NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Note that governments can note on this, and perhaps, with permission, exploratory ships can be sent. However, if you want to bring in your honkin' big fleet, don't. Keep in mind that the Kingdom of the Sovereign can defend itself, and we have quite the system of allies. Covert investigation or character involvement, yes. Invasion under the pretext of trying to find out what's happened, no.

IC: It was a tiny world, under the jurisdiction of the Starfederation. In fact, it was one of the few places that the Starfederation still held some jurisdiction. Now-defunct, the Kingdom of the Sovereign has risen to relpace it, taking the six core systems that used to comprise the majority of the Starfederation. Over a hundred colonies and mining systems were taken, to boot. It was among the protectorates - where alien species had been noted, studied, and protected, that the XenMin still held sway. The only remaining ministry of the Starfederation that maintained its former power, the reason for that was to be revealed...

Thussa was a massive, green world. Upon it lived a society of.. well, it would be best to call them humans. They had the limbs, certainly, and the free will - their physiology was a tad different, and their aggressiveness was almost negated. They had arisen to dominancy through sheer luck, no predator had appeared to challenge them, no enemy had wiped them out.

This was about to change.

Around Thussa orbited a single station. A information satellite, in a way. It detected the energy readings on Thussa, and served to protect it from wandering asteroids with a powerful set of redirectional drones, who had managed to keep Thussa free of no more than six asteroids in the last few centuries.

Another cycle. Another microsecond gone. Nothing detected. Again. Another cycle. And then, something changed. Or rather, everything. Dots. Radar-given dots. It fitted that they must've arrived about two minutes ago, considering their position. Considering their speed.. they would arrive at the station in approximately... three minutes.

The station sent out the requisite message.

This is a Starfederation territory. Please note that your intrusion into this system has been logged, and FleetCom will be notified should your intrusion continue. If you approach the planet, I will be forced to open fire.

The message went unheeded. Aboard the ships attacking, the Servant-General, Illus, smiled. "Another of the Starfederation's little... oddities. Their desire to protect those who obviously stand against the Sovereign. Remove it.

A hail of fire streamed from the ship, black Sovereign-fire scourging the station within seconds, disassembling its defensive system, and raging through the station until there was naught but an empty shell left.

Illus felt the power leave his limbs, and, drained, he sat. But there was no need to hurry. His ships would arrive in orbit. And, there, they would begin the dedication of the world to the Sovereign. ..

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

On the surface of the world, an elder of the many villages sat outside his ornate stone hut, meditating.

Blood...

The thought resonated throughout his mind. Shaking, he thought of, and discarded several possibilities. But the knowledge was certain. The thought had not been his. It had been.. something else's.

Fire...

It was there again. And this time, he knew for a certainty it came from elsewhere. Unthinkingly, he called up the power he had known in recent months, strange and alien to him, a power that he knew to be corruptive, to be painful. A power he had refused to use, unlike so many before him.

And then his body was torn apart like a mannequin, unable to move, shredded and obliterated by deadly dark fire. A tribesman looked on in horror - the man was unable to move, transfixed by the macabre sight.

An illusion of a dream.. and it is power.

And his body began to knit itself back together. Jerkily, at first, flesh binding to flesh, bone drawing into bone, and then smoothly, the cracked skull becoming whole, new skin growing, become taut, stretched over a rictus of a smile.

It did not speak. Rather, it stood. And, in one liquid movement, rushed over to the tribesman, lifted him with one hand, and tore his still-beating heart out. It had begun...

Another of the universe's mistakes?

Archmage gathered energy from several stars and one of its servants projected into being a humanoid shape. Its features slowly shifted until it appeared to all observers human, though superfluous things like organs and blood were omitted.

Endless cascades of the starstuff intertwined themselves within, filling the body with incomprehensible machinations which could only be described as circuitry, though the comparison was far from accurate.

Its mind was filled with purpose, and a persona was created to go with it.

Clothing entwined itself around the form's body, and equipment assembled itself and attached itself to the person-being.

On other worlds, other people were constructed and introduced into society, forming up frameworks and intricate weaves of personalities and families.

Eventually, the ship departed, leaving the form on the barren planet.

The radio hummed and turned on.

"Napping on the job again, Oswald?"

The newly created creature's eyes flew open.

"Oof. I had the most wonderful dream, and you had to wake me up."

I am Oswald Barivan, journalist for the Oxford Intergalactic. I was out here investigating the minerals in the ground for a possible target for colonisation. And I probably shouldn't have eaten so much - the atmosphere is a bit thin to be napping on the surface.

"Nevermind that. We've got reports of a new power rising in the galaxy. We need you to go and investigate."

"Roger that, boss."

Oswald ran his hand across the sleek form of his ship, the Silver Zephyr. He considered it one of his greatest achievements, having finally been able to build the ship of his dreams after years of hard work in the journalism business.

When he sat down in the pilot's chair it sank and gave way like clouds. Turning on the nav controls, he had the autopilot chart a route to his next big break and leaned back to relax the whole 12 hour journey.

One can imagine horrors. Torture and pain, war and death. Torn corpses lying abject, bloodied upon the ground, innocents, and children slaughtered for the ambition of a few. And yet those who carry out such acts often justify what they have done, justify it, saying that it was, in some way, for the good of all.

That was precisely what made those who served the Sovereign so frightening. They saw what they did as wrong. Even in the greater scheme of things, they saw it as wrong. But, yet, they saw it as necessary. One can convince a man that his views are wrong, given sufficient time. A thought of righteousness, an ideology, can be countered with another.

The ephemeral, yet unshakeable knowledge that what they did was necessary - a knowledge that could be neither disproven nor destroyed, was fearful.

Grimly, men in 'pods swept down to the surface. And they knew their duty. And their duty it was, nothing more, and nothing less. The Sovereign must be summoned into this world, no matter how many died to bring this about. Flames consumed them, and yet the sleek metal surfaces were merely tarnished and blackened, slowing, and then stopping, alighting, for the most part, on a single plateau. It was there that the killing would begin.

"Alpha-Nine, this is Exeter Unit. We have xenocs approaching on all sides. Request orders."

"Exeter, your request is acknowledge. Disable all xenocs. Repeat, disable. Do not kill. We require them alive."

Ja'th didn't ask why. He knew, of course. They were to be 'dedicated' to the Sovereign. Their lives, their souls.. he tried not to think of it. It was wrong, yes. But it was a necessary sacrifice. He shuddered, and pulled the trigger. Green-orange splutters of energy ripped through the advancing waves of curious aliens, sending them into a long, although temporary paralysis. As the first of them fell, they began to run. Ja'th squinted down the barrel of his gun, and fired, again, and again.

The last of the aliens had fallen.

"This is Exeter Unit. We have secured Entry Point One. Should we move into the more densely populated area?"

"Negative, Exeter. Hold your position. The Cardinal assigned to your position will be along shortly. Your duty is to protect him whilst he carries out his duty."

He looked down at the fallen aliens again. The greenish tinge his helmet provided allowed him to think of them as inhuman, deserving of what was about to happen. He holstered his rifle, and turned around, resolutely refusing to stare at the fallen aliens. A moral crisis was not what he needed right now..

"Commander?"

"Yes, Riecht?"

"Why are you facing the other way? Aren't we meant to be guarding the approach to the more populated areas on the plateau?"

"Yes, Riecht, we are. Which is why I'm facing this way. If some more xenocs come out of the surrounding area, I'll see them. We can't all face the same way."

"..oh. Right you are, commander."

"You're damn right I am! Now, set up a scanner perimetre, and lay down stun-mines! We're meant to be defending this area, not hosting our own tea party, ladies!"

All around the plateau, the same thing was happening. But that was merely the beginning. Stunning the humanoid aliens was the initial stage in the sacrifice. It signalled, however, their last few hours of life...

Another of the blood-red pyres leapt high into the night, jets of flame cutting the black sky, the bodies carefully removed from the great, carved stones that had been their deathbeds. The fleet had left orbit some time ago - more troops to deliver, more worlds to cleanse. The bodies of the fallen were already crumbling into dust, whatever essence of life they had once possessed now gone.

"Ah, the men of Exeter. I am Cardinal Illyrior. I thank you for guarding me whilst I did this repugnant work. Yet it was in the name of the Sovereign. And so, although we are tainted for what we did, we will redeemed with His coming."

The Cardinal wore a thin alloyweave cloak, and what seemed to be purely ceremonial clothing.

Ja'th, through a hulking ten-foot suit of armor, simply looked at him. The heavy breathing that filtered through his suit was the only sound that could be heard, for the screams of dying aliens had long since vanished.

"Sergeant Ja'th. I must commend you, in particular, for your work. You were most meticulous in the execution of your duty. I shall recommend you for promotion once we arrive back with the fleet."

Ja'th stared at him. And raised his rifle.

Nervous, now, the Cardinal spoke more quickly. "Put your rifle down, Sergeant. You have done fine work here."

"Work? No, this wasn't work. It was a massacre. Nothing more."

His finger edged closer to the trigger on his rifle. "I want some explanations, Cardinal. I'm a soldier, not a baby-killer. Although I might as well be the second, considering what you 'servants' did here today. So, I'm going to give you five seconds. Talk quickly."

His squad was far away - performing another sweep of the area. The fleet had left. There was nothing left to stop him.

"Well, you see-"

"One."

"The Sovereign must be-"

"Two."

"I can't do this if you-"

"Three."

"Stop interrupting!"

"Four."

"Just wait, damnit!"

"Five."

White-hot plasma spewed forth from the barrel of his gun, enveloping the Cardinal with deadly fire. He left his finger on the trigger for a second longer, and let go. The man was dead.

And then a lance of red, swooping down from the pyre next to him, bit into his armor, throwing him across the plateau. He felt himself lifted up, his armor torn away by a force that tossed him carelessly about, like a ragdoll.

"Oh, Ja'th. The Sovereign rewards his.. servants, as you called them. And this area seethes with power. He does not, however, reward those who betray him. You will simply be another among the countless dead, sacrificed to the glory of the Sovereign."

Ja'th struggled, but it was no use. The grip around him tightened, and he was unable to move a muscle.

"Say goodbye, Sergeant."

"Goodbye, motherfuc-"

An explosion shattered his unprotected eardrums, and he fell to the ground, blazing heat scorching his limbs.

"Aww. You just got Riechted."

Riecht's gun hammered out a few more short ripostes, and the Cardinal's body decorated the ground, in a hundred different places. The fallout from the grenade Riecht had thrown hurt - but already nanites were swarming through his body, repairing battered skin and bone, revitalising dead tissue, restoring strength to his limbs once more.

"Sarge! Are you all right?"

"I'm... I'm fine, soldier. But the Starfederation is not."

2234 Hours, February 9th, 2671 (Military Calendar) \
Task Force Gamma, Thussa System

As Thussa was ravaged by the forces of the Sovereign, a new twist arrived in the form of a Imperial prowler task force. Task Force Gamma was yet another force sent to investigate the situation in the galaxy, and to make sure the Imperium did not fall under attack from any new threats. Commander Stanlon gazed at the screen as the world appeared on the screens. Stanlon spoke up. “Scan that planet, give me all the readouts you can get on that thing. I want to know everything, all the way down to the molecule.”

“Yes sir.” The bridge hummed as the scanners activated, going over the planet and feeding them data. All seemed normal, it was just a scout mission after all. Five more minutes and they would be going back home, surely nothing was going on here, at such a peaceful pla-

GRRRRRRAAAWWWWW!

The alarms went off as bits of code went across the screen. The Commander stood up. “What the hell is going on?!” His question was soon answered as images of destroyed villages, sacrifical pyres and hellish creatures appeared on the planet. The crew was silent, shocked and horrified at what they saw. Stanlon gritted his teeth. Here was one force that could never make it to the Imperium. This system was WAY too close for comfort to the Imperium, so they would have to go down there, investigate the full extent of these new beings and then report back to the Imperium. The Navy and Marines would need useful data on these things if they were to successfully fight the damned things. “Alright, brings us to the planet, all stealth measures active. Ready the drop pods, and prepare for infiltration!” The ships shuddered and went into active camo, blending in with the galaxy. Racing forward, they soon made their way in orbit of the planet. They aimed to launch the pods at a spot on the planet the strange forces had not yet reached. Each prowler, only three of them,.has ten drop pods each, 30 men, an entire platoon. These were ODST's, the elite soldier of the Imperium. Commanded by Lieutenant Gregory, they prepared to be dropped. The Commander yelled.

“Prepare for drop in 5....4....3...2...1..NOW!” The drop pods detached, zooming through the atmosphere at subsonic speeds towards the planet. The pods became fiery meteors across the sky, thirty balls of fire heading for a large plain area. Once it had gotten through enough of the atmosphere, the stabilizers kicked in, slowing down the craft enough so it wouldn't kill the troops inside the pods on impact. They crashed into the ground with great force, causing small craters and sending waves of fire everywhere. As the ground smoked and crackled the doors opened, and they jumped out, finding nearby cover and preparing for a counter attack. They formed a perimeter around the pods, preparing for an attack.

"Ah. I sense a presence nearby. Major, if you and your men..?"

"Of course, Cardinal! We will investigate immediately! We saw the fiery objects."

A squad of eight men set off - not the most elite that the Kingdom had to offer, but armored, tough men, nonetheless. Men who had seen and endured horrors the night before, and were unshaken. Some would call them immoral, bloodthirsty. It is quite likely that they would be right.

Suits whined with power, and the men set off.

The cardinal traced a pattern in the air, blood-red lines of power following his finger. A rune hung there for a moment, and disappeared. He grimaced. "Ah, I take your pain gladly, my lord, my Sovereign. For it is with the pain that I will find power. The new alien presence upon this world must be crushed. And I am honoured that I would be called upon to do such a thing.."

He was a weak servant of the Sovereign, compared to many. But he had slain hundreds, and their power flowed through his veins. Of course, he was human - culpably weak. If he did not notice something, he could hardly address it..

The ODST's swept the area one more time before relaxing. Each soldier took out equipment and weapons from the pods, and then, after typing in the codes, the pod went into lockdown mode, which only the code could undo, and then their active camouflage activated, making them seem as if they had vanished, and were never there, aside from the crater in the ground. Lieutenant Gregory took in the information coming from the prowlers who had remained in orbit, and were giving him tactical info, so he would be posted on enemy threats. Which was good, considering they were in enemy territory with countless enemies, and were outnumbered dangerously. They would have to move quietly and make sure they were not spotted unless they wanted to be. Turning to his men, he spoke up.

"Sergeant Collins!" A man stepped forth, his helmet hiding his face but he held an air of command and just all-round badassness. "You are to take Second Squad up into that forest over there and secure an HQ for us. Bring all extra equipment and use all camo tech we got, I want you hidden. Also, hotkey the emergency beacon, in case shit hits the fan." The Sergeant nodded and hollered to the squad, and five other men peeled off, hauling the equipment and heading to the forest. Gregory turned to the rest of his men. "Sergeant Jenkins and Garcia, you take Third and Fourth Squad respectively. I will lead with First Squad. We need to head towards the enemy encampment and see just what the hell is going on over there. From the sensor readings the Navy guys got, we got some serious shit going down here and-" His HUD beeped and a window opened, showing information on the targets detected by the prowlers. Eight men crept through the plains several kilometers away from them. Gregory sent the information to the men, who stiffened for a second and then relaxed. He could sense the anticipation amongst them; they may be here for a covert op but they were ODST to the core, and they loved to fight. And he had plenty of men, since First, Third and Fourth Squads had eight men, while Second only had six.

"Alright, it would appear we have some uninvited guests. Let's set the table and give them something to REALLY enjoy." He set rendezvous points on their HUD's. "Third Squad, take your sniper rifles and go behind those rocks and aim for them. When they get close enough to the trap Fourth Squad is setting up here," He put a NAV point to where it was. ", I want you to blast them, got it?" They nodded and Sergeant Jenkins lead them off. "Sergeant Garcia, I want you and your men to set up a smoke grenade trap. The snipers will begin to pick them off and when they crouch down, I want you to detonate the trap, confusing them and let loose with your weapons. When my squad arrives, simply hold back and provide covering fire when necessary. Use silencers, keep this quiet." They saw their positions and the location of the trap and moved to initiate the plan. Finally, he turned to his own squad.

"Boys, we get to do war the old-fashioned way. When our boys get those guys on their knees, we come in and mop up. Keep it quiet, I don't want any nearby units to get involved. We are heading here. Understand?" They nodded. "Then let's move!" After a couple minutes setting up, they shifted into their positions and waited. Third Squad was hidden by rocks, their rifles muffled and hidden by camo cloaks, Fourth Squad were on their bellies, hidden by the tall grass, ready to activate the trap. . And First Squad were hidden, using active camo as all the other squads were, waiting to ambush the enemy.

The other squad, meanwhile, had found a small cave in the forest and set up there. They had a small communications center, a makeshift armory and plenty of defenses set up. They had LOTUS Anti-Tank mines and automated plasma and machine gun turrets set up, but only five in all. They were all deployable, able to be shutdown and picked up at will. Sergeant Collins waved to two men. "Serensky, Perez, go scout out the area and report back anything you find." They saluted and headed out. They made their way through the forest and soon their motion detector picked up something. Serensky held up a hand, a balled fist which indicated they freeze and brought up his sniper rifle. Gazing into the scope, he saw the Cardinal and he froze. Making a little gesture to Perez, Perez came forward and gazed at the man, who was oblivious. They looked at each other once, and you could tell they were grinning. Turning on the muffler, Serensky aimed at his head and fired, a single bullet coated in plasma energy soaring through the air towards his head....

The Cardinal finished the third and final rune in the air, and it hung there for a moment, like the others, before dissipating. It was a good day, he decided. For countless thousands, many millions, had died to bring about the first step in the Sovereign's revival. In his summoning into this world.

"For the Guide shall witness the renewal, and in his eyes, the world will be redeemed, even as he is damned. For his damnation is our salvation."

They had not had the Guide with them. Or, at least, he had not seen the man. A mythical being, he thought. The Guide was supposedly one who did not serve the Sovereign - one who most wholeheartedly opposed Him, and yet, would be the conduit through which he would be brought into this world. The prophecy had come about in two parts - the first two steps, Mind and Soul.

He could feel it. Where, months before, he had been all but powerless, a charlatan, unable to summon up the tiniest of beings to serve him, he was filled to the brim with power, able to harness the Sovereign's glory to his own ends - his ends that, of course, served the Sovereign. But, though Mind and Soul were the greater of the three fragments that composed the Sovereign, they were unable to be harnessed without Body. That much was self-evident.

If he himself tried to channel too much power, he would be incinerated, corrupted beyond repair. For his body could not withstand the power that he could use. But once the Body had been built, the Sovereign would be able to awaken, and exert his will on all that existed.

The starmap was evident of this. Reality existed - there was no doubt as to that. And the realm of the Sovereign existed - he knew that, too, beyond doubt. Yet the two could not co-exist. Reality could not house the Sovereign, and the Sovereign would die were he brought into reality without a vessel.

Incognitia. This world. A thousand like it. And, for each death, one of the cords that made the world cohesive, that made physical laws and science work was severed. By doing what they had done here, they could utilize far more power than they could, say, on Incognitia, or in the far-flung galaxy where Palpatine made his Empire.

But it was one world among billions. One system among trillions. There was more work to be done. He smiled. Still, he had done the Sovereign's work here. And that, for today, would suffice. But that strange presence.. it bothered him. The fleet was supposed to have kept out any intruders.

And then the ball of plasma came hurtling towards him. It splayed out across the air, stopped by the protection he had in place - but not quite enough. Fire scorched across his face, incinerating the skin on his head, leaving little more than tendon and bone there. He fell to his knees, in pain.

It looked as if he were dead.

He stood, then, a horrific parody of a grin upon his skull-like visage. He spoke, but he no longer had cheeks to contain the sound. And it was not a sound. He spoke into the mind of the intruder,

You will be sorry for that, worm. The thousands of hours you will be in the dying will ensure that.

Power licked out, and the ground erupted beneath the two men, a shower of earth and death combined ripping the earth apart, the pillar of rock and dirt showering hundreds of metres into the sky. The Cardinal looked at it for a moment, and, as the skin on his cheeks began to regrow, bolts of power licked out again and again, that would easily scythe through armor, skin and flesh alike. If nothing else, the eruption would ensure whoever else was out there would come running.

He smiled.

You come uninvited to a world of the Sovereign. I will find out why. I will find out who sent you. And I will kill them. All.

Serensky paused as he saw something stop his shot and then break through to impact with the Cardinal's face, ripping off flesh to reveal tendon and bone. Serensky glanced at Perez. They hadn't detected an energy field of any kind around the man before the shot. What the hell was going on and what kind of beings were they facing? They had no more time to ponder as the man stood up, his teeth grinning from his burnt-out skull and they heard a voice in their minds.

You will be sorry for that, worm. The thousands of hours you will be in the dying will ensure that.

They swore and activated their jets boosting them backwards away from their opponent. He was too strong, whatever he was. They had to go get help and warn the Sergeant, hell, the entire force about this. Then, the ground erupted as some sort of magic blew it apart. They were sent flying through the trees, as their shields whined as the explosion washed over them. Landing several feet away, they got up groaning. Perez watched as his shield meter refilled, pushed to the breaking point almost. They were going to have to be careful.

"Serensky, you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. We need to book it. Get Sarge on the radio as we move." They got up and turned before running off as fast as they could. Perez activated the com. "Sergeant Collins, do you read? We have an emergency situation! I repeat we have a emergency situation!"

A gruff voice sounded over the COM. "What is it, Private? I better not have had you trying to break my eardrums over a rabbit."

"No sir! We have found and engaged a single unit. It would appear to be leading the creatures we saw in orbit. We shot the damn thing in the face and it just got back up and cause the ground we were standing under to explode. Request reinforcements on the double, and ask that the Lieutenant be informed."

Silence reigned over the COM until the Sergeant spoke again, deadly serious. "Jesus Christ....alright, you boys hightail it back here. If the enemy catches up, do what you can to stall them. I am getting my boys reading to come aid you now. The Lieutenant cannot be contacted as he has ordered radio silence to First, Third, and Fourth Squads until he lifts it. Sergeant Collins out." Perez and Serensky cut off their COMs and then put on more speed, eager to get away from the demon they had just encountered. With only a battle rifle and sniper rifle, they didn't have enough punch to take him out, not yet anyways.

Flesh was discarded, volumes of pus and corruption spilling forth from his face as he willed the transformation of his body. Lengthening fingers, tapering into claws, hardening skin, hardening into a strange glazed exterior, liquid, constantly shifting, power flowing through his body to change him, the pain of change intermingled with the pleasure of power, as his tendons lengthened, and muscles became stronger, more wiry - his eyes narrowed into eye-slits, and his reflexes were made faster by a hundred-fold.

Others would simply call upon the vast amount of power they had brought to be here, and obliterated their foe, destroying the area in the process. Not him. No, he enjoyed the pleasure of the hunt. The thrill that came with the death of others, the risk and the possibility of death. This form was powerful, and easily enough taken on. Besides, if he died, what matter? There were enough to replace him.

Movement flickered in the corner of his vision. Spinning, and leaping towards it faster than the human eye, or even most AI could track, his claws scything through air, and then metal, burning pain touching them for a moment, a shield, no doubt, and then snickering through flesh, cleaning cutting the body in half.

Blood spurted from the corpse, and he brought down his claws, made red-hot by the shield, to cauterize it.

"Ahhh.. Mmmajorr. I appologissse."

It was one of his own. A pity. No doubt he had come back to report. Wafer-thin blades snuck out from his larger claws, and he sliced the armour into pieces, carefully looking through the computer systems, until he found the report.

"Sspace? A pity. I expected more of you, Major."

A fairly routine report. A shame. He had hoped for locations. But this, in the end, merely heightened the experience. His enemies would outnumber him, but.. he drew power 'round him, and a crackling shield would stop any more dispersed attack, and, provided he came under no sustained barrage, would do so indefinitely. Invisible to those without power, he leapt, and, cutting through a tree, flung himself to the ground, changing direction in midair.

He sent a message, echoing through the area - he had no idea where his enemies were, yet. But to warn the prey before a hunt was only honourable, and, of course, it gave them a change to prepare.

Hello, corpses. It is time for you to learn of your death. Painfully.

Perez and Serensky continued to move, moving as fast as they could with their jets. They made good time, blasting through the forest. Finally, they stopped. The trees had thinned to only a few, resembling a meadow. In one clearing, they paused to rest. "Jesus Serensky, what the hell have we found here?" The other Private shook his head. shouldering his sniper rifle.

"No idea, man, but I can't wait for Sergeant Collins to catch up with us. He is one tough motherfucker, and if anyone could kill this thing, he could."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Perez hefted his MA5C and cocked the chamber, glancing around. "Think he's following us?" Serensky glared at him.

"Dude, we shot his face off and he turned and blew up the ground under us. I would think he would be." He put the sniper rifle on his back, the magnetic clamps adhering to the suit. He pulled out a shotgun and cocked it. "In the meantime, I say we find some open space where he can't hide. He's probably going to catch up to us before the Sergeant does and we need to hold him off until he does."

"Yeah, thats true." They paused as their HUD beeped and several red diamonds appeared on the horizon. "Sweet, thats the Sergeant, we're saved, we're-"

Hello, corpses. It is time for you to learn of your death. Painfully. Perez's eyes whitened and Serensky grimaced. "Alright, let's book it. Let's get some distance."

"Fuck yes!" They blasted their jets and headed out of the meadows. They were about ten minutes from the plain area, where the Sergeant and the rest of the squad were hoofing over at the moment, making their way there.

"Dammit, you boys better not die. I swear if that thing kills them, I will take pleasure in making it into my new wallet...."

OOC: My replies are a little succint right now - I've got a month-and-a-half worth of stuff to catch up on, but rest assured they'll improve dramatically come the holidays.

The form was harder to maintain than he'd first expected. As he bounded towards where he could feel his prey, he weakened. Not overly significantly - only a bit, enough to make his shield of invisibility difficult to maintain, and he cursed. The hissing was audible for hundreds of metres around, as he realised what he had forgotten.

The altar, where all the creatures from this world had died, created a.. nexus point, for lack of a better word, where the Sovereign's power could more easily penetrate reality. The further he got away, the more susceptible he would be to normal fire.

But that was irrelevent to his decision to kill the two men. They jetted off, and, gritting his teeth- no, fangs, with effort, he increased his speed, the shield flickering, and then disappearing, whilst he did so. It was unlikely he would be able to defeat an entire squad of men, or a company, by himself, unless he was near the altar. Nevertheless.. the joy of the hunt overtook him, and through his will alone, he transposed himself in front of one of the two suits, bowled over by the weight, clawing and grabbing at the suit, trying to kill it, all the while. The armour was tough - but so was he, although drained from the effort of teleportation.

It would be amusing to kill this one, and wait for the other one to reach its friends. Then he would lie in wait, and kill them, one by one. Their fear, and their pain, would be his prayer to the Sovereign.