Skinny87
31-10-2005, 22:13
It is postulated by some scientists that the reality that we currently inhabit and claim as our own is not in fact a unique entity. That there are in fact an infinite number of universes, an infinite number of planet Earths; an infinite number of you, and an infinite number of me. They are all exactly the same, yet at the same time different in some way. These differences might be so small or minute that they are hardly, if at all noticeable; your hair colour might be a slightly darker shade, or the hand you write with swapped over. On the other hand, the difference could be rather more...profound. You could be a sociopath in one reality, perhaps even Prime Minister of President in another. The possibilities are literally endless.
Of course, these changes are not only on the individual level. They can, and do, occur on larger levels, affecting entire nation and planets....even the solar system itself. Thus there are, in this theory, an inestimable number of Havens, and an endless number of Grand Republic of Skinny87’s. As such, the invasion, brief occupation and ultimate destruction of the Grand Republic in this reality resulted in the destruction of only one version of the Grand Republic...
Grand Republic of Skinny87 – Reality One
Thick black smoke covered everything in sight, turning everything indistinct and choking any living thing until it was practically impossible to breath, made doubly so by the noxious fumes that the smoke gave off. Flames licked the skyline from the shattered shells of buildings and vehicles, and everywhere were the signs of destruction. Entire city blocks lay ruined, collapsed in on themselves or else blown apart by shells or bombs; vehicles lay in many of the roads, destroyed or otherwise wrecked beyond use, and everywhere lay corpses, many burnt or disfigured beyond any recognition. The pathetic remains of barricades could be seen in the distance covering a highway; they had been shoved aside and broken in several places, bodies of the defenders crushed or tossed aside like so many pieces of firewood.
The only movement came from the large tanks moving through the city, massive armoured behemoths followed by squads of heavily-armed troops, searching for the last few remnants of the population of this city. The occasional shot could be hard in the distance, and once there came a volley of automatic fire, quickly smothered by the roar of a tank cannon. Silence reigned in what had once been a city of more than four million souls.
“This shouldn’t have happened.”
The quiet remark seemingly came from a loose pile of rubble next to the skeleton of a burnt-out M1A2 Abram Tank. Nothing moved, and indeed it seemed as if nothing was present to account for the words spoken. Then the air shimmered slightly, as if from the heat of the sun, and two figures gradually appeared. Clad in identical black uniforms from head to toe and sporting what appeared to be a rifle on their backs, the two figures became fully formed, then immediately crouched down behind the tank. One turned to the other. “I know it shouldn’t have damnit. I know. But it has, as you can quite plainly see.”
The other remained where it was, but continued to argue. “This was, hell it still is, a protected reality. The treaty lists it as one, in plain code. What the hell is Briggs doing breaking the treaty? Surely he learnt the last time what happens when he breaks a treaty? We all pay a price, and he pays more than most.”
The second figure quickly scanned to make sure that they were alone, and then scowled. “And since when does signing a treaty with Briggs mean that he’ll follow it? Don’t be so goddamn naïve. You know a treaty with him isn’t worth the pad it’s typed on. They’re only ever delaying tactics until the next conflict, so we can both rebuild.”
An explosion lit up the sky, turning it from a dark black to a dirty orange for a moment, before slowly fading back into darkness. The first figure nodded slowly, as if seeing the truth in the second’s argument for the first time. “Well, it looks like he’s done it again. We’re at war...” The second nodded, and tapped at a control on his arm. With a barely audible whine the two men slowly faded from view until nothing was left but the smouldering tank.
Temporal Operations Executive Headquarters, Collective States of Skinny87 – Reality Seventy-Nine
The two figures, who were in fact Temporal Operatives working for the Temporal Operations Executive (TOE), materialised inside the main building of the TOE Headquarters facility, deep inside Mount Rainier. The first of the figures was Captain David Hagen, a shortish man in his late twenties who sported a blonde crewcut and dark green eyes and had only been working for the TOE for a few years. The second figure, the taller of the two, was Colonel Mitchell Davis, a lithe woman who had worked for the TOE for most of her life. She had never revealed her exact age, and her personnel files were under the strongest encryption codes known to man. A pool throughout the TOE had been formed, but to date no-one had ever collected the money, rumoured to be in the tens of thousands of credits. She had raven-black hair with a silver streak running through it at an angle that intersected with a pale scar that ran past her left eye and finished by the bridge of her nose.
Both operatives stepped out of the materialisation booth and stretched; jumping took quite a physical toll and all agents had to be at the peak of physical perfection to go on even the shortest of missions. Finishing their exercises, Davis shot to attention and Hagen rapidly followed. Major-General Willow, head of the TOE, was rapidly approaching them. She waved a hand at them, and they relaxed slightly, though both still stood. Willow stubbed out a cigar because of the sensitive machinery nearby, and turned to Davis. “Report.”. Davis swallowed slightly. “Ma’am, it’s a complete slaughterhouse back there. Briggs’ forces have overrun the entire country there. I don’t think there are going to be any survivors.”
Willow remained impassive as Davis spoke, and when she finished she said nothing, tapping her foot to some unknown beat. Hagen turned, and blurted out, “Ma’am, Briggs broke the Treaty of Algernon. You should have seen it back there. It was awful. When do we go on the offensive?”
Willow turned at the intrusion, eyes blazing. “There will be no ‘offensive’, Captain. Other considerations have come into play. You are hereby ordered to forget what happened on Reality One. You will send your reports directly to me, then wipe your gigadrives and send them to Tech to have them wiped again. You will say nothing about that Reality to anyone. Anyone.” She stabbed with her cigar butt to emphasise the point. “If you do, I will personally have you erased from the timeline. Do you understand me, the both of you?”
Davis and Hagen snapped to attention. “Yes Ma’am, we do!” Willow grunted at them, and then stalked off, cigar already alight. The two agents walked off slowly, not uttering a word until they were out of the main bay and into a corridor unoccupied by troops. Hagen was the first to speak. “That’s FUBAR Colonel. Briggs broke the treaty and killed damn near two Billion people. We can’t just ignore it, for god’s sake!” Davis suddenly turned and slammed Hagen into the tunnel wall, then moved in closer and hissed in his ear. “Shut the hell up and wait until we’re inside my quarters.” In a normal tone of voice, she answered Hagen. “You were given a direct order by a superior officer, Captain. If you want to argue, then you’re welcome to try.”
The two continued on in silence, passing through the reinforced concrete corridors until they reached the Living Quarters. Looking around, Davis checked no-one was watching, then ushered Hagen into her room. The apartment was small and sparse, containing only a bed, desk and a small sonic shower cubicle. Davis reached up behind the door, and Hagen heard an audible click. Turning to him, Davis smiled grimly. “I just turned off the camera and sound system they thought they’d hidden there. Amateurs.” Hagen nodded, and sat down on the bed, Davis sitting next to him. She turned. “Listen Hagen, you got to keep your mouth shut, or we’re both next in line for an Eraser.” He shuddered; being erased from the timeline was the worst punishment imaginable. You would never have existed, never even breathed, and as such was reserved only for the worst of criminals. Letting this sink in for a moment, Davis then continued in a quiet tone. “It’s FUBAR. Of course it is. Willow doesn’t want to rile up Briggs for some reason. I’d love to know why, but we have to act soon. The timeline back there will soon go too far, and we won’t be able to change it without more power than we’ll be able to get. So, here’s what we’re going to do...”
Temporal Inversion Facility, TOE Headquarters
Guard duty at the Temporal Inversion Facility was an important duty, but never the most exciting. The two guards stationed by the thick Vadium double doors had only one task; to guard the facility and ensure that there were no breaches of security. However, considering that the Facility was in the middle of the most heavily guarded area in the entire Collective, nothing ever happened. Plus there were rumours that the Inversion Field did things to you, and that occupied much of the guards time. As such, the arrival of the shapely figure of Colonel Davis walking towards the guard post was a welcome distraction to the monotony of their task. Davis smiled at the two men as she walked up, and entered the small bunker. The two men turned, just in time to see Davis raise a Stunner. They didn’t know anything else for quite some time
Davis quickly pondered this as she operated the panel to open the doors to the Inversion Field. That had been far, far too easy. If, in the unlikely event, she made it back to this timeline and wasn’t automatically erased, she would have to have words about the security arrangements. A demonstration or two might buck up the ideas of the rest of the guard detachment.
With a barely audible hiss, the doors opened, splitting in half and releasing the harsh lighting of the Inversion Chamber. Davis signaled, and Hagen came trotting over, two Beam Rifles slung over his shoulder. They entered the Chamber together, after ensuring that there was no-one there. Fortunately there had been no Inversions for a few days, and as such the Facility was clear. Whilst Hagen climbed the steps to the Chamber and stood ready, Davis moved to the vast array of panels and microcomputers arranged around the elevated Chamber. She tapped in the relevant access codes and then dialed in the correct date and timeline. With a final flick of her wrist, sirens began blaring and the Chamber itself began to shimmer.
Hagen looked up in horror; the shimmer meant the field was activating, but Davis wasn’t in it. He raised his head above the protective shielding and looked at Davis. She smiled faintly at him; he tried to move, but the beam arrays already had him; he couldn’t move a muscle. Within seconds time dilation had taken effect, and the room began to slow down. Lights flickered instead of strobing, and Davis’ hands moved to a mere crawl. He tried to shout something, anything, as the huge doors opened, inch by inch, and a flood of guards moved at a crawl into the Facility. Before the whole scene faded away, he saw a black-clad soldier raise a Beamer and depress the trigger. With a curious sort of detachment, he watched the beam move across the room and strike Davis in the side, knocking her down slowly, ever so slowly...
Grand Republic of Skinny87 – Reality One
The Dimension Gateway was finally ready; with one final surge of energy a portal to another dimension would be opened. The doors had been sealed and the facility declared off-limits to all but essential personnel. The globe flickered as the energy began to build up, strobing on and off with a hypnotic beat. Suddenly, a second, irregular glow appeared in a corner of the cavernous room, and a flash as bright as a magnesium flare lit the whole room for a fraction of a second. In place of what had once been an empty corner stood a lone figure clutching what appeared to be an oversized rifle. The Republican Guardsmen reacted at once; they opened fire at the man, the roar of M-8s and two M-60s barely audible over the whine of the globe itself.
To their horror, the projectiles merely bounced off of the figure, a faint auburn glow appearing around him as each round hit. With one fluid motion, the man raised the rifle, aimed it at the globe, and depressed the trigger. A bolt of energy flew across the room and hit the globe in its centre. At such a critical stage in the countdown, nothing worse could have happened. The energy began to cascade, a light brighter than a thousand suns flooding the room, and then....
Grey House, Grand Republic of Skinny87
President Xavier Martin blinked. A bright light had just flashed through his eyes. He blinked again, harder, and it faded. He grunted, and reached for a packet of painkillers, dry swallowing four of them. He’d been reading for far too long now, it was nearly four o’clock. Still, only one folder left. He glanced at it. ‘Temporal Mechanics and Military Applications’ trumpeted the title, alongside the usual red stamps forbidding anyone from touching it, let alone reading its contents. He flipped it open. He skimmed the first page. Something to do with a Time Machine, if he read the hyperbole correctly. His head flared again, and he closed the document and threw it to be recycled. Utter nonsense, no need for a Time Machine. The space program took up enough money as it was...
OOC: Yes, I’m back. I left for genuine reasons, but I’m afraid the lure of NS is just far too strong for me to resist any longer. I’m not posting full-time due to University taking up much of my time, but my nation is back to its pre-apocalyptic state, and things will hopefully continue as normal. Or as normal as NS is...
Of course, these changes are not only on the individual level. They can, and do, occur on larger levels, affecting entire nation and planets....even the solar system itself. Thus there are, in this theory, an inestimable number of Havens, and an endless number of Grand Republic of Skinny87’s. As such, the invasion, brief occupation and ultimate destruction of the Grand Republic in this reality resulted in the destruction of only one version of the Grand Republic...
Grand Republic of Skinny87 – Reality One
Thick black smoke covered everything in sight, turning everything indistinct and choking any living thing until it was practically impossible to breath, made doubly so by the noxious fumes that the smoke gave off. Flames licked the skyline from the shattered shells of buildings and vehicles, and everywhere were the signs of destruction. Entire city blocks lay ruined, collapsed in on themselves or else blown apart by shells or bombs; vehicles lay in many of the roads, destroyed or otherwise wrecked beyond use, and everywhere lay corpses, many burnt or disfigured beyond any recognition. The pathetic remains of barricades could be seen in the distance covering a highway; they had been shoved aside and broken in several places, bodies of the defenders crushed or tossed aside like so many pieces of firewood.
The only movement came from the large tanks moving through the city, massive armoured behemoths followed by squads of heavily-armed troops, searching for the last few remnants of the population of this city. The occasional shot could be hard in the distance, and once there came a volley of automatic fire, quickly smothered by the roar of a tank cannon. Silence reigned in what had once been a city of more than four million souls.
“This shouldn’t have happened.”
The quiet remark seemingly came from a loose pile of rubble next to the skeleton of a burnt-out M1A2 Abram Tank. Nothing moved, and indeed it seemed as if nothing was present to account for the words spoken. Then the air shimmered slightly, as if from the heat of the sun, and two figures gradually appeared. Clad in identical black uniforms from head to toe and sporting what appeared to be a rifle on their backs, the two figures became fully formed, then immediately crouched down behind the tank. One turned to the other. “I know it shouldn’t have damnit. I know. But it has, as you can quite plainly see.”
The other remained where it was, but continued to argue. “This was, hell it still is, a protected reality. The treaty lists it as one, in plain code. What the hell is Briggs doing breaking the treaty? Surely he learnt the last time what happens when he breaks a treaty? We all pay a price, and he pays more than most.”
The second figure quickly scanned to make sure that they were alone, and then scowled. “And since when does signing a treaty with Briggs mean that he’ll follow it? Don’t be so goddamn naïve. You know a treaty with him isn’t worth the pad it’s typed on. They’re only ever delaying tactics until the next conflict, so we can both rebuild.”
An explosion lit up the sky, turning it from a dark black to a dirty orange for a moment, before slowly fading back into darkness. The first figure nodded slowly, as if seeing the truth in the second’s argument for the first time. “Well, it looks like he’s done it again. We’re at war...” The second nodded, and tapped at a control on his arm. With a barely audible whine the two men slowly faded from view until nothing was left but the smouldering tank.
Temporal Operations Executive Headquarters, Collective States of Skinny87 – Reality Seventy-Nine
The two figures, who were in fact Temporal Operatives working for the Temporal Operations Executive (TOE), materialised inside the main building of the TOE Headquarters facility, deep inside Mount Rainier. The first of the figures was Captain David Hagen, a shortish man in his late twenties who sported a blonde crewcut and dark green eyes and had only been working for the TOE for a few years. The second figure, the taller of the two, was Colonel Mitchell Davis, a lithe woman who had worked for the TOE for most of her life. She had never revealed her exact age, and her personnel files were under the strongest encryption codes known to man. A pool throughout the TOE had been formed, but to date no-one had ever collected the money, rumoured to be in the tens of thousands of credits. She had raven-black hair with a silver streak running through it at an angle that intersected with a pale scar that ran past her left eye and finished by the bridge of her nose.
Both operatives stepped out of the materialisation booth and stretched; jumping took quite a physical toll and all agents had to be at the peak of physical perfection to go on even the shortest of missions. Finishing their exercises, Davis shot to attention and Hagen rapidly followed. Major-General Willow, head of the TOE, was rapidly approaching them. She waved a hand at them, and they relaxed slightly, though both still stood. Willow stubbed out a cigar because of the sensitive machinery nearby, and turned to Davis. “Report.”. Davis swallowed slightly. “Ma’am, it’s a complete slaughterhouse back there. Briggs’ forces have overrun the entire country there. I don’t think there are going to be any survivors.”
Willow remained impassive as Davis spoke, and when she finished she said nothing, tapping her foot to some unknown beat. Hagen turned, and blurted out, “Ma’am, Briggs broke the Treaty of Algernon. You should have seen it back there. It was awful. When do we go on the offensive?”
Willow turned at the intrusion, eyes blazing. “There will be no ‘offensive’, Captain. Other considerations have come into play. You are hereby ordered to forget what happened on Reality One. You will send your reports directly to me, then wipe your gigadrives and send them to Tech to have them wiped again. You will say nothing about that Reality to anyone. Anyone.” She stabbed with her cigar butt to emphasise the point. “If you do, I will personally have you erased from the timeline. Do you understand me, the both of you?”
Davis and Hagen snapped to attention. “Yes Ma’am, we do!” Willow grunted at them, and then stalked off, cigar already alight. The two agents walked off slowly, not uttering a word until they were out of the main bay and into a corridor unoccupied by troops. Hagen was the first to speak. “That’s FUBAR Colonel. Briggs broke the treaty and killed damn near two Billion people. We can’t just ignore it, for god’s sake!” Davis suddenly turned and slammed Hagen into the tunnel wall, then moved in closer and hissed in his ear. “Shut the hell up and wait until we’re inside my quarters.” In a normal tone of voice, she answered Hagen. “You were given a direct order by a superior officer, Captain. If you want to argue, then you’re welcome to try.”
The two continued on in silence, passing through the reinforced concrete corridors until they reached the Living Quarters. Looking around, Davis checked no-one was watching, then ushered Hagen into her room. The apartment was small and sparse, containing only a bed, desk and a small sonic shower cubicle. Davis reached up behind the door, and Hagen heard an audible click. Turning to him, Davis smiled grimly. “I just turned off the camera and sound system they thought they’d hidden there. Amateurs.” Hagen nodded, and sat down on the bed, Davis sitting next to him. She turned. “Listen Hagen, you got to keep your mouth shut, or we’re both next in line for an Eraser.” He shuddered; being erased from the timeline was the worst punishment imaginable. You would never have existed, never even breathed, and as such was reserved only for the worst of criminals. Letting this sink in for a moment, Davis then continued in a quiet tone. “It’s FUBAR. Of course it is. Willow doesn’t want to rile up Briggs for some reason. I’d love to know why, but we have to act soon. The timeline back there will soon go too far, and we won’t be able to change it without more power than we’ll be able to get. So, here’s what we’re going to do...”
Temporal Inversion Facility, TOE Headquarters
Guard duty at the Temporal Inversion Facility was an important duty, but never the most exciting. The two guards stationed by the thick Vadium double doors had only one task; to guard the facility and ensure that there were no breaches of security. However, considering that the Facility was in the middle of the most heavily guarded area in the entire Collective, nothing ever happened. Plus there were rumours that the Inversion Field did things to you, and that occupied much of the guards time. As such, the arrival of the shapely figure of Colonel Davis walking towards the guard post was a welcome distraction to the monotony of their task. Davis smiled at the two men as she walked up, and entered the small bunker. The two men turned, just in time to see Davis raise a Stunner. They didn’t know anything else for quite some time
Davis quickly pondered this as she operated the panel to open the doors to the Inversion Field. That had been far, far too easy. If, in the unlikely event, she made it back to this timeline and wasn’t automatically erased, she would have to have words about the security arrangements. A demonstration or two might buck up the ideas of the rest of the guard detachment.
With a barely audible hiss, the doors opened, splitting in half and releasing the harsh lighting of the Inversion Chamber. Davis signaled, and Hagen came trotting over, two Beam Rifles slung over his shoulder. They entered the Chamber together, after ensuring that there was no-one there. Fortunately there had been no Inversions for a few days, and as such the Facility was clear. Whilst Hagen climbed the steps to the Chamber and stood ready, Davis moved to the vast array of panels and microcomputers arranged around the elevated Chamber. She tapped in the relevant access codes and then dialed in the correct date and timeline. With a final flick of her wrist, sirens began blaring and the Chamber itself began to shimmer.
Hagen looked up in horror; the shimmer meant the field was activating, but Davis wasn’t in it. He raised his head above the protective shielding and looked at Davis. She smiled faintly at him; he tried to move, but the beam arrays already had him; he couldn’t move a muscle. Within seconds time dilation had taken effect, and the room began to slow down. Lights flickered instead of strobing, and Davis’ hands moved to a mere crawl. He tried to shout something, anything, as the huge doors opened, inch by inch, and a flood of guards moved at a crawl into the Facility. Before the whole scene faded away, he saw a black-clad soldier raise a Beamer and depress the trigger. With a curious sort of detachment, he watched the beam move across the room and strike Davis in the side, knocking her down slowly, ever so slowly...
Grand Republic of Skinny87 – Reality One
The Dimension Gateway was finally ready; with one final surge of energy a portal to another dimension would be opened. The doors had been sealed and the facility declared off-limits to all but essential personnel. The globe flickered as the energy began to build up, strobing on and off with a hypnotic beat. Suddenly, a second, irregular glow appeared in a corner of the cavernous room, and a flash as bright as a magnesium flare lit the whole room for a fraction of a second. In place of what had once been an empty corner stood a lone figure clutching what appeared to be an oversized rifle. The Republican Guardsmen reacted at once; they opened fire at the man, the roar of M-8s and two M-60s barely audible over the whine of the globe itself.
To their horror, the projectiles merely bounced off of the figure, a faint auburn glow appearing around him as each round hit. With one fluid motion, the man raised the rifle, aimed it at the globe, and depressed the trigger. A bolt of energy flew across the room and hit the globe in its centre. At such a critical stage in the countdown, nothing worse could have happened. The energy began to cascade, a light brighter than a thousand suns flooding the room, and then....
Grey House, Grand Republic of Skinny87
President Xavier Martin blinked. A bright light had just flashed through his eyes. He blinked again, harder, and it faded. He grunted, and reached for a packet of painkillers, dry swallowing four of them. He’d been reading for far too long now, it was nearly four o’clock. Still, only one folder left. He glanced at it. ‘Temporal Mechanics and Military Applications’ trumpeted the title, alongside the usual red stamps forbidding anyone from touching it, let alone reading its contents. He flipped it open. He skimmed the first page. Something to do with a Time Machine, if he read the hyperbole correctly. His head flared again, and he closed the document and threw it to be recycled. Utter nonsense, no need for a Time Machine. The space program took up enough money as it was...
OOC: Yes, I’m back. I left for genuine reasons, but I’m afraid the lure of NS is just far too strong for me to resist any longer. I’m not posting full-time due to University taking up much of my time, but my nation is back to its pre-apocalyptic state, and things will hopefully continue as normal. Or as normal as NS is...