NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This wedding is between Rose, Empress of Ralkovia, and Chris, Emperor of Ascelonia. This is OPEN to anyone provided that when they join, they talk to the greeter who holds a guest list. We will begin with the bachelor party, which will occur in morning. The rehearsal will be at lunch and the wedding will be in the evening. The partying will continue for a week, so come prepared or equipped.

IC:
The morning star rose over Westphalia, which was a quiet little province tucked away in large island colonized by Ascelonia. The lovely countryside extended all over the province, which was the birthplace of many artists, musicians, politicians, and philosophers. The province itself was a rather wealthy one and had never experienced much fighting or the horrible rationing of previous wars. It was hotbed of culture and new ideas as it changed hands quite a few times through peace treaties.

Its history of Ascelonian colonization was not stained with blood. The province was rather unusual, but it was well-known as a privileged province. Her many neighbors and brothers suffered many problems that Westphalia found itself above of. It was home to many wealthy Ascelonian retirees including generals, politicians, and captains of industry. Despite being privileged and wealthy, it was still placed under the humiliating status of an Ascelonian colony.

Westphalia Mansion was the largest and most well-known estate in Westphalia and thus the whole island and thus all of Ascelonia’s colonies. Mansion was a great misnomer, for it was more palatial than mansion-like. The outer wall, which lined the boundaries of the lovely greens and gardens that formed around the Mansion, was laid of the finest stones. The silver gates were refined to its purest forms. One could tell the difference when passing into the grounds of the Westphalia Mansion as one can tell the difference when entering the pearly gates of Heaven.

Majestic wine glasses sparkled and shimmered underneath the golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Tables groaned with the weight of delicacies, finery, and the most delicious and expensive foods thrust upon them. The cloth that protected the fine craftsmanship of the wood from spills and scraps of food consisted mostly of a dark blue gilded with gold trimmings. The colors of the House of Ascelonia.
The royalty’s protection was rather light. A few marine and elite infantry units were kept nearby to protect the wedding, but most of the guards were going to participate actively in the celebration of the wedding (and by that, it meant getting drunk stupid and stoned out of their minds). Who would care anyways? Westphalia was a peaceful region and had never been prone to any forms of violence (other than the noble sport of hunting) for a thousand years.

Westphalia was notable for things other than art, culture, and music. It was also famous for bread, cheese, and wine. A collection of breads, pastries, and wines had been gathered over the year in preparation for the wedding. Cheeses and various breads were piled onto delicate chinaware. Tons of wine had been fermented and stored for the wedding. A large collection of liquor and whiskey were also kept handy for the less fortunate attendees.

Guests were coming in. Chris examined himself nervously in the mirror. Was this really what he wanted? He was getting a bit of cold feet. The attendants around him attempted to give him a bit of useless encouragement. The bachelor party was commencing in a few short minutes, only a few minutes till the first ceremony began. He longed to see his fiancé, Rose, and he could’ve since his guards had already had the stench of alcohol on their breaths and were much too drunk to notice his absence. They were decked in rather casual clothing and kept their weapons down most of the time. After all, Chris was resigning his authority to President Percival Williams. Shifting his gaze to his casual attire and then to the bright morning star, he sighed impatiently to himself, “This better be good.”

Crown Prince Aristo of Dekho arrived near the party in a small airplane. Ever since Dekho had decided to join the world at large, he had been on a massive PR campaign.

With two armed guards accompanying him, he headed over to the greeter and gave his name.

Rose looked to her half-sister Maria. She smiled, the should be monarch who was hiding in DaWoad for the time had come out to see her half sister get married, Rose was nervous. Maria tried to calm her sister down and gave her a back rub."Don't worry sis everything will be fine."
(No monarchy any more the tub won)

*A jet black helicopter hovered above the mansion.Touching down in the front yard, the door opened up.Emerging from a cloud of suspicious smoke, Lord Cody Wayne Lowery the 2nd(hes a clone.the first ones dead) stepped out.He wore a simple black suit with the flag sown over the heart.Followed by 4 identical bodyguards in matching suits, each carrying submachine guns, he walked up to the greeter* "Whats up man, Lord Cody Wayne Lowery the 2nd here for the..." *His first guard whispered in his ear* "Wedding, right.May they be happy and all that.now then, this place is open bar right?"

"Prince Aristo, eh?" the greeter smiled at him pleasantly. "Come right on in."

Another man appeared with four bodyguards. "Lord Cody Wayne Lowery. Yep. That's definitely you."

~~~~~

"Huh? You have to be kidding me.... Don't tell me that Willy decided to pull this shit on me right now!"

The man bore the dress of an officer within the Guardian Angels also wore the winged shoes of Mercury over his stripes, which indicated he was a messenger. He nodded silently.

"Damn. William's a coward if I ever met one," Chris muttered nervously. He gazed in the mirror. "I'm the Commander-in-Chief, now."

The messenger grinned at him. It wasn't a pretty one. A scar ran down from his ears and connected at his mouth. He had been given a Glasgow smile a long while back.

"Hmmm..." Chris thought for a while, contemplating the new government that would emerge from William Percival's control. "Whatever. I'm not gonna worry about it. It's my wedding day."

"Correct, sir!" the messenger saluted and stepped away. Chris tugged at his collar nervously when he said "sir". The party (or parties) was/were about to begin. It would be one crazy party for him. He wondered what Rose's party would be like. "Hmmm... If I was commander-in-chief, I might be able to liberate Ralkovia?"

(OOC: Do you think he could attempt to restore the monarchy?)

"Pleased to meet you," Aristo replied, extending his hand to Lord Cody.

*As Aristo extended his hand, Lowery's four bodyguards took aim at his face* "Guys, put the guns away, geez.Sorry man, they get a little jumpy sometimes.Or a lot jumpy.Remember Gary, that prince guy tried to shake my hand and you cut it off? Anyhow, pleased to meet you and all that, now move.I need a drink" *He walked towards the bar, Gary giving him one last suspicious look before following*

"LET THE PARTY BEGIN!" blared a servant through a loudspeaker to the guests. "Ladies to this half of the Mansion and gentleman to the other."

He indicated with gestures.

Aristo headed over to the appropriate side of the mansions with his guards, muttering under his breath.

"The Royal Enforcement Squad may actually see some foreign action."

(There will be voting for the type of government soon, but not really much you can do but let things play out)

Rose looked into the mirror and smiled towards her sister,"I think I can do it," she said holding her hand. She cried for a minute before wiping the tears and regaining her white smile."The ceremony begins in an hour," Maria said. "You look absolutely beautiful Rose, he's a lucky man."

"Excuse me? Ascelonia prostitutes?" a servant laughed at the very idea. "All prostitutes are either drafted from the colonies or from enemies of Ascelonia. Anyways, we have hired a variety of... 'performers' to entertain the guests."

~~~~~

Chris refused to leave the room.

"I'm not going into an area full of whores. I want to see Rose!" he demanded.

"Excuse me, sir, but that would break tradition," his attendant, Alex Preskov, tried to be frank and to the point.

"**** tradition!" Chris exclaimed as he twirled around and headed towards the women's half of the Mansion (at least for the morning). William Percival in his signature tuxedo attire, with the bright blue-dyed rose pinned to the chest, appeared. He was rather drunk and escorted by a rather distraught maid. Four guards appeared behind Percival and leveled their rifles at Chris, Percival, and the maid.

"Pardon me, Emperor, but do not feel accomodations are safe. It is time for you to reclaim your throne!" their leader spoke clearly.

"What if I do not want it?" Chris pondered.

"Then Rose will die... or experience a fate... much worse," their leader grinned.

"Damn you!" Chris muttered under his breath.

"Now. Come with me," the leader ordered to his henchmen and to his new captives. They re-entered the dressing room. A few maneuvers knocked three uncooperative attendants out cold and the rest watched in awe. The soldiers changed into the attire of businessmen (there were more clothes in the room besides servant attire) and cleverly hid their weapons within suitcases.

"Alright! Let's clean up this place!" shouted the leader. The rest drew their rifles and slaughtered every servant and attendant, mercilessly. William Percival was then knocked out cold and his body was dragged towards the pool of blood and a gun missing precisely the amount and type of rounds fired was planted in his right hand. The maid was ravaged by one of the guards and shot as well.

"Come with us. Let's have a good time, while we can," said their leader smiling as he led a shaken Chris towards the bachelor party.

(Just so you know there are death guard in the palace)

(Lol. I didn't know that, but what's happening will continue to happen.)

A large military presence made itself known around the Mansion and it's grounds. They approached and were identified as Ascelonian. They announced that the wedding would continue as planned. Their orders were to prevent an attack by the Black Fist terrorist organization. They appeared in rather large numbers that would ensure that the military presence in the Mansion did not fight them. Besides, there was the mutual threat of the Black Fist terrorist organization.

The Death Guard continued to watch for anything suspicious but they were to busy watching one of the new ralkovian movies on their HUDS. It was a comedy and the death guard found it funny as it pointed out bloopers of the death guard and stupid things the enemy tried to do.

Music roared through the Great Hall. Ladies on one side and gentlemen on the other. Chris swept covertly from bar to bar, downing shots of liquor while a few businessmen stood around watching him. It wouldn't be long before the bachelor party's over.

"Where did his Lordship go? I can't find him anywhere" *As Lowery's guards looked for him, he emerged from a closet, smoothing his hair down* "Yeah, thanks.Heres 50 Cody's(my national currency) for the 5 of you.Now beat it.I'm drunk and i intend to get drunker" *5 prostitutes exited the closet, Lowery smiling in triumph.Grabbing the nearest liquor bottle, he chugged it in one breath* "WOO! Heres to the groom, good old....that guy" *He passed out flat on the floor, his guards sighing* "Every time.Hes such a lightweight"

Aristo ended up bumping into Chris. He recognized him after a few seconds and extended his hand.

"Hey," he said. "Pleased to meet you, and congratulations. I'm Prince Aristo from Dekho." He had been ignoring the prostitutes up to this time, but now was becoming minorly tempted. he didn't let it show.

*Lowery sprang back to life, still with a drunken grin on his face.Looking around, he decided to talk to the one guy he sort of knew* "Arista...Aristu...Aristo! right.Buddy, you gotta get a few of these bitches to party with you.I had 5 in that closet over there and...damn! You should....You should..." *At that moment, he vomited all over Aristo's shirt, promptly passing out again*

"I see... you have a problem," Chris pointed at Aristo's shirt and chuckled. He strolled past Aristo. A businessman followed peculiarly behind. Noticing the strange glances of suspicion that followed him, the businessman ran ahead shouthing "CHRIS! CHRIS!"

He hooked an arm around Chris. Chris felt the hot steamy stench rising from the mans armpits. He plucked the man's hand off of his shoulder and dropped it behind him.

"So... what's up, Chris?" he grinned in his act.

"Not much... don't mind me asking, but what's your name?" Chris replied.

"Andrew Simmons," Andrew leaned in closer and brought his arm around Chris again. "Yes. It's my real name. Now keep walking or you die."

The stench with smothering him.

"Fine, then. I will die," Chris grinned at Andrew. Andrew did not return the favor.

"Well, then. Rose will experience something much worse than death. You know the Ascelonian army. We get first-class training in torture," Andrew smiled and Chris' grin had faded away.

"Fine, what do you want?" he asked carefully and looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

"A MILITARY COMMAND, OF COURSE!" shouted Andrew, much too loudly. The Hall fell quiet and all eyes fell on Chris. "For your wedding gift. On the direct orders of President Percival!"

The audience applauded for a minute or two before returning to their immoral activities. They were just two ants in an ant hill. No one noticed them anymore.

"Now... I'd like you to walk with me. I have... a... business proposal," his lips curved into what should've been a smile, but it was ugly and distorted.

A death guard walked by chris and the man, his head nodded towards chris."Hazora Efferena Rose Gresa Kewa(May Empress Rose be happy with you)." It wasn't a heart warming greeting but something automated like. The death guard continued to patrol not noticing anything wierd. Several Prostitutes walked around him one even tried to pull him into a room. His face plate came off, scaring her off.

He smiled, death guard were eunuchs and not to happy about it.

"Your Lordship? Are you still alive?" *Lowery's guards poked him, rousing him once more from his intoxicated slumber* "Yeah, I'm fine.Just a little wasted is all.Hey theres that groom guy.I should probably go say hi" *He stumbled over in Chris's direction, another beer in his hand* "Yo, Chris man.I have no idea who you are, but if you can throw a good party like this, you deserve years of happiness with any lucky chick.So good luck and all" *He looked at the other man* "Buddy, put on some cologne or something.You smell like a damn cow pasture" *He sauntered off, swigging his beer*

Another man popped into view in front of Chris. He passed by and swung around Andrew, who collapsed immediately.

"What the hell?" Chris was tired of the drama.

"Oh... he just fainted," he looked down the hallway at two 'entertainers' who walked away as if nothing had happened. "Commander. The situation's a bit complicated."

"A bit?" Chris asked sarcastically.

"Whatever. Let's just hide this ****er and get you to a safe place," the man whispered in his ear as he dragged Andrew's body into a closet nearby. An unfortunate couple (they were making out in the closet) had to be knocked out and filled with memory erasing drugs and laid out against the wall adjacent to the closet to make it look like they were drunkards. Andrew's body was left in the closet.

The spy examined the man's identification card (all Ascelonians and people traveling/residing in Ascelonia had to have a special identification card and a tracking chip implanted on their person.

"Mr. Simmons? Representative and lobbyist for the ACI... I would've known," the spy grinned as they entered a private room. "I'm Mr. Petrowsky."

He held out his hand. Chris promptly grabbed it and shaked.

"We need to get you out of here. It's complicated. The military is right in saying that the Black Fist will attack this Mansion sometime. We have to make sure you're out of here before then, otherwise, you'll be stuck in the building. What the military haven't told you is that they are heavily infiltrated by both ACI lobbyists and Black Fist terrorists. There's a great power struggle. Percival is of no use anymore. He is a powerless figurehead," Petrowsky confided in Chris, who struggled to absorb the information.

"I'm not leaving. Not without Rose. Besides... we have the Death Guards here and the Imperial Guards," he stated his position firmly.

"No... they can't stop them. The division placed here is far too weak, and corrupt, to stop the Black Fist. Any attempt at defending this area will be crushed. Remember, the Black Fist still has possession of a nuclear bomb," Petrowsky conveyed his opinion.

"What about Rose?" Chris asked without pause, as if by reflex.

"Well," Petrowsky sighed. "I guess she can come. No more, though. Any more people will attract suspicion. Most people, will try to escape using the emergency bullet train behind the Mansion, but too many areas of the track are under Black Fist hands for that escape route to be reliable. There's an old military subway running under here. It will be accessible via an abandoned passageway from the kitchen cellar. The only problem is getting there without getting anyone's attention. Especially since you and Rose are the bride and groom. Let's get Rose and find some disguises."

Petrowsky produced a taser.

(Any ideas on how to get Rose without attracting suspicion or the Death Guards?)

(2 death guard always escort her. The rest will just walk around the palace. So you just call her and she answers. Though 2 death guard always go with her)

A couple of death guards filed past Chris and Petrowsky. They looked suspicious, but did not bother either of the men.

"Damn. How're we supposed to sneak to Rose's room without any suspicion?" Chris asked nervously.

"We could knock out the two death guards back there," the spy was being sarcastic. They needed the training of an uber-beserker to even consider such a suicidal idea, but the Beserker and Elite programs were cancelled since the end of the Second Great War.

"Hmm... Don't you have some kinda cool gadgets to help you out?"

"No, I thought you did."

They continued walking. A man ran down the hallway screaming "BLOODY MURDER! BLOODY MURDER!" Another man walked quietly behind him and slipped the words "Damn Percival." A few more smelled of vomit, but more like fear puke rather than alcohol bile.

"Crap," the duo turned to each other and spoke at the same time.

*Lowery was drunk, but he wasn't stupid.He could tell something was wrong* "Gary, have the other three on standby.Some big shit is gonna go down tonight.Prep the chopper.I wanna get out of here soon"

Aristo walked back to his AH-64 Apache in disgust. Changing his shirt, he waited in the chopper next to its companion acting as a decoy.

"Go back in there," he told the two guards who had come with him. There were others, far more heavily armed, who would remain with him in the choppers.
--------
The guards walked back into the palace. This time their hands were on their guns. They intended to fire at anyone who got too close... something was definitely wrong.

A rocket shot out from the forest surrounding the Mansion grounds. A long line of soldiers rushed through the gates only to be gunned down by both Death Guards and Imperial Guards. Enemy could not be distinguished from friends, as the turncoats and traitors broke rank with the Ascelonian division. Fighting exploded outside and all around the Mansion grounds.

"Shit! Shit!" screamed a few helicopter pilots. Their ghostly screams echoed across military and aircraft radioes all around Westphalia. A rising helicopter carrying retired oil mogul David Ophelia was hit by a rocket and promptly exploded a few seconds after it had lifted off. Many others had met similar fates.

"Mein Gott im Himmel!" screamed a mercenary accompanying General Derek Jordan, who was supposed to be overseeing the safety of the mansion. The enemy wouldn't make any attempt to take control of the Mansion, but they were ready to kill anyone who would attempt to escape. It was siege, now.

A mortar round exploded next to the mercenary, tossing him aside like a ragdoll. Jordan jumped to the side and avoided the unfortunate fate of his colleague.

"Shit those mother****ers!" he screamed in mannerisms that wouldn't be appropriate to that of an officer. "GIVE 'EM HELL!"

A few artillery pieces and tanks had been placed within the Mansion grounds. They opened up and unleashed a hailstorm of lead against what seemed to be the storm of the century. At least 75% of the original division had been lost due to confusion, chaos, betrayals, and desertions. The remainder had been decimated by the continuous barrage of ordinances. Servants, attendants, and soldiers whistled and herded masses of people into the bombproof parts of the building, beneath the ground floor.

(OOC: You can still join now, but you have to RP as if you were one of the guests.)

Petrowsky listened carefully to his radio, which pirated radio signals.

"What's going on, Mr. Petrowsky?" asked Chris breathlessly.

"Shhhh... trying to listen. Call me Josh," he grinned at Chris. The grin faded away as he concentrated on listening again. "Bloody hell. Some people trying to escape triggered to surprise attack. You see, they can't have anyone getting out of here. The whole purpose of the Black Fist's attack was to eliminate as many world leaders and the key leaders of Ascelonia. Once these goals were accomplished, the ideas of technocracy and democracy will disappear. The government will falter."

"You can't be serious?" Chris' mouth gaped wide open in unpleasant surprise.

"Yes. I am. You're our only hope. We don't want you to rule for life, but we need you to lead Ascelonia. The rest of the government is too corrupt," Petrowsky gave him serious look.

"You've got to be shitting me. I just wanted to be with Rose. This is a shitload of nonsense to me," Chris shook his head.

"C'mon," Petrowsky pulled him into the next corridor. "Let's find Rose."

"What are we gonna do?!" *The pathetic cries came from one of Lowery's guards, who apparently wasn't very brave* "Get up Daryl.You get paid to protect me, not cry your fucking eyes out.Now stand up and follow me" *Lowery pulled a sawed off shotgun from his suit, Holding it like a trained soldier.Walking around the mansion, he found exactly who he was looking for* "Rose is it? Your in danger.Follow me and I'll lead you to Chris"

Rose watched with Maria as 10 death guard smiled. Their gauntlets carried grenade launchers allowing them to fire at the enemy. The death guard formed the stiffest resistance and places where they had been stationed outside has become huge fields of death.

Mowing down anything that got in front of them, the enemy soon retreated from the death guards trying to attack the imperial guard or weaker defenses. Several Death Guard opened up with flammable jelly turning men into dust as the temperature burned almost to 450,000 fahrenheit.

The forest blazed from the great confrontation, but the area was still under siege. Black Fist assassins and snipers combed around the Mansion grounds with scopes and picked off soldiers one by one like a boy combing lice off his hair. Too many targets, not enough firepower.

The fighting subsided. The Black Fist opened it's hand around the Mansion. They did not have enough firepower to eliminate their foes. At least, for now. They were holding enough leaders of Ascelonia in Westphalia to cause the government to grind to a halt. Massive coverups were initiated by both sides to prevent chaos from engulfing the nation.

The night was falling and the Black Fist would make their second attack soon. Petrowsky and Chris peered towards the next corridor where Rose resided.

"I have enough insiders and friends to know where they are," Petrowsky grinned at Chris' astonished look. "We got to get the hell out of here. These attacks are supposed to be a distraction."

*Lowery peered out from the corridor, his gun still in hand* "Chris man! Whats up? You gotta get your chick and get out of here man.Shes in that room down there.She wouldn't let me in, but I've been keeping the hallway safe.No thanks to you Daryl."

"Shit. Our cover's blown," said Petrowsky who approached Lowery. Chris pulled up his gun.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't blow your ****ing brains out," he stared at Lowery. "All you ever did is drink my hooch and **** my wenches."

"Well i did wish you happiness, i guarded this hallway.." *Lowery's four guards had their guns trained on Chris* "And you wanna live more than a day after getting married"

"Whatever... leave us alone and pretend you never saw us. Either way, you ain't getting out of here alive," Chris waved for Petrowsky who stopped. "What?"

"Hey! Lowery. I'll show you the way out if you could take out the death guards ahead of us," Petrowsky nodded solemnly.

"Right.a couple questions.How many and what is a death guard?"

"About two. They're up ahead and they're the Empress' personal bodyguards," Petrowsky answered rather enthusiastically. "They're usually pretty tough, but there are five of you guys. We're not as experienced with military matters, so we figured you'd handle it."

Chris nodded silently and sneaked ahead a few feet. Checking to see if the coast was clear.

"Correction.Theres four.All right boys, time to earn your paychecks" *His guards nodded, and rounded the hallway, opening fire on the two standing in the hallway* "All taken care of your Lordship.

(Trust me screwing with the death guard usually ends with you head on a screw)


The death guard shook a bit before as they got up from the ground. They began to open fire on the men. Their armor had taken the brunt of the enemy rounds and they were angry now it was their turn. Their eyes focused in on targets as their STORM Rifles turned the hallway into rubble. These rounds meant to pass through tank armor would cut right threw the walls.

The Death guard roared, a guttural nightmarish sound. As one raised its gauntlet up releasing a stream of flames.

*Lowery's guards were blown to ribbons, the top half of Daryl crawling back to him* "Sorry your Lordship.They..." *Lowery put a few bullets in his head* "I swear, i just can't find good bodyguards these days.What do we do know?"

Petrowsky grinned as they distracted the death guards. Chris rushed into the nearest room and busted the window before climbing out onto the ledge. Petrowsky followed afterward. They made sure to stay out of sight of the hallway and wore something similar to an invisibility cloak, but only rendered you invisible at long distances. They strained with effort to stay on the ledge.

Petrowsky turned to Chris and grinned, "Those stupid ****ers fell for it."

"Yeah... you were right," Chris returned the favor.

"Wait for me you son of a bitch.The first me lasted 10 years.I'm looking to beat that" *He followed their path.He didn't intend on dying here*

"Shit. You're supposed to distract them. Who's distracting them?" asked Petrowsky as his lips curved from surprise to grin as a death guard below them pointed up at Lowery. Three soldiers whipped around and aimed their guns at him.

"Damn. Get under here. Quick!" Chris ushered him under the cloak. The guards below looked puzzled. A soldier dared to shoot at the area where he was before. A death guard popped out of the window. The soldier down there was rather stupid since he was shooting towards where Maria and Rose Raskov's residence. The death guard did not hesistate to reply both verbally and violently.

The soldier was dead before he hit the ground. It sparked an argument between the two remaining soldiers and the death guard below. The death guard won.

They shuffled quickly under the cover of the cloak before the death guard below could relay that there was a person hanging on the ledge. The death guard by the window looked out and saw nothing. They were lucky that they were just far away enough for the cloak's effect to activate.

Chris peered over the ledge of the window. ROSE!!! He surpressed the urge to scream her name. Maria was there as well and so were three death guards. He frowned.

"Well... we're ****ed," Petrowsky offered no solution.

(Yeah... I'm kinda stumped, too)

The death guard weren't stupid, a single death guard waited with the two empresses of ralkovia. He was alert and he was wearing advanced invisibility equipment.(Death guard also have a cloak)
"Chris," she said kissing him."I was worried, you're okay," the death guard turned their weapons to the man and got ready to fire. At a hyper state of alert they didn't care if the empress was in the way or not until they figured out she was in the way and telling them to put their guns down they soon followed the order.

"Got anything we can use? You're supposed to be the international man of mystery," Chris whispered worriedly.

"No. You're supposed to be the Emperor," replied Petrowsky in a mocking tone. "I do have a short-range invisibility cloak, but it's rather small... it can only fit one person under it. We need a distraction, though. You'll surely be noticed if you try to sneak in."

All eyes were on Lowery. Suddenly, their cloak had slipped off and Rose appeared and kissed Chris.

"Crap. Honey, this might've been a bad time," Chris said rather nervously. The death guard below had his crosshairs on the trio. "Can you pull me up?"

(Um... that wasn't necessary, please correct your post. One thing, we're still on the ledge. Secondly, you're already outside. Another thing, you'd be dead before you hit the ground.)

They pulled themselves up the ledge. Unnerving themselves, they stood in the presence of the two Empresses and the hawk-like eyes of the death guard. Chris pulled Rose to him and struggled to maintain a moment of intimacy in front of all these people. The events of the day filled him with such brimming energy that he felt as if he wanted to rip their clothes off and make love at that very instant.

"Alright I'll be the distraction.You can sneak out behind me.They'll have their attention focused on me.You can slip away under that invisible cloak thing"

"You're one crazy bastard," Chris replied. The death guards gave them both suspicious looks. Petrowsky looked to Chris. Chris hugged Rose as if he were protecting her from an explosion. Petrowsky tossed a silvery cloth over them and they seemed to have vanished. Petrowsky drew two pistols, but was gunned down before he could fire any rounds.

Chris and Rose could barely move at all without exposing their feet to the death guards. Chris whispered to Rose a few quick directions to the kitchen cellar, where the escape passageway was, before jumping out of the cloak. Rose had vanished and most likely left the room. The death guards were none to happy about this and they looked venomously at the sudden appearance of Chris.

A few bullets entered his side. His body burned and the death guards took a few seconds to laugh before searching for Rose. Chris writhed on the floor, screaming Rose's name.

(Is this okay with you guys?)

OOC:sounds fine.but what happened to me?

ooc: any idea what happened to my guards? BTW, if I have to, i will use my Apaches (and those have an odd habit of killing whatever they target w/ their big Gatling guns and Hellfire missiles, according to eyewitness testimony). I want my Crown Prince out alive. also, I'm fine w/ Chris getting shot. We could save him, ignore him, deliver the coup de grace...

ooc: any idea what happened to my guards? BTW, if I have to, i will use my Apaches (and those have an odd habit of killing whatever they target w/ their big Gatling guns and Hellfire missiles, according to eyewitness testimony). I want my Crown Prince out alive. also, I'm fine w/ Chris getting shot. We could save him, ignore him, deliver the coup de grace...

OOC: He'll live. You didn't get out. Black Fist has a huge presence around the Mansion. They are armed with plenty of RPGs. They're careful about taking their sweet time in destroying the resistance.

Ameriganastan, your guy can choose to just stand there and do nothing or end up like Chris.

ooc: I'm assuming he's still alive in the copter- they never took off.

"Of all the bad luck..." Aristo muttered. "So much for starting a new dynasty..."
He set up a link with Dekho Intelligence.
"What's happening at the party?"
"Sorry, sir, giant clusterfuck, antigoverment group making it their party... We'll see what we can do."
he waited about half a minute, then...
"Sir, we're contacting a group called Black Fist via satellite, radio, and email... we're going to haggle for your release."
"Good.. you're empowered to do so. Also, patch this to the guards."
-------
The two guards ran through the palace, guns w/ AP bullets drawn.
"Dekho nationals!" they shouted. "Armed neutrals! Same with the men in the Apaches! We will shoot to kill if accosted violently!"

Ascelonian soldiers allowed the guards to pass, thinking they were crazy, especially with death guards on patrol.

-------

"No. You may not leave, unless, you promise to support our organization. We require twenty million dollars up front, right now. Economic and military assistance will be requested later," replied the Black Fist representative.

(Bump. Where's Ralkovia?)

"We'll give you $40,000,000 right now and political asylum in our country for fugitives," came the reply. "And you can only get those things after our leader gets out. It takes time to rustle up $40,000,000, and he could die during that time."
----
The guards turned to face the Ascelonian soldiers.

"What the fuck is going on here?!" the taller one demanded. "This is a freaking great party."

"Agreed," the Black Fist representative nodded.

(RP this in Operation Relentless Hatred)

(Where's Ralkovia?)

"Agreed," the Black Fist representative nodded.

(RP this in Operation Relentless Hatred)

ooc: Let's assume the money was paid and all Dekho nationals left alive. It's faster.

(Okay. But RP this further in Operation Relentless Hatred. Where the hell is Ralkovia?)