get someone who won’t be prone (and able) to snap us like twigs first”
“Fine, what are you suggesting we do ? You could have lead with that instead of bringing up the Horsemen if we can’t actually get them”
“Point. I have an APC outside, follow me and I’ll explain on the way to my secret hangar”
The two men exited the small shot up building after making sure the surroundings were clear and made their way a short ways overs to a dusty dilapidated garage where Joker’s APC was stashed. The vehicle was painted black as a base but covered in decals of yellow grinning faces, playing cards, dice, bullets and assorted such paraphernalia. Kovun gave it a perplexed and amused look before following it’s owner inside and sealing the side hatch behind him. The decorated hunk of ballistic plating was soon skipping town and heading into the lifeless desert flats of Barrus.
“So where *are* we going Joker ?”
“To Absu”
“The ocean planet ? I thought there was nothing there”
“Everyone thinks there’s nothing there, that’s the point. It’s the HQ of the Rising Sun”
“Straight for one of the main kingdoms huh, ok yeah, I’m definitely on board with that”
“Thought you’d like the idea. And we’re here”
Joker got out of the APC and went about a dozen steps away to dig out a small box containing a control panel which he used to open up a gate in the dry soil and motioned Kovun to drive the vehicle in before re-hiding the control box and following after it. Once inside he hit another control to close the entrance and pointed his younger partner an area to park. Kovun got out and followed Joker through a door to a small armoury-slash-hangar area. The Rebellion Leader messaged his lieutenants to manage the troops while he was off to broker a possible alliance, meanwhile Joker boxed and loaded most of the hardware in the armoury onto what seemed to be a hybrid between a stealth vessel and a small cargo, more or less a space-APC. When both were done with their respective tasks they boarded the ship, which proceeded to spin around 180 degrees and go through bay doors and up a kilometres long tunnels before launching into orbit, where the Drive Core was activated and propelled them across the solar system. After a few silent minutes Kovun reignited the conversation:
“Anyone important I need to know about before we get there ?”
“They have few widely known leadership, the most famous ones are the Shoguns, you probably heard of them”
“The title yes, maybe a couple names but I don’t recall them very well”
“There’s Tsunenaga, he’s a bit theatrical but also loyal, by-the-book and non-nonsense. Sleek black armor and a long straight sword. Masako, she has 4 red eyes on her helmet, plasma casters in her palms. Got a sadistic streak, likes killing itself more than fighting, but she’s nice enough if you’re allies, and if your standards for niceness aren’t too high. Teru, the fully robotized one, she’s crazy so just, just don’t talk to her. Yoshikage, he looks like a mix of european knight and samurai, the tallest and biggest of them. Tough ass son of a bitch, doesn’t talk much, but he respects might so if he recognizes you as his better he’ll charge straight into hell and make a red carpet out of demon carcasses for you. Kagutsuchi, he’s a bit over dramatic sometimes but he can be funny too, makes fire puns here and there. He’s clad in black&orange, the orange parts, and his sword, can heat up to about 6k Kelvin. Hanzo, the guy’s an old school samurai, real into bushido and honor and such. He can seem a bit harass but he can be nice to even enemies so he’s not that bad. Last one is Shogun Goryo, he used to lead a guerrilla rebellion against “God Emperor” Tenzin back on the old world, you two should get along pretty swell. He’s a cyborg with glory purple bits, can’t miss him. There’s also Daitengu, the Commander of the Tengu, he’s pretty laid back and pretty firmly on the nice side (compared to most of the others anyway). Does. Not. Fuck. Around. against his foes though, dude’s a sashimi dispenser. Some people call hill “Bofu Ha”, the Blade Storm. I don’t think we’ll see them but there’s also the Harbingers, dark armoured samurais with glowing blue faces, never talk, none of the 4 has a proper name. But nobody’s seen them since the Invasion, leading theory is they left along with Warlord Doom.
As Joker finished his exposition a bright light flashed all over the cockpit window and quickly subsided.
“What the hell was that ?!” Kovun shouted in surprise
“I dunno that’s new, I think they intercepted us”; He pointed out the window. “Look we’re in orbit”
Kovun looked out into space where Joker was pointing. The Planet they were orbiting was over twice, maybe three times the size of Barrus, mostly covered in dense vapour-fog but the blue surface could be glimpse in some spots. “Woah, how did they do that ?”
“Beats me, I ain’t a scientist”. He lightly replied as he grabbed back the controls and directed them towards the surface.
As they reached a good above-sea height to travel across the planet the comms system turned on and switched to speakers. A somewhat chipper and asian-accented voice came through:
“Welcome to Planet Absu, Home of the Rising Sun, if you look to your left in 118 kilometres you will be able to see the Temple of Doom, a Majestic Monument to the Rising Sun’s most favoured Ruler ! It is also the home of one of our illustrious Shoguns, Teru-dono ! Visitors are advised to keep away from the premises !”
Following which the speakers and comms system shut itself down.
“Who was that ?”
“That, would be Bai Min. She’s the Rising Sun’s tech-wizard, probably also the one who warped us here, or built the system that did as the case may be. She’s kind of a weirdo but when it comes to gadgets, weapons, gear of any kind, you want her on your side. And invisible space teleporters too apparently”
They soon arrived to a large black metal platform in the middle of nowhere. As the ship landed on it forcefields erected themselves on the contours to stop the waves while the structure slid open and closed back above the descending vessel. The vertical tunnel went down for miles and miles, all the way the hot-ice sea floor, where also layed a massive fortified city that seemed to stretch beyond the “horizon” on all sides. After they had got out of the ship and exited the transit terminal they were greeted by a dark clad man with a kasa and 2 horizontal red slits for eyes.
Joker quipped: “Pop-Quiz boy, who’s that one ?”
“I don’t know, he doesn’t look like any of the ones you described”
“Yo, ore-wa Daitengu, tzuzukim-Ah, gome. Apologies, you don’t know japanese. Follow me, I will lead you to Warlord Beresu-sama, bere, ber-. How do do you pronounce ? Ve-les. Warlord Veles. Forgive me, foreign blades are easier to wield than foreign words.
“Trick question, he was the only one I didn’t describe” Joker whispered. Kovun merely grumbled.
They were lead to another transport. “The Rising Sun is settled over the entire core of the planet, the platform to come down here and the Warlord’s Castle are on opposing poles, so we are going halfway around. But this is very fast so it won’t take long”
And indeed, only a couple minutes after their escort finished his explanation the transport capsule slowed and stopped before a massive structure that rose several times higher than the other buildings. “This is Castle Chernobog, you can continue on your own, I will return to my Division”. With that Daitengu went back to the capsule and departed. Kovun looked up above the tall doors and saw an inscription: отказаться от всякую надежду всяк сюда
“The hell does that mean ?” he asked pointing at it.
Joker looked up in turn. It reads, if I’m not too rusty: ‘otkazat’sya, ot, vsyakuyu, nadezhdu, vsyak, syuda’, or roughly: ‘Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here’. Cheery. And I bet that other gibberish all over the door is the rest of the poem. This ‘Veles’ fellow must be such a charmer”
“Seriously ?”
“Yeah, shit you not, I swear on my Smiley mask”
They made their way in and followed the path indicated by sconces that lit themselves at their approach, which lead them to a large elevator about the size of a standard room. After they entered it quickly shot up, then moved sideways, then forwards, and so on, and finally came down again. The door opened up on a gigantic room filled with weapons, armor, other various gear and computers, along with sculptures, paintings and what they guessed were battle trophies, such as God Emperor Tenzin’s Warlord armor along with his broken blades. A somber classical tone played subtly in the background. From the far end of the room, a strong, somewhat low-toned voice resonated:
“Bayu, bayushki bayu Ne lozhisya na krayu Bayu, bayushki bayu Volki voyut na lunu Bayu, bayushki bayu Bayu, bayushki bay-bay Poskoreyes zasypay”
As they approached to see who it was from, the song ended before they reach the other end. A tall figure rose from the massive throne that sat in the center of the back wall. Wearing a gold-rimmed black officer uniform under a fur-lined longcoat of the same colours, adorned with decorations similar to Warlords such a winged skulls and the like. She was about a head-and-1/2 taller than either of them.
Joker opened first. “At attention boy, you stand in the presence of a god”. He shushed to his travelling companion. *Hm* “Warlord Veles I presume ?”
“Da, tovarishch”
“Great, I’m sure that won’t impede negotiations” Kovun uttered flatly. Though still stood firm as Joker instructed.
“Talks will go well, I speak english. You relax, too stiff, I not eat you ditya”
*to himself* (oh thank gods). “As you probably know your highness(?), I am Joker, Commander of the Smilies Special Forces Division, and this is Kovun Reyes, Son of Empress Arianna ‘Grava’ Reyes and Grandson of the late Marcus Reyes, aka, Warlord Vokun, and Leader of the Rebellion. I recently allied myself (and de facto my division) with his forces and we would like to discuss a similar alliance with your majesty”
“Arianna Reyes is little sister of my master”. The two look worried. “But Empress Grava is non longer Arianna Reyes. And Rising Sun always believe you don’t lose self and you die with dignity. Is written in book” She pans back her longcoat to reveal a massive doorstopper chained to her hip. “So Rising Sun will help”. The two sigh in relief.
“Now need to make it official. Computer Perun, open new Official Alliance File, sign Kovun Reyes, Rebellion. Joker, Smilies. Kira Tymurovna Dragomirov, Rising Sun. Copy and send to everyone on planet”
“Well you sure don’t fuck around”
“Master Doom serious, so she teach serious”
“Ya that’d do it. Does sound like Ol’Granite Slab”
“Not worry, I make joke sometimes”. She leaned down towards Joker’s ear. “Like pretending to have this silly speech pattern. You no tell the boy da ?”
Joker silently chuckled to himself and vowed to keep the secret.
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Post by Lady Ruliya on Nov 12, 2016 3:00:09 GMT
Frontier WildernessBarrus was a barren, hostile, Class H world. The deserts that spread across the entire face of the world gave the planet an orangey/brown look from orbit. The arid landscape gave off no clouds, something that was always prominent on other more populated worlds. Cassandra’s hands glided over her vessels control console, pitching the bow down at an acute angle of roughly forty degrees, impulse engines shutting down, and the ships RCS (Reaction Control Systems) took over, for planetary flight. The shields took the impact of reentry silently, as they were made to do.
She deftly piloted the ship down to the main spaceport on Barrus, in the capital of Jericho. To say it was a sprawling metropolis like other planets would be a lie to the highest order. It was a large smattering of buildings, clumped together in a desperation build, high and narrow, to ensure the highest amount of settlers, in relation to ability to carry. She landed in the open lot #9, of 20 ports that could be available.
Cassandra wondered why the hell anyone would want to live here, but she didn’t care enough to know. She’d heard a target of ‘high’ value was wanted on this world, and so she had come. Jem’Kwa was head of the Knights of the Sand. A marginally sized group operating outside of the small town of Browsakin. The town sat just on the outskirts of the area known as the Dreadlands.
The truth was she wasn’t really here for this small fry, but for a much larger target. But she used her Mercenary card to enter the planets territories on the premise of hunting this wanted target, and hunting him and killing him was exactly what she intended to do, she didn’t care much for the reward. Her rewards was being granted access to the wastes outside Jericho and its massive walled barriers.
Cassandra walked out the sparse spaceport, one of the smallest and least guarded she’d ever seen. Once she hit the streets she knew why, there was almost no one of them. She moved quickly along the quiet streets. She tapped a sequence on a holographic console that appeared above her left forearm and a hoverbike materialised in front of her. She jumped on it and rode off.
It didn’t take her too long to reach the Browsakin, and even less time to find the Knights of the Sand’s base. The sad part is, it took her even less time to slaughter the bandits and Jem’Kwa. All she used were her dual Kelvin-970 custom Hard Pistols. Technical handcannons that can put a hole in a man’s chest with a single bullet, and she put them all between their eyes.
After clearing the cesspool she hopped back on her hoverbike and took several days to search the entire area that encapsulated the Dreadlands. And in that time she found no evidence he was still here. But a variety of second hand sources that he had been here.
She cursed her luck upon missing him. Her search continued.
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Post by Lady Ruliya on Nov 21, 2016 3:47:41 GMT
Catching up with the quarry Cass strode up the incline, snow crunching under her black, thigh high armoured military boots. The freezing wind biting at her as it howled around her, threatening to freeze her blood and make ice of her bones. What the wind didn't know was this was no ordinary woman. She barely even felt the cold, wrapped in an open full length hardened leather trench coat, rugged black jeans and a heavy crimson shirt. It had taken her two months since her trip to Barrus to track her quarry here. The Pit is what they called it, a den of thieves and lowlives buried in the frozen wastes of Kazdahn.
This time she'd opted to leave her ship cloaked in orbit, and transported down to the planet a mile from the place to avoid alerting anyone. She crested the ridge ad fresh snow began to fall. The entrance looked like a military Base, massive metal doors, surrounded by heavy concrete. Lights shone off the top and armed guards walked the perimeter. They certainly didn't take any precautions. She wasn't sure how long it would hold against an actual assault from one of the warlords, but it made them safe against raiders and other moronic factions who thought they were tough.
The place was were many gangs came to do business and it was the people she assumed Kovun was here to see. His rebellion needed cannon fodder after all.
She walked down and towards the entrance, where she was met by two armed guards. The bigger of the two blocked her path, he was taller than her by a head, “What do you want?” he said in a gruff voice.
“To enter, obviously,” she said not even looking at him, walking forward. He moved in front of her again to block her path.
She looked up at him, he was a foot in front of her, looked like he was going to move, so she placed her palm on his chest, “you look tired, you should probably lay down,” she said before stopping his heart. He slumped to the ground, and his friend went to him.
“What did you do?” he asked confused.
She looked at him, “he’s tired,” before walking into the side entrance housing. As she walked down the steps, she opened a metal door at the bottom, and as she did she was hit with the sound of music, shit music. She grimaced as she walked into the large, multi-tiered circular room.
She walked through a throng of people to the glass barrier, and looked down from the uppermost platform, there were eight tiers in total, everyone seemed full of people, and each tier had rooms for secretive business, from black market deals, to gang meetings. Kovun could have been anywhere.
She sighed, and took out a device from her coats pocket, it looked like a pair of glasses, she placed them on. As she did, within each pane was a mass of information. She thought about her quarry, and the glasses began scanning the Pit. She moved from her position overlooking the tiers, and began to walk around, making her way to the bar.
Some of the rooms were shielded, which would be a problem for some security tech, but not hers. She reached the bar, having scanned seventeen percent of the place. She perched herself at the bar, leaning over, a tall black guy approached her, what’ll you have?” he asked.
“Gimme a Salusian Blue,” she said, turning back to look out at the throng. The scan was at twenty-four percent when he gave her her drink. She nodded a thanks, and walked back out into the crowd, heading towards the steps to the lower tiers.
She descended two tiers, and the scanning hit thirty-eight percent. Where was he? She’d be extremely pissed if she’d missed him again.
She found a corner on the sixth tier and started drinking her drink. At sixty-four percent, there was a ping. The second tier, a heavily shielded room at the back. It matched all the information she had on him, and was a Seventy-Two percent DNA match. She quickly made her way down.
As she approached the room, there were a plethora of guys guarding the entrance. That was a good sign. She marched up to the door, and was typically stopped.
“The fuck are you?” said the lead guy in a fuck you tone.
Cass broke his nose in a single strike, “I’m looking for the boy prince, heir to the Reyes name.” she said. The confused look of the rest of the men let her take out another four before the remaining five could react. The mass of people beyond didn’t even flinch, fights it seemed, were a common occurrence.
The last guy she used to break the door down. She strode in to a sea of dropped jaws. The only one who wasn’t shocked, was Kovun.
“You,” she pointed to Kovun, “you need to come with me.”
Before the others could react, Kovun announced, “this meeting is over guys, I’m going with the blue haired chick.”
She escorted him back up to the surface, “ever had every cell in your body dematerialised into energy and then transported over a distance to then be rematerialised in another place?” she smiled.
His confused face was worth it as she transported them back to her ship.
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Post by MugiwaraBlair on Dec 16, 2016 20:14:54 GMT
I got tired of Knuks not posting them here and I had them saved in text docs so, here are a few more pieces: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Another bottle..." Kovun said to himself. His hood obscured his face as he wandered the streets of Grav. He stops in a store and leaves with a fresh bottle. Gold rum private reserve. It's his third bottle this night. Grav is a grimy city, the lights and noise say "Come and Party"! But Kovun knew the real call of the city. "Take what you can, give nothing back". He pops the cap and takes a deep swig, letting the gold poison burn his throat. Soon that blessed numbing feeling returned. Blurring his senses and fogging his thoughts.
'Lost so many...a third of my men...gone in less that ten minutes'. He thought grimly. 'Couldn't open the armor...no need, they were crushed inside them anyways'.
Kovun couldn't remember when he started drinking so heavily but he didn't care. He found his peace at the bottom of a bottle. And so the 17 year old leader of the rebellion stumbled his way through the streets of Grav. Not seeing how far he's gone he ends up in one of the city's harshest Ghettos; Reyes Row. Its inhabitants soon streamed up to see who the intruder on their turf was. "Ey man, the fuck you out her this late for"?
A bigger one said as he pushed through his group. "Don't you know"? He stands a foot taller than Kovun, easier out weighs him as well. Kovun just looks at the man and takes a few pulls from his bottle. "Know what"? "Kings of the Row protection"? The big man and his group smile at his statement.
"Y'all couldn't protect a baby from a rat, so why don't you fuck off before I show you what a Reyes is". The big man swats Kovun's bottle away making a clatter as it bounces across the street. The air around Kovun begins to heat up immediately. The big man drops a heavy punch onto the boys face. Kovun's head rolls with the punch but was unaffected. The big mans hand however. "Fuck, you fucking bastard"! He shouts as he nearly doubled over holding his hand.
"Denser bones pendejo". Kovun says as he cracks his neck. "Gift from my mother". He picks up the man by his head and throws his into the crowd. "Vamos, cabrones"! He shouts as his eyes start to glow white. The gang try to rush him but get repulsed by the heat he releases. "How much power do you think it'll take to flatten The Row"? "One Kiloton"? "Two"? Kovun drunkenly laughs as the men try to run away. He powers down as they fade into the night. He stumbles over to his knocked away bottle.
He lets out a mental note of gratitude to the rum company for using metal bottles. 'Is this my third or second bottle'? He ponders as he swishes it around. Something on the ground catches his eye. It's a tiny bag of white powder. He manages to realize what it is through his haze. "Hawks dust...one dosage worth". He says to himself. Hawks dust is a powerful narcotic, often mixed with drinks. So Kovun did just that, smiling at his concoction. Just one drink is all it'll take for him to escape. And as he brings the bottle to his lips a forceful hand swats it away.
Kovun watches the bottle fly off into the night. "Stop". Someone said to his right. The air heats up immediately. Like a blur he turns and strikes the source of the voice. His fist is caught by a bigger hand with speed and ease. Kovun is caught off guard by it. "Kira"??!
Kira towers over Kovun, her face betraying an concerned expression. "You must stop". She says. Kovun pulls his fist back. "Stop what Kira"? "I'm just having a drink". Kira shakes her head. "No, you three bottles in, been prowling for gangs to beat up, was about to drink Hawks Poison". Kovun's eyes go wide with surprise. "How did you..." Kira rests her hands on her hips. "I follow you since you left base". Kovun doesn't hide his disbelief. "Doom teach many things, sneaking around was first".
Kovun can't bring himself to look her in the eye. "Leave me to my vices Kira". He says "That's an order". "I refuse". Kovun snaps up. "Kira that was a goddamn order from your commander"! The Amazon shakes her head. Kovun's eyes glow a blinding white, the air heats up to an unbearable degree. "I am a fucking Reyes Kira"! He roars. "I can kill you and half this city right the fuck now"! Kira puts her hand on his head. Even though it burns on contact she shows no discomfort.
"That is why I cannot leave". She says with a softness that sounded alien. "You were born with a burden no child should shoulder". "Your name chains you to a destiny you cannot avoid". Kovun starts to shudder. "You must not stray from the path your grandfather paved, lest you fall off and become your mother".
The heat begins to dissipate. "I can't do this Kira...I wasn't raised in this like my mother & grandfather". "Everyone is relying on me to go out & lead them like I'm Vokun"! "Just because I have the name Reyes & the power to back up my lineage that I'm somehow supposed to be some unstoppable soldier that can wipe out anything..."! He stumbles as he fully powers down. "I'm just a kid Kira...".
Kira pats his head. "Yes, you are". "But if you continue down this path you will lose your humanity and become the very monster you fight to depose". Kovun sighs. "Your a cold bitch, why are you nice to me"?
"You are the only one that can defeat your Mother". She said bluntly. "& I enjoy watching you fight like an animal". "Gee thanks". Kovun says with a smirk. A small transport vehicle can be heard approaching as well as police sirens. "Let us go now little prince, there is more work to do".
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"Thanks miss Cassandra". A technician says as she sips her coffee. "Please, call me Cass". She replies. The technician nods approvingly. "By the way, do you know where Kovun is"? Cass asks. The tech looks at the clock. "I don't think it's a good idea to bother him right now". "Why's that"? Cass's curiosity getting the better of her. The tech sighs. "He was throwing a party for Kilo and Fox squads when they returned from recon". "They ran into the Wara guard. Cass gives a silent 'oh' and looks away. "He's probably in the lounge if you really feel the need to bother him". Cass gives a confused look. "Lounge"?
Receiving her directions, Cass saunters to the lounge. She smiles as she pulls a few stolen looks. She's rather tall standing at 5'10. Her features & figure show her Amazonian heritage. One young soldier managed to catch her electric blue eyes. With out breaking stride she gives him a smile. She can hear the sounds of his friends hassling him well after she passed them.
"This must be it". Cass says to herself as she approaches set of wooden double doors. As she eases a door open the faint sounds of a piano fills the air. She quietly closes the door and begins to follow the music. The Lounge's lighting is dim, an ornate wooden bar sits on one side, it's back wall filled with bottles. Tables and booths scattered within. Empty drinks scattered without. The faint scent of a cigar fills the room.
The place was empty, save herself and the Pianist. She listens to the somber melody the player produces. She tries to place the melody but it suddenly changes to a much more relaxed and happy tune. As she got closer she had a better view of the player. As she suspected it was the young rebellions leader.
A couple bottles say at his feet, while he himself was dressed in a three piece suit. As Cass approaches he begins to play a very sad, desperate sounding piece. The melody grimly rushing forward as if desperate for help so that it won't drown under its own weight. It ends as suddenly as it came, turning into a softer pleasant sound before ending in a quiet sad tune.
Cass gives a half hearted smile when she sees his distant emotionless expression. His full attention seeming to be within the piano. 'Hard to believe he leads the Rebellion'. 'She thought. 'No longer a boy and not yet a man...and he's already found the bottle'. She quietly walks up behind him with a chair in hand. The furious melody begins again, this time it doesn't stop. His body shudders. She quietly puts her chair down next to his and puts a hand on his forearm. The tune slowly mellows out.
When he reaches for a bottle she catches his hand. Finally acknowledging the presence of another person he turns towards Cass. His hazy, worn out eyes met hers. "Keep playing". His nods and begins a long sad song. It's notes filling the air with the sorrow he couldn't express. He begins to speak to her. His tone so hollow it's almost drowned out by the piano.
"As Leader of the Rebellion I know that the loss of soldiers is inevitable. That if I lead soldiers into battle I must be prepared to lose some along with way. That with war comes great sacrifice. But what my advisors don't tell me... what they can never prepare me for... is just how much it hurts. Every time". Surprised by the sudden blunt honesty Cass says nothing. She just quietly rests her head on his shoulder as he plays.
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“That went way better than I was expecting". Joker stated to Kovun. Kira had requested for them meet her in her office. "What were you expecting"? Kovun asked. "I thought she was gonna kill us". Kovun gives him a scornful look. "I do so enjoy you playing with my life". Joker chuckles at the jab. The two stood silently in Kira's quarters.
It looked rather modest by Warlord standards. Leading to the room were two large paintings. One was a portrait of a stern looking man in samurai-esque armor & the other was of a young intense looking woman in sleeker less ornate armor. Going through the large oak doors they saw the final painting. A massive full portrait of Warlord Veles herself.
"No". Joker said to Kovun. "What"? "No". "But-". "Absolutely not". Kovun sighs. They stood in silence for awhile. "She's fucking hot". Kovun says. Joker just sighs and rubs his temples.
“Kovun Reyes”. Kovun bolted to attention as Warlord Veles’ thick accent called out. She walked towards the two, never once breaking eye contact with the boy. Vokun couldn’t decide where to look. Eyes, face, torso, hips, le-. A sharp jab from Joker set his eyes back to hers. She stood a head taller than him face to face. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to cut through his emeralds ones. Kovun couldn’t help analyzing every part of her face.
‘She must be in her thirties’. He guesses. She had no wrinkles or blemishes, simply perfect ivory skin which only emphasized her cold blue eyes & golden hair. “No…” he corrects himself. “Her face is perfect”. High cheek bones, full lips, perfect symmetry. He realizes he’s been staring and jerks his head to the left in a failed bid to hide his embarrassment. “You are young”. She says finally. She grabs his jaw & forces an eye connection. “Joker…are you certain he is leader’? She states coldly. “I see pups with more fight”. “I promise you Warlord, he’s every bit a Reyes”. “Let’s test”. Before Joker can respond she throws Kovun out of her window. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘Shattered glass…sky…’ “SKY”! Kovun shouts into the cold Absu air. Warlord Veles’ window fading faster from his sight, Kovun corkscrews to face the ground. His mind races, adrenaline burned his veins. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. “Ten stories…am i terminal…THAT BITCH’! Kovun’s eyes shine like little suns & he impacts. “rraagh…” moans. He could feels his cracked ribs, taste the blood in his mouth, the ringing in his skull. But at that moment, he didn’t give a damn. “RAAAAAGGGHHH”! He roars. His eyes focused on a blur high up the caste. It was Veles, staring down on him. “I’ll fucking kill you”! He sprints toward the castle walls, using timed explosions to propel himself faster. He blasts up to the wall & begins to blast-run his way up. The Warlord never moved as the boy charged up her castle wall, she just continued to stare. He pushes off as he nears the shattered window, looks her in the eye as he reaches her level & blasts himself towards her armed cocked back.
It felt like Kovun had punched a tank. The blow had been dead on her nose, pushing her back into the room. as well as forcing everything in the room flying in the opposite direction. Through the pain & rage Kovun’s eyes focused on his target. The chaos in the room seemed to flow so slowly. Even Joker as he was trying to regain his footing looked like a statue. Veles’ eyes no longer held the cold analytical stare but the amused eyes of entertainment. Her once tied up hair flowed wildly behind her shoulders. She gives him a slight smirk. “Like I said, pup have more fight”. “I’LL SHOW YOU FIGHT”! He charges at her. She moves to hit his gut & end the fight but he catches her fist & uses it as leverage to land a kick to her jaw. Without missing a beat she grabs his leg, throws him to the ground, cracking it & drops a punch that broke the floor under his head. “heh…”Kovun breaths out. “Made you bleed”. Veles touched her lip & it came away with some blood. Kovun used the second of opportunity to charge up for an explosion, grabbing the Warlord by her throat. Searing it as he pulls her down to his shining eyes. “I fucking win ice bitch”! As he’s about to ignite he feels his whole body go limp. “wha…”. He falls back limp, losing consciousness.
It happened like a flash to Joker. He saw Kovun blast his way back into the room then blurs to Veles & Kovun on the ground. “Nooo”! He shouts as Kovun is detonating then stops as he just falls back limp. “What…”. Veles rose. “Is fine”. She said plainly. “I mess with head, knock him out…can’t have home be destroyed can I ?” She slides out of her shtick as she speaks. “I take back what I said Joker, he truly is a Reyes”. “I wasn’t expecting him to be so fast, but he lacks power”. She strokes her jaw. “Very well, wake him up & I’ll get us some tea…I believe we shall have quite the entertaining alliance”.
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Post by Knukails on Feb 22, 2017 3:06:01 GMT
“Don’t think for a second that you can fully rely on the horsemen to lead your armies”. Joker said flatly. “Why not”? Kovun asks, rather annoyed at the statement. “Its not like you all are old & senile”. Joker groans. “Look kid, might still be fighters & he are old”. He taps his temple. “The mind ages even if the body doesn’t”. “Its been decades since most of us where under the power of someone that could control us”. “Control”? Kovun displays his confusion. “Ah right….”. Joker trailed. “Just because we were the best Vokun had didn’t mean we all were shining paragons of perfection”. “Some of us were also some of the most unstable”.
“Dra was the mountain, a fucking goliath on the battlefield”. “She would wage war as if she were a war god of old…could rally the bleakest of soldiers under her for one final push”. Joker’s voice was full of pride as he spoke but it was short lived. “Behind the scenes she was a cluster bomb on a feather switch”. “Behavioral problems didn’t begin to describe her, she would keep it together usually”. “But sometimes one Kails forgot to change a part on an Re-entry system or their shit is scratched when she said for it to be polish….”. “Well, it wasn’t uncommon for entire squads to “vanish” in the wastes”. “I don’t think i ever found out what made her into that pressure cooker of rage & violence”. Kovun held a somewhat sad expression. “Some kind of abuse huh”? He says. Joker rolls a crack out of his neck. “Probably just born that way”.
“Then there’s Black Rose”. Jokers face distorted into an expression of disgust & hate as he speaks her name. “The current Wara Commander…”. “Kovun was about to say something, anything, to maybe veer away from an obviously sensitive subject. But Joker carried on. “She is an artist in the act of murder, she plays with the dead like marionettes & forces them to dance to her tune”. “She’s twisted & demented, sick, warped & completely without care for the living”. The venom in his voice flowed like an angry river. “But all she wanted was to be understood, she wasn’t always there for reasons of her past…but then i was”. Kovun was slightly surprised at the statement. “I got her…i don’t know why but i did”. “She was by my side like a pest whenever she wasn’t busy”. “But i couldn’t always control her; not when she got fired up”. “She loves death, everything from the act initiating it to the state itself, she lived for it”. “But she would stop eventually, then come prancing back like a pup”. “She was nice once….”.
“But now she’s fallen further than i care to look, she’s betrayed everyone that relied on her & crushed the unity that was the Horsemen”. “Kovun silently nodded, “So what are you gonna do”? Joker racks a shotgun. “Ever heard the story of Old Yeller”?
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Post by Lady Ruliya on May 4, 2017 23:02:37 GMT
Lost Innocence
Duchess walked down the ornate corridors of her palace, with Arianna in tow.
"Where are we going?" Arianna asked for the fourth time.
"You'll see, "Duchess said looking back, smiling, "we're almost there."
They walked down several more winding corridors, before coming up to a large metallic door. It scanned Duchess and a green light above the door came on with a beep, and the door split in two and slid open with a whoosh.
As the pair entered the large, open chamber, Arianna's mouth dropped, and she exhaled loudly. In the centre of the three storied room was a massive globe aquarium. The room shimmered with blue light, emitted from the aquarium, the main source of light.
Duchess walked to the left outer wall, where a series of computers and desks were.
Arianna stood silently looking at the aquarium for a while before she snapped out of her reverie and realised Duchess was no longer next to her, "what is this place?" she asked.
“Just one of my many labs hidden around the palace, this one I use to do more relaxed science,” Duchess said turning to look at Arianna and the aquarium.
“Why did you bring me here?” Arianna asked.
“To meet someone, actually,” Duchess said walking towards the back of the room.
Arianna continued to stare into the aquarium as they walked, she could see a myriad of ocean life, from smaller fish to bigger ones like Dolphins and sharks. She didn’t voice it, but she thought it was super cool. As they reached the back of the aquarium, Arianna’s mouth dropped again, as they walked towards another set of computers and a pod, that also glowed and hummed.
“Is that a cryopod?” Arianna asked wondrously, and Duchess nodded. She walked closer to it, she could see a child was inside, “Is this who you wanted me to meet?”
“Yes,” Duchess said warmly, “This is Cassandra Payne, I found her in the ruins of old London,” she paused a second before turning to Arianna, “Don’t tell ya dad I was over there.”
Arianna giggled, “Okay sis.”
Duchess went back to the computer and pressed a few buttons, checking her vitals, brain functions and other things.
“How old is she?” Arianna asked.
“DNA coding shows she’s nine year and six months old,” Duchess replied.
Arianna’s face darkened slightly as she looked to the floor, “About the age dad found me,” she said morosely.
Duchess held a soft hand on her shoulder, “The reason I’m showing you, and only you is because I want you to big a big sister to her, like me and Doom are for you.”
Arianna’s face erupted into a large smile, “Don’t worry sis, I’ll watch over and protect her when you can’t.”
“That’s what I was hoping to hear,” Duchess said with a smile.
*25 years later*
Arianna, now Empress Grava was sat on her large throne, in a throne room that resembled Marcus’ old one. Down to the minute details, like the cracks in certain pillars and walls, the on the steps leading up to the throne, times when Marcus had lost his cool.
Sheila was reading a report to her, “... and the rumours on this electric powered individual are she’s called Cassandra Payne, there’s no records in my database however of that name, or her history, she’s a complete unknown.”
Grava was barely paying attention, but raised a hand to stop Sheila continuing, “What name did you say?”
“Cassandra Payne, my Empress,” Sheila repeated.
“Leave me!” Grava shouted standing up, Sheila nodded and left.
Grava left herself via a back door, leading to her private chambers. She walked behind a large desk and sat on the chair there. She pulled up an image on the holoscreen, it was a picture of Duchess, just as she’d been before she had been killed defending earth, happy and smiling.For a small moment, Arianna felt like a child again, “I’m sorry sis, I failed you.”
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Post by Lady Ruliya on Mar 6, 2018 22:32:04 GMT
Alternate End
Five Wara now stood in front of Cassandra. Twelve more lay dead or dying around her. This was it. Empress Grava sat on her throne looking rather smug. Cass wiped a glob of blood from her chin, as blood ebbed from a gash on her cheek. It wasn't the only place she'd been injured, and likely wouldn't be the last.
The whole palace suddenly rocked, if things were going to plan, that would be Kira forcing a heavy stream of magma to the surface letting it explode through the crust like a volcano. Cass used the momentary distraction to her advantage, she launched herself forwards towards the quintet.
The Wara's were trained as well, but they had no powers and their light infusion was much less than her own. While she was able to land several blows on the lead Wara, she was quickly back on the defensive, dodging, weaving, blocking attacks from the other four. She grabbed the punch of a Wara with her right hand while blocking a kick with her left. But she didn't let go of the Wara's fist and instead pumped a deadly amount of electricity through her body eliciting a wild scream before the smoking body dropped to the floor as Cass jumped backwards avoiding a strike from a blade. A sound of annoyance emenanted from Empress Grava a few moments later, as only one Wara remains.
The Wara defiantly attacks with a flurry of fists and kicks, expertly placed, but equally expertly blocked and parried by Cass, ending in the Wara's almost heroic death.
Cass re-positioned herself at the bottom of the throne stairs. Her breathing heavy, her body bloodied and battered. Where the hell was Kovun? He was supposed to be here by now.
"Fine!" Grava's voice was loud, and powerful, it echoed throughout the chamber as she rose to her feet.
"It doesn't have to be this way you know," Cass attempted to reason, in vein, "Surrender and we-"
"SILENCE!" Grava threw up a hand and the room shook slightly as there was a shift in the gravity.
Fortunately Cass had anticipated such a move and back flipped out of the area of attack. However, Grava was already upon her. She had mastered her powers it seemed. She was able to alter the gravity around her at such precise measurements it's like she could fly through the air at incredible speeds; even using her electric powers to stimulate muscle movements to increase her reflexes, Cass was giving it everything she could just to dodge Grava's attacks.
But Cass had her own powers, as she dodged a punch from Grava she let out a surge of electricity that hit Grava's Torso, causing her to scream, not from pain but from anger.
"I was creating a stable galaxy!" Grava roared as she dropped small pockets of heavy gravity, trying to pin Cass down, "Why are you all so afraid of peace?!"
The Palace rocked again, but this time it was from a flurry of explosions. Joker was, at least, having fun.
Cass had circled round Grava and was at the base of the throne stairs again, "Peace?" She said calmly, "not like this."
"Why not?" Grava said, whirling on her heels, "This was my fathers way! Even my ungrateful mongrel is using power and light to achieve his own ends. And do you think there will be peace when I am gone?"
Grava let out a fit or rage, that messed with the gravity of the whole chamber. Several pillars began to buckle and crumble. Debris falling from them, and the straining roof above.
"Who knows," Was all Cass could say. The sound of fighting, of powers, of death, flittered through the deteriorating walls from the outside.
The pair came together in a flash, no powers, just fists and elbows and knees and feet, a flurry of attacks. Cass taking the brunt, on a normal day, with her level of light infusion, it's likely she could have fought Grava to a standstill, but injured and fatigued as she was, it's all she could do to keep an even footing.
A very large explosion was heard in the distance, the shock wave of which could be felt even inside the chamber. Kovun it seems was finally on his way, but would he make it in time to be of any help to Cass?
Grava stared in the direction of the shock wave, knowing exactly who had been the cause of it, gave Cass the opening she needed. Using every last ounce of strength she had in her she launched a frighteningly powerful electric storm directly at Grava sending her flying backwards, howling in pain. She lay on the ground motionless for a few moments. And Cass' heart skipped a beat, before plummeting, it was only a fools hope that she had actually done enough damage. Perhaps not to put her down entirely, but to have stopped her long enough for the others to arrive.
Before she could do anything tho, she seemed to be floating, eyes watering as they were going blurry, unable to focus on Grava picking herself up, arms raised in fury. Cass was finding it hard to breathe. She was floating in a gravity light zone, while at the same time, gravity was heavy in her throat, not allowing her to breathe. the pain from that alone felt like blades covered in lava.
"YOU DARE?!" Grava had bellowed, but in Cass' ears, it felt like it was being said from miles away.
Suddenly a voice rang out through the Chamber, "Mistress, current power usage on Duchess Subject 12 will result in termination in roughly fourty-three seconds."
"Good," came the only reply, dripping with venom.
Sheila moved forwards, finding her way halfway down the throne stairs before a voice flittered through her sub-conscience, "Override Gamma Sigma One Nine Two, Bravo India November Delta." She froze, not that Grava was paying her any mind. Her blood lust for Cass' life was all consuming in this moment.
A line of code ran through Sheila's neural network: Awaiting Command.
"How does it feel to die?" Grava was gloating, hand outstretched like a Sith lord force choking a Jedi. Cass' hands were at her throat, trying in vain to free herself, tho her arm movements were sluggish now.
"Innocence Lost"
Sheila moved quickly to Grava's side. Still she paid the AI no mind. Cass would soon be dead, as would all the others. Fuck their pathetic rebellion! She would smite them like the cockroaches they are just like her Father would have.
She didn't even realise what had happened until Cass had dropped the the floor coughing heavily, trying to breathe in more air that the planet had. Her head twisted sideways to look at Sheila, that's when she felt it. The blade. It had entered from the back, through her heart and out between her fourth and fifth rib. She felt Sheila remove the blade too. But as she turned around to face her assassin, she didn't see the AI's robotic body. Instead she saw a glorious light.
She didn't hear the explosion either, that blew apart the chamber and allowed Kovun and Kira and the others entrance. She didn't feel the hot blood as it ran down her body and garments. She just saw a figure. One she had been wanting to see for a very long time.
"Father," she said weakly, raising an arm in the lights direction, before her eyes close and her body slumped to the ground, but before it hit it was caught by Sheila.
"what the fuck just happened?!" Shouted a voice from across the room. Kovun was not entirely happy, and just as confused.
"I did," came a voice from Shiela, though it was not her own. It was one familiar to very few in the room.
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