NationStates Jolt Archive

Imglotian News Corporation

Informing the people!

INC - Yesterday, a massive terrorist attack struck Tigeria at its softest point. Explosions wracked a hospital in downtown Untunge, killing at least 300 and injuring thousands of others. The opinion on the street is one growing increasingly common in these times - government conspiracy, designed to enrage the Imglotian population and encourage the takeover of nearby Former Earth Colony Zeus. Howerver, the people were pleasantly surprised when the government denied involvement by FECZ extremists. The answer the people were given, however, is infinitely more unbelievable.

According to the official statement by Congressional Spokeswoman Reyna Graswatzch, the government is of the belief that this assault was perpetrated by the Shivati. Yes, those Shivati - the same ones that your parents probably scared you into behaving with. "Be nice, or the Shivati will come for you!" The planet seems to have, collectively, screamed 'foul' at this nonsense. We at INC, though, take a more open approach.

Consider this: the Shivati are an urban legend, correct? Hence, there is no way it can be true. But, do you remember the Klonab Conspiracy of a century ago? It is still quoted by many as the most brilliant example of advanced logic on the part of an untrained individual. Klonab argued point after point, wondering about the government's denial of our past. It is thanks to him that we are taught in schools that Tigeria was a colony of Earth.

So, while it seems that the concept of the Shivati is so unbelievable as to be false, just keep in mind that urban legends are sometime based on fact. Sometimes...


_______________________________________________________________________


On telescreens planetwide...

A figure appears on the screen. It wears what appears to be some form of battle armor, orange and silver. Its face is an orange mask with silver accents, and its eyeports - or eyes themselves - are orange. The midriff appears to be a bundle of wires, the apparent armor seeming to be more like skin. It looks at the camera, seeming to glare despite lack of expression. It speaks Basic, its voice mechanical and droning.

"Greetings, people of Tigeria! You should consider yourselves lucky to be granted a sight of one of our number. We are the Shivati. We have power, the likes of which you can only dream about. The Shivati are the true inhabitants of this planet, the ones who truly deserve to rule. You will fear us, just as we once feared you. We have seen your kind, and you are weak. Surrender now to your successors, and we may allow you the positions of our slaves. Refuse... and you die."

____________________________________________________________________

James Yunos, scratching his receding hairline, watched a replay of the transmission. The Shivati... was it coincidence that they chose the name of a deity from the ancient Earthling religions - a deity called "The Destroyer?" Some vast cosmic paradox where the word for themselves matched a word created millenia ago on a planet far away? The Prime Minister of the Immortal Lands of the Great Lord Tiger shivered. These people... these things... were most definitely not human. Nothing that distinctly alien could be human. There had been reports that these things were psychokinetic, pyrokinetic, telepathic - the list went on and on.

One thing was for certain, though: these things meant business. The FGA hadn't yet been formed, but he had no time to waste. Dictating to his secretary, a message was prepared for transmission on all channels - diplomatic, military, whatever. These things had to be destroyed, or else Imglot might well end, and his military couldn't do it alone. The Immortal Lands needed a small team of special operations soldiers, trained to do anything they very well pleased. There was a rough idea where the Shivati had their base, and a selected elite team could slip in and eliminate it with little effort.

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

http://img32.picoodle.com/img/img32/3/9/27/f_logo120m_e2dddc4.png

To all governments of the galaxy;

The Immortal Lands of the Great Lord Tiger begs for your assistance. We have recently been the victim of a terrorist attack by a domestic group known as the Shivati. The Imglot Government has an idea of where the base of operations of this group resides. We request the assistance of your governments in the form of special operations personnel - even a single elite would suffice.

For our planet's future,

http://img28.picoodle.com/img/img28/3/10/2/f_sigm_c1c1dc8.png

James Yunos

Prime Minister

Immortal Lands of the Great Lord Tiger.


__________________________________________________________________

Death am I, and my present task
Destruction.

Scripture ran through its mind. The being walked down the hallway of the military base near Tigeria, its orange cape billowing behind it. A blue beret drooped over its face, a symbol of the most elite of the Imglot soldiery. In its right hand, a plasma weapon was gripped, twin barrels stacked on top of one another. There was an odd insignia on its chest, a skull-and-crossbones. It wore a skirt of armor, strips of metal protecting its legs, while still allowing broad movement.

It almost never talked, and the soldiers it served with were glad for it. Rumor had it that hearing its speech would be tantamount to a death warrant; after all, it was argued, since no one knew what is sounded like, anyone who heard it must be dead, right? This logic, while flawed, forced most soldiers - primarily enlisted men - to simply avoid the presence of the armored being.

Passing a telescreen, it hesitated, before stepping backwards to plant itself in front of the monitor. There had been something it thought it saw. It watched for a solid five minutes, completely and utterly motionless, as the broadcasters spoke of the local weather, and latest movie releases, and the wonderful thing that the child of Whoever did. Disgusted with the lack of expediency presented by the humans, the being turned - before being drawn back.

A recording of a being, not unlike itself, was shown, and it spoke, declaring the right of its kind to rule the world and other nonsense. The being in the base felt a wave of fury, of rage, fill it; how dare they violate the Covenant? Had they no shame?

Furious, it held out its empty left hand towards the air, and a burst of energy crackled around it. This soon evolved into a bolt of plasma that crawled along the floor and ceiling, glowing red and yellow like a flame. These fools would learn what it truly was to be a Shivati. Another line, quoted from the same source, flowed through its head:

If the radiance of a thousand suns
were to burst into the sky,
that would be like
the splendor of the Mighty One—
I am become Death, the shatterer of Worlds.

http://img27.picoodle.com/img/img27/3/10/2/f_Shivatim_5969675.jpg




OOC

Standard fare - we aren't gonna use giant warship fleets to nuke the Shivati base, okay? This is a character-driven spec ops RP, so come up with (or use) your best individual soldiers. The following template is only a guide.


Nation/Planet:

Soldier to send:

Weaponry:

Armor:

Picture (If available, not necessary):

Short description:

EXAMPLE

Nation/Planet: Immortal Lands of the Great Lord Tiger

Soldier to send: The Shivati; short name is Shiv

Weaponry: Double-barreled Plasma Pistol; numerous psychologically-manifested abilties - kinesis, pyrokinesis, plasmakinesis, etc.

Armor: Shivati Environmental Suit/Armor; Imglot-issue combat boots, armor skirt, and cape/epaulets.

Picture (If available, not necessary): http://img27.picoodle.com/img/img27/3/10/2/f_Shivatim_5969675.jpg

Short description: Shiv is one of the race that wants so desparately to destroy the descendants of the Earthling colonization personnel that inhabited Tigeria. It is currently unclear whether the Shivati were inhabitants of Tigeria before Earth colonization, dissidents who claim a difference between the general population and themselves, or some sort of self-important extraterrestrial race, but there is no denying their power over the universe in their immediate area. Shiv wishes nothing more than to destroy the Shivati that threaten Imglot; it remains unknown whether this is pride towards the nation that employed it, or if it simply has larger plans that can't be interfered with by upstarts.

bump

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OOC: Question: are we allowed just a single soldier, or would a small group of 3-4 be acceptable?

Nation/Planet:Calaveras(Capital Planet: Celestis)

Soldier to send: Galactice Observation Unit: KW-52

Weaponry: new War-Path Phased Plasma Rifle : http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs15/300W/f/2007/006/5/a/Plasma_Rifle_2_by_ivangraphics.jpg , Combat Knife, three Two Tritanium shrapnel greandes, one tranq gas grenade, Chieftan Sidearm(50.)tritanium rounds

Armor: GOU Discovery Body-Link

Picture (If available, not necessary): Look in factbook

Short description: KW-52 is a cloned multi-role soldier, he is proficent with most small arms, and vehicles.

To all governments of the galaxy;

The Immortal Lands of the Great Lord Tiger begs for your assistance. We have recently been the victim of a terrorist attack by a domestic group known as the Shivati. The Imglot Government has an idea of where the base of operations of this group resides. We request the assistance of your governments in the form of special operations personnel - even a single elite would suffice.



For our planet's future,

http://img28.picoodle.com/img/img28/...gm_c1c1dc8.png

James Yunos

Prime Minister

Immortal Lands of the Great Lord Tiger.

Salutations to Prime Minister James Yunos of the Immortal Lands of the Great Lord Tiger, or whatever underling receives this message,
We, that is, a party who for will now remain unnamed, have heard of your unique situation and offer an equally unique solution. A pair of private contractors will be sent to the meeting point you designate to discuss a contract and the exact accomplishments that will have to be met by the mentioned private contractors to receive their negotiated payment. If this is acceptable to you, please reply in kind along the frequency you received the message detailing the location you wish to meet the contractors.

Regards,

OOC:
Nation/Planet: The criminal organization the Syndicate, operating from within the Kitsune Empire of Xiscapia

Soldier to send: Kartosh and his partner Skyler (they function as a single unit)

Weaponry: Anything they can get their hands on, but generally blaster weapons, explosives and blades

Armor: Lightweight and discreet but there.

Picture (If available, not necessary):
Kartosh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Samuel_Vimes.jpg)
Skyler (http://ionen.deviantart.com/art/Tanake-Trang-Jedi-52363021)
Short description:
The mercenary duo consists of two kitsune with only one thing one their minds: Money. If they get paid for it, they'll do almost anything. They come with their own vessel, arms and armor, and will undertake long and difficult assignments, but usually at high fees. In any case, Kartosh tends to be the wild card, an alcoholic and rash, reckless pilot with excellent marksmanship, while Skyler is the more stable one, quiet and calm, possessing a tremendous amount of skill in close-quarters combat, including the use of blade weaponry and hand-to-hand combat, but is also proficient in the use of long-range weaponry such as sniper rifles. Together, the mercs are hard to stop and work so fluidly it's like having a small army for the price of two.

There were people who joined the Marines to serve their country and gain valuable life experience, Sergeant Holland reflected. There were people who joined simply because they were fit enough and needed the paycheck. And there were people like Lieutenant Morgen.

She suspected that he'd only joined up in order to be able to shoot people and get away with it. Technically psychological profiling was supposed to sort people like that out, but he had a remarkable ability to assimilate -- most of the time he was just a piercingly intelligent young man, popular with the ladies, with a propensity for quoting from the classics and an endearing smile, which became somewhat less endearing when you saw it on his face as he sliced open people's abdomens in order to see how far he could pull out their intestines before they died. He'd snapped after accusations of brutality had committed him to barracks; he'd been quiet for a few days, and then, when provoked by a minor insult, he killed eight members of his squad. And six military police who came to disable him. And most of the logistical staff between the mess hall and the service exit, leaving blood spattered all the way up the walls. Morgen had escaped in an FTL shuttle and had been at large ever since, and now his erstwhile comrades were after him.

"Sarge?"

"Hmmm?" She didn't turn.

"Intel's sent us their analysis of the tracking data, sir. They've given us some coordinates."

"Oh, good," she said, accepting the microdrive and inserting it into her computer. "Good work, private. You may go."

Once the private had gone, Captain Vanderaa turned to Holland with a meaningful look. Apart from the ship's AI -- manifested as a large talking rabbit, who was awaiting instructions -- they were the only ones on the bridge at the moment. "Curious, Holland, that he brought it to you and not me, who is the superior officer here. Eh?"

Holland's face was blank as she replied. "I did ask him to bring it to me, sir."

Vanderaa grinned. "Why? So we could 'form a more cohesive tactical picture'? Were you 'anticipating my orders'? I've had more than one NCO in my time, Holland."

This time her voice also went emotionless. "How could I anticipate your orders, sir? You're not giving me any."

Vanderaa paused and tried to work this out. He changed tack. "All right. What does Intel say?"

"They've examined the traces left by Morgen's shuttle, Captain. He disabled the tracker and left it on Nath 3, near the commerce station, but we've had a few sightings, and of course there are traces of warping all along his path." She hit a button with a stylus, and the ship's AI had reappeared next to a 3-D holographic star map. "His most likely route was this way--" and wielding a magic marker that had appeared from nowhere, the AI drew a bright orange line across the galaxy. "Past Shannia, Uzo, Mahana'im and over towards N7K368. Sir."

"N7K368? That's uninhabited, though, isn't it?"

The AI confirmed this: N7K368: A red giant system first charted in 4279 by the starship Galapagos, N7K368 is orbited by three planets, two gas giants and an icy planet, of which one gas giant has four moons

Holland cut the AI off. "Exactly, sir. But from there it's just one star jump to this system."

The AI had brought up a new image. The avatar said, Tigeria: A yellow star system orbited by ###ERROR - VALUE NOT SPECIFIED### planets. It is known to be inhabited. That appeared to be all that had been entered into the official directory, as the AI fell silent. Captain Vanderaa spoke.

"AI?"

Awaiting orders, Captain Robert Vanderaa.

"Query: Is Learning active?"

Affirmative.

"Command: Learn about Tigeria."

Understood.

A progress bar appeared over the avatar's head. It read "Processing. 0% complete."

"Take us out towards Tigeria, Holland. It's worth a try." Vanderaa yawned. "And let me know when we arrive. I'll be in my quarters."

"Yes, sir."

Some hours passed.

They were still several light-years from Tigeria when the message reached them.

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

The bridge was more crowded now; that is, several other NCOs had arrived, on Vanderaa's request. They had come together to discuss the request for aid. On the one hand, counterterrorism was a major mission of the Marines, and they were very well equipped for it. On the other hand, they had a very definite mission, which they were supposed to stick to. On the third hand, the man they were pursuing had quite possibly hidden himself on the planet now under attack.

"Sir, it would be most irresponsible to deviate from our mission and assist these foreigners, sir."

"I must voice my disagreement with Sergeant Masters, sir. The terrorist attack occurring so soon after Morgen was traced there is telling. It is possible that he has infiltrated himself into the domestic terrorist organization."

"Most unlikely, Sergeant Fawkes--"

"Silence," Vanderaa said. When silence had been restored, he continued. "We can't send everyone, yes. But we can get the local police to keep an eye out for Morgen. It's not a large nation, only one planet, and he can't hide forever. And as a gesture of good faith, we can send one or two of our elites to help them out with their terrorist problem. Makes it even."

"Excellent idea, sir. I recommend--" Sergeant Fawkes started.

"Thank you, and of course you're right to do so, Fawkes," Vanderaa said. "I will send Holland. She's the best we have."

Holland was. She had to be. Women were rare in the Marines; partly because it simply required greater strength to operate the PA suits, and partly because of the high rate of accidents. Such as all of the women who had accidentally pistol whipped themselves in the face, misadventurously mutilated their genital areas, and then by chance shot themselves in the head. You could accidentally set off your rifle even while fast asleep. Holland had gained respect and preserved her life by resolving to be sufficiently good at what she did to avoid any kind of accident like that.

"And I'll also send Chaplain Druckman. Spec ops teams need someone like him on board."

Every platoon had at least one chaplain attached. Druckman was also one of the more useful ones. Not only did he encourage acts of faith and serve as a spiritual rock of sorts -- he didn't identify with any one religion, but was merely generically spiritual -- but he was also archangelic in hand-to-hand combat. (He never shot to kill, but instead used his medical knowledge to shoot to cause an awful lot of pain.)

Vanderaa filled out the form to respond.

We will be happy to assist you and are deploying two of our Marines to join your multinational team. However, we also have a request in exchange for our assistance. We are pursuing a criminal, Lt. (dishonourable discharge pending) Edward Morgen [image], who has likely entered Tigerian space and may be concealing himself on your world. If you find any information on this man or bring him into your custody, please inform us at once.

Nation/Planet: The Holy Jingoistic Federation of Un-Aligned Nations of Vojvodina-Nihon

Soldier to send: Diane Holland (Sgt.) & Christoph Druckman (Chaplain)

Weaponry: Plasma and pulse rifles (Sgt. Holland), conventional recoilless (Ch. Druckman), standard sidearms, assorted grenades, and anything else that comes to hand.

Armor: customized InTuitive™ (Mark III) PA suits, Moria-designed, from 4763 (Sgt. Holland's) and 4775 (Ch. Druckman's).

Picture (If available, not necessary): attached.

Short description: Sgt. Holland and Ch. Druckman have both been Marines for quite some time, and have been deployed together or separately on dozens of missions, some quite dangerous. They are fully competent in all combat situations but exceptionally good at counterterrorist operations, which is why we have sent them. Be aware that Sgt. Holland is prone to bouts of snarkiness and is liable to "anticipate" or "creatively interpret" the orders of superior officers, with misogyny as something of a berserk button for her; while Ch. Druckman is as much a counselor as a chaplain and also very much enjoys music, but has a very strict moral code he follows unequivocally.

Captain Robert Vanderaa
19th Marine Regiment
Holy Jingoistic Federation of Un-Aligned Nations of Vojvodina-Nihon

To Calaveras:

We will appreciate the assistance of your soldier. The planet Tigeria is located at galactic coordinates 1293.834471, -4931.120381, 7512.421423.

The position on Tigeria is exactly 39.966599,-75.176014.

_____________________________________________________________

To Xiscapia:

The... contractor... team you are sending will undoubtedly assist us in our cause. Our planet, in case you are unable to trace it, is at coordinates 1293.834471, -4931.120381, 7512.421423. The meeting point is at 39.966599,-75.176014 on Tigeria.

We will have a small contingent awaiting their arrival.

___________________________________________________________

Flanked by a pair of Champion-Armored soldiers, (http://img33.picoodle.com/img/img33/3/9/28/f_Championm_3f58035.jpg) the Shivati silently watched the sky. A mist fell from the heavens, dampening everything - the forest surrounding the brightly-lit landing pad, the armor worn by the three Imglotian soldiers, the Shivati's trailing cape. The power-armored warriors watched the foliage carefully, heavy cannons held in position and ready for use.

The orange-and-gray metal being, in contrast, moved not an inch. If these offers of goodwill fell through, it wouldn't be particularly surprised; neither would it care. The large mil-spec container waiting near the Imglot shuttle at the far end of the pad, with its precious cargo, could be utilized as easily by itself as it could by a team of soldiers, however skilled.

The fools in this jungle, claiming dominion over humanity, were right in one aspect; the Shivati were, as a rule, far more powerful than a human being. Their psycho-manifest abilities granted them virtual superpowers, while sheer strength and physical superiority made them stronger, faster, and generally better. But that was neither here nor there.

A bolt of lightning struck the ground somewhere in the hazy distance. Shiv watched as the plasma dissipated, before raising its hand in the air. A bolt of energy, red-tinted, erupted into the clouds, and for a moment, the rain ceased. An objective, logical part of its mind told it that the plasmakinetic blast had vaporized the rain, but Shiv decided to believe that the heavens had, at least temporarily, felt fear for it.

OOC: I can't post my intro today, but count the Second Alliance in on this shizzle. Here's the data.

Nation/Planet: The Commonwealth fo the Second Alliance of Human Nations

Soldier to send: Rohdam Castro, 19th Heir Ascendant of the Second Alliance; Samuel Castro, 18th Heir Ascendant; Twelve man team of Azure Gaurd

Weaponry: Monomolecular Halberds and SBP0X Reconfiguring Sidearms (a weapons that's three balistic guns in one, to put it shortly. The basic setting is a three-round-burst Assault Rifle mode, the next is a high-speed full-auto Suppressive Fire mode akin to a submachine gun, and the final mode is a single-shot, semi-auto, higher accuracy High-Velocity mode. All modes use same ammunition: a solid Trillium dart) for the gaurds. Rohdam will carry a pair of mono-molecular short spears (will show you later), where as Samuel's weapons of choice are a pair of impact gauntlets (also will draw later...). These weapons in addition to their unique powers as Heirs and as Augmented Second.

Armor: Specialized hardsuits for everyone (powered armor, also posting later)! In addition, they will have their AVATARs on standby in orbit, ready for deployment. (see signature for AVATARs. All mechs possess scaled-up versions of their pilot's on-foot weapons)

Picture (If available, not necessary): Working on it...

Short description: Samuel and Rohdam have always been just about inseperable, acting more like two halves of the same coin more than a pair of individuals. Brown eyed Samuel is the ever tactical one, letting things unfold and logically reacting at opportune moments. Green-eyed Rohdam, on the other hand, is quick on his feet and highly perceptive, quickly identifying and moving to deal with situations as they develop. These seemingly conflicting tendancies benefit them both, creating a balanced, measured responce. The Chancellor sends them from hot spot to hot spot, serving as a strike team of sorts. Unlike most other Heirs, they do not spend most of their time on their Keyships, and instead are usually on the ground with their Azure Gaurd. Having heard of the Tigerian difficulties, the Chancellor has dispatched the two brothers to aide their newfound allies.

Intro below...

To Vojvodina-Nihon:

The presence of your AWOL soldier on our planet is an odd and disturbing prospect. Our sensors indicate nothing more than a single large-foreign-body detection (written off as a meteorite) in the past interval. However, we will appreciate your team's participation, as we would be very much pleased to both find your threat as well as eliminate ours.

The coordinates are 39.966599,-75.176014. We have a small team there, awaiting others. You will be expected, though.

___________________________________________________________

Shiv heard an insistent beep erupt from its INtergrated Imglotian COmms System (INICOS). The INICOS was little more than a handheld transmitter, albeit one with a GPS system (on compatible planets) and Slipburst transmitter (for instantaneous communications anywhere on the planet and a decent distance into space). Raising the compact device to the side of its head, it listened, returning it when the message ended. It snapped at the soldiers, raising two fingers and then adding a third. The humans nodded. They were used to Shiv's style.

OOC Bump't

A Few Days Ago

The jungle was extensive and seemed to consist mostly of trees. That was practically all that Lieutenant Edward Morgen managed to grasp of it before his rapidly decelerating shuttle plunged through the canopy and within a few seconds extinguished its fiery bulk on the ground.

When he'd awoken and collected his assorted weapons, he performed a swift check on the shuttle. It was more or less totaled and would probably never fly again. He hadn't been too worried about that -- he was in a jungle, there was plenty of food (theoretically), and the planet was inhabited, which meant he could assimilate. But when he donned the light armour and stepped outside he'd come face to face with something.

The Shivati'd seen the shuttle descend, and it had used its psychic abilities to determine that it was occupied by a human mind. It had come out to find the human, and to kill him if he turned out to be hostile, or induct him as a slave if he were not. Now the Shivati had been spending some time studying the lieutenant's mind. It was highly unusual and, if doubts existed for the Shivati, it was starting to feel them.

On the surface of Morgen's mind were his interests. His life story was an open book to the Shivati, with all the tragedies that had befallen him affecting him in various Freudian ways (the Shivati could also tell that most of those tragedies had been caused by Morgen himself). It read Morgen's love of literature and his fondness for epigrams, of his interest in marksmanship and so on. But deeper down the Shivati found that all of the morals and laws that in most humans were ingrained were missing. Defining Morgen's mind was a love of pain, a desire to hurt simply for the sake of hurting. And in the darkest depths of that mind something stared brazenly back at the Shivati, something nameless and buried and the colour of freshly spilled blood. Morgen was weaker, slower, less powerful than the Shivati. It wasn't sure he was less dangerous.

Morgen had smiled at the Shivati and issued some kind of greeting. The Shivati had seen what went on behind the smile and seen the predatory gleam. Surely he's not thinking of hunting us?, it had thought, and the answer was self-evident. The Shivati decided that this human had to be cut down to size; it had transferred its words directly into Morgen's brain.

We are the Shivati. Surrender to us, human, or die.

Morgen frowned. There was suddenly a barrier around his thoughts (too late, of course, but it made telepathic communication somewhat more difficult when he was resistant), and he responded: "Surrender? Be more specific, Shivati?"

The Shivati spoke in that flat metallic voice. "We will spare your life. You will join us in our plan to free this world from colonial rule." It sensed Morgen's thoughts and added: "As a slave."

"Sure." Morgen said lazily. "Or what, I suppose you'll shoot me with a death ray?"

"We once ruled this place by virtue of our powers. To a human like you they would look like magic, slave. Do not test my patience."

Threats were lost on Morgen. He leaned the butt of his rifle on the ground and spat. "Anyone can claim to have superpowers, alien. Go on, demonstrate 'em. Blow up that shuttle, or levitate yourself, or something. Then maybe I'll go along with you."

While rationally the Shivati knew that the human was weaker and only maintained this cheeky attitude because he was somewhat insane, it realized that somehow Morgen was influencing it. It did feel as though it would be better to have Morgen on its side than against it. It concluded that he had some sort of (albeit greatly inferior) psychic effect. With a gesture of exasperation, the Shivati destroyed the damaged shuttle. With another gesture it caused a tree to burst into flames, then extinguished them. A third, and it picked Morgen up and slammed him against a distant tree trunk (his light armour absorbed most of the blow, but it could not have failed to hurt).

"Satisfied, slave?" it asked when Morgen had recovered enough to sit up.

"Not too bad. Are you immune to bullets?"

"Pardon?"

Morgen shot the Shivati with a small concealed pistol. The Shivati's kinesis took over and caught the bullet, decelerating it so that it fell to the jungle floor before it could do any damage. If the Shivati had a facial expression, it would be extremely annoyed at this point.

"Now come, slave. And leave your weapons here."

Morgen complied.

Present Day

The soldiers who were waiting at the coordinates had been prepared for the Vojvodinians' arrival, so they were not particularly surprised when that arrival occurred (rather suddenly). There was no dissolve effect or mechanical sound: the Marines were simply not there one moment, there the next. The powered armour they wore didn't add much to their height, and they weren't wearing their helmets; however, the InTuitive III was a design that could expand to fit the needs of the wearer, at least most of the time. They nodded at Shiv and the humans, introduced themselves briefly, and fell silent as they awaited the arrival of the rest of the team.

The ostensibly tame Shivati watched the armored newcomers silently, as always. They had appeared from nowhere, obviously utilizing some advanced form of teleportational tech. They held their helmets, their hair being lightly drizzled by the precipitation, and Shiv felt a flash of irritation. They had not spoken at all, not given it any attention whatsoever, beyond giving a single line apiece declaring their genesis and identities. One of them was a Chaplain - why was a man of religion on such a dangerous, murderous mission? And while Shiv understood that women weren't weak, it was odd, to say the least, to see a woman involved in a military operation like this.

But still... their gall! Any general in the Imglot Military would have quivered at its stare. These beings seemed as motionless as itself. Shiv idly cast bolts of fiery plasma into the sky. They lit up the pad, a more dramatic effect each time as the sky slowly darkened. The night would be upon them soon, and the planet would be almost completely dark - Tigeria had no satellite. The few oceans on the planet were avoided because of the lack of tidal forces. Shiv's mind inexplicably caught on a quote, and it struck its fancy. With little warning, it spoke, voice even more mechanical than the Shivati which had delivered the ultimatum earlier.

"Or, if there were a sympathy in choice,
War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it,
Making it momentary as a sound,
Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,
Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,
And ere a man hath power to say 'Behold!'
The jaws of darkness do devour it up:
So quick bright things come to confusion."

Shiv had heard the rumors that its speech was a harbinger of death for all who heard. Indeed, the Champions had taken to nervously shifting their weight from one foot to another. Shiv wasn't sure if the new beings had heard the stories - probably not - but perhaps the quote might soften their resolve. If it did, they gave no signs.

OOC: Question: are we allowed just a single soldier, or would a small group of 3-4 be acceptable?

OOC: Sorry, missed this question. Yes, it would be, but it's getting a bit too late atm...

Present Day...
A small vessel, silver in color and about the size of a freighter with only two visible bow-mounted weapons, duel blaster cannons, glided easily down to the point designated by the coordinates the pilot had received. It set down several yards away from the Shivati and armored soldiers, settling with a sigh as the engines powered down. For a moment it was still, rain splattering the metal hull as lightening cracked though the sky, before a rectangle of light split the darkening landscape to be separated by it, a blot recognizable as a humanoid figure descending. From her the step was casual, as if to suggest, if it could be seen clearly, the person would be whistling a tuneless song with his or her hands jammed in their pockets, a study in ambling. The one who came behind just before the light cut out by the door hissing shut was more cautious, the soft, alert steps of a hunter, orange eyes briefly gleaming before vanishing as the two approached.

The mercenaries at last came close enough to be identified and given distinct features; of these, the rust-colored fox ears and almost disproportionately large tail probably brought on the most attention, followed by the eyes, yellow for the male, orange for the female, both with pupils dilated in the poor light. Closer inspection would reveal that the male had not shaved in at least several cycles, and, if the smell radiating off him was any indicator, was several degrees into being drunk. He wore basic garb: Black boots with baggy pants, a frayed leather belt, a shirt that had probably been white in some other life partially covered by a black jacket that had seen better days. The female was nearly a complete opposite, wearing taller brown boots and clad in form-fitting black pants, almost skin-tight, with a few inches of midriff exposed between these and the light, cut-off navy blue tunic. Her hair was even darker, though still blue, sweeping down over her shoulders and down her back, apparently not restrained in any way.

Both had a holstered blaster pistol on their right hip, attached to a belt which held a variety of objects, some clearly weapons, others with a use that anyone could guess at. The female had a sword, a katana, strapped to her back, hilt within easy reach, wrapped in black gauze. For a moment neither said anything but only stood still, evaluating the fellow members of their group. Finally the male gave a small noise that could have been a snort and reached into a pocket, withdrawing a cigarette and lighter, which he immediately lit and took a drag from, blowing smoke lazily in the direction of the two armored soldiers. "Is this it, then?" he rasped with a grin, slouching where he stood. The female stood by without moving, looking Shivati up and down with a curious expression.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p98/l33t-h4x0r/HolyImperium-1.png

To: The Immortal Lands of Great Lord Tiger
From: The Holy Imperium of Angenteria

The Holy Imperium of Angenteria will be happy to respond to the aid of the The Immortal Lands of Great Lord Tiger. As a fellow member of the Federated Galactic Alliance, we are recommended by [I]Watchman[I] Treaty to come to the military aid of fellow members. We would glad to be able to honor that allegiance.
---------------------------------------------------------
Nation/Planet: The Holy Imperium of Angenteria

Soldier to send: Garek Jabim, Benris Rackman, 3 Angenterian Stormtroopers

Weaponry: Las-pistols, Angenterian Power Sword, Repeater Blasters

Armor: Carapace Armor

Picture (If available, not necessary): Coming soon.

Short description: Garek Jabim is a well-known Imperial Guard officer in the Holy Imperium. His reputation for battlefield heroics has become quite something within the ranks of the Guard, and never goes anywhere without the company of his trusty aide de camp and sidekick, Venris Backman. He graciously accepts his awards with modesty, and shows a genuine care for the troopers under his command.

Shiv found itself locking gazes with an anthropomorphic animal. True, it was probably coincidence that it resembled an animal from the Earthling records that the Shivati often found itself examining, but the orange eyes were at once distinctly inhuman and human-like. An odd being, indeed. More disconcerting, however, was the expression that crossed the female's face - Shiv assumed it was female from its widened pelvis, delicate (at least in comparison to the other kitsune) facial features, and yes, even the large bosom (which Shiv had, indeed, examined, along with the rest of this thing's body, disinterested and mechanically).

It seemed... curious. No fear, no defiance, no determination, nor excitement. Simply... curiosity. Nor was it wonder, wide-eyed amazement at Shiv's appearance. Just... curious. Casting into its mind, it discovered an appropriate quote, this one by the ancient Earthling poet Alexander Pope. Again, its robotic drone buzzed, issuing words of infinite wisdom in a voice like a poorly-made science fiction film from 20th century Earth, an odd dichotomy of technology and sagacity.

“A person who is too nice an observer of the business of the crowd, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity.”

Again, Shiv felt an urge to release a bolt of plasma into the air. It did so, the flash lighting the pad. It estimated less than 74 minutes remaining of light, and the last 15 of those would be so dark as to make no difference.

OOC: Okay, there's half a dozen nations in here. We're closed, now - sorry, guyz.

Angenteria, accepted - of course. Write an intro, and get yourself into this!

"Science has shown that the act of observation will change the actions of what is being observed," she blinked, "what can be observed is only what occurs when something is observed, making it impossible to observe the actions of an object when it is not being observed, QED, defeating the point of observation, being to observe an object to grow complete knowledge about it." She finished as the last crackle of lightening died away, apparently unperturbed. The other, though, turned for a moment, speaking around his cigarette. "Watch what you're spraying around," he waved his hand vaguely in the direction of the ship, "I just washed and waxed the Star Snake, and you don't look like the type to spend a day repaintin' 'er, so easy on the electricity, eh?"

OOC: bumpage

Also, sorry UF.

OOC:I'll be back.

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-*Hack hack cough* Sorry, terrible cold. Now where was I...oh yes. HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

As Shiv spoke for the first time, Sergeant Holland turned to look at it. She observed that, rather than simply being a man in a powered armour suit as she'd first assumed, it appeared to be an alien being, and the look she gave was fairly clear: she was sizing it up in terms of strengths and weaknesses, analytically attempting to figure out how to defeat it if they had to fight. In her mind she acknowledged that they were on the same side, but as she -- a female Marine -- knew best, the people on your team aren't always on your individual side.

Shiv finished speaking, and without turning her eyes from him, Holland spoke to Druckman. "Who said that, Chap?"

The Chaplain ran a metal-gloved hand through his dark hair. "Will Shakespeare," he answered after a moment. "Midsummer Night's Dream, if I'm not mistaken."

Like all good Chaplains, Druckman had a good sense of emotion. He wasn't telepathic or psychic -- humans rarely are -- but he could tell what people were feeling in generalized terms; he could tell a lie from a truth, and he could find and understand insecurity. His partner, the Sergeant, was the picture of determination, but it was a determination to show no emotion; hidden deep below that he knew she was also nervous and expectant. The two human Imglot soldiers were afraid -- he wasn't sure why, although it seemed to have to do with Shiv -- but one was also impatient, while the other one combined almost granite patience with a hidden defiance. Druckman suspected that despite being an enforcer of authority, he was in fact rather anti-authoritarian in his personal views, although he'd never show it.

He didn't know what to make of Shiv. From the first it was obvious that Shiv wasn't human. But it was also the only one there who seemed in complete control of itself; its self-confidence was supreme, and probably justified. Oh, there was irritation, there were occasional restless currents of emotion, but they all stemmed from the self-confidence rather than trying to undermine it. There were no cracks of insecurity in the almost robotic façade.

Druckman contented himself with responding: "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" It was an agreement with Shiv, of sorts. He expected and received no answer.

Shortly thereafter the next pair of newcomers arrived. Holland looked them over with the same glance she'd looked at Shiv. They looked much like ... well, animals. Except they were standing upright, and wearing clothes, and generally acting like humans. She made a mental note not to underestimate them if things went south, but at the same time, they would be far easier to defeat than the alien one. They were much more prone to human -- or at least humanoid -- flaws and emotions and lacked any psychokinetic abilities that she could see, although they carried themselves with the attitudes of people who had been in a lot of fights and had survived all of them. This put them roughly on her level; one of them in normal circumstances, both if she got really mad.

Druckman introduced himself and the sergeant, again with only a few lines. The pair -- he assumed they were mercenaries, as they fulfilled all the stereotypes -- were "conversing" with Shiv, so he used the opportunity to read them, figuring out how they felt and doing his best to learn about them by observation. (Druckman was no Sherlock Holmes in this regard. He'd never written a monograph on cigar ash and was rather clueless about the little scraps of evidence that told a more observant man where the other came from and how many children they had.)

God. A novel concept for a novel being. Religion had no place in Shiv's inhumanity, little room to fit in its intellectual storehouse. The concept of a higher, more supreme power seemed nothing more than the musings of a council of weak, death-fearing old men who, in their fear of the unknown, fabricated what was quite possibly the universe's greatest fiction to explain what lay beyond the most horrifying barrier in the life of any sentient being. Shiv searched its vast memories for a suitable quote. Something by the Buddhist scholar Sogyal Rinpoche? No, a passage about death leading to 'limitless compassion' was a fantasy. Another line came to mind. It wasn't the prose it had previously spoken, but it would suffice.

"Destroying is a necessary function in life. Everything has its season, and all things eventually lose their effectiveness and die."

Yes, that would do quite nicely. Shiv felt the sensation of eyes on it, and turned to see the female sergeant's gaze on the anthropomorphic beings. Yet, for an instance, it thought it saw her watching it - but it could very well have been imagination. The darkness continued to fall, light fading quickly. Shiv's eyes glowed with a dull orange light, it knew, and would grow more intense as light became less. That was the way with its kind. The impassive orange gaze surveyed the motley crew already assembled, occasionally locking onto a face and remaining completely still - not even the slight motions of breathing disturbed the piercing, machine-like stare. That was a waste of motion that would evolve out of humanity... eventually.

The Extreme Edge of the Tigerian Home System--------------------------------
Beyond the furthest planet, in the dark void a space, a series of bright flashes flickered against the stars as two Alliance Keyships completed a linked space fold. The ships held their positions, and out of the port hangar of one of the capital ships, the compact, sharp edged profile of an obsidian-colored Prowler Insertion Lander hurtled from the ship into the stars, baffled engines emitting no light, sensory profile nearly non-existent.

The sound of the engines shaking the panels in the stealth lander craft was never a comforting sensation to Rohdam. It made him quesy, despite the numerous surgeons who presided over his augmentation telling him it was technically 'impossible' for him to really experience motion sickness ever again. The Chancellor had told him once that some things of that nature are entirely psychological, and no amount of bionics would change force of habit. He would have given anything to improve the soundproofing in the damn thing, but every time he'd make a stink about it to Samuel, his brother would just shoot him a look and say 'No', so Rohdam had learned to live with it. Mostly.

"Brother, how much longer until we arrive? I'm getting motion sickness, and I'm relatively certain you do not wish to have that horrific dinner they served at the galley last night make an encore appearence..."

Samuel groaned at his brothers poor attempt at humor, "You have a neural lace. Find out yourself. Some of us are trying to do things more productive with our time than whine..." The eighteenth heir recalled the graphs and charts regarding Tigeria's atmospheric conditions and land masses, while trying valiantly to ignore his brother's overly dramatic gagging noises from across the small room.

Outer Tigerian Atmosphere---------------------------
The black lander floated gently towards the verdant world, establishing a geostationary orbit and cutting engines, letting their momentum carry them. The shipboard AI system pinged an indicator over Samuel and Rohdam's vision, alerting them to their arrival. Samuel turned towards Rohdam and nodded, already knowing his brother's question before the man spoke it.

"Yes, brother, you can initiate communications..."

Rohdam tapped the comm pad in the landers small cockpit, and once the air-time countdown reached zero, spoke clearly into the microphone as he looked into the camera. He activated his internal comms, his eyes glowing bright blue as he spoke, mostly for the booming effet the system had on his voice:

"This is Second Alliance Prowler Shadow of Silence. I am Rohdam Castro, 19th Heir Ascendant of the Commonwealth, accompanied by Samuel Castro, 18th Heir Ascendant. We have been sent by the Chancellor to assist you with your... unique problem. We shall activate our transponder beacon and await your further instructions. If I may make a suggestion... coordinates for a landing zone would be lovely."

With a small ping, he touched another holographic panel, highlighting the small lander for all friendly eyes to see with a small icon of the Second Alliance's heraldry.

The small shuttle launched from the orbiting cruiser finally touched down on the planet's surface, ever discreetly, ever silently.

Garek Jabim stepped off of the boarding ramp, placing his officer's cap atop his head. A five-week journey through the warp on an Imperial Cruiser without much to do wasn't much of his cup of tea. Being guardsmen and navy people, they didn't have much money to gamble away, but he found the ship's captain a tough regicide player, and his personal chef's cooking was something to die for. So it could be understood that Garek was sort of sad to be leaving. That, and he was about to jump into a nest of angry aliens hell bent on destruction, with nothing but a bunch of other aliens to watch his back. He couldn't pull rank on them, unfortunately. Brigade headquarters was always seemingly able to come up with more inventive and creative ways of getting him killed.

During the course of his illustrious career, he had fought against (or perhaps, running away screaming from was a better term) a multitude of enemies. In actuality, however, Jabim was a very skilled fighter, even if it was only in the interest of self preservation. He was quite an accurate shot, and skill with his power sword had saved his life more then once, in the times when going into combat was absolutely unavoidable.

Jabim tooked to his side, noting that his aide, Benris Rackman was right behind him. Assigned to him by brigade headquarters to function as his aide de camp, Rackman had served alongside Jabim for almost the entirety of his career. His dogged determination to follow Jabim's orders to the letter was extremely useful, and Jabim found that Rackman has the skill to procure almost anything on-site.

"Is everything alright, sir?" Rackman said

"Yes, Benris. Everything's fine." Jabim responded. We was feeling slightly uneasy, but he still had a job to do. He turned to the group of Stormtroopers who were supposed to accompany them. Hey, having a squad of heavily armed and highly trained troops between Jabim and the enemy was definitively a good thing.

"Alright, listen up." Jabim began. "We're about to meet with our contacts. I don't want any shooting unless we're attacked first. Got that?"

"You can count on us, sir."

"Good. Let's move."

The shuttle took off behind them, and they left for the designated coordinates.
----------------------------------------------------------
15 minutes later

The team had moved silently and tactically; one group covering, one group moving, and switching so the other team could catch up. As far as they were concerned, they were in enemy territory.

"Contact. Seems like a small group." One of the soldiers whispered over the tactical net.

"Confirmed." Jabim responded. "Stay close."

"Yes, sir."

Jabim stepped out into the clearing, seemingly alone. His soldiers had taken cover behind him, ready to spring an ambush in case things weren't as they seemed.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important." He said.

A message was sent in reply to the Second Alliance force in the form of a single line of latitudinal/longitudinal coordinates, specifically 39.966599,-75.176014. Watching the dark sky calmly, Shiv became aware of the presence of more beings, thinking themselves stealthy. They would learn. A salutation had sprung to mind rather quickly, the introduction of these beings probably making it foremost in Shiv's mind. Turning towards the wary humans, the Shivati strode towards them calmly, levitating its cape slightly with its psychokinetic powers, so as to increase the mystique.

“Hello," Shiv said robotically to the apparent leader. "Do not greet anybody when the heart is filled with anger, distrust, etc. Have, instead, a pure hollow from which a whole-hearted Hello emanates.”

That was the extent of Shiv's emotions, indeed - a hollow (not very pure, though). Emotions were for lesser beings; one with as many inherent and potentially cataclysmic powers as a Shivati had no place being distinctly angry, or glad, or disappointed. Rather, the Shivati held on to the post of pure lack of emotion, forcing themselves to avoid any illogical thought and, as a result, becoming robotic and monotonic. All sentient life had feelings, but the Shivati wished to purge even those from their minds.

"Do not greet anybody when the heart is filled with anger, distrust, etc. Have, instead, a pure hollow from which a whole-hearted Hello emanates.”

Jabim raised an eyebrow, but held his ground as what seemed to be the one who had gathered everybody approached him. If you can stare down the Lord-General Militant, you can hold your own against just about anything. So this alien was off his rocker. He would just have to cope.

Jabim tapped his com-bead, and gestured with his hands, and his team stood from their cover, weapons pointed down to show good faith.

"Fair enough." Jabim said. "I'm Garek Jabim. And this is my aide, Benris. I take it you're in charge here?"

“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.”, Shiv said mechanically in reply, before turning to wait for the rest of the party. Soon.

IC:
Shadow of Silence--------------------------------------------
Moments after recieving the coordinates, the stealth lander's automated control system charted a course to the target area and broke geostationary orbit. Whistling through the atmosphere, the small, paper plane-shaped craft glided down to the ground, silent engines briefly firing from time to time to adjust the ship's angle of decent. As it entered the world's atmosphere, the craft's optical camoflauge kicked in, changing it's skin color to a pattern that matched the skies of the planet, hiding it from all but the most prying of eyes.

The 103.2' long craft glided to the landing coordinates, changing it's paneling colors into a splotchy-grey pattern that blended with the landing pad as it settled down to the ground. A tripod of small, landing struts deployed from beneath the body of the craft, and the rear hatch of the craft opened.

Rohdam stepped out of the vehicle, flanked by Samuel, stepping from the vehicle into the ground, followed by a small squad of four Azure Gaurd moving in lockstep, their onyx-black molecular halberds glinting brightly against the sky. Rohdam and Samuel wore uniquely styled hardsuits, each suit black except for a bright blue pattern on the left most portion of the chest and the left shoulder pad. Their helms were retracted, revealing black, helmet-pressed hair. Each had their weapons stowed away.

Samuel's weapons were easy enough to spot. The two molecular half-spears were locked into a back-mounted set of holsters, blades safely sheathed and handles easily reachable. Rohdam's weapons though were certainly something strange to see. Each of his hardsuit's arms had a series of ring-like devices running along their circumference like notches. His suit's knuckles were heavily armored and each individual knuckle had a stud-like projection mounted on it.

Rohdam stayed back and let Samuel move forward towards the gathered group. Samuel recognized the armor and colors of some of the group as Angenterian troops, calling up an info file on them as he walked towards the group, followed closely by his brother and the gaurds. Samuel cleared his throat and stepped forwards.

"I am Samuel Castro, eighteenth Heir Ascendant of the Second Alliance, and this-" he gestured towards his brother, who waved somewhat awkwardly, "-is Rohdam Castro, nineteenth Heir Ascendant. We have come to assist you with the problem presented by the so called, 'Shivati'. Who is in charge here?"

(OOC: Alright folks, just so you know, technically, there are eight Azure Gaurd still on the prowler. They'll only make an appearence if either of the Heirs decide to bring in some reinforcements)

"The price of greatness is responsibility," Shiv droned. It hesitated, considering the new arrivals. They were confident, biomechanical beings, wearing the typical advanced powered armor. These beings were, quite likely, the greatest threat to it. Except for that female anthropomorph... The Shivati took a step forward, eyes glittering orange in the darkness, the only source of light besides the illumination systems operating around the pad. It glanced from one of the beings to the other, apparent blood relatives - their appearance, more than their names, indicated such. Shiv locked gazes with the one who had spoken, one Samuel Castro.

"I am called Shiv," it said, the first unquoted speech it had made in... had it been two planetary cycles? Three? Odd enough that these authoritative beings made Shiv actually speak using its own thoughts. It once more glanced at the younger of the siblings, before fixing its stare on the older once more. "I am one of the... 'so-called'... Shivati. Fix my image in thy memory, for it may be the last one you see, should you perish on this mission. Those two," Shiv monotonously intoned, pointing at the Champions, "are provided simply because humanity, being the dominant form of life in this galaxy-" a glance at the kitsunes "-would be most comfortable greeting one of its own.

"Do not delude yourselves with visions of grandeur, however. I am superior to you. You may think this boasting, or perhaps exaggeration, but it is true." Shiv took another step towards the elder Heir, its gaze fixed on him. "I know that you are full of confidence, perhaps a feeling of superiority. I admit, your mind is a muddle to me - I can almost believe you are something approaching me, in terms of inhumanity." Pause. Another look around the clearing. "The presence of other lifeforms on this mission is a prospect which does not please me whatsoever. Had it been my choice, I would have destroyed the Shivati myself. As it is, I will tell you now: I risk my life for no one. My abilities make me infinitely more important than any of you, regardless of political or military importance. My powers are beyond your understanding." Without a scrap of arrogance, anger, or any other emotion, Shiv ignited the trees in the immediate area around the pad.

"I would be called a deity by less informed beings," Shiv said, the flames reflected in its eyes. "I can control the most fundamental level of matter." Indeed, the Shivati picked up one of the Champions, then the other, both rising into the air. "Do not fear my brethren - the abilities manifest only rarely in them, and then one at a time - a pyrokinetic here, telepath there. I had the fortune of receiving every power possible to a Shivati. Be glad I am your ally." The flames were extinguished, and in the sudden darkness, the amber eyes blazed. "I am not become Death; I am Death."

The white paint of the Probe fighter created a tiny cloud in the sky as it descended, its Anti-gravity engines slowing it down until the heavy fighter landed. The side door collapsed and out walked KW-52, unlike other clones he was just as important as the Great Leader, if he wanted to he could probably throw Celestis into a Clone Civil War, but he knew that if he died or if the Great Leader died change would not be neccesarry, so each clone knew his role in keeping his own existance alive. That was Kash Wilson's ultimate goal to begin with since he first began cloning himself as the army of the Calaveras, his continued existance. The GOU KW-52 used his built in communcations system to tell the other clone pilot to lift off, and that he was on his own. His black armor shined in the sunlight as he turned his HUD off, seeing as a human could, although he was far from it. Calaverians were artificially evolved, stronger, faster, better. KW-52 hefted his experimental Phased Plasma Rifle, if it worked well in the situation it would become the new standard arm of the Calaverian military.

OCC: G.O.U Voice chatter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfPVUmxlh1k&feature=related

Samuel stared back into the eyes of the creature. He listened as it spoke, running the speech through his aspects, recording key points of interest. He watched as it demonstrated it's powers, not in awe, but in inspection.

When he was a child, Samuel remembered the days he spent with his grandfather. He remembered the classes he and his fellow Heirs had gone through, the studies and skills they developed. He remembered one particular lesson his father had taught them one summer night. It was dark and the grass was damp with dew. His grandfather had shown them a few data files regarding some strange alien species that the Artisan had encountered. He remembered his grandfather had told them that it is more than possible that some species would evolve to the point wherethey would manifest... abilities of such magnitude. He had also warned him not to succumb to mind-numbing fear of such things. He told him, nothing is fool proof, and everything can be beaten. Years of augementation had provided proof of his Grandfather's claims. Intelligence was the keenest advantage of the Second, and to lose that advantage was to commit to failure.

Telekinesis was not new to him: there were many forms. In fact, all heirs possessed an artificially produced from of telekinesis using chernokov projectors to move matter about. Pyrokinesis was also something within his experience, though something which the Second Alliance could not replicate via technological means, nor cared to, as it's applications were far more limited when applied to peaceful endeavors.

This creature was clearly powerful, no doubts there. However, flaunting one's powers for such purposes as intimidation was a fool's move. This creature clearly wished to intimidate him, and while Samuel felt the strong desire to tell the creature off, he settled on the more tactically advisable move of negotiation. Rhodam seemed to agree. Samuel waited for the creature to finish speaking.

"We are allies, Shiv, this demostration of power is pointless."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Kartosh stepped forward, cigarette still clenched between his lips, exhaling a puff of smoke. "You think we're so stupid we can't understand basic combustion reactions? Just because you're the only one who’s shown off your pretty lightening bolts and flames doesn’t mean none of us possess anything like that either. If you want a psychic pissing match, pick on people with psychic powers, asshole. Let them down." He nodded to the two Champions hovering in the air, then glanced around to the others, as if looking for support. Skyler spoke up now. "Death is a state of being, not to be personified into a person or mind. Your superiority is held only in your own mind, in your own opinions and experiences. You assume," she gave an unreadable smile, "too much."

A new soldier joined them, as Shiv finished speaking. The masked being received little more than a glance. This cyborg-like human, though - absolutely no fear in its mind. Objectively, Shiv knew it was not indestructible - if it were, this mission would be pointless - but it supposed that it had grown used to the cowering of the former Earthling colonists that now constituted the supposed Immortal Lands of the Great Lord Tiger.

The lupine beings suddenly spoke in tandem, their combined words almost scripted, they were so balanced. So... darkness and light? No, that wasn't... Yin and yang. The concept, foreign to Shiv, was nonetheless known to its expansive memory. Shiv was not omniscient, but was about as close as was possible. If it could gain access to the archives of other planets... Undoubtedly, there would be some errors in cross-referencing - a number or two exaggerated, to make a casualty count in war lower or such nonsense - but the knowledge would merely be absorbed into its eidetic memory and filed, available for recall like the most advanced of databanks.

The Heir seemed to release an emotion reminiscent of admonition. Did this human-cyborg construct not understand that Shiv was of a species superior to anything it might meet? What grounds did he stand upon to dress down the Shivati? But the mechanical intellect then realized that the feeling that Castro felt was more akin to... familiarity? How could this human possibly know of it? Shiv was a secret of the Imglot Military, itself an organization of a mere 20 or so planetary cycles. But perhaps the species was known. Why, then...

"They are my two closest supplicants in this military," Shiv droned in response to the male anthropomorph. "They are aware that I would not harm them. Is that not right, Sergeant? Lieutenant?" As the two soldiers dropped to the ground, they announced that they were. And, for a wonder, they truly were - nothing beyond the usual undercurrent of fear Shiv had learned to ignore was present. Every Imglotian soldier had that slight unease around it. The orange gaze swept to the female. "Do not consider yourself special, force-wielder. Yours is a power of nature. Mine is a power that can alter nature." The emphasis was somehow made clear, even in the monotonous, artificial voice. "I am aware of your kind, the paltry skills you practice with your firearms and melee weapons. Your true power will never manifest if you use your psychokinetic abilities sparingly and in the capacity of tools. They should be the true focus of your practicing." Schooling itself to perfect stillness once more, Shiv stood silently, now watching the biomechanical human. It seemed to have a desire to speak, and Shiv would not wish to deprive this most curious of an array of curiosities the chance to speak. The words that were begotten of this odd emotion that he felt would be... interesting.

OOC- Retconned. Thanks for posting, Xiscapia :O

OCC: Great Lord Tiger, could you tell me the story so far, are we all in tyhe same spot?

OOC - Yes. It is the same spot. You are the new soldier Shiv glanced at so casually and dismissed.

As for the story... our team is fully assembled, but we are waiting for TSA and Xiscapia to respond to Shiv's warranted (ya rly) posturing, and for Angenteria (and yourself) to more formally introduce yourselves. The game is afoot, then.

KW-52 entered the group, his rifle still a hair away from being lifted and firing deadly plasma rounds into them. His low voice echoed to Shiv and the others " What's going on here?" KW-52 seemed to order it, his clone face hidden behind a plate of special enviromental tinted glass. He reported to the cloaked probe fighter in the air. " This is KW-52:Making contact"

Shiv's only response was to check its INICOS. All parties accounted for. The newcomer had taken on a commanding tone, which wouldn't do at all. The Shivati locked gazes with every one of the soldiers, the mercenaries and the aristocratic warriors. They would learn fear this night. Shiv began to brief them, but held its tongue instead. Let the biomechanical siblings speak.

The Vojvodinians watched the new arrivals with an apparent lack of interest. There had been a team that had evidently been attempting to sneak up on the landing point, and Holland had almost imperceptibly shifted her rifle onto automatic in case battle was to be joined; but they appeared to be only additional members of the team who'd missed the coordinates somewhat, so (somewhat disappointed) she returned to her motionless stance. The others arrived in traditional transporters or S2Su shuttles and on location, and she watched them idly, waiting for the go signal to extend her helmet and prepare for battle.

She also listened with half an ear to the conversation -- rolling her eyes skyward when Shiv spoke; she decided that it was male, as men were the only ones she'd encountered who spoke like that about themselves, and felt a growing desire to sock him in the face (or whatever his blue beret rested on). The anthropomorphic .... things answered him, and then he spoke again, and Holland cut in abruptly.

"Power to alter nature, eh, Shiv?" she said, with more than a bit of sarcasm. "Well, meet humans. They've altered more nature than you can piss on in a lifetime. And they've done it without psychic powers, too. That's something to be proud of, I think." She paused and added: "I can light trees on fire and quote archaic literature too. 'A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!'," and she flung out an arm dramatically, propelling a small incendiary grenade underarm to cause a stand of trees to burst into flames.

"Sarge," Druckman said in warning. Holland paused. This was not exactly the first impression Captain Vanderaa had hoped the Vojvodinians would make on the counterterrorist team.

"We haven't got unlimited supplies, sarge," he continued.

"Sorry, Chap," Holland murmured, now somewhat embarrassed (although she did her best not to show it).

Then the Calaveran arrived and distracted attention from them anyway. Shiv looked around the group with emotionless eyes. It seemed to be some kind of signal, and the Vojvodinians' helmets extended from the structure of the suits in preparation for the beginning of the mission. This was the end of the beginning.

OOC: Post is set somewhere between TSA's and NC's arrival, not after.

KW-52 stared at Shiv through back of the black-like glass that was the front of his HUD. This being was powerful, he could tell that much, but he wasn't about to put his tail between his legs. That was something he would not do for any man, women, child, alien. The Vojvodinians seemed dangerous, they were either smart or stupid with there attitudes.

Kartosh seemed to be about to respond to Shiv when he caught sight of KW-52. "Calaverian!" he hissed, hand straying towards his holstered pistol. "Damn GOU, clones fucking around everywhere, disposable soldiers, that's all you are," he sneered, "you and your Grating Leader." He had just made probably the most grievous insult one could to the soldier, blaspheming the leader of their nation, also a clone like this GOU. "You just keep your trap shut and we won't have any problems, Kash."

Skyler shook with silent laughter at Holland's words. "If this keeps up this planet's going to have a major deforestation and global warming problem," she chuckled, nodding to Shiv. "Very well, I recognize your point, but," she winked impishly, apparently not taking it at all seriously "true power lies in restraint and the knowledge of when to use your skills and abilities, and that," she grinned, "you can quote me on."

KW-52's " True I may die, but I will be rememberd long after you are dead....Kartosh.." He said smiling behind his helmet. KW-52 was one of two that were givin Kash's full knowledge, himself and the great leader were basically full copys of the original. Kash had rememberd Kartosh and Skyler,the duo of destruction he nicknamed them. He wouldn't be suprised if they shot him on "accident" during a firefight.

The Castros never spoke, and Shiv decided time had wasted away for long enough. "We leave now," it said dispassionately, neither impatient nor rushed. "Leave extraneous equipment - and your paltry squabbling - behind." The Shivati stepped over to the military-specification container, picking it up with little effort despite its large volume. Suddenly, it remembered something, and dropped the vessel; it made a dull thump, an easy half-ton of weight falling on the ground. A large mass, as well.

"You will shoot first, and ask questions never," Shiv told the group. "If you see anything that even looks Shivati, do not hesitate to obliterate it. We are dangerous to sentient life, and need to be eliminated if peace and the like is to saturate the universe. If one of you finds yourself left behind, you will not be recovered; I only offer the advice of saving at least one round for yourself - it is better to die than to be prisoner to one of us."

Shiv paused, the darkness complete but for the charred trees around the pad glowing red and the now-dull landing lights. Its eyes did glow, indeed, casting a shadow in this dark world. However, the others all adapted, it seemed -- the anthropomorphs' eyes glowed in the reflected light of Shiv's gaze, the visors of some of the suits glowed with a dull light, signaling the presence of nightscopes, and Shiv could... feel... the gaze of others. The being nodded brusquely, striding back to the heavy container. One wouldn't know it, though, from the ease with which the Shivati lifted the object. What was inside it... they would all discover, soon enough.

There was hostility here already. Druckman could feel it; it wasn't from any outside enemy just yet -- although the jungle itself was inhospitable enough during the day, and nightmare fuel for some by darkness -- but there were little rivalries and bubbling hatred simmering beneath (and sometimes very much on the surface of) the multinational team. Kartosh and the Calaverian, whose name Druckman hadn't caught: he'd been about to intervene but Shiv had preempted him. Shiv had alienated several of them already with his posturing. And Holland, of course, was very much pissed off, although admittedly she acted like that all the time, and he'd been working with her long enough to pick up on the little cues that differentiated her various mental states.

He set up the secure subnet uplink. It wasn't perfectly secure, but it would take about ten minutes for a reasonably advanced computer to tap into, and probably wouldn't be worth it.

Chaplain Druckman: Something's bothering you. Are you worried?
Sergeant Holland: Not so much worried. But ever since running into Morgen, I can't stand people who talk in quotations.
Ch. Druckman: Understandable. Try not to antagonize Shiv too much. He'll be useful.

The Shivati was handling some military-grade container. It looked rather heavy, but given its psychic capabilities, levitation of large objects should be a no-brainer. Meanwhile, it was issuing the sort of demotivating speech that Sergeant Holland herself had become known for, although in somewhat less coarse language. (Druckman had once sat huddled in darkness while she instructed her squad: "If you get lost, shoot yourself in the head, not the chest. That way they won't get your tags." Those were the entirety of the instructions. No explanation of who "they" were or what the actual objective was. Good times.)

Sgt. Holland: When you reach the Shivati you'll have to shoot to kill, Chap. There's no last-minute baptism.
Druckman didn't reply.

bump

Jabim looked around the rest of the group. A group of aliens from all around the galaxy stood before. Some of the aliens he recognized, some raced he was laying eyes on for the first time. But in the end, he wasn't surprised or impressed. Some of them were clad in their little suits of power armor, thinking themselves unique, and others were looking like they wanted to splatter each others brains all over the grass. How typical.

He didn't know them quite well, but he a feeling that he was going to get to know them quite well. He took a moment to think about the Lord-General Militant, and made a note to personally thank him for coming up with a new and inventive way of turning him into a slightly discolored stain on the ground.

The one who looked like he was in charge talked in a robotic, monotonous tone, as he began to brief everybody. Nobody seemed to be paying attention, however, all of them too concerned with their own level of mysteriousness. He let out a silent chuckle, as he took a moment to consider how badass they thought they were.

Suddenly, the Shivati, began to handle some big military-grade container, apparently with the aid of some psychic energy, but not showing the contents. Jabim thought a little about it, and decided he didn't want to know the conents of whatever was inside.

"So let me get this straight." He cut in. "Your people are the ones we're trying to get rid of, but you appear to us as our friend. I can't help but find that a little bit odd. What's your motivation to turn against the other Shivati, or whatever they are?"

KW-52 wondered the same thing, was this...Shiv a traitor to its own cause? It would be something he would need to investigate later. This little operation that he was on was classified "Thunderbird." It was not really a matter of helping these people, but a test for a cloned GOU that shared complete memorys of the original Kash Wilson, and testing whether or not they could be used as soldiers without currupting the system.

OOC: Is it too late to join? I can't post a proper intro today, but will post one tomorrow (I'm too tired to write anything bigger then a paragraph.

Nation/Planet: Five Constellations

Soldier to send: Identification #: 6-10x8-17283702-2008 or Model Six

Weaponry: 1x standard Synthetic ballistic rifle, 1x integrated arm shotgun, and 6-10x8-17283702-2008 is cable of using its own body as a weapon

Armor: Armor is strong enough to handle high temperatures, moderately does well against kinetic weapons, and can handle energy weapons effectively

Picture (If available, not necessary): Here (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images//c/c8/Geth_Destroyer_01.jpg)

Short description: 6-10x8-17283702-2008 is from a race of A.I.s known as the Synthetics who are a member of the Five Constellations. Like all Synthetic soldiers 6-10x8-17283702-2008 has independent thought, but has access to all the information its brethren has. 6-10x8-17283702-2008 has no opinion on the mission and has only been deployed to investigate the Shivati. 6-10x8-17283702-2008 also holds no allegiance with anyone, but the Five Constellations so working with it may be difficult.

IC:

A written message was sent to the Tigerian government:

We of the Synthetics will send you one of our own to aid you in your trouble times. The one who is of our own is model 6-10x8-17283702-2008, but you may call the one who is of our own Model Six. The one of our own will arrive shortly and will be ready to help you upon arrival. Thank you and good luck.

OOC: Get your ship down quickly...

IC:
Shiv met the stare of the otherwise silent human with its own soundless gaze. The question was one that it had expected, but not this early. The interrogative had knocked it slightly back from total self-confidence, but it was quickly restored. Shiv considered the inquiry. What to say... Still, feeling rather bored of speaking its mind, Shiv instead selected another quote from its library.

“Those who say that life is 'worth living at any cost' have already written an epitaph of infamy," Shiv said coldly -- or, once again, what would have been coldly had emotion been present in its voice. "For there is no cause and no person that they will not betray to stay alive.” Ah, the pragmatist Sidney Hook. Those were words to live by -- such as life could be. Knowing the answer would be insufficient for the wary being, and also uncaring, Shiv strode into the undergrowth silently, the Champions remaining at the pad. They had been for show; they were relieved when Shiv had told them (through signed language) that they would stay behind.

Let them worry about what the Shivati had done to earn Shiv's wrath. Those beings which had answered the absurd summons by the Imglotian government would very likely die by the hands of the other Shivati, but Shiv cared not. It had no compunctions about exterminating every single one of its race. They had no place in this universe -- powers of their potential magnitude were not for beings as cosmically insignificant as them. Shiv would destroy them all. Then, there would be only one, one deity, one god among mortals: itself.

KW-52 stood in front of Shiv, creating a kind of block in the way. KW-52's heavy vocal changed voice tore at Shiv " It is apart of my mission to ask where we are going and what exactly well be encountering, my goverment want's to keep tabs on the situation at all times." This being was powerful, but KW clones were known to have no fear, in fact the emotion fear was removed during the cloning proccess, it was replaced with a deeper understanding of reason, to run in fear was pointless, to run for the right reasons was something entirely different.


OCC: the Calaverian goverment runs everything, as well as over 50% of the population are clones, its a sci-fi totalitarian state, so youll have to get used to it ha ^^.

OOC: Get your ship down quickly...


OOC: I'll do my best, but don't expect a top notch (for my standard) entry post.

IC:
The unmanned troop carrier (http://www.scififantmodmadrealm.com/OperationOmega2.jpg) could hold up to fifty Synthetic soldiers, but today it carried one. The carrier belonged to the Speaker Fish, the most intelligent member of the Five Constellations and such it is equipped with a FTL drive that not even Model Six could understand if explained to it. Speaking of Model Six, during the entire trip Model Six had been folded up to fit in one onboard. This not only reduce the affects of space travel on the Synthetics body, but would have allowed many more soldiers to broad.

Upon reaching its destination the carrier turned off its faster-then-light drive and landed near the group of special forces operatives. The carrier did its best to avoid crashing into anyone or worse, putting its exhaust in anyone's direction.

Once the carrier landed the ramp located on the bottom of the craft opened and Model Six was dropped onto the surface. Quickly Model Six unfolded itself and drew its rifle. Model Six began scanning its surroundings and analyzed the data its scanners collected. Once Model Six thought it was safe it walked up to the group of aliens.

Model Six spoke to who it identified as being in charge, Shiv; "greetings. I am model number 6-10x8-17283702-2008 from the Synthetic military deployed by the orders of Five Constellation Central Command. I was told to aid you in any way practical. You may refer to me as Model Six." Model Six's voice came out clearly, but with a unemotional tone to it. Model Six made no movements what so ever, waiting for an answer. Even when its transport took-off behind it, the exhaust of the engines hit its armor.

bump

Shiv found itself confronted by the Calaverian. The cloned mind was absolutely fearless, a foolish mistake on the part of whatever unintelligent individual was responsible for the concept. Fear was good. Fear could make a being realize what its limits were. Shiv had never felt fear in its life, so it had not reached its limits. All the same, the audacity of the being was to be both commended and marked. The deep voice made a sharp contrast to Shiv's drone.

"You wish to see what we'll be encountering, clone?" The Shivati raised its left hand, igniting a bush. The right hand swept the cape back and snatched the plasma pistol from its holster in one smooth motion. Shiv fired, and then moved its left arm. The bolt stopped in mid-air, before bending into shapes that were quite different from the sphere it had been. Replacing the pistol, Shiv placed its hands together.

"You will know what we are capable of, human," the being said, as it manipulated atoms -- namely, atmospheric hydrogen. This was a practiced technique, experimental but incredibly dangerous. Shiv rammed the hydrogen molecules together mercilessly, colliding them at incredible speeds, channeling plasma into the mix to drive the heat up more. An infinitely bright glow appeared in its hands; a small, controlled fusion reaction. All of Shiv's energy was devoted towards keeping the energy contained. If it lost control... the sphere grew, expanding from marble size to about... it had no capacity to spare, but had it looked in its memory, it would have used the size of an orange. The clearing was illuminated as with a sun, as it very well should be.

"Behold, that which is the genesis of life," Shiv said robotically. Its arms quivered with the effort of holding the chain reaction in check. Realistically, the energy came from its mind, but it was channeled through its arms. "And also the harbinger of death."

Without warning, Shiv cast the ball into the sky. It flew, expanding as more hydrogen molecules joined in, becoming a small star. But, in an atmosphere, it would go critical; Shiv therefore maintained its containment. It accelerated into the cloudy upper atmosphere, where Shiv finally lost control. It imploded, gaining mass exponentially, before exploding in a miniature nova. Unfazed, Shiv manipulated the ambient energy, forming a polarized shield over a good 50 kilometer range. Much better than previous attempts, but Shiv had also nearly lost it while building it. Had it done that...

Its gaze was brought back down to the face of the clone. Let the preaching animals or the eternally angry human sergeant tell Shiv that it was posturing now. Let the chaplain spout refuse about God. Its powers were not infinite, true, but they didn't need to be. It could have split atoms, actually more difficult, but producing a dirty reaction. The fusion was clean and harmless, though. Except for the risk of torching the atmosphere or killing all life. It was a good thing Shiv didn't breathe, not the way humans and comparative beings did, anyway.

___________________________________________________________

Imglotian News Corporation

Informing the people!

INC - A mysterious light was seen in the sky over the Thuraggian Rainforest today. Witnesses who live near the foliage-thick area report their windows being shaken and plants wilting as though being exposed to too much sun. There are reports of people who were "instantaneously sunburned" but these reports are not currently substantiated. Scientists claim that it was a small nuclear device - but was it an Imglotian test or an enemy assault? You decide. Our information includes (cont. on pg. 4)


_____________________________________________________

An INC paper was thrown onto PM Yunos' desk. He glanced at it, before looking up at the faces of Minister of War Buran Jagget and Minister of Foreign Relations Frank Holle. He opened his mouth, but the two forestalled him.

"Nuclear explosion?!?" Frank Holle, tall, brunette, with a predatory gleam in his eye that probably belonged more in the MoW than MoFR, screamed at Yunos. "Do you know how many embassies are going to want to leave now?"

"I told you already, Frank," Buran Jagget said calmly. "Its our Shivati. He - it, what-the-hell-ever - apparently has the ability to create little H-bombs whenever he so chooses."

"Yes, Buran," Holled spat back, "but who is currently with that killing machine? Foreign representatives. If one of them dies because of him..."

"Shiv knows its mission," Jagget answered coldly and calmly. "He saved your life, and that of everyone else in this building, when the revolutionaries broke in. That being may be a venemous Queeter, but its OUR venemous Queeter."

"Be that as it may," the MoFR began, but Yunos intervened.

"Enough." The balding man leaned back in his chair, bored of life in general. "We do not need to question the loyalties of the Shivati in our military. He, she, it - whichever - will serve our causes indefinitely. What I want to know, Minister Jagget," the PM asked calmly, "is why, precisely, is the being making such a public show of itself? Just one tape not confiscated, and the story goes out."

"Very likely establishment of dominance, sir," the stocky old warrior answered. "The Shivati culture apparently places - placed, anyway - high levels of importance on sheer power -- but not for the sake of a pissing contest. Rather, the most powerful Shivati will go on a rampage and attempt to kill all others to make its power ultimate - and usually dies in the process. However, in this instance..." Jagget trailed off and gaped at the two others.

"Now he has help." Holle's voice was ice. "You may have doomed us all to the rule of a psychotic killing machine."

"Not psychotic," Buran corrected. "Emotionless. Methodical. Virtually omnipotent."

"In other words, sir," Frank told Yunos, "We're fucked."


[OOC]: Yes, yes, Shiv is incredibly powerful. Don't expect me to do some n00bing like "MAI ROFLNUKE GOEZ BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM LOLOLOLOL" (Stolen from 'Arby 'n the Chief'), though. It (not he, although I encourage you to leave your characters believing that) is mortal, too. A bullet in its skull... head... cranium - whatever - would likely kill it. Maybe.

KW-52 moved to the side, holding his blac phased plasma rifle to his chest. This being could kill him in a variety of ways, but he knew if he didn't keep his cool, it would make him look weak. Weak was not in a Calaverians vocabulary, he kept his HUD upon the being, his face hidden. The deep voice echoing again as he contacted his partner in the cloaked probe fighter. " Zero sector: I'm sending you recording and image replays over" KW-52 would let the other clone up in the heavy fighter asses the situation, his eye in the sky. This Shiv was very powerful, perhaps if he got a sample was able to take it back to the goverment it would create a new kind of goverment super soldier. His HUD came up again as he added the objective.

Secondary Objective: Take sample of Shiv/others for goverment evaluation...

Model Six never stopped its scanning as the events of the nuclear fusion reaction that took place before it unfolded. Primally ignoring the reactions in the sky, Model Six's processor attempted to figure out how the Shivati before it started the reaction. Atoms do not simply form and split to one's will. There had to be a trick to it. Mode Six quickly turned off its survival directive, least Model Six shoot the Shivati in a act of self-preservation seeing as how the reaction in the sky could easily kill Model Six. Model Six's interrogated armor began to automatically move several armor plates to better protect itself from the nuclear reaction and its electromagnetic effects. Model Six attempted to grasp the Shivati's, known as Shiv, attention.

"Greetings. I am model number 6-10x8-17283702-2008 from the Synthetic military deployed by the orders of Five Constellation Central Command. I was told to aid you in any way practical. You may refer to me as Model Six," once again the oral message came out emotionless from a device designed to create vibrations within the body which then went through a filter, in a sense of the word. This filter sorted out the sounds the vibrations made to make the noise that would sound like words to those around Model Six which were then project outwards from the body in all directions. A very crude way to 'speak' for a race that is use to using networking as a form of communication.

Samuel and Rhodam stared directly into the core of the reaction taking place in Tigeria's atmosphere. They were stunned, but not by the creature's power. Rhodam silently cursed under his breath. Samuel just shook his head from side to side.

"Fool..."

The Shivati stared at the machine before it, still exhausted from the amount of energy it had needed to expend to fuse the first, critical hydrogen atoms. Once that occurred, the reaction took a life of its own. The synthetic soldier's armor had inexplicably rearranged itself on its body, focusing on areas that seemed crucial -- power core, AI bank, and the like. All the same, it was a mere machine, a walking piece of hardware.

Shiv looked around, then. The magnetic field it had thrown up had created a stunning aurora effect as the radioactivity struck it, but the forest outside of the field was brown and scorched, burnt by the radiation which had come from the blast. Too bad Shiv had only a vague idea where the base of its fellow Shivati was -- the explosion could have withered the trees around it, exposing them to the fireteam building around Shiv. The forest had little purpose, in its mind -- it was more of an impetus than anything else.

"Hey, Shat or whatever the hell your name is," Kartosh stepped up, almost beside Shiv. "Skyler and I ain't in this for our health, ya know. We were told to negotiate payment with you here and now, for our work. So what's your opening offer, eh?"

"Shiv, being," the Shivati said in response. "Our offer is your typical salary, whatever it may be, tripled. The government pays your wages, not me." Shiv looked over at the mercenary, the orange light from its eyes illuminating his face. "If that is too little, then you may leave."

The City of Tigeria

It was a picture of domestic tranquility. The man lay beside his wife, their eyes turned upwards towards the windows, contemplating the world outside; between them, a small dog had curled up awkwardly. Its paws were on the man's chest, but he seemed not to care. They had evidently been lying on the bed, simply talking about matters profound or mundane -- in such settings it matters not which -- while nature yielded its magic and produced the beauty it produces on a daily basis and which only a few can move beyond taking for granted. But there was something wrong.

The man and his wife stared up at the window unceasingly. They had no choice: their eyes lacked lids to shut. They were silent, because their tongues had been cut out. The man could not move the dog's paw off his chest, nor could the dog withdraw it anymore, nor even could the man's wife move the dog: they were all dead. The white bedcovers were now red. The white walls were daubed with red. The ghastly paint coated possessions and knickknacks and clothes strewn about the room. On the wooden floors the thick fluid pooled and air-dried gradually, running along small flaws in the boards and gradually leaking from under the bedroom door.

It was locked from the inside.

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

The Shivati had plans for Lieutenant Morgen. They wanted to drive PM Yunos's government off the planet in order to rule; but with Morgen now on board, he suggested letting Yunos drive himself off. He said they should isolate Yunos and his allies; kill off their friends and families, demoralize them so that they were unprepared. He suggested that he be employed to do that. So the Shivati had given him the name and address of a family friend of the PM's, and Morgen gathered his tools and went to work.

But after the first job he'd been ordered back to base. He'd been ordered to construct, along with the other slaves, an array that could block communications that weren't on a list of approved frequencies. (Apparently the Shivati had found out that a team was amassing to destroy them, although Morgen only learned that through rumours.) Within the range of the device, the team would be unable to communicate -- with either their allies and higher-ups, or with each other, short of actual talking. Morgen could see the wisdom of this plan. It would allow them to isolate the team members and kill them off one by one.

He had a feeling that the Shivati were worried, though. The two or three that he saw -- he wasn't sure if there were only a few, or if there were many but they never showed themselves at once -- didn't display any emotion, but they seemed too preoccupied to give orders and they kept to themselves even more than customary. He could only wonder idly what exactly they'd done to some of the other slaves, who seemed to be bleached with fear. Oh, sure, they were big robots with super powers, but presumably they could die just as easily as a person. Presumably. He made a mental note to keep an eye on the special forces if they ever showed up so he could find out how to kill those aliens.

In the forest

The Vojvodinians watched Shiv's latest display with some astonishment, or at least interest. Holland concealed it well, only remarking (somewhat under her breath) that when humans got that kind of power, they generally made it useful for something other than gratuitous display. Druckman watched the atmospheric explosion in silence and only spoke a little later on, and then it was to Holland only.

Ch. Druckman: Been reading too much of Revelations, maybe?

Holland made surprisingly little noise for someone walking through dense undergrowth in a suit of armour weighing a ton. She had never heard of Revelations, except for the part about the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and that was only because they featured in a work of fiction she'd read on the ship.

Sgt. Holland: You're the expert. This guy's obviously read an awful lot of ancient literature, right? Doesn't God sometimes demonstrate himself as a burning bush or a column of flame?
Ch. Druckman: Yes, but He doesn't use it to say, "Look what I can do!"

The Calaverian sized up the Shiv, it acted like it was better than everyone around it, including himself. " This mission will be difficult with you acting like diety, there is no god ." KW-52 announced. It seemed true, at least to him, the goverment programs erased god completely, a fairy at its best

The display of power Shiv had gone at lengths to show off was, at first, quite awe-inspiring to Jabim and his team, with the exception of Rackman, who's facial expression seemed to stay in a permanent blank stare no matter what the situation was. All things considered, Shiv seemed to take itself a little too seriously.

Great. Jabim thought to himself, summing up things in his head. Our team is made up of a bunch of trigger-happy aliens (some of which are only in this for the money), and our supposed "leader" (who actually is one of the enemies) has a massive inferiority complex. Excellent.

"Are you alright, sir?" Jabim came to his senses. He almost forgot Rackman was there. He as holding a flask of tea, Jabim's preferred hot drink, in his hand.

"As fine as one can be in this situation, yes." He took the offered flask, and let some of the tea slip down his throat. It was quite refreshing.

Kartosh grinned widely. He knew a good deal when he heard one, considering he had no standard salary, and his last contract had paid upward of a quarter of a billion credits...well, after this he could bloody well retire. If he were the retiring type, that was, he'd have used it to buy more weapons, more gear and more drink, but no, Skyler insisted on some time of fund in the bank which just so happened to be untouchable by Kartosh. Just because he had a running bar tab larger than the annual pay of some third-world national leaders didn't mean he was irresponsible...
"You got it, Shave," he fell back, walking beside Skyler. "We're gonna be so rich," he whispered.

bump

Rhodam clenched his fists. Blue-white energy crackled along the coils on his hardsuit's bracers. Two of the coils of his left hand expanded, revealing a crackling field of chernokov energy. The rings spun and then clicked back into place. The green-eyed heir stormed over to Shiv, blue-white arcs of lightning coursing down his limbs, his eyes backlit by a boiling plasma-blue light. As he bellowed, his voice echoed unnaturally within his chest cavity, and birds flew from trees within a quarter mile.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!!!"

The blades of the Azure gaurd continued to hum for a moment after he had finished his yell. Rhodam composed himself, slightly.

"Look, nobody here disputes your command of this mission. Just get on with it. We're not here to feed your ego, we're here to repress a terrorist faction, got it?"

The darkness, interrupted by the sudden outburst of the cyborg, settled over the vicinity like a blanket. Shiv fixed the being with a stare, container held still in its leading hand. No one questioned its authority; how good that sounded. "Come," it said monotonously, continuing forward. Movement in the foliage to the right indicated a threat; with a casual wave of its left hand, Shiv released a bolt of plasma. A Shivati keeled over into the path the group followed, abdomen smoking and crackling.

Without a word Shiv stepped on its face, a sickening crunch emanating from its cranium shattering. One more dead. Its dominance was that much more complete. Beckoning with its unburdened hand, Shiv continued walking. The true battle would be joined soon. Dishonorable, to let these beings behind it destroy any of the Shivati, but it would do anything to guarantee superiority. Unconsciously, it felt again the sheer power that came from holding a nuclear reaction in check through sheer force of will. Soon.

Lieutenant Morgen watched the scene play out from a video feed. "Son of a bitch," he helpfully informed the world. Then he returned to his position to await the team's arrival. Soon this place would erupt in an orgy of violence and destruction; and that was where people like Morgen thrived the best.

He was also mildly annoyed that no major news station had covered his double murder the other day. He was sure that was one of his finer efforts; a bona fide work of art. But he could console himself that perhaps they simply hadn't gotten around to it yet; maybe the police were keeping the details to themselves or something. He'd realized by now that it wasn't his job to worry about things like that, but it still grated on him that his masters hadn't even shown any satisfaction in his job well done. Perhaps they couldn't.

If he got out of this alive, Morgen decided, he'd only work for humans. You never knew where you were at with these damn aliens.

KW-52 removed a peice of the skin of the dead Shivati and placed it inside a container before standing up and following Shiv.

Secondary Objective: Complete...

The HUD indicated that the sample was now taken, a large bonus for Calaverian super soldiers of the future. He held his Phased Plasma rifle up, scanning for any more Shivatis that might be looming in the forest.

Shiv pivoted on its heel, dropping the container. Its left hand rose, right hand drawing the plasma pistol, and it grabbed the cloned being by the throat, which should provide a choking sensation for anything that experienced it. The Shivati species, if it could be called that, could not be researched or copied -- Shiv was to be the only one.

"LEAVE IT," its voice boomed, quieter than the Heir's but still echoing. "YOU TOUCH NOTHING THAT IS NOT INDICATED TO YOU AS SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE PERMITTED TO HANDLE. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD, BEING?" Shiv left the arms free so that he could acquiesce, if he didn't feel like tempting fate. Let him shoot Shiv, if he had a death wish. He would die for his error.

KW-52 choked at its strength, but he to was quite strong. He lifted the Phased plasma rifle, its barrel pushing right into Shivs stomach. He remained calm, no fear. " Why, can't I take a sample, it may help us fight the Shivati"

"Your deception is crude, clone. Your mind is an open book, it is so basic and uninspired." Shiv cocked its head to one side. "Shoot me, if you feel so inclined. I will allow you to handle the rest of the Shivati yourselves." Shiv looked around at the whole group. "At my last estimate, we numbered approximately 60. This number is indubitably reduced since then, but the fact remains that you will not leave this planet alive without my assistance." Sheathing the pistol and holding its right hand to one side, Shiv focused plasma, and gathered hydrogen once more.

"In addition, if you kill me, you kill everyone here; unless the biomechanical beings have the ability to create magnetic fields to contain nuclear reactions?" Shiv said interrogatively, looking at the Castros. "No, of course not. Leave the sample." The red sphere of crackling plasma pulsed; much more energy, and it would attain the colorless glow of the fusion reaction. Shiv hoped the fact that it had not enough of such energy wasn't obvious.

KW-52 smiled behind his helmet and pulled the sample out, dropping it onto the ground and crushing it with his foot. " Better?" He said shouldering his weapon, he would get it in the end, maybe if Shiv died from enemy fire, no matter. KW-52 removed Shivs arm from his neck calmy and slowly.

Chaplain Druckman stepped into the breach between Shiv and the Calaverian. "Brothers!" he exclaimed, not loudly but with authority. "Why fight among ourselves? There will be plenty of fighting to do later on."

His eyes went from the growing ball of plasma in Shiv's palms to KW-52's cocked plasma rifle. Oh, dear.

With visible strain, Shiv closed its hand, depriving the sphere of energy. "I am not your brother, priest," it said simply, picking the container up and continuing on its way yet again. "I am not even of your evolutionary line, perhaps even your tree -- metaphorically speaking." It could be hoped there would be no more... distractions. Time was wasting away.

_______________________________________________________

"Any word from the strike team?"

Jagget looked up from his newspaper tiredly. Not the INC; no, he had a governmental paper only available to those in the upper reaches. It had the otherwise unpublished story of the grisly death of one Mr. and Mrs. Matthias Unkoe. Matthias had made great okeburgers, and his wife Susan was an angel with cakes and other bakery. Their dog Champ had been a playful little beast. Past-tense, the Minister of War thought bitterly. So much blood. He had been one of the few allowed to see it personally.

"No, Mr. Yunos," he responded in answer to the PM's question. That was unusual, in itself. Shiv was reliable. He - it, whatever - was known for always making transmissions on schedule to the second. It had missed two such check-ins thus far, and was due for another in minutes. Past-tense with their walking superweapon, too?

Could Shiv be plotting to destroy the administration? If so, why didn't it kill everyone right away and simply declare itself Emperor of the World? Or better yet, it could simply nuke a city with the simple motion of throwing a ball. Pleasant, all-around. The Great Lord protect us.

OCC: when do we get to see some real action?

When we get confirmation from everyone that they're alive and active. Big battle on its way, I SWEARZ!

Also, edit: Voj has the right idea. I've got school tomorrow, and surprise, anything running phpBB code is blocked by our internet security. So... I'll prolly check in tomorrow morning, but the real stuff starts tomorrow around 3:00 PM CST.

OCC: when do we get to see some real action?

I'm not sure about you, but I don't intend to see any until tomorrow, because I'm going to bed. -_-

Kartosh stepped mock-gingerally over the corpse as they passed it. "Ugly ass motherfucker," he chuckled, but his hand, once again, was near his pistol. Scouts, like booby traps, prostitutes and policemen, never came alone. Skyler just waited, perfectly calm. Both mercenaries had faced creatures and beings much worse than these, and they had laughed at them. Now would be no different.
OOC: Just kinda letting everyone know I'm alive and ready.

Rhodam and Samuel moved forward, their Azure Gaurd following behind them, eyes alert and scanning the nearby forest for infrared signatures. Rhodam tensed, the ballistics gel in his hardsuit's palm cracking from the pressure of his balled fists as he watched the one named Shiv manhandle the cloned soldier. Only the firm hand of Samuel on his shoulder kept the heir from lashing out at the creature.

Samuel preped his internal comms with his sixth mental aspect, using all five of his other aspects to encrypt the transmission hundreds of times over, and accelerate the signal. When he was certain that there was no way the creature Shiv would be able to understand the message if he suceeded in intercepting it, he sent a text only packet to the Tigerian Prime Minister. His eyes flashed softly for a brief moment, and then went green again, the message having been transmitted as quickly and suddenly as possible.

Prime Minister, there is something we must discuss of grave importance.

I am certain you are aware that the Shivati you've sent to lead our little group is scant hairs away from being considered criminally insane by all but the most forgiving of psychiatric evaluations; this is not what I wish to address, though this will have to be discussed at a later time.

I wish to ask you of the terms of our engagement, as this Shiv creature appears mentally incapable of giving us straight answers without gratuitous levels of self-aggrandizement, and frankly, I've run out of patience with this one's mouth. Namely, I wish to ask the following:

Can we take specimens of DNA from fallen Shivati with the intent to replicate and experiment for the betterment of ours and other peoples. The creature Shiv has said we cannot in no uncertain terms to the Twelve Constellations representative, however, I feel this is more his response then yours.

Also, I would advise that after this fiasco is done, for the sake of your people's continued survival and their place in a peaceful universe, you highly consider removing Shiv from your world by some means. Consider this a word of caution: this psychopath has his own agenda and at the first opportunity will kill you all. If you think you can control him, allow me to tell you from first hand experience, it won't work for long.

Please respond on the same accelerated channel. I have provided software packets to allow you to utilize the same encryption scheme I have to prevent the Shiv creature from listening in. and do not worry about him trying to read my mind because, well, let's just say he'll be sorely disappointed if he does...

Samuel Castro, Seventeenth Heir Ascendant of the Second Alliance


(OOC: Active and Standing by for fight scene.

Also, just to let you know, Samuel and Rhodam are pretty much impossible to 'mind read', seeing as the aspecting process sunders the mind into many seperate fragments, each cooperating with one another, but each somewhat individual in their own way. Effetively, if you try to read their minds, unlike most creatures, who's heads would contain one dominant voice which is soemwhat easy to read, it'd be more like a cacophony of voices each speaking something different and wholly unrelated to the other voices. You might be able to get emotions and feelings out of them, and if either of them choose, they could probably clear their mind to let Shiv understand what's going on in there, but at very least, reading their minds should be quite difficult, and certainly frustrating. Just FYI. :D)

bump

Jabim took little notice of the dead Shivati agent Shiv had just taken the time to kill. Was this supposed to solidify his "I'm a friend" stance? He could have had that agent planted, for whatever reason. He stepped over the body as he followed the group, his team at his heels. He moved his hands were already on his pistol and sword-hilt, and his aide had raised his rifle as they walked, ready for anything.

James Yunos' eyes scanned the printout that was placed on his desk, eyes-only. It wasn't from an Imglot office, though.

Prime Minister, there is something we must discuss of grave importance.

I am certain you are aware that the Shivati you've sent to lead our little group is scant hairs away from being considered criminally insane by all but the most forgiving of psychiatric evaluations; this is not what I wish to address, though this will have to be discussed at a later time.

I wish to ask you of the terms of our engagement, as this Shiv creature appears mentally incapable of giving us straight answers without gratuitous levels of self-aggrandizement, and frankly, I've run out of patience with this one's mouth. Namely, I wish to ask the following:

Can we take specimens of DNA from fallen Shivati with the intent to replicate and experiment for the betterment of ours and other peoples. The creature Shiv has said we cannot in no uncertain terms to the Twelve Constellations representative, however, I feel this is more his response then yours.

Also, I would advise that after this fiasco is done, for the sake of your people's continued survival and their place in a peaceful universe, you highly consider removing Shiv from your world by some means. Consider this a word of caution: this psychopath has his own agenda and at the first opportunity will kill you all. If you think you can control him, allow me to tell you from first hand experience, it won't work for long.

Please respond on the same accelerated channel. I have provided software packets to allow you to utilize the same encryption scheme I have to prevent the Shiv creature from listening in. and do not worry about him trying to read my mind because, well, let's just say he'll be sorely disappointed if he does...

Samuel Castro, Seventeenth Heir Ascendant of the Second Alliance

This was as bad as it could be. Now, one of the foreign agents actually caught a bad vibe off of the rabid wolf? Perhaps the chain wasn't as strong as had been previously believed. He snapped his intercom on, calling Jagget and Holle back, once more, into his office. He tossed the paper at Jagget, who caught it, his eyes blinking. He read it, blinked some more, and handed it to Holle. The Minister of Foreign Relations glanced at it, obviously reading no more than a sentence or two, before balling it up and tossing it in the trash.

"Bodyguards, sir," Holle said shortly. He pointed at the garbage can as if it had personally threatened Yunos's life. "This thing is psychopathic. If your remember, the Heirs of this Second Alliance are all cybernetically enhanced. If a damned cyborg tells you that this thing's not trustworthy, I don't-"

"But wait," Jagget broke in. "Shiv has no emotions. Period. His species is incapable of feeling any emotion, or at least as we perceive it. They simple have modes: dominant and submissive."

"And it - not he, please don't make that mistake - has the power to destroy us all. It seems that it is-"

"Gentlemen." The PM folded his hands on the desk as his two ministers fell silent. "We can agree that Shiv is a danger to the world as a whole. What can we do about it, though?"

"We respond to these Heirs," Holle said dryly, "And tell them to kill it when the mission is finished." For once, Jagget agreed with the man; the former soldier nodded sagely.

___________________________________________________

Heir(s) Castro,

The being known as Shiv has been questioned even in our inner sanctum. We, too, question the ultimate agenda of this being. We know now that its mental state has deteriorated catastrophically. However, we must make it completely clear: Shiv has no mind. It is impossible for it to go insane, because its only thought processes are how to survive and how to dominate. We suspect that Shiv is planning to cause damage to the Imglotian Bureaucracy in some way, and also that it wouldn't stop at murder to do so.

The fact that it denied you access to the Shivati tissue samples is not an order on our part. However, we have debated the matter, and must agree with it. We cannot allow this being to be reborn (so to speak) on other worlds, capable of destroying civilizations on a whim. However... when it completes its mission...

Do everything in your power, short of risking your lives, to kill it. I fear it may not be so easy, though.

James Yunos

______________________________________________

Shiv walked on, unaware of the encrypted burst transmission that had been emitted behind it. What it was aware of, however, that the Shivati were near. Very near. So near, that...

Shiv held up a hand. It silently placed the heavy container on the ground. Stealthily slipping forward, it looked around what appeared to be the ruins of an ancient stone building. Ahead of the fireteam, what appeared to be several hundred figures boiled, a mass of people around the mouth of a cave. Men setting up repeating xasers, others checking portable ion cannons, and among the humans, about a dozen Shivati cycling. Shiv felt mental 'reverbs' from all of them; every one of these had some sort of manifestation, whether dramatic kinesis or boring eidetic memories. Shiv couldn't know, not without being closer.

It turned back to its makeshift squad, almost all alienated by its presence, it knew, and it not caring. Shiv spoke quietly, but its monotonous voice still had a commanding air.

"There are several hundred soldiers ahead of this location. Interspersed are several Shivati. Make them your priority." Without waiting to see any sort of confirmation, Shiv strode back to the wall. How unsuspecting they were. They would fall quickly. Its right hand crackled with plasma. Its right hand glowed with flames. In one swift motion, it punched at the wall, the energy released obliterating the flimsy stone structure. Barely had Shiv done that before it began hurling lightnings and flames into the breech. Once more, Death came to call.

Holland was within line of sight of the cave mouth very rapidly -- stealth was a priority for the Vojvodinian Marines, who numbered in total only twelve thousand and could scarce afford to lose men and equipment. She moved sufficiently quietly that, were the Shivati capable of feeling emotion, it would have been rather surprised, considering that she was wearing a powered armour suit that by all rights ought to make enough noise to wake the dead. Her helmet display magnified the distant scene, as yet unable to distinguish humans from Shivati; but they would get close enough to see that soon.

Sgt. Holland: Chap, you're with me.

Druckman tailed her through the woods and around to the side. Shiv had already started throwing around the fireballs, making far more than enough light and sound to rouse the enemy; it was almost as though he wanted to get the team killed. But no matter -- it had one advantage, that the enemy would be staring at bright lights in darkness, distracting them so that the Vojvodinians could pull off their flanking maneuver.

When sufficiently close to the cave mouth, but on the other side, Holland bade them halt. The swift journey was not silent; silence in a jungle at night is unnatural and a clear tip-off. They moved with the leaves and the ferns in the wind, masking themselves with the cries of the cicadas, or whatever Tigerian analogue it was that was making all the racket. Where they halted was on slightly higher ground, giving them a selection of targets that were now clearly distinguishable as to species. And they were far away from Shiv, so that Holland wouldn't be tempted to blow his brains (or circuitry, or whatever) out.

Holland went first, propelling a thin flat disk of metal like a Frisbee into the midst of the soldiers, near where it looked like they were setting up some kind of gun. She counted to three and was on her feet again by the time the explosion hit. Druckman, meanwhile, had selected his first target. It was a Shivati who was facing the other way, evidently expecting an attack from elsewhere, and Druckman aimed three shots into its head; the bullets were moving at a quite respectable fraction of the speed of light, so he didn't expect it to be able to dodge, but he rested secure in not being sure it would actually kill the thing -- and he didn't get a chance to see, as Holland was giving him the Urgent Whisper over the headset.

A few seconds later she stopped again and aimed another explosive, this one directed towards a Shivati who had begun to move towards their last position. The explosion engulfed it, but they were pyrokinetic and it wasn't expected to last. Holland had concealed herself among rocks on a steepening hillside, so there was little there that an enemy could light on fire, and Druckman crouched above, spraying the kneecap regions of several enemy soldiers with gunfire -- but by now it was difficult to tell what was going on back at the entrance, because it seemed a full-scale firefight had erupted by now -- how much of it was due to Shiv, and how much to the rest of the team, was uncertain.

So they began to advance....

OOC: Leaving room.

The instant Shiv began the assault, so did the two kitsune mercenaries. Their weapons and methods were not as flashy as Shiv's, nor as powerful, but fast and deadly in their own right. Kartosh raised a hand, calling four grenades into his palm before sending them spiraling into the mass of soldiers to detonate spectacularly, ripping the humans apart and throwing corpses into the air. Almost at the same time Skyler twisted around, throwing two knives at the horde. In midflight the two blades glowed with blue electricity that joined them and upon impacting the men lightening zapped and hissed, spreading throughout, causing troopers to fall writhing to the ground with pain and weapons to explode in the hands of their owners.

Ranged attacks done, Kartosh reached behind him and unstrapped a massive shotgun from his back, a whine sounding as it started up before spitting a mass of superheated metal forward. He continued to fire in intervals, roughly one shot per second spreading out across several yards, penetrating though multiple enemies and shredding them as the pellets screamed along their unstoppable paths. Skyler unsheathed her sword, leaping high into the air from the ground, landing in the middle of the soldiers but almost as quickly jumping back up, along heads and shoulders, to the opposite side, decapitating and dismembering as she went. Upon reaching the other side Skyler flipped lightly onto the grass and began to slash away into the humans, never staying in the same place for more than a second, making it hard for them to fire upon her due to her speed, their close proximity to each other, and the attacks already being felt from over yonder. Interestingly enough, neither of the Xiscapians had actually used the Force at all yet, the knives holding simple generators and the grenades being moved with special magnets. It wasn't magic, but it looked like it, which was almost as good as far as the pair were concerned.

"Frak!" Jabim shouted, seeing the wall collapse before Shiv's display of raw power. He yanked his pistol from it's holster, and snapped off a couple of shots at the open gap, as enemy fire flew around him. Taking cover behind the wall, he motioned to his aide, who was only too happy to oblige.

Rackman's hands flew to his equipment belt, and a pair of grenade came up. He flicked the prime switch, and tossed the other one to Jabim.

"Alright. On my mark....MARK!"

With a flick of a switch, the pair tossed a pair of grenades into the hole. Flying through the air, they landed amongst the enemy, exploding in a fit of fire, showing off their incendiary nature. Enemy soldiers burned up where they stood, leaving their armor in a single fused piece.

"MOVE!" Jabim shouted, unsheathing his power sword from it's place, and flicking the activation rune. Instantly, it came to life in a cackling blue energy, which enveloped the blade. The Stormtroopers assigned to him were already running through the breach, weapons going off, and his aide was charging in behind them, bayonet fixed on the end of his las-rifle. Jabim took a breath. Going in there would expose him to incoming fire from a bunch of angry enemies with the power to wipe out an entire race on a whim. He took a breath.

"Emperor protect me from the onslaught of the unclean."

Checking his pistol had a full clip, he roared and charged through the gap, weapon blazing.

Samuel and Rhodam stood where they were at first, their eyes burning blue as they read the message returned to them. They switched off their comms and nodded towards each other. Then, immediately, they broke into a sprint as their hardsuit's helmets closed in around their heads.

The two flung themselves forward into the hole, their armor shrugging off light weapons fire as if it was nonexistant, their movements nimble and swift, dodging the clumsy swipes and slashes of enemy soldiers effortlessly as the duo wove their way through the crowd towards their targets, the Shivati in their midst. The Azure Gaurd barreled behind them, their heavily armored forms bashing and swatting soldiers aside like toys, their mono-molecular halberds filling the air with fountains of blood like a twisted peice of modern art.

As the pair approached the first Shivati, Rhodam took the lead. The rings on his hardsuit's forearms opened and hovered above their notches, the crisp blue light burning from inside. His fists glowed white hot and electricity arced about them, filling the air with the stench of ozone. He rapidly closed the distance, his speed startling, and was there in under a second.

He then hit the creature dead on in it's face, gauntleted knucles first. The rings on his forearms compressed towards his fist as he struck, and all four clanked together at his wrists. With a bang like a lightning strike, the rings discharged their stored Chernokov energy into Rhodam's fist, which explosively transfered it into the Shivati he had struck. The sonic boom staggered soldiers within twenty feet, the force of his enhanced-punch packing enough power to fold an AVATAR in half like a sheet of paper.

Samuel sprinted onwards to the next Shivati, his two short spears barely visible as he sent them along graceful arcs and spins, lobbing off the limbs and heads of the unfortunate soldiers in their wake. The twin blades vibrated softly, filling the air with their tranquil, harmonic ring. When he steped within fifty feet, Samuel leapt forwards, lunging forwards with his spears like a feline predator striking it's prey. He plunged the blades into the creature's chest until they sunk up to the hilt, their harmonic ring temporarily muffled by the Shivati's body.

The two nodded towards each other across the room, each one sporting a grin beneath their sealed helmets. This was more like it.

(OOC: going to bed. G'night folks. Will post tommory.)

KW-52 began to pour automatic fire into the cave, lighting up parts of the inside with blue phased plasma bursts. He heard the sound of people getting hit, as well as seeing the evaporation of body liquids when hit, causing explosions. KW-52 then ducked and used his motion detection systems to find them in the darkness, he tossed a tritanium shrapnel grenade, he ducked knowing that the small fragments flew very far and fast, and could peirce flesh easily. The sound was a high pincing then a crash as the fragments spread out, killing all those in the way. KW-52 turned to watch Skyler and Kartosh, how he wanted to spray into them, ending there little run of independance.

So.... what happened?

We rush into a firefight against a mob of soldiers. Do they fight back? Who dies? Who lives? Which PC shoots which in the back? You can't leave me in suspense like this! ;_;

OOC: Looks like she's stalled alright...

OOC: Give 'er a few kicks, that works sometimes.

(OOC: Yo, Tigeria? Wanna give her another shot? I'm game if you are, and I'm pretty sure the rest of us wouldn't mind finishing this intriguing story arc...)

(OOC I'm willing to keep going, if everyone else is.)

Oh, wow! You guys are still alive! No, but seriously, some shit came up. Some really personal things. I apologize so humbly for the absence. I had figured that this would just fall into the oblivion of dead threads, and didn't bother to renew. But... here we go.

As soon as it began, there was silence. Shiv glanced around at the mouth of the cave. There were but a fraction of the number of soldiers it recalled being present. Surprise, surprise -- its cowardly brethren had retreated. To be sure, an overwhelming majority of the corpses were human. Looking around, Shiv saw KW-52 glaring daggers at the two anthropomorphs, obviously contemplating a weapons malfunction that conveniently sprayed bullets in their direction. Picking up the case, Shiv stepped forward, standing in the way of the cloned soldier's gaze.

"My brethren, cowards that they are, retreated," Shiv told them. Obvious, that. "So, they are now inside that cave. I have deduced from the echoes that this cave has but one entrance -- this one." Staring around at them all, Shiv felt a surge of impatience. It would that this would as soon be done. "Follow me at your own risk. Darkness pervades this cavern, and enemies are likely to be close. If you turn back now, I will ask the Imglot government to inform your government of your valiant actions. Make your choice now."

There -- call that a narrative bump

totally bumped because I saw some of my fellows from this thread being active

Rhodam and Samuel moved forward, their ever present bodygaurd flanking them still. The diodes on the hardsuits shimmered faintly and their polished plates reflected the light. Brown-eyed Samuel spoke first.

"We're still here, and until we finished our mission, here is where we stay."

Green-eyed Rhodam spoke next, "Just stick to the mission and let's get this over with,"