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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 18:30:30 GMT
Warlords Omnibus
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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 18:52:57 GMT
“Lord Vokun…”. Sheila silently spoke as she entered “The Keepers Smithy”. A name the King darkly gave the room they were transformed in. Before her shining brilliantly of metals Marcus could only dream to move & of varieties even Duchess couldn’t explain.
In the center is an abstract design of unknown meaning. However an observant one would notice it looks maddeningly similar to the Kings own banner. She walked towards the grand machine, her chassis being dyed a dull gold from its Light.
“Why have you come”?
“Sir…Crea- Lady Duchess has instructed me to inform you that Operation Morningstar has reached completion & is awaiting contact. Marcus nods while reading outputs. “Thank you Sheila”. He pushes off the console to meet her. “Why the War Chassis”? He asks. A bright flare of light illuminates her fully. A midnight black/deep crimson painted body built for operating as a miniature siege weapon.
“Commander Dominike has instructed me to assist in her a gauntlet of sorts”. Marcus took a step back & scratched his beard in thought. “A Gauntlet”? “For what purpose would she do that”?
“Sir, it appears that she is recreating your power base”. “A sort of miniature Warlords protocol”. Marcus smiled darkly at the explanation. Sheila could her platting chatter almost silently at the sight. He looks back to her, his front consumed in darkness as blinding Light flares behind him. “My my…weapons creating weapons”. He says enthused, the gold in his eyes half consuming the green. “Lead the way”
‘Fucking with the heat…’. This thought bubbled in the mind of Doom. ‘Keepers playing dirty again’. Sweat began beading on her brow. However her opponents where drowning in it.
“Okay Sheila, who are my tool’s tools”? Marcus asked. “One moment sir”. “Information located”. Her “faceplate” opened to project the information before Marcus.
Master Sergeant Jackson- 1st SF
Drop Leader Drakenburg- 4th KST
Sergeant First Class Reese- 2rd Wara
1st Sergeant Rodriguez- 144th R.F.A
Marcus’s expressions changed subtly as he read. ‘A uncontrollable operator, psychotic berserker, severe psych risk & beast’. His mind drew a blank. “Doom…what the fuck”.
Commander Doom parries a series of quick surgical blows from her protege Reese. ‘She’s gotten better, keep an eye on the boys…where’s Od-‘. A mammoth fist smashing into her blind spot knocks her thoughts brutally off their rails.
. . . . A forest, deep dark & forbidding. She was tired, had been walking for several tens of miles. “Mr. Vokun sir”. She says between heaves. Her 13 year old frame struggling to keep up with him. “Speak child”. Dominike tries to catch her breath. “Why…if your so powerful all by yourself…why have the Warlords”?
Marcus stopped walking & stared into the treetops for a moment before answering. “The biggest beast will always fall to the hungry pack of wolves & that pack can fight off bigger predators”. “No King can reign with his power alone & no general can win wars with no soldiers”.
He drops his pack & sits on a log. “One day, you’ll learn to evaluate & appreciate the abilities of others”. He flashes a very rare smile. “On that day, you’ll understand”.
. . . .
Doom was awake before a second had passed. Using her momentum she throws the Kails trooper into a wall. “Stupid old man, always have to be right”. She says to herself after spitting the blood pooling in her mouth. An extremely slight movement of her lips makes the watching Lord Vokun silently chuckle in surprise & approval. “She’s having fun”.
Commander Doom takes her fighting stance, her face as grim as ever. She pounds her fists together & shouts. “Come”!
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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 19:06:14 GMT
“No, matter of fact hell no”. Marcus says without looking up from his folder. “Come now Marcus, it’ll be fun”. A mischievous young woman playfully pouted. “Duchess, i know your definition of fun…Joker won’t even come to HQ when your around”. Duchess laughs at the statement.
“Why not though”? “We have those damn meetings on the space station with the others every year & its boring”. She says. Marcus looks over the edge of the folder. “We. Are. Not. Throwing. A. Ball.” Duchess throws her arms up exaggeratingly. “Its once a year”. Marcus puts the folder down & points at her accusingly. “You just want more data for less effort & you process data from just breathing”. Duchess sits down across from him cross legged. “By the way, you should stop smoking”.
“Look, Duchess…i will never go to a goddamned ball”.
. . .
Marcus grimaced so hard it would scare a gargoyle. “Welcome to the Warlords inaugural Summit, High Lord Vokun”! An Amazonian proclaimed with enormous fanfare. . . . “Vokun-Donno”. An accented voice spoke from his left. “Tenzin…”. Marcus turned slightly to accept a drink. “I apologize for not giving Dominiku-chan a proper death in the war”. Marcus took a sip. “An apology from the God Emperor…have you been replaced”? Warlord Tenzin chuckles a bit. “No, this will be one & only time”. “I executed the bomber crew that struck the building”.
Marcus leans back from the barrier he was leaning on. “Really, why”? He asked with genuine curiosity. Tenzin drinks deeply from his glass. “They were not to strike during my fight”. He admits. “I would have preferred to cut her down like a proper warrior”. Marcus rolls his neck in anger but decides to let the feeling pass. “That would have been preferable”. “Tell me Genso, if you could do it all over…”.
“I’d have put my katana through her heart & decapitated her honorably”. He says calmly. Marcus looks at the horizon for a moment before finishing his drink. He hands the empty glass to his Warlord & turns to walk away. “Well i guess that would have been preferable”.
. .
“Okay..Kill Drakenburg, Fuck Doom, Marry Black Rose”. An eruption of arguing voices fill the small side room. Seated around a smokey card table are a few grunts from every territory. The one answering this time was a rare male Amazonian named Hippolyt. “Whats wrong with my choices”?! He shouts back. A massive bull of a Spartan, Ajax, huffs while putting down his cards. “Shock Chieftain Drakenburg is the correct marriage choice”! He shouts back. “She’s like a muscle overloaded gorilla you damn brute”. Sif the Valkyrie says as she pushes her chips in. “Your Wara Commander Doom is the correct move, far more fuckable & dependable….call Steve?” She smiles at the man across from her.
The Smiley shakes his head as he calls her bluff. “Im definitely not joining this discussion, Sergei”?
The Russian in question folds. “I prefer cold old american beauty, like Frozen coast”. The man & the F.C. Alpha high five.
“Honestly, i would say the Kitsune corp has the true beauties”. The desert tracker Wolf Stalker spoke as he went all in. “I prefer the warm solitude of Hunters myself”. Kitsune Miku flirted back.
“Get a room”! Someone shouted & everyone laughed. “Well personally…”. A low amused sounding voice oozed from the door. The soldiers look to see who spoke.
“I find Hel’s salacious yet conservative dress to be rather hypnotizing”. King Vokun smiled.
The soldiers freeze in sheer fear. “Be calm, i won’t snitch your game out, so long as i get to play”. He says as he takes a seat. The Smiley, knowing his boss, deals him in & explains the rules. “Also, speak casual & please just call me Vokun.
“Ok Vokun,”. Ajax started. “Kill, Marry, Fuck”. Marcus starts laughing & pouring everyones drinks. “Wow, thats some good enlisted shit there…okay hit me”. “Commander Doom, CSM Reese, Drakenburg sir”. The smiley said. Marcus makes a joking grimace. “Jeez, thats some low hanging fruit”. The table laughs. “Okay okay”. Marcus pulls the door closed while looking at his cards. “Well first off im sure as hell gonna Kill-“. & the door seals closed.
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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 19:13:47 GMT
“See, i told you it was good”. Duchess said pridefully. Walking beside her was her companion of several decades. “Mh, im surprised Tenzin explained how to imitate a Dragons Riot”. Warlord Doom said stoically. “Well it is true that he respects-“. The sound of thunder booming filled the cherry blossom garden they walked through. “Ah it sounds like Marcus is playing with his grandson”. Duchess chipped with a smile. “Lets go see”.
The duo waited on a hill as Joker picked up the prince & exited the simulation. “Had fun with the kid Marcus”? Doom asked. “Only you would find getting beaten fun”. He responded.
“I have a question”. Duchess begins to giggle. “Oh dear, he thinks he can think again”. She says insultingly.
Marcus lets the barb fly by. “You know my existence is false & i know i taught both of you not to hold onto dead ideals”. His grim expression hardening. “Why am i still aware”. The women standing before him said nothing for a few moments. Before Duchess spoke in agitation. “Are you really going to complain”? Her expressions dropping flat. “Your able to spend time with your Grandson, pass off everything you know to the closest thing you have to a clone”.
Doom speaks up. “You becoming aware is something we considered to be near-impossible”. “But im not aware, not really”. He spat back with venom. “I remember my entire life except for *blank*”. “You see, i cant even speak it but i know what it is”. “Duchess is purposely eating my memory of what i assume was the invasion”.
Doom’s face took a more serious look while Duchess smiled. “Oh my, how did you figure that one out”? She asked, her data streaming pupils begging for the information. “All of this exists”. He answers flatly. Duchess’s excited expression dropped to a baffled disappointed one. “….What”?
“Hahaha expecting some sort of tech breakdown”? Marcus bellowed. “I am still me”. “No, everything around me including everything outside of the simulation is evidence that we survived”. “Knowing myself i imaged what i thought the invasion was like & found it matched the historical record to 67% accuracy”.
“I dont see how-“. Marcus cut Duchess off with his glare. “It matched your personal records up to 98% accuracy”. Duchess’s smile returned with a flare of challenge. “So it was you probing my records”. Marcus nods. “Your constant consumption of my memory means it would be against your interests for me to remember my death”.
Doom’s eyes opened a bit. “So you know…”. She said. “Mh”. Marcus grunted. “If a body returns to life it must never be allowed to remember its death…else the shock will kill it again permanently”. “Keeper made that discovery back in the facility, we kept that in mind with the resurrection of Boudicca”.
With a blink of his eyes the Japanese style cherry blossom garden turned into a recreation of his throne room. He appeared as young as he did when he began the Conquest. Doom appeared as she did when the Warlord was a young soldier, her left eye socket hidden behind an eye patch. Duchess appeared as she did shortly after her research station’s destruction. Flashy rainbow shifting hair, dirty stained rows of gauze filling the gaps between her amputated limbs & her new robotic replacements.
Marcus’s looked at them with eyes they haven’t seen in over 50 years. “I forgot they were green”. Duchess noted. “Well, with all this i can only assume how upset you are”. Marcus’s simulated form glitched heavily then the entire simulation around the female Warlords. “Magnetic disruption, any more kills my connection…”. His face darkened in the way his Warlords subconsciously felt unnerved by. Even separated by time & human form the expression give Duchess & Doom an ill sensation.
“You disobeyed one of my biggest rules for us”. He said full of hate & poison. “I dont know how…but you somehow found something of me…if only a speck….”. The simulation began to breakdown around them as the magnetic interference increased. “It must be small if this is all you can do…your keeping me in a form of resurrection of your creation”.
His body, consumed by the breakdown held its shape for a second before fading into the black around the Warlords. “Your not letting go…you two never did”.
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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 19:16:11 GMT
“To put it in your generations obsession”. “I am Wrath”.
“My rage crushes mountains boy…my hate consumes nations”.
“All you see before you is the result of my wrath consuming mankind”.
“I did what so many failed to do before me…I REMADE THE WORLD IN MY IMAGE”!
“Now…its but ash & fading memory”.
“Why tell me Grandfather, whats this got to do to with Grava”?
“Because my daughter is a result of my wrath as well, now that sin has gone on to bastardize all that i created. Envy has led your mother down this path of madness. Just as your Pride may consume you”.
“But…dont let your sins define your weakness".
My Wrath saved a species, your mothers Envy dragged her to power she would never have thought of & your Pride shall carry you to the Throne & beyond”.
“But only if you learn to control it”.
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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 19:19:05 GMT
"Activate the Light Machine"! . . . “How has the current being not expired”?
“I cant”.
“The current being…can not”? “It does not understand…all other beings before current being expired or was changed molecularly”.
“If i die, the monsters out there win”.
“It does not understand”
.
“They will come to destroy us…the entire solar system…& if they get you…..i cant allow that to happen”.
“It may understand, the current being wants to protect”.
“No, i want slaughter everyone of them & send a message to the stars that Humanity is to never be fucked with”. “So no other will suffer the horror’s they sowed”.
“…To achieve success what would the current being free itself of”? “What could the current being allow to be lost”?
“Anything...Everthing”!
“It See’s”. “It has chosen you”.
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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 19:23:56 GMT
A piano croons into the silent bar. Stained oak & beautiful colored glass, the authentic smell only a slight glitch of light. Its name was Purgatory, it was Marcus’s favorite bar.
The music flowed along the river of rum. rising & falling with the inebriation & swift sobriety. “Have you died yet”? Marcus asked the pianist. “Clearly i’ve not…come closer than i prefer”. Kovun replied
.
Marcus rolls his neck. “I see, your probably aren’t strong enough for that trick yet”. Kovun suddenly stops playing. “You can do that”? he says in surprise. Marcus laughs . “Current condition excluded, i’ve survived attacks that should kill a normal human…but in those instances im technically dead until the healing catches up”.
Kovun’s world felt shattered. “So she….”. Marcus grimly nods. “When you….you cant hold anything back because she will come return”. “You must incinerate her completely”.
After a time of silence Kovun begins playing again.
“Grandfather…Vokun, what is it like to die”? He asks solemnly. Marcus glitches ever so slightly as he exhales smoke from a cigar. “It rips something out of you every time, i recommend against it boy…keep playing”.
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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 19:33:31 GMT
"Lord, do be careful...your wipping that blade around much faster than it can take". Shiela stated, boredly monitoring him again for Duchess. "I got it Shiela, by the way..". He lead. "Call Duchess". The blade wipped back, Sheila shouted as it arc'd high. "Marc-"! . . . “Is this what you called an “Old School” Vokun”? A ball of light spoke in a tone of utter purity. Sat next to him was an older latin man. He cooly turn the wheel of an ’77 Cadillac, minding the traffic. “I had this car a long time ago”. Vokun spoke. “There is no need for this projection”. The Luminous ball spoke. “I haven’t cruised in 40 years, let me have this”.
The duo cruised down the streets of Los Angeles.
“Did you know performing such an action would allow you to converse with it”? Marcus clicks the radio, filling the car with the melodic boom baps of old school hip-hop. “Ah, well…you always were reckless”. “You want to know where you stand”.
Marcus grimaced at the traffic before him. “Even in my own damn hallucination…yes, where do i stand”. He said sternly. The ball of Light dimmed slightly before shining again. “You now have a chance of success”. It said. “Upon initial meeting, It-“. Marcus coughs loudly, cutting the ball of Light off. “I”. he corrected.
“Yes, your species need of self description”. The ball spun slowly. “I placed your rate of success initially at zero”. “Now you stand at 35%”.
Marcus grinned brightly. It was the most genuine smile he’s had in decades. “Thats…wow, i thought i stood at 10% at most”. He pulls the car into a familiar neighborhood. “You have kept your word Vokun”. The Ball of light shifts into a vaguely humanoid shape in the seat. “You took to my question with such conviction, you may very well end your own life in the coming days”.
Marcus started to struggle to move the car, his vision blurring to the point of blindness. “Ah, i guess they’ve put my head back on”. He looks at his co-pilot. “Anything for me, i’d like to avoid such actions in the future”.
The Light seemingly rolled its body in contemplation. “The Light is corruptive as you know, its unnatural to the biological form”. “Be wary of those after you”. Marcus nodded sluggishly as he pulled the car into an intersection. “Should The Container ever be depleted there is a method to re-ignition”. Before Marcus could respond a speeding 18 wheeler slams into the car.
“MARCUS, MARCUS WAKE UP”! A high pitched voice screamed. ’Arianna’? Marcus struggled to place the voice. His blackened vision slowly cleared. “Go get Keeper, i dont care if he’s working i want him hear now”! A lower female voice barked. ‘Dominike’. “Creator Tara will be here in three minutes”! A synthesized voice shouted. ‘Sheila’. Marcus’s mind was sluggishly slow though he could feel parts of it returning to him. Feeling returned to his body, something heavy on his chest made it hard to breath. “Daddy….”. A sniffling muffled voice cried. “a…ari…”. Arianna snapped up. “He’s alive”!
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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 19:37:13 GMT
They’re all monsters. No regard for humanity, quick to delve into places no human should go. They all facilitated the greatest genocide in human history. Warped the world into a hellish environment with one purpose. Survival.
The invasion came & Humanity stood defiant. We survived & escaped to the stars. Yet the curses of the Old World continue to poison us.
I am not different…i used my power to fuel my desires. To crush those who disagreed with me, to ignite the flames of my Pride. No more. I will abide by these archaic rules no longer.
My grandfather told you he would sacrifice everything. My Mother desired nothing to surpass her. I will not fall into their abyss.
I will be different! I will not take in the broken & shattered to use for my own ends. I will never crush those who may be stronger than myself out of spite.
For i did not make it this far alone. My friends, mentors & enemies dragged & pushed me to make it this far. I owe all my strength to them.
So i give you my answer! I sacrifice nothing! i relinquish nothing…i alone shall bear the burden of Humanity!
I shall carry the Light back to its rightful place! A return to peace & prosperity for my species & i’ll happily give the reins of that future to those more capable than i.
This answer is inline with the will of the creators. You are the true inheritor of The Light.
Now you shall perish & be reborn.
RISE KOVUN REYES, FOR NOW YOU SHALL BE KNOWN AS THE BRINGER OF LIGHT.
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Post by Knukails on Apr 5, 2018 19:38:46 GMT
Huff…huff…huff…
Heavy labored breathing filled the air. Two warriors struggled to stay on their feet, trying to ignore the sweat being levitated off of them. Barely standing some distance away from each other one laughed.
“Master truly tells no lies”.
Across from them stood a Monster. Built like an ancient god of war. Wrapped tight in steel like muscle & braced with titanium-esque bones. His breathing was barely elevated, his wounds healed far quicker than they expected & his expression full of malice. The world warps around them as his rage was made manifest, cloaking his form in darkness.
The warriors held their ground as the vertigo slams into them.
A true test of strength, they did not fall or vomit. Even as their vision blurred into near blindness their never lost their light. The Monster grunts in approval & smiles devilishly.
“Hoo…you two are stronger than i assumed…Color me impressed”.
The warriors nod at the praise & gather the power needed to stand strong again.
“THIS IS THE END”!
The warriors begin to roar. The earth under them shaking apart & blasting immediately next to them. The Monster tightens his fists, visibly shaking from the excitement.
One warrior finishes her roar with a torrent raging through her strong enough to rend any Ark to driftwood. Engulfing the combatants within a vortex that’d make Poseidon envious. As soon as the typhoon reaches its apex the air around her hyper-cools into armor. Shielded within a prison of absolute zero she begins to walk towards the Monster.
The other roars on as several massive lightning bolts strike her body. All being collected & transferred into her right hand. Then slamming the massive charge right into her heart. The hate filled amped scream sends arcs of wild lighting whipping around her. As every cell is overclocks with more power than a sprawling metropolis could devour she walks towards the Monster.
The Monsters’ aura grows ever stronger at the challengers. “Heh, Come”!
The warriors roar & flash into battle.
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Post by MugiwaraBlair on Apr 8, 2018 3:14:18 GMT
Meeting Warlord Veles - Extended
Kovun was standing at attention alongside Joker, anxiously waiting for this "Veles" to address them. Joker was again uncharactiscally serious, and silent. He had told the young rebel that this woman was a god and that it was best to tread carefully around the gods. He didn't want to discount the advice of an iconic veteran but at the same time, he had plenty about the new warlords, good soldiers with fearsome abilities but nothing like the monsters of old. He had also heard tales of the invincible Wara Guard, but his foster mother fell to Imperial forces all the same. Tales were just that, agrandized propaganda. Maybe that was Joker's angle, to scare a kid with old tales so he behaves himself at the grown ups table.
To be fair, Veles did exude a strong presence. Towering over both of them, beautiful, strongly framed, sharply dressed in her gold-rimmed black uniform, eyes icy and piercing. She wasn't speaking now but he remembered her voice, rather low and heavily accented, in a broken english peppered with foreign words he couldn't place.
His thoughts were cut short when the Warlord stepped towards him and spoke to Joker: "He is young, are you certain he is leader ?" He had been starring at her up and down and turned away in embarrassment when she walked closer and her chest filled his line of sight but she almost immediately grabbed his jaw and forced eye contact.
"I promise you Warlord, he's every bit a Reyes"
"Hmm. Reyes have fight, little prince looks like toothless pup"
Kovun was about to snap back at her but Joker quickly intervened.
"I've seen him fight your majesty, he definitely has fight"
"Let's test"
And with that, without missing a beat, the Warlord threw him out the window to freefall who knew how many stories to the ground below. Taken by surprise the boy barely had time to get his bearings and try to slow his fall with controlled explosions. Some were misdirected and might actually have accelerated him. He crashed into the ground hard enough to be annoyed at any rate. Annoyed enough that he immediately popped back up and race up the castle wall towards Veles' face blankly starring down at him, roaring all the way up as he stepped upon explosions. He pushed off the wall as he neared the window so he could get a good propulsion going.
His mind filled with rage. Who did this bitch think she was ? He shared blood with the Empress and the Old King. He was the heir to a legacy of undefeated legends. He hadn't met anyone who could keep up with him. If things didn't go his way he could just nuke their shit. Some sense shone through the cloud of anger and bruised pride. He was going to be a merciful prince. He wouldn't go full power here. He had to mind Joker anyway. That smug woman was lucky he was near her. Still, this would be the hardest punch he'd thrown in his life, fitting for a so-called 'god'. He shot himself like artillery, arm cocked back and fist bursting with charged up power.
It felt like he punched a tank. He got her dead on the nose, everything in the room was sent flying in the opposite direction, Veles herself slid back across the room but was still firmly on her feet, seemingly unperturbed aside from her hair getting untied and her lip being bloodied. Kovun's rage focused his attention, his companion looked like a statue as he was presumably rushing back to his feet, despite being a man known to dance around bullets. More importantly to him at the moment, he saw the blood on her lip and smiled inwardly at having made a 'god' bleed. And cutting short his satisfaction he saw the analytical look in her eyes shift to amusement.
How dared she mock his strenght ? Don't smile while I bloody you. My power is not to entertain pretend gods. I'm-
"Is like I say, I see pup with more fight"
"I'LL SHOW YOU FIGHT !"
He charged at her, dodged whatever her arm was trying to do, grabbed onto it and used the leverage to kick her in the jaw, turning the room concave from the shockwave. Joker had just gotten back up and was thrown right back through a wall. Barely moved Veles gripped his leg and swung him through the next 26 floors down, dropping after him in the series of holes left by his body. She landed crouched over him with her fist embedded next to his head.
"You think you can afford that ?" he barked out. "You ain't winning, I made you bleed !"
The Warlord touched her lip and came away with some blood. He used the distraction to grab her by the throat and charge up an explosion. "I fucking win ice bitch !"
As he's about to ignite Veles grabs his own throat as she gets up, does a quick 180 and chucks him clean through the castle wall. He ends up the sole recipient of the detonation as he reaches the outside once more, sending him skipping across the ground hundreds of feet. The back courtyard of Castle Chernobog is a vast wastelands, likely made so for just such a purpose. But Kovun hardly notices it, blinded by wrath, all he cares about is flattening Veles. With his bare hands. No flashiness.
"Here you can try real bite little pup"
Kovun is her face in a fraction of a beat, throwing haymakers, hooks, straights, knees, anything he can. How was she staying there ? Matching his every blow, smirking. Of course !
"You resist impacts somehow right ? Kinetic energy ? That's how you do it right ? That's why I hurt you earlier, you didn't have time to stop it. Nice try" He grinned. "But powers can't stay up forever"
The Warlord chuckled. "You make joke little prince" she says wiping her lip. "Not my blood, is yours, from fist". And indeed, after she wiped it off, Veles didn't show a scratch.
"BULLSHIT !"
The boy started swinging harder and wilder. Their clash was now producing hurricane force winds and quakes that were throwing Joker off his feet as he tried reaching the specs at the edge of his sight. Around them at the epicenter the air had started to heat up and the ground was on the brim of turning molten. Kovun had had more than enough and was internally charging up a large scale blast. She wouldn't see that coming, and whatever her ability was sure as hell wouldn't be able to stop it anyway. Directed blast, no waste. He unleashed a torrent of force in a massive cone in front of him, aimed dead at Veles. A forcefield erected itself in the distance to protect the Castle. When everything dissipated his adversary was gone. He was about to smile in celebration when he felt a large palm on the side of his head and his vision tilted sideways before he could properly feel his body coming off the ground. Veles slammed him into the ground in a downward arc.
Having just gotten back up for the umpteenth time Joker was immediately blown back into the Castle's forcefield, then into the actual wall by the weaker 2nd wave. He could see the huge dome of the blast wave in the distance.
Kovun was at this point so mad he had no room for thoughts of questioning his assumptions, it all boiled to being done with this fight. Fuck your yard. Fuck your castle. Fuck your kingdom or whatever it was. Fuck your alliance. And Fuck You Veles. He was going to blast the whole area, there would be no dodging this. City destroying death in every direction. Joker anticipated the boy's reaction and got back inside where the forcefield would shield him.
And so the young prince let loose everything he had left, his body hurt all over but it didn't matter, he was going to win right there. The massive fireball washed over the Castle's forcefield and spilled into the front courtyard, and miles high. The ground glowed hot for dozens of meters below the surface. And once again his adversary was gone in the aftermath. He looked around chuckling but eager to confirm his victory, soon noticing a series of small craters of sorts, sheared off the surface, his gaze followed them frantically and his demeanor turned to disbelief when he saw Warlord Veles standing at the far edge of the courtyard. She, dodged it ? A city wiping nuclear explosion ? No. Maybe she can use impacts she stops ? That has to be it. Tricky power. I'll just punch her like I started with. That worked. She lied earlier. It was her blood, had to be, she just healed. This time I'll definitely end it.
The Prince summoned up every last ounce, his every cell screamed in agony, his heart threatened to burst, his brain was a war drum inside his skull, his vision blurred in and out. He put half of it behind him and half of it in front. He left a wide trail of vaporized terrain in his wake and saw Veles dash towards him too. When their fists clashed the entire courtyard caved in and a spiderweb of cracks slithered across it's expanse. A dome of intense concentrated energy formed around them before violently expanding and taking the splintered landscape with it. Kovun felt every bone and muscle in his arm being torn apart, and then his ribcage shatter as the Warlord's strike smashed through his own and crashed into his chest. His mind was almost blank as his broken body flew through the rubble.
Joker had told him Veles was a god.
The epiphany of his defeat was interrupted by sudden unconsciousness when he impacted the Castle and left a splintered crater in its side.
"Computer Perun, send med pod to Castle back wall coordinate. And send repair machines, Castle hurt"
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Post by Lady Ruliya on Apr 16, 2018 18:45:53 GMT
The Final Encounter
Kovun suddenly found himself somewhere new. Gone were the Warlords Tenzin, Kira and Doom and gone was the Japanese aesthetic. Now he found himself on a wooden porch. It was daytime, there was a hanging swing seat to the left of the porch and some ornate plant on the other. the steps lead down to a modestly sized backyard with freshly cut grass and two tree's. Strewn across the tree's was a comfy looking hammock.
He didn't have too long to study his surroundings however when the door opened and a youn girl ran out almost running into him, though it seemed like she hadn't even seen him. She seemed about ten or eleven and was chasing a glowing, blue orb that floated infront of her.
He put a hand on the wooden railing and watched the little girl happily play for a few moments, and a smile spread across his face. Kovun didn't think he'd ever really seen someone so happy and carefree before.
"It is good to see you smile," came a familiar voice.
"Oh hey you are here," Kovun began as he turned towards the figure sitting on the swing seat before realise it wasn't who he thought it was, "Wait, who are you?" he said a little startled.
"My name is Tara," she said with a smile, her soft brown hair swaying a little as she began to lightly swing the seat, "I don't suppose anyone has told you about me, have they?"
He turned to fully face this young woman, who looked younger than even him, "No they haven't, but you sound familiar," he said a puzzles expression on his face.
"And just who do I sound like?" she said with a sly smile that instantly made him recognize her, despite the new appearance.
"Duchess?" he asked slowly, "But you said your name was..."
"Tara, yes," she spoke with a softness that belied a sadness, her face now turned to the side and down, "I am the girl who would become the woman you know as Duchess."
Kovun studied her words for a moment before shaking his head, "This is crazy. But how are you here?" he asked gesturing to the world he was in.
"I was creating a new system to study individuals and their nature. I would take a copy of a persons brainscas to emulate them in a simulated space. I took a scan of my own brain as a test bed," she explained, Kovun noticing she was no longer joyfully swinging on the seat, "That was a few weeks before the accident that propelled me into becoming," she paused a long moment before finishing: "Her."
Kovun stared solemnly at her as he pieced together her meaning, "You don't like who you became?" he asked her gently.
"She's more machine now, than man," she said and then broke into a small smile after a few moments before standing up speaking as she moved towards him, "But I'm still here, in a way I will be unchanging so who I am will never be lost."
Kovun smiled at her in that shamelessly playful way that reminded her of his grandfather, 'The apple does not fall far from the tree,' she thought, 'Even if it did roll past an orchard on the way.'
"Your scans are now in her system," she said wryly, turning to watch the girl run around without care, "So this you will be here forever too."
He turned to follow her gaze, pondering her statement, when the girl stumbled over and fell to the ground with a crash. His instincts led him to begin to move forward, before a soft hand from Tara held onto his arm. They watched as the blue orb flashes a red light across her, scanning her.
"You should be more careful Mistress Arianna," the blue orb said as the light turned green and the cut on her arm was healed.
Kovun though had begun to bristle, his eyes slowly becoming white, sparks of a sort began to surge across him, before he felt a gentle kiss on his cheek, Tara's soft lips were moist and felt a little strange. Before he knew it his anger had gone and he turned to Tara, "What was..."
"Is that who you fear?" She asked, "A child?"
Kovun took a few steps back, and threw his arms out, "She's not a child in my time!" There was anger, and pain in his voice.
"But look," Tara said softly, her head gesturing towards the now smiling again little girl.
Kovun looked and found his anger subside again. This was his mother, as a child. The evil despot as an innocent little girl, "Why are you showing me this?" he said turning back to Tara, only to find that she had vanished.
"We all come from somewhere," the familiar voice came from behind him and as he turned he saw Duchess standing before him, "No one is born evil. The logic behind that train of thought is absurd, we are what the world and others make us. That cute girl you were just crushing on became me. Am I anything like Tara?"
Kovun could see, if only sort of, what she was saying, "No, you two are like completely different people," he stood for a moment pondering the words still, "Just as Grava, my mom... wasn't always Grava."
"You saw her as Arianna, a child, your anger bristled, but I felt it," Duchess said plainly, "Didn't you?"
"Felt what?" Kovun asked, confused.
"Compassion," Duchess replied, "You could not strike her down, even knowing who she became."
"I..." he said turning to look at the little girl, pausing for a long time, after which he turned to Duchess and said, "No, I couldn't."
"Good," Duchess said, "Your Grandfather, Marcus. He had visions of the Invasion, that is why he created the Warlords and molded the world for thier coming, he needed strength, not weakness. And he got strength. The weak perished. Your mother, Grava, she lived through that, she lost her father, she lost me, and her other sister Doom. The light poisoned her, as it poisoined your grandfather and will eventually poison you. That's in your genes I'm afraid, but after Grava is defeated. We'll need a different type of leader. A more compassionate leader."
"Look, I'm not really an Emperor type of guy," He said holding his hands up, "But my mom needs to be stopped."
"And she will be," Duchess said, "But I've been out there, across the stars, there are many threats looming. But we don't need just armies anymore, this is the birth of a galactic humanity. Think on what you will become after, remember her," Duchess said pointing to the little Arianna.
Kovun looked for a time before turning back, Duchess had gone, and then so did everything else. He finally woke from the Simulation.
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Post by MugiwaraBlair on Apr 18, 2018 23:37:16 GMT
Warlords Timeline
30: Boudicca is born in Celtic Britain 61: Boudicca dies, allegedly from self-poisoning 2000: Gensô Tenzin is born in Nagoya, Chûbu region, Japan 2002: Robert Dunharrow is born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA 2006: Marcus Reyes is born in Los Angeles, California, USA 2017: Gregory James Duraux is born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 2018: Timothy Hopkins is born in Chicago, Illinois, USA 2024: Marcus Reyes joins the US Military 2025: American-Chinese War begins, dubbed the Dawn of WWIII. Marcus Reyes is deployed to the Forbidden City. Hawk is born 2027: Odina Drakenberg is born in Aylmer, Québec, Canada 2032: "Joker" is born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada 2033: Katherine Dominike Wynter is born in Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. Tara Sterling is born in Honolulu, Oahu Island, Hawaii,USA 2036: Jackson is born. 2037: Marcus Reyes is contacted and offered a large sum of money to participate in an experimental research project 2038: Marcus Reyes is Forged, has an apocalyptic vision, razes The Facility and adopts Vokun as his moniker
2039: Wynter family residence is attacked by a Tank Division and a Company of Special Forces infantry, Nathan Wynter defeats all hostiles but suffers critical power use overload and is torn apart along with his wife and infant twins, eldest child Katherine Dominike Wynter survives and is taken in by Marcus Reyes as a pupil. Robert Dunharrow becomes Warlord Reznov. Gregory James Duraux accidentally snap freezes his brother and parents when his powers awaken, becomes Warlord Watcher. Timothy Hopkins' powers awaken, he accidentally cuts his fiancé and 500 bystanders to pieces, becomes Warlord Karatos.
2040: Boudicca's bones are retrieved in the United Kingdom and resurrected by the Forge, becomes Warlord Caedyrn. Gensô Tenzin is attacked by a group of Yakuza assassins, he kills them all but is permanently crippled, becomes Warlord Tenzin.
2042: Arianna Reyes is born in the Reyes Forge region, former USA east coast 2048: The Conquest starts. Tara Sterling is recruited by Warlord Vokun. Tara and Doom meet. 2049: Bai Min is born in Sanhe, Hebei, China. 2050: Doom is Forged. Wara Royal Guard is established. 2054: Warlords Rebellion breaks out, The Taming begins. Battle of the Fall of War Angels 2056: African Cabal unknowingly captures Arianna Reyes, their HQ is wiped out by Doom 2057: Fall of F.O.B. Alpha, Doom presumed KIA 2058: A clandestine Warfare and Assassination service called Wynter surfaces
2063: Wynter assaults the Rising Sun Empire and kills God Emperor Tenzin, Shoguns Katahide, Ujisato and Katsumoto are also killed. Wynter is revealed to be former Wara Royal Guard Captain Doom, subjected to Trials and Forged a second time, becomes Warlord Doom and is given rule over the Rising Sun Empire. RSE is renamed Land of the Rising Sun
2066: Kira Tymurovna Dragomirov is born in the ruins of Vladivostok, Dark Lands, former Russia 2067: The Invasion. Warlord Vokun vents the Forge into himself and releases the energy to wipe out the Destroyers leadership, dying in the process 2075: Kovun Reyes is born in the Reyes Forge Space Ark 2095: Duchess and Doom return from space exploration 2099: Warlord Kovun kills Empyrean Grava
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Post by MugiwaraBlair on May 6, 2018 3:10:57 GMT
Gods and Monsters
"Earlier you said one of the extinctions was caused by something 'not of our reality', sounds like damn bad news, mind telling me more about that ?"
"I gladly would. It is wise for a king, or any man, to be prepared. And we would never have met if sought to hoard my wisdom. However I'm not the best person to exposit on that subject, all I've seen is creatures cloaked in strangeness that befuddled me more than anything else. I remember them being weird and hard to kill and that's all I care to know. But there was one of us who saw their mind, caring to know didn't factor into what she learned. She is cursed to remember"
"Alright, where ?"
"Complex NA-01, The Den, another base of operations run by the same group as your Facility. But older, they built it in the mids 1800s"
"Then how do you know she's still there ?"
"Because everyone in it died somewhere in the late 50s, she just kept using it as her dwelling"
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Marcus' eyes glowed as he prepared to tear open the ground hatch, a massive meters thick blast door, but just as his power went to grip it he was stopped by his older companion.
"I wouldn't do that son, unwise to barge into a monster's home uninvited. You call yourself a god, open it by arm"
The Warlord grumbled in begrudged agreement as he started pulling the gigantic slab up over his head. He signaled Rakar to get in while he held it open before going in after him and lowering it back to a closed position behind him. They fumbled in the dark for a few moments but the facility's lights soon flickered on. They were at the top of a stairwell that descended deep into the earth. "Yeah fuck this" said Marcus after a brief look at the spiralling steps, before grabbing Rakar by the shoulder and jumping over the railing. He levitated slightly just before landing, barely enough to spare the other man the pain of regeneration. Looking around the bottom of the pit, the floor, walls and ceilings where covered in what seemed halfway between fungi and flesh, and the tunnels were lit not by electric globes but by bioluminescent pods.
"What the hell were they doing here ?"
"They only had one subject, this is her doing"
The pair were interrupted by a wail, joined by more and more as the two men delved into the tunnels in search of the source, which they found after a few minutes. Large segments of writhing bodies grown into the facets of the tunnel, or rather, the surfaces were grown into them. They were spread all over and at varying angles, all wailing unintelligibly in a disturbing cacophony. Going further revealed ever increasing amounts, peaking when they reached a large multi-story high central room absolutely littered with the forms. There the cacophony seemed focused into a demented chorus of despair and pain.
"The fuck is this ? There's gotta be a 1000 of them-
"Seven thousand three hundred and eighty-eight. That's how many humans worked here" The voice came from outside their field of view, it sounded as it's source looked like: a slender teenaged girl. She pale skin, long blond hair and bright blue eyes, wore torn jeans and long boots and a stripped t-shirt with star shapes on it.
"Don't be meldramatic, you're human too"
"Not anymore" the girl replied calmly, in a nearly flat matter-of-fact tone. "Arguably neither are they" she said glancing around, hinting at the wailing shapes.
Marcus spat. "These things are Facility employees ? From the fifties ?"
The girl gave him a dismissive nod as she addressed Rakar. "Who is he ?"
"He's a Facility subject from the other coast of this country, and the first of a new group of gods. He has been imbued with Golden Light and it showed him a vision of another extinction. He wants to take charge of the world to stop it. But he also wants to know about other threats, I brought him here to learn about what you saw"
"I can show"
Blindingly fast, like a snake springing forward to bite, the girl snapped her arms towards Marcus and took hold of his head, almost as if trying to dig her fingers into his skull. He started protesting but the images started flashing and he soon found himself surrounded by primitive tents made of sticks and animal skins. It seemed like a small tribe until he turned and saw a vast flat of wetlands filled with warriors. Many tribals drapped in animal skins, led by shamans wearing skulls and crowned with antlers, but also others with metal armor and shields and interspersed among them all stood massive beasts of various kinds.
The vision flashed forward. The assembled masses were charging, he jumped on a nearby protuding boulder to get an overview of the battlefield and saw they were running headlong into a tide of shifting flesh that dwarfed their numbers. The battle didn't dip in savagery for excruciating hours well into the night. But the ancients won. All turned and walked back to their camps. All but two tribals. One was Rakar, wearing a face identical to that of the man of accompanied him down here. The other was the young woman who was showing him this, her hair was a darker color and she was wrapped in pelts and bone shards, but it was the same girl. Rakar was talking to her but she seemed transfixed, one of her hands loosely holding an appendage of a dead creature, mouth half agape dripping with what he guessed was the same near-black purple substance that covered much of her face and front torso. Incoherent mumblings were the better of her replies.
Marcus couldn't recognize the words Rakar used either but somehow he felt their meaning. He was asking if she took their blood and their bones. He seemed upset and said the creatures weren't known to this world, that flesh-melding wasn't good if they didn't know if it was flesh. Unsafe, cursed. But understanding clearly took much concentration and Marcus lost track of time. He was taken out of his focused transe by the sunrise. Something was wrong though, the sunrise was only a thin line of light that passed over them, an immense shadow blotted the rest. His puzzlement was immediately cut short by the first unknown words out of the girl that he could sense the meaning of: "Not them, It"
Then he looked up at the shadow's caster. An island of bone at the crown of a tree made of muscles and veins. The limbs, if they could be called that, flailed wildly at the ground, as if trying a pale imitation of physical locomotion even though it was clearly drifting through space through no effort of its body. And despite its immensity the flailing wasn't devastating the terrain so much as unceremoniously crumbling it. The roots were whipping through the earth as they were through the air, turning the wet soil to sand and the solid ground beneath to dispersing clouds of dust. The air itself was also affected, the birds who came for the dead were falling from the sky as the winds vanished from under their wings and no currents swept away the ashes they became in their falls. As it got closer the grass turned ashen and faded away, as did the clouds and right above the entity the atmosphere itself faltered, taking even color from the very sky. Eventually even looking at it became harduous, as the thing's presence seemed to start annihilating either light itself, or perhaps deteriorate space.
The girl was suddenly snatched away towards it, run through by several of the tree's "roots". Marcus could feel the pain of the multiple impalement, as well as feel the appendages branching off inside, ensnaring and invading his organs and eventually his brain and nervous system. He also felt power pulsing, progressively concentrating to his brain, extending to mental anguish as well as physical. He got the impression that the being was pushing things into his, or rather the girl's, mind, but he wasn't seeing anything. He later thought she might have hid something from him, or spared him maddening sights, or maybe you just couldn't put a vision within a vision. In any case he couldn't spare idle reflections in the moment. After a time he couldn't measure the sensations died down considerably and then abruptly stopped.
Marcus fell to his knees as the grip around his skull released its grasp. He grunted and coughed but was quickly on his feet with a burning question cannoning past his lips.
"Why did it end ? How did it die ?"
"Powerful as it was, that thing was just another being with powers. It overused its abilities and the universe destroyed it, as it would any of us. Maybe that's not how it works wherever it came from but that's how power works here. Bend the universe too much and it snaps back on you. Gods can bend it farther and endure a good snapping but in the end everyone bows to it"
"No, I told you Rakar. Death doesn't kill it. Cosmos only kills inside. It is outside. It dipped. It comes back. Just needs a new door, but I close it, close it tight. Go make your gods new king, make them many, make them strong strong strong"
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Post by Knukails on May 8, 2018 2:13:21 GMT
I met him in Africa.
He sat next to me at some bar, posing as a traveler himself. I couldn’t place the accent or the odd smells of lotions & cologne. His thick black hair & beard held only the fairest bits of grey.
He quickly blew his cover in favor of forwardness. He said his name was Rakar. That name burned itself into the deepest parts of my mind.
He didn’t need to say he was like me…you could see it in his eyes. He said he was thirteen thousand years old, watched us grow from Mesopotamia till the current era.
As fantastic as his story was, there was no denying its validity. This mans word carved themselves into me as the brutal & honest truth. There are others like him. Very old…& very powerful. They existed as myths & gods for mankind dating so far back Rakar notes that he’d seen things like them before he knew to keep count of time. . . .
As we walk under the glowing stars & outstretched arm of Orion he regals me with his grandest & must punishing truth. “The Earth has fought against extinction many times in her history”. “In the era before record, the first “Gifted” fought against snarling misshapen hordes that flowed out from the earth”. “I led the seeds of civilization with the beasts of the sprawling jungle against a being not of our reality”.
“I survived the Flood, watched & fought with Gilgemesh to save the cradle of humanity, hunted worshippers of the Thing that sought to evolve much like the poor whelps that were caught in its thrall”.
“I came face to face with the fruits of their depravity”. “A woman with a touch so toxic she wiped out cities by simply walking through them”. “I met the Lord of Thunder as he fought against the fanatics of The Temple”. “Helplessly i stood by as Ragnarok consumed all The Raven One knew…unleashed by the very men that lifted him to his Throne”.
“Many more places, many more monsters, you get the idea”. “Until they created their perfect evolution… albeit using the ultimate unnatural method”. “Vokun, Destroyer of the Facility”. Rakar smiled dangerously. A smile he knows few great leaders have seen. “I eagerly await to see what you become”.
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