NationStates Jolt Archive

The year was 2006 AD, December 2nd, 11:22 AM, the location was in Northern Trasa deep in the Li'Kar Desert where an old Empire that predated the Trasian Empire was dwelt, they where the Ancestors of the ones who would form the Trasian Empire.

Thousands of years ago the Desert used to be a fertile paradise, however, the greed for power of the Li'Kar Empire was great and knew no ends, the Li'Kar had a powerful grasp of the lost Magic Arts, they even knew how to infuse Magic into Machines of their time, Magitek it was known as from what texts that survived said...Apparently they where trying to create a weapon that used Mana directly from the Magi-Stream from where all Li'Kar Magic came from and harness it into an energy weapon of some form.

However, there was a disaster and the entire area for 220 KM around was turned lifeless, destroying all organic life-forms and turning the area into a arid desert, the Li'Kar Empire was buried beneath the sands of the Desert and forgotten...Until Trasiand Security Division Scientists discovered a book in the Southern Ruins of the Desert that had been recently uncovered in a search for Natural Resources, detailing the Legend and giving clues to the location of the Captial of the Empire, somwhere in the center of the Desert...

Months later a massive dig near the very center of the desert had begun, however, no civilian scientists where involved, the TSD had closed off most access to the Desert and where searching almost fanatically for the Lost City.

Over 4,000 TSD Black Guard Soldiers where inolved as well as thousands of Support personel, TSD Scientists and even TSD Shadow Guard Troops.

The Black Guard where the Elite of the TSD Army, Veterans who had distinguished Honor and Combat Powess in the line of Duty and most had the highest honors the United Soviet Party of Trasia could give...

The Shadow Guard where an secret group of Crossbred Scientists/Soldiers who worked in secret, searching for relics of the past that hold some power, they where the ones running the show at the site.

Now...They where close.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Location: Li'Kar Desert
Time: 1400 Hours

A man riding in the back of an Military Truck in the shade of the cavas relaxed while the rest of his squad talked to eachother about the latest Gossip and other various subjects, the man was wearing a Gold-shaded Uniform and a gold-coloured helmet with a pair of googles he could use when one of the Desert's famous sandstorms blew through to protect his eyes.

His dog-tags read 'Adam 'Flamer' Teisk', the Flamer was added on due to an incident involving a Flame-Thrower, 20 Liters of Gasoline and a Tank of Experimental Chemicals.

He chuckled to himself and wondered how he was supposted to know that the area was closed off due to TSD R&D having stocked some sort of experiment there, he had been merely practicing with the Flame-Thrower at night and didn't know they stocked all those highly-flammable equipment in that section...He had to admit, it was a very large explosion...His eyebrows took 9 days to grow back and his arm took 2 weeks to heal from the burnmarks.

He managed to escape trouble, but the rest of the Platoon started to call him 'Flamer' in a joking manner until it stuck, his Flame-Thrower was in a truck along with the rest of the heavy weapons three trucks ahead of their own truck, all he had was his Desert Eagle .50 Handcannon and a long Machette Knife to protect himself with until they got to the Camp where those freaks at the Shadow Guard Division where excavating.

While the TSD had made this Top-Secret there was always the chance that sombody would find them out and send an Agent to investigate, from what he heard of the legends this 'Weapon' that the Li'Kar made would be able to do massive damage if in the wrong hands, he looked out the back of the truck towards another behind them, the trucks where painted a brown/gold colour to blend in with the sand better, suddenly they stopped and their Platoon leader walked to the back of their truck and jumped out, his name was Captain Kirsk, a real pain in the arse, but a good soldier, his tone was gruff and he spoke loudly so they all could hear.

"Alright you bunch of Grunts, we'r at the site, now don't piss off the Black Guard and the Shadow Guard and you'll be fine, get your trash and head to the Barracks and then set up, once finished your to go down into the ruins to help the Shadow Guard look for any evidence of the Weapon GOT IT?!"

They all replied as one 'Sir, Yes sir!' before scrambling out of the truck, 9 soldiers including himself in all, and going to the other trucks to haul their gear, Adam got out and went to the Heavy-Munitions Truck and got his Flame-Thrower, strapping it onto his back and getting his brown bag that he had left in there beside the weapon and slinging it over his shoulder, but carefully so he wouldn't hit the gas-tanks of the thrower, he then took his first look at the site and let out a low whistle.

It was massive, Tents where lined up evenly and soldiers and officers rushed to their sections, some carrying supplies, others patrolling the area for insurgents, some where just talking and playing cards, in the center was a partially uncovered tower where a bunch of men in Black Uniforms where walking in and out of carrying debris, artifacts and reports, Adam supposed it was the Shadow Guard and dissapeared into the crowds of Soldiers with his pack, looking for his assigneded barracks...

(Ok, this is Open, basic story is that the TSD is trying to locate a Weapon that used Magic energy (Mana) and also try to prevent others from finding it first, you can either RP as a Agent or a military Force trying to take control of the area and find the weapon for yourselves, let this be a clean game and good luck to all participants.)

Tomoya flew through the sky on her staff. The giant wings flapped gracefully in the wind, as she overlooked the edge of the desert of Li'Kar, she lost focus of where she was going. She could sense something, something strong, something she hadn't felt before, she landed on a small mountain and looked off to the horizon. "This is far too odd." She pulled out a small orb from her robes. "Hey it's me, I think you should all come to this desert site I'm at, I am sensing a strong presence here, defenatly magic but I can't exactly pin-point it. Yes I will send you the coordinates right away."

Within the shadows, shadows of the sand, the shadows of the buildings, Shadows of the people an vehicles walking around, The Ministry of Shadow waited, waited for the fall of night. They too, sought the lost city, and was here, because they followed its power. It was beneath the ground, but they had not the power to go through the ground. For now, they merely waited, in the shadows, apart of the shadows. Common, non-magic folk couldn't sense them, couldn't sense, that within the shadows, was a gateway to the Shadowplane. But magic folk could.

when night fell though, none of that would matter. Then, The Ministry of Shadow, those who were born of the night itself, would come out of the shadows.

Inside the ruins, the walls where made from a strange stone, while gold outside it looked...Black inside, almost like a darkroom, 3 Black Guard Soldiers stood behind a Shadow Guard Scientist, the guards kept a respectable distance away, it was rumoured that the Shadow Guard could harness some sort of powerful Magic due to highly classified experiments, but rumours circulated and notmatter what the TSD High Command did they could not stop it.

The Shadow Guard was infront of a strange slab of stone, dispite it being black it had strange crimson symbols engraved upon it that glowed with a strange light, the Shadow Guard was called Tabris, named after the Angel of Free Will, he had a different name long ago, but cast it aside for his Code-Name, he had a black book that had seen better days and trying to translate the runes upon the door.

His voice was soft and distant as he read the language, speaking in the tounge of his Ancestors who had fled the destruction of the city and built the Trasian Empire.

"Faltha Ruusa Ek, Niman Makashi Sransk...Primus Alora am Magika..."

It translated into 'Release the Seals, Knowledge, Power and Courage...The Essence of Magic...'.

Suddenly the slab started to part down the middle, the Scientist dropped the book and got into a Casting-Posture without thinking and glared, the door opened to reveal a flight of stairs leading down, dust covered everything and he saw acouple skeletal remains, he looked to the guards behind him who looked spooked and grinned.

"Inform Magus that we have breeched the inner Catacombs...I will scout ahead."

With that the Shadow Guard walked through the 'door' and started down the stairs, one of the guards burst out the door and went to the Shadow Guard who stood with his arms folded across eachother, the Black Guard brushed dust off his black uniform and started to speak.

"Lord Magus, we have breeched the Inner Catacombs and Lord Tabris has begun to scout ahead."

The Tall Shadow Guard merely nodded and his tone was almost wrait-like.

"Excellent, round up a platoon of TSD Regular Army Troopers as well as 6 Black Guard Troopers and help in the search of the inner Catacombs, if our calculations are correct the Weapon is 20 Kilometers below the enterence chamber, we will need a large amount of manpower to comb the ruins..."

The Soldier Saluted and ran off towards the Camp to gather troops, Magus merely smiled and ran a hand through his silver-coloured hair, his crimson eyes glinted with cold logic...The Shadow Guard all had Silver hair, however, only those who have gone through Magi-Implantation have Crimson eyes...

"The Board will be pleased..." He softly commented as he continued to oversee the base...

Meanwhile Tabris went deeper into the ruins, nearly tripping acouple times while walking down the stairs, his Crimson eyes adjusted to the dim light as his feet touched down on the last step, the chamber he was within looked like a large burial ground, there where stone Coffines upon Alters all along the walls and on the other end of the chamber was another staircase leading downwards, he suddenly got a chill up his spine, as if somthing...Old was watching him, he steeled his nerves and continued to walk past coffines and old skeletal remains and towards the staircase...

Meanwhile Tabris went deeper into the ruins, nearly tripping acouple times while walking down the stairs, his Crimson eyes adjusted to the dim light as his feet touched down on the last step, the chamber he was within looked like a large burial ground, there where stone Coffines upon Alters all along the walls and on the other end of the chamber was another staircase leading downwards, he suddenly got a chill up his spine, as if somthing...Old was watching him, he steeled his nerves and continued to walk past coffines and old skeletal remains and towards the staircase...

Dim light. Shadows. The seven entities that made up the Ministry of Shadow could feel them. They followed this strange man, in the shadows. Perhaps, if they aided this man in his pursuits, perhaps they could make a friend.
They too, felt it, something old, something watching.

Tabris suddenly turned around and looked carefully, examining the Mana sense of the room, trying to see what the hell was watching him, he couldn't see anything at first glance, but he could detect traces of Mana, Magic energy, that signified that sombody or somthing was in the room, he just could not pin-point it...

Meanwhile, a large group of Gold-Brown Uniformed TSD Regular Army Troops and 6 Black Uniformed Black Guard Troopers decended down the staircase, acouple carried torches to light the way, they where all armed with Light-Firearms, Most carried standard AK-74's while the Black Guard carried M41A Pulse Rifles, Tabris waited at the end of the staircase for them to arrive.

On the Surface there was a significant increase in acivity, soldiers started to get into Combat-Readiness and the patrols into the desert was increase, Magus sent a coded transmission to the Board informing them of their progress and that they would have results shortly...

Two others landed along side Tomoya all were young, teens, however stronger of their age, sometimes outcasted because they are feered too strong. Boys and girls.

"What's up?" asked Lee a young silver haired sorcerer

"Your right Tomoya," Sorcress Yuko said "There is something here, I can feel it, it's powerful strong, and I don't think this is a magic user nation."

"That can't be good." Lee said

"Not good at all." Tomoya said. She lifted her gogles and put on her glasses.

"Others may be looking for it, we have to find what ever it is."

"But where is it?" Lee asked

"Where better than the center of the desert?" Yuko said

"No better." Lee replied

They all hopped onto their staffs and off the clif side into the desert winds.

Not far from the newcommer's location, a small group of Shadow Guard Mages walked through the Desert, there where 4 to be exact and acompanying them was a small squad of 14 Black Guard Soldiers, the Shadow Guards where Lord Crisis, Lord Anubis, Lord Warlock and Lord Terror, they where approxamitly 120 years old, young by Trasian standards, to most other nations they would appear to be in their Teenaged years, about 18, Anubis wore a long black robe with a hood over his head and a veil covering the lower half of his face, leaving only his crimson eyes and some paled skin showing, he stood at a short 5.7 ft

Crisis was the most armoured of them all, wearing Black Armour and standing at a impressive 6.3 ft and over his right shoulder was a huge Black Broadsword with crimson runes upon it, he didn't cast much Magic, but his Swort was an old Trasian Artifact from the Mythic Era right after the fall of the Li'Kar Empire, used by the Trasian Dark Knights to destroy other Magic Knights, like the others he had crimson eyes,gazing out from underneath his helmet which covered most of his face, leaving only his eyes visable.

The other two where in normal Black Trenchcoats, Warlock had black gloves upon his hands and a confident smirk upon his face, his eyes gazed around the area, looking for any threats, the mage stood at 5.11, a decent height for a Trasian, his black leather boots shone in the bright sun, if he was uncomfortable he did not show it.

His other companion, Terror, did not show any emotion at all, having more experience then his other fellow Shadow Guards he has trained himself to a high extreme with his Magic, spending much time reading and practicing what he had learnt and he also studied the Mana streams extremely carefully, he was their best Evoker Mage, meaning his Magic was based on Energy-Attacks based on the elements, Fire, Ice, Water, Lightning, Earth, Shadow, Light and Darkness...

Terror suddenly stopped and looked to the sky, squinting his eyes so he could see better, he saw somthing above them, comming from the cliffs and riding with the winds of the desert, he looked back to the other Shadow Guards before summoning his Magic ability around himself and pooling it at his feet, in a moment he started to hover over the ground and his crimson eyes turned black as he started to chant, winds started to pick up as he raised his arms above himself.

"Fortono, Fordiguma!"

A Sphere of Shadow Magic started to form in his hands and he suddenly flung it upwards, the sphere was about as big as a basketball and was flung at a high speed, it started to race towards the riders above and nearly hit the male Sorcerer, but it missed and kept on going.

Terror was merely getting their attention and signalled the Black Guard Troops to flee the area while they dealt with the intruders...

The initial infiltration had been fairly simple, since completely securing a desert outpost was nearly impossible, with the ease that sand shifted. If one was willing to bury one's self to accomplish such a goal, it was that much easier. The patrol he was watching had passed without incident, and Derrick Hyde had risen from the sands like a corpse in a bad zombie movie.

His clothing choice of khaki fatigues, Bellville desert boots, and a white sleeveless shirt blended fairly well at a distance, but the copious amounts of sunscreen didn't help. The shirt had started life with sleeves, but the searing heat combined with a sharp knife had taken care of that in short order. Derrick always travelled light, especially on covert ops. How he'd gotten out to the desert dig site was still something he couldn't believe. The old trick of hanging under a moving truck worked fairly well, so long as the aforementioned truck didn't hit a sand dune. He'd made it out to there equipped like he'd left the rental car two days ago, with his Kimber 1911s and his handy SOG Field Pup knife. The 1911s were from the Eclipse product line, but he'd had them highly modified to suit his needs. Both pistols had had the Ed Brown 'bobtail' treatment, shortening the mainspring housing and rounding off the butt of the weapons for easier concealment. His main pistol, the 'Target II' model, was a traditional five-inch model with two-color fiber-optic sights. The front was green, the rears red, and the same for both pistols. The Target II served as his back-up gun for more desperate situations, and held eight rounds of forty-five ACP. The second weapon was the 'Ultra II' model from the same Eclipse line as its sister gun, only with a three-inch barrel. In addition to the bobtail modification, the barrel bushing had been replaced with a threaded one for the attatchment of a surpressor. His personal preference in that department was an Advanced Armament Corporation Evolution-45 model, which brought the small-framed forty-five to a slightly long ten-inch length. Hyde carried both in underarm holsters from Bianchi, with a matching six magazine pouches, two of which held sub-sonic hollowpoints for the surpressed Ultra II.

Hidden between a pair of barracks tents in the shadows, he observed troop movements, patrol patterns, and uniform colors. The black ones seemed to have more authority than the gold-ish ones. The tent on his left was empty of occupants, awaiting a stocking of soldiers to make itself useful. Derrick's knife opened up a small flap for him to crawl under. It was a bit darker within, perfect for his purposes. Even better, it was already lined with simple cots. The only illumination was from the narrow slit that allowed entry from the front. Derrick's six-foot-two frame was a bit taller than the average soldier in the camp, with the exception of the black-garbed ones. The ones that seemed to garner the most fear and respect, however, were the ones with the red eyes and silver hair. Derrick's eyes were brown, and his hair black. The rank-and-file troopers under their command, however, had all different colors of eyes and hair. His decision made, Derrick prepared his ambush...

"Hey man, give me a hand with these cots..."

Derrick kept his face mostly hidden behind the veil of darkness, until the black-uniform got inside. Derrick said nothing, simply underhooking the man's jaw with his right hand, and grabbing the top of it with his left before ripping both outward in opposite directions to execute a textbook neck-breaker. The infiltrating agent slowly lowered the corpse onto the nearest cot before beginning to swap out clothes. In a few minutes, Derrick was dressed in the slick black uniform of the enemy elite, shouldering the foreign pulse-rifle to get a feel for its weight and balance. It wasn't bad, as far as rifles went. Phase two of his plan was to completely dispose of the body. Fire was an option, but simply concealing it was easier, especially with sand. While a six-foot-deep hole was customary, it wasn't operationally viable or nessesary. The Black Guardsman was then covered with loose sand again before having a cot placed over his resting place. The Ultra II got tucked into a small pocket within the trench-coat-like jacket, after the surpressor was removed. This limited his tactical options to planned ambushes, unless he used the knife, which was hidden up his left sleeve, held in place by his wristwatch. His large pistol returned to a familiar spot at the small of his back, tucked in his waistband. The spare magazines were uncomfortably hidden away in various internal pockets within the jacket.

It was going to be hotter than Hell in this getup, but the payoff at the end would be worth it. While he had no affiliation to a particular corporate conglomerate, national government, or private interest but his own, Derrick did enjoy having large amounts of money, and his talents in assassination transferred over well into espionage, which paid much better most of the time. In this case, he had no controlling hand behind his operation, but figured any dig of this magnitude by such a militant nation would probably yield information he could sell to the highest bidder for a tidy profit.

Pushing any thoughts of money to the rear of his mind and focusing back on the mission at hand, Derrick Hyde slowly exited the tent and into the bustle of the research encampment...

A Shadow Guard passed right by the tent that the infiltrator had just come out of and stopped right infront of the man, his crimson eyes gazed coldly into the other man's eyes.

"What are you doing Trooper?!" He asked gruffly "There is no time for sleep, you should be either on Patrol or helping the others down below, so snap to it soldier and report to Sergeant Lencher Corporal in the Ruins and assist in the search."

With that the Officer Shadow Guard turned and continued on his way towards a small command tent that had two lower ranked Shadow Guards standing outside and 4 Black Guardsmen patrolling it's perimeter.

A small patrol of 3 Regular Army TSD Soldiers passed by the man, , shouldering AK-74's and talking amoungst themselves in Trasian.

"Ilia geta no palst erna lilitha eh Malkto?" (So, what's with the Shadows eh Malkto?) asked the shorter of the 3 who had blonde hair and ice-blue eyes, Malkto, who was right beside him and standing slightly higher then him with Black hair and brown eyes shrugged.

"Al nolog meh, masrta erna asa shasda..." (I don't know...Damned Shadows are rude...) he grumbled softly, his partner snickered and gave him a look that seemed filled with humor.

"Uyra po lasata malog amst naga itsz ahs Captian Tabris." (Your just pissed because you where assigned extra work by Captain Tabris)

After that they passed out of his audio range and continued on their patrol...

Shadowplane...

"Master, the ones from magic sorcery have come." said one ministry member in prayer to his master.

"Geheheh. Good. Good. A new mind shall soon discover old knowledge, the witches must not be allowed to interfere. If they cause much trouble, I'll send in the Magekiller.

Another power to add to the balance, another power to cause chaos and turmoil. another power to cause the destruction of creation. See to it."

Meanwhile, the Ministry waited for the right moment. If something were to attack this man, this scientist they were following, they would certainly jump out and help. Otherwise, They did what the ministry did best, and simply watched.

Meanwhile, Tabris was standing at the top of the second staircase while a TSD Black Guard Officer came up to him and saluted.

The Black Guard's voice was cold and steeled as he spoke, as if he was a machine.

"Sir, what are your orders?"

Tabris spoke in a smoother voice, cold yet elegant.

"Major, check the chamber for anything out of the ordinary and investigate for any hidden enterances, i will be down below scouting ahead."

The Major nodded and walked over to his men to give the orders while Tabris started to decend down the stairs, his Mana senses where starting to go wild, as if he was getting close to somthing that had very powerful Magic energies within it...

It was growing darker the further down he went, he just hoped that nothing from the Li'Kar era had long life...That would not be good at all the Scientist/Mage mused...

"Oh blasted we have company!"

"Evasive manuvers right!" Tomoya shouted out


All of them glided over to the right


"Anyone know staff-less?" Yuko cried



"I do!" Lee shouted

"Keep your eyes peeled, if anything fires at us again, well fire back."


They flew on, keeping their gaurd up.

"Wait a moment, if you know staffless, then why are you still riding on your staff?" Asked Tomoya

"I don't know, I've never liked growing wings out of my back."

"Weirdo."

Terror growled and let out a Magic-Enhanced scream that could be heard from all the way across the desert, it was filled with rage and absolute hate, he rose further above the ground and gathered a stronger blast of Shadow Magic in the shape of a sphere, just before they went out of his range he flung it like a baseball and the ball raced after them...

The scream had alerted the other Shadow Guards above the ruins who gathered around the enterance, 6 in all including Lord Magus who started to channel their energies while they waited for the intruder's to show up...

Meanwhile, Tabris was standing at the top of the second staircase while a TSD Black Guard Officer came up to him and saluted.

The Black Guard's voice was cold and steeled as he spoke, as if he was a machine.

"Sir, what are your orders?"

Tabris spoke in a smoother voice, cold yet elegant.

"Major, check the chamber for anything out of the ordinary and investigate for any hidden enterances, i will be down below scouting ahead."

The Major nodded and walked over to his men to give the orders while Tabris started to decend down the stairs, his Mana senses where starting to go wild, as if he was getting close to somthing that had very powerful Magic energies within it...

It was growing darker the further down he went, he just hoped that nothing from the Li'Kar era had long life...That would not be good at all the Scientist/Mage mused...

The Ministry followed. They silently prepared themselves. It grew darker, and as it grew darker, they grew stronger, for they themselves were born of darkness, and in it, nothing could hide from their sight.

Derrick attempted to salute the officer as best he could, but the man was off and gone before he could even get a hand in the air. It wouldn't matter. Every army across the globe had confused soldiers and dick-headed officers, and no matter what the nationality, there was no pleasing them.

The spy continued on with his 'patrol', towards the center of attention in the dig-site, the passage downward. He'd link up with the exploration force, then mysteriously disappear to do some exploration on his own before returning to the surface to depart with his new-found knowledge, and hopefully some evidence to back up his claims. He'd have to steal that, however, and that might prove difficult. His Trasian wasn't exactly stellar, either, more like conversational. At least his accent was hidden beneath the difficult to pronounce language...