NationStates Jolt Archive

0200 Hours, Joint Cherry Ridge/Dersconi Merchant Fleet
Four ships were in a regular diamond formation. The lead ship, and the ship taking up the rear were Ridgian, the center ships were Dersconi. It was foggy, and the crew tired. On the lead ship, the officer of the deck called the Captain.
"Captain, theres soemthing up ahead."

"Like what?"

"It looks like land, Captain."

"Thats...impossible. There is no land anywhere near here."

"Its soemthing large sir. Its gaining. 500 yards and closing...fast."

"Damn it! Brace for collision!"

"300...200...100..."
A huge scraping ground racked the ship as a message was sent to the rest of the ships.

Full reverse, your on a...collision course!
----------------
Father James O'Reilly was awaken by a huge scratching sound.
"What in the name of the Virgin Mary, all the saints and all the souls in purgatory was that!" he exclaimed. He threw on his stole, as he did not want to get his collar on, and stormed onto the deck.
"What was that!"

"We do not know Father."

"I'll find out myself."

"Father...no!" It was too late, the priest had grabbed a crucifix, and staggered out of the ship."

"My God.. its land!"
he thrust the crucifix into the ground and proclaimed,
I hereby claim these isles in the name of Jesus Christ the Holy Redeemer! The Isles of Redemption!"
Then a flying object struck his heart and he collapsed.

OOC: Tag.

The members of the Lightning quail tribe stood staring at the strange men who had appeared at their shore. The youngest among them, frightened, had shot the man on the beach in the heart. The others were not so violent. They made signs of peace, and tried to apologize with wild gesturing.

OOC: Hold on for a sec:

Ghenchu, sorry, but ICly, you don't know about this yet. Don't worry, you will soon. And NYC, did you get permission from CR? Because I know I didn't give you permission to RP the natives.
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HMS Saint Hillaire, Dersconi Diplomatic Vessal

The second of the Beautiful Angel-class diplomatic naval ship, the HMS Saint Hillaire was well-armed, considering it's status as a "diplomatic vessal" -- Normally 16" guns aren't on diplomatic vessals, but that's Derscon for you. On board was Captain Reinhardt Klein, a leading naval officer who is on the staff of Fleet Admiral Marko Zimmerov, the commander of the Imperial Superfleet. -- the mere mention of the name of Zimmerov gave respect, nevertheless being on his staff.

In the CIC, the Captian was overlooking some of the digital readouts.

"What the hell...?"

"What?" Captain Klein walked over to the petty officer at the 3-D holodisplay of the surroundings.

"Sir, our sensors are picking up an island in front of us." Just then, the bridge called down to the CIC.

Sir! Land ahead! 1000metres!

To make matters worse, a message from the lead CR vessal came in.

Full reverse, your on a...collision course!

"Shit, FULL STOP, FULL STOP!" The message was shouted down the intercom to the engine and bridge as everyone in the CIC stared at the display as it counted down.

800....700....600....500

And the ship stopped at 500 meters, to the relief of everyone on board.

The Saint Hillaire continued (at a much slower pace) toward the large island, until finally the readings were flashing the "too shallow" message. The ship was halted, and the small craft unhooked from the deck. However, the sailors were halted when the Captain came on the speaker system.

Soldiers and sailors, Father James O'Reilly was struck down. Prepare to
recieve him and get him to the medical bay.

As if on cue, a small boat came up to the side of the craft, and Father James was raised into the boat and rushed to the medical bay, while Captain Klein sat and thought about the new discovery.

ooc-What do you mean I do not know?

ooc- N Y C, you did not get permission to RP the natives

Ghenchu, only the Ridgian and Dersconi ships know about this land right now, they haven't radioed back yet
You know OOC, but not ICly.
-------
The Captain of the lead ship got on the radio, and just maneged to send a message back to Cherry Ridge.
Land foud. Coordinates are The line went fuzzy, and the radioed died.
------
Back in Cherry Ridge, at the Office of Strategic Services, a rradio messgae was recieved. Tracked by sattelites, they found the location.
"What the hell?" stammered a sattelite technician. He logge donto a Ridgian sattelite, and found a diamond formation of ships. He found a log of the sattelites feed, and noticed about three hours ago, they had strayed off course. They were a Ridgian/Dersconi Merchant Fleet. He zoomed into the main ship, and saw...land.
"Immpossible!" In the open expanse of Ocean was an undiscovered piece of land. No one traveled this area of the sea so it was possible. Zooming in more, and switching to infrared, he noticed another thing, someone else: natives. The information was quickly sent to the Dersconi MSS.
------
The information was also sent tot he Ridgian High Command. The technician hesitated, then sent a message to another place: The Catholic Church.

OOC:sorry..*slinks off*

ooc- Slow down, Ghenchu, we are not trying tol be jerks, but the churcvh was meant as in CR. They ahvent released it to any other diocese. Jsut save your posts until later. JWhen we do release it, just say that they happened then.

The Czar read over the reports from MSS, which contained the transmission of the Captain of the CR ship as well as from the HMS Saint Hillaire.

"How many other leaders know of this?" The Czar asked. Yuri Golovko, the Minister of State security, shook his head.

"None, other than King Antonette." Czar Alexei put down the documents and pushed the button for his secretary.

"Emily, patch me through to King Antonette." After the signal went through, and a few minutes, they were connected. (OOC: Liberties, liberties, yes, but it's not that important)

"John? This is Alexei. I assume you got the message, too?"
==============================================================
Archangel-class Ultracarrier HMS Raphael

The Island of Hope Waters

Admiral Bushui Samodelkov looked at his new orders. "New land, wow." He sent the coordinates to CIC and then handed the coordinates off to the current navigator.

"Head here, we've got some things to take care of."

"Sir, this is a Marine Anphibious Training situation at the moment."

"New orders from the top. Do you want to tell the CZAR why we couldn't comply with His orders?"

"Uh...no, sir."

"Good, then go for it."

The re-deployed HMS Raphael sent the coordinates out to the rest of the small carrier escort group, as well as the anphibious assault ships, currently occupied by a small battalion of Marines, who were quickly being sent to their quarters on board the Raphael. Once that was complete, they all set sail to the new discovery.

Admiral Samodelkov knew this was going to be a well-kept secret, and if any other nations knew about it, it was because they were there to discover it, or the person that told them was shot already.

Phone Conversation
"I did, because it was my OSS that sent your MSS the message, Alexei." he said laughing slightly,
"What should we do? I think we should inform other Prussian leaders, but wanr them that the international community does not find out, or they disappear. I am dispatching OSS agents to the island to find out what the hell is on it, and what te exact situation is."
---------
A plane holding ten OSS operatives was enroute to the island.
30 Minutes to drop. Captain William Connor looked out at the open expanse of water. He sighed.
This will be an interesting assignment, he thought.

Phone Conversation
"I did, because it was my OSS that sent your MSS the message, Alexei." he said laughing slightly,
"What should we do? I think we should inform other Prussian leaders, but wanr them that the international community does not find out, or they disappear. I am dispatching OSS agents to the island to find out what the hell is on it, and what te exact situation is."

"Not yet," Alexei responded. "We should keep it to ourselves until we figure out exactly what is there. Oh, and I have a small carrier battle group headed that way. I'll send some paramilitary forces over there to back you up. Have your men radio the HMS Saint Hillaire when they touch ground, and I'll have my men drop and link up with you.
=================================================
Smolensk Air Force Base, Derscon

"All of you suited up?" The Air Force master sergeant asked the black-suited members of the Delta Force.

"Yeah, we're ready. Let's head off." All of the crew and the Force members got into the Osprey-II VTOL and set off towards the new land.

The team parachuted out of th eplane, and landed on the beach, scattered. After regrouping, they radioed the Dersconi ship,
This is the OSS team in the, ah, Redemption Isles. Radioing in alerting you to our prescense.
After that, the team hit the sand as an arriw whizzed by. Taking their SMGs, they fired into the forest, They heard scattering, and the Captain threw a grenade. The jungle flashed with light, and then their was silence.
The team approached the grounded Ridgian ship, and burst downt he door.
"Office of Strategic Services!" They were briefed on what had happened. They then awaited the Dersconi's arrival.
-----
3 minutes before
Phone Conversation
"Good idea. My sattelite link up" he said, pausing as a new report came , "says there is actually an arc of islands."

This is the OSS team in the, ah, Redemption Isles. Radioing in alerting you to our prescense.

We hear you. We've got your signal locked on.

But no plane.
============================================================
============================================================
3 minutes before
Phone Conversation
"Good idea. My sattelite link up" he said, pausing as a new report came , "says there is actually an arc of islands."

"Yes, I see it, too. I'm getting the MSS live feed. Wait a minute, no, it's more than an arc, it's....Jesus Christ, that's weird."
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============================================================
The Osprey-II hovered over the CR beached ship, and ten things flew out of the back of the plane as the Osprey turned around to land on the Raphael, which was about 100 miles out.

The ten Delta Force operatives made a soft and quiet landing on the beach, quickly burying their parachutes in the sand and heading under the cover of rocks and dunes to the ship and the OSS officers.

"Good morning, folks. How's the island looking today? Heard your weather for today is mostly cloudy with possible arrow showers."

"We scared 'em off." said the Captain, "Though I bet they will be back, if not, we will chase them."
----
Phone Conversation
"What in the hell can you call that? Its...its huge! How many miles apart are they? How did we miss them before? I wonder why no one ever goes out that way."

Anyone?

Star Office

"Here, John, I'll fax you the full map. Your satellites might not be able to pick some of the stuff up."

http://s3.invisionfree.com/Greater_Prussia/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=7946289

"See the big island? All-seeing Eye-looking? Freaky. I want some people to go and look to see what the hell made that."

"My sattelites have picked it up alright. That is freaky. It looks almost satanist." He sipped his coffee, which was just broought out to him, and placed it down. While briging his hand back up, he accidently did some thing stupid.
"Shit. I just accidently sent allt he information, coordinates, map, and all to Cardinal De Vito. That man will have missionarys out there before you know it. I never closed the chat we were having before."
A message popped up on the screen:
Cardinal De Vito: Thanks John.
-----------------
Father Joseph Marco of the Archdicoese of Cherry Ridge was flying to the isles of Redemption on the same type of plane as the OSS team had.
A little while later
The plane landed on a Ridgian carrier, and was taken to the main Isle by helicopter.
The OSS team sprung out, and the priest calmly said,
"Father Joseph Marco, Archdicoese of Cherry Ridge. Sent onder orders by His Eminence Cardinal De Vito." He showed him ID.
Captain Conners stared blankly, then sighed. The priest wore a clerical shit (short sleave) with a jacket over it. He wore body armor underneath, as he had heard of the arrows. He started into the horizon, and the comming dawn, and said,
"Good God, I pray for that priest that was shot."

OOC: One of my large tags.

The spy sattelite sat in high orbit, beaming the information back to the relay stations, further out, Alpha Centuri had one such station... Noone really knew why it was still active, the SIE-CR wars were over 300 years in the past.

On its aging sensors, it could pick up the movements of the Cherry Ridge vessels, it didn't really care about the Dersconi, whom it only made a vague reference to in the log it compiled.

It also spent a few seconds running a self evaluation. The camera lens had been scheduled some two and a half centuries previously for replacment, its orbit was degrading, which would cause it to crash, and the AI had developed what some would call, split personalities, to cope with the long silences.

Sending the message back to fleet HQ, it was comfortable in the knowledge that is was the last one of its kind left, and that after so long without maintanance, it was still working.

(ooc:Just wondering when i can enter the field!)

OOC: BUMP! Sorry, never had time. Should have time over the weekend.

HMS Raphael

The Admiral in charge -- ironically named Raphael -- read the message from the Kremlin and shrugged as he called Deck One.

Prepare for landing of missionary and guards.

As if on cue, the Osprey II was seen on the horizon, making its way through the clear night sky onto one of the flight decks of the Raphael. What the hell...? The Admiral couldn't see it all that well, but it seemed like there were ten black-cloaked men and one very flashy one. I believe the bright one is the missionar....Jesus Christ... Admiral Raphael's thoughts trailed off when he realized what the missionary was wearing -- the cloak, armor and staff of the Knights Templar. God, that's Blazhei Voikinov.

Blazhei Voikinov was one of the most influencial religious leaders in Derscon. As a member of the Central Committee of the Protestant Council, as well as a ranking member of the "Knights of God," the self-proclaimed incarnation of the original Knights Templar.

The Admiral ajusted his tie as he opened the door out onto the deck of the carrier to greet Blazhei.

"Admiral! It's been awhile." Raphael smiled.

"Indeed it has, Blazhei. Right this way, please." At that moment, a motorboat pulled up along side the Archangel carrier and the shot priest was hoisted up to a lower-level bay and rushed to the medical ward. Voikinov looked puzzled.

"Cherry Ridge had a priest out there, but he was shot by a savage arrow. He probably won't make it." Blazhei whispered a small prayer.

"I hope he does."

OOC: Ran out of time. Second part coming tomorrow or Wednesday.

Father Marco stepped off the ship onto the sand, again. He looked out over the sea, and whispered to himself,
"I bet the Dersconis had the same idea as the Cardinal. I wonder who they will send as my counterpart."
He wandered back onto the beached ship, and went into the fallen priest's room. He placed his leather suitcase on the desk, and threw his jacket off. He took out his collar, and placed it on the desk. He sighed, and waited for more information.
---
Meanwhile, Captain Conners sat in a chair. His men were on the ships deck, weapons aimed at the woods, prepared for any attack from the natives. He had a command post on the bridge. The Captain of the ship was ordered to get some rest.

Blazhei Voikinov was overlooking the beachhead from the Bridge of the Raphael when he saw the Ridgian camp near the shore. They can't reach that Temple at the top, he thought. Not before I do, anyways. There is too much there for them to ruin.

Blazhei boarded a small motor craft with the Delta Force operatives and sped towards the island under the cover of darkness. The soldiers pulled the boat up to the beach and disembarked with their packs, battle suits, and rifles, and Blazhei Vokinov stepped off the craft wearing his "dress" Knights Templar cloak and armour suit. The Dersconis made their way to the beached ship and requested permission to come aboard.

OOC: 'tis a bad post, but meh.

Captain Conners eyed the man suspicously, then nodded for them to come in. He also sent for Father Marco. As a subordinate went off to get the priest, Captain Conners said to the man dressed in Templar attire,
"Welcome aboard."
----
Father Marco heard a knock.
"Come in" he said.
An OSS agent walked in,
"The Captain requests you on the bridge, Father."

"Of course." he replied, "Let me get my collar and jacket on." He did so, then, with a second thought, got his pocket stole, and placed it in his kacet pocket, carefully. He strolled up tot he bridge. When he saw Voikinov, he stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at him, and blurted,

"Blazhei Voikinov! President of the Central Protestant Commitee in Derscon, and obviously a member of the Knights of God." he then continued,
"I am Father Joseph Marco, of the archdiocese of Cherry Ridge. Nice to meet you. I presume you will join me on the trip up to that strange temple?"

"Thank you, Captain. I hope you don't mind if these soldiers are armed." The Knight looked around the beached ship, surveying his surroundings when Father Marco walked in.

"Blazhei Voikinov! President of the Central Protestant Commitee in Derscon, and obviously a member of the Knights of God." he then continued,
"I am Father Joseph Marco, of the archdiocese of Cherry Ridge. Nice to meet you. I presume you will join me on the trip up to that strange temple?"

Blazhei smirked and turned around when Marco introduced himself. Voikinov stuck out his hand. "It seems my reputation proceeds me, even with a Ridgian Catholic. I suppose I'm not too well-liked where you're from. However, it is nice to meet you. And yes, we will be going to that temple. Not now, though. Dawn is approaching, we shouldn't move then."

The Captain said,
"Of course not. My men are guarding the shp from native attacks."

The priest replied,
"Your reputation is not that great, I just know who you are. I looked into the Templars for a little bit, as well as those who claim descent."

The Captain said,
"Of course not. My men are guarding the shp from native attacks."

The priest replied,
"Your reputation is not that great, I just know who you are. I looked into the Templars for a little bit, as well as those who claim descent."

"Ah, well, it seems like the Ridgians don't know much about me then. But yes, the Templars are a fascinating subject, are they not? Such mystery involved in them." He took a sip of water and turned to the captain.

"Make sure your men don't wander off in the day. If I know these people, they will kill them in an instant. But they don't operate at night -- ever." Blazhei turned back to Father Marco.

"Tomorrow night we shall depart to the temple. Is that okay with you? If so, we should sleep now."

After hearing Blazhei say that they do not operate at night, Marco said, sternly,
"If they don't, then why did they shoot at the men! They obviously were out patroling the area. That means one other thing: other inhabitants. We will set out at the beginning of dusk, a good compromise."

After hearing Blazhei say that they do not operate at night, Marco said, sternly,
"If they don't, then why did they shoot at the men! They obviously were out patroling the area. That means one other thing: other inhabitants. We will set out at the beginning of dusk, a good compromise."

"They shot because it wasn't yet night for them -- they stop operating when the sun is just about to fall under the horizon. You still had a good half-hour before the sun dropped. Besides, if you were a native and saw a massive metallic whale run aground, wouldn't your curiousity get the better of you?

"but if you want to go out at dusk, armour yourself, and bring weapons."

"I will not bring any weapons. I willb e escorted, but will not shoot any myself. I already have body armour on. And since when are you the expert on these natives?" said Father Marco. He then asked, half sarcastically, half suspiciously, "Is it some Templar secret that these "Knights of god" know about?" Captain Conners let out a slight laugh, but quickly supressed it.

"I will not bring any weapons. I willb e escorted, but will not shoot any myself. I already have body armour on. And since when are you the expert on these natives?" said Father Marco. He then asked, half sarcastically, half suspiciously, "Is it some Templar secret that these "Knights of god" know about?" Captain Conners let out a slight laugh, but quickly supressed it.

Blazhei's eyes grew cold, and his piercing green eyes bore into Marco's.

"Yes."

Sensing the tension, the Delta Force leader interjected. "Well, the sun is about to come up, so I suggest we all get some rest. Captain, sir, do you mind if we set up camp here on the ship? It will save travel time. I can set up a direct link with the Raphael if you want."

Father Marco's eyes locked with Blazhei's eyes for a few moments, until the Delta Force leader interjected.
Captain Conners ewpliws,
"Of course I don't mind, we may need them later on."

A smirk developed on the priest's face,
"Or in case the Templars attack."

Father Voikinov nodded at Father Marco, ignoring the insult. "Well, we're going at night, so they won't take the offensive. If you attack them, though, expect to be attacked."

"Alright," the Delta Force leader replied to the Captain. "Where can I set up the link, and do you think you could have someone show my men to their quarters? I don't mean to intrude, but we don't know the ship very well."

"I suppose I should be heading to bed, also -- we all, should." Blazhei turned to the Captain. "Where do you have room for me to catch a few before we embark?"

"Your men can stay in the same place my men are. Just ask one, and they will show you the way. Feel free to set the link up anywhere, you have freee roam of the ship, just use common sense. Your quarters, as team leader, will be the XO's suite."
The Captain said to Voikinov,
"I believe there is another chaplains room open."
Father Marco offered to show the Protestant Knight the way to his quarters,
"I'll show you the way, Blazhei." He started walking, and waited for him to follow.

The team leader nodded. "Thank you, sir. Men, follow the Ridgian soliders to your rooms." The rest of the Delta Force soldiers walked off behind their escort when the leader turned back to the captain. "The most logical place would be the bridge or the CIC. Your choice -- your ship."

Blazhei, however, ignored all that and followed Marco to the chaplain's quarters.

"OSS Agents, not soldiers. I guess on the bridge is where you can set it up though."
---
Father Marco led Blazhei to his quarters, opened the door, and said,
"If you need anything, my room is right next door. The chapel is right across the hall. The eucharist is not in reserve, presently. You have your own bathroom." He handed himt he keys and said,
"Have a good rest, I think we will need it later."

The Delta Force team leader shrugged. "At this point, sir, it doesn't particularly matter. They're armed allies, I don't honestly care what branch they're from. They're dangerous, and they're on my side, I'm I don't care where they came from."

The Delta Force team leader immediately began setting up the communications console on the bridge, which took a whopping minute and a half to set up, and another thirty seconds to finalize the encryption.

Delta Force: Raphael, this is Archangel's Arrow. Do you read me?
Raphael: Archangel's Arrow, this is Raphael, we read you loud and clear.
Delta Force: Excellent. I'll keep her up the entire time, just give a buzz if need be.
Raphael: And you.
- - - - -- -- -- -- --- --- --- --- ---- --- --- --- --- -- -- -- -- - - - -
Voikinov accepted the keys and used them to open the door. "Thank you, Marco. You have a good rest, also. We will both need it." With that, he headed into his room to rest until sundown.

OOC: Um, right, CR? Post.

ooc- It was your turn to wait

ic-
As the sun began its dip over the horizon, Father Marco woke. He out on black pants and a clerical shirt, with a bullet proof vest. He blessed himself. He put on a heavy, black, jacket, and put a bottle of Holy Water, a rosary, and a small stole into his pocket. He went into the chapel, and kissed the altar, and begged to be allowed to live. After this, he went into the hallway, and knocked on Blazhei's door, and said through it,
"The time has come."

Vokinov's eyes snapped open from his meditation on his bed when Father Marco knocked on the door. Damnit, I was nearly done with the connection! He shook it off, stretched, and dressed into another, more modern Templar battle dress (consisting of Kevlar fibers and diamond on the chest plate). He put on his boots and picked up his diamond sword, which also had rubies encased in it in the shape of the Knight's Cross. He also slipped an MP7 into his cloak, just in case.

He opened the door after saying a small prayer, and walked up to Father Marco. "So it is." Blazhei finally clipped on his battle belt, pushed the scabbard of his famous Diamond Sword to his right side (he was left-handed), and followed Marco to the bridge.

The Delta Force operatives were already there and suited up. The commander was carrying a modified version of The Macabees' BDU-66 equipped to coincide with the Dersconi Future Warrior program, and held a XM29-C, and was also carrying two White Phosphorous grenades, two Frag grenades, an MEU(SOC).45 as a sidearm, and a M3A2 MAAWS rocket launcher.

The team was divided up into two squads of four men each, plus the Commander and two other members along with the commander. The two team leaders both were armed and armoured in the same way. The other members were armed simply with XM8s, the MEU(SOC).45, two WP grenades, and two frag grenades. However, each team member had different aux. weapons and different modifications to the XM8 available. One member of each team had the modifications to turn the XM8 into a light machine gun (consisting of a barrel change and a 100 round drum magazine), one member had a grenade launcher attachment, and another had the modifications to turn the XM8 into a marksmen's rifle. Also, each member had the modifications to turn it into the carbine version. However, each had their own auxillary weapons (as the rocket launcher was to the team leaders). The one who had the mods to make the marksmen's rifle also carried a Barret E99 .50 antimaterial rifle, the one who had the grenade launcher carried a series of claymore mines and satchel charges, and the one who had the mods to make the light machine gun carried an extra barrel and lots of extra magazines, instead of an actual auxillary weapon. And of course, all members of the team were wearing the modified Dersconi versions of The Macabees' BDU-66 armour.

They all came to attention when Blazhei walked into the room, and he saluted back, and turned to Marco.

"So, who else is coming?"

"The lord Jesus." Captain Conners walked out and said,
"My men will guard the ship, incase of an attack when you are gone."

Father Marco removed his stole, kissed it, and placed it around his neck.
"Let us pray. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen" The Ridgian Agents all crossed themselves.
"Lord, you are the light of the world. May you protect us on this journey, and prevent uneccessary bloodshed. We ask Saint Michael to protect us with this prayer, if it be your will, Father." The group prayed,
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen

The Priest opened his Holy Water bottle, and sprikled all with water. When hit, Ridgians crossed themselves. He took out the rosary, blessed it, and set it down.
"And now, because there is no time to hear confessions, I absolve you all, In the Name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit."

He walked over, and handed the Captain of the OSS the Holy Waer and Rosary, "Pray for us, and leave this bottle somewhere where people can bless themselves."
"Yes, Father"
"May the Almighty Father protect you and this ship, and may all the Saints protect you and your men, and all the angels watch over you. Father, Son, Holy Spirit."
"Amen."

Father Marco then removed his stole, and placed it back in his pocket. He straightened his collar and said,
"Blazhei, would you like to say a prayer?"

The Dersconi soldiers participated in Father Marco's small prayer service, and when Blazhei was asked to do a prayer, he shook his head.

"I need not say more; you have done enough for all of us. Anything I do will be useless fluff. Now, I believe we must set off, no?"

"I agree." As they walked out the door, and onto the sand, the Captain yelled,
"Godspeed!" Marco turned, nodded, and was off. He approcahed Blazhei, walked with him, and whispered,
"Why all this equipment for fighting natives? A modern country does not own this, but, who does? Tell me the truth? Why would you be sent? Templars?"

Blazhei just smiled as Marco questioned him. "Well, Marco, this is the standard equipment for a team of Delta Force soldiers. And I am here for the same reason you are here, Father -- a missionary." Volkinov knew Marco didn't believe him -- why should he? He's one of the most powerful men in Derscon, and he's a Templar. And how else does he know so much about these natives?

It's a connection any fourth grader could make -- correctly. I will tell him later.

A crackle over the intercom was heard. "This is Delta Alpha Two. I see fire beyond that hill."

"Delta Alpha Two, this is Delta Prime. I see your position and I see the fire. Take a perch over that big hill over there, see if you can get a better look, and asess the hostility level. I want to avoid engagement, but if we must engage....

"Quelch the resistance before it can start."

"Delta Team, this is Delta Alpha. I'm getting a reading. It seems like it is some kind of ceremony. Alpha Three, set your gun up in those bushes, and Two, get your rifle trained on that fire, pinpoint a leader. I don't like this."

"Yessir," was the synchronized reply from the Alpha squad. Blazhei turned to Father Marco when the conversation was over.

"This may get ugly."

They haven't spotted us yet, sir.

Good, make your w...wait a minute, what the hell is that?

I have no idea, sir, but...wait...people? They look armed.

Shit, they are. Hold off, though, they haven't spotted us yet.

Sir, I don't think they are here for us.

Volkinov and Marco looked at each other inquisitvely after hearing the exchange.

"Come on, let's have a look." The two men of the cloth (and armour) belly-crawled their way up the hill and looked down at the natives. "It looks like some kind of satanic ritual," Blazhei commented. His eyes went wide. "Is that a human sacrifice?"


SHIT! Army on the hill moving in! Hunker down, folks!

Alpha One, This is Delta Leader. Hold fire, we don't know what they're doing yet.

But they soon found out.

When the small armed band came into view, they were wearing the old uniform of the Middle Ages Templars, and they were carrying swords and bows, but some of the ones in the back had muskets, and a few had full-blown rifles. The villiagers, though, had only rocks and stick/stone spears, and a few bows.

To sum it up, it was a massacre.

The Templars swarmed in on the villiage from three sides, slicing down the natives before they could even pick up something to fight back. The villiagers in the middle managed to pick up a few things to fight back, but it was in vein, as they were cut down by the advance guard.

The entire scene was over in under thee minutes, the Templars gazing over the destruction they caused.

Christ in Heaven....

Over the hill came three more characters. Two of them were heavily armoured -- very ceremoniously, also -- looking like old Roman Praetorian Guards than mideval knights. The man in the centre, though, was wearing robes that looked like an old cardinal's robe.

They couldn't hear anything, but Blazhei, Marco, and the Delta Force leader could easily see what was going on.

"Sir, it looks like he's the boss-man, or close to it," the Delta Captain said to Blazhei.

"Indeed," was the Knight of God's response. "Looks like he's congradulating them."


Down in the villiage, the bodies of the natives were being stacked in the center, and the houses were being knocked down, their remains also being placed in the center. Two knights brought over something in a case, and threw it on the pile, lighting it. Two catapults on the other side of the hill lobbed the strange stuff onto the pile, setting it -- and the rest of the villiage -- ablaze.


"Christ, that's Greek Fire." Blazhei Volkinov shook his head at the thought. "Impossible."

Yet it burned fairly well, as when all of the Templars were gone, it was only ten minutes or so until the villiage was burnt down, the fire starting to die. They were gone as quickly as they had come.


Christ, sir, what the hell was that?

I don't know, but whatever it was, that army didn't like those villiagers.

Indeed, sir. Blitzkreig doesn't even begin to describe it.

Father Marco stood up, and stared at Blazhei,
"You have a lot of explaining to do." He began to walk down tot he village, and poked around. He found nothing except ashes. He called Blazhei down, and said,
"They are brutal, they left nothing. Now, please explain."

Blazhei simply stared at the destruction as they wandered the burnt down villiage. "How...?" His voice trailed off as he tried to conjure up an explanation. Why would they do something like this? And how were they so efficient? Volkinov simply could not think of any possible reason that could explain what just occured.

Father Marco, however, thought differently. "They are brutal; they left nothing. Now, please explain." The Knight of God, though, had no explanation -- he didn't know what to say. He had no idea what just happened, and besides: Father Marco wouldn't believe anything he said anyways. So he just ignored the CR priest and turned to the Delta Force team commander.

"Follow them, let's see where they came from."

"Yes, sir."

Visual contact established. Damn, that's a big hill.

Volkinov and Marco were in the middle with the commander, while Alpha team was up ahead, scouting. Up at the top of the hill, the Alpha team was forming a defensive position at the peak while the two Men of the Cloth and the team commander finally got to the top.

OOC: Oh hell, time. Bastard evil Father Time!

"No answer?" he sighed. He turned and looked him directly in the eye,
"They were dressed like Templars. Now, this may sound crazy, but you know as well as I do that many Templars escaped. Could it be..." His voice trailed off at his last comment.

Blazhei raised an eyebrow at Father Marco.

"That is a possible situation, but that's a large leap. The actual Templars have been dead for over fifteen hundred years."


"Don't be so sure of that," was the response from the Delta Force Commander. "Come look over here." The two preachers looked at each other and followed the Delta Force commander over the hill.

"Oh my God....." In front of them lied a gated path in between two what looked like man-made mountain ridges, guarded by two people -- again, dressed as Templars -- and the path went up the mountain, and opened up at what looked like some sort of city at the top.

However, it wasn't the gate that got the statement from Volkinov, it was what looked like a massive structure that looked exactly like Andropov Tower back in Rekjyavich-Andropov Military City, as well as the fact the city seemed to glimmer as if it was made out of gold.

"We must get up there."

"Before we shoot, let's try my approach." he flipped out his stole, and put it around his neck.
"Cover me, and pray for me." He walked out of the brush and said,

"Pax et bonum!" Peace and Salvation.

The two guards at the gate looked at each other in confusion. What is a bishop doing here? Both gate guardians were quite confused in the matter. However, they were more interested in the person wearing the armour of a Grand Bishop -- a spiritual and military commander. And what is he doing travelling with a Catholic bishop? The reached for their swords and pushed them out a little, but did not unsheathe them.

"And what is a Bishop doing out in these parts?" the guard on the left asked Father Marco. The other one was more concerned about the Grand Bishop.

Father Marco looked confused for a second and said,
"Bishop? I am only a priest?" It then dawned on him : these were templars. They also had no contact with the outside world.
"Your order was supressed by Celement V, correct? You then journeyed here? You missed the Second Vatican Council. There were a lot of changes in the church since then. Gentlemen, I request that I be aloud to see your leader." He then made a quick hand motion for Blazhei to approach as well.

The guard spat as Marco mentioned Clement. "Yes. That bastard was the one that destroyed us. But he forgot one thing: we could be destroyed, but never defeated. We would always come back in one form or another."

As Blazhei Volkinov came forward, the guards were in awe at the...newness...of his armour, as well as the exotic sword he carried. Unfortunately for them, though, they were unaware of the Delta Force team scattered about. Blazhei, seeing that he created a sense of confusion and awe in them, decided to keep his mystic appearence and did not speak, only glanced around.

"So," one of the guards asked. "Why do you want to speak with our leader?"

"We have just arrived here, and we have never heard of this place before, to be honest. We wish to speak with him to clear some things up, such as where we are. I also wish to tell him of the changes in the church and new advances in the world."

The guard glanced suspiciously at the priest, but shrugged. "I'll go see if you can come. I will be back shortly, please wait here." The guard then opened the gate, let himself in, and closed it, and disappeared around the rock walls of the crevice.

After five minutes of waiting, Blazhei turned to Marco, a bit annoyed. "You'd think they'd be back by now! Something smells fishy." Father Marco shrugged.

"Give them some time, they'll be back soo--" Father Marco was cut off by a flaming arrow cutting past them and sticking into the rock, two inches from Marco's head.

They both looked up and saw a mass of Templar soldiers -- some on horseback, some on foot -- marching towards them. Evidentally, there were other ways of getting down from the top to the bottom, but not from the bottom, up.

Shit! There's hundreds of them! Pull back! Pull Back! The Delta Force commander immediately grabbed Blazhei and Marco by the collar and pulled them behind a rock as the Templars began tossing what looked like a mideval form of napalm, as well as vollies upon vollies of flaming arrows.

Run! Back to the ship, NOW!

Typically, the Delta Force never ran from battle, but the force leader made an exception when three hundred and fifty-three templars started charging them.

Thankfully for the retreating Dersigian party, the automatic weapons fire of the rifles the Delta Force carried yielded the advance, if only for enough time to run around the hills and charge back to the ship.




The party finally made their way to the ship and boarded it, thankfully without taking any fatalities, but the Templars were beginning to swarm around the boat. On the Bridge, the Delta Force commander could see artillery being rolled in from the hills.

"Big guns, coming in in about...oh...fifteen minutes. They're going to try and lay seige!"

At that point, a knock on the boat door was heard. A ranking Templar knight was aat the door, holding a declaration from the Grand Knight Council, waiting for the Dersigian Party to accept.

Ridgian OSS agents fired on the Templars before rushing inside with the rest of the men from Delta Force.
--
Father Marco rushed to the door, and yelled though it.
"What in the name of God do you want!"

He also quickly and quietly told a Ridgian to send a message to the Cardinal (who would alert the King) as to what happened.

"You know, Your Excellency," the Templar responded. "For being a Bishop, it is not a good sign of the current state of the Chruch that a ranking member of their hierarchy is using the Good Lord's name in vain. May I enter?"


Inside the ship, the Delta Force commander nodded to MArco. "Let him in, he won't do anything. If he tries, he dies." The entire team of the Delta Force were scattered about the room, with their rifles trained on the door. "Let him in, we'll cover you."

Marco let him in and ignored the snub.
"I am not a Bishop, but a presbyter. Things changed in the church. Maybe if the Templars had not runb away fromt heir problems, you would know that." He said, in retaliation for his remark. He calmed down and sexplained, "In the 1960's, there was a church council. Things changed in the church. You, I am afraid, would not recognise the mass, though those from the early church would." He continued,
"Now, what is it that you want?"

The Templar raised an eyebrow at Marco's snide remark. "Ran away? What were we supposed to do, as the vile Catholic Church's Inquisition hunted us without mercy! We fled and hid for self-preservation! If we did not, those bastard Inquisitors would have drank the blood of us all!" He growled and then sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry about that outburst, but you weren't in our position. You didn't own the things we owned, you didn't possess the things we possessed, you didn't know the things we knew. And you weren't being hunted by a power that controlled an entire continent." The Templar listened to the priest expain what he wanted to, and grunted.

"Changed the mass? Imbiciles. Let me guess, Rome, in her Neverending knowledge --" the sarcasm was so great that this diologue had to be inturrupted to point it out -- "tried to do this to get more to convert to her? She is, indeed, a harlot. Hmph. But anyways," the Templar concluded, handing over the declaration.

"To summarize, that's a statement from the Grand Knight Council -- we too, have reorganized -- basically saying that the mass assault was a bit of a test, and that you are welcome to come up. No soldiers, though, just you, the Knight you have, and a few guards. Up at the city, our leader will gladly challenge you to a fight, if that's what you want. He wishes to speak much with you. Oh, and," the Templar leaned in, smirking. "Probably show off, too. Show what we had that you papists didn't have the skill to take!" He winked and leaned back up. "So, what will it be?"

"The mass was changed to be what the early church celebrated," he said, glaring.

When he heard him sayd the attack was a tes he yelled, "Test my as..." He paused, and restrained himself.

"I will come with you, as long as I have your word, on your chivalric honor, that we will not be attacked." He nodded at Blazhei to come. Before they, Marco put his stole back into his pocket. He followed the Templar out into the night, though walked near Blazhei.

The Templar -- himself actually a member of the Grand Knight Council -- let Marco's slip of the tongue slide and ignored it. "I can and cannot give you my word. We will not attack you, but the savage natives here might. Ever since we got here, they've been a nusiance. THey've been less so, now, seeing as we've basically come to an unspoken agreement not to tresspass on each other. Unfortunately, you landed fairly close to one of their main villiages. The one you saw us destroy, that one. That has been giving us some trouble in recent times. Kidnapped some of our wives, raped them, and ate them. What you saw is not what we typically do -- it was to send a message. There are some among us who are not brought up to honour the Knight's Code of Chivalry. Shock Troopers, you could say. That is what you saw. Anyways, we should get going. THe sun is about to rise."

"They shot a priest, too." He then asked,
"Are you a shock trooper?"

OOC: Sorry, CR. I'll try and respond Friday. I've got a post partially written up for this on paper, but paper doesn't help for the 'net.

OOC: Damnit. BUMP for now. Hopefully I can get this frickin' response up soon. Maybe my brain won't be shot tomorrow. :)

"No, I am not a shock trooper," the Knight retorted. "I don't particularly like what the shock troopers do, but it's necessary. Now, please follow me." Blazhei, Marco, the Knight, and four Delta Force operatives were walking in and around the hills and trees when the sun started to come up.

"Not good," the Knight said nerviously. "The natives will be up and around soon, and they won't take kindly to us burning down one of their villiages. We must move faster."

As they continued to walk up the hill toward the center of the island, the sun continued to rise, and finally, they reached the gate.

"Good, we are safe here." THe gates were opened by the guards and they entered the path that was carved into the mountain.

Father Marco walked up the path with the Templar knight.
"HYave any attempts been made to Christianize the natives?" he asked, curiously.

"Yes, more than a few times," the Templar responded. "However, when all of our missionaries' heads were sent back without their bodies, we stopped trying. Now, it's just over this hill..."

When they appeared at the top of the mountain, the view wasn't that spectacular, but that's because all they could see was the outside walls with the twelve golden gates, which they entered.

"The city is an exact replica of the one described in the Book of Revelations as the “New Jerusalem. We decided to be unoriginal in our design, but it’s still a nice place. Well, granted, we have a lot more buildings, for housing purposes, as well as military, but that’s unimportant. What you see over there,” he said, pointing to a massive gold-looking building. “Is a replication of Solomon’s Temple. In it we store some things which are greatly prized by us Templar. However, our most prized possessions are stored in the Inner Chambers, which are forbidden except to the highest ranking Templar among us. I am not one of them, unfortunately. Not yet.” All around, people were starting to gather. A Catholic priest in the middle of the major stronghold of the Knights Templar? The gall! However, more attention was focused on Blazhei, considering the modernity of his uniform and weapons. That doesn’t mean, though, the Delta Force lost any attention, either. By now, a semi-large crowd has gathered.

“I’m sorry about this,” the Templar said to the party. “But they’ve never seen a Catholic priest in person. Or those strange weapons you carry.”