NationStates Jolt Archive

(OOC: Basically they'll find a Van Grothe's Rapidity near their solar system, and what happens when getting into there without a Gellar Field... and of course, with a psionics from the OSA("Oficio of Special Agents") among the crew. No FTL in the actual Physical universe though because I don't want to use the Einstein Rotation Drive (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12131324&postcount=10), and if you're curious, this is where I took the OSA acronym from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Shock_2#Gameplay))

Solar Communes, 17 of August of 2176

The incident of unforeseen consequences involving the Moho Mines was already over and solved when the Eris C-ship arrived with her mutated, cancer-suffering and psychologically shaken crew which was immediately sent to gene therapy and psychological treatment which would take years for them to recover. The new information regarding the so called Chaotic Psyche Energy that was collected from the Eris Anomaly Recon fleet wasn't very pleasant either, and even more strange was the fact the Artificial Intelligence of the Eris became self-aware and as soon as it was approved in the Turing Test, it demanded to be uploaded to a robotic body and to be granted full citizenship rights. A self-aware Strong Artificial Intelligence was considered impossible even with quantum computing, as it was believe certain secrets of the human brain that cannot be copied by a machine are still to be uncovered. It seemed that this Chaos Energy could really have an analogous function to that of organic molecules as an essence of some form of "life" which challenges all known laws of physics. It was noticed to react very badly when directed against a sentient being, like by what happened by the crew of the Eris, which psychologically suffered from facing their own Jungian shadows and personal phobias in the worst possible forms.

0.01 light years away from Gliese 581d

Several strange emanations of light start to apparently come from nowhere. They pulsated in a completely unexplainable pattern and their spectrum shifted in a chaotic form from infrared to ultraviolet and back to infrared, shifting through all colors of the visible spectrum.

3 days and 14 hours later

The strange light emanations are captured by a Solar Commune probe. Soon the news spread through their small solar civilization. A new anomaly was found at 0.01 light years away from them, and it behaved chaotically. It was a sign that somehow they managed to "attract" it to themselves as there was no form of strange signatures like those before. Panic ensured for the first 2 days after the news, considering the reports of the Eris wasn't something to be unexpected the terror that happened after a source of Chaos Energy was found so close to them.

4 days later

The readings on the intensity of the emissions were somewhat "stable" around a certain average for 3 days, but then suddenly they started to increase dramatically. Some people started to claim that the panic of the population was somehow "feeding" it and all were instructed by several propaganda movies to calm down and face it like the standard of capability and courage they should have, and that there was no evidence it could directly threaten Solar Communes. The panic stopped then.

29 of August of 2176

The anomaly increases drastically in energy emissions and dimension to the point it could be viewed to the naked eye at the sky during the night in Gliese 581d. Bizarre readings start to arrive regarding the energy emissions of it, which now seem to be not so random as previously... in fact now there is no doubt it is a too small quantity of Chaos Energy to affect them that is getting through that anomaly, from wherever it came from...
A daring group inside the Armada of about 6,500 among Space Guards, 36 Blackguards, Space Pirates, 96 Space Marines, starship crews and specialists wishing to take the same footsteps of the Eris Anomaly Recon, they however, not being Discordians, christened their fleet as the 2nd Emergence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence) Anomaly Strike.

The most notorious of them was definitely the disciplined, methodical, cautious and orderly 28 years old OSA psi-corps operative and astronomer Amanda Raez Still, because, to awaken her potential as she had strange uncontrolled visions and premonitions, she had risked to pass 4 years inside a sensory deprivation tank to "wonder on the nature of matter, communication and energy", awakening and acquire control over her innate paranormal powers, particularly Extra-sensory perception, telepathy and telekinesis. It was believed that the Chaos Energy was of psychic nature, and thus more adequate to be fought against by one who can exert a degree of control such forces. Their theory was that Chaos was the "Collective Shadow", an assortment of all Psychological Shadows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_%28psychology%29) of all human and otherwise beings of the universe. Besides her the renowned astrobiologist Edmund Bryce Manilla and the Linguistics expert Carlos Laplace, known for his treatise on how languages could develop among sentient lifeforms which rely in other communication means rather than vocal chords and sound.

They would travel on board of the 720 meters long ACCLR-720 Emergence Long Range Assault Cruiser-Carrier, carrying three FIS-185 Asterisk Space Interceptors, three FSS-150 Anarchy Space Superiority Fighters, four IFS-50 Corsairs, four IDS-70 Blackbeards and one IBS-87 Caribbean boarding ships, two DSA-84 Scissor Standard SSTO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSTO)/VTOL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTOL) Spaceplane Dropships and one DSAS-55 Shadowguard Stealth Dropship. The massive cruiser was docked with the Bakunin Space Station in Gliese 581d orbit, ready to depart as its crew went to the stasis chambers in the cargo hold, the travel would take 22 days and nobody wanted to stay 22 days feeling the sensation of free fall. The Emergence weak AI would handle the travel until they were close enough to the anomaly to reach it in 30 minutes. For now they would have a 22 days sleep.
"This is Emergence... ready for launch"
"Acknowledge Emergence, clear for launch", the voice announced as

21 of September of 2176

"Reawakening crew from stasis..."
"Life signs normal..."
"Anomaly energy signature intensification detected..."
The computerized voiced announced as the 1.90 meters tall Amanda opened her gray eyes and awakened from the Stasis already trying to adjust her clothing of the Armada: a black and red synthetic fiber T-shirt with the Solar Communes emblem, and black pants and shoes, only to contemplate an uneasy sensation that started to grow inside her. She could feel there was something trying to reach her, to harm her but she could not manage to discover what it was as her tanned skin seemed to crawl like her curly black hair. Following the rest of the crew, she headed to the cruiser-carrier window-less bridge while others headed to the massive crew quarters and to guard positions around the calculated boarding areas. As she walked through the metal walkways and took the elevator to the Bridge, she felt a shiver and it seemed there were things in the corners going for her and heard her name being called in whispers and laughters, but when she looked at them nothing was there. Others though weren't having any visions at all.

She finally sat at the command chair, still feeling the frightening sensation, with Carlos and Edmund at her side and the rest of the system operators spread around through several seats. She soon too the brain computer interface plug and linked her mind directly to the navigation system through an occipital infolink. Their ship lacked computer screens, readouts and alike as all was transmitted directly from the ship systems to the mind of its operators.

Soon her vision started to be based both signals from her eyes and from the artificial optical nerve of the brain computer interface, and after 5 seconds of confusion her mind adapted to the simultaneous signals as an overlay of a heads-up display with several readings of damage control, remaining fuel and ammunition, sensors and an image of the starship outside replaced what her eyes were seeing. Trying to overcome the fear only she could feel, she started to train using her mind to pilot the ship instead of moving her limbs, something she previously had experience with. After a minute the ship started to move through all three dimensions before she got a hang of its controls.

Her hearing wasn't replaced though, and she could still talk while "piloting" the ship in such an unusual manner.

"The scans on this thing are not good", she frowned "And neither my perceptions are positive. I have a theory on this, I believe this is a tear of the fabric of space and time themselves, a potential aperture to another Universe where there are no laws of physics... and where Chaos Energy is everywhere"

"Or maybe it's just some type of exotic matter, who knows?", Carlos asked as suddenly she could hear another voice, among laughters and a cacophony of disturbing sounds: "Come to us Amanda, we are waiting you in the other said! Be friendsss... we like changesss and you all like changesss". She almost jumped from her chair and unplugged her mind from the interface as she heard it.

"What did you see?", Edmund asked, worried.

"There is... something sentient beyond and ahead of the Event Horizon of this anomaly, it must lead to somewhere of Shadows... maybe as there are the shadows of our own psyche built upon beliefs, there is a Shadow of the entire Universe as well built upon beliefs and we found it. And there is something there... something big and dangerous... of psychic nature. If any of you have any severe phobia or lack mental discipline you should take a dropship and head back NOW, really!", she announced the last part of the message through the starship communication system triggered by her brain.

Soon a few them decided to head back through one of the standard dropships, although neither Edmund nor Carlos gave up on their expedition towards the unknown parallel universe they might have discovered, but first she had one last thing to do. The ship brain computer interface could also serve as a neural amplification system when used by a psionic, capable of transmitting a telepathic message of short length much beyond the maximum known range of them. But what should the message contain. She wondered... wondered and suddenly it came like a spontaneous thought, or maybe an influence of something else. A burst of telepathy was sent towards the anomaly they would take 30 minutes to reach, the only content of the telepathic message was a single word in an elevated tone, accompanied by the sounds of flames: Tzeentch.

(OOC: I want to attempt boarding an Emperor Class with my Space Pirates some day... such would be only way to capture an intact Gellar field... now back to the Immaterium business, I'm bumping this for you Chron. And regarding the characters. Amanda and Edmund are of the Homo Sapiens Astrum race, while Carlos is an average, non-modified Homo Sapiens Sapiens, and of course, Amanda is a psyker, and exceptionally tall for one of her race.

From those who decided to remain in the Colony ships to be genetically modified in space stations came a new artificially created race of human beings, casually known as the Spacemen, completely adapted to explore and live in artificial environments in the space. They are much thinner and also a bit shorter than normal humans and have muscles adapted to be agile rather than strong. However, they are also completely incapable of living in any environment with a higher than 0.3g gravity.

Oh, and don't tell me my spacemen are just elves without pointy ears or I'll kill you :P)

Many minutes have passed and no response... maybe Amanda should start to throw off random discordianist ramblings instead as that sensation of dread now became even more real... she could see for a glimpse inside her mind an horrific image of a bizarre creature of shifting shape, flesh and orifices spitting flames (http://mythicmktg.fileburst.com/media/images/newsletters/warhammer/2007/WARmons0207_03.jpg) and always changing...

And thus now it seemed something was coming to her, yet nothing seemed to come. There was a very strong... outside suggestion in her mind. Something that was telling her that she should go beyond the event horizon of that strange portal to an unknown parallel universe, almost in the tone of a threat... the torment... They were coming for her. Yet minutes passed and nothing. It seemed they were mocking her, trying to slowly drive her insane. Their distorted grunts and laughters interrupted for a while as Carlos touched her thin shoulder, which had half of the mass of an human shoulder:

"Amanda? You seem to be very pale! Is everything alright?", he asked as the dread remained on her mind.

She was still having the input from the ship navigation ship rather than the input of her eyes when she answered him:
"If I was a Christian, I would swear I just saw a demon... whatever lies beyond the event horizon is truly something we would rather not have to deal with. I don't think we... should...", suddenly a burst of psychic terror reached her mind...

"Arrgh! The sun! it's flaring... I'm... I'm arrgh... it burns! Activate shades!...", she said as she could feel as if her skin was being crisped by the sun rays. It was an unbearable pain that existed only in her mind, and she was losing it as a very strong influence was trying to impel her to thrust the large cruiser forward... she gave in...

"Amanda! Stop! You... cannot do it... Emergence! Lockdown on command seat interface, now!", Edmund shouted as the ship started to accelerate towards the anomaly.
"Acknowledged, disabling command seat brain-computer interface...", the artificial intelligence announced as it was shut down and it decelerated the starship back to a static position as it moved only about two kilometers further ahead.
Edmund ran towards Amanda. She was laid back against the chair, crouching herself in a fetal position and agonizing of pain as whatever lied there continued to torment her mind... but soon she took efforts and said at the same time her mind started to fend off such attack and send a telepathic answer to it towards the anomaly and portal:

"Why don't you come to us, rather than we come to you... so we can talk? Are you afraid of talking with us out of your own turf? I... want to talk... with Tzeentch or... whoever represents... it"

Soon she raised her small hand up and gasped as she managed to stop such wave of psi-attack against her mind... she sweated through all her body in panic and as she looked at Edmund she said:
"I hope neither of you are weak of will... this is not a recon mission... this is an encounter with our own worst horrors... stay concentrated and do not let your minds be distracted with the mundane!", she replied as the feeling of dread still surrounded her mind trying to find another vulnerability on her to strike.
"Amanda, what the hell is this Tzeentch you mentioned?"
"I believe it's... the 'boss', or closest thing to it of whatever twisted forms sentience lie beyond that gate, and maybe it... I don't know maybe I'm being used argh! This feeling is so horrible... they are continually probing my psyche for weaknesses and I'm trying to stand it. You are lucky Edmund... you are not psychic or they would be after you as well right now! But I can feel them... and they want... I know they want... not you or anyone else here, for some reason they want me", she explained the best she could as more and more intense became her despair.

Perhaps sending a psychic together with them was a very foolish decision...

(Bump for Chronosia)

(Last bump, I'm probably going to decrete this RP dead or assume the control of Chaos soon, turning this into a single-author story thread instead)

The whispers were everywhere. Most mortal men couldn't hear them, not as they should be, but they felt them. Each time they spilled the blood of their fellows, each time they slaked their lusts of the flesh, each time they sickened and died, even as they grew, as they evolved...The whispers of Chaos were everywhere, prying at the feeble flesh, the limited minds, seeking new possibilities, new potentials. The voices were strongest here, at the fringes of existence, where the vistas of human understanding splintered into a thousand shifting visions of what truly was and what could be. The Warp was everything and nothing, a sea of seething fractals, an ocean of emotion and experience, a million things at once and stilll shifting. This was what called to those who it saw potential in, the minds that could touch some power.

Seething tendrils of power and madness flared from the anomoly once more, as though communicating with the frail flesh of the girl. It called to them, it cajoled and amused. Did she think she could hold the incarnate Godhood of the Changer in its hands? Did it think itself better than those who dwelt beyond. The intelligences clustered here found themselves fermenting the rift, teasing its energies. Was the Warp not at their command? To brighten like the sun or to cloud over as a stormy sea...

Slowly, they reached out towards the little ship, towards the little mind....And pushed.

OOC: Sorry for the short reply, I'm about to rush off to work.

OOC: Taggery.

Revolutionary wars, subversion, rebellion, insurgence, anarchism... Solar Communes was not exactly a civilization known for stagnation and reactionary adherence to a preset social order, neither it was a civilization of pure chaos and disorder, actually the best assessment given is that for them, chaos and order were means rather than ends, means to their primary end: their freedom.

However they never imagined that all the bloodshed of revolutions, covert operations against fascist states, conspiracies, false-flag operations, Black Ops, civil wars, attempts of overthrowing dictators both successful and failed, anarchism, the excessively liberal and moral-less take on the pleasures of flesh, an ideal of creating an ever-changing and progressing civilization without the greatest manifestation of order which is a centralized government and social order... all those commonplace facts of Solar Communes history since the early 21st century were feeding a force that would become a threat to their own freedom, for neither absolute chaos nor absolute order are paragons of liberty and dignity, the latter being a paragon of the purest tyranny and the first of the purest might makes right amoral rule, because even from the absolute chaos, an order do exist, and not the best for a people at all... now they were about to meet for the first time the nightmare, the repressed thoughts and weaknesses in an ocean of chaos turning the Jungian Shadow into a reality... things would never be the same again for Solar Communes after this moment, little they knew that Amanda have evoked the name of the lord of Change, the one who have been the mostly benefited by their involuntary contribution of chaos against the order of many totalitarian and fascist states...

Before even recovering from the first shock, an unexpected psychic burst finally led Amanda to lose her guard, leading her into another deep nightmare with demons and abominations while she again felt on the cold floor of the bridge in shock, the warp was beckoning them... to worsen everything, a strange, random force started to pull the fleet towards the maw of chaos. Edmund desperatedly sent a distress call to the Solar Communes main defensive fleet:

"This *zzhzh* this is 2nd Emergence Anomaly Strike.... we are being pulled by an unknown force *zsst* I repeat, towards the anomaly *pigs grunts* Amanda is suffering a severe psychic strike *laughters* we are not going to survive! *flames* maintain a fleet ready to defend *zsst* potentially greater threat than Global State fascists..."

The vectored thrust fusion engines were at full power propelling the cruiser-carrier against the opposing force, but the more they accelerated more the force compensated and continued to slowly pull them towards the anomaly in a way that seemed slow on purpose to terrorize the crew. Amanda started to have severe convulsions while Edmund ran with another three members of the crew to hold her and take her to the med bay before she was hurt. He imagined she whispered a single word: "Tzeentch", but it seemed as silent to the point it might have been just his imagination. However the sensation of dread was only getting worser as the large torchship approached the anomaly. They had no response from Solar Communes yet, due to the considerable distance they were, meaning the lightspeed communications would take some days to reach them... it was close.

There was nothing worse to a spaceman than the feeling of restraint. They were born and lived in an environment where they could literally fly due to the impressively low gravities, where the word upside down had no sense and where piloting a ship was the greatest sign of maturity that one could present. It was fitting that Amanda felt herself compressed inside a 1x1 square meters iron box, her torso literally meeting her legs due to the the flexibility of her body. She could feel being about to die due to lack of air in that cramped prison, and the unsettling sensation of being stacked that way coupled with the sensation of dread and presence of every sort of beast did not help either with the torment such nightmare brought, a constant sensation of not having air to breath, being literally compressed inside a tiny box... it was worser than the first nightmare and her will was weakening this time, Amanda would not retain sanity much longer if that continued.

Her body continued having convulsions when her friends brought her to the med bay with the aid of some robots, a cocktail of chemical substances finally have put her into a deep unconscious state, however that only made things worse when the warp finally met them.

It was not something easy to describe what they witnessed, but the sensors gathered a very bizarre place where everything continually shifted... space, time, light, matter. Nothing was definitive in that world and soon something else would met them...

She was never truly unconscious, Amanda could still feel the nightmare, but she then managed to focus on another message for whatever lied in that strange realm despite the endless torment, and yet she fought against the chaos which tried to overwhelm it, enduring a great suffering to protect the crew of the Emergence from the mutating effects of Chaos Energy, while drawing most of it to herself... if she failed she would have a massive burst of pure chaos against her:

"I... seek... to speak with... Tzeentch... let me talk... before anything... negotiate with... seem"

Things would soon become very critical, they entered in a deathtrap, with no turning back. The artificial intelligence, which due to its dead, machine pseudo-sentience was less prone to the effects of chaos than its crew, assume control of the ship, and a faint, entirely random signature of something that seemed to approach and distance itself from them was detected. Edmund had an impending feeling he was about to die while many of the crew panicked and cowered in fear. A single person would not be able to hold the chaos from mutating and twisting the crew for much longer. The Space marines, blackguards and space guards were at full alert against the possible threat of boarders. The situation was really dire this time... perhaps that anomaly was actually the hole of their own grave...

What are you to demand such, little thing? There was one voice. There was a thousand voices. They whispered and screamed and hissed and snarled. They goaded and cajoled, consoling and enraging all at once. You would ask to speak with the Changer of the Ways? To invoke his incarnate Godhood? Do you know what you request, little being of flesh and blood and marrow? To speak with the Architect of Fate? You have flet but a fraction of our power...Speak to me, let me hear your words little child...Little lost lamb...I am Ablyfoleuowiphn'n, favored servant of almighty Tzeentch! I will answer your prayers little ripe one...Yes...We shall redeem your misbegotten race

Reality was shifting across the ship, twisted by the unknowable forces that they struggled against. Decks seemed to stretch and shift, becoming places they could never be, as though some thing was playing games, replacing parts of their reality with direst nightmare or brutal incomprehension. Many would lose their minds, ensnared forever by the beautiful madness of Tzeentch, by the power of undiluted Chaos. It had begun to rain blood in the med bay, as the walls peeled in a lesser shower of rust and petals. Insanity reigned across the ship, playing its random games upon the easily frightened crew, manipulating their shallow fears, whispering to them in truths and lies. Faces slunk out of the metal, arms reached from floors before fading into nothing. It was everywhere and nowhere, nothing and yet everything. Computer printouts slid forth proclaiming the glory of Tzeentch, inked with words of power.

The Daemon tightened it's grasp as they slid forth towards glory and damnation, upon the precipace of the abyss, the edge of reason. Beyond, they would know the undilute power of the Warp, lost for perhaps millennia, washed away on the tides of unreality. Then they would belong to Tzeentch. But these pawns were not fun, not amusing as others had proven to be. Ablyfoleuowiphn'n had walked between the worlds for Millennia, he had spread discord and sedition across entire swathes of space. He had taken nations and made them bitter thorns in the sides of civilisations, he had turned brother upon brother...Now he called to the wayward brothers of these frightened little mortals, to those among the most fervent servants of Tzeentch upon this plane.

He chuckled wryly, letting his mocking laughter echo in Amanda's ears, as he felt the first tinglings of reply...Far from him, across space and time, Severino Jeriacor De Drakan, Primarch of the Black Fist, Sorceror of Tzeentch, looked skyward and smiled...

The situation was critical, psychic terror has brought many into insanity and a state of primal fear and helplessness which made from them totally incapable of rational thought. Everything shifted around and twisted, changing in all possible ways as the name of Tzeentch was proclaimed... few have resisted, only the most disciplined among them were still conscious and sane, while others simply created the illusion they have consumed massive amounts of drugs and were having a really bad trip that would later end as they woke up.

Yet he stood, yet he did not loose his grip over his own 1.77 caliber/45mm Portable Infantry Cannon attached to his Advanced Power Armor, his vision sharing the heads-up display projected into his mind and marking his health, ammunitions, armor condition, atmospheric condition and sonar readings. While others have fallen Garland never let himself lost in the middle of all insanity, and in fact like him, most space marines still stood firmly against the strike of terror, although that was not very conciliating because they were a minority among the thousands inside. After all, they were the best in a population which was already selected from the best of a previous and now probably dead civilization. They kept alert and resisting... the systems still continued operational and were at a frantic rate registering the chaotic behaviors in the hopes someone might retrieve the data for future use in the Confederation.

Drowning in blood while thousands of sinister voices mocked and threatened was not a pleasant experience, but Amanda had no choice of ignoring it, the psychic torture becoming more and more brutal, sometimes she wondered whether that was what legends mentioned about hell, but the disgusting liquid covered her entirely on that cramped box... and yet she did not die. But giving up soon would not happen... among every second of pain, she slowly tried to build forces for another reply, one which seemed only to make the torment worser and worser, and she faltered, losing concentration due to the horrible suffering, while she closed her right fist in a sign she would never surrender

A pull of a trigger... and Edmund felt limply on the ground. He was not strong of will and decided to end his own existence instead of facing the impending hell. It is said that a strong belief can shape even things seemingly beyond one's reach, and to the disappointment of all demons and abominations watching it... there was nothing. Not a soul coming out of his dead body, because his belief that there was no afterlife was so strong that it has become a concrete truth that his soul ceased to exist, dying together with his body, now he was nothingness, oblivion... his existence was finally over, after a fruitful life of many contributions to science, but his name would not be forgotten.

Carlos could not stop him... neither he had the right to do it, it was his choice to die and if a Solar Communes citizen wanted to commit suicide, it was a granted right because such practice never was considered a taboo except for the Christian minority, but even then did not interfere, despite not liking such unfortunate events. He never was a man weak of mind and his resolve have ensured his name among the few who still resisted the terror of the Warp. He assumed command of the ship immediately and ordered a full scan for whatever could be outside... such was a clear attack, and perhaps it was the time for precautions, because nobody could be certain whether those beasts also had direct physical ways of harming them like spaceships and guns or not. Trying to make a sense from the chaos, the systems could perhaps target something approaching them, but nothing was certain besides their inevitable doom. Soon a black flag with a massive letter "A" was ejected from the still not twisted ejection bays of the cruiser, symbolizing their refusal to recognize any form of authority or law, not even the "law" of chaos, and their refusal to surrender, if that was what those abominations hoped while the still sane headed towards all the corvettes loaded inside the carrier's flight deck to prepare for the possibility of a physical attack against them, stomping whatever hands came from the floors and standing against the chaos.

Rounds of machineguns and assault rifles did hit the hands moving over the walls as some desperate soldiers reacted to them, one very unlucky moment happened at one of the crew quarters, where the ricochets of the bullets, coupled with despair, led all to their "accidental" deaths inside, however like in Edmund's case, all of them were very convinced atheists, and their strong belief on the nonexistence of a soul also was another reason to make the demons even less amused about these victims. It was obvious that letting them die would be fruitless should their goal be to simply use them for some agenda, and significant quantities of them pointed guns to their heads... because they assumed there was not much of choice besides ending their free lives or ending their freedoms.

Those who felt into insanity started attacking their fellow man. The space marines had a very huge and morally questionable problem in their hands... fortunately they had a good supply of non-lethal weapons and quickly countless unconscious bodies were around, being quickly transported to stasis chambers where they would remain. However incidents were aplenty and in fact some had to be killed. Garland would never forget the look of insanity of one of those lost comrades as he pointed a rifle towards him, answered by 45 millimeters solid core round tearing his torso apart, for at least an undamaged brain could technically be restored. Soon others brought a container where the now decapitated head of that poor victim of insanity was preserved... It was too much... he shouted in anger as a reaction to all that, a silly reaction but for a moment his lost his control, and nobody could blame him:

"Changer of the Ways? What's the point of changing ways for worse? Stagnant and pure 'Order' already does enough of keeping worse things as they are in the universe and then you come and change the good things for worse instead of changing them for better? Get out of here! And you present yourself like an authority and yet stands for Chaos? Where there is authority there is a damn Order! Organizing for Chaos... what the heck?"

Amanda might resist the torment, but even if she does, it will leave consequences forever on her psyche... she had a chance of shouting "Stop!" many times before getting into such nightmarish and horrible fate... somehow a feeling of guilty came to her... she could have stopped it, but now she condemned everyone to such nightmare because of a lack of foresight... and the blood which drowned her now started to boil as well to further the pain. They were really wanting to destroy her mind and will, but despite the burning everywhere coupled with the drowning sensation, she still took a last struggle to communicate again, while refusing to beg for mercy and alike with what seemed to be a sense of pride despite everything that was happening, somehow she managed to focus through pain, the intense pain numbing her senses as her mind now became more concentrated, enough to make a cohesive message through psychic means while all the chaos energy she held to avoid the situation from worsening converted into more and more suffering for her. She felt another sense of pride despite all the torment, and perhaps those beasts could have some reasoning after all, however she avoided declaring war, without being obsequious or pleading either, perhaps she could bid a way for most of them to get out of there alive or in a state that could ensure resurrection:

"I am Amanda Raez Still! Elite psionics Psi-corps of the OSA, Commander of the Emergence... Emergence is the name of this fleet. Emergence means order out of chaos, spontaneous, self-improved and order from seemingly nowhere rather than stagnant, decaying and corrupt "Order"... a sort of order which always changes through the "chaos" of questioning all values and beliefs, but for better rather than for worse... thus my civilization was born of chaos... but of a chaos of a different sort than this. And that is what I stand for... what my people stand for. I shall never surrender my will to yours... We cannot live without freedom... we shall die first than surrendering to you if you insist on this unnecessary hostility for whatever wicked amusement you might be having from it. I could have killed myself now... but I won't give you this pleasure... I am not made of flesh and bones, I am made of ideas, ideas which brought my kin into existence, ideas which shaped my life, ideals of Anarchism, of a society which needs no order, no laws or rules to function... and you cannot defeat ideas with brute force. We shall not surrender, I repeat, but it's not too late for... a more civilized talk either... or we can continue this until the Emergence becomes a lifeless and soul-less husk. If you want dumb and stupid mindless servants, which I suppose you have a plenty of already, you should search some... weak scum... Ah, I just want to talk with you Ablyfoleuowiphn'n, Maybe.... there is a way to solve these differences... diplomatically"

Now acid burned her entrails as well... it was only a matter of time before Amanda loses her mind... While the message they sent, incapable of traveling faster than light, still did not reach planet Glacius. However soon they would see how foolish it was to send such a fleet there

(OOC: The Powered Infantry Cannon is basically like a heavy bolter, but it's much heavier in caliber and with a much longer barrel, and I hope it wasn't too much pretentious)

YOU CANNOT CONCEIVE OF THE CHANGER, LITTLE WOMAN! The voice howled and bellowed about her, ripping into the fabric of reality. Metal buckled and cracked beneath the wrath of psychic onslaught. Tzeentch is beyond you, beyond your patheitc onceptions of order and chaos. Tzeentch is the Architect of Fate, the Great Sorceror who casts his might throughout the universe. He is the ebb and the flow of the Warp, the pounding beat of creation and mutation, evolution!

You would trade and bandy about words with a god, fledgling...Tzeentch would pour into you and consume you, just as I shall. I shall sully and defile your wretched flesh. You shall change, as they all shall change. My servants shall come forth and shape them as befits His will...And then the worlds beyond that.

Our greatest mortal servants come forth as midwives to aid in our triumph, to drag you screaming into the maw of the Aethyr. You will learn, child....You will come to understand the insignificance of your rutting race.

It gurgled and cackled, laughter echoing about them, about her. The blood rain stopped, the ship ceased in its shifting and its changing. There was silence throughout the void.

There can be peace between us, Amanda. The air in the med-lab seethed and crackled with O-zone, alive with static discharge. Yes...You shall be the mouthpiece of the Gods. You shall learn, you shall change. I shall drink of you and you of me, you would like that, would you not? Think of the knowledge, the power. Think of all I have seen, all I must know. Let me show you Chaos...

Let me illuminate you.

And with that, the great Prince of the Warp coiled himself about that singular part of the ship, buckling walls with the sheer glory of his presence. He gazed upon her, stubborn and stalwart before the gathering storm, and his laughter shook the very fabric of the vessel.

Ablyfoleuowiphn'n seethed and danced and howled with dire amusement. And then Ablyfoleuowiphn'n hurled its very essence at the psyker, and began to pour himself into its unworthy flesh.

As the lull before the next storm came, a fireteam of space marines could finally rush to protect their most important individual, specially as a demonic shout echoed from the med bay deck above. In fact, a significant part of the local guard headed through the same destination, preparing to meet an unforeseen threat. They had to protect Amanda at all costs, for she was all that remained between them and the horrors outside.

Amanda could never imagine how far the torment would unravel, and how foolish it was to investigate the anomaly. As the immense abomination warped right ahead of her, she immediately felt an unequaled despair, where most of her friends were cowering and shriveling in their greatest fears, incapable of defending her. She took many steps backs, and foolishly pointed a gauss pistol at the beast, with her hands trembling, but yet she could not face it.

The next storm then came, it was getting deep into her consciousness, assaulting the sanctity of her will, and she could no longer resist, only wither and scream in agony, witnessing the last moments of freedom, and her soul being consumed by the forces of a tyrannical chaos. Even worse than her torment, was the despair from knowing that once she fell, all the six thousand onboard would also be lost forever. Her flesh was already twisting, and her skin layering into reptilian-like scales, when a last ditch attempt to delay the assault came, as she began to focus her entire will on stopping the demonic possession, like those of tales about exorcists. Yet it would only be enough for delaying the inevitable. The deceitful offers of knowledge and power went through deaf, stubborn ears and she refused to give in without a fight. A battle for her own mind.

Comrade Garland knew what to expect, as they were running, he began to speak, unhindered by the physical effort, for they would better have much morale to face what was next. The fabric of existence begun to tear apart in the vessel, and the demon could fully possess her at any moment. One of them, expecting for the worse, was carrying a GEM, while the number of PICs was large enough to take down a tank. Perhaps if the physical presence was harmed, its influence would wither.

"Comrades, what we are about to face. We must be strong against the greatest fears, and no matter what it is, we must not run away. The life of six thousands is at stake here. Once we are to reach the deck, prepare to give all you got against the enemy of freedom and anarchism. We must create order out of chaos, no matter how many eggs we have to scramble for that."

As he finished their speech, they were already right into the med bay floor, into one of the adjacent rooms to that where Amanda was located. Around, individuals at the verge of insanity were everywhere, laying on the floor, some of them already acting like vegetables due to the insurmountable terror struck against them. Despite his courage and training, Garland could also feel the storm of psychic terror abound. The field that held most of chaos abound was withering with Amanda's will, and they had to be fast. Four groups of eight marines positioned among four large doors leading to their dreaded destination. And as they were, Garland twisted his right hand forward and they stormed through the doors which opened.

As the first marines saw the beast ahead of them, which was trying to consume Amanda, they did not hesitate to launch a massed hail of high speed projectiles and miniature rockets towards the same, and they began to position, taking cover behind several assets of the large room while struggling to resist against the horror.

Slugs capable of tearing apart tanks, high caliber machineguns hailed fire against the abomination as the teams readied for a retreat, if necessary. Hopefully, despite its size, the beast would not stand such a massed assault. And at least, that would perhaps give Amanda a chance to react and stand.

From this day on, the Confederation would become aware of a new enemy. Their alert message finally arrived to Glacius. There was no reply but to prepare a defense force to interdict whatever threat could come out of the warp from a safe distance. Perhaps the they overestimated the threat, but soon the primary defense craft of the Confederacy headed towards a point in space at 1 AU away from the portal, the Barricada Grand Destroyer stood as a large assault platform, coupled with one Proletariad Energy destroyer, two Guernica Missile destroyers, three Redoubtable Cruiser-Carriers, four Sniper long-range strike cruisers, and eight Exterminator frigates besides several smaller spacecrafts housed inside them. They would take ten days to arrive there, a time which would likely not be of any good fate to the crew of the Emergence Anomaly Strike fleet.

It is said that demons cannot be defeated with guns, although those were certainly not like the Christian view of demons, but worser. Such claim was being tested by a brave group of space marines who gave their best to defeat a physical manifestation of Chaos. Perhaps it would succeed, or perhaps their fate was already sealed since they entered in that dark realm, and Amanda was already condemned.

A great serpentine wing swept across their field of vision, imbedding itself with bony talons into the wall of the ship. A great keening call echoed about them, as of a thousand voices cackling and gibbering. Eyes appearedm hundreds of them covering the great seething wall of flesh that stood between them, bursting and shuddering under the impact of their weapons. Tendrils and mouths lashed from the flesh, striking out against those who would dare the will of the Changer.

The Great Daemon Prince reared up, feeling their weapons course into him, pour through him. Did they think that mortal weapons could strike down a being older than time, more glorious than anything in their material realm? He moved like a Tsunami through her mind, drowning their thoughts in pure ancient malevolence, drinking in her memories as though they were wine. He could taste her, taste this entire civilisation, so willing to embrace Chaos and yet so ignorant of what they denied themselves, what their ignorance blinded them to!

I could help you, Amanda, I could raise your culture to the level of Gods themselves. You would know and understand as no others...Soon you will see the truth. I will speak through you, and you shall birth me to flesh. My every pronouncement shall crack your mortal realm, my every will shall be manifest.

I shall illuminate them with the beauty of limitless change, the glories of mutation and evolution! Don't you understand what power the Gods of the Warp hold forth?

Humble yourself before the Changer of Ways, Amanda, yield to his servant and you shall know the truth absolute, the order at the heart of Chaos...You shall be the instrument of the rebirth of an entire culture!

YIELD!

It was folly, for it was once again proved that demons could not be defeated through brute force alone. Despair struck the once proud Marines as they became aware of the complete hopelessness of fighting. Yet, amidst such torment, amidst the terror of unstoppable tendrils and jaws that slowly decapitated and mutilated those brave men, with a strength capable of of crushing their powerful armors, Garland simply stood, and continued shooting regardless of its ineffectiveness.

Feeling that his time was closing, he had one last thing to. Apparently, even the greatest nightmares were not enough to drive such men to insanity, as they persisted, struggled to the end. Garland spoke to the demon with no fear or hatred, while he reloaded his gun and witnessed the carnage about to struck him:

"Demon! We will never surrender our freedom! You can kill me, throw my awareness into oblivion and nonexistence, but you shall never defeat liberty, something greatest than any life! Amanda! Do not give..."

Finally his head was chopped off from his body, as it fell limply on the ground. The marines were completely exterminated, leaving only a gory mess of limbs and corpses of men and women who fought to the last, refusing to exchange their freedom for their continued existence.

Amanda skin was boiling, and the few still sane among the Cruiser ran as far away from the demonic presence as they could, and prepared to gather into a mass suicide, seeing how there is no other choice to ensure that all their existence was filled with free will and liberty. They were ready to die as Martyrs for the cause of freedom an anarchism. To not allow themselves to be used by the tyrannical goals behind such abominations.

Many of them have denied the pleasures of flesh for months before arriving, all have never understood the meaning of disease, held their anger and rage at side, and now, all refused to accept a change that would threaten their freedom, living in a world that has changed little since the great dream was achieved.

Seeing she could no longer resist, and that she had no strength to finish her own life as her flesh mutated, and the demon carved deeper into her soul, Amanda had one last chance, a desperate sacrifice she hoped to convince. A weak voice came from her depths of consciousness, clearly tormented, like that of someone reliving some of her greatest nightmares. A voice of despair, as if doing something that she not truly intended to.

"I shall not yield my freedom, or my free will, and nobody wins... I might not die, but my crew shall die and they will gone forever. But I would yield... a willing servitude to your cause... prov... provided that my free will is preserved, I shall honor any contract... I ca do much more with my will and liberty preserved than... if I become a mere thrall. But... if you truly wish for me... let them leave... and I will... help you to disrupt the greatest paragons of absolute order... as long as you allow me to... accomplish it through... my own ways. We seek change... but a controlled change... you demon, seem to delight at any change... consume my soul and you shall lose a much more useful ally. But I shall only yield, if you allow my friends to return home unharmed..."

And after an interval, she simply came with a foolish notion, or perhaps, somehow, a certain serenity was coming from her, after such folly attempt to sacrifice her own freedom for the freedom of her comrades. After all, why should a demon exist? And how could such entity do anything else rather than that? She knew who to blame, and if such being existed, there was only one thing in her mind. There was a God, and it was not a well-intentioned being.

"I... do not blame you... it's the reason you exist... I forgive you demon... I am sorry for you... as you cannot choose beyond chaos... I love you... because, you are true, honest to your intentions... and if you were created through chaos... I understand that like the Lion cannot hold his hunger over the prey, you cannot hold yours... but spare my friends... and I shall serve your cause... I also seek change... But I shall never surrender my will to end as an useless thrall... I shall serve the Changer of Ways through my own volition. My friends are useless, they lack the connection with this realm... let them return and this can finally be over... I shall accept your escort to one of your own vessels..."

For some, it would be an act of foolishness. For others, an heroic self-sacrifice of the most precious thing one possessed for people that in most cases one wasn't even aware of. Amanda stroke a last deal... damning herself to serve Chaos as a contractor rather than as a puppet, and perhaps, at such condition of preserving her will, her torment would be much greater, for that was the only thing she could do to save her still alive comrades from doom and give them enough time to return.

She was beyond recognition already, with her skin pale like that of a cadaver and filled with tumors. Her eyes red, and her body ultimately twisted. Regardless of her wishes and attempts to desperatedly negotiate a surrender, she was already with Chaos. Only she hoped... to preserve a part of her freedom. To serve it using her own means, and perhaps benefiting both Chaos and her own cause together.

( OOC Bump for Posterity. Will I have to replace Chaos with SHODAN (http://cache.kotaku.com/images/2006/05/250px-SHODAN_hires.jpg) and The Many? )

OOC: No, I'll post, sorry! Placeholder :)

They were ripe, they were weak. They had no knowledge of the more glorious aspect of the Undivided, they fell to disease they had never known and relinquished themselves to lusts and desires that were more than they had every known, burning nerves, frying synapses in a glorious orgy of undilute sensation. Some went mad, succumbing to a delicious Khornate bloodlust in which the life-force itself ran warm and slick. But the Prince reared up, it's form shimmering and twisting, imbedding itself in the floor, in the walls, in the ceiling. Metal twisted and buckled, ran like water or evaporated into gas beneath the influence of this true, singular, servant of Change.

The Change was everything! Why could these mongrels not see it? Why could they not embrace it? Did she expect it to have mercy? It who had raised cults to the Changer on a million worlds? Who had been the idol of thousands and the death of billions? How could she expect to match wits with a very aspect of creation? An echo of the divine voice of magic itself? A feather of the eternal Raven God?!

Spare them? Spare them? You think me merciful? Oh child, you know nothing, you're entire race cavort and die and live only by the will of the Gods! You will be my avatar, my prophet before the unworthy, oh yes....This ship shall be your barque, bringing you back to them in glory. These though...Expendable, all so wonderfully expendable. You rutting dogs spit out more of yourselves, ever-perpetuating, ever renewing. What are their lives to you, sweet child? What are their lives to the Changer? They will live if they prostrate themselves before the glory of the Warp and its Gods...Else...

It raised one taloned hand, snarling and laughing at the same time as it clenched it. The ship shuddered once more, faces flowed through the walls, whispering and whimpering, weeping of torments and beauties eternal. They spoke in hushed whispers of the Warp and evoked its sacred names, weeping blood and pus and bile as they did. It shook again, the faces screaming. Again, the world began to flicker and crackle.

I could tear this vessel apart...Yield...Preach in the name of Chaos, in the name of Change, and those who bend knee shall be saved. Is that not fair, child? Is it not fair to purge the wolves from the flock? Disbelief from the most wretched of minds, so frail...Such flesh...You ought to bow before the might of Chaos, before the glory of the Warp! But you are ignorant.

It clenched its fist again, pain surging through the girl. It coiled itself about her form, about her mind and soul, whispering and teasing. A million voices cajoled and caressed, they hissed and spat and snarled.

Let me educate you...Let me illuminate you....

When it seemed there was nothing more to lose, the situation worsened. Where once the strongest of mind managed to stand while most sunk into their deepest nightmares, they now were about to collapse, while most have lost any glint of sanity as they glanced unto the torments of what could be considered Hell, many resorting to the choice of suicide. Three thousand of men thus have chosen to embrace nonexistence over the ironically ordered and hierarchical "Chaos" ahead, dissolving into nothingness as no souls were left after their deaths. Freedom or death has been a more than literal theme for many, and the gesture of kneeling was something that contradicted with their very principles, and with their pride.

The Emergence with its corridors and living quarters large enough to represent a city's block was now at the edge of collapse, with its very structural integrity threatened by the complete dissolution of any remaining physical law or logical sense into the boiling depths of chaos. The psychic field projected by Amanda vanished with her nearly gone resolve, letting Chaos to unleash fully against everyone, as horrid mutations began to torture the entire crew into unspeakable pain and suffering, as their very flesh and entrails boiled into the torment of the hellish realm, while their visions saw countless of torment souls in their screams and writhing. Men no longer wholly human, acquiring traces of demonic influence and losing slowly their consciousnesses, with more and more suicides occurring in despair. The scene was gory, and men killed each other by request, with the bodies of the deceased littering the spacecraft. Others, of few dozens still managing to walk, preferred to fight to death, and advanced futilely and fearlessly against the powerful demon to meet their fate, unwilling to trade freedom for survival. The med bay has become a horrid, overcrowded morgue of mutilated and mangled corpses, with its very walls bathed in blood and entrails, and the obnoxious stench of death which was coming right into the nostrils of Amanda, with her free life counted in seconds as the demon delved into the depths of her mind, and a torment much beyond what a normal body could feel stormed unto her, with her will nearly destroyed by the sheer psychic power of the force into her.

Out of exhaustion rather than compliance, she could no longer hold on, nor stand, and nearly completely exhausted mentally and physically, she fell on her knees, right onto a stretched viscera, splattering gore over herself. Twisted inside, the disgusting material smelled like a sublime perfume, and the bits that felt on her mouth, touching her now forked tongue, tasted like the most delicious thing she has ever tasted. Chaos had taken over her body, and realizing her defeat in her last seconds of freedom, Amanda then sent her last psychic message as a free woman:

"I pray... in the name of Anarchy!"

It was then that she saw nothing but blackness, even though her body was not truly unconscious. Chaos has taken over control of her body, and in realization her consciousness was still there, she looked into the emptiness, feeling no longer torment, suffering or anxiety, as her true self was cornered into a prison inside her demon-possessed consciousness. Soon the darkness passed, as again she saw the strangely pleasant reality, twisted and willing for more torment rather than rejecting and fearing it.

What would then react was no longer the former Amanda, although it still was her. Everything was chaotic in her mind, and she could not even recall her name. All she knew is that illumination was at hand, and with a bestial urge, she licked upon the very blood and spatter on her face, extending a long tongue all the way to her horned forehead, as insane and twisted, she could no longer determine anything. All her memories of standing for freedom and of the very fight were gone, and she felt truly different in a way. Perhaps some residues of her former self still remained untouched, but the foothold of Chaos over her consciousness was now complete. Looking at the image of the demon, something truly strange happened as part of her memories began to return, in a true act of randomness, and she realized what was happening, when suddenly the suffering was brought back to her mind.

Tears wept from her red eyes, as lowering down her head, she spoke in a twisted voice, hissing like a snake, but still bereft into visible sadness and emotion, and accepting that she has failed into the defense of the cause of liberty. Despair and anxiety flew over Amanda, as she could only assume the worst:

"Ablyfoleuowiphn'n, I yield. I shall pray for Change, for Chaos... I... ask... I ask to be free. For without free will, there is no chaos and all becomes ordered. I believe... tha..."

And finally she stood again, and in a rapid, unexpected action, she rose a gauss pistol to her head, speaking in her truly last attempt to die free, to refuse to surrender, as a guttural shout echoed through the hallowed realm, of that who refused, who considered freedom more important than everything, who stood for anarchy and for the complete abolition of all forms of order and hierarchy, including those ironically formed from such forces that supposedly served Chaos:

"Freedom or death!"

In a fraction of second, her fate was sealed. She hesitated into pulling the trigger, and thus now, Amanda was at the complete mercy of the demon, as were all those who refused to commit suicide and die free. Everything was lost.

http://historyofscientology.ytmnd.com/

To be reviled, that is the mark of Xenu
To fly 747s in Space, that is the mark of Xenu
To put people near volcanoes, that is the mark of Xenu
To watch 3D Movies, that is the mark of Xenu
To cleanse your Thetans for $500, that is the mark of Xenu
To Anonymous never forgive, that is the fate of all Xenu.

Bumping this thread for Chronosia.

Post-Christmas bump

It had broken them, of that there could be no doubt. Whether it had shattered the mortal shells that held their rancid souls and so ended them, or had driven them utterly and deliciously insane mattered little to the thing, so removed was it from what it meant to be human. Corridors ran and twisted at it's whim. It shored off portions of the vessel and cast them to the aethyr that surrounded them, or let them twist and change and orbit, like children pattering at the heels of their mother.

So too did their flesh run and change. It crafted the dead into the very fabric of the thing, organ systems pulsing in semblence of life, bone twisted into scaffolding for unknowable, unthinkable experiments in what it meant simply to 'be'.

In time it grew bored of toying with the crew and the vessel, and so it returned it's attention to the medical bay. The girls prattle was ultimately meaningless. What did she know of Chaos? What did she know of the Gods? She was but a pawn of Tzeentch's will, with or without the intervention of such a direct instrument of divine will. They had thought to abuse it? To treat with the Warp and know no consequence? To babble at a Prince of the Warp about freedom and Chaos, and choice? She was nothing, less than nothing, mote and mayfly before the truth, before a Lord of Change.

“Supplicate child, supplicate and drink in the bounteous knowledge that flows from me and through me! I have walked the aethyr since before your civilisation crawled from the muck, such fragile things and yet such wonderful tools. You spread yourself as seed and spoor across the cosmos, and never grasp the true glories of Chaos...

How pitiful must you be, to try and wrap your meat-minds around the unknowable? To treat with the Warp in ignorance and think yourselves free? Gnats! Algae envying the greater ocean and the beasts that would snap them up. Why can your brood not all be as Chronosians? Malleable? Zealous? Driven and dedicated to the higher purpose? They see the inevitability of our victory, the coming tumult and the ending of all things! They know, and they fear and they serve!”

A thousand hands seemed to grasp at her, holding her in place, slapping and striking, caressing and stroking. A thousand voices bubbled in her mind and seethed about her, snarling and snapping with lunatic glee. It was everywhere and it was nowhere, it was one being and it was manifold.

Supplicate. Know me. Bow before the proffered glories and be remade, reborn! I will lay the universe at your feet, if you would but accept me and the Architect. Yield....Yearn....Know.

The only thing that still managed to hold what splinters remained from the broken will of Amanda was an extremely strong desire to die. Yet, in what was its only chance, her true self has failed, letting the fear of nonexistence overshadow the horrors of the other alternative. The suffering the dwindling Amanda's free will felt was immense, not from her own physical suffering, but of failing to protect her comrades, and seeing how defenseless and insignificant she was to save them from their doom. The monstrous abomination Chaos shifted her into cowled, struggling from inside, but to no avail. The last gasp has just failed... due to fear. Realizing her freedom was forever taken, and that she has failed to stand for everything their people were, for the millions who have sacrificed their lives so she could have been born in a free civilization, her torment has reached unbearable levels, for Amanda was at last defeated, with shackles now coming into her very mind, driving it slowly into insanity, like the very shackles the Global State, their greatest enemy, tyrants and murderers of people who have destroyed freedom, and ironically, the greatest expression of Order in their universe.

She no longer could challenge the beast, and could barely listen to its lies as her very existence was being twisted, and horrible suffering flailed her feelings, beyond what physical pain alone could achieve. It is said that for a Solarian, freedom is like oxygen, however not even the brief suffering of drowning could compare to the agony Amanda suffered, to the delight of the demons, now that she has been deprived of the most important thing, more important than even her very life... now that she let herself surrender, or act foolishly. She should have blown everything into a torch of nuclear fire, but instead her ego prevailed, as she thought she could stand a chance. And now... she was, like the very beast mocked, nothing.


“Supplicate child, supplicate and drink in the bounteous knowledge that flows from me and through me! I have walked the aethyr since before your civilisation crawled from the muck, such fragile things and yet such wonderful tools. You spread yourself as seed and spoor across the cosmos, and never grasp the true glories of Chaos...

How pitiful must you be, to try and wrap your meat-minds around the unknowable? To treat with the Warp in ignorance and think yourselves free? Gnats! Algae envying the greater ocean and the beasts that would snap them up. Why can your brood not all be as Chronosians? Malleable? Zealous? Driven and dedicated to the higher purpose? They see the inevitability of our victory, the coming tumult and the ending of all things! They know, and they fear and they serve!”


It was perhaps one last word. Perhaps its consequences could be tragic... but Amanda was tormented and had to find a way to prove, that even if she failed, if she surrendered and let it take over, her people as a whole wouldn't. After all, the gross majority of the crew have chosen death over slavery to chaos, like true freedom fighters would, and the people as a whole had to be stronger than them, they had to, or perhaps Amanda was giving to them an unequaled opportunity to bring her even more torment and suffering:

"You have defeated me... I admit, for I am only one, a fool who overestimated my strength of will. But you shall never defeat my people. And eventually they will... free me despite my failure."

It was then that an intense, nearly unbearable combination of pain, pleasure and agony, of voices which drove her closer to insanity and slavery, that assaulted her at full strength. Amanda languished in silence, using what remained of will to not let the demon hear any scream... but then, as it ended, everything changed again. Her memories twisted into another existence... as she realized she was born to serve Chaos, to be its bearer and messenger. Milton wrote in "Paradise Lost" it was better to reign in Hell than to serve Heaven, thus, the prospect of serving Hell was probably worse than nonexistence.

And yet, the voice of the beast was unnaturally familiar, like if Amanda heard it many times, and she remembered... of every way it twisted her, called her to its service, since she was only a defenseless child, born in a place most would die to avoid their children getting at. And yet... it was entirely normal to be a slave... for one born slave.

For a false memory at last forced over a reluctant will to, finally break it once for all. By changing the entire perception such individual had about existence, and even the very memories of such individual were changed, to an extent greater than physical mutations.

Supplicate. Know me. Bow before the proffered glories and be remade, reborn! I will lay the universe at your feet, if you would but accept me and the Architect. Yield....Yearn....Know.

And thus Amanda yielded, dropping on her knees and lowering her head like a self-humiliating insect, and this time, it was not another trick to buy her some precious seconds to kill herself... for now, no matter how she has fiercely resisted much beyond most would, she has been defeated... and the spoils of war always went to the winners.

"I have always served you. I shall yield once more, as you wish. Teach me more..."

It was then that she suddenly turned silent, and her hideous face grimaced of pain, like if somehow, the very word she was about to speak was hurting, provoking unspeakable agony. Amanda's basic nature couldn't be changed... and thus, she would suffer, suffer beyond words, at the realization she had no choice but to obey and self-humiliate in face of such being, as she finally spoke, clearly less-than-willing:

"Teach me more... master."

Meanwhile, in the Solarian universe, the fact the expeditionary group did not return or send any other report after transmitting a garbled message according to which unknown forces were seizing control over their spacecraft has been a major worry for much of the people of Dream and Glacius. Specially of Glacius, closest planet to the chaotic anomaly. Limited by the laws of science, the first line of defense headed to engage whatever threat could come out from such mysterious space-time rift. The entirety of their First and only space fleet (http://forums3.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13328389&postcount=4) was mobilized, with their fusion engines being refueled and their weapon systems replenished as they prepared for the worst: a threat that could become as significant as the distant Global State in Sol. If they were defeated, the Solarian space would become totally undefended against invasions. They were their first, and perhaps their last bastion of defense as well.

Onboard the Glacius, a massive logistical torchship which served as the Solarian flagship, a single man stood amidst legions of robots and automatons, a single will, prepared for whatever could happen, even the unlikely possibility of such rift being used by the Global State to achieve faster-than-light travel and disproved the so far solid law of special relativity. This will was Javier Santiago, one of the few who have taken the dire responsibility of defending the Confederation from the dangers that could come. This man was broadcasting a message, a message of hope to the minds of the people of the Confederation.

"Once, our ancestors have stood in a crossroads of history. Our blue planet became a world ridden with nuclear wastelands, most nations of old collapsed into barbarism and even the Confederation nearly fell, were it not for the forefathers of our society, the hard-working men and women who both researched the solutions to past mistakes and attempted to keep our people united despite all hardships instead of killing each other for breadcrumbs. And then, the worst of the world formed the Global State, and our ancestors were the only dissenters to such Orwellian nightmare. They have literally fought against the entire world, in battles where all odds were against them, and although they had no chance of winning, they survived as a civilization, no matter how slim the chances were. They were like Finland in the Winter War, only that the entire world was invading them, and by holding their ground for more than fifty decades against the hordes of mind slaves of the Global State with countless sacrifices, they have secured our future.

Once our very survival as a free species was challenged, as murderous alien minds have attacked our people with no mercy, refusing to even try communicating or understanding the way our sentience is different from theirs. The silicoids have emerged from the hellish magma of our new planet with only one goal: extermination. We have lost much, many of my friends died in the war against the silicoids and I know many lost their loved ones. And yet, when we still no more than a handful of cities with much yet to develop, we have prevailed, and in the end, the Silicoids were the ones exterminated.

And now, history might present us another challenge. Our people were attacked by something beyond such anomaly. Something sentient, and I fear for their fate. Nonetheless, by taking the risks of exploring such anomaly, we may have opened a Pandora Box, and a new challenge to prove why the Solarians are the best of mankind and of this corner of the galaxy. Because we will never negotiate our freedoms, because we are prepared to take whatever it costs to fight against the enemies of humanity: be them fascist dictatorships from another universe, emotionless genocidal aliens or anything else seeking to destroy all we have achieved and have yet to achieve. No matter what comes, don't cower comrades! Prepare your guns, and if you have them as well, your nuclear devices. I hope this is a false alarm, but we better be ready for what comes. And we shall be ready to destroy all the enemies of freedom and mankind, and to ensure our continued freedom and survival! For the triumph of the Confederation!"

And the speech and its text version continued, inspiring many civilians to take on arms and prepare for whatever could come in both Glacius and Dream, and in all inhabited space facilities of the Confederation. The Solar Guard was now at full mobilization, as was the Navy to protect the vast seas of Glacius against such unknown enemies who may or not come. Everyone with enough strength to hold a gun and will to fight was ready, regardless of age or gender.

The flame of the Confederation burned at its highest level whenever new threats could come, leading thousands to inspired courage and to chant revolutionary songs. Completely unaware of the irony that the very probable enemy they changed their behavior to face delighted from change. However, even if Amanda failed with all of them, they would not let themselves fail with her. And perhaps, other than the Solarians the only pleased force would be Khorne... for whenever their freedom and dignity is threatened, blood will definitively be shed, particularly the blood of Xenos, tyrants and their minions.

(OOC: Bump for Chronosia)